6. The talented and beautiful Liu Xiang's wife

  Sun Yu coughed and said, "Miss Zhang, let's not fight. I'm here to take back my maid. I won't buy your pork even if you don't want me to, I'll just leave far away." As soon as he stood up straight, Zhao Yun ran to his back, stretched out her two small white hands and grabbed Sun Yu's official uniform tightly, her small white hands turned red like a radish due to excessive force.

  Liu Bei looked at Zhao Yun with a pained expression and said in a soft voice, "Sir, don't worry about it. It was my third sister who was wrong earlier, she won't bother you again. Look, we've scared this little girl, I'm really sorry."

  She pulled out a pair of straw shoes from her bosom and handed them to Zhao Yun, saying: "Sister, this is a pair of straw shoes I made with my own hands. I'll give them to you as an apology for Third Sister."

  Sun Yu looked at Liu Bei, watching her gentle movements like water and her soft voice, couldn't help but feel great wonder in his heart. This lady was called Zhang Fei's third sister, also known as Zhang Fei's older sister. Then, was she Guan Yu or Liu Bei?

  At this moment, Liu Bei raised his head and smiled at Sun Yu: "Sir, my name is Liu Bei, courtesy name Xuande. The three kinds of pork you just bought, each weighing three catties, my sister can't calculate the price, so I'll do it for her." She took out a small abacus from under the counter, clicked and clacked for a while, then said softly: "135 wen (coins)."

  It turned out that this was Liu Bei. Sun Yu thought to herself, "This Liu Bei is as gentle as a ball of water, I really don't know what she would be like if she were to take up the twin swords and go into battle... Alas, it's better not to think about it."

  Liu Bei arrived, and Zhang Fei became as gentle as a small black cat. She picked up a steel knife and cut three large pieces of pork, without weighing them, and casually strung them together with a grass rope, handing it to Sun Yu, saying: "Take it, your three kinds of pork are each three catties, originally you said 135 wen wasn't cheating me. Hmph, taking advantage of my poor math skills, how boring."

  Sun Yu smiled wryly in his heart, thinking that even a beggar on the roadside could easily calculate such numbers, how was he supposed to know that you couldn't? Could he be blamed for teasing you? He took over the pork and patted Zhao Yun's shoulder, turning around to leave.

  Only heard Liu Bei behind say: "Third sister, you use New Pavilion candidate knife to cut pork again, ah, really not good!"

  Zhang Fei hid the steel knife for cutting pork behind him and said in a low voice, "Sister, I won't dare next time. However... what's so good about this knife? It's far inferior to my snake halberd, it's just right for cutting pork."

  NM01 hastily reported to Sun Yu's ear: "Xinting Hou Dao, one of the top ten famous swords in ancient China. It was forged by Zhang Fei when he first visited Xinting Hou, ordering ironworkers to take refined red bead mountain iron and make a sword. Later, after Zhang Fei whipped his soldiers while drunk, his general used the Xinting Hou Dao to behead Zhang Fei and escaped to Eastern Wu overnight."

  Sun Yuxin felt a chill in his heart, this famous sword appeared ahead of time in this world and was being used by Zhang Fei to kill pigs... it's really humiliating for the sword. He carried nine kilograms of pork, which was quite heavy, and didn't want to stay any longer. Accompanied by Zhao Yun, he strolled around the market, bought some vegetables and seasonings, then slowly returned home.

  As soon as Sun Wu Gang left, Zhang Fei turned to Liu Bei and said: "Big sister, that man just now knew the martial general technique, a red intermediate martial general technique, it's so interesting, this is my first time seeing a man use the martial general technique."

  Liu Bei smiled and said, "He will if he wants to, what does it have to do with us?"

  Zhang Fei pouted and said, "Second sister likes to make friends with people who are good at martial arts. She keeps talking about supporting the Han Dynasty every day, my ears are tired of listening. If she sees someone who is good at martial arts, she will pester them with grand words, asking them to be brave and join the army, support the Han Dynasty... Ah!"

  Liu Bei couldn't help but burst out laughing after hearing Zhang Fei's words: "Your second sister is really ambitious, unlike you who likes to fight pointless battles. She diligently sells pork and helps your second sister raise some military funds. Recently, the Yellow Turbans have been causing trouble in the south, and our county will also be affected. Your second sister is anxious every day, recruiting and training local militiamen. Your elder sister sees her hard work and has also come out to weave straw shoes to sell, hoping to help him achieve his goal as soon as possible!"

  "Emperor's not in a hurry, eunuchs are in a hurry, the Han house has nothing to do with us... Wait, no, big sister is a descendant of Zhongshan Jingwang, big sister is the Han house, second sister is helping big sister, okay, I'll help big sister too."

  Pfft, Liu Bei covered his mouth and chuckled: "I didn't want to fight at all, it's just that your second sister likes it, so let her be. Alright, stop nonsense, big sister is going to the back to weave grass shoes. Remember, don't use martial arts skills in the county town, or big sister will get angry."

  Zhang Fei nodded obediently and said, "I won't use my martial arts skills, I don't want to make Big Sister angry. However... I've never seen Big Sister get angry before, you're just trying to scare me."

  Liu Bei said in a gentle voice, "Hurry up and sell the meat, we should head south to find your second sister tonight. I heard that the Yellow Turbans are causing trouble in the south, your second sister is urging us to send troops today."

  －－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－

  Sun Yu returned home, cooked the pork and finally had a satisfying meal. Zhao Yun, the poor abandoned cat, ate the pork and was so excited that it cried out loud.

  But Sun Yu calculated carefully, his 2080 wen of money was used up by 135 wen all at once, too cruel. No wonder the ancients were coarse rice with vegetables to eat, meat is really expensive.

  Sun Yu's salary is 100 shi of millet per year. If calculated at this price, the current income is not enough to travel around the country to find the truth of the world, let alone maintain one's own life. It seems that it is still necessary to raise the official position a little bit.

  But... how can I improve my official position? As soon as he thought of this, Sun Yu suddenly felt a severe pain in his chest and abdomen, the pain piercing his heart and lungs, like a thousand fine needles stabbing at his heart, almost making him faint.

  "Ah!" Sun Yu let out a soft cry, only then did he remember that he had a terminal illness and only had ten years of life left. It was precisely because of the terminal illness that he was frozen, and it was only by crossing over that he came to this strange world... apparently this terminal illness still hadn't been cured...

  The pain lasted for less than ten minutes before disappearing, but the sharp pain had already made him sweat all over. Sun Yu thought to himself: "No way, I only have ten years to figure out the truth of this world and make money to travel around the world to find a way back to my own world. If I still can't go back after ten years, I'll be tortured to death by this illness."

  The sky had darkened, and in ancient times people would rise with the sun and rest with its setting. As soon as it got dark, everyone in Zhuo County began to go to bed, and the whole county town became quiet and still. Sun Yu was lost in thought as he prepared for sleep. Zhao Yun had already fallen asleep on the small bed in the outer room, curled up into a ball.

  At this moment, a horse galloped into the county town like flying, and the sound of "dang dang" horseshoes was particularly harsh in the quiet county town.

  The swift horse arrived in front of the county government office, and before dismounting, he loudly shouted: "County Magistrate, sir, something big is not good! The Wudan army is approaching the border and will soon arrive at Zhuo County!"

  Sun Yu's home was just behind the county government office, so he naturally heard this sentence clearly. He jumped up and ran out immediately.

  Is it going to be a war? Sun Yu was shocked, but he quickly calmed down. War is bad for the world! But for himself, it's not necessarily a bad thing. Experiencing more of what happens in this world can help him understand it and find a way back to the future. Even if he doesn't gain any understanding, as long as he can make some extra money during these chaotic times, he'll have more opportunities. After all, his time is limited.

  He put on his official uniform and ran towards the county government office, but before he could take two steps, a pair of small white hands grabbed the back of his clothes. Zhao Yun said timidly: "Take me with you... I don't want to be alone."

  Uh... Sun Yu led Zhao Yun into the county government office, where they saw Liu Yu, with his white hair, already seated in the main hall. A messenger knelt down in front of the hall and loudly announced: "The Wuhuan rebel army, led by Zhang Chun and Qiu Liji, with tens of thousands of Wuhuan cavalry, has been roaming and plundering in Youzhou and Jizhou, and will arrive at this county in three days."

  Liu Yu was a civil official, and as soon as he heard this, his face suddenly changed. He waved his hand and said: "This official understands, you quickly go to Beiping to inform the master of this matter, please ask the master to send troops to rescue us quickly. This official will do his duty as county magistrate, fight to the death to defend the county, and not let the bandits enter the city."

  The messenger responded with a sound, and rushed out of the county government office in a flurry, changed to a fast horse, and rode straight to Beiping.

  At this time, NM01 was analyzing to Sun Yu: "Wuwan is a minority in the north, also called Wuhen, belonging to a branch of Donghu tribe, good at riding and archery. Later, one part merged with the Han nationality, and the other part belonged to Xianbei."

  Sun Yu furrowed his brow and listened, one foot stepping into the county government's main hall.

  Sun Yu happened to run in, Liu Yu said to Sun Yu: "Xun Zhen, you came just in time. Please quickly check how many weapons and grain are left in the county and how long they can be used for. The official will immediately beat the drum to gather the village brave men and prepare to fight against the Wuhuan bandits."

  Sun Yu, called NM01, tidied up the files in the database and immediately reported to Liu Yu: "Liu sir, no need to check, I remember very clearly that the grain stored in our county's granary is enough to support 5,000 soldiers for half a month. Please let Liu sir focus on recruiting local militia, and I will take care of the logistics management without any mistakes."

  Liu Yu was overjoyed and exclaimed: "To have found a talented individual like Master Zhen, our county is indeed blessed."

  The whole county was shaken, the sound of gongs spread throughout the countryside, and the people living outside the county town packed up their belongings and rushed towards the county town, squeezing the small county of Zhuo into a state of chaos in just one day.

  The strongest elite troops in Youzhou are the White Horse Volunteers under Gongsun Zan, but all of them are in Beiping. Liu Yu and Sun Yu must hold out in the county seat until reinforcements arrive before Gongsun Zan leads the White Horse Volunteers to reinforce them.

  The original garrison of Zhuo County had less than 300 people, and they were all old, weak, sickly, and disabled, not enough to fight a battle. In this era, the garrison in county towns usually only had a few hundred men. When bandits came, recruiting local militiamen to defend the city was common sense. Because when bandits came, they would often plunder the county town, and if the people did not want their city to be broken and humiliated, they would usually join the defending army, temporarily donning armor and becoming soldiers.

  －－－

  P.S: During the new book period, I'd be grateful if book friends could cast a few votes, thank you.