Insufficient balance

  After the hunt, the group set up camp in Guangcheng Marsh. At dusk, Zizhou City sent over various seasonings, and everyone prepared to roast game meat and drink under the starry sky on a mat spread on the ground. The campsite had already lit up bonfires, the firelight was shining brightly, the evening wind blew, and the surrounding laughter grew louder.

  Liu An, who was sitting by the fire, had been pondering the "shooting birds" incident from that day and felt that Xue Chongxun's words were quite mysterious. He intuitively felt that Xue Chongxun was not easy to deceive, so he took advantage of the toast to probe: "Xue Lang, this time you came to Dongdu, surely you have a plan to control the river in your heart, can you reveal a little bit to us? We also want to contribute to the overall situation."

  Everyone also echoed: "Yes, please let the Princess of Wei take charge, we are willing to follow and assist the Princess of Wei in rectifying the river ditch."

  Xue Chongxun smiled and picked up the wine cup in front of him, as if he had something to say. Everyone present held their breath and listened attentively.

  Everyone quieted down, waiting for Xue Chongxun to speak, but unexpectedly he glared and said: "The bird I shot at noon, is it cooked yet?"

  Liu An and the officials were taken aback, and after a moment, Liu An shouted: "Where is the bird of the Duke of Wei?" As soon as he spoke, the people around him tried their best to hold back their laughter, with some faces even turning red.

  Xue Chongxun said with a smile: "If you want to laugh, just laugh. I'm not particular about trifles, you all do as you please... Ha ha... Just now, Liu Shijun asked about the strategy for managing the river? I've just arrived in Luoyang and Liu Shijun has been arranging either banquets or hunting trips, it's been a long time since I've had so much fun. I haven't even thanked my colleagues yet, how come you suddenly ask about this kind of thing? It's really spoiling the mood."

  Is he blaming everyone for not treating him as one of their own? Liu An was speechless, and could only pick up his cup to toast, covering up the awkwardness.

  Just then, a servant came up with a porcelain pot. When he lifted the lid, a delicious meat soup aroma wafted out. Xue Chongxun looked down and saw that there was indeed a bird in it, but the fragrance of the soup was actually from the many seasonings inside. He casually said, "This is not the bird I shot."

  Liu An immediately said: "Call the cook up!"

  The servant hastily called over the cook, and Liu An asked very seriously: "What about the bird that was shot by the Duke of Wei himself?"

  "Tell Liu Laizi, is it in the pot?" said the cook with a quivering voice.

  "Fart!" The elegant Liu An scolded with great momentum, pointing at the nose of the cook and cursing, "The Duke of Wei said that the bird in the pot is not that one, just relying on you, do you also have the qualifications to deceive the Duke of Wei?"

  Everyone present felt that Liu An was making a double-edged remark, scolding not the kitchen but himself, and suddenly everyone's face turned somewhat ugly.

  At this time, Xue Chongxun smiled and said: "Everyone doesn't have to worry, Liu Shijun is talking nonsense about the kitchen, not saying that you are deceiving me, don't listen wrong, don't be nervous."

  The cook finally lost his nerve and hastily knelt down, knocking his head on the ground: "Your Excellency spare my life, I was careless and accidentally dropped that bird into the fire to roast it, so I had to find another similar one, who would have thought that Lord Weiguo saw through it at a glance..."

  Everyone was stunned at once, Xue Chongxun's eyes were so poisonous? It really wasn't the same bird as before!

  Xue Chongxun was also a bit surprised, he originally wanted to say that with too many seasonings, the original flavor of the bird would change, but unexpectedly, he blurted out the truth about this kitchen.

  Liu An pretended to be angry and said, "How dare you! The Duke of Wei wants the bird that he shot himself. What did you bring? Bring me what the Duke of Wei wants!"

  The cook said innocently: "Sir, that bird is already cooked."

  "Even if it's blurry, I still want it!"

  The cook could only turn around to get something, and after a while, he came up with a delicate plate, inside which was a black and murky thing, like charcoal. He carefully placed the plate in front of Xue Chongxun and said: "I beg your pardon, Your Excellency, I was momentarily careless..."

  Xue Chongxun hesitated for a moment, and then he had an idea. He smiled to himself and said, "It's nothing, you just made a small mistake. I'm a big man, what's the point of arguing with you about this?"

  The kitchen was busy, and the cook hastily knelt down and said: "Your Excellency, the Guardian of the Country, is magnanimous."

  Xue Chongxun made a very kind gesture: "What I want is this bird, not some good-looking fake thing. As long as you honestly hand over the original bird, it's okay even if it's messy, how would I casually punish you? Isn't that good?"

  Everyone listened and bowed their heads in contemplation, as if pondering some profound mystery.

  Pao Chuan Dao: "Thank you, General Wei Guo, for sparing my life."

  Xue Chongxun picked up his chopsticks and pointed to the black thing in the plate: "Even if it's burnt, you have to eat it. Who told you to be my substitute chef?"

  "Defender of the country, this thing can't be eaten, we have prepared many delicious dishes..."

  But Xue Chongxun ignored him, picked up his chopsticks and picked up the bird, stared at it and swallowed a mouthful of saliva, put it to his lips and gently nibbled on it, then "slurp slurp" slowly savored it with relish.

  Liu An saw him savoring with his eyes closed and couldn't help but ask: "Xue Lang, what does the bird's nest taste like?"

  "Bitter... rough. Hmm, you're saying that the common people of our Great Tang Empire have only this taste in their mouths?" Xue Chongxun said with a hint of a smile.

  Everyone was silent. After a while, Liu An said seriously: "The words of the Duke of Wei, we must remember! The ancients said that governing the country is like cooking, and as officials, we are like cooks in the kitchen. If you make a bird into a delicious soup, the people will eat it; if you make a bird into this black and ugly thing, the people will still have to eat it. Do you understand?"

  "The officials and others have received your teachings." The crowd echoed in agreement.

  Xue Chongxun smiled and said: "I'm talking about birds. What's the point of Liu Shijun dragging things out?"

  "Yes, Xue Lang said bird, I also say bird." Liu An's face turned pale and then white as he spoke.

  Xue Chongxun held the chopsticks with the bird stuck on them, looked at it for a while, and really didn't want to take another bite. He picked it up and threw it backwards, throwing it away, then picked up his spoon and drank from the bowl of meat soup that had been served first. As he did so, he said: "Mengzi said, 'It's better to enjoy things together than alone.' Can't just eat by myself, bring people, serve dishes, everyone eats together."

  The slaves came in one after another, carrying all kinds of delicious dishes and placing them on the table, and the atmosphere was a bit more relaxed.

  Xue Chongxun ate and drank with gusto, repeatedly praising: "Delicious! Today's game is much better than what we had at the government brothel yesterday. Game is just game, it has a certain vitality to it, great!"

  ……

  The speaker is unintentional, but the listener is intentional. As soon as he said this, Lyu Ding, the governor of Ru Prefecture, thought to himself: A courtesan is a person, while wild game is something to eat - how can these two things be compared? But Wei Guogong wants to compare people with things... Hmm, could it be that he's dissatisfied because there isn't any "wild game" similar to the courtesans tonight?

  Since they have come to your territory as the governor of Ruzhou, you can't treat them poorly. Isn't it just "wild flavor"? Can a respectable woman's behavior be wrong? Is it against the law? In Ruzhou, I am the law! Besides, the one being treated is the son of Princess Taiping, what's there to fear?

  While they were still eating and drinking, Lv Duan took leave of Liu An and left the campsite with his men, hastening back to Ruzhou City by horse.

  Chang Shi opened the city gate and welcomed Lü Tui, asking: "Sir, why have you returned now?"

  Lv Duan said, "The Duke of Weiguo is dissatisfied with the official courtesans from yesterday and wants to taste 'wild flavor', I have to think of a way to get it done. Since they've come all the way to our Ru Prefecture, we must make sure they have a great time!"

  Chang Shi nodded, but immediately furrowed his brow and said: "What kind of wild game do you want? If it's for a banquet, I have over a dozen at home, that should be enough."

  "How can I take your woman? Besides, the family prostitutes have been raised to be obedient, where is there any 'vitality' and 'spirit'? The imperial relatives of the country are still looking down on us for raising this kind of goods? Only a good family's child would do, you think about it, those good family children haven't seen that scene before, their clothes being torn off and crying, pitifully, what vitality and spirit they have!" Lu Duan laughed.

  Chang Shi thought for a moment: "It's so late, where can we find some good families to go to? If it were three or five days earlier, it would be fine, and we could use our methods to buy a few. Now...can we lead the troops to rush into the civilians' homes and rob them? This won't do, when the time comes, the imperial censor will impeach us with a memorial to the throne, and our official positions will be gone."

  Cui Shi said: "What's the hurry? The imperial censor is here to question him, I don't believe that the people in the palace are just waiting for others to deal with our people."

  "Don't worry, I've thought of a plan." The long historian stroked his beard for a moment before saying, "Although it's true that what you said is not a big deal, but it's still too rough and will affect your prestige. It's better to let someone else do it. Liu Er, the second son of the Liu family in the east of the city, has done all sorts of things like flirting with widows and robbing women. Let him do it. He knows which families have beautiful young daughters and can take the blame for it. Later, you can catch him and punish him lightly, then compensate the victims' families for their losses. This way, everything will be settled, the matter above will be taken care of, and your reputation will be maintained. Isn't that a win-win situation?"

  "What a wonderful plan!" Lü Bu was overjoyed and grasped the hand of his advisor, saying "You are truly my Zhuge Liang, there's nothing you can't think of!"

  Chang Shi said humbly: "As I am the Long History of Youzhou, it is my duty to help you plan and strategize."

  Lü nodded and tidied up again, saying with great satisfaction: "The Liu family is wealthy and should be responsible for transporting grain and taxes to the imperial court. However, I have taken care of them several times and helped them avoid being recruited, which means they owe me a great favor. Although they usually show respect, asking them to do something small shouldn't be a problem."

  It was settled, and Lu Daiyu returned to the yamen. He immediately ordered someone to bring Liu Ba into the yamen. Before long, a loud voice could be heard outside the main hall: "Newcomer! I'm a friend of Magistrate Lu's, and you're treating me like this? You're searching my body as if I were entering my own home! Do you know the rules?"

  Lü Bu's heart was preoccupied with something, so he immediately shouted: "Stop searching! Let him in!"

  The newcomer was eight feet tall, strong and sturdy, with a face full of horizontal flesh, making him look like a fierce and evil spirit... This appearance is just like writing on the wall: "Evil Ruffian" on the left, "Thug" on the right.

  However, when he saw the officials, he immediately beamed with joy, his facial muscles twitching with a forced smile. He clasped his fists together in a pretentious gesture and said: "Ah, esteemed gentlemen, it's been ages! Second Brother... no, I thought you'd forgotten about me!"

  Liu Ba spoke while observing the expressions of the two officials, but seeing that their faces were devoid of any smile, he also restrained his own smile and said cautiously: "Did that little nun from Jingxiu An come to report a complaint? Please don't listen to her nonsense, I didn't even touch a single finger, just some idle chatter."

  Lv Dian said with a start: "You nun, you're also moving? Don't you fear bad luck?"

  "Not moving, not moving..." Liu's face turned red as he muttered, "Apart from this, I think I haven't done anything bad recently. Just bought that pair of birds, it was quite interesting. Didn't I just stay at home?"

  Lv Dian said in an official tone: "I'm only being lenient with you because of your family's status, Old Liu! You'd better behave yourself. If you don't listen to advice, I'll dig up all the old cases against you, and even death won't be enough to redeem your guilt!"

  Liu Ba hurriedly said: "Hey, you can't be like this, when have I ever disobeyed your orders?"