NOVPUB"Remember to wait for me at your doorstep; I am going to find Elder Sister Cai and the others." Mi Zhen rushed outside excitedly, then bumped into Liu Bei, recoiled from the collision, and looked up at Liu Bei with tearful eyes.
Liu Bei gave a wry smile, lamenting his own misfortune for having been bumped into by Mi Zhen again. With his cultivation of Inner Qi refined to the level of Qi Refining to Gang, even if he hadn’t exerted any strength and the collision was accidental, Mi Zhen would still not come off well.
"Are you alright?" Liu Bei asked with a wry smile. It wasn’t the first time Mi Zhen had run into him.
"I have seen Lord Xuande." Mi Zhen stood up and said helplessly.
"Come, come, come, take this. Everyone who sees gets a share, everyone gets a piece." Without a second thought, Liu Bei handed Mi Zhen a piece of Precious Jade.
Mi Zhen looked at Liu Bei, puzzled. She remembered that she hadn’t received anything after bumping into him the previous times. Why had she been given a Jade Pendant this time, almost matching the quality of the one she wore beneath her sachet?
"Come, come, come. Everyone gets one, everyone gets one. Zhongkang is distributing, those present and those not are all to receive." Liu Bei was obviously very excited, almost becoming incoherent in his speech.
"What’s happening? Wen He, do you know?" Chen Xi looked at the treasure chests Xuu Zhu was carrying in, one after another, and asked with a puzzled expression, "Did we defeat Yuan Shao?"
"How could that be possible." Jia Xu said irritably, "Information like this would have passed through your hands and Lord Xuande’s at the same time while you were stationed at Mount Tai. How could you not know? It’s probably something else."
"Oh, right, I overlooked that." Chen Xi nodded and gave Li Youu, who had come out to greet them, a look. Li Youu also shook his head, which made Chen Xi even more curious, as it seemed that no one knew the reason.
"Congratulations, congratulations." With the idea of first congratulating Liu Bei on his gains, Chen Xi was the first to step forward and greet him.
"Hahaha, come, come, come." Liu Bei’s face was flushed with joy, and his laughter was hearty. He seemed extremely happy. "Zichuan, this is yours."
Liu Bei signaled to Xuu Chu, who carried over a large chest. Inside, it was packed full with gold, precious stones, and land deeds.
"Hiss~" Chen Xi took in a breath of cold air. Although Liu Bei was known to be extremely generous to his followers, he seldom gave rewards like this. Despite Chen Xi’s indifferent view of wealth, the contents of such a large chest of gold and treasures was no small sum.
"Zijing, this is yours." Another chest was brought over and placed on the ground. Liu Bei’s excitement seemed to have reached its peak.
"My Lord, please allow me some time to consider if there has been any recent cause for celebration." Lub Su didn’t open the chest immediately, guessing that he would receive about as much as Chen Xi. Though Chen Xi was the core Civil Official under Liu Bei, when it came to rewards, Liu Bei rarely showed partiality, since everyone present had been loyal followers during times of poverty.
"You think, you think. Zhongkang, move the items." Liu Bei laughed heartily, instructing Xuu Chu to carry them over. Soon, chests of gold and treasures were brought over, one for each person, assuming that they would probably need to hire someone to transport them back.
"Hey, do you think Lord Xuande might have come down with a fever?" Seeing that Liu Bei had brought out rewards not only for those present, but also for the absent Guan Yu, Guo Jia, Zhang Fei, and Liu Ye, Chen Xi asked Jia Xu with some curiosity.
Although Liu Bei was a fair distance away, his hearing was not bad at all. Naturally, he overheard Chen Xi and burst out laughing, "Zichuan, you rascal, didn’t you say ’plan for the future, think three steps ahead?’ Guess why I am so happy today, guess correctly and you’ll be rewarded, guess wrong, and, well, if you’re wrong, I won’t punish you."
A rare sly look appeared in Liu Bei’s eyes, and Chen Xi was suddenly faced with two sets of rewards. However, whether he could claim them depended on Chen Xi’s own abilities.
"Zijing, I’ll share half of my rewards with you, got any answers?" Chen Xi yawned lazily and turned to ask Lu Su.
"Kongming, got any answers? I’ll give you all that Zichuan gives me." Lu Su was an honest man and hadn’t even considered skimming off the top. Without an answer in mind, he naturally turned to Zhuge Liang to ask.
Zhuge Liang was still a bit dazed at the moment. The Zhuge family, though long-established, had fallen into decline, and frankly, was not very wealthy. Now, faced with such a large chest of treasures for the first time, Zhuge Liang couldn’t help but have his eyes sparkle with excitement.
Previously, when Liu Bei had given Zhuge Liang the house deed and the land deed, Zhuge Liang hadn’t thoroughly assessed their value. The house deed, needless to say, was located in the very heart of Fenggao, protected by 24-hour city patrol services, so its security was unquestionably high!
As for the land deed, Zhuge Liang hadn’t looked at the storefront and hadn’t appreciated the value of that deed. He was merely hoping for some cash, but so far he had not received even the first sum, thus was unaware of how fast that land deed could generate money.
Having calmed the gleam in his eyes, Zhuge Liang once again adopted a detached expression. He surmised that in the future it would likely be difficult to show such an expression in front of wealth. After pondering Lu Su’s question and combining it with the others’ bewildered expressions earlier on, Zhuge Liang realized that it must be related to Liu Bei’s private affairs. Such extravagant waste by Liu Bei could only mean one thing.
Having thought of an answer, Zhuge Liang spoke calmly, "It’s possible that our Lord has a heir on the way. That’s the only possibility that could make our Lord so overjoyed."
"Hahaha, Zhuge Kongming, well done! Come, this entire chest of goods is yours, Zichuan, your treasures are gone." Liu Bei laughed heartily, looking at Zhuge Liang with great satisfaction.
Jia Xu and the other civil officials were all overjoyed at the news and stepped forward to congratulate Liu Bei. This was indeed a cause for celebration. For the Feudal Lords, the most worrying issue was that of a successor. With Liu Bei previously being young and strong, Lu Su and others had not advised on the matter, but the thorn of uncertainty always lingered in their hearts. Now, it was truly a moment to rejoice!
"Congratulations to our Lord, congratulations..." The officials who had been working behind the Political Office also came out one by one to offer their good wishes, while Liu Bei generously rewarded each official with ten thousand coins and a pair of jade Bi discs.
"Zichuan, you need to work hard~" With a rogue look on his face, Liu Bei patted Chen Xi on the shoulder and said, "Hurry up and have a daughter to be the legal wife for my son."
"..." Chen Xi pulled a face, not bothering with Liu Bei who was by now somewhat delirious with excitement.
"Tonight, I’m throwing a banquet, and you’re all invited, hahaha." Liu Bei, excessively elated, laughed madly, "I won’t disturb your work any longer, I’m off to continue handing out rewards in the barracks. Today, I am especially happy, later on I’ll add an extra month’s stipend to all the Provinces and Counties’ officials!"
Liu Bei seemed to be overly excited, in a rush to scatter money in the barracks. He arrived quickly and left just as fast, but following this event, everyone’s mood improved by a notch, and their motivation surged. The lack of an heir haunted any ruler, no matter how strong their forces or how formidable their civil officials and military generals. Without that one pillar, something was always missing. But now, the civil and military officials of Mount Tai could rest much easier. (To be continued. If you like this work, welcome to Qidian (qidian.com) to cast your recommendations and monthly votes, your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)
