Second-hand time travel: Liu Bei, the big-eared bandit

Chapter 106 Preserve Yourself
There were not many participants at the scene of Su Shuang's memorial service.

This isn't to hide anything, but because Su Shuang's entire family is indeed gone, and his relatives happen to be his enemies.

Su Shuang had no children, and his wife died on the way with him. Even his tomb was built for him by Liu Bei and others.

However, although there weren't many people, the facilities were quite complete.

Liu Bei even invited Yue Yin to be a witness, for he was a virtuous and wise man, a guiding elder.

In addition, there were several members of Zhang He's family who were the first to discover the body, which serves as proof that the soul has returned home.

Le Yin also invited Anping Jue Cao Yuan—to execute an enemy, one needs to use Jue Cao to uphold justice.

All of this is for the sake of conforming to the law.

Seeking revenge for a friend is a legitimate ethical and moral obligation in this era and will not be condemned. However, using the blood of an enemy for a private sacrifice is not legal.

But if revenge is taken after a just punishment, then no one can find fault with it.

Liu Bei wanted everything to be both reasonable and legal.

Because Su Shuang is a person who strictly abides by the law.

Su Shuangke had never been a thief; in fact, he was a soldier of the Han Dynasty—the Protector of the Wuhuan Commandery, as inscribed on his tombstone.
"The thief Su You, together with a gang of bandits, murdered his cousin Su Shuang, along with 142 relatives and military officers, committing heinous crimes of patricide and genocide. Anyone who sees him on the scene shall be executed! Anyone who escapes his clutches shall be punished as well!"

Upon hearing Liu Bei shout "Ren Chou!", the clerk took the bamboo slips and read them aloud.

The false identity of Su You has been completely destroyed in Wangdu, and now it is naturally the original Su You.

Jue Cao issued the highest-level warrant for Su You's arrest, stating that anyone who saw Su You could be killed on the spot, and anyone who saw him fleeing but failed to arrest him would be considered an accomplice and punished the same way.

Under such a warrant, killing Su You and his accomplices was considered a righteous act, done to protect the peace of the homeland, and was not subject to any restrictions of etiquette or law.

Liu Bei reached out and took the bronze phoenix knife from Su Shuang's tomb, then turned around and grabbed Su You by the hair, exposing his neck.

Su You's mouth was stuffed with dirt. He had been in fear for seven days since he was captured and was already too weak to move, but at this moment, tears still streamed down his face.

As Liu Bei's bronze sword slashed down, a stream of blood, mixed with the mud he had swallowed, splattered onto Su Shuang's tombstone.

The Luan Blade reversed and pierced Su You's heart once more.

No matter how much fear the sacrificial offering had endured beforehand, it was forbidden to kill or torture it during the ritual.

Cutting the throat and piercing the heart are sacrificial offerings. The soil in Su You's mouth comes from Anguo, Su Shuang's homeland. Everything follows the Zhou rites.

After Su You's blood splattered onto Su Shuang's tombstone, Le Yin gave Qian Zhao a wink.

Qian Zhao understood, stepped forward, took the phoenix-shaped dagger from Liu Bei's hand, and handed him a round mallet.

In fact, Su You was already dying, so there was no need to strike his head with the mallet anymore. This mallet was meant to be used during the sacrifice of cattle.

But this was indeed the procedure. Liu Bei, holding the mallet, did not kill Su You with it, but waited for him to bleed to death.

At that moment, Qian Zhao had already killed Liu Cheng, who was standing next to her, with the Luan Blade.

Liu Bei turned to look at Qian Zhao, then at Yue Yin.

No one spoke.

But Liu Bei knew in his heart that his teacher and brothers were protecting him.

The mastermind behind killing Su You should be Liu Bei, the chief officiant.

But if Liu Cheng is killed, Liu Bei will be in trouble.

Liu Cheng was the patriarch of the Liu clan of Wangdu, Zhongshan, and was a descendant of Prince Jing, just like Liu Bei.

Although Liu Cheng and Su You were conspiring together and could be killed by anyone, if Liu Bei killed Liu Cheng with his own hands, he would still be accused of killing his own clansman. Even if there was a reasonable excuse, he would still be subject to criticism in the future.

But Qian Zhao doesn't have this concern.

He avenged his comrades, and killing them was perfectly justified.

Seeing Liu Bei looking at him, Yue Yin said softly, "Xuande, a benevolent person who preserves himself can protect more people; this is also a virtue."

Liu Bei lowered his head and bowed respectfully to his teacher and brothers. ...

Two months later.

The eleventh month is the off-season for farming and also the month with the fewest business trips.

At this time of year, the Xianbei people would begin their raids on the border.

This year is no exception; both Youzhou and Bingzhou are under attack.

However, the Wuhuan people of Shanggu are currently blocking the way to the north of Xiheting, so the Xianbei people usually cannot get through.

Over the past year, the Shanggu Wuhuan have made many deals with Xiheting and have been relatively polite to Xiheting, but they still maintain a "green tea" style of neither taking the initiative nor refusing but being unfriendly.

The Wuhuan people still distrusted the Han people.

This is mainly because the officials in Juyong Pass have recently become quite blatant in their money-making schemes, stuffing all sorts of shoddy, worthless junk into the market.

Examples include secondhand rags, sprouted beans, moldy, damp millet, ironware with beautiful cracks, and pottery with a distinctly unearthed artifact style.

Traditional tactics such as selling inferior goods as superior ones, shortchanging customers, and bullying others were employed, leading many Wuhuan people to believe they had come to the wrong place.

After all, those things in Hu City look just like the ones produced by the Faqiu.

Actually, this wasn't about bullying the Wuhuan people; the Han people did this everywhere. It just shows that the Hu people were still quite ignorant.

Liu Bei actually wanted to get involved in counterfeit and shoddy goods, but the production capacity in Xiheting was not high, so he hadn't had time to start. He had no choice but to maintain fair trade and always kept the price at twice the normal rate.

However, the Wuhuan people may have developed a stereotype of Han merchants as being cunning, so they sold fewer horses to Xiheting.

This put Liu Bei in a somewhat passive position, forcing him to slow down the rate at which he spent money.

In fact, Liu Bei had already spent a lot of money during this period.

The hospital, built with fifty million coins, is already taking shape and is surprisingly large in scale. It is located near Bian Ji's residence.

Liu Bei mobilized several thousand people—mostly women, plus auxiliary soldiers and some old men skilled in carpentry and masonry—to build a large structure.

It's not finished yet.

The reason Liu Bei hired so many women was that he also planned to recruit a group of suitable female workers.

Soldiers have been recruited, but the recruitment process is very slow. There are not many able-bodied men in this area to begin with, and we also have to guard against infiltration.

A while ago, someone came to Liu Bei, saying they were willing to bring two hundred brave men to join him. But when Zuo Yuan investigated, it turned out they were Xiahou Dun's men...

Weapons and armor have been continuously procured, but the efficiency is extremely low. The demand for weapons and armor in Youzhou is too high, every household needs them, so much so that it is difficult for any household to buy them.

This has to wait until Guan Yu brings the blacksmith back and builds it himself.

There was also news from Guan Yu's side. Bian Bing returned with the news, saying that quite a few blacksmiths had been found, but hiring and relocating them would take time.

There was just a small problem with Xiu Niang.

When Guan Yu killed someone and fled north, the Du family adopted Xiu Niang as their daughter in order to protect their newborn child. Xiu Niang had no choice but to agree, and thus she became a daughter of the Du family.

Last year, the Du family arranged a marriage for Xiu Niang...

Xiu Niang did not agree, but the Du family insisted on using Xiu Niang to arrange this marriage, saying it was for her own good.

From the perspective of ordinary people, this was indeed for Xiu Niang's good, since Guan Yu was a wanted criminal at the time, and whether he would return alive was up to fate.

Moreover, adoptive parents are still parents, and it's hard to disobey one's parents' orders. The Du family had indeed never mistreated Xiu Niang and had even prepared a generous dowry for her.

When Guan Yu arrived at the Du family, Xiu Niang had already been sent away, supposedly to Yunzhong in Bingzhou.

Guan Yu had no choice but to go to Bingzhou to search for him.

However, after entering Bingzhou, they encountered the Xianbei incursions. Guan Yu did not bring many men and ended up somewhat trapped in Bingzhou.

(End of this chapter)