New Three Kingdoms Tales: Starting as the expressionless Liu Bei

Let's rewind to the day Liu Bei followed Gongsun Zan to Qingzhou under cover of darkness.

The journey was surprisingly peaceful; there were no ambushes, no pursuing cavalry, and we didn't even encounter a single highway robber.

Of course, nothing unexpected could happen. If some fool were to stumble upon him, Liu Bei's swords of benevolence and righteousness would be missing a perfect target to test their sharpness.

Upon entering Qingzhou Prefecture, Gongsun Zan immediately held a grand welcoming banquet in the prefectural government office. All the prominent officials in Qingzhou City were present, taking turns raising their cups to toast Liu Bei.

Overwhelmed by this enthusiasm, Liu Bei, holding his wine bowl, remarked to Gongsun Zan:

"From the moment I stepped into Qingzhou, I felt deeply that this place is blessed with natural beauty and abundant resources. Compared with the Central Plains ravaged by Dong Zhuo's iron cavalry, Qingzhou is simply a paradise on earth."

Gongsun Zan paused slightly in his hand holding the wine bowl, his brows furrowing as he turned to look at Liu Bei, his tone tinged with suspicion and worry:

"Xuande, have you been secretly corrupted by fate? Why do I keep hearing you reciting lines from the new Three Kingdoms?"

He put down his wine bowl, lowered his voice, and said seriously, "You'd better avoid that stuff; it's bad for your brain."

Liu Bei, after hearing this, also sensed something was amiss. He lowered his head and pondered for a moment, then suddenly looked up and posed a long-held question to Gongsun Zan:

"General Gongsun, I have a bold conjecture. My cunning and righteousness are gifts from Heaven. If I frequently use these two powers, will I be gradually eroded by Heaven's will without realizing it?"

Ok?

Upon hearing this, Gongsun Zan put down his wine bowl, tapped his fingertips lightly on the table twice, and pondered for a while before speaking cautiously:

"That possibility cannot be ruled out. You'd better use it with caution. If you use something bestowed by Heaven too much, it might corrupt you. Once the supernatural seizes that weakness, you could be completely assimilated by it. You don't want to watch New Three Kingdoms ten thousand times, do you?"

Liu Bei nodded thoughtfully. Gongsun Zan's words had indeed enlightened him. Upon careful reflection, before obtaining these two strange creatures, he had always been cautious and meticulous, maintaining his poker face flawlessly.

But ever since he gained control of these two powers, he has indeed become a bit arrogant.

The most typical example is when he laughed wildly at the sky during his fight with Sun Jian. As a result, Sun Wentai took out the Imperial Seal of the State and used its power to instantly increase his strength by a large margin, almost crushing him to death in the ruins.

Seeing his furrowed brow, Gongsun Zan smiled and picked up his wine bowl, interrupting his thoughts:

"Alright, alright, Xuande, stop overthinking. Now that you're here, you can rest easy. There's no safer place in the world than Qingzhou. Come, come, let's drink! Let's drink until we're both drunk!"

Liu Bei snapped out of his daze and nodded expressionlessly.

He hadn't forgotten the ironclad rule of always being on guard; even on Gongsun Zan's territory, he had to maintain his poker face persona.

Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, however, didn't have such thoughts. The two of them swaggered around, drinking heartily, and after only a few bowls, their true colors were revealed. They started bragging loudly to the officials of Qingzhou Prefecture.

They embellished and exaggerated their exploits, such as how they punched Lü Bu at Hulao Pass, kicked Dong Zhuo in Luoyang, and routed the Xiliang army, leaving them in disarray and fleeing in disarray.

Liu Bei, holding his wine bowl, coldly watched the two spittle-flecked brutes, secretly dissatisfied.

Judging by their attitude, they're definitely going to get completely drunk tonight. It seems they came to Qingzhou just to lie down and do nothing. But Liu Bei has no intention of lying down and doing nothing.

He had already laid out his strategy in his mind: Cao Cao would surely launch an attack on Xuzhou soon, and he would have to go to its aid.

To provide aid, he needed to strengthen his forces in the shortest possible time, recruit soldiers, and then have these two brutes train troops and cultivate land for him.

But if these two generals were to fall into hiding first, how would he strengthen his forces?

However, Liu Bei ultimately said nothing. After all, it was only their first night in Qingzhou, so it was understandable that they should relax. The matter of recruiting soldiers could wait until tomorrow.

Gongsun Zan raised his wine bowl to Liu Bei, then took out the seal and documents of the Governor of Qingzhou from under the table, presented them to Liu Bei with both hands, and said in a loud voice with an extremely sincere smile on his face:

"Xuande, you can settle down here in Qingzhou Prefecture. I will hand over all 200,000 elite troops of Qingzhou to you for training. Not only these troops, but all military and political power of Qingzhou will be in your hands. I will be a hands-off manager, and you will be the ruler of Qingzhou."

Liu Bei's heart tightened suddenly. He quickly placed the wine bowl on the table, pushed the official seal outwards with both hands, and said solemnly:

"General Gongsun, what are you doing? Do you suspect that I, Liu Bei, want to seize your Qingzhou? I have absolutely no such intention! If I had even the slightest thought of coveting Qingzhou, may even Heaven forgive me!"

Seeing his trembling and fearful appearance, Gongsun Zan laughed instead. He shook his head, pushed the seal forward another half an inch, and spoke with sincerity and earnestness:

"Xuande, you're overthinking it. I genuinely want you to be the ruler of Qingzhou."

Seeing that Liu Bei was about to decline, he waved his hand to interrupt him and continued speaking.

"Xuande, listen to me. My strength is not yet sufficient; I must become stronger. And in this world, you, Liu Xuande, are second only to Cao Cao in strength. You are skilled in both literature and martial arts, and possess exceptional strategic acumen. You are more than capable of shouldering this great responsibility."

Liu Bei slowly shook his head, pushed the seal back, and said in a tone that left no room for negotiation:

"General Gongsun, have you forgotten the lesson of Sun Quan and Zhou Yu vying for control of Jiangdong? I absolutely cannot agree to this. I beg you, General Gongsun, to rescind your order."

Seeing his resolute attitude, Gongsun Zan could only sigh deeply, place the official seal on the table, and look into Liu Bei's eyes, saying each word carefully:

"Xuande, I am not Sun Quan, and Zhou Yu is far inferior to you. I trust you more than anyone else with the power of Qingzhou in my hands."

"I need to leave the city these next few days to slay a bizarre creature capable of taking on ten thousand men. I can't let it continue to plague the people of Qingzhou. For me, this is also a good opportunity to improve my strength. So please don't refuse anymore; just consider it as guarding the house for me for a few days."

Liu Bei remained silent for a long while before finally relenting, but he still left himself an escape route:

"Alright then, General Gongsun. While you are away, I will temporarily take charge of Qingzhou. Once you return safely, I will immediately return this seal and documents to you intact."

Gongsun Zan was secretly delighted to see that he had finally relented. He quickly raised his wine bowl and clinked it against his, nodding and smiling in agreement.

Liu Bei picked up his wine bowl, took a sip, and then asked, "General Gongsun, you just said you were going out of the city to slay a strange creature capable of defeating ten thousand men. What exactly is this creature?"