New Three Kingdoms Tales: Starting as the expressionless Liu Bei

"Ah San! You died a terrible death! It wasn't Yuan Shao who ruined you, it was me, Liu Bei, who ruined you!"

Beside Ah San's bed, Liu Bei stood straight, his face still bearing that unchanging, expressionless face. But his voice was already choked with emotion, each word seeming to be forced out from his throat.

Early this morning, as usual, Gongsun Zan's personal guards came to wake Ah San up for breakfast. They knocked a few times, but there was no response from inside.

The guard shouted twice more, but the tent remained deathly silent. His heart sank, he took two steps back, and then slammed the tent flap open. The next second, he froze on the spot, a chill running down his spine.

Ah San lay sprawled on the bed, his face and body splattered with dried blood.

The guards stepped forward to check his injuries, only to find that he was completely unharmed, without a single wound.

But when he pried open Ah San's mouth, the scene before him made him gasp. Ah San's tongue had been cut off. The cause of death was excessive blood loss. Blood trickled down from the corner of his mouth, soaking half the pillow.

Liu Bei's gaze slowly shifted from Ah San's face, which was forever frozen in terror.

He recalled that last night, Yuan Shao had used his ability to teleport at will to deliver the letter to Yuan Shu's shop without anyone noticing.

This beast cut out the Indian man's tongue, but deliberately didn't kill him, letting him bleed continuously until dawn before finally dying.

Liu Bei clenched his fists so tightly that his nails dug into his palms, leaving several white marks. He hated himself for being too cautious and not letting Ah San sleep in the same tent as the two of them.

He sighed deeply. To be fair, the Indian had already given him all the information, so he was no longer of any use to him. But he was still planning something else.

He had originally planned to send Ah San to Wolonggang in Jingzhou ahead of time, so that he could become a disciple of Zhuge Liang and thus have a clear understanding of Kongming's future movements. Before he could even make this move, Yuan Shao thwarted it.

Just as he was pondering this, Zhang Fei's gruff voice boomed from behind him:

"Brother, just cry a little and that's enough. Who knows if that old man in heaven can hear us? Cao Cao invited us to drink at the pavilion, and the time is almost here. Stop crying, let's hurry up, or there won't be any wine left!"

Liu Bei remained expressionless, only cursing inwardly. Zhang Yide, however, had voiced his true feelings.

But Liu Bei was, after all, a benevolent and righteous gentleman, and in front of so many people, he still had to put on a show.

He turned his head and sternly rebuked Zhang Fei, "Third brother, you mustn't be rude!"

Zhang Fei chuckled, not annoyed at all, and pulled Guan Yu away to stroll to the side.

The two walked away arm in arm, and without even listening, it was obvious what they were talking about—it was definitely about those wine jars again.

Gongsun Zan stood aside, taking in everything.

As everyone turned and dispersed, his pupils contracted slightly, as if a thought flashed through his mind, before he regained his usual composure. That glint of light was so fleeting that it was almost imperceptible.

On the pavilion, the three sat around an old wooden table, on which were five jars of fine Peiguo wine.

Cao Cao picked up his wine bowl, took a sip, and gazed at the charred walls of Luoyang in the distance. He sighed softly, "After this parting, I don't know when we will meet again. And when we do meet again, I wonder if we will be enemies or friends."

Sun Jian sighed, put down his wine bowl, and said solemnly, "No matter what happens in the future, I, Sun, will never be an enemy of these two heroes!"

Liu Bei nodded slightly, his face remaining expressionless, but inwardly he sneered.

That's quite true. Sun Wentai was about to die at Sanjindu, and a dead man naturally wouldn't be an enemy of anyone.

He lowered his head, staring at the slightly swirling wine in the bowl, and said in a nonchalant tone, "Anyone who is loyal to the Han Dynasty is my friend, Liu Bei. Anyone who betrays the Han and aids the traitors is my enemy, Liu Bei."

Cao Cao nodded in deep agreement, leaned forward, and asked, "Xuande, where are you planning to go next?"

Liu Bei put down his wine bowl, clasped his hands in a fist salute, and said, "I have received General Gongsun's invitation to temporarily reside in Pingyuan County." He raised his head, his gaze sweeping back and forth between Cao Cao and Sun Jian. "I wonder what General Cao and General Sun's plans are?"

Cao Cao finished the remaining wine in his bowl, wiped his mouth, and said, "I plan to lead my army to Yangzhou to seek another way to save the country."

Sun Jian leaned against the charred pillar of the pavilion, his face still somewhat pale, and waved his hand, saying:

"I'm not going to cause any more trouble. I'll go back to my hometown in Jiangdong and heal all these injuries first. After I recover, I can only protect the people and live a simple life on my small plot of land."

Liu Bei sighed softly, his gaze slowly sweeping across the two men's faces, his tone unusually tinged with genuine emotion:

"It's a pity. The nineteen heroes and valiant men had just risen up to fight against Dong Zhuo when they were caught in a power struggle and internal strife. The alliance they had painstakingly formed was wiped out overnight. From now on, the turmoil in the Han Dynasty will probably never end."

Cao Cao shook his head, gently slammed his wine bowl on the table, and corrected him, "Xuande, you are mistaken. In my opinion, among these nineteen warlords, only Brother Wentai, you, Xuande, and I, Cao Cao, can be considered true heroes."

"The rest are not heroes, but villains. I predict that it won't be long before they fight each other to the death. So, our best course of action is to withdraw as soon as possible."

Having said all that, all good things must come to an end. Liu Bei stood up, bowed respectfully to Cao Cao and Sun Jian, and said, "Liu Bei takes his leave now."

As soon as he finished speaking, Zhang Fei calmly reached out and steadily scooped up the two unopened jars of fine wine on the table into his arms. His movements were so practiced and his demeanor so composed, as if the wine was rightfully his.

Cao Cao saw this but wasn't annoyed. Instead, he chuckled and beckoned to Cao Ren beside him, "Go, fetch ten more jars of fine wine and give them to General Guan and General Zhang, so they can take them back and drink to their hearts' content!"

Upon hearing this, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei's eyes lit up. Zhang Fei, clutching the wine jar, laughed so hard his beard trembled, as if he wanted to kneel down and kowtow to Cao Cao on the spot.

Liu Bei clasped his hands in thanks again, turned around, and led his two younger brothers, who were carrying wine jars, and a large number of soldiers, strode out of the pavilion and gradually disappeared into the distance at the end of the official road.

Sun Jian watched the three "heroes" Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei walk away into the distance, then turned and bowed to Cao Cao, saying, "Brother Mengde, farewell." With that, he turned to leave.

"General Sun, please wait." Cao Cao's voice came from behind, unhurried, yet it made Sun Jian stop in his tracks.

Cao Cao stepped forward slowly, his gaze calmly fixed on Sun Jian's eyes, his tone unhurried: "I have a question I wish to ask. If you have something difficult to say, General Sun, you need not answer."

Sun Jian frowned slightly, wondering what Cao Mengde was up to, but he still nodded.

Cao Cao took another half step forward, his slender eyes staring directly into Sun Jian's pupils, as if waiting to catch something.

When he spoke, his voice was as calm as if he were chatting, but every word struck Sun Jian's most taut nerve: "General Sun, is the Imperial Seal still with you?"

Sun Jian's pupils contracted sharply. The reaction happened in the blink of an eye, so brief as to be almost imperceptible, but to Cao Cao, it was enough.

Sun Jian quickly suppressed the turmoil in his heart, regained his composure, and shook his head.

But he knew better than anyone that Cao Cao's shrewd eyes had seen through his momentary lapse in composure. Further explanation would be futile.

Sun Ce's hand had already quietly rested on the hilt of his sword. He stared intently at Cao Cao, his entire body tense.

The armored soldiers behind him also gripped their weapons in unison, and Cao Cao's personal guards also drew their swords half an inch from their sheaths. The two groups of men stood in silent confrontation inside and outside the pavilion, and the air suddenly became heavy.

Ta-da!