With a soft sigh, Zhuge Liang set his brush aside and rose to stand by the window, watching the fine rain drifting down, as well as his lord in a straw hat shouting orders in the field.
What an increased harvest meant, Zhuge Liang naturally understood.
Yet in these past months, whenever he occasionally reviewed the knowledge shown on the Lightscreen at night, his mind grew heavy with too many thoughts.
Setting aside aircraft carriers, high-speed rail, and Tiangong Kaiwu, had the people of that later age already learned the full extent of this world? Had the Han people in that time achieved an era of true great peace?
Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Zhuge Liang sat back down to resume his work. Everything had to start from the beginning. The first step was still defeating the Cao thief.
The sun hung low over the farm fields, turning the ripening rice into a sea of shimmering gold. Right in the middle of it, waist-deep in mud, stood Liu Bei.
He had traded his fine robes for a rough tunic and a wide-brimmed straw hat that had already slipped crookedly over one side of his head. Mud covered his legs, splattered his sleeves, and even dotted his beard, but he seemed entirely unconcerned. A sickle rested in his calloused hands as he moved steadily along the rows, cutting the rice stalks with a rhythm his body still remembered from his youth.
"Careful there, my lord!" an old farmer called, wiping sweat from his brow. "You are making the rest of us look lazy!"
Liu Bei laughed and wiped his forehead with the back of his muddy hand.
"Then work faster, Uncle Wang! If we finish early, I will treat everyone to a feast!"
A cheer rose from the surrounding fields.
The villagers and refugees working alongside him grinned from ear to ear. They still found it difficult to believe that the Lord of Jingzhou would willingly walk into the mud with them, roll up his sleeves, and do exactly the same work they did.
Most nobles would not even allow their horses to step into a muddy field.
Yet here was Liu Bei, covered in mud and laughing as though he had nowhere else he would rather be.
Word of the harvest had spread quickly.
Three shi and one dou per mu.
In an age when two shi per mu was already considered an excellent harvest, the figure was astonishing.
People who had arrived in Jiangling with nothing but the clothes on their backs were now discussing grain storage. They were talking about planting next year. Some had even begun discussing where they wanted to build their houses.
They were no longer speaking like refugees passing through.
They were speaking like people who intended to stay.
"Lord Liu! Lord Liu! Try this!"
A young woman hurried through the crowd carrying a steaming bowl of soup. Before Liu Bei could even turn around, an older man pushed a thick piece of flatbread into his other hand.
"And eat some bread, my lord! You have been working since dawn!"
"Please, take mine too!" another villager called. "I baked it myself!"
Within moments, Liu Bei found himself completely surrounded.
Flatbreads were being pressed into his arms. Bowls of hot soup appeared from every direction. People crowded around him, laughing and calling out to one another, some simply hoping for the chance to offer their lord something they had made with their own hands.
Liu Bei looked down at the growing collection of food in his arms and laughed helplessly.
"Thank you, truly, but please, do not go to so much trouble on my account."
He carefully adjusted the bowl before it could spill.
"The harvest is the real victory here. It belongs to all of you."
"Ah, but it would never have happened without you!" an elderly woman insisted.
She pointed her spoon at him as though she were scolding a particularly stubborn grandson.
"Who else would have given us land, seed, and tools, then come out here and harvest the fields alongside us?"
Several villagers immediately nodded in agreement.
Liu Bei smiled, visibly touched.
"I am only returning what Heaven has given us. And if the yield holds steady like this..."
"It will!"
A farmer several rows away shouted it with such confidence that everyone turned toward him.
"We have never seen stalks this full!"
He lifted a thick bundle of rice stalks for everyone to see.
"Look at these grains, my lord. They are heavy!"
Another farmer laughed.
"Heavy as lead!"
"Then do not drop them," Liu Bei called back. "If they are worth their weight in lead, you had better treat them like treasure."
The surrounding farmers laughed.
This was the Liu Bei that Bu Zhi saw: mud splattered across his body, a straw hat on his head, surrounded by common folk eagerly pressing flatbread and hot soup into his hands, all for the chance to earn a word of praise from him.
"Big Brother!" Zhang Fei roared from a distance, the effect instantaneous.
Liu Bei, looking delighted, bid farewell to the villagers and squeezed through the crowd.
Bu Zhi took a subtle step back, trying to avoid getting mud on his pristine robes.
After whispering briefly with Zhang Fei, Liu Bei smiled warmly.
"Zishan, you have come from afar, yet I failed to receive you properly. Lady Sun, however, is currently hunting in Chanling. Your timing is unfortunate."
"Ah, what a terrible pity! Truly, the heavens have conspired against me! But I can see Lord Liu has much to attend to, so I shall take my leave..."
Bu Zhi cupped his fists, hoping to escape right then and there.
But Liu Bei stepped forward and seized his hands firmly.
"Since you are here, why not stay in Gong'an for a time and renew family ties? When Lady Sun returns, she will surely be delighted."
'Just as I thought', Bu Zhi sighed inwardly. Refusing again would be rude. "Hahaha, how could I refuse such generous hospitality? I shall trouble you."
Standing behind them, Zhang Fei felt he was still far behind his big brother in the art of lying. Speaking of which, some things sounded so incredibly real. When had Sister-in-law Sun ever set foot in Gong'an?
After settling Bu Zhi's lodging and arranging guards, Zhang Fei reported everything he had seen to Zhuge Liang.
After some thought, Zhuge Liang nodded slightly.
"In that case, Jiaozhou is secure for the time being."
"What if Jiangdong sends ships straight for Shi Xie?" Zhang Fei asked.
He had been considering this possibility all along the return journey.
"Unlikely," Zhuge Liang said.
"Shi Xie is exceedingly adept at judging the times. He has governed Jiaozhou for twenty-three years. If Sun Quan resorts to force, it will only backfire."
"Bu Zhi's plan was merely to exploit Cangwu's weakness, using the rift between Lai Gong and Wu Ju as a pretext to kill Wu Ju. With Cangwu secured and bordering Jiangdong, our lord would be unable to respond in time, and Shi Xie would have no choice but to submit."
"But now that Wu Ju lives, so long as Lai Gong can be brought back, Jiaozhou will remain stable. Even if Sun Quan repeats this scheme, it will only drive Shi Xie to send troops in support."
"After all, in this unsettled age, Shi Xie has no wish to pledge himself to any side."
"Then let Old Zhang make another trip to Lingling?" Zhang Fei volunteered.
"That... would be good. Yide, have my lord write a letter to Lai Gong. I will write one as well, explaining the stakes and, for appearance's sake, scolding Wu Ju a bit in the letter."
Before long, Liu Bei arrived and readily agreed, though he worried about sending Zhang Fei.
"Yide handles matters with order and care," Zhuge Liang said firmly. "This mission is without risk."
With that assurance, Liu Bei felt at ease.
A fast horse round trip took no more than five days. Zhang Fei returned with Lai Gong's reply.
"Administrator Lai said he will place state affairs first!"
Zhang Fei drank a large bowl of water and wiped his mouth.
"He said public duty outweighs private grievance. He did not expect his angry departure to nearly cause such disaster. He also wrote a letter to you, Big Brother. I have brought it back."
"That is good." The others finally relaxed.
With Zhang Fei's return, it was already late July. The time of the Lightscreen drew near again.
Liu Bei found himself facing a familiar dilemma.
Who should be brought this time?
Jian Yong had not yet returned from his mission.
Sun Qian was overseeing construction at Jiangling and could not leave.
Mi Zhu had already taken the paper workshop's products downstream to Jiangdong to trade.
Liu Bei looked at his secret list, thought for a moment, and circled a name: It is you!
After journeys to Cangwu and Jiangling, Zhang Fei felt as though he had grown thinner.
'At this rate, will my armor soon no longer fit?'
Muttering to himself, he stepped into the side hall and immediately saw a young man standing motionless beside Guan Yu.
"Hah! My good nephew!"
Zhang Fei clapped Guan Ping heavily on the shoulder, nearly knocking him off balance.
"Third Uncle."
Guan Ping's expression flickered briefly before returning to its usual stern calm as he bowed.
"Do you know why you have been called here?"
"I do not," Guan Ping replied. "Father and Uncle summoned me. I dare not disobey."
Nearby, Guan Yu sat with his eyes closed, resting.
Zhang Fei flashed a thumbs-up toward Liu Bei.
He had learned that gesture from the Lightscreen. It meant approval.
"Then just wait and see!" Zhang Fei laughed, giving Guan Ping another solid pat on the back.
This nephew of his was excellent in every way. Except perhaps that he imitated his father too much. At barely thirty, he already carried himself with solemn gravity. Zhang Fei was quite eager to see that expression crack.
And likely, their Big Brother thought the same. Otherwise, he would have explained things beforehand.
As more people gathered, Guan Ping's confusion deepened.
He could not shake the feeling that his Third Uncle and Eldest Uncle kept glancing at him.
Not long after everyone arrived, the air flickered. The Lightscreen appeared as abruptly as before.
Guan Ping's rigid expression shattered.
What in the nine heavens is this sorcery?!
He stumbled back a step, nearly tripping over his own feet. The legendary composure inherited from his father evaporated in an instant.
Great, goal achieved.
Zhang Fei grinned, then turned his focus to the screen. Hah..What do the future people have for us this time?
Moments later, the hall was filled with sharp intakes of breath.
"Heavens above... is this the power of the gods?"
Chen Dao, standing guard outside the hall, felt a curiosity.
'What kind of military intelligence could cause such a reaction?'
[Lightscreen]
[Hello everyone, still the same name, the same man, Wen Mang the Illiterate!
Just like the last preview, today we are looking at the Three Kingdoms memories of Chengdu. We will keep things light this time and not talk about war.
After all, war is not the sole theme of the Three Kingdoms. What we remember about Shu Han is not only its peerless warriors.
Because the Han and the traitors cannot coexist. Because even knowing defeat is certain, they still give their all.
Because of Zhuge Liang total devotion, and the loyalty and brotherhood of the Three in the Peach Garden.
They are gone, their great enterprise unfinished, yet their legacy endures. Their presence has left a vivid mark upon Chengdu.
Let us begin with an aerial drone view and take a look at this Land of Abundance!]
The shaking camera on the Lightscreen stabilized. Although they did not recognize the future buildings, everyone knew this must be on a building, and a tall one at that.
But before they could even estimate how tall it was in their minds, the picture shakily flew up.
They saw a short-haired young man holding something like a box. Then, the massive towers in the frame began to shrink.
Wide roads turned into thin lines. The magnificent skyscrapers became dots. The line of sight continued to pull higher, and it seemed like the whistling wind could be heard from the frame.
But even though the picture was so high it made Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang's stomachs turn, everything in sight was still buildings!
At a certain altitude, the camera's direction slowly pitched up from looking straight down, as if flying in the air and gazing into the distance. The line of sight swept over the dense buildings.
Nearby stood towering structures.
Farther away lay sprawling estates.
Rivers wound like jade belts across the land.
Green mountains reclined gracefully in the distance.
This scene lasted for only a few breaths before the sky directly turned black. The charming green mountains in the distance turned into shadowy silhouettes, and the camera moved down again.
A magnificent and fantastical city of lights! The ground was as bright as day, and colorful lights flashed within it. For the first time, everyone felt their eyes were completely not enough to take it all in.
After the initial shock, Jiang Wan and Ma Liang still could not bear to look away, but a question simultaneously surfaced in their hearts: How in the world are we supposed to copy this?
Liu Bei had already risen to his feet, utterly captivated.
"So this... is Chengdu?"
"This is truly Chengdu?"