Yun Chang POV
“What are you…” I wasn’t sure how to react at her sudden movements and was about to use my blade to block when I remembered that she was unarmed and didn’t follow through with blocking.
She lunged onto me and pressed down hard, making me lose my balance and fall onto the ground hard.
“Kuh!” I cried out from landing on the back of head.
“And now I have repaid the debt I owe you for not killing me.” Liao Hua whispered in my ear.
“…” What does she mean?
When she saw a look of puzzlement on me and how I was getting ready to counter her, she signalled for me to look at the side with her eyes. I looked at where she was signalling and found an arrow buried in the sand
Even though there wasn’t anything just now… Wait, if I think back to just now, I did seem to hear something flying through the air.
Could it be?! I hurriedly got up and looked at Luoyang’s tall city walls.
Amongst the crowd was Han Fu. He had a bow in his hands and a quiver slung over the other. I can’t see his expression but I can tell he is getting frantic from his actions.
“That Han Fu wants to kill me?”
“…”
Putting everything I knew and had just seen together, this was the conclusion I reached. When I looked at Liao Hua, I saw that her face was calm, and she was clearly in the know about all this.
“The Administrator never thought that he would be defeated by martial bravery and virtue.”
“Un? Liao Hua?! What’s going on?” I was anxious and did not understand what Liao Hua was saying.
While I was still lost, Liao Hua had gotten up and made a gesture with her hand which she raised above her head.
“Everyone! The troops on the other side have been thoroughly defeated and since we can’t get in touch with General Du Yuan, I’ll take charge for now! Get in line, and return to the city!” Liao Hua yelled out and in the next instant, the Yellow Turban troops disappeared into the nearby forests.
“Eh? What’s going on?”
The sea of yellow was gone, and only casualties here and there as well as my troops and a puzzles Wen Yuan were left behind.
As I looked at her from afar, it felt like she hadn’t gotten enough action. The troops that had followed her charge, however, were panting profusely. Looks like the difficult journey that the troops from Xu state have been through has helped them endure such arduous battles.
I then turned to look at the city tower and find Han Fu but he wasn’t there anymore.
“Was the Administrator too anxious? If he wasn’t, he would have let loose a rain of arrows… Though that wouldn’t have been enough to deal with you both and would have been more noticeable anyway.” Liao Hua nonchalantly said some very dangerous words but at this moment her attitude isn’t the problem here.
“Liao Hua, tell me what the heck is going on?!” I put power in my legs and stood up straight in one go. Because of my height, I had to look downwards to meet Liao Hua’s eyes.
She looked at me and began to calmly explain herself, “These aren’t actually Yellow Turbans. Our troops are actually Luoyang city’s troops.”
“Luoyang city’s troops?”
“That’s right. I am the Registrar of Luoyang and was promoted to this position 3 years ago.” She closed her eyes before she continued, “In short, we’re the ones who caused all this trouble.”
Eh?!
“This was a scheme which Administrator Han Fu thought up after many nights and according to him, it would end in a clean and positive result with no repercussions.”
“Then could it be that it was all an–”
“Administrator Han Fu doesn’t usually attend to governance matters. Most of the reconstruction efforts have been directed by Meng Tan and I. Most of the details in this scheme were also worked out by Meng Tan.”
“Han Fu and Meng Tan…” I was incensed at being tricked.
I really don’t understand why they have to create so much trouble over a simple matter as crossing a pass. It’s only a permit so why can’t they just check with Meng De?
Even if you aren’t going to allow us through, you don’t need to do so much.
“General Guan Yu, I shouldn’t be telling you this much. As an official, I should be doing everything I can to stop you from crossing the pass.” Liao Hua turned and took out a yellow turban from her pocket and threw it on the ground with a disgusted look before she continued, “But as General Guan said, I still have a long way to go on my path. And since you gave me that chance, I will give you yours.”
When she finished, she ran over to her warhorse, made it stand and mounted it.
I was deeply moved by Liao Hua’s words. All I seek is honour, but it wasn’t something that was easily defined after all. But to put it simply, Liao Hua’s act of repaying a favour in kind should be considered honourable.
“General Guan Yu, what are you still doing here?”
Un?
Liao Hua was about to leave but she turned and spoke to me in a low voice.
“Yun Chang!!” Wen Yuan yelled out as she galloped over, “We need to get back to Luoyang now! The girls are in trouble!”
Ah! No good!
I only remembered that the girls back in the city were in danger when Wen Yuan reminded me