Mythical Three Kingdoms

Li Youu watched his daughter run away, with a sigh in his heart. Indeed, a grown daughter can’t be kept around. But to speak of this, Li Youu initially had the idea of marrying his daughter to Zhuge Liang; what a pity Zhuge Liang already had a betrothed partner back then.

To Li Youu, Zhuge Liang is the successor of his teachings. Although he never officially accepted him as a disciple, he truly nurtured him as an inner disciple, and Zhuge Liang’s capabilities are extremely exceptional.

Well, it seems his daughter is enamored with Zhuge Liang partly because he’s a person as brilliant as a dragon or phoenix, always hovering in front of her. It’s just unfortunate.

[Forget it, matters of the younger generation should be resolved by themselves. Yuan’er’s opinion is that although Ji Xiang has changed, it’s not as drastic as we previously thought.] Li Youu silently reflected, though this is actually quite normal.

On the other side, after being scolded by Li Youu, Li Yuan happily returned home, having gotten what she wanted, and began packing her things.

”Hmm, going to the Western Regions is indeed troublesome. That place, Liangzhou, is always somewhat terrible. My father always handles his own issues; I need to think of a strategy,” Li Yuan wasn’t too blinded by joy. Though she was somewhat bewitched by Zhuge Liang, her mind was still intact.

Meanwhile, Lub Su had already brought his sister-in-law to his home. His grandmother was visibly pleased to see Ji Xiang, constantly fussing over her with warmth and care, making Lub Su rather embarrassed.

”Oh, something happened with Xiang’er, so she needs to stay at home. That’s good; this house is practically empty, and there’s no one understanding to talk to. You should have brought someone back ages ago. Go, bring Ning’er back tomorrow too.” Grandmother of Lub Su liked Ji Xiang very much and repeatedly instructed Lub Su, leaving him a bit helpless.

After enlightening Lub Su, his grandmother began to subtly hint at Ji Xiang with a smiling face, and Ji Xiang placidly flattered Lub Su’s grandmother, praising Lub Su along with the implication understood by all three — Xu Ning, Ji Xiang, and Lub Su.

Lub Su tilted his head to look at the beam; he always found this situation most awkward. Ji Xiang had her abnormal moments, but behaved appropriately. As a woman from a long-established aristocratic family, she could do very well, and this was why Lub Su’s grandmother liked Ji Xiang.

After dealing with his grandmother, Lub Su sheepishly said to Ji Xiang, ”Don’t take grandmother’s words to heart. She just really likes you, so she always revolves around that point.”

Ji Xiang glanced at Lub Su, ”I find you’re suddenly not afraid of me today.”

Lub Su twitched, remembering the past era dominated by Ji Xiang, ”It’s not a matter of fear anymore. It’s just that the mirth you’ve created is too great. I’m trying to find ways to protect you now.”

”Marry me?” Ji Xiang’s mind seemed to hit a snag and then veered onto another path.

Lub Su’s mouth twitched, ”A girl putting such words on her lips, aren’t you embarrassed?”

Ji Xiang halted, thought for a moment, then sized up Lub Su, who inexplicably recalled being stripped involuntarily for treatment.

Lub Su wasn’t foolish; he understood today’s situation very clearly. Ji Xiang being confined was almost an irrevocable status. Her biggest problem lies in that uncontrollable destructiveness.

And ordinary people basically have no right to confine Ji Xiang; those qualified are either possessors of Inner Qi Manifestation or Spiritual Talent. Only when these two types of people remain emotionally steady can they ignore Ji Xiang’s abilities.

Though Lub Su had almost figured it out that Ji Xiang basically wouldn’t misuse such abilities, due to her potential danger, necessary precautions must be in place. And as for Chen Xi, Li Youu, and others who eliminate risks without leaving hidden dangers, such precautions are placed openly.

In other words, it’s very likely that Lub Su will be the one guarding her in the end. Lub Su wasn’t dense; he’d been married twice and understood his grandmother’s situation. Ji Xiang only needs to move in, and over time, could very well be persuaded by his grandmother.

Alright, actually it’s less about being persuaded and more about being thoroughly annoyed. To prevent further annoyance, Ji Xiang, given her normal psyche, would naturally find a way to resolve this issue once and for all.

”Sigh, Ji Xiang, you’d better stay away from such dangerous things in the future. You might end up confined for a long time, and even afterward, your activity range might be limited,” Lub Su advised with a sigh, somewhat helplessly, distracting from that awkward topic. Big sister-in-law’s thought patterns are ultimately a bit odd.

Ji Xiang tilted her head, looking at Lub Su with disdain, leaving him a bit dumbfounded. What’s happening here, somehow he ended up receiving disdain.

”You’re talking as if I go out often,” Ji Xiang rolled her eyes and said, though her personality had deviated somewhat, her overall temperament hadn’t changed too drastically.

For these three years, she spent most of her time at the Medical Academy, waiting for patients to come by, occasionally visiting her two cousins. Then after getting that book, she started researching it, later being taken to Chang’an, and stayed in the captivity camp for nearly three months without even going out.

When establishing the mountain gate, ten times going out to challenge the Great Confucian Scholars, twice to address the issues for establishing the gate, and after the gate was successfully established, spent two months without leaving, until captured today.

Lub Su was momentarily stunned, then he carefully pondered his older sister-in-law’s routine. Ji Xiang seemed to be the type who remained in one place without moving unless something major happened, from a certain perspective, house arrest would hardly affect a homebody like her.

”This is fine too.” Lub Su twitched slightly, but it truly was a good thing, ”If you need anything later, just tell me, I’ll bring it back for you.”

”Continuing with the previous question, when I said ’marry me’, even though you tried to maintain an unchanged expression, in reality, you had other emotional shifts—some delight, some awkwardness, and other expressions.” Ji Xiang crossed her arms and lifted them, then forcibly brought the question back, completely disregarding Lub Su’s attempts to change the subject.

At that moment, Lub Su’s face twitched again, finally saying after a while, ”I’ll take you to the inner courtyard to rest.”

At that moment, Lub Su deeply felt that he was probably doomed.

”Tsk,” Ji Xiang glanced at Lub Su dissatisfiedly, then was obediently escorted to the inner courtyard by Lub Su, who pointed out seven or eight servants for her.

”Just rest here, tell us what you want to eat or need, but don’t take it out on the household servants,” Lub Su warned somewhat anxiously as he left.

”Alright~,” Ji Xiang gave Lub Su a speechless look but seeing him staring at her, she responded with an elongated tone, offering Lub Su an assurance.

”Then rest well, I’ll find a way to resolve this trouble,” Lub Su urged Ji Xiang to rest and planned to work overtime himself that evening.

Lub Su prepared to compile tens of thousands of captives into records today and dispatch them to the various areas needing construction, breaking them into groups of three hundred, dispersing them everywhere. This way, without being a large target, it’s impossible for anyone to notice.

Every batch of captives would have such figures; having such a group of captives, for those below managing construction, it’s simply luck, who cares if there are any problems within.

”Hmm, in this aspect it seems necessary to provide Gong Youu with some insider info.” Lub Su picked up Li Youu’s semi-finished slave records and began compiling the labor rosters required for local infrastructure projects, deciding to resolve the issue swiftly without checking this time.

While Lub Su was working overtime, Chen Xi finally explained Ji Xiang’s issue to Liu Bei, then headed home groggily. Inevitably, in the next ten days, all other work would be delayed, and this matter would certainly be placed at the core, needing first resolution.

The next day, when Chen Xi carried a food box to the Political Office, Lub Su was lying on the desk resting, having indeed worked through the night. As the sky barely brightened, Lub Su finally managed to handle things and fell asleep right on the desk.

”You two seem quite exhausted as well,” Chen Xi said after placing the food box, as Li Youu and Guo Jia also appeared tiredly at the Political Office.

”You can still sleep well,” Li Youu grumblingly rebuked in a low voice, though possibly reluctant to disturb Lub Su, signaled for Chen Xi and Guo Jia to step out together.

”The imperial edict here I’ve settled, and Lord has reviewed it already, it’ll be sent to Chang’an today; the captive camp there has been ordered concealed and cordoned off, preventing news leaks. Wen Ze and Shuzhi have meticulously documented everything they saw and knew, relating personnel have also been sealed.” Li Youu said somewhat tiredly, yet his eyes lit up discussing the content compiled by Yu Jin and Chen Dao.

”On my end, I’ve used certain channels to let the Ji family know portions of my amended situation, now just waiting for them to take the bait. I’ve dispatched people to continue probing the ten Confucian Scholars involved, with the deepest engaged being Master Shuijing and Duke Yana Fang.” Guo Jia also spoke tiredly.

”The other eight people are mostly unlikely involved, Lord Kang Cheng merely has an interest in the School of Mind’s unity of knowledge and action, Duke Yana Fang might’ve discovered some issues, but given his morals wouldn’t disclose it, the sole possible leak is Master Shuijing.” Chen Xi nodded, recalling when he initially leveraged to pry these people away.

”How to address the situation with Master Shuijing?” Li Youu raised an eyebrow.

”Zichuan has probably resolved it.” Guo Jia smiled.

Chen Xi nodded too, knowing that for a Miscellaneous School’s leader, the thirst for knowledge is no joking matter. Comparing with piecing fragments on the School of Mind from Ji Xiang, none surpass the sensation of having a complete volume of philosophical thoughts suddenly delivered.

To put it bluntly, this book landing on Sima Hui’s head, with him now immersed in a sea of philosophy and wisdom, likely means Ji Xiang could be entirely forgotten by him.