Surviving as Guan Yu in the Three Kingdoms

The day after the banquet ended, the trio of me, Zhang Fei, and Liu Bei headed towards Zhang Shiping’s house.

They say no ant approaches a poor person, but all sorts of people line up at a rich person’s house.

Even though we deliberately came early in the morning, Zhang Shiping’s front gate was bustling with people standing in line.

“This place is always crowded with people no matter when you come, isn’t it, Elder Sister Xuande?”
“There’s no one richer than Master Zhang (Zhang Shiping) in this Xu County. So I guess everyone is desperate to get even a little bit of soybean powder.”

In Korea too, when a person becomes wealthy and well-off, people flock around them trying to get even a piece of rice cake.

I heard that even the girlfriend who dumped me would suddenly come back if I passed the civil service exam, and unpopular men would become popular if they got into a big company.

It seems in any era, people flock around the rich trying to get something.

Zhang Fei looked at the people standing in line with an expression that said the world was pathetic.

Then she shook her head and grumbled.

“If they need money, they should earn it themselves. I don’t understand why they have to cling to a good person like Master Zhang and try to suck money out of him. It’s not like they’re mosquitoes or something, right?”

Indeed, what those people lined up are doing is quite similar to mosquitoes.

How is trying to mooch off the wealth that others have worked hard to build any different from mosquitoes?

I patted Zhang Fei’s shoulder who had said those words.

“Would mosquitoes have a reason for sucking blood?”

When I patted her shoulder like this, Zhang Fei’s whole body trembled.

Then she ran away, putting a few steps between us.

I thought we had definitely become close yesterday, so why is she acting like this?

Could it be that thinking we had become closer was just my own delusion?

After fleeing with a start, Zhang Fei’s face turned as red as a ripe apple and she bowed her head deeply.

Then, in a voice so small it seemed like it might disappear, she said:

“Don’t touch my body without saying anything, it’s embarrassing…”

Liu Bei saw this and asked with a slightly worried look.

“Did something happen with Yide yesterday, Lord Guan?”

When we first met, even though I said I would serve Liu Bei, Liu Bei herself had nothing and our relationship was awkward, so she let it slide when I used honorifics.

But now we clearly have a master-servant relationship, and we’re also comrades who have crossed the line between life and death together.

So before bringing up the story about Zhang Fei, it would be better to resolve this first.

“I, Guan Yu, have long since decided to serve you, Lady Xuande, and didn’t we risk our lives fighting together in the war last time? Please don’t use formal speech awkwardly and call me comfortably.”

Hearing those words, Liu Bei thought for a moment and replied.

“Alright, Yunchang. So what happened with Zhang Fei yesterday? It’s the first time I’ve seen that child show such a weak side to a man.”

Something did happen, but I pride myself on not having done anything to be so blatantly avoided.

Rather, Zhang Fei and I, after she told me her story, hit it off and swore to walk the same path together for life.

Although the period we’ve known each other is short, this should be enough to call us best friends among best friends…

Come to think of it, there’s nothing more unfair than this.

So when I didn’t say anything, Liu Bei started pressuring me to answer by staring intently into my eyes.

“It’s not that nothing happened. Yide came to me yesterday quite drunk and apologized for misunderstanding, and she opened up about how she met you, Lady Xuande. So I accepted her apology, and we agreed to work together to serve you, Lady Xuande, for life.”

At those words, Liu Bei smiled with great satisfaction.

“If Yide and Yunchang work together to help me, it would be worth a thousand troops and ten thousand horses. Yide, that child has done something admirable.”

In history, they described me and Zhang Fei as generals who could each easily face ten thousand men, so if the two of us join forces…

Wouldn’t we be able to exert a power even stronger than 10,000 cavalry?

As I briefly had such idle thoughts, Liu Bei poked me repeatedly to urge me on.

“Yide was so happy that our intentions matched that she hugged me tightly…”

At those words, Liu Bei grinned and then, pretending to whisper, said quietly:

“That child, she drinks well and handles her spear well, and talks freely with men without hesitation. But she’s never even held hands with a man. She’s so insensitive to romance that she can’t even join in when the village girls gather to talk about love.”

Just hearing this much, I think I can get a general idea.

“But even though she was drunk, she ended up hugging you tightly, Yunchang, so she’s probably too embarrassed to even talk to you. That child, despite how she looks, is actually very pure-hearted. Maybe, if she gets married later, she’ll be a wife who loves her husband too much?”

It’s hard to imagine the Zhang Fei from the Three Kingdoms getting married and becoming someone’s wife.

But if she does end up with someone, I think she would express her affection very honestly.

Like a dog that wags its tail furiously when it sees its owner because it’s so happy.

And as they say, speak of the tiger and it appears – Zhang Fei, who had run away in embarrassment, suddenly approached.

“Elder Sister Xuande, what are you talking about behind my back?”

At those words, Liu Bei covered her mouth and laughed.

“I was asking what happened because I was worried that Yide kept avoiding Yunchang.”

Liu Bei deliberately paused here and winked at me.

“You were so happy to have hit it off with Yunchang that you hugged him wildly? Until now, no matter how much you drank, you only did that with women like me and Gan Ning. You must have really liked Yunchang, huh?”

At those words, Zhang Fei shook her hands and head.

“That was just because I was drunk, just because I was drunk, I tell you!”
“But you don’t dislike Yunchang, right?”
“Well, that’s true.”

After saying that, Zhang Fei’s face turned as red as a ripe persimmon and she started fiddling with her fingers.

“Now that I’ve sobered up, I keep thinking about hu-hugging Yunchang and it’s embarrassing.”

Liu Bei stroked Zhang Fei’s head.

“But you shouldn’t stay so far away. Yunchang will misunderstand.”

Liu Bei grabbed both our arms and pushed us close together, like a teacher dealing with elementary school students.

“Even if our genders are different, we share the same intentions. That makes us like family.”

Liu Bei is right.

No matter what anyone says, we are Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, and Liu Bei who will live through this chaotic world holding the same intentions for life.

After reconciling me and Zhang Fei like that, Liu Bei looked around.

The more she looked around, the worse her expression became.

Wondering if there was something wrong, I also examined the faces of those in line, and I could understand why Liu Bei was thinking so seriously.

Just as ants gather around honey, corrupt officials should be flocking to the house of the rich Zhang Shiping to receive political funds…

“Lady Xuande, was Master Zhang originally someone who kept his distance from officials? Strangely, I don’t see a single official.”

Liu Bei, who had been smiling brightly just moments ago while reconciling me and Zhang Fei, put on a serious expression and sighed.

“Although Master Zhang was loved by everyone in Xu County, even he had to bribe officials to survive. Of course, there used to be many officials coming to receive bribes. But now there’s not a single one.”

Somehow, seeing this reminds me of something.

The saying that before a major natural disaster like an earthquake or tsunami occurs, all the dogs, cats, and even frogs living in that area flee.

Corrupt officials might look human, but judging by their actions, they’re no different from beasts.

Could it be that they’re sensing something and that’s why they’re acting like this?

Zhang Fei also added her opinion to this.

“It is suspicious. Also, all the merchants lined up here are not from Xu Commandery (the higher administrative division that Xu County belongs to).”

As we were pondering like this, it suddenly became our turn to enter.

“Next person, please come forward.”

Following those words, we moved forward, and the servants looked at me, Zhang Fei, and Liu Bei in turn and smiled.

“Ah, isn’t it Lord Yunchang, Lady Yide, and Lady Xuande? Thanks to you, we survived last time.”

As servants of Zhang Shiping, if Zhang Shiping goes bankrupt, these people would all lose their jobs and become paupers.

So of course they would be grateful to us.

Liu Bei responded on behalf of us.

“We only did what was right. We’ve come to see Master Zhang, could we see him now?”

The servants nodded in agreement.

“For none other than Lady Xuande, the hero of Xu County, how could it not be possible? Please wait a moment!”

Then one servant ran very quickly into the house.

Although we didn’t save Xu County expecting any immediate reward, seeing them so grateful makes us feel good.

The servant appeared again in an instant and said:

“Master Zhang says to come in right away.”