Chapter 43
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 43
Chapter Title: SSR Liu Bei and SSR Cao Cao (14)
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Liu Bei paused in his hoeing in the vegetable garden.
Dusting off his dirt-covered hands roughly.
'...So it has come.'
He swallowed his tension inwardly.
It was just a short time after his name had been entered into the roster for the banquet.
Was it just a simple gathering?
No. That couldn't be.
A man like Cao Cao wasn't that straightforward.
Every one of his actions had a purpose.
What could that purpose be?
Liu Bei looked up at the sky.
He had imagined a grand affair befitting the name "banquet."
Liu Bei took in the sight of Cao Cao sitting alone in the center of the pavilion, his true feelings concealed.
The two heroes' gazes met.
Cao Cao's eyes held a clearly friendly smile, but within them lurked a sharpness like a honed blade.
Liu Bei bowed as low as possible, showing utmost courtesy.
"Prime Minister, you summoned me?"
"Left General, you've come. The plums are perfectly ripe, just in time."
As he said.
Once Liu Bei sat and respectfully raised his cup, the fresh aroma of plum wine poured by Cao Cao himself wafted from it.
Under the darkening sky that looked ready to pour rain at any moment.
The two shared their cups.
Though Liu Bei maintained the calmest expression possible, his mind raced with complexity.
Judging by the atmosphere so far.
His secret alliance with Yuan Shao hadn't been exposed.
So why had he suddenly called for him?
As he mulled this over.
"Left General—no, Xuande. Do you know about the dragon's transformations?"
It was Cao Cao who broached the topic first.
"Not in detail, but..."
As he refilled Liu Bei's empty cup with plum wine, Cao Cao continued.
"That dragon fellow shrinks and grows at will, changing his form freely. He can hide as small as a needle or expand to cover the whole world. Only when spring ripens like now does he ride the clouds and soar into the heavens. Just like a hero of the realm."
After quickly filling his own cup as well.
Cao Cao raised his cup and said,
"In your view, Xuande, who among today's realm deserves to be called a hero?"
Liu Bei's heart plummeted in that instant.
The thorns hidden in his words stabbed relentlessly, sending a chill sweat trickling down his back unbidden.
He knew the answer...
But he couldn't voice it.
For now, he had to test the waters.
"What of Yuan Shu? Isn't he preparing to declare himself emperor in Huainan, jade seal in hand?"
Cao Cao snorted derisively.
"A mere dreamer. He'll soon wither away, searching for honey water instead of bone dust."
"Then... his brother, Yuan Shao of Ji Province, could surely be called a hero. With the Four Marquises and Three Dukes under him, vast lands at his command."
"Ha! That pompous, greedy coward? I guarantee his indecision will be his noose."
"I've heard Sun Ce of Jiangdong possesses martial prowess and leadership like a tiger."
"Nothing but a milk-scented pup riding his father's coattails. He'll soon crash from his own hotheadedness."
After that, several more names passed Liu Bei's lips.
Liu Biao, Liu Zhang, Zhang Xiu, Han Sui...
Along with the now-torrential downpour, each name Liu Bei recited was dismantled by Cao Cao one by one.
A chilling silence froze the air in the pavilion.
Breaking that suffocating quiet was Cao Cao.
He pointed a finger at himself.
Then slowly turned it toward Liu Bei.
A strange, inscrutable smile played on his lips.
"Right now, beneath these heavens, the only ones worthy of being called heroes are you, Liu Xuande, and I, Cao Cao."
In that moment.
Liu Bei felt as if his innermost thoughts had been laid bare and shredded for all to see.
The ambitions he had hidden all this time.
As a descendant of the imperial house, to set the realm right.
The man before him had seen through it all.
The chopsticks in his hand fell limply to the floor, against his will.
Clang—!
The sharp crash shattered the silence mercilessly, and at the same time.
Rumble, boom...!
Lightning flashed with a heaven-splitting roar.
In that instant.
"Arghhh! Heavens above!"
Liu Bei curled up and pretended to crawl under the table.
His whole body trembled.
Just like a true coward terrified by mere thunder.
Cao Cao's pressure, as if piercing and interrogating Liu Bei's every intent, was swiftly evaded by Liu Bei's coward cosplay attempt, striking a chord in many hearts.
"A high elf wouldn't cower at a mere bolt of lightning! ...Eek! What are you doing right now?!"
The elf supremacist Chloe, who had been pushing the high elf dignity theory, put a question mark over Liu Bei's scaredy-cat act but ultimately succumbed to Kim Yul's surprise scare, letting out a pathetic squeal.
"Huh? Could I really shrink to needle size?"
There was even a dragon who personally experienced that needles lack vocal organs after polymorphing into one.
Of course, dragon tongue magic didn't require verbal incantation, so after a 10-minute struggle, she returned to her original form.
Setting aside such fools.
"So, has Cao Cao caught on that Liu Bei is plotting rebellion...?"
"Who knows. If he had, why probe like this instead of just killing him outright?"
"Looking at Cao Cao's actions so far, it feels like he wants to squeeze every last drop out of Liu Bei. Maybe this is an indirect warning?"
"Hmm... That makes sense."
People mulling over the novel's content and the lingering scene.
"Was that lightning strike a coincidence? A high elf would master magic too. He must have deliberately summoned it to flip the mood!"
"Still, crawling under the table shaking like a coward is pathetic..."
"You calling a dwarf a pussy?"
"If it were a dwarf, he'd down that plum wine in one shot right there... Why sip it drop by drop?"
The high elf omnipotence theory evolved further, elevating Liu Bei from swordmaster to archmage in conspiracy circles.
"Cao Cao... is terrifying. If he were my boss..."
"Calling him Xuande on purpose to draw him into a personal bond, then tightening the noose bit by bit—it's like watching a thriller."
"For an imperial descendant to lose dignity means death...!"
"Showing denial through actions beats a thousand words. Liu Bei really knows politics."
Those savoring the political drama of "The Two Heroes."
"This has to be hinting at black magic! Yuan Shu's a rotting zombie... Yuan Shao's a hollow skeleton... Sun Ce's a ghoul that'll turn to ash... Cao Cao wants to become a lich!"
"Drag this guy out."
"Kyahhh!"
The fool who blacked out into dark fantasy without realizing.
"No matter how you look at it, the dragon... describes that, right?"
"Shrinking... then growing..."
"Riding clouds and soaring—that's gotta mean that phenomenon?"
"Liu Bei hiding under the table? Maybe to get a look at Cao Cao's massive...?"
And even the total crazies.
Only upon reaching this scene.
Did people finally grasp the novel's title in full.
The Two Heroes.
A story truly centered on those two heroes.
The imperial scion hides his bloodline.
If not, Cao Cao would've lopped off his head already.
The villain hides his ambitions.
If not, rebellions would keep erupting like now.
Through the Pheasant Banquet scene, the novel's themes and title finally clicked into perfect harmony!
Of course, the author Kim Yul, hearing such interpretations.
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
Just scratched his ear.
After all, even a 4-point question probing the creator's intent might differ from the actual creator's thoughts.
Back when I first thought of writing Romance of the Three Kingdoms as a novel.
I divided the story flow into three major parts.
Part 1: From the Yellow Turban Rebellion to the era of warring lords—right up to this Pheasant Banquet.
The early part where Cao Cao and Liu Bei have the most interactions, relatively speaking.
Part 2: From the Battle of Guandu to Red Cliffs.
Cao Cao's arc has plenty to work with, so no issue there.
Liu Bei's arc was the problem.
- How far have you read in Romance of the Three Kingdoms?
- Up to where Liu Bei keeps running away!
- Ugh, damn. Where's that?
The period packed with the Escape King's, Marine Coward Liu Bei-nim's legendary infinite retreats.
No matter how I thought about it, it'd be a nonstop barrage of "sweet potato" complaints.
Sure, epic highs like Changban Slope pop up here and there.
But Changban's stars aren't Liu Bei.
It's Zhao Yun and Zhang Fei.
What does Liu Bei do there?
Throws his son away like trash, leaving Liu Shan with stun and PTSD that tanks his stats vertically.
Sacrificed the nation's future just to pet Zhao Yun.
So...
"Time to prepare switching protagonists."
"Will people accept it?"
"Gotta lay the groundwork early. And folks here seem pretty forgiving about that stuff."
Probably because they come standard with fantasy brains, readers love grand scales.
I checked the No. 1 serial in Imperial Daily, "Awakening After Death for Training," and yeah, No. 1 lives up to it.
Incredibly tight, vast plotting, plus a system where a father's training points accumulate to his son—hints of genius there.
One critic even raved, "Humanity was born to witness this novel."
So, I can switch generations without worry.
Timing: Right after Guandu.
Same time as card pack release, swap protagonists.
Title.
The Record-Breaking Genius Doesn't Hide His Loyalty.
Felt like the southeast wind was already whispering.