Liu Bei's Subtle Preparations
Liu Bei had not earned her title as the most popular person in the village by weaving straw mats or playing cards. From the very first meeting, her likable expression, her uncanny ability to read others’ desires and turn them to her advantage, and her way of elevating people endlessly without ever lowering herself—these were all skills she had honed through relentless effort. For what purpose? On a small scale, to sell her mats to the villagers; on a larger scale, to seize the good fortune that had rolled her way. People often said that luck was easy to encounter but hard to recognize, and even harder to hold onto once recognized. In that sense, Liu Bei was clearly fortunate, but she was a prepared fortunate one. And now that fortunate Liu Bei was beginning to move in order to capture her third stroke of luck—Bang Yeol, following Zhang Fei, Guan Yu, and the Jang Se-pyeong–So Ssang pair. Of course, a little preparation was needed first. As Sun Tzu had said, “Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will not be imperiled.” Before trying any tricks on Bang Yeol, she first needed to understand her own condition.
Without letting anyone notice, Liu Bei quickly moved her eyes left and right, then used the smooth surface of a liquor bottle as a mirror to check her face and body in a flash. Her clothes were not disheveled, and her face… oh dear, it was a little flushed from the alcohol. But there was a way to handle that. In times like these, if she relaxed her eyes slightly and gave a faint smile, men tended to like it to death—so it was actually a good thing. Liu Bei lifted the corners of her mouth ever so slightly. Good. Now, while smiling faintly like this, she would turn her head to look at Bang Yeol… wait, before that—since she had eaten and drunk, she should check her breath too. Pretending to drink, she brought an empty cup to her lips and blew into it softly. Hmm… that should be fine.
Having tidied herself up, Liu Bei turned her head slightly to the left and observed Bang Yeol. Still sore from the sparring with Guan Yu, he was groaning and massaging his thighs and neck repeatedly. Later, when they toasted and she pretended to be drunk and leaned against him, she would make sure to lean on the uninjured side. She must not forget to mention his slightly torn lip and express concern about it. From what she had heard while drinking with his uncles, he had not yet decided whether to join them, right? She could apologize for Yunchang’s impulsive challenge to spar and casually mention that Ikdeok was just as strong. What about his experience with women?
When Liu Bei stretched as if tired, revealing a glimpse of her cleavage, Bang Yeol startled and quickly looked away. What a pure-hearted fool. How adorable. Perfect. She could pretend it hurt and touch him lightly later. Ah, and she should let a few tears well up in her eyes. Preparation complete. Thus, Liu Bei finally set out to work her wiles on Bang Yeol.
“Heavens, Bang Yeol! What happened to your face?!”
Bang Yeol, his entire body aching and his face twisted in pain, tried to force a smile and tell Liu Bei he was fine, but the moment her soft touch reached his arm, his body went rigid. Then her hand moved to his face, and he froze completely, stammering incoherently. It was a skill that would not appear until more than two thousand years later—could any man of the Han dynasty truly resist such gentle persistence? Whether they could or not, at least the newly adult Bang Yeol could not. For a pure-hearted fool who blushed just from holding a woman’s hand, having his face touched while her cleavage brushed against his arm was far too stimulating. Oblivious to the uncles chuckling as they watched, Bang Yeol remained frozen. All he could do was mutter “I’m fine” with ears burning red.
“What do you mean, fine?! Look at how hurt you are! Let me see the other side too. …Oh my! This side is hurt as well! I’m so sorry. Yunchang is usually so kind, but when she meets someone as strong as you, she just can’t hold back her competitive spirit. I’ll have a stern word with her later.”
“N-no, it’s all right. I learned a great deal from sparring with Lady Guan Yu, so it’s fine. If anything, I’d like to ask for more sparring matches in the future, if the opportunity arises.”
“Oh my, if only our Ikdeok would say something like that… That child gets cocky when he wins against Yunchang and sulks all day when he loses. I keep telling them not to get so caught up in winning and losing, but he never listens. I’m worried.”
Bang Yeol’s eyes widened. There was another person like Guan Yu? And that person was also Liu Bei’s sworn sibling?
“Even though I’m young, I’ve never seen a warrior as outstanding as Lady Guan Yu… Are you saying Lord Zhang Fei is on par with her?! You must feel very secure having sworn siblings like them, Lady Liu Bei.”
“Hyeondeok.”
“Pardon?”
“Call me Hyeondeok. If you’re going to be with us siblings from now on, it would be more comfortable to just use our given names, wouldn’t it? …Ah, did I get ahead of myself? I’m sorry… I was so happy at the thought of having reliable people like you and your uncles join us that I ended up pressuring you. You said you hadn’t decided yet whether to join us, right?”
Tears welled up in Liu Bei’s eyes. Watching her sniffle and wipe her eyes with her sleeve, Bang Yeol panicked and tried to comfort her, but it was not easy. The watching uncles shot him meaningful glances. Kid… hurry up and say you’ll join! Bang Yeol felt the weight of their stares.
“I… Please stop crying. I’ll talk with the uncles right now and… Huh? It’s decided? Ah, um… We, well, we actually decided to join a long time ago. If Lady Liu Bei—no, Lady Hyeondeok—would accept us…”
“Really?!”
Her tears vanishing in an instant, Liu Bei beamed and threw her arms around him. Bang Yeol found himself grinning foolishly without realizing it. Still, it was strange. His whole body ached from being beaten by Guan Yu, yet somehow Liu Bei’s embrace did not hurt at all. Whether Bang Yeol found it strange or not, Liu Bei, nuzzling her face against his chest where no one could see, quietly laughed to herself. Just as planned.
The feast celebrating the meeting of Bang Yeol’s group and Liu Bei’s group transformed into a celebration of Bang Yeol’s group joining Liu Bei’s forces, keeping the people of Nusang Village busy late into the night. Even when Bang Yeol tried to stop them from holding another feast, the villagers would not budge. Our dog has put on weight, so let’s slaughter it for meat. We should butcher our pig too. How many chickens do we have left? I think Jang’s butcher shop had duck meat besides beef. Before anyone could object, they slaughtered livestock and offered liquor on their own, and the tables were quickly set. Liu Bei made a bright greeting and then coolly excused herself, though not before elbowing Bang Yeol on the way out and bowing her head, asking him to take good care of “our Hyeondeok.” Bang Yeol felt like he might lose his mind from the barrage of elbows.
Thus began the second round. Those who drank quickly became dead drunk and sang with flushed faces, while those with hearty appetites lay down, bellies full, surrendering to the lavish spread. The scene descended into chaos. Among them, the most striking figure was Zhang Fei. Despite eating and drinking more than anyone else, he remained seated at the table with Guan Yu—an astonishing sight. Though perhaps not entirely sober. Guan Yu, who ate and drank in moderation for a pleasant buzz, maintained her dignified appearance, but Zhang Fei ate like a pig, drank like a dog, and rambled so loudly that even Guan Yu across from him could barely understand. Laughing boisterously, he swung his Serpent Spear wildly and pointed at Bang Yeol, clearly having developed a competitive urge toward the man who had held his own against Guan Yu earlier. Unfortunately, that same Bang Yeol was now seated at the head table conversing with Liu Bei, so Zhang Fei could only watch with regret, unable to join in.
Meanwhile, Liu Bei was deploying her ultimate technique to make Bang Yeol completely hers: empathy and tears. A master of reactions, she listened to Bang Yeol’s tales of hardship—stories she had already heard from his men earlier that evening—as if hearing them for the first time, reacting with sorrow, comfort, empathy, and tears at every word. Her efforts were not in vain. As time passed, Bang Yeol found himself falling deeper under her spell, discovering that one could become intoxicated without drinking. Ah, drunk on Liu Bei. Drunk on liquor and drunk on a person, he nodded along to everything she said without even knowing what he was agreeing to. He had already become an excellent pig and dog, at least where Liu Bei was concerned.
While Liu Bei was fully engaged in taming her new pig-dog, Zhang Fei—now a pig from liquor and meat—continued swinging his Serpent Spear.
“You lishning…? She’z my shishter, y’know?! I’m the one who’z shupposed to take him down!!”
“…That’s the sixth time you’ve said that.”
“If I shwing it like thish!! Like thish, whoosh! Then that young fella—huh?!”
Suddenly, the Serpent Spear flew from Zhang Fei’s grasp, soaring high into the sky. Higher and higher it went, as if it might leave the earth and journey into space. But what goes up must come down. That law applied even to the Serpent Spear. Slowly at first, then faster and faster, spinning as it fell under gravity’s call. Its landing point was—
“…Of course! If Lady Hyeondeok wishes it, even if my head gets—cracked?!?!”
“Bang Yeol!!”
It was Bang Yeol, Liu Bei’s newest pig-dog. Whether his declaration of “even if my head gets cracked for Liu Bei” had been genuine would only be known after the actual head-cracked Bang Yeol woke up… assuming he survived until then.
Meanwhile, around the time Bang Yeol’s head was being cracked while shouting his devotion to Liu Bei, somewhere in the future, the past, or perhaps another world entirely, someone who had been gaming for three days straight without sleep, completely unaware of their impending head-cracking fate, booted up Elders Gate Kings 3.