Second-hand time travel: Liu Bei, the big-eared bandit

Zhuge Liang truly had no idea how far he had progressed in his training.

The main reason is that I played the emperor for the past two years and didn't have the opportunity to actually fight.

When he stopped playing the emperor a while ago, Zhao Yun was the one he sparred with in the training ground.

Zhuge Liang was completely outmatched; he couldn't last more than three moves against Zhao Yun.

Therefore, Zhuge Liang was indeed not very confident in his martial arts skills.

In truth... there are very few people in the entire world who can withstand three moves from Zhao Yun. If you could withstand three moves from Zhao Yun at full strength, you could be considered a master...

Of course, despite his lack of confidence, Zhuge Liang was never one to back down.

After all, I've always been daring since I was a child...

Moreover, during practice, Zhuge Liang felt that his counterattacks were ineffective against Zhao Yun, so he tried to focus solely on defense, which was criticized by Zhao Yun.

Zhao Yun said that even if you know that your cultivation is inferior to your opponent's, you cannot passively take a beating. Instead, you should try to find out where you are stronger than your opponent. No one can be strong in every way. Everyone has weaknesses. As long as you seize one, you will have a chance to win.

If you only defend and don't fight back, your opponent will eventually find a weakness that you can't defend against.

Moreover, momentum and courage are more important than martial arts skills. When two armies meet on a narrow path, the brave will win. The outcome can only be known after the battle. The more afraid you are of death on the battlefield, the easier it is for you to die.

Zhao Yun also used Yan Xing's use of a broken spear shaft to wound Ma Chao as an example, showing that in battle, life and death, victory and defeat are not determined by 'force' in the general sense.

So Zhuge Liang made the first move.

After twisting his wrists twice, Zhuge Liang threw the horsewhip in his hand at the face of the hooligan leader who was speaking. Taking advantage of the man covering his face with his hands to shield his eyes, he suddenly kicked him in the abdomen, followed by a fierce elbow strike to his temple.

The gang leader fell to the ground with a thud, and Zhuge Liang's powerful backhand swing missed its mark.

"Huh? It collapsed already?"

Zhuge Liang truly had no idea about his own abilities, because this tactic was completely ineffective against Zhao Yun...

So far, Zhuge Liang has never been able to hit Zhao Yun during their sparring sessions, so he always attacks with a combo.

"Grab your weapons and charge!"

Seeing that Zhuge Liang looked quite fierce, the other refugees all picked up sticks and rushed at him.

Zhuge Liang took a step back and was about to draw his sword, but then sheathed it and removed the scabbard as well. He dodged the stick by sidestepping and struck the face of the fastest-rushing man with the scabbard.

His dodge and attack were executed flawlessly, showing remarkable agility and style. Zhen Mi, who was retreating and running away, was captivated by his performance.

The refugee with the scabbard in his face also collapsed, dizzy and disoriented.

"Is it that fragile?"

Zhuge Liang looked at the scabbard in his hand and realized that although he was indeed a weakling in front of Master Zhao, he was actually not weak at all!

Only someone of Zhao Yun's caliber would think Zhuge Liang was weak... There's no way around it; in Zhao Yun's eyes, the vast majority of people were equally weaklings. Whether someone's martial prowess was 80 or 18, it made absolutely no difference to Zhao Yun.

With a bare elbow to flip one man over, and a scabbard to knock down another, Zhuge Liang, now brimming with confidence, drew his sword and pointed it at the remaining two: "Why aren't you getting out of here?"

The two refugees were indeed a little scared. They took two steps back and were about to turn around and run away.

"We can't let them go..."

Zhen Mi spoke up from the side: "These people are not good people. If we let them leave, I'm afraid more people will suffer as a result."

Zhuge Liang turned to look at Zhen Mi: "Although these people had the intention to rob us, their crime does not warrant death. They have no weapons, and to take their lives for this would be too harsh a punishment... What do you suggest we do?"

"My benefactor is kind and benevolent, but kindness and benevolence do not always bring good fortune... My benefactor, please be careful!"

Zhen Mi suddenly cried out in surprise halfway through her sentence.

Zhuge Liang also heard the whooshing sound behind him. He suddenly turned around and swung his sword, cleaving the neck of a refugee who was charging at him with a stick.

Blood splattered onto Zhuge Liang's face.

The stick still had considerable momentum, and Zhuge Liang barely managed to dodge it with a spin. The stick head slammed into the ground, sending up a large clump of dirt.

That guy used all his strength to ambush Zhuge Liang. If Zhuge Liang had reacted even slightly slower, that stick would probably have killed him if it had landed on his head.

The absence of a weapon does not necessarily preclude the intent to kill; and refugees are not always pitiful.

"Oh no! Murder!!"

The thug leader who was first elbowed to the ground began to wail.

"Help! This man is attacking us without provocation..."

The other refugee didn't step forward; instead, he threw down his stick and began to howl like a pig being slaughtered.

Zhuge Liang glanced back—a small troop of cavalry was approaching.

"You're not planning to frame me, are you?"

Zhuge Liang sheathed his sword, his expression turning extremely cold: "I originally intended to spare your lives, but I didn't expect you to insist on courting death..."

"Sir, we are all law-abiding citizens, yet my brother was murdered without cause by this brat... Please, Sir, do justice for us!"

The gang leader also fell to the ground and rolled around, crawling towards the approaching squad leader, calling him Sima.

However, the soldiers who arrived bowed to Zhuge Liang and asked, "Lord Zhuge, what has happened?"

This small troop of soldiers was actually sent by Liu Bei to escort Zhuge Liang back, and was temporarily serving as Zhuge Liang's guards... They were just fetching water for their horses by the Fu River after leaving the mountain. Zhuge Liang stopped at Linshui Pass to wait for them.

Currently, Zhuge Liang is a Dongge Sheren, which means he is an official under the Prime Minister. Zhuge Liang is the third child laborer to draft documents for Liu Bei, following Zhuge Jin and Chen Feng.

The sound of someone rolling on the ground and crying abruptly stopped.

Upon realizing that these soldiers were actually Zhuge Liang's men, the refugees panicked and scrambled to their feet to run away.

"They plan to... catch up and wipe them out! They're bandits!"

Before Zhuge Liang could finish speaking, he saw several refugees run away. He immediately gave the order and even prepared the charges against them.

The term "bandit" is simply a more specific crime.

Having followed Liu Bei for many years, Zhuge Liang had come to understand that if one wanted to be a good person, one must first learn all the methods of evil people and, when it was time to accuse someone, do so, so that the evil person would not escape death.

We cannot always talk about benevolence and forgiveness; sometimes killing is the true virtue.

If those refugees only intended to rob, then we can give them a way to survive, because people will indeed rob when they are starving; it's a survival instinct. Giving them a way to survive might give the big man a few more laborers.

But if they resort to sneak attacks when robbery fails, and then falsely accuse someone of staged an accident when sneak attacks fail—such people are bad seeds and cannot be kept alive; letting them live will only harm more people.

The cavalrymen were all Liu Bei's personal guards, and they were quite skilled. Before long, they had taken several lives.

"Go and take the head to the soldiers guarding the pass... Let them collect the body and hang the head on the city gate as a warning. Anyway, the Imperial Guard can't use the heads of bandits to count for military merit..." Zhuge Liang sighed and walked towards Linshui Pass.

Several cavalrymen nodded. They were Liu Bei's personal guards. Their only credit was protecting their lord and completing the tasks assigned to them. Unless they were killed on the battlefield, heads were of little use to them.

"Wait! My benefactor... wait..."

Zhen Mi ran over: "My benefactor, are you about to cross Linshui Pass? Please, my benefactor, help me to the very end..."

Zhuge Liang turned to look at Zhen Mi: "Didn't you just run away? Why are you back?"

“If my benefactor hadn’t killed those people, I would have had to flee. My benefactor is exceptionally skilled and has guards with him, so they wouldn’t dare to cause trouble for him, but they would certainly take their anger out on me.”

Zhen Mi cupped her hands and said, "But my benefactor is decisive in killing the traitors, and he must be no ordinary person. So I humbly request that my benefactor take me with him."

"Where are you going?"

Zhuge Liang looked Zhen Mi up and down again: "I suppose you're not a refugee... Why have you come here alone?"

"I...I must go to the Prime Minister to seek justice!"

Zhen Mi hesitated for a moment, then bowed to Zhuge Liang with a woman's salute: "My clan was harmed by treacherous people. I was simply distributing grain as a good deed, but I was falsely accused of treason..."

……

……

Yangping Pavilion.

"...When the sneak attack failed, they tried to frame someone, so Liang ordered the execution of those villains."

Zhuge Liang was telling Liu Bei about what he had encountered.

Looking at the young swordsman in brocade robes and the little beggar, Liu Bei couldn't help but feel that this pairing resembled Guo Jing and Rong'er...

After all, Liu Bei was a seasoned veteran. Although Zhen Mi's face was covered in mud and she smelled bad, Liu Bei could still tell at a glance that she was a beauty, even one that could rival Diao Chan.

"Master, the Zhen family has distributed grain to save countless lives, so this matter is unlikely to be false. However, Zhen Yan has now been arrested by the Prefect. If it is found that this matter is indeed a miscarriage of justice, and the Zhen family has done such a great deed but suffered injustice, I fear that the court will find it difficult to win people's hearts in the future..."

Zhuge Liang didn't seem to notice how beautiful Zhen Mi was; he was only focused on discussing the case.

"Young lady of the Zhen family, do you have any enemies within your clan?"

After listening, Liu Bei turned to Zhen Mi and asked, "Sending a merit tablet and burying weapons and armor in the ground—it certainly sounds like someone is framing us. But it's only right that Qian Zijing asked your brother to defend himself. If someone really takes advantage of the large-scale uprising of refugees to cause trouble, it will be another disaster. Qian Zijing must be careful."

“My family has never had any enemies… but this time, the opening of the granaries may have disturbed many people who were hoarding grain…”

Zhen Mi understood where this trouble came from; otherwise, she wouldn't have come alone to Liu Bei to seek justice.

"Do you know who is hoarding grain for their own enrichment?"

Liu Bei asked again.

"...Perhaps this is the case for every household. As Mi traveled south, he did not see a single village or town providing relief to the starving. Grain prices in all the counties of Hebei exceeded ten thousand coins..."

Zhen Mi spoke in a low voice; she had already realized along the way that this matter was quite troublesome.

“Every family is like this, probably because everyone is afraid of ending up like the Zhen family. This matter is not just due to false accusations, but rather the way of the world… However, if doing good deeds brings no reward but instead leads to punishment, then no one will do good deeds anymore.”

Zhuge Liang sighed, "If the whole world were like this, then the whole world would become a land of immorality and evil..."

Looking at Zhuge Liang, Liu Bei seemed to see his former self.

No, Zhuge Liang was far more pure-hearted than I was...

"Given the current situation, the court has already found solid evidence that the Zhen family plotted treason. What do you think the court should do?"

Liu Bei then asked, "I know this evidence may all be fabricated, but it's not easy to prove that it's fabricated... If we investigate further, we might find more and more evidence that is detrimental to Zhen."

Zhen Mi looked at Liu Bei thoughtfully, but surprisingly, she didn't get angry. With her intelligence, she naturally understood the meaning behind Liu Bei's words and remained silent for a moment.

Zhuge Liang was also pondering: "Perhaps we can first act impartially based on the facts and arrest the person in charge of the Zhen family... If anyone else reports the Zhen family, then that person must be related to the person who framed and plotted against them."

“That’s exactly what Zijing is doing right now… Miss Zhen, Zijing is not an incompetent official. He’s letting your brother defend himself, both to verify the facts and to protect him.”

Liu Bei turned to Zhen Mi and said, “The court has its priorities in its actions. First, we must verify whether there was indeed treason, because that concerns the fate of the nation. If it is determined that Zhen Mi did not commit treason, then we must protect the innocent, because that concerns human life. This is the only way for an official to act: first, protect the lives of everyone, big and small, and only then can we consider how to clear Zhen Mi’s name and restore her innocence…”

Zhen Mi nodded gently: "I understand."

"However... this is indeed somewhat passive. If your brother gets caught up in this situation, he will be in trouble with the task of proving his innocence."

Seeing that Zhen Mi was calm, Liu Bei asked Zhuge Liang, "Zhuge Liang, what do you think we should do?"

"Why should good people have to prove their innocence... Even if they are exonerated, tens of thousands of bushels of grain have already been burned, dozens of people who guarded the granary have been killed, tens of thousands of refugees have no food to eat, and I'm afraid tens of thousands have already starved to death..."

As Zhuge Liang spoke, he became somewhat agitated: "Master, since being an official restricts one's actions and allows only passive responses, then... I beg your permission, Master, to become a thief! To make those wicked people prove their innocence first!"

Zhen Mi was stunned for a moment.

Liu Bei laughed: "Good disciple! You're right! We should let the wicked prove themselves!"

This is indeed a true master and disciple; they are of the same temperament. After all, he is a disciple taught by the treacherous official, and certainly not some pedantic moral exemplar...

Moral exemplars cannot perform truly benevolent acts.

However, the fact that the prime minister of the court 'approved' his own disciple to commit thievery seemed rather strange, leaving Zhen Mi somewhat bewildered.

Only Zhao Yun, who had remained silent the entire time, showed no reaction, as if he hadn't heard anything.

After all, Zhao Yun knew what kind of person Liu Bei was. He had just followed Liu Bei as a thief all the way and was already used to it.

"Master, is Liang going to incite a civil unrest... or to frame those wicked people who hoard grain and refuse to sell?"

Zhuge Liang rubbed his hands together with anticipation when he saw that Liu Bei had agreed to let him become a thief.

He's never been a thief before, so compared to being an emperor, the pressure is much less...

"Currently, hundreds of thousands of people from Youzhou are migrating south, resulting in a severe food shortage. If a peasant uprising breaks out and people rob grain, it will truly cause great chaos that will be uncontrollable!"

Liu Bei patted Zhuge Liang on the head: "When planning something, you have to consider the consequences and the immediate needs! The most important thing is to find a way to seize the grain that those people have hoarded to relieve the famine. To get the grain, you naturally have to make them guilty so that the court can confiscate their property..."

"Yes, yes, disciple will go and frame them right away... oh no, I'll go and investigate, and make sure every single one of their families is guilty of treason..."

Zhuge Liang shrank back: "Master, could you send some men to your disciple?"

"Chen Dao!"

Zhao Yun turned and summoned Captain Wuyi. (End of Chapter)