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

Chapter 75 Loyalty, Filial Piety, Benevolence, and Righteousness
The guesthouse was right next to the official residence, but it was also tightly closed, and there was no one at the gatehouse.

"Open the door! I am Liu Bei of Zhuojun! Let the people inside come out to greet me!"

Liu Bei called out from the doorway.

This is actually to be expected. Liu Bei has come to take up an official post, and he should indeed be welcomed into the guesthouse by the local officials. The fact that no one is welcoming him is a very impolite and disrespectful act.

Seeing no response from inside, Liu Bei stopped asking and, with Zhang Fei and Guan Yu, kicked the door open and went straight into the inner courtyard.

A banquet was being held in the courtyard of the guesthouse. The person in the main seat was a middle-aged man in a red robe, who was drinking and watching musicians sing and dance with several officials. A dozen servants were serving fruits and vegetables to the side.

The one in the red robe was clearly the inspector.

The inspector was shocked to see Liu Bei barge in: "Who are you?!"

"Liu Xuande of Zhuojun! I've come here to take up my post, yet not a single person has come to greet me? It turns out they're all feasting here?"

"You all treat me, Liu Xuande, with such disrespect, you must be looking down on me! Humph!"

Liu Bei strode forward aggressively and grabbed the inspector by the collar: "Inspector, is it? What a high-ranking official... You are an official appointed by the court! You tolerated others not coming to greet you..."

"But you are a member of the Liu family, a member of your kinsman's clan, and you didn't even come to welcome him?!"

"Your father is a generation above you! Do you know that? Let your elders teach you how to behave!"

After saying that, he slapped the inspector's leg with a stick: "I told you not to come and greet your elders!"

Before the inspector could even speak, he let out a "whoop" and collapsed to the ground.

Another slap landed on his backside: "I'll teach you a lesson for disgracing the Liu family!"

Another blow: "You have no filial piety!"

"Hey..."

The others in the hall tried to stop Liu Bei.

Liu Bei brandished his staff and glanced at the other officials present: "What are you looking at? This is an official matter!"

The officials quickly looked away, not daring to stop them any longer.

Zhang Fei and Guan Yu, two burly men, also stepped forward from the left and right, wielding sticks and staring intently at each other.

The musicians and servants nearby also retreated.

This is something that can't be stopped; it looks like an elder is hitting a younger person...

These days, it's very common for elders to be in their twenties while younger generations are in their forties or fifties.

Disrespecting elders is indeed a serious act of filial impiety. If the elders decide to discipline them on the spot, outsiders really have no say in the matter.

Zhang He watched from the sidelines, feeling a surge of satisfaction.

After striking him three times, Liu Bei grabbed the inspector by the collar, summoned Zhang Fei and Guan Yu, and dragged him out of the inn.

They dragged him while beating him, all the way to the middle of the street.

The guesthouse and the government office were next to each other, and the county treasury was right next to them; there were many people there.

"You... Ouch... Liu Xuande! You have some nerve! Hey..."

The inspector was dragged along by Liu Bei and his men in a disheveled state, but he still managed to say defiantly, "You wait...you...don't even think about keeping this official position!"

"You shall resign immediately!"

Liu Bei pulled out the order of conscription and threw it at the inspector's face in front of everyone: "You scoundrel, your indulgence in pleasure and neglect of state affairs is disloyalty, your disrespect for elders is unfilial piety, your taxation and levies that harm the people are inhumane, and your oppression of your neighbors is unjust! You are disloyal, unfilial, inhumane, and unjust, and I do not wish to be ranked with you!"

He talked and hit at the same time, hitting a few times for each sentence he spoke, quite rhythmically.

In fact, Liu Bei didn't use heavy force, but he made a big show of it.

The granary manager watched from the sidelines with a broad smile, clearly pleased to see the inspector get beaten up.

"According to clan rules, punish him according to family law!"

After fighting for a while, Liu Bei waved for Zhang He and Zhang Fei to step forward: "Give him two hundred lashes, so he'll learn his lesson!"

"Uh... big brother, I didn't count just now..."

Zhang Fei reminded him.

"Then let's start counting from now on." Liu Bei said he didn't care; a few more or fewer blows were all part of educating the younger generation.

Zhang He fought with great enthusiasm and was also very sensible. He aimed all the sticks at the inspector's buttocks, knowing he couldn't kill him, so he didn't use excessive force.

Zhang Fei's strikes were precise; each blow landed squarely on the thigh tendon, causing the inspector to cry out in agony, yet he was completely unable to move.

Clearly, Duan Jiong's instruction in painting beauties was not merely for mental training, but also to give him a greater understanding of human anatomy.

Both men were very careful; their buttocks were badly injured in just a few blows, but not to the point of being life-threatening.

Guan Yu was much more composed. Not only did he not make a move, but he also stood behind Liu Bei again, keeping an eye on the others present.

After the two hundred blows were finished, Liu Bei stepped forward and kicked the inspector who was no longer able to speak: "Junior, listen carefully! I, Liu Xuande, have come here to take up an official post, but you, junior, are unfilial and refuse to welcome me, which has made me, Liu Xuande, sick... Therefore, you must resign due to illness!"

"Young Inspector, you've made your master sick. You should at least compensate him for the travel expenses to seek medical treatment. If you're willing, then nod your head!"

"I'm willing... willing to compensate..."

The inspector was covered in tears and snot, his buttocks were bruised and battered. To avoid further beatings, he had no choice but to nod, otherwise this fierce man might cause some more trouble.

"Okay, if you're willing to pay compensation, it shows you've repented. Then sign a written statement for me..."

Liu Bei reached into the inspector's pocket, pulled out the seal, and looked up at the granary manager: "Go and get the receipt for the goods entering the warehouse."

The warehouse manager suddenly realized what was going on and quickly went to retrieve the storage documents.

After Liu Bei stamped the document, he threw the inspector's seal back, then laughed and left the county town with his men.

"Is County Magistrate Liu really going to ask for leave and return to his hometown?"

As they walked out of the city, Zhang He asked from behind.

"Yes, this isn't a good place... This document has already been stamped, you should hurry up and move your family back to Hejian."

Liu Bei handed the document bearing the inspector's seal to Zhang He, saying, "Don't worry, this matter concerns the inspector's filial piety. I beat that scoundrel in public, so he'll only cause trouble for me and won't bother you anymore."

That's for sure. After today, everyone will probably think Zhang He is Liu Bei's man...

"Zhang thanked County Lieutenant Liu... but County Lieutenant Liu beat the Inspector, what kind of official is that?"

Zhang He had vented his anger and was now genuinely grateful to Liu Bei. This kid was indeed inexperienced in the ways of the world and hadn't yet realized that he had been branded with the Xuande name.

“I have already resigned from this post… How can I serve in the same office as such an unrighteous and unfilial traitor? I cannot do anything to harm the people, so I might as well go back to my hometown to do business.”

Liu Bei waved his hand, then turned and left with Zhang Fei and Guan Yu.

Zhang He bowed respectfully behind him and watched Liu Bei walk away.

……

"Is elder brother really that inspector's elder brother?"

On the way, Zhang Fei asked.

"I don't know, I don't know that inspector at all... But it doesn't matter whether it is or not, since it involves filial piety and ancestral laws, no one will ask."

Liu Bei shook his head and smiled: "However, if we really want to talk about it, I am probably his elder."

Members of each branch of a clan are usually one or two generations older than their counterparts in the main branch, since most of them are young children who have left to establish their own lineages. And Liu Bei's family, belonging to a branch within a branch, is likely more than one generation older than that of the inspector.

On his first day as the magistrate of Anxi, Liu Bei resigned in public.

He's been an official for a while, but he's not really one anymore.

Liu Bei never wanted to be the Commandant of Anxi. Even without Zhang He's involvement, Liu Bei would have found an opportunity to resign.

But with this inspector, at least he could leave with much more peace of mind—Liu Bei resigned from his post in public with a sense of righteousness and used filial piety and family law to beat people, and no one could interfere with this matter, not even the imperial court.

Moreover, Liu Bei resigned from his post after being "angered to illness by an unfilial junior," leaving the court with an available position to sell to someone else...

To avoid being branded with a bad reputation for retaliating against elders and affecting future generations, the inspector couldn't really cause trouble for Liu Bei, and couldn't even file a complaint.

Now Zhang Chun and the Wang family can definitely rest assured.

The story of Liu Bei resigning from his official post because of his loyalty, filial piety, benevolence, and righteousness also spread to Hejian after Zhang He moved to Huimo County.

(End of this chapter)