Reborn Liu Bei: I'll lead this Three Kingdoms to victory!

April 12th, the seventh year of Jian'an, Xuchang.

Wang Pu got into trouble. Zhao Yan only found out the next morning.

When Zhou Yuan climbed over the wall, his face was deathly pale, and he could barely speak. "Wang Pu... Wang Pu has been arrested."

The teacup in Zhao Yan's hand fell to the ground and shattered. "When?"

"Last night. At 9 PM." Zhou Yuan's voice trembled. "The people from the School Affairs Office barged into his house. He didn't even have time to run away."

Zhao Yan stood there, motionless. Wang Pu. The deputy to the city gate captain. The most crucial of the thirty-seven men. Where were his wife and children?

"Where are his wife and children?" he asked.

Zhou Yuan shook his head. "I don't know. Some people say they were arrested together, others say they didn't see the child."

Zhao Yan closed his eyes. He remembered Wang Pu's face.

He was dull and expressionless, bowing and scraping to everyone he met; he looked like an ordinary minor official.

He recalled the words Wang Pu had sent back with that man: "What will happen to my wife and children?"

The man said, "Let's run together."

He didn't run. He couldn't run anymore.

"Mr. Zhao," Zhou Yuan's voice interrupted his thoughts, "What do we do?"

Zhao Yan opened his eyes. "Go back and tell Sun Fu," his voice was calm, so calm it startled even himself, "that from today onwards, no one is allowed to move. No contact, no communication, no leaving the house. Just pretend you're dead."

Zhou Yuan nodded.

"Also," Zhao Yan paused, "don't come anytime soon."

Zhou Yuan looked at him. "And what about you over here..."

"Don't worry about me," Zhao Yan said. "Your most important thing right now is to stay alive. Staying alive is more important than anything else."

Zhou Yuan was silent for a moment. Then he turned around, climbed out of the back window, and disappeared into the alley.

Zhao Yan stood by the window, watching his retreating figure. Young. Too young. But now he could only rely on these young people. He returned to his desk and sat down.

His hands were trembling. He pressed them under his knees, pressing down hard. Wang Pu had been arrested. How would the officials from the Imperial Academy interrogate him?

Will you hit him? Will you torture him? Will you bring his wife and children to him and make him watch them?

He didn't know. All he knew was that if Wang Pu couldn't hold out and confessed, none of the thirty-seven people would escape.

Including him. He stood up, walked to the corner, and lifted a floorboard. Underneath was a small hidden compartment.

In the hidden compartment lay a short knife, a packet of poison, and a letter. The letter was left to him by Xun Yu. He pulled out the letter and opened it. There was only one line on it:

"If things fail, do not implicate others. I will wait for you in the underworld."

He stared at the words for a long time. Then he folded the letter and put it back in the hidden compartment. He took out the knife and placed it beside his pillow. He took out the poison and tucked it into his robes. He lay back down on the couch and stared at the ceiling.

Wait. Wait for the school administration to come and knock on his door.

A general store in the east of the city.

Sun Fu stood behind the counter, holding the scissors in his hand. He hadn't sharpened them. He was just holding them. Zhou Yuan had come by and told him about Wang Pu. After listening, he didn't say anything.

After Zhou Yuan left, he just stood there, holding that pair of scissors.

Footsteps sounded outside the door. Sun Fu looked up.

Two men dressed in black walked in, knives hanging from their waists. They were from the School Affairs Office.

"What's your surname, shopkeeper?"

Sun Fu looked at them, his face expressionless. "Sun."

"Where are you from?"

"Qingzhou".

"How long have you been in Xudu?"

Three years.

The two men in black exchanged a glance. "Have you seen anyone suspicious lately?"

Sun Fu shook his head. "Never seen it before."

The man in black stared at him for a long time. Then he turned and left. Sun Fu stood there, motionless.

He gripped the scissors tightly in his hand.

Only after the two men in black disappeared around the street corner did he slowly release his grip. His palms were sweaty.

He glanced down at the scissors. His fingerprints were still visible on the blade. He put the scissors down, wiped his hands with a cloth, and then continued standing there, waiting.

Wait for the next group to arrive.

Xiapi.

The atmosphere in the sluggish, secret room was so oppressive it felt like it was about to explode.

Sima Yi sat at his desk, a newly arrived secret report spread out before him: "Wang Pu has been arrested."

He handed the secret report to Pang Tong. Pang Tong glanced at it and remained silent. After a long while, he took a swig of wine. "How much does Wang Pu know?"

Sima Yi shook his head. "I don't know. But he's in a very crucial position, so he knows quite a bit."

Pang Tong put down his wine gourd. "Thirty-seven people might be wiped out completely."

Sima Yi remained silent. His hands were clenched tightly on his knees. Wang Pu had been captured. He was a spy Sima Yi had personally planted.

Thirty people, less than a month after they were sent in, and then the accident happened.

"Zhongda," Pang Tong said.

Sima Yi looked up. "What do you plan to do?"

Sima Yi was silent for a moment. "Wait," he said. "Wait for news from Xuchang. Whether Wang Pu can hold out or not, it will be decided in the next couple of days."

Pang Tong looked at him. "What if we can't hold out?"

Sima Yi did not answer. He simply stared at the oil lamp on the table, at the flickering flame. After a long while, he spoke: "Then let's start again."

In the western part of Xuchang, in an abandoned courtyard, Wang Pu was tied to a pillar, covered in blood. He had been beaten for three hours.

Those people kept changing their methods, attacking one wave and then moving on to the next. He couldn't remember how many times he was hit. He only remembered one thing:

I can't say. I can't say the names of those thirty-seven people. I can't say Zhao Yan. I can't say Sun Fu. I can't say anyone.

"Captain Wang," a voice rang in his ear, "Why bother? Just tell him, and you can go home and hug your wife and kids."

Wang Pu opened his eyes.

Before me was a smiling face, as if chatting with an old friend.

"I...I don't know..."

The smile vanished from his face. "You don't know?"

He waved his hand, and someone next to him brought over a tray.

On the tray lay a finger. Small and thin, it was a child's finger. Wang Pu's eyes widened instantly.

"Do you recognize her?" The face smiled again. "She's your daughter's."

Wang Pu's body trembled violently. He tried to shout, but no sound came out of his throat.

"Captain Wang," the face came close to his ear, "I'll ask you one more time. Who are those thirty-seven people?"

Wang Pu closed his eyes. Tears streamed down his face. He remembered his daughter's face. He remembered the sound of her calling him "Dad." He remembered how she would run over and hug his legs every time he came home.

He couldn't bring himself to say it. But he couldn't take it anymore. "I..." Suddenly, the door was kicked open. A man rushed in, holding a knife.

The man was dressed in black from the Imperial Academy, but Wang Pu did not recognize him.

The man slashed down the guard by the tray with one stroke, then stabbed at the smiling face with another.

Before the face could even utter a sound, it collapsed. The man walked up to Wang Pu and cut the rope with a single stroke.

"Walk."

Wang Pu looked at him. "Who are you?"

The man didn't answer. He simply took a cloth bag from his pocket and stuffed it into Wang Pu's hand.

"Run north. Someone will meet you once you're out of the city."

Wang Pu looked down at the cloth bag. One character was embroidered on the bag:

"Xun".

He was stunned. When he looked up again, the person was gone.

There were only two corpses on the ground and an open door.

Xiapi.

Xun Yun sat by the window, holding a letter in his hand. The letter had just been received.

There was no signature, no inscription, only one sentence: "Wang Pu has been saved. An old friend from Yingchuan."

He stared at the words for a long time. "Old friends from Yingchuan." Again, old friends from Yingchuan. Who could it be? He thought of his father. He thought of the friends his father had made in Yingchuan over the years.

Some died, some scattered, and some migrated north with the Xun clan. Who remained in Yingchuan?

Who else could rescue people in the Xudu School Affairs Office?

"Young Master Xun." A voice came from behind.

Xun Yun turned around. Fu Shou stood behind him, holding a bowl of hot soup.

Mr. Hua said, "You didn't eat again today."

Xun Yun took the soup and took a sip. The soup was warm.

"Miss Fu."

"Um?"

"Tell me, what does a person leave behind when they die?"

Fu Shou sat down beside him.

"You already asked," she said.

Xun Yun was taken aback. "You already asked?"

"Last time," Fu Shou said, "you asked the same question."

Xun Yun remained silent.

He remembered that night, the conversation they had under the moonlight. At the time, he didn't know the answer. Now, he felt like he understood.

When a person dies, what remains is not their name, nor the things they did.

It's one person. It's those he helped who are still helping him after his death.

"Miss Fu," he said.

"Um?"

"I think I understand."

Fu Shou looked at him.

Under the moonlight, there was something indescribable about the face of this twenty-year-old.

It's not sadness, it's not strength, it's... something that's slowly growing.

"Understand what?"

Xun Yun did not answer. He simply gazed at the night sky, at the stars.

On the official road outside Xudu City.

Wang Pu was running. He didn't know how long he had been running. He only knew that it got dark, then light again, then dark again. His feet were blistered, and he didn't know where he had lost his shoes, but he dared not stop.

Someone could be chasing him at any moment. He clutched the cloth bag tightly to his chest. Xun. That was Xun Yu's Xun. That was the Xun of the person who saved him. He didn't know who that person was. But he knew that person had kept him alive, had allowed him to live to see his wife and children.

Let him go north alive. To that place he's never been before. Suddenly, a small light appeared ahead.

Wang Pu stopped. The firelight was getting closer. It was a group of people on horseback.

The person in the lead was dressed in white and stood out conspicuously in the moonlight.

"Captain Wang?" The voice was young. Wang Pu stood there, panting heavily. "You...you are..."

The man dismounted and walked up to him.

"My name is Zhao Yun," he said. "I have come to receive you, sir, on the orders of the magistrate."

Wang Pu was stunned. Zhao Yun. Zhao Yun of the White Horse Cavalry. Liu Bei's man. He...he came to pick him up?

"Sir, being alive is more important than anything else," Zhao Yun said. "Let's go."

Wang Pu stood there, motionless. Tears suddenly streamed down his face. He remembered his daughter's fingers. He remembered that smiling face. He remembered the person who rushed in to save him.

He opened his mouth, wanting to say thank you, but no sound came out of his throat.

He simply knelt down. He knelt before Zhao Yun, knelt on this official road that led to who-knows-where.

He knelt, weeping, like a child. Zhao Yun bent down and helped him up. "Sir, let's go."

许都

Zhao Yan lay on the couch, unable to sleep all night. He waited for someone from the Imperial Academy to knock on his door. He waited all night, but no one came. Suddenly, a soft sound came from the windowsill.

Zhao Yan sat up abruptly. He walked to the window and opened it. In the moonlight, a small pebble lay on the windowsill.

Blue-green and round.

Exactly the same as the previous two. Zhao Yan reached out, picked up the pebble, and gently squeezed it in his palm.

The pebble cracked open. Inside was a tiny slip of paper. He unfolded it and read it by the moonlight. There were only a few words on it:

"Wang Pu is saved. Do not think of him."

Zhao Yan stood there, motionless. A cool night breeze blew in. He stuffed the note into his mouth, chewed it, and swallowed it. Then he lay back down on the couch and closed his eyes.

He fell asleep that night.