Only then did Zhang Fei relax.
But when he looked up, he ran straight into the sight of Guan Yinping staring at Xiao He with concern.
“Guan Yinping, I only gave Master Xiao one little slap, and look how worried you are.
Why don’t I ever see you show this kind of concern for your Third Uncle?” Zhang Fei grinned as he teased her.
Liu Bei also stroked his beard and smiled.
“This girl Guan Yinping has always been fiery.
I did not expect her to know how to care for someone now.
Yunchang, it seems this girl has grown up.” Guan Yu only smiled faintly.
Guan Yinping’s cheeks reddened, and she puffed out her lips in annoyance.
“Elder Uncle, what nonsense are you saying now?
Weren’t you the one who told me to look after him?” “If Third Uncle slapped him into serious trouble, how was I supposed to explain it to Elder Uncle?” Liu Bei knew his niece’s temper well.
Once she was annoyed, even he, as her Elder Uncle, would have a hard time calming her.
“Yes, yes, yes.
It was Elder Uncle speaking nonsense.
Guan Yinping, keep Master Xiao company while he finishes breakfast.
Your father and the others and I will go discuss how to carry out the Raid on Xiangyang.” Liu Bei quickly wiped the smile from his face, found an excuse, and hurried off with the others.
In the blink of an eye, the room turned quiet, leaving behind only a few female soldiers trying to hold back their laughter.
“What are you all laughing at?
Can’t you see the food has gone cold?
Hurry up and take it back to the kitchen to heat it again.” Guan Yinping glared at them irritably.
The female soldiers quickly picked up the food boxes and hurried out at once.
Only the two of them remained in the room, and the air felt a little awkward.
Xiao He was the first to break the silence.
“Ahem, actually, I’m full already.
There’s really no need to go to so much trouble.” “No, that won’t do.” Guan Yinping widened her bright eyes.
“I had the cooks make all of that specially for you.
You have to finish every bit of it.” “Uh…” Xiao He touched his slightly rounded stomach, looking troubled.
Guan Yinping ignored his expression, filled a cup with wine, and pushed it into his hand.
“Drink a few cups first.
When they bring the food back after heating it, then you can keep eating.” Feeling helpless, Xiao He could not bear to reject her good intentions.
He could only take the cup with a bitter smile and raise it to his lips.
Guan Yinping leaned closer with a mysterious look on her face.
“Xiao He, let me ask you something, and you have to answer honestly.” “Is your honored master a recluse immortal?
Did you learn a whole body of immortal skills in divination?” The wine had barely reached Xiao He’s throat before he choked on it at once.
“What makes you say that, Guan Yinping?” Xiao He wiped the wine from the corner of his mouth and turned to look at her.
Guan Yinping fired off her questions one after another, her small mouth moving as fast as a string of firecrackers.
“If you were not a disciple of immortals, how could you know before Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang that Liu Biao would die of illness, that Kuai Yue and Cai Mao would cast aside the elder and set up the younger, and that Liu Cong would surrender to that traitor Cao Cao?” “And how did you know that if Liu Bei retreated south to Jiangling, it would drag down the people of Xiangfan and get them slaughtered by Cao Cao’s cavalry?
You speak as if you can see the future before it happens.
If that is not the power of an immortal who learned divination, then what is it?” Xiao He understood at once.
This Guan family had mistaken him for some divine disciple with a heavenly eye, someone who could see both past and future.
But in an age when Zhang Jiao could gather millions of followers with a few paper charms, it was hardly strange for people to believe in spirits and gods.
“I am only an ordinary man,” said Xiao He.
“As for how I figured those things out, I can only say that what I learned is different from what Zhuge Liang learned.” Xiao He had no interest in playing the mystic, but he could not explain too much either.
He could hardly tell her that he was a transmigrator from a later age.
No one would believe that.
So he could only keep his answer vague, neither admitting nor denying anything.
Guan Yinping still looked half convinced and half doubtful, her bright eyes moving up and down as she studied him.
Just as she was about to press him again, the maidservants returned and set the reheated dishes back on the table.
“It seems I’m hungry again, Guan Yinping.
Then I won’t stand on ceremony,” Xiao He said.
He rolled up his sleeves and picked up his bowl and chopsticks again.
Guan Yinping could not keep questioning him, so she could only sit to the side and watch him eat in great mouthfuls.
If she called him an ordinary man, he had the gift of knowing things before they happened.
But if she called him a disciple of immortals, the way he ate looked nothing like an immortal at all.
What kind of person was he, really?
Guan Yinping rested her cheek in her hand and stared at Xiao He in a daze.
As she watched him, her gaze slowly drifted out of focus.
Inside the hall, Liu Bei was asking Zhuge Liang the same question.
“Do you think this Mr.
Xiao might truly be a disciple of some recluse immortal, with the power to know things before they happen?” Zhuge Liang lightly waved his feather fan and replied in a calm voice.
“I will say the same thing as before.
Matters of spirits and gods are hard to judge, and I do not dare make wild guesses,” said Zhuge Liang.
“But one thing I am certain of is that although this Xiao He claims he knows nothing of strategy, he is full of insight and hidden talent.” “This plan for the Raid on Xiangyang alone is already a brilliant move that can turn the whole situation around.
For Liu Bei to meet such a remarkable man by chance is truly a blessing for Han.” Liu Bei felt his heart jolt.
The words “a blessing for Han” suddenly stirred a thought in his mind.
He raised his head to the sky and murmured, “Could it be that Heaven has truly sent me, Liu Bei, an extraordinary man to help me restore the state and revive the House of Han?” Over the next several days, Liu Bei began making secret preparations for the Raid on Xiangyang.
Three days later, Guan Yu was inspecting outside the city when he intercepted the famous scholar Song Zhong, who was returning from Wancheng.
After Liu Bei questioned him, Song Zhong had no choice but to confess everything truthfully.
He said he had been secretly sent by Liu Cong to go north to Wancheng and present a letter of surrender to Cao Cao.
Cao Cao had been overjoyed and promised on the spot that Liu Cong could remain lord of Jing Province forever, and would also be granted the rank of County Marquis with ten thousand households as his fief.