Chapter 15: Liu Zong's Advice

  This gaze made Liu Xiu feel a bit uncomfortable, in his mind, a noble lady should be reserved and dignified, even if she wants to look at him, she should walk slowly with her sleeves raised to half cover her face, glance back with a hint of surprise, this is the image of a noble lady.

  But this girl looked at him up and down like a mother leopard, as if Liu Xing was a piece of fresh meat hanging on the door, where did the good feeling go?

  This young girl was Cai Mao's only daughter, Cai Shao Yu, who was fourteen years old and at the age of discussing marriage. Generally, they would first settle on a betrothal, then wait two more years until she reached the ripe age of sixteen before getting married in a grand ceremony.

  Cai Shaoyou naturally had the heart of a romantic, but in her mind, her ideal lover should be a refined and elegant gentleman with great learning and talent, and good manners. Since last year, many suitors from respectable families have come to ask for her hand in marriage, but her father wants to marry her off to the son of the regional governor.

  She knew, of course, that the son of the provincial governor was either Liu Qi or Liu Chen. Both men liked her, and she found it difficult to choose between them. Liu Qi was considerate, while Liu Chen was sweet-tongued. If forced to make a choice, however, she would have chosen Liu Chen, for he seemed more in tune with her thoughts. Her heart was filled with bright hopes for the future.

  But just a few days ago, she overheard her parents' conversation and found out that they had promised her to the nephew of the provincial governor, surnamed Liu, named Liu Jing. Her heart became uneasy, what kind of person was he?

  Today she came to visit her aunt who had just given birth, feeling bored and idle, she came over to take a look at the Liu brothers, unexpectedly running into Liu Xuan.

  So this robust young man was actually Liu Xuan? Cai Shaoyu felt a kind of disappointment that she couldn't hide, which was far from the elegant and refined young man she had imagined.

  "You... you're really a coarse person!"

  Cai Shaoyou felt bitter in her heart, but couldn't say it out loud. She stomped her foot and turned to run away quickly, the strong man in front of her filling her heart with despair.

  Liu Jing was confused, what's going on? Did he provoke her himself?

  This girl gave him a bad impression, not only lacking gentle beauty, but also having a strange personality, which reminded Liu Xuan of some litigants he had encountered in his previous life who would get angry for no reason.

  Liu Xuan thought of Cai's wife again, and couldn't help but frown. What was wrong with the women in this mansion? Each one had a nervous temperament and would suddenly get angry for no reason.

  "What did you do to offend her?"

  A slightly hoarse voice came from outside the door, and then a sturdy young man with a golden crown on his head, wearing a light purple embroidered edge brocade robe, with a jade belt around his waist, appeared at the door. His skin was slightly dark, and he looked spirited and about sixteen or seventeen years old.

  He leaned against the far door with his hands clasped in front of his chest, his eyes seeming to smile yet not smile as he gazed at Liu Xiu.

  "Are you... Brother Cong?"

  Liu Jiong had astutely guessed his identity, Liu Qi had told him that Second Master Liu Zhuang was one year older than him, and Liu Ke and Liu Hu did not live in the mansion, so this young man could only be Liu Zhuang.

  "Your brother is very clever!"

  Liu Cong walked in with a smile, drew out the long sword from his waist, and lightly made a few flourishes of the sword in front of Liu Xuan. Smiling, he said: "How's my swordsmanship? Let's have a try!"

  In the Han Dynasty, men were fond of wearing swords. Swords had the reputation of "gentleman's martial arts" and "can love the body". The famous swordsmen Zhang Zhong and Qu Chenghou had the reputation of "using good swordsmanship to learn how to use a sword", and their names were known throughout the world.

  The great swordsmen Wang Jun also had the famous saying "able to observe a thousand swords, then understand the sword", wore a named sword, and being good at using a sword became an enduring tradition in the upper class of the Han Dynasty.

  Comparing martial arts skills is even more a fashionable way of gentlemen's socializing, and many friendships start from comparing martial arts skills.

  So Liu Zhuang came up and drew his sword, which was not impolite, but a kind of social invitation, just like in later times when people meet, they say "Let's go! Let the two of us have a drink." It's actually the same meaning, only more elegant and interesting.

  Liu Cong has been studying literature since childhood and is also passionate about practicing swordsmanship. He has studied under famous masters, and his swordsmanship is extremely famous among the young people of Jingzhou.

  However, in Liu Xuan's view, Liu Zhuang's swordsmanship was too flashy and not practical. He emphasized the beauty of posture, fluttering like a startled swan, but on the battlefield, he would probably be killed with one knife and become a dead chicken.

  Of course, he can't compare with Liu Zhuang in martial arts. His martial skills were learned from fighting beasts, simple and practical, but in the eyes of scholars, it's a kind of barbaric technique, completely different from Liu Zhuang's swordsmanship.

  Liu Xuan smiled and bowed deeply, "I don't understand swordsmanship, I've never learned it before, I still need to ask Brother Cong for guidance!"

  Generally speaking, asking for advice is a challenging tone, but Liu Xuan said it very sincerely. He really didn't understand swordsmanship and only knew how to fight in battle, using knives to kill people.

  This was also his regret, he had never systematically learned martial arts, in his previous life he was just a rock climber, and in this life he was only a young hunter, what he learned was only a kind of killing experience, which might be useful when facing small soldiers, but when he saw Zhao Yun defeat Gao Lan, he realized that what he knew was nothing more than the martial arts of a small soldier, and it was still far from the true martial arts of a great general on the battlefield.

  Learning martial arts was his first thought after moving into the Liu mansion. In the chaotic world of the Three Kingdoms, without a solid martial art, how could he make achievements? He just didn't know where to start for the time being, like a traveler in the desert who is extremely thirsty, Liu Zhen suddenly told him that he could learn swordsmanship, and he was instantly attracted.

  "Excuse me, Brother Cong, where can I learn swordsmanship?"

  Liu Cong glanced at him for a while, feeling that he really didn't know how to use a sword. He then put the sword back in its scabbard and said with an arrogant tone: "I've been learning sword fighting since I was six years old, it's already been ten years. Many things can't be done just because you want to do them, they require certain conditions. Sorry, I won't be able to help you."

  After finishing speaking, he turned around and walked to the gate of the courtyard. He suddenly remembered something and turned his head back, saying: "Shaoyue has a special status, you'd better keep your distance from her, this is my advice to you."

  First, he was scolded by a willful girl for no reason, and then he encountered Liu Zhuang's arrogance, which made Liu Jing feel somewhat displeased in his heart.

  Although unpleasant, Liu Xuan had some experience in his previous life. He knew that newcomers to the workplace needed to be low-key. As soon as he arrived at the Liu mansion, he immediately jumped out and acted wildly, which was not wise but foolish.

  More importantly, he understands the law of survival in a chaotic world. When it's time to be soft, he bows his head and remains silent; when it's time to be hard, he doesn't yield an inch.

  Liu Cong's arrogance wasn't worth his attention, Liu Jing smiled faintly and turned around to enter the house.

  ．．．．．．．．．．

  After Liu Bei entered Xiangyang, he was settled in a large mansion north of the city. Including Liu Bei and his family members, advisors and main generals, they all lived in this large mansion. Liu Biao specially allocated generous funds for their living expenses, which were not a problem.

  In addition, Liu Bei's army was stationed in a large military camp outside the east city. In fact, it was to allocate a part of the Dongdafang barracks of Jingzhou Army to Liu Bei. The 20,000 Jing and Xiang armies of the Dongdafang barracks were adjacent to Liu Bei's army. A tall watchtower could observe the movements of Liu Bei's army at any time. Of course, this is just an explanation as a coincidence.

  Liu Bei's 2,800 troops were not numerous, but like a sparrow, though small, has all its internal organs, they were also divided into three armies: the left, center and right. Guan Yu led the central army, Zhang Fei commanded the left army, and Zhao Yun led the right army. The three of them almost always lived in the military camp, training soldiers every day to cultivate their combat effectiveness.

  The training ground was filled with swirling dust, eight hundred soldiers were lined up to practice their knife skills, the shouting voices were like thunder, the flashing knives shone brightly, and the atmosphere was fierce and intimidating.

  Zhoa Yun kept drinking and commanding the soldiers, correcting their movements. Zhoa Yun had only returned yesterday and did not want to stay in Tianxuan Hall. Although his injuries were not yet healed and the poison had been eliminated, he began to slowly recover.

  Zhao Yun had thick gauze wrapped around his shoulder, with his arm suspended in front of his chest by a strip of gauze. Although he couldn't move his hand yet, he was a restless person and came early to dictate the training of the soldiers.

  At this time, a soldier came running and knelt down on one knee, saying: "Report to the general, a young gentleman named Liu Xuan is outside the camp gate asking to see the general."

  Zhao Yun was overjoyed; he had planned to visit Liu Shuang tomorrow and did not expect him to come first.

  "Quickly invite him in!"

  Before long, the soldiers led Liu Xuan to the training ground. Feeling suffocated in the Liu mansion and itching for action, Liu Xuan inquired about Zhao Yun's return and immediately found him at the East Barracks within the military camp.

  The two met and hugged each other tightly, like old friends reuniting after many years. Liu Xuan looked him up and down, scolding: "Why aren't you lying down to rest?"

  Zhao Yun smiled and said: "Lying down and resting will only make you more ill, walking around will actually help you recover faster."

  "To be honest, I didn't disinfect that knife and gave you rainwater to drink, I'm worried it will affect your martial arts skills."

  "It's nothing! The military doctor said it was no big deal, let's just drop it."

  Zhoa Yun warmly patted him on the shoulder and smiled: "How was it? Did your uncle accept you?"

  "Alas! My uncle is fine, but Mrs. Cai seems to dislike me a lot. She gave me a cold shoulder on the first day, I don't know why?"

  "Women! They always have some inexplicable ideas, don't bother with them, as long as your uncle acknowledges it, that's all that matters."

  Zhao Yun saw him occasionally glance at the soldiers practicing with swords in the distance, he knew Liu Xuan's thoughts and didn't say it clearly, so he smiled and asked: "What are your plans for the future? Are you going to study?"

  Liu Jiong glanced at the soldiers again and scratched his head, saying: "Actually, I want to practice sword with them, and receive guidance from Brother Zi Long together."

  It's just a more implicit way of saying it, a humble way of speaking. He doesn't want to put pressure on Zhao Yun to repay him for saving his life. A person's heart is very subtle; if you consider the other person's self-esteem, they will also give back in return.

  Zhoa Yun understood what he meant. He wouldn't really throw Liu Xuan into the crowd of soldiers to practice martial arts together. With a slight smile, Zhao Yun ordered his subordinates: "Bring two knives!"

  Soon, the soldiers brought two knives, Zhao Yun threw one to Liu Xuan, "Come on! Let's practice a couple of moves."

  Liu Jiong was startled and hastily waved his hand, "Your injury, no way!"

  Zhao Yun smiled slightly, "You must have seen me deal with the Cao army on the battlefield. Do you think you can exchange several rounds with me?"

  Liu Jue's face turned red, he knew that he couldn't even win a single exchange against Zhao Yun, and that Zhao Yun could take him down with just one hand.

  His heart lifted, he understood Zhao Yun's meaning, Zhao Yun was willing to teach himself, his long knife lightly swung, his whole body was like a leopard's momentum, his eyes fiercely stared at Zhao Yun.

  After Lü Bu and Dian Wei's death, Zhao Yun can be called the number one general in the world. He is very proud and never teaches anyone martial arts, but Liu Xun is an exception.

  It was not only Liu Bei who saved his life, but more importantly, Liu Bei's unwavering loyalty to him made Zhao Yun regard him as his own brother.

  However, Liu Xuan's momentum still made Zhao Yun secretly shocked. He could see that Liu Xuan had rich combat experience, and if he was slightly careless, he might be at a disadvantage.

  Zhao Yun dared not be careless, his long sword slightly swaying, sealing off all lines of attack. He smiled faintly and said: "Come on! Go ahead and do your worst, let's pretend this is a battlefield."

  "Brother Zi Long, I really did it!" Liu Jing shouted loudly.

  "Come on!"

  At this time, the eight hundred soldiers all stopped training and gathered around, discussing in a flurry. They had never seen Zhao Yun fight with someone before, let alone a young boy.

  Liu Jue took a step back at a distance of ten paces, but Zhao Yun's knife was so casual and yet had a sharp killing intent, as if it enveloped his entire body, making him unable to chop out even one knife.

  But a competitive heart was burning in Liu Xuan's mind, even if there was no opportunity, he would create one.

  Liu Jue suddenly sheathed his sword and bowed deeply to Zhao Yun, smiling and saying: "Liu Xiong, it's been a long time since we last met."

  ..。