Chapter 36: The Red Cliff Tavern

  Jiangxia County has many lakes and rivers, with waterways crisscrossing everywhere. Most people travel by boat, and merchants also mostly travel by water, on the one hand, they can transport a large amount of goods, and on the other hand, they can have a comfortable journey.

  But there are also people who travel by land, from Yangxin County to Xiangyang in the north, there are two official roads. One is to take a ferry at Xiakou and go north along the right bank of the Han River, and the other is to take a ferry at Chibi and go north along the left bank of the Han River.

  It is more convenient to walk on the left bank of the two official roads.

  That noon, a young military officer arrived at the Chibi ferry terminal, followed by a cavalry attendant. Although the officer was handsome and dignified in appearance, what caught people's attention was the war horse he rode.

  This is a white war horse. The war horse is extremely majestic and powerful, walking with elegance and strength, attracting passersby to glance sideways.

  The young officer was naturally Liu Xuan. He did not follow Liu Bei's army to sail back to Xiangyang by waterway, but rode his beloved horse back on land. Liu Bei couldn't persuade him and was worried that his horse would be stolen, so he sent a guard with good martial arts skills to escort him.

  When Liu Xiang first got the Bao Ma, his strong desire to be with the horse day and night made him not want to take a boat, instead riding north on horseback, which could deepen his feelings for the horse.

  Liu Bei stood on the high bank, gazing out at the rolling Yangtze River in the distance. This was indeed Red Cliff. The rolling Yangtze River flowed eastward, its waves washing away heroes. In seven years' time, a battle that would decide the fate of the world would erupt here.

  But little did he know that Liu Xuan's arrival would add what kind of color to this piece of history.

  Liu Jing gazed for a long time, but was interrupted by a hospitable bartender, "General, it's almost noon, have a cup of water wine at the small shop before crossing the river! The boatmen on the dock are also resting now, and there's no one if you go."

  Liu Xuan turned his head and took a look at the wine keeper. Seeing that he was all smiles, with passion in his eyes, he asked: "Where is your winery?"

  The bartender pointed to a tavern not far behind him, "That's the first one in town!"

  Liu Xuan followed his finger and looked over, within a hundred steps from him was the town of Chibi, Chibi Town is a small town with about 100 households, most of which are sited for business (ancient people called outsiders merchants, those who opened shops locally were called shopkeepers).

  There are all sorts of shops, inns, taverns, brothels, food and sundry goods stores on both sides of the main street, with dozens of them, mainly doing business with travelers from across the river.

  Many boats traveling up and down the Yangtze River also stop at Chibi, where people go ashore to drink and shop, making the town seem quite lively.

  The first house in the small town was a wine shop, a two-story building with a vegetable garden behind it, covering an area of about two mu. In front of the gate, there were horse-tying posts, tying up more than ten horses. Next to it stood a wooden pole, on top of which hung a wine flag with black edges and yellow bottom, written in bold font: "Spring Come Inn".

  Liu Jiong was anxious to cross the river, and he was hesitating. His attendant smiled and said: "Why don't General Liu go ahead and have a drink first? I'll go arrange the boats at the dock, then come back."

  Liu Jiong nodded, this is also okay. At this time, the wine keeper smiled and said: "There are still friends of the military master in the wine house, they recognized the military master and let me come to greet you."

  "Friend?"

  Liu Jiong was slightly stunned, he couldn't think of any friends he had in Jiangxia County, and he looked at the tavern with suspicion again, but his curiosity finally made him urge his horse to head towards the tavern.

  The business in the wine house is not very good, the second floor is basically empty, and only the first floor has less than half of the guests, sparse, about a dozen people.

  Liu Jiong had just arrived at the gate when he saw two people sitting there, a young man and woman, both extremely youthful. The youth was about Liu's age, with a sturdy build, high nose, dark skin, wearing brocade robes, with a leather belt around his waist, looking very spirited, but his eyes were fixed intently on Liu's warhorse.

  And the girl sitting opposite him, Liu Xuan recognized at a glance, wasn't she the little girl who had fought with him against Huang Yi's slaves on the Spring Bridge? It was actually her!

  The girl saw Liu Xuan and hurriedly smiled and stood up, "General, do you still recognize me?"

  Liu Xuan nodded, "As long as you can leave Wuchang City safely, I'll be at ease too!"

  He tied the war horse to the hitching post and ordered the waiter to bring the best feed and clear water, then walked into the tavern, slightly cupping his hands and smiling: "I didn't expect to meet you again at Red Cliff, indeed people can meet anywhere."

  The girl was no longer dressed in the black skirt and red cloak of last time, but wore a long dress with a waist tie, a white long dress tied under her armpits, showing off her slender and lovely figure, and on top she wore a thick short jacket, with a snow-white neck wrapped around a fiery red fox fur.

  At this time, she no longer had any murderous aura on her body, the short sword and war bow were also gone, and she became gentle and virtuous. Although she was still young, there was an indescribable elegance in her every move, and she was completely different from that fierce little girl last time.

  The young lady bowed slightly and said, "Thank you so much for taking on the burden, sir. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have been able to leave Wuchang City safely. I'm deeply grateful."

  Although she practiced martial arts and learned skills, hated evil as an enemy, killed people without considering the consequences, but when she was quiet, her thoughts became very delicate. Liu Xuan took on the responsibility of killing people, and in her heart, it was like a clear mirror.

  "You're overpraising!"

  Liu Xuan smiled and returned a courtesy, not taking the matter to heart. However, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that the young man beside him seemed somewhat distracted, his gaze frequently drifting towards Liu Xuan's warhorse, with an unquenchable longing in his eyes. This made Liu Xuan feel a thread of vigilance - could it be that they had come for his warhorse?

  He coughed lightly and smiled at the young man: "I am Liu Jian, a lieutenant of the Jingzhou army. May I ask your honorable surname?"

  The young man quickly withdrew his gaze, looking somewhat flustered and embarrassed, as if his thoughts had been seen through. He hastily clasped his fists and said: "My surname is Tao, from Chaisang, General. You can call me Fourth Brother. This is my younger sister. Thank you, sir, for your help in Wuchang City."

  Liu Jing finally understood their identity, it turned out they were from the Chai Sang Tao family, no wonder they looked like people of wealth and nobility.

  "Master Tao doesn't have to be polite, in fact it should be me thanking your sister for lending a hand."

  "Haha! General, you're too modest."

  The young man waved his hand and smiled: "General, please sit down!"

  Liu Xuan humbly yielded a few sentences, then sat down, the angle of his seat just right to see the horses outside the tavern. The young man ordered wine again and smiled: "Judging from your accent, General seems to be from the Taiyuan County area, how did you end up serving in Jingzhou?"

  "When all is in chaos, nothing is impossible."

  Liu Jiong smiled faintly, took out a small brocade pouch from his bosom, carefully retrieved a golden hairpin from the pouch, and handed it back to the young girl. "This is your golden hairpin, isn't it? It's too exquisite, I hope I didn't damage it."

  The girl's eyes lit up, and she smiled as she took the golden hairpin. "I thought I had lost it, but it was picked up by you, sir. It was a gift from my mother, thank you so much."

  At this time, the young man's gaze turned to the war horse outside the tavern again. He finally couldn't help but say: "General Liu, is the war horse outside obtained from Zhang Wu?"

  "That's right! Zhang Wu was killed by me, so his horse naturally belongs to me. I see that you, young master, seem to be very interested in this horse."

  The young man bit his lip, took a deep breath and said: "To be honest with you, we have come to Jiangxia for this war horse. This horse has a white scar under its right eye, named 'Lu', which is considered one of the best horses in the world. I am willing to pay 100 gold coins to buy this horse, would you, General, be willing to part with it?"

  Liu Xuan couldn't help but laugh, this young man really didn't understand human relationships, he actually said it was a famous horse in the world and still wanted to buy it for 100 gold, anyone else would not sell it even if offered such a price.

  Liu Xuan shook his head, "Even if offered a thousand pieces of gold, I won't sell!"

  The young man's face changed, and he was stunned for a long time. He drank the wine in his cup all at once. The girl next to him smiled and said: "General Liu, we have been paying attention to this horse since last year, and we also sent someone to contact Zhang Wu. Zhang Wu also promised to give us this horse as a gift. Unexpectedly, war broke out, and Zhang Wu died unexpectedly. This horse was obtained by the general, which made us very regretful. If the general trusts us, he can go with us to Chaisang Tao's house. We are willing to exchange 3,000 taels of gold for this horse. Does the general agree?"

  "It turned out that it was for this horse that I and the girl would reunite at Red Cliff. It seems you've noticed me long ago."

  Liu Xuan shook his head, "What a pity! I wouldn't trade it for ten thousand pieces of gold."

  As soon as Liu's words fell, the young man slammed his cup on the table and said coldly: "I'm being polite to you because of your help in Wuchang City, otherwise we would have fought long ago. Surname Liu, don't toast without drinking or you'll be punished!"

  "Is Lord Tao trying to seize my horse?" Liu Xuan's tone also turned cold, countering sharply.

  "I'm just advising you to know your place, you're a genius. Your martial arts skills can't even compare to those of my sister, let alone mine and others. Open your eyes and take a good look!"

  The young man said this, and more than a dozen wine guests next to him stood up, each with a strong build and piercing eyes. Everyone had a sharp knife at their waist, blocking the doors and windows, leaving Liu Xuan no way to escape.

  Liu Xuan chuckled and said, "It seems that I can only be a hero who knows the times, and hand over my war horses with both hands."

  As soon as he finished speaking, he suddenly made a move, stretched out his hand and grabbed the girl in front of him. Before the girl could resist, he had already strangled her neck, with a cold light flashing dagger pressed against her delicate cheek.

  The girl's reaction was extremely quick, her elbow violently slammed backwards, directly hitting Liu Xuan's chest. Liu Xuan let out a muffled groan, the dagger in his hand tightened, and a shallow blood mark appeared on her delicate cheek skin.

  "You dare to mess around again, and you'll be done for."

  The girl was not afraid of death, but she was extremely afraid of disfigurement. Killing a hundred Liu Juns would not restore her beauty like a flower. Her clenched fists loosened again, and with extreme hatred in her heart, she shouted loudly: "You shameless scoundrel, let me go quickly!"

  Liu Xuan seized the girl, and her resistance and subsequent submission were all completed in an instant. It wasn't until then that her brother and the attendants around them came to their senses.

  "How dare you!"

  The young man suddenly became furious, slammed his hand on the table and stood up, "Let her go!"

  A dozen or so attendants drew their swords and closed in, Liu Xuan stood up, pulling the girl close to the wall, coldly saying: "I'm very sorry, I'm just not a timely person, if you want her dead, then come on."

  All the followers looked at the young man, who had grown up in a good education since childhood, always high above, not understanding the dangers of the world. He couldn't even dream that Liu Xiang would dare to take his sister as a hostage, it was simply eating bear heart and leopard gall, he didn't know that Liu Xiang had always been daring to do whatever he wanted, there was nothing in the world that he didn't dare to do.

  The young man was stunned for a moment. If something happened to his sister, how would he explain it to his mother and second brother? He took a deep breath and hastily waved his hand, "Let her go, I don't want your horse anymore."

  The young man's weakness made Liu Xuan see more clearly that this girl was even more precious to them than a princess, and this was their soft spot. How could he possibly let her go?

  Liu Jiong coldly laughed and sternly shouted: "Get out of my way, all of you!"

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