Chapter 34: Memory Fragment 18/0889

  Lu Bu Age 18

  I retied my pants as I stepped out of the entrance of Lady Yan's carriage. Back in the City of Deer, she had either gone on foot or ridden a short but powerful mare. Travelling with Ding Yuan's army, she both had to be more cautious and demonstrate greater levels of propriety. I personally found the notion silly for a number of reasons, but she insisted that as a woman, she couldn't take chances.

  If that was the case, I had thought Ding Yuan should have simply left her back at the Inspector's palace that he ruled from, but the woman who was my senior by several years was a well-respected scholar and even strategist. Her advice on matters of state had apparently served my adopted father well over the years and would likely be invaluable once we reached the capital.

  Personally, I mostly liked her hips and tits, though the snow white hair atop her head was interesting too. I'd heard a few rumors that her uniquely coloured locks were a result of an assassination attempt, or a failed technique when she was young. Either way, the hair made the woman, who was maybe three years older than me, look striking in a way I found very alluring, well enough so that it overcame her plain face at least.

  Feeling far less tense than I had when I'd finished my morning spar with my seven cultivators, and far more prepared to sit through what was doubtless going to be an incredibly boring and long afternoon, I set off for the pavilion that had been constructed by connecting three massive and opulent tents together for the lord Inspector's use.

  Normally, they would have traveled further and waited later in the day before setting up my adopted father's portable palace. Today, though, he would be hosting dignitaries, so the pavilion needed to be fully set up before even the midway point of the day.

  My adopted father sat at a desk in front of his tent pavilion, which made me smile for one simple reason. Both the pavilion and my father were in the middle of the road, forcing any and everyone who wanted to travel either north or south to debase themselves by going quite far off the highway itself.

  'Well, it is his province.' I thought with a smile. Still, I was a little surprised. Ding Yuan was usually a more humble man than this. Honestly, it was kind of nice to see my adopted father display his power a little.

  The lord inspector was going over some sort of document with a brush. It would be troop numbers or supplies, or some other logistical nonsense, I'm sure. With the ability to fight that Ding Yuan possessed, I didn't understand why he wouldn't simply delegate this sort of thing to some lesser bureaucrat, but he virtually never did.

  "You stink like sex," he said without looking up.

  "Well, I was just having it," I told him with a laugh. That drew a little smile beneath his white mustache.

  "Well, congratulations." He replied, finally meeting my gaze. "I'm sure you had a good time and left Lady Yan useless to me for the rest of the day."

  'Probably." I admitted

  "Oh, Bu, what am I going to do with you?" He asked and stood from his desk. The moment he did, a pair of his servants dashed over and took the small table, papers, and all inside the pavilion.

  "Give me your halberd, I was hoping," I told him, still grinning. I think I caught a flash of irritation in his eyes, but it was gone before I could say for sure.

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  "Skypiercer will be yours when I die, or no longer wish to make war on the frontlines, you can be certain of that, but I hope you will be inheriting a lot more than that."

  "Me too." I agreed.

  "Ahh, boy, you are lucky you make me laugh. Especially as I cannot present you before delegates of the Celestial Masters in your current state."

  'Rice Farmers.' I thought with contempt.

  "I see your dismissal of these men in your eyes, but it is said Laozi himself appeared before the sect's founder, and many of the cultivation techniques you and I now take for granted originated among their members."

  "So? What do they care if I was ploughing the rice paddies before their arrival?"

  Ding Yuan's expression revealed to me that he actually agreed on that front.

  "Their beliefs about sex are a little strange, I'll grant, but it is about respect. They will feel disrespected if I present my son to them, stinking of women. "I was about to respond again when he held up a hand for silence. I obeyed, of course, my adopted father was a wise and powerful man. If he demanded silence I would not only do what he said I would make sure others did promptly as well.

  "And if we disrespect our resources, they will soon find new masters." That hadn't been my experience, but I also wasn't going to argue with the man right now.

  So I simply stood and accepted the old man's lecture. He spoke more on the nature of how to treat your lessers, and the nature of give and take when dealing with others. I only half paid attention until he changed tacts a little.

  "Have you ever heard of a man called Li Guang?" I shook my head in response.

  "He was a lot like you; a monster in human flesh, a warrior of rare skill, and an archer of impossible power. North of here is a flawless stone statue that he was able to easily punch through with arrows at over three Li's distance." Now that got my attention.

  "They called him The Flying General, as he used to soar above the battlefield, raining arrows on his foes that their armor could not hope to stop." That sounded pretty good to me.

  "He never lost a battle, but do you know what happened to him?"

  "I have never heard of the man, so how would I know that?" I grunted back.

  "He got lost in the desert, failed to reinforce his allies, and ended up killing himself for his failure. Do you know what the lesson here is?"

  "Don't commit suicide?"

  He snorted in what I thought was amusement, right up until Ding Yuan smacked me across the head. I growled and clenched my fists. Adopted father or not, lord inspector or not, I would never accept being shamed like that.

  "You can keep the murder in your eyes, even hate me if you want, but I did not adopt a beast, and I will not accept my son growling at me like one, so master yourself."

  I took a deep breath to calm myself. It wasn't exactly a success as rage still pumped through my veins like molten lead, but I didn't throw myself at the lord inspector even if I very much wanted to. I had fought hard to be his son, and in return, he had spent fortunes making me even stronger than I had been. Angry or otherwise, I didn't want to risk disinheritance, nor the ceasing of the resources Ding Yuan poured into me.

  "Just tell me what you want me to do," I said through gritted teeth.

  "You will skip this meeting today, and instead you will seek out the reserve elders who travel at the back of my army."

  "Alright." While I was happy to skip the luncheon, talking to the old windbags who only clung to life due to stubbornness and outdated cultivation techniques wasn't much of an upgrade.

  "Have them educate you on the life of Li Guang, and return to me tonight. We will speak of The Flying General over supper, and I will see if you have learned something."

  Stiffly, I placed a fist in my palm and bowed to my father.

  "And Bu, if your only takeaway from this lesson is a better understanding of the man's techniques, I will be very disappointed. I want you to learn how to lead men, not simply kill them."

  You guy's think Lu Bu is going to learn the right lessons?

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