Mythical Three Kingdoms

”Doesn’t matter what kind of wine it is. Just for the fact that you drank it yesterday with a smile on your face, I respect you as a real man.” Xiahou Yuan said expressionlessly. Since coming back yesterday, he’d dipped his finger in it several times and tasted it several times, and every single time ended with his face twisted in unspeakable agony.

That bitterness was downright despair-inducing. No wonder—essence pressed from burst gallbladders and pounded Coptis, fused and extracted together, then mixed into wine and dissolved and blended. Bitter enough to make a man lose hope.

Xiahou Yuan prided himself on having a firm will. Back then, he was sure he could’ve downed that gourd of bitter wine, but his whole face would’ve definitely twisted up; that kind of bitterness was simply unbearable.

Yet Zhang Fei had actually drunk it back then with a faint smile, as if it weren’t bitter wine at all. If Xiahou Yuan hadn’t dipped a little from that gourd and tasted it himself, he’d suspect Zhang Fei of cheating.

But Zhang Fei was just that cocky. Though Xiahou Yuan had always found him annoying, that calmness yesterday, that slightly proud smile—after all, both were supported by a will like iron. Even Xiahou Yuan had no choice but to concede.

He also had to admit that Xiahou Juan’s eye for people was indeed far better than his.

”An iron-boned man, you still need to say it?” Zhang Fei slapped his own pectorals until they thudded loudly, looking like he was about to start a fight with Xiahou Yuan. But after Xiahou Juan grabbed his left hand and shot him a disgruntled look, he obediently went back to offering formal salutes.

”Father, don’t mind him. He’s been like this since last night. But I’ve tasted that wine—it’s really bitter.” Xiahou Juan bowed her head and explained to Xiahou Yuan.

”All right. Zhang Yide counts as a decent match. Your father won’t be able to meddle in your affairs from now on. If something happens, go to him. Zhang Yide, can you promise that?” Xiahou Yuan looked solemnly at Zhang Fei, though judging from his expression, he clearly wasn’t treating Zhang Fei as a son-in-law.

”My Zhang Family people, you still need to say it!” Zhang Fei glared at Xiahou Yuan.

”Juan’er, if this Barbarian doesn’t treat you well, just come home. The Xiahou Family will always be your home.” Xiahou Yuan looked at his only daughter—and a foster daughter at that—and sighed.

”Hmph.” Zhang Fei flicked his head aside and said nothing, while Xiahou Juan’s eyes reddened slightly.

”All right, all right. Juan’er, go visit your older brother. I have something to say to Zhang Yide.” Xiahou Juan hesitated a little, but seeing the look on Zhang Fei’s face, she slowly backed out.

By the time Xiahou Juan finished speaking with Xiahou Ba, Zhang Fei was already waiting for her in the courtyard.

”You didn’t clash with Father, did you?” Xiahou Juan asked, a bit nervous.

”No. My word is law, you know that.” Zhang Fei reassured her, and Xiahou Juan clearly relaxed a bit.

”And Father didn’t provoke you?” Xiahou Juan asked again.

”He just told me a few things. All right, let’s go home.” Having shaved off his big beard, Zhang Fei’s whole bearing looked much more refreshed. He laughed heartily and pulled Xiahou Juan up onto the carriage.

Afterwards, the Xiahou Brothers took Cao Ang and wandered around the outskirts of Ye City, and the more they walked, the colder their hearts grew. A second-generation like Cao Ang, who’d only tasted a bit of war, couldn’t see the difference between the soldiers under Liu Bei and those under Cao Cao, but the Xiahou Brothers were veterans of many campaigns.

Of course, both of them were very clear that these hundreds of thousands of troops had all been through war, and many already belonged to that kind of elite troops with innate talent.

By the time Lub Su’s wedding banquet started, Liu Bei’s side had finished the re-equipping. The close-combat soldiers had changed into lamellar armour of different colors according to unit type; and of course, some special corps had painted theirs in unique colors to suit their own taste.

For example, the original plan for the Xiliang Iron Cavalry, according to Chen Xi’s idea, was black lamellar, red lacing, then a red cloak—so that they’d present a swath of black and red, in line with the Han Dynasty’s preference for black and dark hues, the colors of an Empire, the Empire’s core elite.

In the end, Hua Xiong decisively demanded all black: black helmets, black armor, black lacing, spare black gloves, black leather boots, black cloaks, black saddle blankets—and finally even the Long Spears, Horse-Cutting Blades, and Ring-Pommel Swords all replaced with black.

Judging from Hua Xiong’s posture, if it weren’t a bit difficult to get pure-black warhorses, he’d probably want even the horses changed to solid black. Though given the current situation, getting pure-black mounts wouldn’t be hard either.

Similarly, Zhao Yun’s Leather Armor was all painted white, while Yu Jin’s was all painted red. In short, a perfectly good set of army corps had been turned into a riot of all kinds of bizarre colors.

”I really don’t understand why Ziyi’s corps even has to paint their armor and boots gold.” Chen Xi looked at that local-tyrant gold color, helpless. But, truth be told, in ancient times China produced that shiny golden color in great quantities.

”Don’t you think this looks extremely dazzling?” Taishi Ci said with a smile. ”We’re the Navy. When we appear, we can’t hide; when we try to hide, you can’t even find the ships. Since that’s the case, we don’t need to consider concealment at all. What we need to consider is morale!”

Once each corps had finished changing gear, the Xiahou Brothers grew even more silent. The war potential Liu Bei was displaying had already left them feeling horrified.

”So this is Grand Commandant Liu’s army? So before this, he never even went all out, is that it?” Xiahou Yuan said with a bitter smile. Corps after corps assembling—even though the parade hadn’t started yet, that standardized equipment, those uniform weapons and armor, had already weighed heavily on Xiahou Yuan and the others.