Chapter 231

Lady Cai wept, her tears falling like rain on pear blossoms.

"How many years have you said it's been? I am already twenty. Must I really wait until I am thirty? How is Lord Liu Xuande any worse than that Liu Brother Jingsheng? On the contrary, he is far better!"

"Think about it, how old is Liu Biao? How many more years can he protect my Cai family? Lord Liu Xuande is only just over thirty, he is in good health, and he has decades of bright prospects ahead."

Lady Cai's face flushed as she said this.

"Lord Liu Xuande defeated the allied forces of Ding Yuan Shao and Cao Cao and crushed Sun Ce. Who could Liu Brother Jingsheng ever defeat?"

Cai Zhong nodded.

"What you say is true, little sister. Lord Liu Xuande holds the three provinces, commands over two hundred thousand armored troops, and has fierce generals like clouds under his command. Who knows what the future holds..."

Lady Cai continued.

"Lord Liu Xuande is the Imperial Uncle of the late Emperor; his status is noble. Who is to say what he might achieve in the future... I am only thinking of the Cai family!"

Cai Mao... *I almost believed her.

"Even so, our Cai family's roots are in Jingzhou, and Liu Biao took you as his wife. Liu Bei is only taking you as a concubine."

Lady Cai snorted.

"What does it matter if I am a wife or a concubine? With my beauty, could I not win his favor?"

"Besides, Liu Biao's wife is still alive. Are you suggesting you would kill her?"

Cai Zhong whispered.

"Big brother, I think little sister is right. If Liu Bei becomes Emperor, our little sister would at least be a Noble Consort! If she could bear an imperial prince..."

Cai Mao naturally knew that if he had another sister, he would throw her to Liu Bei without hesitation!

Lady Cai dropped another bombshell.

"Big brother, I am already Lord Liu Xuande's woman!"

Cai Mao:?! *Liu Bei's speed is...

He let out a long sigh.

"Fine. I hope your choice is the right one."

*Let Liu Biao scold me if he wants; I will slowly repair the relationship.

Lady Cai turned her tears into smiles, her mood instantly improved.

She hurried to the main hall, but upon seeing Liu Bei, her footsteps faltered.

Liu Bei saw her expression and knew the matter was settled; he nodded at her.

Lady Cai gave a charming smile and turned to leave.

Pang Tong felt immense envy in his heart.

"The Lord is truly invincible in all he does. Sigh, if only I had half—no, even a tenth of the Lord's ability, that would be enough!"

Once Cai Mao thought it through, his expression also shifted to a smile; having the world-renowned Lord Liu Xuande as a brother-in-law really didn't seem bad at all!

"Lord Liu Xuande, shall we set a date?"

Liu Bei laughed.

"How about five days from now? That should be enough time for Brother De Gui to invite your relatives and friends, right?"

Cai Mao nodded. It was a bit rushed, but still manageable. It was just that...

Liu Bei knew what he was afraid of.

"No matter. If Brother Brother Jingsheng blames anyone, I shall naturally go to offer my apologies."

Cai Mao sighed. What else could he do?

He looked at Liu Bei, and a sudden flash of insight struck him.

"Could it be that when Liu Bei was treating the Governor's wife, he had already thought of this? That Liu Bei is truly terrifying!"

A deep sense of awe for Liu Bei grew within Cai Mao!

Liu Bei set down the gifts and led everyone back to the post house.

Zhang Fei and Gan Ning made a loud commotion all the way.

The entire street instantly knew that Liu Bei was going to take Cai Mao's sister as his wife!

"Lord Liu Xuande is mighty indeed!"

"Cai Mao's sister is finally~ getting married off."

"Isn't it the Governor..."

"You fool, the Governor's wife was cured by Lord Liu Xuande."

"Lady Cai was also saved by Lord Liu Xuande; she must repay him with her body."

"So Lord Liu Xuande took Lady Cai; he really is a great man!"

Then, the news spread throughout the entire city of Xiangyang.

And then, this news flew like it had grown wings to every corner of Jingzhou.

At the residence of Huang Huang Chengyan,

Huang Yueying was extremely envious.

"Sigh, a talented man and a beautiful woman, they are a perfect match. I... haha."

At the Governor's mansion,

Liu Biao was smashing things in a frenzy.

"What? What did you say! Liu Bei is going to take your sister, Lady Cai, as his wife?!"

Liu Biao's beard was practically flying up from his rage.

Cai Mao cupped his hands.

"My Lord, my sister was saved by Liu Bei. Unexpectedly, they developed feelings for each other... Today, Liu Bei came to propose, and he even brought fierce generals like Zhang Fei, Gan Ning, and Taishi Ci."

Cai Mao hurriedly shifted the blame onto Liu Bei, indicating that he couldn't afford to offend him and had no choice but to give his sister away, though his heart still belonged to Liu Biao.

Liu Biao was truly about to die of anger. It was one thing for Liu Bei to come to Jingzhou and recruit a bunch of leftover talent, but now he was poaching right on his own doorstep!

But there was truly nothing he could do. Now that all of Xiangyang knew, if he were to forcibly intervene, wouldn't that make him a bully? It would tarnish his reputation.

Moreover,

On what grounds could he stop it? A prior arrangement? If such a thing were to get out, his reputation would be completely ruined.

Watching the delicious morsel that was about to reach his mouth get snatched away by Liu Bei like this, Liu Biao simply couldn't swallow his anger.

"Report~!"

Yi Ji rushed in.

"My Lord, an urgent report from Changsha Commandery: Zhang Han Xian has sent troops to occupy Lingling, Guiyang, and Changsha. He has rebelled!"

"What!"

Liu Biao's complexion turned even worse! With the three commanderies of Southern Jingzhou in revolt, he was almost left with only the land north of the river!

Misfortunes never come singly!

"Damn that Zhang Han Xian, I shall lead the campaign to suppress him myself!"

Liu Biao felt that since he couldn't stop Liu Bei and Lady Cai, he might as well follow the principle of "out of sight, out of mind."

Besides, if all of Southern Jingzhou rebelled, it would have too great an impact on him; he had to quickly extinguish the rebels!

He no longer had the heart to care about Lady Cai; if Jingzhou were lost, he would be nothing.

He wasn't worried about Liu Bei taking the opportunity to seize Xiangyang; there were fifty thousand troops left in the city, while Liu Bei only had four thousand outside, and surely Liu Bei wouldn't throw away his reputation.

Three days later,

Liu Biao led an army of forty thousand, intending to join forces with Huang Zu's twenty thousand and the twenty thousand from Nanjun, totaling eighty thousand to attack the rebel Zhang Han Xian.

Liu Bei saw him off ten miles outside the city.

"Brother Brother Jingsheng, I wish you success. If you can suppress the rebels within a month, we might still be able to meet when I leave."

Liu Biao's anger hadn't yet subsided, and he offered a forced smile.

"Liu Xuande, no need to worry. I shall return as soon as possible."

Liu Bei watched the Jingzhou army depart and turned his head to look at Pang Tong.

"Pang Shiyuan, how long do you think Governor Liu will take to quell the rebellion this time?"

Pang Tong cupped his hands.

"My Lord, let alone a month, I fear he might not even be able to take Changsha Commandery in half a year."

Liu Bei knew history; Liu Biao fought this war for a year, losing troops and generals, yet failed to take Changsha Commandery.

It wasn't until Zhang Han Xian died of illness that he finally recovered the four commanderies of Jingzhou.