Chapter 378
After all the generals received their orders, Liu Mang went home. Although there were many palaces for Liu Mang to stay in, Liu Mang did not do so as he did not want to be seen as decadent. This was simply part of Liu Mang’s psychology as the palace that Yuan Shu had made was too extravagant. It was to the extent that Liu Mang could not be certain that he would leave the palace once he went in. He did not live in such a palace to remain resolute.
Once Liu Mang reached his residence, he immediately went to his study room. He also did not want to remain idle and supplied himself with knowledge. This is because the ancient people must not be underestimated. All of them were people with extensive experience. When Liu Mang was still a university student, he did not like to study. However, he now wanted to study as a single failure on the battlefield could cause him and the people he cares about to lose their lives. He no longer dared to remain idle.
At that moment, Liu Mang was reading the Sun Tzu’s Art of War. It was an extremely ordinary book but it was also an extremely important book. Liu Mang was reading about the various schemes and famous strategies in the book. One of those methods involved using honey traps to destroy an enemy’s will to battle.
Speaking of honey traps, Lu Bu and Dong Zhuo had also fallen for this tactic which was done by Wang Yun. If Diao Chan had not been around, it was possible that Dong Zhuo and Lu Bu would still be in their honeymoon phase.
Liu Mang wondered when he would ever be seduced. For some reason, he suddenly thought of Lu Lingqi and shuddered. It was unrealistic for that person to do such things. It was more likely for that woman to strike before Liu Mang could even move. On the other hand, his other two wives were forced onto him by circumstances. If it was not for them, Lu Lingqi would have already consumed him tenaciously.
Liu Mang read the book with great interest and eventually became thirsty. After all, reading uses up a lot of saliva2. Liu Mang then called for someone to get him water.
“Yes, Your Majesty!” The servant girl outside replied. Liu Mang’s eyes were still on his book and he paid them no attention. After a while, a figure softly and quietly entered the room and closed the door.
The figure set down the teapot and began pouring tea.
Liu Mang then said to the figure without lifting his head. “Give me the tea and then leave!” Liu Mang was like others when he was reading. He did not like to be disturbed. This is because it was the only way for a person to truly comprehend the text.
“N.” The one pouring tea had a pleasant voice but Liu Mang also did not care about it. Liu Mang naturally had a few female servants as his house was not small. However, he did not seem to care about them at that moment as he had a book in his hand.
He stretched his hand out to take the teacup.
“Your Majesty, please be careful. The tea is still hot!” The pleasant voice reminded.
“Ah.” Liu Mang’s hand had prepared to receive the teacup but his hand was big. What he held was the soft and smooth skin of a person. Liu Mang was prepared to grab hold of the teacup but before he could do so, the hand quickly withdrew, dropping the teacup. As Liu Mang had been training martial arts, he reacted quickly and caught the teacup before it fell. Unfortunately, he was unable to catch the hot tea water within the cup.
Liu Mang groaned as he noticed the scalding liquid spilling towards his crotch. Although he managed to avoid most of it, he was still splashed by some water. It was not comfortable to be wearing soaked clothes.
“What are you doing?” Liu Mang immediately became angry. The servant had been too careless and should not be working in such a place. Liu Mang’s temperament had already now changed to one that was sitting in a high position. Although he would not kill this servant, he would have people chase her away from his home. Why would he want such a careless servant?
“Forgive me! Forgive me Your Majesty! I did not do it on purpose!” The servant lowered her head and continued to apologize to Liu Mang.
“What are you still standing there for? Help me to tidy up!” Liu Mang was truly angry. Not only was she careless. She could not even clean up her own mess.
Although Liu Mang managed to avoid most of it, he could not be careless as it concerned his descendants. He needed to ventilate it to prevent infection.
“Yes! Yes!” The woman quickly brought towels over. Liu Mang quickly took a towel to wipe the scalded parts.
With his hips scalded, Liu Mang no longer cared about the servant and took off his pants. His hips were already red. Fortunately he managed to avoid the scalding tea or the reddened part would be his little brother.
“Ah!” The servant screamed as she blushed. She covered her eyes with her hands but left some space between her fingers. Her eyes seemed bright and full of expression as she looked at Liu Mang’s lower part.
“Hm?” Liu Mang finally took notice of the servant girl after she screamed. Although she covered her face with her small hands, Liu Mang could still see her appearance. He was stunned by her beauty even though he had seen many others such as his three wives before. She had a tender beauty. She did not look young and inexperienced. At the same time, she did not look dignified like the women from rich families. She had a delicate charm that attracts people.
“Who are you? How did you come to my study room? Why are you here?” Liu Mang shook his head as he almost fell for a honey trap. He was willing to bet that he had never met her in his home before. It was difficult to remember ordinary people but a beauty like her would definitely stand out. At the very least, Liu Mang was certain that he did not employ her.
Liu Mang became on high alert. Although beauty was good, his life was more important. There was a possibility for her to be an assassin. Although there were not many of such people, they certainly exist. Liu Mang took out the sword he had placed on the table before taking his pants off.
Zhou Cang and Guan Hai were not with him as he was in his own home.
“I… I am a servant, Zou Rong!” The servant quickly bowed and replied to Liu Mang. After seeing the sword, she knew that she would be killed if she still refused to divulge her identity.
“Zou Rong?” Liu Mang had never heard this name before. This made Liu Mang feel suspicion towards the woman.
“Yes. It is Your Majesty that brought me in to live in this mansion.”
“I am the one that brought you in?” Liu Mang could not accept this. Itg was unlikely for him to forget such a beautiful person. He sneered and replied. “Nonsense. When did this King bring you in? Speak your purpose. Who sent you? I will forgive you this once because you are a woman!” Liu Mang spoke with a hint of killing intent.
The killing intent caused the woman to turn pale. However, the woman’s beauty and actions were such that it would make other’s feel comfortable. As a result, it became as though Liu Mang was bullying her. This caused Liu Mang to ease up a little.
“My deceased husband is Zhang Ji!” She quickly added.
“Zhang Ji?” Liu Mang took a while before he finally realized that Zhang Ji was Zhang Xiu’s uncle. “Are you Lady Zou?”
Liu Mang finally remembered that he did take in this Zhang Xiu’s family. Zhang Lei who gave an oath to be Liu Mang’s foster son should originally have his own residence but he was still too young. Liu Mang wanted to let Zhang Lei grow up until he was at least ten years old before allowing Zhang Lei to leave. Naturally, Zhang Lei would go to wherever Zhang Xiu’s family were. However, where would this family go to? In the end, they stayed in Liu Mang’s residence.
After all, Lady Zou was very beautiful and was an important person in history.
Wang Yun used Diao Chan to kill Dong Zhuo, eliminating one of the biggest competitors. On the other hand, the Qiao sisters could be considered as one of the reasons for the war between Jiangdong and Wei. This Lady Zou was also one of the reasons Cao Cao had lost one of his successors. Cao Cao had also almost died because of her.
Cao Cao fancied her from when they first met. Lady Zou may have also willingly married Cao Cao if Cao Cao and Zhang Xiu had a proper discussion. Unfortunately, Cao Cao wanted to force this issue.
With the help of Jia Xu, Cai Cai was defeated. His eldest son and general was dead. He and his second son had also almost died. If they had died, his family would have gone extinct. This was an extremely huge event that would definitely appear in history.
“You truly deserved to be the woman Cao Cao took fancy on!” Liu Mang could not help but shake his head. She was a woman with seductive looks and a face that compels people to pamper her.
“Why are you here?” Liu Mang now knew who she was but he had never allowed her to enter the study room. He did not like people to disturb him when he was studying.
“I…” Lady Zou made herself look troubled in hopes that Liu Mang would not pursue this question. Unfortunately for her, Liu Mang still wanted to ask. After all, it was a large residence. The only way she would know that he was thirsty is that if she was near when he shouted.
“Speak! Otherwise there would be a missing person in this mansion today!” Liu Mang bit his tongue to try and remain calm. A cold expression was reflected from his face. It may be safe this time as it was just a woman but what if it was an assassin? Even Liu Mang was afraid.
“This servant promised Mister Wenhe that she would not say!” Lady Zou replied as though she was about to cry.
“So it was him!” Liu Mang gave a wry smile and shook his head when he heard Lady Zou’s reply. Although Liu Mang did not like disturbances in his study room, he had a few exceptions. One of the exceptions was if he had army related business. The other exception were his three strategist, one of which was Jia Xu. As they were strategists, they were allowed to come into the study to use the books.
Xu Shu was an upright person. He was someone who conspires openly against his enemies. How could he be the one conspiring against his own Lord? Liu Ye was slyer compared to Xu Shu but he was not someone who would dare interfere in Liu Mang’s private life. The only one left was Jia Xu.
Although Jia Xu had surrendered to Liu Mang, his allies were only the Xiliang Cavalry along with Zhang Hu and Ge Jun. On the other hand, Xu Shu and Liu Ye were like opponents. He had acted the same way towards Guo Jia in the original timeline.
Jia Xu would make use of everything to its fullest to gain the upper hand in everything. One such example was the present situation.
It was obvious that the other servants were not around because Jia Xu had send them away. What else could his motives be for arranging this situation?
Liu Mang’s guess was correct. Jia Xu tried to help Lady Zou. He told her that a beautiful person like her would be treated as goods to be sold. So, it was better for her to first sell herself to Liu Mang. This would be a good ending for her. It would be better than to be sold off again to others. Last time, Cao Anmin wanted to sell her to Cao Cao. If Cao Cao had been more aggressive and did not give any face to Zhang Xiu, it was also possible for her to really be given to Cao Cao. As women only wanted a peaceful life, she was instigated by Jia Xu to do this.
Liu Mang was somewhat grateful as Lady Zou was extremely beautiful to the point that men would have difficulty resisting her. However, Liu Mang did not dare go any further as there was a tiger in his own home. Even Yuan Fang and Qiao Yu was enough to send her into a rage. If he were to take in this person as well, the tiger would eat him up.
Thinking of this, Liu Mang shook his head and kept his sword. “Milady. It is already late, it is best if you go and take rest.”
When Liu Mang put away his sword, whatever that was on his lower body could not be concealed. This caused Lady Zou to scream. After all, she was still young. She would turn twenty that year and would have been a college student were she to be from Liu Mang’s time.
“Milady. Please go back!” Liu Mang also felt stressed. He has such a nice meat in his possession but he could not eat it.
Hearing Liu Mang say this, Lady Zou no longer made a racket and shyly nodded before starting to leave. Unfortunately, before she left, a shout could be heard. “The Lady is back! Lady Lu Lingqi is back3!”
“Lu Lingqi?” Liu Mang was stunned. He then heard voice filled with anxiety, gratification and longing. “Lord Husband! Lord Husband!”
Hearing this voice, Liu Mang took another look at the current scene and felt a chill in his heart. “I am so dead.”