Chapter 567

News finally arrived back at the Cai Family’s residence where Cai Mao, Kuai Yue, Kuai Liang and Kuai Ran were waiting anxiously.

A shadow guard knelt in front of Cai Mao and gave his report in the form of an envelope.

Cai Mao received the envelope and waved for his subordinates to leave. He then quickly took out the letter and read it.

“Brother Degui! How are things?” Kuai Liang asked impatiently.

“Quiet. Can’t you see I am reading?” Cai Mao replied irritably. Normally, Kuai Liang would have quarreled back but this time, he remained silent.

“Ran’er. Go and make preparations to save your brother, Liu Mang.” Kuai Yue said calmly as he drank his tea. For him, he wasn’t actually waiting for news and was more planning his next move.

The worst news that Kuai Yue could accept was that Liu Mang was caught and imprisoned. If that was the case, he can dispatch people to rescue Liu Mang and rely on the navy for battle.

“Brother Yidu. There is no need.” Cai Mao shook his head. His expression wasn’t good so Kuai Yue and the others feared the worst.

“Could it be that the King of Shu is dead?” Kuai Yue stood up and ask. This would truly be the worst news. If Liu Biao had killed Liu Mang, all of Kuai Yue’s preparations would be useless. Jingzhou would go to war with Yangzhou and both the Cai Family and the Kuai Family would be placed in a difficult position where both Jingzhou and Yangzhou would treat them as enemies.

“No, no! The King of Shu escaped!” Cai Mao replied.

“He escaped?” Kuai Yue and the others were shocked. None of them could believe their ears as they knew how angry Liu Biao was.

Liu Biao had placed Cai Mao under house arrest, took out the Xiangyang Guards and also one thousand of his own personal bodyguards just to arrest Liu Mang and a few of his subordinates. Had Liu Mang escaped earlier after being notified by the Kuai Family, this would not be a surprise. However, Liu Mang had acted on his emotions and got himself surrounded. How did he escape?

“Don’t tell me he flew off?” Kuai Liang could not help but say.

“He really did flew off!” Cai Mao replied weakly.

“Huh?” Kuai Ran was astonished. Was this a joke? Did his brother-in-law really know how to fly? Humans weren’t deities. They could not fly!

“Don’t believe me? Read this for yourselves!” Cai Mao said as he handed over the letter. Kuai Yue took the letter and read it. Kuai Ran and Kuai Liang also approached to look at the letter together.

The letter indeed wrote that Liu Mang had flown out of the city. They also found out why Cai Mao’s expression changed. This is because Liu Biao had thrown Lady Cai into prison and even expressed his desire to kill Liu Zong.

Liu Zong was someone the Cai Family needed to consolidate their position in Jingzhou. If he dies, the Cai Family would be left with nothing. Their years of work would be wasted.

“I didn’t expect your brother to be so capable.” Kuai Yue said to his son bitterly. Flying was something a person could not do in his entire life. Only deities could do such things. Yet, Liu Mang actually managed to fly.

“Could it be that the King of Shu was really chosen by the Heavens?” Kuai Liang could not help but ask. He had went to Yangzhou before. There were officials in Yangzhou that used to be one of the veterans that charged out of Xuzhou. Their description of Liu Mang is that he was a deity that fell from the sky. Kuai Liang initially did not believe them as it was too ridiculous. Even Zhang Jiao ended up dead. So what if he has the Way of Peace? Now, the Yellow Turbans were gone. Not many would dare to call themselves a Yellow Turban. Yet now, Liu Mang had flown.

“A deity?” Kuai Yue shook his head with the understanding that this must be some kind of technology. He was much calmer compared to his brother Kuai Liang. “Brother Degui. Now is not the time to despair. Since His Highness has escaped and Lady Cai is in prison, what we need to do now is protect the Young Lord, Liu Zong.” Kuai Yue said to Cai Mao. It would be bad for them if Liu Biao killed Liu Zong in his rage.

Liu Zong was definitely not Liu Mang’s son. Kuai Yue knew this because Liu Mang was still in Xuzhou when Liu Zong was born.

“N.” Cai Mao nodded. They needed to protect Liu Zong. Although Liu Biao was angry at the Kuai Family and the Cai Family, it does not mean that Liu Biao had lost his sense of reason. He would not immediately eradicate the Cai Family and the Kuai Family unless he no longer wants to keep hold of Jingzhou. Therefore, the Cai Family and the Kuai Family still had a chance. They simply needed to wait for Liu Biao to die from illness and Liu Zong would inherit his position.

“Report!” While everyone was discussing, another letter was delivered.

“Another one?” Cai Mao took the letter and read it. His expression then changed. “What!”

“Brother Degui?” Kuai Yue took the letter from Cai Mao and read it. It detailed the fact that Liu Pan has arrived with twenty thousand men.

“Liu Pan?” Kuai Yue remembered this person. He was Liu Biao’s nephew. As Liu Biao had good relationship with his little brother, he fostered the child. No one thought of him as Liu Pan was not related to Liu Biao by blood. However, things were different now that Liu Pan was back.

“Liu Pan?” Kuai Liang’s impression of Liu Pan was that the man was a hedonistic child. At that time, Kuai Liang was in charge of law and order. He was young and rash so he would go after anyone causing problems, Liu Pan included.

However, Liu Pan did not care for Kuai Liang. Rather than accepting arrest, he wanted Kuai Liang to come and see him personally. Kuai Liang was naturally angry and ordered Liu Pan to be arrested but the tyrant resisted and even killed two of the Xiangyang Guards.

After arresting Liu Pan, he was first beaten fifty times with the rod. Then his crimes were read out and was given the death penalty. This news eventually reached Liu Biao. Liu Biao pleaded for leniency towards Kuai Liang but Kuai Liang was unmoved.

When Liu Biao threatened Kuai Liang angrily, the angry Kuai Liang replied that he will execute Liu Pan even if he were to die as well. Liu Biao felt helpless. Killing Kuai Liang would mean making the Kuai Family his enemy. On top of that, Liu Pan was in the wrong so Liu Biao could not make this public. In the end, Liu Biao secretly ordered people to break into the prison and release Liu Pan.

In fear that Kuai Liang would investigate this incident, he quickly discussed things with Kuai Yue, Cai Mao and Huang Zu. They worked together to take away Kuai Liang’s position. This also caused misery to the three families as Kuai Liang could not recognize this favor.

“He has unexpectedly returned.” Kuai Liang could not help but mutter. He investigated the matter after his losing his position and found out that Liu Biao had sent Liu Pan to the border to defend the land. Kuai Liang did not pursue the matter as being banished was not much different from an execution. He never expected Liu Pan to return.

“Liu Pan even brought troops back!” Cai Mao’s eyes glinted in anger. It was said that Liu Pan brought back fifteen thousand heavy infantry and five thousand heavy cavalry.

“Brother Degui. Did you know of these troops?” Kuai Yue asked. After all, Cai Mao is the Military Advisor. Besides that, Kuai Yue felt it was strange to have heavy infantry and heavy cavalry when most of their battles were navy battles. Most of their development went to the navy. So where did the heavy cavalry come from? Heavy infantries were still within reason as Jingzhou did not have a shortage of iron. However, horses were expensive. Even Jiangdong could only manage to obtain two thousand horses before they were wiped out by Yangzhou.

“I didn’t know about this.” Twenty thousand heavily armored troops was a powerful force. Yet, the Military Advisor did not know about this. How could he not feel angry? He thought that only the Huang Family was competing against him for control of the military but he was wrong. Liu Pan was another contender.

“The Lord hid these well.” Kuai Yue said. It was frightening that Liu Biao could keep this a secret even from Cai Mao. What other secrets did he have?

“That Liu Biao no longer trusts us!” Cai Mao replied, no longer referring to Liu Biao as Lord. This showed how angry Cai Mao was.

“I am not afraid as to whether he trusts us or not.” Kuai Yue said. Liu Biao was already old. Even if he wanted to suppress the Cai Family and the Kuai Family, he could not do it for long. Once Liu Zong ascends, everything no longer mattered. Instead, Kuai Yue was afraid of whatever arrangement Liu Biao and Liu Pan had talked about. The letter had also spoke of the conversation Liu Biao had with Liu Pan. Initially, Liu Pan called Liu Biao ‘uncle’ but later changed to ‘father’.

It would be a problem if Liu Biao were to obtain another heir. The first heir was Liu Biao’s eldest son Liu Qi. This was their biggest threat which was why the Cai Family and the Kuai Family suggested for Liu Biao to send him away. The official reasoning was for Liu Qi to learn how to become a Lord from experience. However, the real reason was to keep Liu QI far away from Liu Biao and unable to react from any unforeseen incidents.

The second heir was Liu Zong. With Liu Qi out of the way, he became the most likely successor. This is even more certain now that Liu Qi was with Yangzhou. Although he still remained the governor of Xinye, he was now one of Yangzhou’s men.

Although Liu Zong’s position was supposed to be secure, Liu Pan suddenly appeared. He was supposed to be Liu Biao’s nephew but Liu Biao now wanted Liu Pan to call him father. What are the implications? This fact made Kuai Yue vigilant.

“He dares?” Cai Mao was furious. He wasn’t as furious when his sister was thrown into prison or when he was humiliated by Huang She. However his bottom line was that Liu Zong had to become the Lord of Jingzhou.

He would fight if someone dared to touch his cake. If Liu Biao truly intends for Liu Pan to become heir, Cai Mao would rebel.

“Brother Degui. Do not be so angry. We are only making conjectures here.” Kuai Yue shook his head. He believed that the probability of Liu Biao making Liu Pan the heir was not high. Liu Pan and his troops were only here to restrict the Kuai Family and the Cai Family.

“Where is Liu Pan and his men right now?” Cai Mao asked. He wanted to go and meet this Liu Pan.

“He is chasing the King of Shu right now.” Kuai Yue replied as he finished reading the letter.

“He is chasing brother?” Kuai Ran asked blankly.

“What’s with the sky today?” Suddenly Kuai Liang asked as he was looking at the sky. Although the sky had turned dark, it seemed bright in the West.

“It’s a fire!” Cai Mao said after a glance. He could tell immediately as he was familiar with fire tactics.

“Why is there such a large fire?” Kuai Yue asked. The fire was so huge that half the sky was brightened.

“Someone set fire to the mountain?” Kuai Yue and Cai Mao both realized at the same time. They looked at each other, both remembering that Liu Mang escaped towards the West and realizing that it was Liu Pan who set fire to the mountain.

“The King of Shu!” They immediately arrived at this explanation. No one would set fire to a mountain for no reason as it would be difficult to control the fire, not the mention a waste of resources. They would only burn down a mountain if they were chasing someone important.

“My brother!” Kuai Ran started to worry.

***

“Is the King of Shu really not coming out? What is the time now?” Liu Pan asked when Liu Mang did not appear.

“General. It would be an hour in fifteen minutes.” Liu Pan’s guard replied.

“Only fifteen minutes left? Fine. Let’s start the fire.” Liu Pan sneered and gave the order.

“Milord. Don’t we need to wait for fifteen more minutes?” Liu Pan’s subordinate asked.

“Start the fire. I want to see how long the King of Shu can endure!” Liu Pan replied. He wants to force Liu Mang out.

Small fire were quickly made at three points, leaving behind an escape route. This is to force Liu Mang out through this exit where they would be waiting.

When there was fire, smoke filled the air. Liu Pan already started coughing before his enemy was forced out.

“General. How about we fall back first?” One guard suggested.

“Alright.” Liu Pan nodded and stood far away from the fire. He then stared at the exit as the fire grew stronger.

“General. An hour has passed.” One of his subordinate reported while Liu Pan was waiting patiently.

“Good. So he treated my words as trash. To think he still did not come out. Since he wants to die, I, Liu Pan will grant him his wish!” Liu Pan angrily said. He had given Liu Mang face by allowing Liu Mang to surrender. He even gave Liu Mang an hour to decide. Yet, Liu Mang did not give him face and refused to appear even as he was being smoked out.

“Men. Start a fire here as well.” Liu Pan ordered angrily.

“General. Are we not going to capture the King of Shu?” One guard asked.

“It is not important whether he is dead or alive.” Liu Pan said coldly. “Since he wants to die, I will grant him his wish! Why are you all still standing there? Start the fire!”

“Yes!” Liu Pan’s troops quickly started another fire. A large flame rose up like a fiery dragon, alerting the people in Jingzhou. The common citizens in Xiangyang were unhappy with this event. They all came out to look at the fire. If the wind blew the fire towards them, there would be a disaster.

“Aiyo! Who the hell set fire to the mountain?”

“I saw the King of Shu fly out of the city towards the West. It seems like the fire is coming from that direction!”

“Fly out? Are you hallucinating? How could people fly?”

“If I lie to you, then I am a prostitute’s child!” The man swore.

“I also saw the King of Shu fly! The King of Shu must be a deity!”

“Did the King of Shu cause the fire in his anger?”

Meanwhile, Huang She was also looking at the scene. His expression was terrible as he wondered if Liu Mang was trapped on the mountain. There was no other reason for Liu Pan to burn the mountain down.

“Shit! Liu Mang Liu Hanyang! Why are you so stupid? Where is your intelligence and strength?” Huang She cursed. He hoped for Liu Mang to chase Liu Pan away with the strength and intelligence used to deal with himself. However, Huang She would cry if Liu Mang were to die or fall into Liu Pan’s hands as this would mean that Huang She worked for someone else’s sake. He would lose all of his contributions to Liu Pan.

Huang She knew he could not compare to Liu Pan. If his contributions were less then there would be no chance for him.

“Did my son set fire to the mountain?” Liu Biao looked at the fiery mountain with a cruel smile. He did not care about the possible damage done by the fire. All he wanted was for Liu Mang to die. The only regret is that he could not torment Liu Mang to death personally.

“Hahahaha!” Liu Biao laughed heartily.

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