Three Kingdoms: Rebirth of Liu Bei, the Zhaolie

Upon hearing this, Zhang Qian was completely astonished:

"But early this morning, many villagers saw Liu Bei enter the Wild Boar Forest with their own eyes."

Magistrate Xue You of Zhuo County sighed and said:

"But Zhang Hun was not killed in the early hours of this morning. He died around 5:15 PM yesterday. And Liu Bei did not appear in Wild Boar Forest yesterday."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Qian's eyes widened in surprise, and he asked in astonishment:

"How did Your Excellency know that my son died at 5:15 PM yesterday?"

Xue You immediately said:

"Zhang Hun's body was transported to the county mortuary at approximately 7:15 AM today. I personally examined the body and found that rigor mortis had spread throughout the body and reached its peak. This proves that the deceased had been dead for six or seven hours. In addition, the corneas were slightly cloudy, and the lividity was beginning to merge. Considering the degree of coldness of the body and the weather conditions from last night to today, I have reached this conclusion. In short, Zhang Hun did not die in the early hours of this morning."

In front of the main hall, the onlookers in the courtyard all nodded in praise and whispered their admiration for the wise judgment of Magistrate Xue You of Zhuo County.

"This...this..."

Zhang Qian was completely unaware of this and remained noncommittal.

Xue You gave a barely perceptible, cold smile, and then said:

"You can rest assured, the county will definitely find the real murderer. But Liu Bei is not a suspect at all. So you don't need to keep pursuing him."

Zhang Qian blushed, unsure of what to say, frowned in thought, and lowered his head in silence.

Xue You then turned to the crowd below and said:

"This case has nothing to do with Liu Bei. You patrol officers need not waste your energy on him. Zhang Hun spent most of his time in the Shiwulipu area, which is under the jurisdiction of the northern patrol officer, but his body was found in the Wild Boar Forest east of the city. Here's what we'll do: Mao Wei, the northern patrol officer, and Cheng Xiao, the eastern patrol officer, I'll have you two work together to solve this case. Be sure to investigate carefully and do not slack off."

"Yes."

Mao Wei, the northern border guard, and Cheng Xiao, the eastern border guard, immediately bowed in respect.

Xue You then said:

"Liu Bao, the southern patrol officer, and Zhang Jun, the western patrol officer, if Mao Wei and Cheng Xiao find your jurisdiction, you must provide assistance and do not refuse."

"Yes."

Liu Bao and Zhang Jun nodded in agreement.

Xue You nodded. "In that case, everyone may leave."

A soldier on duty shouted loudly:

"Court adjourned!"

Xue You got up and went into the back room.

The people in the hall also came out one after another.

Liu Bei, knowing that Zhang Qian was the patriarch of Zhang Fei's clan, and therefore a senior relative of Zhang Fei, and in order to maintain the relationship between the two powerful families of Zhuo County, the Zhang and Liu clans, approached Zhang Qian and respectfully bowed.

"Uncle, please accept my condolences. Although I am still young, I have some knowledge of martial arts. I will do my best to help Cheng Youjiao and Mao Youjiao find the murderer who is still at large and avenge my deceased brother Zhang."

Zhang Qian was somewhat confused at this point, unsure of whom to believe, but unable to come up with any reason to refute it.

After listening to the words of Xue You, the magistrate of Zhuo County, he also thought that he might have wronged Liu Bei, but as an elder, he could not admit his mistake and apologize to the junior. Seeing Liu Bei's public-spiritedness, he felt a sense of gratitude.

I am filled with inner conflict.

I don't know what to say.

He could only follow his previous attitude towards Liu Bei, pretending to be angry, giving a cold snort, and then turning away.

Liu Bei stood there, stunned.

But then Zhang Jun, a guerrilla general from the west, came over and said to Liu Bei:

"Xuande, please don't be offended! Your uncle is still angry. He'll change his opinion of you soon."

"Thank you, Brother Zhang."

Seeing that Zhang Jun harbored no ill will towards him, Liu Bei knew that he also agreed with the magistrate of Zhuo County's judgment—that the murderer was someone else.

Qian Zhao also came over and said:

"Congratulations, Brother Xuande, on clearing your name. Why don't you come to my humble abode for a chat?"

Liu Bei asked:

"How many more days will Zijing stay in Zhuoxian?"

Qian Zhao pondered for a moment, "It will take about half a month."

"Alright, there's plenty of time in the future. You can come to Lousangli to find me anytime."

Liu Bei looked worried. "I've been out all day and I'm afraid my mother at home will worry, so I need to hurry back to see her."

"it is good."

Qian Zhao nodded and said, "Then I will go to Lou Sangli early tomorrow morning to visit my brother."

"Can."

Liu Bei nodded.

The two parted ways in front of the county government office.

Liu Bei was very worried about his mother, Lady Wu, knowing that she must have learned about his situation from Geng Yong and was probably at home unable to eat or drink.

Therefore, he was eager to return to Lousangli.

Understanding Liu Bei's feelings, Liu Buyi accompanied him back to the Wu family inn outside the east gate of the city, lent Liu Bei his horse, and told him to return to his home in Lousangli as soon as possible to ensure his safety.

Liu Jing, Liu Yuanqi, Liu Buyi, Liu Bao, Liu Ping, Geng Yong, and several others walked slowly behind.

After leaving Wu's Inn, Liu Bei rode his horse at breakneck speed all the way.

His family was so poor that they couldn't afford a horse. The reason he could ride a horse was because Liu Buyi personally taught him.

The fifteen-mile journey passed in a flash.

Liu Bei did not ride horses often, so every time he rode a horse, he felt as free and unrestrained as if he were on a cloud.

In the blink of an eye, one could already see wisps of smoke rising from the village of Dashulousangli.

He was in high spirits, having finally returned safely to see his mother.

Just as he was rejoicing, he suddenly saw a black object fly out of the dense forest on his right and head straight for him.

The black object was extremely fast, emitting a whooshing sound.

Liu Bei reacted extremely quickly. As soon as he saw something black flying straight toward him out of the corner of his eye, he swiftly raised his right leg, stepped on the stirrup with only his left foot, and curled his entire body up to the left side of the galloping horse, using the horse's body as his protective shield.

At Liu Bei's suggestion, his cousin Liu Buyi had a skilled craftsman make two stirrups to be installed on the left and right sides of the horse's back.

Fortunately, the black object did not hit the running warhorse, but flew over Liu Bei's head and landed on the ground not far away with a thud.

Liu Bei turned around and looked closely, and found that the black object was actually a large iron mace.

He lifted his right leg again and sat on the horse's back. However, he reined in the horse, turned its head, and came to the vicinity of the large iron hammer. He estimated that the large iron hammer weighed about eighty pounds (equivalent to forty pounds in modern terms).

It is indeed not easy to wield an 80-pound iron mace and accurately calculate the distance of a warhorse's galloping distance so that it hits Liu Bei, who is riding on horseback.

Fortunately, Liu Bei reacted quickly and dodged the fatal blow.

Liu Bei now felt quite fearful.

He knew that if he were hit by that high-speed flying iron mace, his bones would be shattered, and he would either die or be seriously injured.

"Who is so cruel as to want to kill me?"

Liu Bei was puzzled and quickly spurred his horse to chase after the enemy into the dense forest on his right.

The horse galloped extremely fast, and in the blink of an eye, it had already entered the dense forest.

Soon, he saw two people, one big and one small, running away in a panic.

"Thief, don't try to escape!"

Liu Bei immediately spurred his horse and gave chase, quickly catching up with the two men.

The warhorses were brought to a halt.

Liu Bei blocked their path.

He looked at the two men. The adult was rather short, just over seven feet tall (equivalent to about 1.61 meters in modern terms), but he was very broad-shouldered, with a wide face, long and narrow eyes that revealed a sharp glint in them, and a body full of flesh, with particularly prominent muscles on his shoulders.

This inexplicably reminded Liu Bei of a humanoid tank.

From his cross-collar, left-fastening short coat and shaved head hairstyle, Liu Bei could easily guess that this man was a Wuhuan.

The little boy standing next to the Wuhuan man was about eleven years old. He was dressed in a light gray hemp cross-collar short jacket with a right-fastening front, a leather belt around his waist, and silk shoes. He was clearly dressed as a Han Chinese.

Although the Han Chinese boy's appearance was still somewhat immature, he already showed signs of developing a leopard-like head and piercing eyes.

Liu Bei was astonished; he seemed to see a younger version of Zhang Fei.

In his previous life, Zhang Fei followed Liu Bei from a young age.

Therefore, Liu Bei remembered Zhang Fei's appearance as a young man very well.

The little boy in front of me looks exactly like a young Zhang Fei.

Liu Bei was overjoyed and quickly asked:

"Your name is perhaps Zhang Fei?!"

……

The strongman possessed an iron mace weighing 120 jin. When the Qin Emperor traveled east, Liang and his companions attempted to ambush him at Bolangsha, but mistakenly hit a secondary carriage.

—From the Records of the Grand Historian, "The Hereditary House of Marquis Liu"