Three Kingdoms: Rebirth of Liu Bei, the Zhaolie

After a moment's hesitation, Liu Bei asked again:

"Do you know whose property Qingxi Manor is?"

Wutulu sighed:

"At first, all I knew was that it was the property of a man named Zhao Xiang from Anping, Jizhou. Later, I learned that Zhao Xiang's background was not simple. He was actually the cousin of Zhao Zhong, one of the Ten Attendants who held immense power in the court."

Liu Bei pondered for a moment, then asked:

"Young Master Zhang Hun hasn't offended this Zhao Xiang, has he?"

Wutulu frowned:

"Although our lord did not directly offend Zhao Xiang, he did offend Zhao Xiang's retainers. Those retainers spread rumors and gossip about him to Zhao Xiang, so in doing so, our lord indirectly offended Zhao Xiang. After our lord was assassinated, we, his men, also suspected that Zhao Xiang had ordered the assassins to do it. But later, people all said it was you..."

"Now we know it wasn't me..."

Liu Bei smiled helplessly, shook his head, and then asked, "Did Young Master Zhang take you to Qingxi Manor to demand land taxes or annual allowances?"

— "Land tax" refers to the "territory fee" collected by powerful and tyrannical people from the common people.

— An annual customary collection of money and gifts from weaker powers.

Wutu Lu dodged the question and changed the subject, unwilling to give a direct answer.

Liu Bei sighed:

"At this point, what are you still avoiding? Don't you want to find the real culprit who killed Young Master Zhang?"

Zhang Fei also said:

"A true man takes responsibility for his actions. If he did something, he did it. If he didn't, he didn't. There's no need to hide anything. That's not the behavior of a hero."

Wutulu just said:

"A year ago, Qingxi Manor was sold to Zhao Xiang. About half a year ago, our lord did indeed take a group of retainers to Qingxi Manor, but we did not see the owner, Zhao Xiang. The one managing the manor is a man named Wen Xuan. He is said to be a retainer whom Zhao Xiang trusts very much. In addition to Wen Xuan, there is a large group of retainers. Wen Xuan is the leader of these retainers."

"Wen Xuan..."

Liu Bei pondered, "I've never heard of this person... Besides his retainers, the Qingxi Manor, spanning two or three hundred hectares, should also house many of Zhao Xiang's troops, right?"

Wutulu nodded:

"Yes, there must be several hundred parts."

Liu Bei pondered:

"If a conflict breaks out, you're probably no match for the people from Qingxi Manor. The Zhang family of Zhuo County only has a little over a hundred retainers."

But Wutulu said:

"With the tenants included, we might be able to fight."

Liu Bei replied:

"There are even more tenants at Qingxi Manor."

Wutulu refused to be outdone:

"My lord has many friends in the martial world. Take Baishi Mountain in the west, for example, where thousands of heroes have gathered. My lord has a very good relationship with the leaders of Baishi Mountain."

Liu Bei, who had just killed several bandits from White Stone Mountain, was startled upon hearing this:

"Wu Tu Lu, do you know that the bandits gathered on White Stone Mountain are not heroes, but notorious thieves who kill and rob. Young Master Zhang Hun has connections with these bandit leaders... This is suspicious of him being a collaborator with the bandits."

Upon hearing Liu Bei's words, Wutulu was somewhat surprised and quickly added:

"I was just talking nonsense. Maybe, maybe we're just acquaintances."

Liu Bei smiled and shook his head:

"You Wuhuan man, stop trying to outsmart me. Just say what you mean. Did Young Master Zhang use the heroes of White Stone Mountain to intimidate Wen Xuan, the steward of Qingxi Manor?"

Wutulu scratched his head sheepishly, frowning deeply:

"Back then... I think he mentioned it briefly... but I don't think he mentioned White Stone Mountain at all. I don't remember very clearly. Anyway, Wen Xuan was quite polite to our lord back then. But polite as he was, he didn't pay a single penny of land tax or annual allowance."

Looking at Wutulu's confused appearance, Liu Bei couldn't help but smile:

"You remember very clearly that the money wasn't collected."

"Yes."

Wutulu chuckled sheepishly, "Because the money wasn't collected, our lord is furious with Wen Xuan of Qingxi Manor. We've been secretly plotting to teach him a lesson and show him whose territory Fifteen Mile Shop is. We know that Qingxi Manor has many retainers and followers, making it difficult to deal with. So, our lord has been calling on friends and acquaintances everywhere, rallying wandering knights, and gathering the retainers and tenants of Peach Blossom Village, preparing to gather together and choose a day to cause trouble at Qingxi Manor."

Liu Bei couldn't help but feel a little curious:

"How's the fight going between your two groups?"

"No fight broke out."

Wutulu sighed, looking somewhat dejected.

Why didn't a fight break out?

Liu Bei asked.

Wutulu frowned and said:

"Because a wandering knight from Anping in Jizhou, whom our lord invited, told us that Qingxi Manor was owned by Zhao Xiang, who was a cousin of the eunuch Zhao Zhong. He advised our lord not to provoke the people of Qingxi Manor. He also said that even the governor of Zhuojun and the governor of Youzhou would have to give Zhao Xiang, the owner of Qingxi Manor, some face. When our lord heard this, he was immediately discouraged. We really can't afford to offend the people of Qingxi Manor."

Liu Bei also said:

"It's fortunate that you didn't act rashly. Otherwise, the Zhang family of Zhuo County might have been wiped out. Even without the intervention of the Grand Eunuch Zhao Zhong, those prefectural and county officials who wanted to curry favor with him could have easily found an excuse to wipe out your Zhang family of Zhuo County as mountain bandits."

Upon hearing this, Wutulu was startled. He was clearly terrified.

Although Zhang Fei was young and naive, he also felt that this was a very important matter.

Liu Bei thought for a moment and then asked:

"Since you already know that the retainers of Qingxi Manor are Zhao Xiang's men, you still dare to fight with them in the hotel over a piece of roasted meat."

"Ugh."

Wutulu sighed deeply upon hearing this. "Actually, we all know that our lord still can't swallow his anger. The reason he fought so fiercely with the retainers of Qingxi Manor at the inn is probably because he has a bad temper and was drunk, which made him act so impulsively. In truth, it's the fault of those retainers from Qingxi Manor. They had known for a long time that our lord was making a big show of inviting people everywhere, wanting to make a big splash, but then suddenly went quiet and disappeared. So they often openly mocked our lord for being spineless. Our lord is a man who cares about his reputation, how could he stand this insult? He could hardly stand in Fifteen Mile Inn. The big scene at the inn was also to establish his authority. But unexpectedly, not long after, our lord was killed in Wild Boar Forest... Alas."

Zhang Fei listened for a long time, then suddenly frowned and said:

"In that case, the person who killed my cousin must have been a retainer of Qingxi Manor..."

Liu Bei looked at Zhang Fei and couldn't help but say:

"Even a child knows who the murderer in this case is."

"Don't call me a kid! I'm already eleven years old. I'm a teenager," Zhang Fei said, brows furrowed.

Liu Bei smiled slightly and did not argue.

Wutulu seemed to understand something as well, and said with a worried expression:

"Even if we know the real culprit, there's nothing we can do about it. There's no evidence to prove they did it. Wild Boar Forest is remote and there are no witnesses."

During the late Eastern Han Dynasty, due to limited resources, various examinations were simply impossible to conduct, and many murder cases were indeed unverifiable.

To determine if someone is a murderer, besides physical evidence and witness testimony, the only way is for the murderer to confess.

Liu Bei realized that Zhang Hun had been murdered at dusk the previous day. At that time, it was getting dark, and the murderer could easily disappear into the darkness and leave the crime scene silently after committing the crime.

By this time, he had largely determined that it was the work of the retainers of Qingxi Manor. However, he learned from Wutulu, a Wuhuan man, that Qingxi Manor had an extremely large number of retainers, making it very difficult to identify the mastermind and the assassin.

But he has always been tenacious; the more difficult the task, the more determined he is to accomplish it.

Liu Bei pondered for a moment, "Then we need to put more thought into this and make a good plan. We must avenge Brother Zhang Hun no matter what."

His insistence on avenging Zhang Hun was actually to fulfill Zhang Fei's wish.

After all, Zhang Fei was Liu Bei's good brother.

His good brother's affairs are Liu Bei's affairs.

He must find the real culprit who killed Zhang Hun and bring him to justice.

……

The mansions of the wealthy consist of hundreds of interconnected buildings, with fertile fields stretching across the land, and thousands of servants and tens of thousands of dependents.

—Zhong Changtong, "Changyan: On Order and Chaos"