Three Kingdoms: Rebirth of Liu Bei, the Zhaolie

After spending the night near Canhebei.

Everyone regained their spirits.

Before dawn, Liu Bei led his caravan on a westward journey.

From Canhebei to the final destination, there were only six or seven hundred li left.

As far as the eye can see, there is nothing but flat grassland.

If nothing unexpected happens, we should be able to reach the Guyang Road near the Kundulun River Valley in less than ten days.

After walking for five or six days on the vast grassland.

Liu Bei was leading his caravan to rest by the woods when he suddenly saw a cloud of dust rising not far ahead.

Immediately afterwards, the thunderous sound of horses' hooves could be heard.

The earth shook violently.

It was like an army attacking.

Everyone was a little nervous.

Liu Bei turned his head and saw a troop of cavalry, about three hundred riders, galloping toward where they were resting.

"Brother Huaijin, this should be the territory of the Western Xianbei Tuoba tribe, right...?"

Liu Bei said silently to Liu Yu.

"Exactly."

Liu Yu also looked at the three hundred Xianbei cavalrymen rushing towards him and said in a deep voice, "If I'm not mistaken, the person coming should be Tuoba Jiefen, the son of Tuiyin Tuoba Lin of the Western Xianbei."

Liu Bei nodded and said:

"We are currently at least several hundred miles away from the Tuoba tribe's camp."

Liu Gao smiled and said:

"Xuande, don't forget, the Xianbei people are nomadic. Normally, they graze their livestock on grasslands within a radius of four hundred li. The Xianbei people ride horses for everything they do. Therefore, news travels very quickly on the grasslands."

Liu Yu also said:

"In our Central Plains Han lands, the people are not accustomed to riding horses, and neighboring villages often do not communicate much. But the grasslands are different. If a stranger enters their nomadic lands, the news will quickly spread to places hundreds of miles away."

Upon hearing this, Liu Bei nodded in agreement.

"The grasslands beyond the Great Wall may seem vast, but for these Xianbei people, they are as free as fish swimming in the ocean."

As they were talking.

In a flash, the three hundred Xianbei cavalrymen were already dozens of steps away from the group.

When Liu Bei saw that these three hundred Xianbei cavalrymen each had an average of three horses, he assumed that they were used for changing horses along the way.

Therefore, although only three hundred Xianbei people came, nearly a thousand horses did.

Therefore, when walking, one moves as fast as thunder.

The leader was a young man dressed as a Xianbei, with a fierce air about him and wolf-like eyes that seemed ready to devour anyone.

He dismounted, holding a whip, and walked towards Liu Bei and the others.

Behind him, seven or eight Xianbei cavalrymen dismounted and followed to protect him.

The remaining two hundred or so Xianbei cavalrymen remained on their horses, standing and waiting.

Liu Yu whispered to Liu Bei:

"This person is Tuoba Jiefen, the son of Tuoba Lin."

Liu Bei remained calm and composed, knowing exactly what was going on.

When the young man, Tuoba Jiefen, was ten paces away from Liu Bei and his men, he suddenly burst into hearty laughter:

"Liu Yu, Liu Gao, my good friend, we meet again."

He spoke in a somewhat broken Mandarin.

Liu Yu and Liu Gao also hurriedly got up to greet them:

"Brother Tuoba, as I said, wild geese don't stay in the south forever; I will return someday. Now, I have come to the grasslands once again."

"Good friend, that's wonderful. Father will be very happy."

Tuoba Jiefen's use of the Han language was somewhat comical.

Higashino Ban, Aragaki Ken, Jōhachi, and the others couldn't help but laugh when they heard this.

Tuoba Jiefen was about the same age as Liu Yu and Liu Gao, both young men in their twenties.

The three of them hugged each other, looking very affectionate.

Tuoba Jiefen did not recognize Liu Bei and the others, and thought they were all attendants and guards of Liu Yu and Liu Gao, just like the previous group.

However, when he saw Liu Bei, who had large ears and long arms, he couldn't help but stare at him for a long time.

Liu Bei remained calm and composed, like a deep pool and a towering mountain, and stared at Tuoba Jiefen for a moment.

Their eyes met, neither willing to back down.

Both of them had expressions of sincerity and courage in their eyes.

Tuoba Jiefen suddenly addressed Liu Yu and Liu Gao:

"A hero! This man is a hero."

Taking the opportunity, Liu Yu introduced Tuoba Jiefen as follows:

"Brother Tuoba, this man is my cousin Liu Bei, Liu Xuande. From now on, you can call him Xuande."

"Xuande..."

Tuoba Jiefen repeated Liu Yu's words, then asked, "What does 'cousin' mean?"

Liu Gao laughed and said:

"Our relationship with Xuande is like your relationship with Hegu Xun—it's that of cousins."

After hearing this, Tuoba Jiefen nodded:

"I understand. — Liu Yu, Liu Gao, you're not leaving this time you've come to the grasslands, are you?"

Liu Yu hurriedly said:

"Brother Tuoba, we are merchants, how can we stay in one place? We will definitely be traveling around. However, even if we stay for a while and leave, we will still come back."

"Okay. That's enough. Come back to the tribe with me. Father is very happy to know you've come and wants to see you as soon as possible."

Tuoba Jiefen glanced at the caravan and said, "I will leave two hundred cavalrymen to escort your caravan and let them catch up slowly later."

Liu Yu glanced at Liu Gao and nodded, saying:

"Alright."

Therefore, Liu Yu asked Liu Bei to go along as well.

Liu Bei readily agreed.

He left Zhang Fang, Zuo Zi, and Zhang Ba behind, leading twenty-eight strong riders to guard the goods, while the two hundred Xianbei cavalrymen followed.

The rest of Jian Yong, Qian Zhao, Guan Yu, Dongye Ban, Xinyuan Jian, and Wulu Dawang followed Liu Bei, along with Liu Yu and Liu Gao, to the western Xianbei Tuoba tribe.

Liu Bei quickly completed the assignments.

Tuoba Jiefen also left two hundred Xianbei cavalrymen in place.

He led a hundred Xianbei cavalrymen, along with Liu Bei and others, and galloped westward.

They traveled three or four hundred li in one day and night.

Finally, on the morning of the second day, they arrived near the camp of the Western Xianbei Tuoba tribe.

Looking around, Liu Bei saw thousands of yurts scattered across a flat grassland nestled between mountains and water.

The central dome appears to be more than ten times larger than the others, and is surrounded by wooden fences within a radius of 100 meters, forming a unique courtyard.

In that courtyard, next to the large dome, there were also dozens of smaller domes scattered around, which appeared to be the residences of the leaders of these thousands of domes.

Tuoba Jiefen laughed loudly:

"Liu Yu, Liu Gao, Xuande, this is our tribe. Let's go to the main tent."

Having said that, he rode off on his horse towards the Tuoba tribe's camp.

Liu Bei and his men followed on horseback.

The crowd raced through the thousands of domed tents.

They rushed straight into the courtyard with the large dome.

They dismounted.

From inside the dome emerged a middle-aged man of about forty years old, wearing a round-topped hat, a moon-white narrow-sleeved tight-fitting short shirt, a belt around his waist, and leather boots. Although his face was covered with a full beard and wrinkles, his eyes were filled with a smile.

Liu Gao whispered to Liu Bei:

"This is Tuiyin, Tuoba Lin, of the Western Xianbei. He is also the father of Tuoba Jiefen."

When Tuoba Lin saw Liu Yu and Liu Gao, he immediately greeted them with a smile in the Xianbei language.

Liu Yu and Liu Gao had spent several months in the Xianbei region and had learned basic communication skills, so they responded to Tuoba Lin in Xianbei language.

Liu Bei naturally couldn't understand it.

However, Jian Yong, who was standing next to him, understood it perfectly.

Immediately afterwards, Liu Yu and Liu Gao introduced Liu Bei and others to Tuoba Lin.

Tuoba Lin's gaze swept over everyone, but lingered on Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Qian Zhao for the longest time.

Upon seeing these three people, Tuoba Lin's expression also became serious. He muttered a phrase in Xianbei language.

Liu Yu whispered to herself:

"He is right, there are such heroic figures in the Central Plains of Han China."

Liu Bei laughed and said:

"Isn't Tuiyin also a proud son of heaven on the grasslands?"

Liu Yu translated Liu Bei's words into the Xianbei language.

Upon hearing this, Tuoba Lin's expression softened slightly, and he couldn't help but smile. He then invited everyone into the main tent.

……

In ancient times, the Yellow Emperor had twenty-five sons, some of whom were enfeoffed among the Chinese people, while others were assigned to remote and undeveloped regions. Changyi, the youngest son, was enfeoffed in the northern lands, where the state had a great Xianbei mountain, hence the name of the land.

—Book of Wei