Although Cao Song was enjoying a leisurely retirement, he still had to read the dossiers that Miss Mengde had helped him process.
After all, Miss Mengde assisting with government affairs was something done in secret.
Aside from the Cao family, very few people knew about it.
Strictly speaking, it wasn’t exactly proper for a young girl to handle such matters.
To draw a comparison, what Miss Mengde was doing was similar to the duties of the Ming Dynasty’s Grand Secretariat—submitting suggestions for how to manage state affairs.
For her proposals to be formally adopted, Cao Song, who held the final authority, had to review and approve them before implementation.
And unlike some Ming emperors who handed such responsibilities over to trusted eunuchs or close aides, Cao Song didn’t delegate that power to anyone.
Even though Miss Mengde had always been bright, she was, after all, still in her early teens.
No matter how much Cao Song trusted Mengde, he couldn’t entrust her completely with the nation’s affairs.
Doing so would be irresponsible to both her and the state.
That was why Cao Song always reviewed the documents she had processed, ensuring everything was in order before passing them down for execution.
After reminding her elder brother to have their father check the documents in the study once he returned, Mengde finally relaxed and clapped her hands.
***
“Dahuang! Collie! Come out!”
As the girl’s voice rang out, a golden retriever bounded over with excitement.
At the same time, a border collie with a slightly exasperated look slowly walked out as well.
The noble children of Luoyang all had a fondness for dogs, horses, and music.
Mengde was no exception.
These two dogs were ones she had raised over the past few years.
When Liu Bei saw the dogs, his expression turned to one of surprise.
He had never seen such breeds before and couldn’t help but ask curiously,
“These dogs are…?”
“These are famous dogs that Mengde specifically purchased from the Western Regions,” Yuan Shao said with a smile.
“The golden retriever is called Dahuang. He has a very gentle temperament and is great at retrieving game. The black-and-white short-haired dog is called Collie. He’s extremely intelligent, can even understand human speech, and is skilled at herding.”
“Really?”
Liu Bei looked even more surprised and intrigued, especially after hearing that Collie could supposedly understand human language.
He waved at the dog and greeted him.
“Hello there…”
To Liu Bei’s astonishment, the dog actually looked up at him and gave a small, resigned nod.
“This is…”
“Didn’t I just say how smart this dog is?” Yuan Shu said, clearly a little envious.
“Who would’ve thought that the supposedly barren Western Regions would have such treasures? I don’t even know how they trained dogs to understand human speech.”
Mengde smiled and replied, “There are all kinds of amazing things in the Western Regions. When I become the General Who Conquers the West one day, I’ll take you all there. We’ll bring back everything that can’t be found in Han territory.”
“Who knows how long we’ll have to wait for that…” Yuan Shao shrugged.
***
Meanwhile, Liu Bei was already playing happily with Dahuang and Collie.
Unlike Miss Mengde, whose interest in dogs and horses was more of a mild hobby, Liu Bei genuinely loved dogs.
Within just a few minutes, he was already having a blast with the two of them.
“Dahuang, come! Walk! Ignore!”
At Liu Bei’s command, Dahuang panted excitedly and performed a backflip.
Collie looked on with a face full of exasperation at the golden retriever’s silliness.
Liu Bei then turned to Collie and, using a pleading tone, asked, “Could you do a backflip too, Collie?”
“Awooo…”
Collie turned his head away in a tsundere huff.
“Please…”
Liu Bei pleaded, using a tone of request.
In the end, Collie couldn’t resist the boy’s relentless coaxing and gave in with a reluctant backflip.
“Come on, let’s go! Ignore it!”
Liu Bei shouted excitedly, directing the dogs with enthusiasm.
Lady Mengde watched Liu Bei with a subtly amused expression.
‘Why did he feel so much like a little kid?’
‘Oh—right. That’s because he was still just a kid.’
At fifteen years old, Liu Bei couldn’t be considered an adult by any standard.
Watching the future Emperor Zhaolie—who would one day be known for his calm, unreadable expression—now playing gleefully with a dog, Lady Mengde suddenly felt like she was witnessing an embarrassing moment from Liu Bei’s “black history.”
She smiled and gently shook her head, then turned to ask Liu Bei a question.
“You really like these two dogs, don’t you?”
“Of course.”
“If I get the chance in the future, I’ll buy you two more.”
“Huh? Then… I’ll thank you in advance, Miss.”
Liu Bei bowed respectfully to Lady Mengde as he spoke.
Just then, Yuan Shu complained to Lady Mengde, clearly displeased.
“Hey, hold on a second! Back when Big Brother and I asked you to give us two dogs of the same breed, didn’t you say that these dogs were really expensive to import from the Western Regions? How come you’ve only just met Liu Bei, and you’re already offering to give him two? That’s not fair!”
Yuan Shao chimed in as he caught on.
“Yeah, Mengde, you’re being way too biased in favor of Liu Bei!”
“How could your situations possibly be the same?” Lady Mengde rolled her eyes in exasperation.
“Your Yuan family is rich—I obviously can’t just give things away for free. But Liu Bei? Just look at him, he’s clearly dirt poor. Even if he wanted to buy them, he couldn’t afford them. Of course I’m giving them to him for free.”
“But the money our Yuan family has didn’t just fall from the sky, you know!”
“And what, my dogs just ran here all the way from the Western Regions on their own?”
Hearing the back-and-forth between Yuan Shao and Lady Mengde, Liu Bei suddenly caught on and asked cautiously.
“Miss Mengde, were these two dogs… really expensive to ship here?”
“Naturally. These dogs came all the way from the Roman province of Britannia!” Lady Mengde raised a finger.
“While the purchase price itself was cheap, the shipping cost to get them here wasn’t cheap at all. Just to bring the two dogs you’re looking at now—it cost me twenty million coins!”
“Twenty million!?”
Liu Bei’s eyes widened in shock.
“That’s enough to buy a Jiujiang position on the imperial court!”
Yuan Shu rolled his eyes.
“Liu Bei, don’t use such inappropriate comparisons when talking about high-ranking court officials!”
Yuan Shao leaned over and whispered a reminder to Liu Bei.
“Shu’s father—my uncle Yuan Feng—is currently serving as the Minister of the Imperial Stables.”
“Oh… right…”
Liu Bei realized he had misspoken and quickly bowed to Yuan Shu in apology.
“Sorry, sorry, Brother Yuan Shu!”
Yuan Shu, the type who got angry easily but also cooled off quickly—essentially a guy who cared a lot about face—accepted the apology once his pride had been restored.
“It’s fine. Just watch yourself next time.”
“Got it. I will.”
Liu Bei replied at once, then curiously turned back to Lady Mengde with another question.
“Miss Mengde, judging from your personality, I doubt you brought these dogs here just for fun. You went out of your way to bring them all the way from that faraway place called Rome—what was the real reason?”
“So you figured it out.” Lady Mengde smiled.
“These two dogs are officially called a Golden Retriever and a Border Collie. Now, what do you think their purpose is?”
“Retriever… shepherd… could it be something to do with the grasslands?”
Liu Bei guessed boldly.