After Yuan Shao finished praising Mengde, Liu Bei immediately stood up, straightened his robes, and gave her a deep bow with both hands respectfully clasped together.
Everyone nearby was a bit confused by Liu Bei’s sudden display, but Yuan Shao’s expression showed that he understood perfectly.
Liu Bei spoke with deep emotion.
“If the northern grassland crisis can truly be resolved at Miss Mengde’s hands, then I am endlessly grateful. Should there come a day when Miss Mengde needs anything of me, I would not hesitate even if it meant giving my life!”
Half of what Liu Bei said came from genuine gratitude, and the other half from careful calculation.
As someone from a border region constantly plagued by nomadic raids, Liu Bei had seen many of his relatives lose their homes and lives over the years.
Some had gone bankrupt due to the nomads’ pillaging; others were conscripted to the frontlines and died in battle.
Liu Bei himself had grown to deeply resent the people of the steppe.
Now, hearing that Mengde might have a way to permanently solve this issue, he was indeed sincerely thankful.
At the same time, his words also hinted at his desire to pledge allegiance to Mengde.
After all, his vow to devote himself to Mengde would only matter if she actually needed him in the future.
Over the course of the afternoon, Liu Bei had come to realize that this young girl—Miss Cao Mengde—was far from ordinary.
Not only did she come from a prestigious family that he could only look up to, she was also intelligent and incredibly ambitious.
At just eleven years old, she was already talking about becoming General Who Conquers the West, and had even begun laying out the foundations of her future career.
Otherwise, why would she have gone to such lengths to acquire the exotic dogs Dahuang and Collie from the Western Regions?
If he could serve under her, his own prospects couldn’t possibly be bad—at the very least, he could become an official with a two-thousand-stone salary.
However, Mengde didn’t notice the subtle intentions hidden within Liu Bei’s gratitude.
Or rather, aside from Yuan Shao, no one else present could see through Liu Bei’s thoughts.
And if people could easily read him, then how would Liu Bei go on to be called a “wily hero” in the future?
Even Yuan Shao, while he did suspect Liu Bei wanted to pledge himself to Mengde, didn’t see any scheming behind it.
He didn’t find Liu Bei’s behavior inappropriate in the slightest.
In fact, he thought it showed Liu Bei’s sincerity.
After all, these past few months he had simply taken Liu Bei around to broaden his horizons.
Now, faced with Mengde’s proposal that could potentially eliminate the nomadic threat, Liu Bei’s emotional reaction and spontaneous loyalty seemed entirely reasonable—and, in Yuan Shao’s mind, it only proved Liu Bei’s worth even more.
‘If today Liu Bei would pledge his life to Mengde because of her great kindness, then in the future, if I offer him a favor, would he not also serve me with the same devotion?’
In the future, both Lü Bu and Liu Bei would repeatedly switch allegiances, yet Lü Bu would end up universally reviled, while Liu Bei’s reputation would only grow with each change of lord.
That contrast didn’t happen without reason.
Unfortunately, for Miss Mengde—who in her past life had never engaged in political schemes or manipulation—Liu Bei’s carefully thrown look of loyalty was wasted on someone blind to it.
The girl hurriedly waved him off.
“Don’t thank me so quickly. Do you really think just two dogs are enough to solve the grassland issue once and for all? Even beyond increasing sheep herding, there’s still so much more that needs to be done to bring wealth to the steppe. Honestly, I’m not that confident I can truly end the threat forever. If you thank me now, and I end up failing, wouldn’t that be awkward?”
“…”
Liu Bei froze, his heart twisting in confusion.
‘So… is Miss Mengde rejecting my offer of loyalty?’
‘Or… is she telling me to pledge myself later instead?’
‘Wait, could it be she didn’t even realize I was trying to pledge loyalty just now?’
“Surely that can’t be the case, right? Miss Mengde is far too clever to possibly misunderstand what I meant.”
‘Must be that natural-born nemesis of the schemers,’ he thought.
Mengde had never expected that a casual remark would leave Liu Bei so thoroughly conflicted…
At this moment, after explaining to the group why she had spent a fortune to buy these two dogs, Mengde stood up from the grass and dusted off her skirt.
Then, with Dahuang and Collie in tow, she headed over to Yuan Shu to join the others in a dogfighting competition.
Liu Bei and Yuan Shao exchanged a glance and followed after her.
As Mengde led Dahuang and Collie into the arena, the atmosphere instantly grew livelier.
Everyone knew that these two dogs were the top contenders in their social circle’s dogfighting matches.
Dahuang, though gentle by nature, had formidable strength as a hunting dog.
Meanwhile, Collie—smaller than most of the other dogs—used its intelligence and agility to wear opponents down with constant motion, then seized a sudden opening to bite and win the match.
Watching the two dogs rack up victory after victory, Liu Bei exclaimed in admiration.
“I never would have thought the Romans could breed such outstanding dogs.”
“Well, after all, those people rely on strong, intelligent dogs for hunting and herding,” Yuan Shao replied from the side.
“Meanwhile, we here in the Central Plains mostly raise dogs just to guard our homes. Naturally, there’s a significant difference between the two.”
Back when Yuan Shao had first witnessed the capabilities of Mengde’s dogs, he too had voiced a similar sentiment.
Mengde had answered him with these very words, so now he simply repeated them to Liu Bei.
***
Time passed quickly as the group played and competed.
Seeing that the sun was beginning to set, Mengde—still too excited after meeting Liu Bei to head home—suddenly had an idea.
She turned to the others and suggested, “Since it’s getting late, why don’t we all go to my teacher Cai’s house? We can enjoy some wine while listening to him play the zither.”
“Excellent!” Yuan Shu immediately agreed with enthusiasm.
Yuan Shao also nodded in approval.
“I’ve long heard that Cai the Compiler’s zither skills are unmatched in Luoyang. I never had the right connections to visit before, but now, thanks to Mengde’s introduction, I finally get the chance. What a rare honor!”
Since Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu were the leaders among this group of privileged young men, the others naturally followed suit and agreed without hesitation.
The “Teacher Cai” that Mengde referred to was none other than Cai Yong, father of the famous female scholar Cai Yan.
At present, he was working alongside Liu Bei’s own mentor Lu Zhi on the imperial commission to compile and edit the classics—hence Yuan Shao’s respectful title of “Cai the Compiler.”
Mengde’s relationship with Cai Yong dated back four years, to the death of Chen Fan.
On his deathbed, Chen Fan had praised Mengde as a future pillar of the Han dynasty and publicly asked whether any of the guests present would be willing to become her teacher.
Since Mengde’s father was Cao Song, one of the Four Eminent Officials, no one dared to refuse such a request.
After some careful consideration, Chen Fan chose Cai Yong.
He made that choice partly because Cai Yong was a renowned scholar with broad knowledge, and partly because Cai had studied under Minister Hu Guang in his youth.
By appointing Cai as Mengde’s teacher, Chen Fan hoped not only to ensure she received a proper education but also to strengthen the alliance between the Partisans and Hu Guang’s faction through their connection.
As it turned out, Chen Fan’s strategy worked well.
After his death, Hu Guang succeeded him as Grand Tutor and governed alongside General-in-Chief Dou Wu, continuing Chen Fan’s reform policies.
Unfortunately, things didn’t go as planned for long.
Just two years later, both Hu Guang and Dou Wu passed away, and the Partisan faction lost its hold on power.
If not for Liu Hong’s greed—and Mengde’s impressive ability to make money—it’s likely that even Cao Song would have been kicked out of the court, and Chen Fan’s reforms would have been thoroughly crushed.
But that was court politics.
In private, Mengde did indeed study under Cai Yong for two or three years, and during that time, she became deeply familiar with classical texts.
Otherwise, she wouldn’t have been able to casually recite the story behind Liu Bei’s name during their first meeting.
After all, history and literature weren’t part of any modern curriculum before her transmigration.
Over the years of study, Mengde and Cai Yong had built a strong teacher-student bond.
***
“Hey! You old fossil Cai! Open up! I’ve come to visit you!”
Shouting boldly, Mengde knocked vigorously at the door of the Cai household, a crowd of young nobles trailing behind her.