Chapter 24: Let Me Take a Look!

Liu Bei, on the other hand, felt both envious and slightly bitter after hearing what Yuan Shao said.

‘He’s barely come of age, and he’s already being sent to serve as a county magistrate? My grandfather worked hard his entire life, and all he managed to achieve was that same position.’

What had been the end goal of his grandfather’s lifelong efforts was nothing more than a starting point for Yuan Shao.

Liu Bei’s expression turned a bit sour.

He couldn’t help but feel that this situation was deeply unfair to his grandfather.

Yet, he had no idea how to change it.

Meanwhile, Mengde glanced at Liu Bei.

After a brief moment of thought, she gave a small nod and agreed to Yuan Shao’s request.

“Alright, I’ll take Liu Bei in. I’ll look after him in your place.”

“Then I’m counting on you…”

Yuan Shao exhaled in relief, looking visibly relaxed.

Though a certain obscure Ming dynasty writer with the surname Luo depicted Yuan Shao in Romance of the Three Kingdoms as a foolish clown who “valued his life when attempting great deeds, but threw it away over petty gains,” the historical Yuan Shao was in fact a kind, generous elder with a broad-minded personality.

During the Battle of Guandu, he adopted Ju Shou’s strategy of a prolonged confrontation, holding his ground against Cao Cao for over three months.

As for why he later rejected Xu You’s plan to launch a surprise attack on Xuchang, it was because he had already attempted two previous surprise assaults—both of which had failed.

Yuan Shao simply no longer had confidence in that tactic.

Still, despite his generosity, Yuan Shao did have a petty side.

His magnanimity stemmed from an unshakable confidence in his own ability.

He genuinely believed that no one in the world was more talented than he was.

However, once he encountered failure, that confidence would crumble, and his personality would quickly become narrow and irritable.

But right now, Yuan Shao had yet to experience any crushing defeats like the Battle of Guandu.

At this point in his life, he was still broad-hearted and gracious—a truly good elder brother figure to Liu Bei.

As for Mengde taking in Liu Bei, she had her reasons.

Liu Bei was undoubtedly talented in internal affairs and had a decent grasp of military matters as well.

She had already considered grooming him as a subordinate who could share the burden of her future responsibilities.

Now that Yuan Shao was personally handing Liu Bei over, of course she had no reason to refuse.

Would Liu Bei, after receiving her training, grow more capable than he was in history—and eventually become a future threat? Might he one day burn down her dreams of unification, just as he had in the original timeline?

The girl firmly rejected that possibility.

‘No way, absolutely not. I’m a transmigrator who knows the future! You think unifying the realm in this chaotic era is hard? Please.’

‘With a dragon riding on your face, how do you even lose?’

***

After wrapping up Liu Bei’s arrangements, the two of them moved on to discuss where Yuan Shao would be heading for his next post.

Mengde teased, “Have you considered taking a post in Runan? That’s your hometown, right? If you went there as a county magistrate, all your elders would have to respectfully call you Magistrate Yuan.”

“That does sound like a nice picture, but unfortunately, taking office in your hometown violates the Three Mutuals Law,” Yuan Shao said with a shrug.

“My uncle is planning to assign me to Puyang County in Dong Commandery, Yanzhou.”

The Three Mutuals Law was a policy heavily enforced during Emperor Huan’s reign to prevent local officials from abusing their power.

Under this law, there were three types of geographical conflicts of interest that had to be avoided when appointing officials.

First was the avoidance of one’s place of origin.

A provincial inspector couldn’t be from the same province, a commandery governor couldn’t be from the same commandery, and a county magistrate couldn’t be from the same county.

If there were many candidates to choose from, preference would be given to those from other commanderies.

However, for subordinate officials under these main positions, this restriction did not apply.

Avoidance by marriage connection was the next rule.

If two officials became in-laws, then both families had to avoid serving in the native region of the other.

Finally, there was the rule of official post avoidance.

For example, if a man from Province A was appointed as Governor of Province B, then no one from Province B could be appointed as Governor of Province A.

The same logic applied to counties and districts below.

This system of regional avoidance for officials remained in effect all the way up until the time before Mengde transmigrated.

Its influence was far-reaching—perhaps even Emperor Huan, the one who implemented the policy, never imagined it would last so long.

Compared to this “Three Mutual Avoidances” system, the other merits or faults from his reign seemed trivial.

If the officials who granted Emperor Huan his posthumous title at the time of Emperor Liu Hong’s ascension had recognized the historical significance of this system, the honorific title would have been raised by at least two levels.

As for Yanzhou…

That would be Mengde’s future base of operations.

***

Mengde stroked her smooth chin thoughtfully.

To learn more about the place where she’d eventually build her career, Mengde turned to Yuan Shao again.

“What a shame—I didn’t get to witness such a lovely scene. But Yanzhou, huh? After I come of age and get selected through the filial and incorrupt exam, I wouldn’t mind being appointed there. When you go, write me a few letters. Tell me what Yanzhou is like, so I can be more prepared when the time comes for me to take up office in one of its counties.”

“Sure,” Yuan Shao nodded, agreeing without hesitation.

The two chatted for a little while longer, and not long after, Yuan Shao stood up and took his leave from the Cao residence—leaving only Liu Bei sitting across from Mengde.

Mengde looked at Liu Bei with a slightly amused expression.

“Liu Bei, my dear little brother… Hmm hmm… Say, Liu Bei, when you were sitting behind Brother Benchu earlier, your expression looked a little sour. Did something happen?”

When Yuan Shao mentioned that he was going to be appointed as a county magistrate, Mengde had naturally noticed the unhappy look on Liu Bei’s face.

Yuan Shao hadn’t noticed, since Liu Bei had been sitting behind him the entire time.

Upon hearing Mengde’s question, Liu Bei hesitated for a moment before voicing his dissatisfaction.

“I just don’t understand… How come Brother Benchu could be selected for the filial and incorrupt exam so soon after coming of age, and then immediately be appointed as a county magistrate?”

“My grandfather, back in his day, was only selected for the same exam in his thirties, and it wasn’t until he was over forty that he finally became a magistrate. He served in that post until his death. This… This just seems so unfair to my grandfather…”

“It really is unfair, isn’t it? To be selected and appointed a magistrate right after turning twenty—and not just any county either, but Puyang! Do you know what Puyang is? It’s the administrative center of Dong Commandery. Serving as magistrate there means getting political achievements will be a breeze. At this rate, I’m sure Brother Benchu will be promoted again in just a few years.”

“That’s just too fast…”

“Naturally. If it weren’t, how else could the Yuan family have produced Four Generations of Three Excellencies?” Mengde shrugged with a sigh. Then she suddenly changed the subject. “Alright, that’s enough gossip. Speaking ill of others behind their back is not a good habit.”

“Oh…” Liu Bei nodded in understanding.

***

Just then, Mengde suddenly said, “By the way, stand up for a moment—let me take a look!”

“Huh? Look at what?”

“You, of course!”

“Me?”

As Liu Bei looked at her with complete confusion, Mengde wore a playful smile on her face, her eyes sweeping up and down his figure.