The Three Kingdoms: I asked you to save Guan Yu, not to destroy Sun Quan.

Chapter 546 Liu Shan Arrives

Guan Xing was only responsible for providing ideas for Liu Bei's new policies, while Zhuge Liang, the nuclear-powered donkey, would handle the rest.

At dawn, Zhuge Liang convened a meeting with key ministers such as Zhang Zhao, Sun Shao, Lü Dai, and Zhuge Jin to discuss the formulation and implementation of policies.

Guan Xing was finally freed and resumed the work of building the new city. The construction work was all arranged and on track. Guan Xing, the commander-in-chief, had nothing to do. He walked around with his hands behind his back, inspected various places, and then went to a secluded place to eat hot pot. While eating, he sent someone to call Zhang Bao over. After all, it's not fun to eat alone. It's more fun to eat with a group of people.

Zhang Bao arrived quickly, and Guan Xing was taken aback when he saw his face. He couldn't help but ask, "What happened to you? Why did your third uncle hit you again?"

Zhang Bao's face was bruised and swollen, clearly indicating he had been beaten. Was it even a question of who had done it?

Zhang Bao sat at the table, cursing and saying, "My dad has gone crazy and is forcing me to train my riding skills properly, saying it's to prevent me from falling off my horse and dying in an emergency. Isn't that crazy? I started riding horses when I was seven years old, and my riding skills are already as good as my dad's. How could I possibly fall off my horse?"

"Uh..." Guan Xing was stunned for a moment, then touched his nose and said with a guilty smile, "Third Uncle was just worried about your safety, don't take it to heart."

Zhang Bao rolled his eyes and said, "What nonsense about worrying about safety? I think he just wants to beat me up. I can't stay in this lousy Jiangling anymore. I'm going to Wushan tomorrow to cut timber with Boyue."

Helpless, Guan Xing could only advise him to calm down. Feeling guilty, he ate the meal with a bitter taste. He hadn't enjoyed it to begin with, but halfway through the meal, Zhang Fei arrived with a leather whip. Startled, Guan Xing quickly stood up and greeted him, "Third Uncle, what a coincidence! Come and have a drink."

Zhang Fei said unhappily, "I won't drink. Don't ask me to drink again. I've given it up. Xingguo, eat quickly. After you finish, come over and continue practicing riding with me."

Zhang Fei was genuinely terrified by the unique way Guan Xing and his son had died, so he decided to quit drinking and urged Zhang Bao to practice riding skills. If he could fall off a horse and die, he really needed to practice riding skills properly.

The best way to prevent Zhang Bao from falling to his death was to forbid him from riding a horse again. But Zhang Bao was a military general, and what military general couldn't ride a horse? So Zhang Fei chose to "chicken the child" (a metaphor for indoctrination), making Zhang Bao strengthen his riding skills.

But this would cause Zhang Bao a lot of trouble. With a bitter face, he obediently agreed, tricked his father away, and then decisively slipped away in another direction, quickly leaving the city to go to Wushan to find Jiang Wei. Zhang Fei was so angry that he cursed, "You brat, you better never come back."

With Zhang Bao gone, Guan Xing, now without his cronies, had no choice but to work diligently.

At the same time, Liu Bei ordered the Hanzhong Prince's Palace in Chengdu to be moved to Jiangling. Naturally, the personnel left behind in Chengdu also came to Jiangling in batches. General Mi Zhu, the Anhan General, was among the first to arrive. On the night of his arrival, he took the initiative to visit Guan Xing and specifically expressed his gratitude to Guan Xing for saving Mi Fang.

When Mi Zhu received the news that Mi Fang had surrendered the city to Wu, he was so angry that he wanted to kill his younger brother on the spot, and he even fell seriously ill because of it.

After learning that Guan Yu and his son had seized Jiangdong and won a series of victories, Mi Zhu began to worry about Mi Fang. Although his younger brother was stupid, he was still his own brother. Although he was angry that his brother was foolish, he did not want his brother to lose his life. He did not know how to plead with Liu Bei and Guan Yu for him. Just when he was worried about this, Guan Xing pointed out a way for Mi Fang to live and make amends by doing good deeds.

This was a life-saving favor for Mi Zhu, and the Mi family owed Guan Xing a huge debt of gratitude. They should thank Guan Xing properly, both out of courtesy and reason.

Guan Xing thus gained Mi Zhu's friendship, and from then on, no matter what bad things Guan Xing did, Mi Zhu would turn a blind eye.

Some time passed, and on the twentieth day after Zhang Bao fled to Wushan, Crown Prince Liu Shan arrived with Mi Zhu's eldest son Mi Wei, Jiang Wan, Dong Yun, Zhao Tong, and others. Accompanying them were Zhang Fei's daughter Zhang Xingcai, who had already married Liu Shan, and Guan Xing's sister Guan Yinping. Naturally, the bigwigs like Liu, Guan, Zhang, and Zhuge Liang could not personally come out of the city to greet this group, so they left the reception to Guan Xing.

Unlike Liu Bei, Zhuge Liang, and others who stood foolishly waiting at the city gate, Guan Xing set up a pavilion at the city gate and started eating hot pot. Just as he was enjoying his meal, Liu Shan arrived with his troops.

Upon seeing this, Guan Xing quickly rose to greet him, leading Xia Tong, Pan Zhu, and others to bow before Liu Shan, saying, "Your Highness, it's been a long time since I've seen you, and you've grown even more handsome."

Liu Shan looked at the grease on Guan Xing's lips and said speechlessly, "Anguo, you're so uncouth. We haven't even arrived yet, why are you eating first? Do you have any more for me? We've been eating and sleeping in the open all this way without a single hot meal."

Guan Xing nodded towards Pan Zhu, who quickly returned to the carriage to retrieve the square table. He then ladled soup from the pot that was cooking next to him into a hot pot to prepare food for Liu Shan and the others.

While Pan Zhu was busy, Guan Xing put his arm around Xia Tong and said, "Your Highness, let me introduce you. This is Xia Tong, who killed Wang Shuang in the Battle of Dangyang. Putting aside his martial prowess, his appearance alone gives people a sense of security, right?"

Xia Tong quickly removed Guan Xing's arm, took a half step back, bowed, and said, "This humble general Xia Tong greets Your Highness."

Liu Shan, like his father who was a mat weaver and shoe seller, was not very particular. After accepting Xia Tong's generous gift, he imitated Guan Xing by putting his arm around Xia Tong's neck and smiling familiarly, saying, "The brothers of Anguo are my brothers. There's no need to be so reserved when talking to family. Tell me about how you killed Wang Shuang. I heard that Wang Shuang was very brave."

While the two were talking, Guan Xing bowed to Zhang Xingcai, who had become the Crown Prince's wife, and then greeted Mi Wei, Jiang Wan, Dong Yun, and Zhao Tong. Finally, he patted his younger sister's head and said with a smile, "Yinping, you've grown taller again in just a few days. If you grow any taller, no one will want you."

Guan Yinping is already over 1.7 meters tall and still growing, which is normal. A child's height is influenced by their parents. If both parents are tall, their children are unlikely to be short. Guan Yu was almost as tall as the city gate tower, so his daughter wouldn't have a chance to be a little potato in the south.

Guan Yinping slapped his stinky hand away and pouted, saying, "I'm all grown up now, so don't pat my head like that again."

Guan Xing touched her again, then laughed and said, "No matter how old you get, you're still my sister. Let's go eat."

After everyone took their seats, Liu Chan was the first to pick up his chopsticks. He picked up a piece of meat, dipped it in the sauce, and then, just like Guan Xing, put it in his mouth. Then, he suddenly widened his eyes and said excitedly, "I've eaten boiled meat before, but how did you make such fragrant boiled meat? Where did you get your seasonings?"

Liu Shan knew that all cooked meat looked the same, and how could the same meat and boiling water produce different flavors? So the problem must lie in the seasoning.

Guan Xing laughed and said, "I added some Chinese medicine and Thirteen Spices, along with some other ingredients. I've been eating it for several days now, so it's not poisonous, don't worry."

Thanks to Zhang Qian, the Han Dynasty had a rich variety of seasonings, but the lack of chili peppers made Guan Xing very uncomfortable. However, there was nothing he could do about it, so he could only make do for the time being.

Upon hearing this, Liu Shan did not hesitate any longer. He picked up his chopsticks and began to eat heartily, his mouth dripping with oil and his clothes splattered with oil stains.

Seeing that everyone had almost finished eating, Guan Xing snapped his fingers, and Pan Zhu, who was acting as a waiter, quickly brought over a two-foot-tall wine barrel and a dozen palm-sized bamboo tubes to pour wine for everyone. Unexpectedly, as soon as the wine fell into the bamboo tubes, white foam splashed up, which startled Liu Chan and the others, who all leaned back and asked in surprise, "What is this stuff? It looks quite poisonous."

Guan Xing laughed and said, "This is the beer I brewed myself after returning to Jiangling. It's also the first barrel of beer in the Han Dynasty. The King and the strategist have never tasted it before."

After saying that, he picked up the bamboo tube and downed it in one gulp, then burped and laughed, "Awesome! Hot pot really does taste better with beer!"