191 AD

Zhou Jin stood at the courier station, watching that figure ride away on horseback.

Who could have imagined that Sun Jian would be killed so easily by an assassin’s arrow, falling like a meteor in his prime…

Luck was sometimes truly an important component of strength. For the first time, Zhou Jin doubted whether her investment was correct, but thinking of Sun Ce’s unwavering gaze when he departed, she gritted her teeth and decided to persevere.

She had said she wouldn’t regret it, so she wouldn’t regret it. Playing both sides wasn’t a prudent decision—the turbulent waters of this chaotic world were already rough enough, and she didn’t want to be swallowed by the waves so quickly.

She didn’t withdraw her gaze until the distant figure was completely out of sight. But just as she turned around, she was startled and stared in disbelief with wide eyes: “Master?”

The Master she hadn’t seen for five years still wore that black robe, his appearance unchanged in the slightest, his face still bearing that warm and gentle smile.

Zhou Jin hurriedly walked a few steps forward to meet him, greeting the Master with great joy and surprise. She had changed—if it had been her from five years ago, she would probably have already thrown herself at him, but now as the eldest son of the Zhou family, she only bowed politely with perfect etiquette that left no room for criticism.

“Master, how did you come to Lujiang?” Zhou Jin restrained the joy in her chest, but still couldn’t hide the smile at the corners of her eyes and brows. She gestured for the Master to follow her into the station for conversation, only then noticing a small beggar of about ten years old following beside the Master, face dirty like a mud monkey.

“Just passing through.” The Master smiled and followed her into the station.

Since it wasn’t mealtime, Zhou Jin ordered a pot of tea, remembering the Master loved drinking tea. As for the little beggar who had also sat down, Zhou Jin thought for a moment and ordered some pastries for him. This was a time of war when tea and pastries were luxuries, but since the Lujiang area hadn’t yet been affected by warfare, people’s livelihoods were still manageable. The waiter quickly brought the tea and pastries. The little beggar pursed his lips, seemingly disdainful of the pastries that didn’t look very fresh, but said nothing, wiped his hands, and picked one up with chopsticks to eat.

Zhou Jin couldn’t help but look sideways, because she could see that this little beggar’s movements were very elegant—not something an ordinary family could cultivate. Perhaps he was a child whose family had been destroyed and killed. Zhou Jin’s heart filled with pity, and she ordered another plate of pastries for him.

Zhou Jin personally poured tea for the Master but couldn’t help asking: “Did Master come from Xiangyang? Do you have any news?” At this time of warfare, the transmission of information was truly complex and confusing, making it hard to distinguish truth from falsehood. Even the soldiers who came to report Sun Jian’s death couldn’t accurately relay the battle report. Seeing the Master come from the official road leading to Xiangyang, Zhou Jin boldly inquired.

The Master understood Zhou Jin’s thoughts, smiled, took a sip of tea, then said: “Sun Jian’s death was due to possessing a treasure that brought disaster!”

“Possessing a treasure that brought disaster?” Zhou Jin was startled. She had thought Sun Jian died from an arrow while pursuing Huang Zu, not expecting there to be other inside information.

“When General Sun Po Lu was stationed south of Luoyang city, he once retrieved the He’s Bi from a well. It should have been thrown into the well by the seal-keeper when Zhang Rang caused chaos, kidnapped the Emperor and fled, and his retinue scattered.” The Master spoke vividly as if he had witnessed it personally. Though Zhou Jin still had doubts in her heart, she couldn’t help but follow his reasoning.

“Could it be that Uncle Sun didn’t hand over the He’s Bi to Yuan Shu? Did Yuan Shu develop murderous intent?” Zhou Jin asked in question form but already knew the conclusion. Any lord absolutely could not tolerate subordinates having divided loyalties. Secretly keeping the imperial jade seal meant harboring thoughts of becoming emperor! Though it was said that when Qin lost its deer, all heroes pursued it, such blatant display of ambition could only result in being made an example of.

Zhou Jin sighed inwardly. Sun Jian was a generation’s hero, but unfortunately lacked strategists around him. She had even hinted at this, but unfortunately Sun Jian wouldn’t listen to advice and ultimately reaped bitter fruit. Lost in such thoughts, she missed the strange expression on the Master’s face and didn’t see him pressing the bundle at his waist, his expression extremely complex.

Without any effort, just swapping packages in the chaos. The long-lost He’s Bi had finally returned to his hands, but why did he feel so lost?

The thing was still the same thing, but the person who had accompanied him… was no longer there… Truly, things remained but people had changed…

No… to be accurate, this He’s Bi was already missing a corner. Though it had been filled with gold, it could no longer be considered a perfect return…

The Master drained all the tea on the table in one gulp, stood up and said: “Little Jin, I’m leaving. I entrust this child to your care. She’s from Lujiang, ran out to play on her own—truly doesn’t know what’s good for her.”

Zhou Jin hurriedly stood up to detain him. She still wanted to ask the Master about that Liuqing comb, but in such a public place, how could she ask?

The Master seemed to know what she wanted to ask but didn’t answer, only smiled and waved as he turned to leave.

Zhou Jin felt bewildered, always feeling the Master’s retreating figure was so lonely and desolate that just watching made one’s heart ache.

“Hey! The pastries are too awful—I want something better.” An arrogant child’s voice came from behind. Zhou Jin looked down to see the little beggar who only reached her chest, staring at her with big watery eyes.

“What’s your name? Which family’s child are you? I’ll send you home.” Zhou Jin’s tone wasn’t very good either. She had initially thought the child’s family was destroyed, only to discover it was a runaway brat. She thought of her twelve-year-old self—reckless and heedless of consequences, ultimately hurting the person she cared most about in the world.

The little beggar shrank back because of Zhou Jin’s tone, touched his dirty nose, and said timidly: “My surname is Qiao. Just call me Xiao Qiao.”

194 AD

“Young Master, you should rest for a while.” Xiao Qiao refilled the teapot on Zhou Jin’s desk, pursing her lips with some dissatisfaction. Since being left with Zhou Jin, she hadn’t returned home, only sending a note to her father informing him of her whereabouts. Her father hadn’t tried to stop her after learning this. She later found out that when she initially ran away from home, her father had one of her personal maids take her place, so the news hadn’t leaked.

It was also possible her father had lost his temper and no longer acknowledged her as his daughter. But Xiao Qiao didn’t feel sad—she felt life beside Zhou Jin was much more exciting than being imprisoned at home.

After all, her young master was the world-famous handsome Zhou Yu! Looking at him every day was incredibly pleasing to the eye, not to mention her young master calculated daily for the welfare of all people in the world. The just-awakening Xiao Qiao simply couldn’t resist such a perfect existence.

Zhou Yu raised his head from the pile of documents, seeing Xiao Qiao’s infatuated gaze, and couldn’t help but rub his temples with a headache. “Xiao Qiao, it’s already late. You should go rest first.” Though this girl had changed into men’s clothing and volunteered to stay by her side as her servant, Zhou Jin didn’t dare truly treat her as a servant.

This was Elder Qiao’s precious daughter! Heaven knows how Elder Qiao was raising her—not hurrying to bring back a daughter who ran away from home? Just leaving her with a strange man for several years without inquiry—was this really acceptable? It seemed she should find an opportunity to send Xiao Qiao home, otherwise as the girl grew older… She initially hadn’t paid attention to a ten-year-old child and didn’t mind keeping her around, but three years had already passed. If she continued delaying, it would be bad if it interfered with the girl’s marriage prospects.

Zhou Jin shook her head dejectedly, feeling she had aged particularly fast these years. Just twenty years old, when others were in their prime, she felt her heart was already riddled with holes. She suddenly thought of marriage… If she hadn’t lived on in place of her brother, she would probably have already married, staying home to support her husband and educate children, living a monotonous life.

“Young Master, how is the grain procurement going?” Xiao Qiao didn’t obediently go rest but instead walked behind her young master and began obediently massaging his shoulders.

“Temporarily sufficient, but it’s only emergency relief.” Zhou Jin put down her brush, relaxed her body, and closed her eyes. After Sun Jian’s death, the troops Sun Jian had led were reclaimed by Yuan Shu, who absolutely refused to let Sun Ce command them, only allowing him to recruit soldiers himself. But where were soldiers so easy to recruit? Sun Ce had just recruited several hundred soldiers when he was attacked and nearly lost his life. Later Yuan Shu promised him the position of Jiujiang Governor but used someone else, then promised him Lujiang Governor but ultimately used someone else again.

After several such incidents, no matter how loyal Sun Ce had been to Yuan Shu, it was worn to nothing. Moreover, Sun Jian’s death that year was full of suspicious points. Yuan Shu was stubborn and intolerant, so Sun Ce had long harbored thoughts of building his own army and establishing independence. But recruiting soldiers required military provisions to succeed—otherwise expecting horses to run without feeding them grass simply made no sense.

Zhou Jin’s uncle Zhou Shang was currently serving as Governor of Danyang. Zhou Jin had义不容辞地 come to help Sun Ce procure grain. Despite her family’s dissuasion, she resolutely sold most of the Zhou family’s fields and wealth, then worked connections everywhere, finally procuring two months’ worth of military provisions, roughly enough to weather this difficult period.

Standing behind Zhou Jin, from her angle Xiao Qiao could see Zhou Jin’s extraordinarily handsome profile, which under the candlelight appeared as magnificently handsome as a sculpture. Feeling inexplicably flushed, Xiao Qiao unconsciously increased her hand strength.

“When the tune has a mistake, Zhou Yu turns to look.”

At a banquet last year, Xiao Qiao had seen a young lady deliberately play the wrong notes just to make Zhou Yu turn and look at her. At the time, still young, she couldn’t understand such feelings and secretly laughed at that lady’s calculated intentions. But if it were her now…

“Ouch! Xiao Qiao, do I have some grudge against you?” Zhou Jin shrank her shoulders and turned around in confusion. When had this girl’s hand strength become so great?

“Hmph!” Xiao Qiao covered with a light snort, then took the offensive by interrogating: “Young Master, why are you so good to that Sun fellow? Even if you’re sworn brothers, isn’t this too much? Selling houses and land, owing favors to procure grain for him?” Xiao Qiao asked righteously, as if the Zhou family’s possessions naturally belonged to her to manage.

Zhou Jin said seriously: “I think highly of him. He will become the master of the world.” Actually, sometimes even she couldn’t explain clearly—perhaps she had transferred her feelings for her brother onto Sun Ce.

She was very clear about what she was doing and didn’t regret it at all.

Xiao Qiao was exasperated. Was there anyone who worked so wholeheartedly for others? In her heart, her young master was brilliant and mighty—even leading troops to war, he was first-rate. Why did he have to support that big fool? Rising up himself would be completely possible! Why did he have to consider that person more important than himself? The more Xiao Qiao thought about it, the angrier she became, mixed with a kind of fury she couldn’t name. Not caring what Zhou Jin was doing, she directly pounced and began pummeling.

Zhou Jin caught Xiao Qiao’s hands, feeling her headache worsen. How had this girl become harder to discipline as she grew up? Already nearly fourteen, yet still acting like a child. Who would dare marry her in the future? She couldn’t be planning to remain unmarried for life…

As for Sun Ce… Sun Ce would also marry in the future… Zhou Jin’s mind flashed with that handsome face, and she couldn’t help but be momentarily dazed, failing to hold onto Xiao Qiao, who fell directly into her arms. The two rolled into a tangle on the soft couch. Just then, the door was pushed open.

“Brother Yu, about the military provisions… uh… you two…” Sun Ce’s voice stopped abruptly as he stood there stunned, feeling at a loss whether to stay or leave.

Xiao Qiao struggled to climb up from Zhou Jin’s body, straightened her disheveled clothing with complete composure, snorted through her nose, and walked out with her head turned.

Sun Ce was dumbfounded, never having imagined Brother Yu had this kind of relationship with his personal servant. Though he knew that among upper-class nobles, such relationships between men were nothing unusual, witnessing it firsthand today, especially with one of the protagonists being his Brother Yu, the impact was quite significant.

Zhou Jin had no idea the scene just now could be misunderstood. In her concept, it was just an immature child playing around with her. However, it was time to send Xiao Qiao home, otherwise continuing would damage Xiao Qiao’s reputation. While thinking this, Zhou Jin sat up and casually tidied her appearance with natural grace.

Sun Ce looked at the still-unfaded flush on the handsome youth’s face, as if enchanted, unable to move his gaze no matter what. He had long known his sworn brother was incomparably handsome, but now under the dim candlelight, he possessed an indescribable charm that made one’s heart race wildly.

Zhou Jin looked up to find Sun Ce staring at her fixedly and couldn’t help but clear her throat: “Brother Ce, I’ve procured about two months’ worth of grain, so there’s no need to worry for now.”

Only then did Sun Ce realize his reaction was somewhat inappropriate and deflected the topic: “Brother Yu, I’ve already undergone the capping ceremony and taken the courtesy name Bofu. Brother Yu can call me Bofu.”

“Bofu…” Zhou Jin was startled, remembering Sun Ce’s birthday was somewhat earlier than hers, and she would soon undergo the capping ceremony too.

“Brother Yu, have you thought of what courtesy name to take?” Sun Ce asked with a smile.

Meeting Sun Ce’s burning gaze, Zhou Jin felt momentarily dazed, her heart racing wildly. She also wanted him to be able to call her name…

“Jin…” Zhou Jin curved her lips in an elegant smile: “Courtesy name Gongjin.”