mesbooks Chapter 487 Guan Xing Must Save Mi Fang
Chapter 487 Guan Xing Must Save Mi Fang
Liu Bei was truly baffled. He had never wronged either of them, and had not only failed to give them sufficient trust and important responsibilities, so why had they betrayed him?
Is it for profit?
If it were truly for the sake of profit, he would have accepted it. But the question is, how much profit did Sun Quan give them? Did Sun Quan give them more than he did? No, right?
Mi Fang finally seized the opportunity to defend himself. Ignoring the pain, he quickly got up, grabbed Liu Bei's trouser leg, and wailed, "Your Majesty, I did not betray you. I betrayed Guan Yu. Guan Yunchang is a scoundrel. He keeps threatening to kill me. I'm scared."
Before Liu Bei could even speak, Zhang Fei flew into a rage, quickly stepping forward and kicking Mi Fang to the ground. He then snatched Liu Bei's sword sheath and began beating him again, shouting, "You dog! You dare to slander my second brother at a time like this? I'll beat you to death, you dog!"
Mi Fang continued to wail, clutching her head, "Third Brother, you're innocent! I didn't slander Second Brother! I was just a coward, I was timid and scared. I was wrong, I really know I was wrong."
Having been severely beaten by his older brother since childhood, Mi Fang knew that he absolutely could not be stubborn at this time, otherwise he might really be beaten to death by Zhang Fei.
When you're out there in the world, you have to be prepared to take a beating.
Seeing that Mi Fang was getting weaker and weaker, Liu Bei realized that if he continued fighting, he might really kill the guy. So he stopped Zhang Fei and questioned him, "Second brother was just saying that. Don't you know what kind of temper he has? Are you stupid?"
Mi Fang got up and knelt down again, crying and wailing, "I was wrong, I really know I was wrong. Please, Your Majesty, spare my life for my sake. Your Majesty, you know I'm incompetent and cowardly. I've been a good-for-nothing since I was a child. I was wrong."
Mentioning Lady Mi only made Liu Bei angrier. He shouted angrily, "How dare you mention your sister to me? Your sister dared to jump into a well in the face of the Wei army. And you? How can you face her?"
With tears streaming down her face, Mi Fang said, "I was wrong, I really know I was wrong. Anguo, please plead for me, okay? I have no son, but I've always treated you like one. During the years when the King went to Sichuan, I was the one who took care of you. You can't just abandon me."
Guan Xing: "..."
He regretted coming with Liu Bei, because what Mi Fang said was true.
Both Liu Bei and Guan Yu were workaholics, busy with work every day and had no time to take care of their families. When Liu Bei was a child, Guan Yu left him at home and basically did not care for him. It was common for Liu Bei to not see Guan Yu for several months.
If it weren't for Mi Fang taking care of him during that time, he might have starved to death long ago. In fact, Mi Fang was the one who taught him his early education. Even the incident where he ran over and killed a child was settled by Mi Fang. If Mi Fang hadn't obtained the family's forgiveness in time, Guan Yu might have really killed him.
From this perspective, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that Mi Fang was his adoptive father; the debt of gratitude was immense.
Therefore, after recapturing Jiangling, he dared not see Mi Fang, for fear that Mi Fang would bring up this matter.
But why did I have such a brain fart to come here with Liu Bei today?
"I...I...I..." Guan Xing was momentarily speechless.
Seeing Guan Xing in a dilemma, Liu Bei decisively turned his gun around, slammed a sword sheath onto Fu Shiren's shoulder, and scolded, "And why are you doing this?"
Fu Shiren endured the pain and kowtowed three times, the sound of his head hitting the ground echoing loudly. His face full of remorse, he said, "I was deceived by Mi Fangyu. I was blinded by greed. I regretted it as soon as I surrendered the city, but the mistake has been made and cannot be undone. I am willing to accept any punishment from Your Majesty. If there is an afterlife, I am willing to serve Your Majesty by pulling your horse and putting it in the stirrup to atone for my sins."
Fu Shiren wasn't lying; he regretted handing over Gong'an City to Wu Jun as soon as he did, but it was too late.
Sometimes life is just a matter of a single thought; one thought can lead to heaven or hell. Make a decision in a second, and then spend the rest of your life regretting it.
Liu Bei closed his eyes in pain, and when he opened them again, he shouted sternly, "Guards..."
Before he could finish speaking, Mi Fang interrupted impatiently, "Anguo, save me! Anguo, you can't abandon me! Have you forgotten how your father was away on the front lines and we relied on each other for survival? Have you forgotten how I carried you to the pharmacy when you were sick in the middle of the night? Please save me, Anguo! Please save me just this once, for the sake of all the years I've taken care of you. Just this once, please?"
He feared that Liu Bei would send men in to drag him away and execute him, and that if he didn't call for help soon, he would lose his head. So he desperately seized the last chance to cry out to Guan Xing for help, his voice cracking with tears streaming down his face.
Upon hearing this, Sun Quan, Zhang Zhao, and the others instinctively looked towards Guan Xing, wanting to see what Guan Xing would choose and whether he would save Mi Shu, who had raised them.
Just as Liu Shan was born to Liu Bei but raised by Zhuge Liang, Guan Xing was born to Guan Yu but raised by Mi Fang. Given Guan Yu's habit of being away from home for months at a time, Guan Xing wouldn't have survived to this age without Mi Fang's care.
The kindness of raising children is as great as the heavens. Mi Fang deserves to die a thousand deaths. Anyone can be left unsaid, even his brother Mi Zhu can be left to fend for himself, but Guan Xing is the only one who cannot be saved.
If Guan Xing doesn't save Mi Fang, he'll be a complete scoundrel. Who would dare to confide in such a heartless person in the future?
Guan Xing understood this principle and sighed helplessly, "Your Majesty, although Uncle Mi deserves to die, there is one thing that we may really need him to do."
Upon hearing this, Mi Fang was overjoyed and said impatiently, "I am willing to go through fire and water, I will do anything you ask, I will go, I am willing to go."
Having something to do gives you value, and having value allows you to survive.
Mi Fang knew that Guan Xing didn't lack people to do things right now, so the fact that he was specifically asked to do it under these circumstances clearly meant that Guan Xing wanted to save him. Therefore, he agreed without even asking what it was about, afraid that if he agreed too slowly, Liu Bei would not listen.
"Shut up." Liu Bei glared at him fiercely, then quickly switched to a kind expression as if he were looking at his own nephew when he turned to Guan Xing, asking curiously, "What is it?"
Guan Xing said, "When Zhang Qian, the Marquis of Bowang, went on a mission to the Western Regions, he not only opened up the Silk Road, but also brought back dozens of kinds of fruits and vegetables that the Han Dynasty did not have, such as grapes, cucumbers, walnuts, pomegranates, eggplants, and carrots. This greatly enriched the dining table of the Han people and can be described as a great achievement."
"But the world is far larger than we can imagine. Zhang Qian could not have traveled all of this territory by himself. The fruits and vegetables he collected were certainly not complete. In other words, there must be fruits, vegetables and even crops in the world that we do not know about."
"Moreover, in the ninth year of Yongyuan, Marquis Ban Chao of Dingyuan sent Gan Ying as an envoy to Daqin (the Roman Empire). Gan Ying led the mission from Kucha all the way to the Western Sea (some say the Mediterranean Sea, some say the Persian Gulf), which was farther than Zhang Qian's journey. It was the farthest westward expedition ever undertaken by the Han Dynasty."
"Although Gan Ying was blocked by the Western Sea and could not go any further, he met the Macedonian merchant Metz. From Metz, he learned about the situation of the Great Qin Empire on the other side of the Western Sea and prompted the Roman merchant group to go to the Great Han, which strengthened the exchanges between the two countries. In other words, there is a Great Qin Empire on the other side of the Western Sea that is just as powerful as the Great Han, but we have never set foot there. So I was wondering what the Great Qin Empire is like and whether it will pose a threat to our Great Han one day?"
"Furthermore, since the beginning of humankind, the staple food of the people in the Central Plains has always been the five grains. But what about the Qin Dynasty? Do they also eat the five grains like us, or do they eat something else? If it's something else, will the yield be higher than our five grains? Can we bring it back to the Han Dynasty to cultivate?"
Liu Bei asked in astonishment, "You want to send these two idiots as envoys to Qin?"
Liu Bei was tempted. If this matter were to succeed, he would be remembered for eternity, and for Mi Fang and Fu Shiren, it would be a way to make use of their resources.
More importantly, Longxi was recovered, and now the Silk Road was in Liu Bei's hands, which made it possible for him to send envoys to the Qin Dynasty.
Guan Xing nodded and said, "I would like to open the Maritime Silk Road, send a fleet along the coastline to explore places we have never explored before, and record the terrain and customs of the countries along the way, so as to spread the civilization of the Han Dynasty to all corners of the world."
"At the same time, we should collect crops along the way to see if we can bring them back to the Han Dynasty to cultivate and increase the Han Dynasty's grain production."