Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator

Although Li Aoli was somewhat fearful afterward of the punishment from Master Zikun, whose bearing and temperament seemed transcendent, he gradually became audacious again, thinking of how benevolent and kind Master Zikun was, even bestowing a house for him to live in.

Moreover, Li Aoli discovered that as long as he spoke to the beautiful Han Chinese maidservant with the tone of a high-ranking official, he could get her to offer him more food each day.

This discovery made Li Aoli ecstatic. He ate his fill every meal and didn't have to work, only sleep.

If it weren't for the strong soldiers guarding the door at all times, Li Aoli would have really wanted to touch that graceful maidservant more.

Just as Li Aoli was enjoying this wonderful, dreamlike life for nearly half a month, the great Master Zikun was finally going to see him.

This made Li Aoli both fearful and nervous. Then, the soldiers led him into a room that seemed like a work of art.

The first thing Li Aoli did upon entering was to immediately kneel on the ground, touching his forehead to the floor, and loudly proclaim, "Li Aoli greets Master Zikun."

"Master? There's no need to address me like that. I am Wu County's Assistant Magistrate of the Great Han. Just call me Magistrate Li."

"Yes," Li Aoli quickly responded.

Then, that gentle voice floated over again.

"Come a little closer."

"Yes."

Li Aoli quickly knelt and moved closer to Li Ji's direction.

"Raise your head."

"Yes."

Li Aoli nervously and fearfully slowly raised his head until he could barely see the person's chin in front of him. He didn't dare to raise it any further, fearing he would offend his master.

Li Ji, leaning halfway on the desk, propped his chin with one hand, and sized up Li Aoli in front of him with a hint of satisfaction in his eyes, saying, "Not bad, compared to half a month ago, you barely look like a human."

Li Aoli didn't know if this was praise or insult, but he quickly touched his head to the ground again and said, "Thank you for the praise, Magistrate Li."

"There is something I need you to do. If you do it well, you will be rewarded. If you don't, you will be dismembered."

Li Ji said in a calm tone, causing Li Aoli's whole body to tense up. His originally somewhat impetuous heart was almost instantly frightened to a standstill. He quickly responded, "I will definitely do everything in my power to serve my master."

Regarding Li Aoli's declaration of loyalty, Li Ji's eyes revealed an indifferent expression.

It's just that bringing four scrawny "嘍囉 (嘍囉: low-status soldiers)" to the government office really wouldn't show any threat to the Great Han. Otherwise, why would Li Ji have deliberately raised Li Aoli and the three dwarves for half a month?

However, compared to Li Aoli's treatment, the other three dwarves had it simpler. They were tied up and force-fed pig feed to gain weight.

Facts proved that more sleep, more food, and less exercise are definitely the first law of gaining weight.

Li Ji had already seen the three dwarves earlier. They had gained even more weight than Li Aoli.

As for Li Aoli's ultimate fate, Li Ji originally didn't have much of a leaning. If he could be used, he would use him more as a translator.

However, when the soldiers reported that Li Aoli often stared at the maidservants with an extremely lewd look in secret, Li Ji had already decided on the fate of this Goguryeo person.

If he did well, the reward would be a complete corpse; if he didn't, the punishment would be dismemberment.

"Do you know Han characters?" Li Ji asked again.

"Reporting to the great Magistrate Li, no," Li Aoli quickly replied.

Li Ji wasn't surprised by this.

Even in the Great Han, Han characters were not something ordinary people could come into contact with. This fisherman could speak both the language of the Eastern Ying and Han Chinese, mostly learned through occasional contact in daily life.

But being able to speak some Han Chinese did not mean he knew Han characters.

"It doesn't matter if you don't. In three days, I will take you to meet my lord. Later, I will have someone teach you what to say at that time. I hope you don't say a single word wrong."

Li Ji said in a calm tone.

"Absolutely… absolutely not!" Li Aoli quickly kowtowed.

The three days passed almost in an instant in Li Aoli's eyes.

During these three days, Li Aoli not only firmly remembered the words Li Ji had asked him to say but also learned that the lord Li Ji was referring to was roughly the master of his master.

This couldn't help but make Li Aoli feel nervous, and he also realized that this was an excellent opportunity to perform.

As long as he performed well enough, perhaps the benevolent and kind master Magistrate Li would reward him with a foothold in the Great Han, and maybe even bestow a few beautiful and charming maidservants.

On this morning, Li Aoli was awakened early by several soldiers, and then changed into a more luxurious and clean set of clothes.

After putting on this set of clothes, Li Aoli immediately felt that he was very different from the past.

If his previous father saw him now, he would probably kowtow to him in fear.

Subsequently, Li Aoli was sent to a more magnificent building complex, and then, at the signal of a soldier, he walked in.

Along with Li Aoli, there were also three dwarves who were being suppressed by soldiers and locked up with iron chains.

This time, Li Aoli, who had been taught etiquette by Li Ji, suppressed the urge to bow his head to the ground after entering the main hall and looked around the main hall somewhat nervously.

Immediately, Li Aoli noticed that his master, Magistrate Li, was sitting on the left side of the main seat in the main hall.

Replacing him in the main seat was a dignified man with a face like jade, lips like rouge, and eyes that could see his ears.

Below that dignified man sitting on the main seat, on both sides, sat many people wearing official robes of the Great Han and with extraordinary temperaments.

This made Li Aoli, who was being watched by many eyes, feel weak in his legs for a while, but he still braced himself and walked to the center, then performed a Great Han etiquette, saying, "Li Aoli, a commoner from the country of Goguryeo, greets Prefect Liu and all the adults."

Goguryeo was adjacent to You Province. Liu Bei, Zhang Fei, Jian Yong, and other people from You Province were not unfamiliar with Goguryeo. In fact, Goguryeo sometimes claimed to be a vassal to the Great Han while occasionally invading the borders of You Province.

Therefore, Liu Bei, Zhang Fei, Jian Yong, and other people from You Province did not have a good impression of Goguryeo, but for Li Ji's sake, they still gave Li Aoli a seat.

Li Aoli also quickly knelt down as he had been taught, not daring to make the slightest extra move.

What was highlighted next was the three dwarves who walked in after Li Aoli.

Although Li Ji had fed them for half a month, so that these three dwarves were not as skinny as monkeys, Li Ji was obviously powerless to solve the problem of height.

Therefore, the civil and military officials present couldn't help but reveal a bit of contempt on their faces when they looked at the three dwarves.

After Liu Bei looked at them for a while, he asked Li Ji, "Zikun, are these three the Wo people you mentioned?"

"That's right."

Li Ji nodded and then said, "It was precisely by accidentally capturing these three Wo people that I was able to completely confirm that the remnants of the violent Qin have been hiding in the Eastern Ying, wanting to do what Goujian did."

For a time, the military generals such as Zhang Fei, Xu Sheng, and Jiang Qin couldn't help but laugh. Even Zhao Yun, who was the most polite, had a slight arc on his lips.

"Is the Wa country really like this?"

Zhang Zhao, who was sitting below, was the first to raise a question, saying, "In the second year of Jianwu Zhongyuan, the Wa country sent envoys to pay respects to Emperor Guangwu, actively expressing their willingness to be a vassal of our Great Han, asking the Emperor to bestow a name. The Emperor, because of their short stature, then bestowed the name 'Wa country' and their people as 'Wa people', and also bestowed seals and other things, allowing them to be vassals."

After a pause, Zhang Zhao looked at Li Ji and said, "Magistrate Li, this matter is clearly recorded in the history books, but there is no record of any remnants of the violent Qin in the Wa country?"

It must be said that Zhang Zhao undoubtedly deserved to be called erudite and knowledgeable. This section can be said to be quite inconspicuous in the records of Emperor Guangwu's life, but Zhang Zhao blurted it out and recounted it.

Moreover, what Zhang Zhao said was accurate.

The origin of the name "Wa country" was given by Emperor Guangwu, Liu Xiu, and that was also the earliest record of Dongying paying tribute and submitting to the Central Plains dynasty.

Therefore, the Wa country was, in a sense, one of the vassal states of the Great Han.

It was precisely because of this that Li Ji would painstakingly pin the crime of "remnants of the violent Qin" on Yingzhou; otherwise, even if Li Ji wanted to attack Yingzhou, he would have no reason to do so.

As the suzerain state, the Great Han actively attacking a vassal state would not only lose face but also not be allowed by the court.

Faced with Zhang Zhao's question, Li Ji replied unhurriedly, "The late Emperor Guangwu may have failed to notice the Wa country's wolfish ambitions, so he allowed them to be vassals. Now that the Wa people are here, what the truth is, whether it has anything to do with the remnants of the violent Qin, Zibu will know as soon as he asks."

Hearing this, Zhang Zhao couldn't help but look at Liu Bei.

Until he received a nod from Liu Bei, who had not spoken all along, Zhang Zhao stood up and walked to Li Aoli, looking down at Li Aoli and saying, "You understand Han Chinese and also know Wa language?"

"Yes, sir," Li Aoli quickly replied.

"Good, then you translate for me. I want to ask those three Wa people questions," Zhang Zhao said.

Immediately, Zhang Zhao looked up at the soldiers who were controlling the three Wa people. The three soldiers also reached out and took out the gags that had been stuffed into the mouths of the three Wa people.

However, as soon as the gags were removed, the three Wa people immediately shouted and kept kneeling and kowtowing.

"What are those three saying?" Zhang Zhao asked with a frown.

【Spare me, spare me…】

【Please let me go, I don't know anything, I just escaped from the battlefield.】

【I want to go home, I want to go back and see Sachiko.】

Listening to the words of the three Wa people, Li Aoli glanced at the expressionless Li Ji, and then bowed respectfully and replied.

"Reporting, my lord, they claim to be elite soldiers from the Yamatai Kingdom. They say they were unfortunately captured and ended up here. They demand that we send them back, otherwise their superiors will certainly raise an army to rescue them. By then, it won't be as simple as just sending them back to resolve the issue."

However, Zhang Zhao was not easily fooled and questioned in a deep voice.

"That's not right. Then why are they kowtowing?" (End of Chapter)