For Xiahou Yuan, aside from that half-understood talk about acids and alkalis, the overall experience had been quite pleasant.
The noodles were fragrant and mildly sweet, the dishes properly seasoned. Neither too salty nor too bland. The Left General seated at the head of the table carried himself with grace, and together with Jian Yong he traded witty remarks with effortless ease, making it hard not to feel a certain admiration.
It was a shame he was surnamed Xiahou.
When the banquet finally came to an end, Xiahou Yuan formally informed Liu Bei that once he returned, he would write a letter to Chancellor Cao and have it delivered.
He had already thought through the gains and losses involved.
The two to three thousand troops from Yizhou could hardly be called elite, nor did they include any truly outstanding generals. Even if they were sent back, it would not affect the larger situation.
As for Ma Teng's life, the matter was much the same. Judging by Ma Chao's current stance, he had already thrown in his lot with Liu Bei. If the Chancellor were to act ruthlessly and exterminate Ma Teng's clan, it would only push Ma Mengqi into Liu Bei's camp even more firmly.
Moreover, what Xiahou Yuan had seen in Chang'an over the past half year had made him increasingly wary.
Whether it was the undisguised ambition of Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang, the methods they used to win over the people of Guanzhong and Yongliang, or the endless stream of new military equipment and farming tools, all of it forced him to look again.
He had to return to Ye City and report everything he had seen to his elder brother in full. That was Xiahou Yuan's most sincere judgment.
After seeing Xiahou Yuan and the other guest off, Liu Bei and Jian Yong turned back toward the inner hall. As they passed through the main hall, Jian Yong bent down and picked up a slip of paper from the couch, reading it aloud.
"General Miaocai treats Zhang Shao as though he were his own son.
Liu Bei's two daughters remain safe in Ye City."
The paper was irregular, and the material felt oddly familiar. If his guess was correct, Jian Yong believed it had been torn from the wrapping paper used for Zhang Shen's medicine.
As for who had been sitting here earlier, both men remembered very clearly.
Liu Bei merely smiled, sat back down, and poured himself a cup of light wine.
"Xianhe, pass this note on to Yide."
Since Xiahou Yuan had given his word, Liu Bei could be said to have lived up to the trust of the elders of Chengdu and Ma Mengqi. He took a small sip as a modest celebration, then added with a sigh of admiration,
"This Zhang Junyi truly lives up to his reputation for recognizing opportunity and adapting with skill."
The Zhang He praised by Liu Bei was now walking slowly back toward the guest residence with Xiahou Yuan, leading the horses they had ridden in on under the excuse of aiding digestion.
Ma Su did not expose their thoughts. He simply followed a short distance behind, watching the two men stroll at an unhurried pace.
It had been nearly five months since Liu Bei entered Chang'an. Ruined houses had been repaired, pitted streets leveled smooth once more. Even the farmland outside the city had already yielded a harvest, and the common people spoke often of abundance.
Xiahou Yuan still remembered that when they went to the banquet, the sun had not yet set. On the road, they had seen a group of children with baskets slung over their shoulders, bending over with their backsides sticking up, carefully picking up stray ears of wheat from the street.
Zhang He was long experienced in warfare. In his eyes, the people of Chang'an now had roofs over their heads and granaries full enough to sustain them. It already bore the signs of a land where people could settle down, raise families, and look to the future.
In Zhang He's heart, a conclusion quietly formed.
The Chancellor had already lost the hearts of the people of Guanzhong.
What he did not know was how Duke Xuande would interpret that hastily left note.
Xiahou Yuan was also unusually silent, his mind filled with everything he had seen over the past months, thinking how best to relieve his elder brother's burdens.
As they rounded the next street corner, Xiahou Yuan suddenly saw a refined and dignified scholar step into a small courtyard, then turn back to close the gate.
Xiahou Yuan and Zhang He both froze, staring in surprise, and spoke almost at the same time.
"Lu Su?"
They were not particularly close to Lu Su. Their acquaintance came mostly from the period after the Chancellor's defeat at Red Cliffs, when troops were redeployed and they were ordered to suppress unrest in the Huai and Yang regions.
After their initial strike against Lei Xu, they had also handled local settlement through military farming. At that time, the Jiangdong commander in charge of defense had been Lu Su. That was when they had met.
They had only seen him a handful of times, but the scholar they had just glimpsed matched Lu Su's bearing and build closely.
At that moment, the door to the neighboring courtyard opened. An elderly couple emerged, supporting one another as they passed by Xiahou Yuan and Zhang He. As they walked, their murmured conversation drifted over.
"…I wonder if Jiangdong's way of taking on disciples is the same as ours in Guanzhong?"
"The soup noodles I made were praised by Lu's mother as delicious. She does not seem like someone who would fuss over formalities."
"Even so, we still need to borrow the ceremonial gift. I just worry the Lu family's son will think our Third Lad is slow-witted…"
Watching the elderly couple walk away, Xiahou Yuan and Zhang He exchanged another look, their eyes filled with astonishment.
At that moment, both men very much wanted to go knock on the door and see if the person inside was truly Lu Su. But they also knew how inappropriate that would be. After all, they were mere acquaintances, not old friends.
And beside them was Ma Su, wearing a faintly knowing smile.
"Generals, it is getting late. Please return."
In the end, they could only abandon those half-formed thoughts and head back to the guest residence together.
After the courtyard gate closed behind them, Xiahou Yuan and Zhang He looked at each other once more and spoke in unison.
"Lu Su has been captured!"
"Lu Su has already surrendered!"
Only one word differed. Xiahou Yuan frowned briefly, then relaxed into a smile.
"Junyi, do not worry. When I write to my elder brother, I will also send word to your family to assure them of your safety."
Zhang He's face lit up with relief.
"Then I thank General Xiahou in advance."
On the road, the two had seemed to have countless things to discuss, yet now neither felt much inclined to speak.
After exchanging a few more polite words, Xiahou Yuan watched Zhang He return to his room to rest.
He himself also returned to his quarters, but instead of sleeping, he lit an oil lamp, spread out his paper, and prepared to write the promised letter to his elder brother.
Yet when he dipped his brush in ink, for some reason his thoughts drifted back to Liu Bei's talk of acids and alkalis during the meal. His mouth watered as he remembered the sweet taste of the noodles.
"This Zhuge Liang already understands warfare, governance, and engineering. Must he also be skilled in the kitchen?"
Xiahou Yuan muttered, unable to comprehend it.
What Xiahou Yuan remembered so vividly was relayed to Kongming the very next day.
Listening to Jian Yong's animated retelling, Pang Tong burst out laughing.
"That sort of explanation really came from Kongming?"
Kongming shook his head with a helpless smile.
"It was only because of earlier experiments using plant ash to produce alkali that I once mentioned the principle that all things contain acidity or alkalinity."
"Using alkaline water to remove the sourness from dough follows naturally from that. Since the lord showed interest, I spoke of it casually."
"I did not expect…"
Thinking of Xiahou Yuan's baffled questions, Kongming found it easy to understand his confusion. Truth be told, even Kongming himself felt puzzled when listening to some of the lord's ideas.
Perhaps, when there was time, he should explain this acid-alkali theory to the lord in more detail.
Having made up his mind, Kongming lightly tapped a hard, stone-like object in front of him with an iron rod and asked curiously,
"So this is soap?"
Thanks to Kongming's success in using alkaline water to make sweet noodles, and because producing alkali from plant ash was not complicated, Chang'an's alkali workshop had been set up early.
After watching the light screen, the first thing Pang Tong did was rush straight to the workshop, eager to try making this thing called soap.
But now, looking at the white object before him that resembled a block of stone, even Pang Tong was uncertain.
"It should be… right?"