When Wang Yue received word that Liu Bei wanted to meet him in Jiangxia, he set out for Xiakou without hesitation. He was also quite curious about this much-debated character from the Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
It wasn't that Wang Yue didn't want to take a boat. He had indeed guided craftsmen in improving the ships of the time, but they were still painfully slow going upstream. The journey would probably take ten days.
So Wang Yue rode swiftly along the riverbank. After three days, he finally reached Fankou, where he boarded a boat to Xiakou and met the legendary Liu Bei and Zhang Fei.
Zhang Fei spotted the boat from a great distance and asked which passenger was Wang Yue. After Guan Yu pointed him out, Zhang Fei grabbed two horses and galloped over.
"Son-in-law, your Third Uncle is here to meet you!"
Wang Yue had traveled with a group of able-bodied migrants from Jiangdong to Jiangxia. After disembarking, he had been arranging for them to join the Bandit Eradication Captain's Department. When he heard the booming shout, he knew it was Zhang Fei.
So Wang Yue handed the task over to Wang Nian, then respectfully cupped his hands toward Zhang Fei and said,
"Greetings, Third Uncle."
Zhang Fei was delighted to hear Wang Yue call him Third Uncle. He scooped Wang Yue up and set him on another warhorse, then asked in confusion, "Where's my niece? Why didn't she come with you?"
Wang Yue was a Golden Immortal, yet he had been picked up like a little chick. It was rather humiliating!
But Zhang Fei had placed him on the horse with such care that Wang Yue couldn't bring himself to be annoyed. He could only smile and say, "Yinping is pregnant and was getting ready to