Lan Tian wore a puzzled expression. What is His Majesty trying to do? Send me two beauties after the fact?
"Haha, your wife isn't in Chang'an, and neither are mine. Tonight, we can sleep with our feet touching. Without Ziyu at my side to clear my doubts, I always feel I can't see matters through clearly," Liu Bei said with a sigh.
"Uh... wouldn't that be overstepping?" Lan Tian thought. You're already Emperor. Sleeping foot-to-foot would surely throw propriety into disorder.
"What overstepping? I am the Son of Heaven of Great Han. My word is the rule." After Liu Bei spoke sternly, his face once again showed a smile. "Ziyu's Office of the Minister of Agriculture is cold and desolate, and so is my Weiyang Palace. During this time, you'll eat and live with me."
"But—"
Before Lan Tian could finish, Liu Bei cut him off. "No buts. My word is an imperial decree."
"Your subject obeys the decree." Lan Tian clasped his fists and nodded.
Liu Bei shook his head slightly. "It's a pity Yide is still at Tong Pass. If he were in Chang'an, it would be even livelier. Perhaps the three of us could sleep together."
Lan Tian thought, That would truly leave me caught between two sides. He immediately changed the subject and asked, "I heard Cao Pi has moved the capital to Ye City. Is Tong Pass's defense still so heavily guarded?"
"Tong Pass? It is merely a spent arrow. Cao Pi moved the capital back to Ye City, leaving Zhang He to guard Luoyang. Zhu Ling was transferred to guard Henei, while Hao Zhao is now the commanding general at Tong Pass." Liu Bei answered as lightly as drifting clouds and a gentle breeze.
"I've heard Hao Zhao excels at defense," Lan Tian reminded