Chapter 39: Ten Thousand Volumes of Books

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"Are we going to return these books to Administrator Cai?" Zhao Yun asked with a hint of melancholy, carefully hiding the selected books into a pouch attached to his horse's belly, while clutching a Han dynasty text handwritten on silk.

Zhang Fei, looking every bit the bandit, was stuffing scrolls and paintings into the pouches of his and Guan Yu's horses in large handfuls.

"Pfft. If neither you nor I say anything, who would know? Once Luoyang goes up in flames, the books will be gone, and who's going to care?" Chen Xi said with a roll of his eyes. "Alright, pack them up. Take whatever you like. These will be powerful tools for enticing scholars in the future!"

"Is this really appropriate?" Zhao Yun protested, feeling somewhat embarrassed by the idea of acting like a robber—especially one stealing books. However, his hands were anything but slow, gathering all the bamboo slips into a pile until not a single scrap remained on the ground.

"Stop being so indecisive! If you think it's wrong, Zilong, just give the books in your arms to me. I saw you tucking away a volume of *Wei Liaozi*," Zhang Fei said, picking through the slips he found useful while tossing the rest into a pre-prepared carriage.

"Enough, enough. Yunchang, Zilong, say a few less words. Once these books are taken, they are taken. You should realize that right now, us taking them is actually the most 'lawful' course of action," Chen Xi said, casually rolling up a Han text and tossing it onto the carriage.

"Uh, Zichuan, what kind of logic is that? And why aren't you calling me Second Master anymore?" Guan Yu interjected, sounding bewildered.

"Calling you 'Second Master' is a private matter; this is official business—or rather, state business. Don't you realize whose estate this is?" Chen Xi replied, rolling his eyes again.

"Cai's estate? So what? The place is empty. If we don't act, we get nothing. If we act, we take them—what's the harm? Better they are taken by us than burned to ash," Zhang Fei said nonchalantly.

"Sigh, that's not what I meant. Don't you think there are a bit too many books?" Chen Xi remarked.

"Now that you mention it..." Zhao Yun's eyes lit up. "So these are ill-gotten gains! Fine, I'll just consider it redistributing wealth from the rich to the poor."

"They aren't exactly ill-gotten. These books are from the Han Imperial Library's Eastern Pavilion. After Dong Zhuo entered Luoyang, the great aristocratic clans feared the Xiliang warriors would do what Xiang Yu did, so they divided the three hundred thousand volumes of the Eastern Pavilion. Administrator Cai was originally compiling the national history at the pavilion, so he took a bit more during the distribution. He gave ten thousand volumes to Wang Can and Wang Zhongxuan, leaving us with this much," Chen Xi explained with a shrug. "So, taking them back now is actually the most proper thing to do."

"Ten... ten thousand volumes?" Guan Yu stammered visibly.

"Yes, ten thousand," Chen Xi said helplessly. "Lord Xuande is a member of the imperial clan; it is only right that he recovers these Han treasures. I'm actually thinking of going to Wang Can to demand those ten thousand volumes back."

Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, and Zhao Yun all felt like cursing. It wasn't easy for them to acquire even a single volume for their private collections, yet Cai Yong had actually given ten thousand volumes away to someone else.

"Zichuan, where is that fellow Wang Can? I'll go demand those ten thousand volumes back! How can our Han treasures be left in the hands of outsiders!" Guan Yu stood up, clutching his Green Dragon Crescent Blade, speaking with righteous indignation.

"If I could find him, I wouldn't have brought you here in the first place," Chen Xi rolled his eyes. His own family was a branch of the Chen clan, and while his ancestors had once been wealthy, his family now only possessed a single bookshelf of scrolls—about a hundred or so, totaling barely a dozen volumes. A family could claim to be a scholarly lineage with ten thousand volumes to show for it.

In this era, the great clans held a monopoly on knowledge. As the physical carriers of knowledge, books were possessed only by the aristocratic families. For a commoner family, even one or two volumes would be passed down as family heirlooms.

Similarly, the reason great scholars were so highly revered in this era was simple: they were willing to share their knowledge with more people rather than hoarding it. Although they might only take on three or five inner disciples and a crowd of auditors, it was undeniable that they passed knowledge to these people. Though not much, it was enough to change a person's destiny.

Looking at the three men with bloodshot, indignant eyes, Chen Xi could only try to soothe them. Three hundred thousand volumes—it could be said that these were all the treasures of the four hundred years of the Han Dynasty, except for the portion destroyed by Wang Mang. Yet, the state's entire collection had ended up in the pockets of the great clans. What kind of world was this?

"Fine, I will find a way to reclaim those scrolls in the future," Chen Xi comforted them, seeing their teeth-gritting expressions.

"There is no need, Zichuan. To the great clans, even life is not important; only the family legacy matters. And at the heart of that legacy are only land and family teachings. The scrolls they took cannot be reclaimed," Zhao Yun said, shaking his head to indicate that Chen Xi didn't need to comfort them.

"Aren't these exactly that?" Chen Xi waved the scrolls in his hand. "This matter is relatively simple. You will realize later—they will return them, as long as they aren't fools! Pack up. We are going to rendezvous with Lord Xuande. The coalition against Dong Zhuo is ending, and it's time for us to go collect our assets."

When Chen Xi returned with Guan, Zhang, and Zhao, Hua Xiong was sitting cross-legged in the middle of the camp. Seeing Chen Xi enter, he stood up stiffly. "Zichuan, has the Chancellor left?"

"He's gone. We plan to hunt him down," Chen Xi said, looking at the somber Hua Xiong. "Do you want to come? You'll run into Lu Bu."

"I don't want to go. As previously discussed, there is no objection to my, Hua Xiong, joining Lord Xuande. As for Chancellor Dong, I do not wish to face him," Hua Xiong sighed. He was not utterly despondent over Dong Zhuo's actions; had it been before, he might have been, but now he had a new choice. He only hoped he wouldn't make the wrong judgment this time.

"You won't run into Dong Zhuo. I just need your help to collect our spoils of war. You wouldn't want the Xiliang elite cavalry to be ground into dust, would you?" Chen Xi explained with a smile. Hua Xiong was a very important figure—formerly the number one warrior of Xiliang under Lu Bu, he held great prestige in the army.

"Alright!" Hua Xiong said after a moment of hesitation.

Leading the four great generals, Chen Xi found Liu Bei. "Lord Xuande, did Lord Cao invite you to pursue Dong Zhuo earlier?"

"Indeed, but I declined. I believe Zichuan has his own arrangements. Zijian, since you have joined me, I shall not treat you poorly. From now on, you shall take orders from Zichuan." Liu Bei seemed quite familiar with Hua Xiong; he didn't bother with grand gestures of loyalty-building, simply instructing him to follow Chen Xi's lead.

"Yes!" Hua Xiong cupped his hands and stood behind Chen Xi, appearing almost like a bodyguard.

"This..." Chen Xi wanted to refuse, but thinking back to his previous hesitation, he figured Liu Bei likely thought he wanted to leave. He sighed inwardly and accepted the arrangement. *[Even though he suspects I want to leave, he has no intention of killing me; he is using personal sentiment to recruit me. Don't worry, I won't leave unless it's absolutely necessary.]*

(End of Chapter)