Late Han Zhao Tang

Chapter 359: Death Inside, Life Outside

In August, under the coercion of Yuan Shu, Liu Xie issued an edict to confer the title of Duke of Chu on Yuan Shu on him, and bestowed upon him the Nine Gifts as an honor, on the grounds that Yuan Shu had made great contributions to the country.

Taking public opinion into consideration, Yuan Shu adopted Yan Xiang's strategy of enfeoffing all the vassals as dukes, and then sent envoys to appoint Zhang Yu as Duke of Zhao, enthrone Yuan Shao as Duke of Wei, and confer the title of Duke of Yan on Liu He of Youzhou.

When the court and the public knew that Yuan Shu was awarded the Nine Gifts, everyone was excited. So Yang Biao invited the old officials from Luoyang to a banquet on the pretext of celebrating his birthday.

Yang Biao's mansion, in the lobby.

Yang Biao sat on a mat, with Dong Cheng, Liu Bei, Shisun Rui, Kong Rong, Ni Heng and other ministers sitting on his left and right.

"Hey!"

When the banquet was in full swing, Ni Heng suddenly burst into tears when he saw everyone drinking and enjoying music.

"Today we are celebrating Yang Gong's birthday, why is Zhengping so sad?" asked Shisun Rui.

Ni Heng wiped away his tears and said, "Yuan Shu deceived the emperor and ordered Cai Mao to beat your majesty, forcing your majesty to give him the nine gifts. The Han Dynasty has not suffered such humiliation for 400 years. Who would have thought that it would be destroyed by Yuan Shu today? At this time when the Han Dynasty is about to survive or perish, you all gathered together to have fun and eat the Han salary without thinking."

"I am crying now, not only for the Han Dynasty, but also for my own situation."

"Yuan Shu has been a minister for four generations and has enjoyed the Han Dynasty's salary for many years. Now he is usurping the throne like Wang Mang. This is really unpredictable." Kong Rong sighed and asked, "Zhengping is sad for himself. Did he offend Yuan Shu?"

Ni Heng looked around at the crowd, choked up and said: "If the country does not exist, what can people rely on? Now we are all dressed in fine clothes, but before long, those who sit will become graves, and those who lie will become corpses. Heng lives among the graves, how can he not be sad?"

Upon hearing this, the banquet fell silent. Everyone had different expressions, and they were all dissatisfied with Ni Heng's words.

Soon, Guan Yu stood up angrily, ignoring Liu Bei's attempts to stop him, and scolded: "All the ministers of the court are living here, how dare a madman insult them."

"Ah!"

Ni Heng spread his legs, squinted his eyes at Guan Yu and said, "You are a dog butcher, you have no right to speak now."

When Guan Yu was furious, Liu Bei reached out to stop him and shouted, "Yun Chang, get out of here!"

Guan Yu's phoenix eyes showed murderous intent. If Liu Bei had not stopped him, he would have killed Ni Heng with a sword. But considering Liu Bei, he could only bow to the crowd and sit down indignantly.

"Cough cough!"

Kong Rong coughed a few times and said to Ni Heng, "Today is Yang Gong's birthday banquet. How can Zhengping act recklessly? Apologize to Yang Gong immediately."

Ni Heng was only a young man, originally from Pingyuan County. When the emperor moved south to Wancheng, he went to Jingzhou to study. When he first arrived in Jingzhou, he offended many people because of his arrogant temperament. Only Kong Rong appreciated Ni Heng's talent and learning. With Kong Rong's introduction, Ni Heng met Shisun Rui, Yang Biao and other old officials of the Han Dynasty, and impressed everyone with his talent and learning.

Now Ni Heng was crying and scolding Guan Yu at the banquet, which not only slapped Liu Bei in the face, but also offended the host of the banquet, Yang Biao.

Ni Heng bowed slightly to Yang Biao and said, "As long as the Han Dynasty still exists, you can enjoy the Han salary. If the Han Dynasty does not exist, do you want to enjoy the Yuan salary?"

Seeing that no one listened to him, Kong Rong was embarrassed, and because of Ni Heng's loyal remarks, he was unable to scold Ni Heng.

"Mr. Yang, Zhengping feels unfair when he sees the emperor suffering. I hope you can understand!" Kong Rong said.

Yang Biao waved his hand generously and said, "To be honest, I am not hosting this banquet to celebrate my birthday, but to have a chat with you. I am afraid that Yuan Shu will get suspicious, so I have no choice but to do this."

"Zhengping was loyal to the Han Dynasty and had a strong will, so why would he blame him now?"

As he spoke, Yang Biao said to everyone in the hall, "The situation is critical now, and you all have many wise ideas. I wonder if you have any good ideas?"

Seeing that the banquet was set up for opposing Yuan, Liu Bei secretly groaned in his heart. If he wanted to accomplish great things, he had to make secret contacts. Now that the momentum was so huge, wasn't he afraid that Yuan Shu would find out?

Thinking of this, Liu Bei decided not to stay any longer, so he stood up and bowed to Yang Biao, saying, "Today is Mr. Yang's birthday banquet, and I am honored to be invited. However, I am a rude and ignorant person, so I dare not say much. I have some matters to attend to at home, so please leave."

Having said that, Liu Bei led Guan Yu and slowly retreated.

Seeing Liu Bei about to leave, Yang Biao became anxious and said, "Xuan De is the emperor's uncle, how can we not save him when he is in danger!"

"Xuan De, please stay!" Kong Rong stood up and shouted.

Looking at the surprised and contemptuous eyes of the crowd, Liu Bei sighed deeply, unable to explain, so he could only bow and retreat.

Dong Cheng stood up and caught up with Liu Bei at the door. He asked in confusion, "Xuan De, have you forgotten the imperial edict on your belt?"

Liu Bei glanced at the people who were unaware of the danger and said earnestly, "Don't you know that things should be done in secrecy? There are many people at the banquet, and Yuan Shu is not a man without strategy, so how could he not send someone to keep an eye on the banquet?"

Dong Cheng was stunned and said, "Most of the ministers present are old Luoyang people who have followed Your Majesty for a long time and are loyal to the Han Dynasty. How could they leak the news now?"

Seeing that Dong Cheng was not aware of the importance of the matter, Liu Bei was slightly disappointed and could only warn him, "If you stay at the banquet now, you might as well be careful with your words and actions. After all, the secret letter concerns Your Majesty. If Yuan Shu finds out, he will be arrested and killed at best, or Your Majesty will be implicated at worst."

"Xuan De's words are serious!"

Seeing Liu Bei's cautious attitude, Dong Cheng stopped trying to persuade him to stay. After leaving Yang's house, Guan Yu said, "I am leaving the banquet now. I am afraid that you will not understand me and may even despise me as a person!"

Liu Bei got on his horse and said, "The key to success lies in prudence. Now that so many people are involved, I'm afraid the news will inevitably leak out. As for the contempt and criticism, it is beyond my control. For now, we must prioritize safety and not rush to accomplish anything."

Guan Yu looked worried and said, "According to what you said, if Dong Cheng leaked the secret, wouldn't it implicate you?"

Liu Bei nodded, sighed and said: "I am worried about Dong Cheng's actions. If Dong Cheng's actions are known to Yuan Shu, not only will Your Majesty be implicated, but even the ministers who are loyal to the Han Dynasty will be implicated, not to mention you and me, the three brothers!"

Guan Yu pondered for a moment and said, "When I read the Spring and Autumn Annals, I learned that Chong'er was born outside and Shensheng died inside. If you want to support the Han Dynasty, you may not be able to rely on Dong Cheng. You need to leave Wancheng and find a safe place to live."

Liu Bei said: "I have wanted to do this for a long time, but I don't know where to go or who to go to."

Guan Yu suggested: "Zhang Yu and my brother have a long history. Why not go to Guanzhong on the pretext of contacting Zhang Yu and seek refuge with him?"

"Yuan Shu knows that I have a history with Zhang Yu, so I am afraid that he will not allow me to go as an envoy now." Liu Bei shook his head and said, "Besides, Zhang Yu is very powerful in Shanxi, so how can he be willing to serve Your Majesty as a king?"

"Cao Cao and my brother have an old relationship. If I can surrender to Cao Cao, I may be able to survive!" Guan Yu said.

"Cao Cao is a friend of Yuan Shao. How could Yuan Shu allow you to leave Wan?" Liu Bei said.

After a pause, Liu Bei seemed to think of something and said, "Zhu Fu is the son of Zhu Jun. He is now the governor of Jiaozhou and entrenched in Lingnan. I used to be friends with Zhu Jun. Now I might ask to be sent to Jiaozhou or to be the governor of Lingnan to get out of this situation. If Yuan Shu commits a usurpation, I can unite with Zhu Fu, lead troops out of Lingqu, attack Yuan Shu, and revive the Han Dynasty."

"Lingnan is a place full of miasma. If my brother goes south to Zhu Fu, won't he be stranded among the barbarians?" Guan Yu said with a frown.

Liu Bei held the reins and walked slowly, saying worriedly: "I have lived in Wancheng for a year, thinking about killing Yuan. However, Yuan Shu is cautious, and I have been looking for a good opportunity. Now living in Wancheng is like living in a cage. If I don't find a chance to escape, I am afraid that Dong Cheng will implicate me. If I escape, the world is big, but there is no place for you and me. If I don't attach myself to Jiaozhou, there will be nowhere to go!"

Since Liu Bei received great favor from Liu Xie, he wanted to support the Han Dynasty and was willing to join hands with Dong Cheng to plot against Yuan. However, Dong Cheng's rough behavior made Liu Bei unbearable. After all, Liu Bei was willing to tolerate defeat due to exhaustion, but he could not tolerate defeat due to the involvement of a stupid teammate.

After careful consideration, Liu Bei decided to do something to save his life and to support the Han Dynasty, so as to avoid being harmed by Yuan Shu. The best way was to leave Wancheng, which was like a prison, and then look for opportunities to support the Han Dynasty.

Seeing that Liu Bei had made up his mind, Guan Yu no longer hesitated and said, "No matter where you go, I am willing to follow you."

"it is good!"

Liu Bei rode his horse closer to Guan Yu, stretched out his hand to hold his arm, and said with emotion: "With the help of my brothers, I will never be alone. I will tell Yide about the decision and see what he thinks!"

"Why should Yide care?"

Guan Yu stroked his beard and smiled, saying: "He is following his elder brother."

"Ha ha!"

……

"hehe!"

Yuan Shu, wearing a black robe with dragon patterns, stood by the fish pond and said sarcastically: "The eunuch party still knows how to control the imperial guards, so as to control the government. Now everyone has discussed all night and has no strategy to attack me. It is really ridiculous!"

As Liu Bei said, Yang Biao's birthday banquet had been monitored by Yuan Shu, and everyone's subsequent words and reactions were reported to Yuan Shu by spies.

"My lord, the men in Luoyang are plotting a rebellion. We must put them in jail one by one," said Cai Mao.

"inappropriate!"

Yan Xiang said: "All the old people in Luoyang have made contributions to the Han Dynasty and have a high reputation. There is no evidence of treason. How can we put them in jail?"

Yuan Shu nodded slightly and said, "Mr. Yan has a point. Although the nobles of Luoyang have no real power, they have a high reputation and should not act cruelly!"

Although Yuan Shu was determined to usurp the throne, he still wanted to save face. If he followed Cai Mao's advice, the problem might be solved at once, but the negative impact on Yuan Shu was hard to estimate.

"What do you think, sir?" Deng Cha asked.

Yuan Shu thought for a while and said, "There are many people plotting against me. If we act now, we may alert the enemy. In order to prevent those who are plotting against us, we can keep an eye on them for the time being."

After a pause, Yuan Shu added: "You can relax your surveillance on Shisun Rui and Liu Bei. The two of them left after the banquet, which shows that they have no intention of plotting against us."

"promise!"

Although Shisun Rui was loyal to the Han Dynasty, he had the wisdom to protect himself. Before Dong Zhuo entered the capital, Shisun Rui and Wang Yun killed him, but in order to avoid revenge by Dong Zhuo's remnants, Shisun Rui refused to accept the reward. Therefore, not long after Liu Bei left last night, Shisun Rui, who knew the wisdom of protecting himself, left immediately to avoid being targeted by Yuan Shu.

Cai Mao hesitated for a moment and said, "My Lord, Kong Rong and Ni Heng have been speaking outrageously and insulting you. Not only did they speak outrageously at Yang Biao's banquet, they also spoke disobediently at other people's banquets."

Hearing this, Yuan Shu narrowed his eyes slightly. He was about to ask Cai Mao to put the two men in jail, but suddenly he had an idea and said with a smile: "I heard that Zhang Yu and Kong Rong have a grudge. Now we can send Kong Rong and Ni Heng as envoys, in the name of the emperor rewarding Zhang Yu. With Zhang Yu's personality, he will definitely not tolerate the two!"

(End of this chapter)