About Cao Cao's reincarnation as the emperor's uncle

Chapter 34 One After Another Takes the Stage (Bonus Chapter)

The first person, over seventy years old, with a slightly hunched back and deep wrinkles on his face, still sat upright.

It was Liu Chong, a renowned scholar known throughout the land as the "Prefect with a Penny."

The second elder wore a Jinxian hat, and his robes were embroidered with the mountain pattern unique to the official robes of the "Zongzheng" (宗正).

Although Liu Fang was not very familiar with him, he knew him as Liu Kuan, a learned scholar.

At their age, they all addressed each other as "brother," which really made Liu Fang's brain a little hard to process.

Is Liu Hong's initial show of force really that unique?

The green jade bricks in the hall reflected his slightly stiff figure as he looked at Liu Shuo's frivolousness and Liu He's solemnity on the right, and the kind faces of the two old men on the left.

One can't very well reply with "Brother Liu" a few times, much less call him "Lord Liu" five times in a row...

However, one cannot be impolite in this situation, so Liu Fang bowed once in a circle:
"Fang greets all of you."

As soon as he stood up, he saw two boys behind Liu Chong rush forward and bow deeply in front of him:
"Father."

Let me sort this out...

First of all, let's put aside the two old men who have lived for over 150 years combined and call me "Brother Gu Xian".

Then, two boys who didn't look young appeared and called out to me, "Father!"
What is Liu Hong up to?
Liu Fang put aside his doubts and looked up to see Liu Shuo, the Prince of Pingyuan, waving a landscape fan and looking at him with a half-smile.

"Why does my brother look so absent-minded?"

Liu Shuo raised his hand and tapped the two boys standing side by side with the tip of his fan:
“Dai’er’s brow bone resembles my brother’s, while Yao’er’s eyes resemble my sister-in-law’s. How can my brother not recognize his own flesh and blood?”

Upon hearing this, Liu Fang's palms were already sweating.

Liu Dai? Liu Yao?
Is he their father?
There is no doubt that these two men are Liu Chong's nephews.

After all, in his previous life, he had interacted with both Liu Dai and Liu Yao.

When the uprising against Dong Zhuo took place, Liu Dai was already the governor of Yanzhou.

In the third year of the Chuping era, which is eighteen years ago, the Yellow Turban Army of Qingzhou attacked Yanzhou, and Liu Dai was defeated and killed.

This person is his great benefactor.

After Liu Dai died, Bao Xin and others came to welcome him and appointed him as the governor of Yanzhou.

After defeating the Yellow Turbans, he gained over 300,000 surrendered soldiers and over a million people, which led to the later "Qingzhou Army".

Liu Yao was no less impressive; he served as the governor of Yangzhou and later became the prefect of Yangzhou.

In his previous life, Xu Shao fled south and sought refuge with this person.

Taishi Ci met Sun Ce while serving under Liu Yao, and they became friends after a fight.

Liu Yao was also his benefactor. When he attacked Xuzhou, all the timid people ran to Yangzhou to seek refuge with Liu Yao, allowing him to capture several cities in succession.

and many more……

He suddenly remembered something: at the beginning of the chaotic era, he had been subordinate to these powerful lords.

That year, when he first took office as the governor of Dongjun, he and Liu Dai jointly paid homage to his father.

There are very few written records about his father, only a few sentences, and they are all folk anecdotes, such as his secret to maintaining youthful appearance.

His father, Liu Fang, was the Prefect of Shanyang in Yanzhou.

He had asked about this matter at the time, why his father's name was Liu Yu, but the characters Liu Fang were inscribed on the stele.

I remember Liu Dai's expression was complicated at the time. He only said that he was following his father's last wish, and that his father preferred the name Liu Fang to Liu Yu.

If Liu Fang, the governor of Shanyang in the previous life, was indeed "Ma Yuanyi"...

The timing of his death matches, and his term of office matches as well.

Therefore, in his previous life, Liu Fang also tried to come out into the open and served as the governor of Shanyang as Liu Chong's younger brother.

He resigned after only a short time, which happened to be the year that "Ma Yuanyi" reappeared in Luoyang.

Even the popular saying about "the secret to eternal youth" subtly suggests that he deliberately concealed his identity.

But the most fatal contradiction is like a fishbone stuck in my throat...

He had no memory of getting married and having children, so how did such a grown son suddenly appear?

……

When the two boys were called out, Liu Dai, the older one, blushed slightly and was about to speak with a clenched fist, but Liu Shuo smiled and put his arm around his shoulder:

"Let Uncle say a few words first..." "I am born of a concubine, while my brother, the Prince of Bohai, is the younger brother of Emperor Huan, and his status is special."

“In those years, too many people were eyeing Brother Wang. After his father passed away early, Brother Wang was regarded as a father by his younger brother.”

“Brother Wang originally wanted his younger brother to come to me first to avoid me, but his younger brother insisted on staying by his side.”

"But my sister-in-law was already six months pregnant at the time, and my brother was afraid that something might happen to her..."

"So he asked someone to send his younger brother and sister-in-law to my residence in the Pingyuan Prince's mansion, where they were hidden under the guise of being my concubines."

"Over the years, I have always treated my two nephews as my own flesh and blood, but after my brother and sister-in-law died, I could no longer hide it."

“Brother, there’s no need to pretend you don’t know. Dai’er and Yao’er are not young anymore, they should know the truth.”

So that's the beauty of this play...

Now Liu Fang finally understood completely.

He didn't have a son, but Liu Shuo did.

Although they were born out of wedlock, they were really willing to give away two of their own flesh and blood to themselves.

But how could the King of Pingyuan, who was deceiving his own son, have been deceived into believing that Liu Chong was his nephew?

As Liu Fang frowned, Liu Chong seemed to sense his confusion and stroked his beard with a smile:

"Brother, have you forgotten? Back then, I used the pretext of adopting a descendant of the King of Qi to secretly reveal your true identity."

Okay, now everything makes sense.

On the tattered silk scroll that Zhang Rang forged, which bore the inscription "youngest son Liu Fang," there was this sentence:
"At that time, Emperor Huan had just ascended the throne, and the Liang family held power. The Prince of Bohai raised his younger brother in the Prince of Bohai’s mansion, claiming to the outside world that the youngest son in the mansion was adopted by a member of the imperial family."

In other words, nominally, he was still Liu Chong's younger brother.

At this moment, Liu Kuan, the Imperial Clan Secretary, also chimed in:
"That's right, it's all recorded in the imperial genealogy."

Liu Fang looked up and saw a smile hidden in the fine lines at the corners of his eyes.

The imperial genealogy book of the Liu family, spread out on the table, still bore the fresh ink of the two characters "Liu Fang".

As the head of the Imperial Clan Court, isn't it entirely up to you to decide whether or not something happens?

Even if all of these can be considered, why does Liu Kuan address me as his virtuous brother?
They're all old foxes; the moment Liu Fang frowns, they'll have something else to say.

"I have a classmate relationship with Master Weiming, and he has already informed me of the matter of accepting disciples on behalf of our master..."

Okay, Liu Fang continued to frown. Who's next?

The table suddenly made a dull thud as Liu He slammed his hand heavily on the corner.
"My dear brother, do you still remember when I held you in my arms when you were little...?"

The candlelight made his beard tremble slightly, as if he were reminiscing about the past.

Liu Fang's lips twitched, but he ultimately didn't utter any insults.

I can't remember, but if you say you do, then so be it.

Finally, Liu Meng stood up and bowed deeply to Liu Fang:

"Mengchi is a few years older, and he has received much care from Yuanyi over the years..."

The conversation suddenly stopped there, but Liu Fang understood.

Liu Meng's implication is that I should share half of the credit for protecting the Party members over the years.

Although this was the first time he had spoken with Liu Meng in both his past lives, he had already accepted it.

"Gentlemen, you are truly..."

Liu Fang's gaze swept over the expressions of everyone in the hall, a half-smile playing on his lips, before he sighed in disbelief:

"It feels like a lifetime ago to the church."

It's not a Hongmen Banquet, but it's even worse than a Hongmen Banquet.

Now that the show has progressed this far, it's time for Liu Hong to speak...

　Note:

　　[Related Records]

　　①《Continued Book of Han》: Yao Fuyu, also known as Fang, was the governor of Shanyang.

　　②《Continued Book of Han》: (Liu) Dai and (Liu) Yao were both outstanding talents.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)