Second-hand time travel: Liu Bei, the big-eared bandit

Chapter 266 Split
"What does Lord Yuan mean?"

Dong Zhuo's face was full of surprise and doubt: "...How did Lord Yuan escape from the imperial prison?"

"It was Jia Wenhe who helped..."

Yuan Wei said in a low voice, "When the imperial prison caught fire, I thought I had no way out... but I didn't expect Jia Wenhe to send people into the prison to rescue me."

"...Was the fire in the imperial prison started by Jia Wenhe? But the Empress was also in the imperial prison...Why did Jia Wenhe save Lord Yuan?"

Dong Zhuo was unaware of the changes that had taken place. By the time his troops arrived and surrounded He Jin, the imperial prison had already been burning for a long time.

“I started the fire… Jia Wenhe gave me a flint and steel, implying that I should set fire to escape from prison. But I am old and frail, and I almost died from the smoke in the prison. After being rescued by Jia Wenhe, I lost consciousness.”

"When I woke up, I was already in He Jin's army... It seems that Jia Wenhe did not want anyone to know about this, and had already escaped."

"But not long after, He Jin was surrounded on all sides, and I was trapped on the battlefield with no way out."

"He Jin said that Benchu ​​was about to come to our aid with his troops, but Benchu ​​never came... Until He Jin was defeated and wanted to surrender, I made him join Zhong Ying's troops in order to save his life."

"But then He Miao forced his way into the camp, intending to kill all of He Jin's remaining troops. I dared not reveal my identity again, and was subsequently recruited into the supply camp by my son-in-law Niu Fu as a remnant soldier."

Yuan Wei honestly recounted his experience: "It wasn't until I learned in the army that Zhong Ying had killed He Miao that I dared to seek Zhong Ying's help."

Yuan Wei was unaware that this was Jia Xu's deliberate act.

In Yuan Wei's view, Jia Xu had indeed genuinely rescued him from prison.

However, Jia Xu left Yuan Wei outside the imperial prison because he wanted Yuan Wei to fall into the hands of others alive.

Anyone can do it, such as Cui Lie, He Jin, Dong Zhuo... anyone is fine.

Liu Bei didn't need Yuan Kui as a hostage. There were plenty of Yuan family members who could be hostages; there were several hundred people imprisoned in the eastern part of Luoyang. One more wouldn't make a difference.

Moreover, Liu Bei knew very well that Yuan Shao would not care about Yuan Kui, and that hostages were useless.

Yuan Shao was the Cinderella of the Yuan family. In fact, Yuan Shao was an orphan who lost both his parents and was used as a sly by the family for a long time. If we really want to say who most wants Yuan Kui, Yuan Ji and Yuan Shu to die quickly, it must be Yuan Shao.

Yuan Wei was a big shot in the eyes of others, but in Liu Bei's eyes, Yuan Shao was much more ruthless than Yuan Wei.

Yuan Kui cannot die. He must be alive and appear in public, and not in Liu Bei's hands. Otherwise, the rumors that Jia Xu painstakingly arranged will be ineffective.

If Yuan Wei and Yuan Ji were both dead, everyone would think that Liu Bei set the fire in the imperial prison, and Cui Lie wouldn't have been so eager to spread the rumors.

Yuan Ji is the male protagonist of the rumors, so naturally he and the female protagonist have to be a pair of lovebirds sharing the same fate.

How to turn rumors into the truth?

That's obviously an attempt to cover up the 'truth'.

Of course, royal scandals must be covered up, so they set fire to the imperial prison, causing Empress He and Yuan Ji to die in prison together, deliberately showing suspicion about the matter, and then releasing Yuan Wei...

If Yuan Kui is alive and Yuan Ji is dead, Cui Lie will assume the 'truth' and all the blame will be placed on the Yuan family, leaving them with no way to defend themselves.

This kind of thing only gets worse the more you try to explain it; no matter how capable Yuan Wei is, he can't clear up the affair between Yuan Ji and Empress He.

Once officials and common people believe it, they have no choice but to believe the rumor, even if they know it's a rumor, just like the lies about diamonds or MSG in later generations.

Most importantly, as long as Yuan Wei lives, he will soon find out that Yuan Shao doesn't care about the lives of the rest of the Yuan family.

It's really uncertain who Yuan Wei will side with at that time.

Yuan Wei and Yuan Shao are not father and son... He Miao could deal with He Jin, Zhang Rang could deal with Empress He, so why can't Yuan Wei deal with Yuan Shao?

Everyone can be exploited, including the dead and even the relatives of your enemies.

"Jia Wenhe is indeed a kind person, but it seems he is also planning for the future."

Dong Zhuo pondered for a moment, then nodded: "Then... what does Lord Yuan want me to do?"

Jia Xu offered Dong Zhuo many suggestions. In the eyes of Dong Zhuo and most people, Jia Xu was indeed the kind of person who was good at protecting himself and would not easily make enemies with anyone.

"I only wish for the survival of the Yuan family; I ask for nothing more..."

Yuan Wei said with some sorrow, "I heard the death knell of the emperor, and I also heard from the army that Yuan Shao plotted a rebellion, causing His Majesty's death... My Yuan family cannot bear such a great treason! Please, Zhongying, save my Yuan family. My Yuan family will repay you with all our strength and make sure that Zhongying will seize power in the world!"

"This... Lord Yuan, Yuan Shao has already taken Lord Shi hostage out of Luoyang and intends to make Lord Shi emperor. Why don't you go and find him to take control of the world? Why are you coming to find me?"

Dong Zhuo hesitated. He knew how strong the Yuan family's hidden power was. If the Yuan family of Runan were to give him their full assistance, anyone could be made into the strongest force in the world.

But this feels a little unreal...

"My Yuan clan has thousands of members in Luoyang. If Yuan Shao establishes a new ruler, what will become of my clan?"

Yuan Wei said bitterly, "It is precisely because I am worried that Yuan Shao might commit a great rebellion at any time that I have rushed to ask Zhong Ying for help..."

That's the truth. If Yuan Shao sends troops to Luoyang, all of Yuan's clansmen in Luoyang will naturally be exterminated.

In order to protect his clansmen in Luoyang, Yuan Wei was actually the one who least wanted Yuan Shao to cause trouble.

"Then... how does Lord Yuan wish me to assist him?"

Dong Zhuo pondered for a moment and asked, "As long as Zhongying is in power, he can ensure the survival of my Yuan clan; as long as the Yuan clan is not destroyed, he can help Zhongying seize power."

“I know that Dong Cheng has made Zhongying his elder brother. Now that Marquis Dong is without relatives, Zhongying is a member of the imperial family and should naturally assist the country in governing the state…”

Yuan Wei spoke earnestly: "Liu Xuande has a great feud with my clan. If he comes to power, he will not let my clan go. Only Zhongying can help me... and only Zhongying can contend with him."

Dong Zhuo pondered for a moment, then asked a gossipy question: "Ahem... does Yuan Ji really have an affair with the Empress?"

"No……"

Yuan Wei gritted his teeth and denied it: "This is a fabrication!"

"Really not? Such a romantic affair is quite a story, I've heard everyone talking about it today..."

Dong Zhuo clearly didn't believe it, and even showed some jealousy.

"Even you don't believe me... Never mind."

Yuan Wei sighed: "Zhong Ying, there's no need to test me. I know there's no way to defend myself in this matter... Now that my Yuan family has been burdened with such a reputation for rebellion and immorality, we can only rely on Zhong Ying from now on. There's no one else we can entrust with this."

……

Two days before the funeral, nothing major happened in Luoyang; at least on the surface, things seemed calm.

Liu Bei took some time to catch up on his sleep and had his brothers take turns resting. He didn't assign any military duties to the troops these past two days, and they simply stayed obediently outside the Deyang Palace.

As we all know, if you sleep during the day, you definitely won't be able to sleep at night.

News arrived from Mengjin in the middle of the night the following day.

Ding Yuan died, reportedly killed by his chief clerk, Lü Bu.

Ding Yuan's troops had nowhere to go. Because they had previously fought against Liu Bei and Dong Zhuo's troops, Ding Yuan's men dared not come to Luoyang, so they defected to Yuan Shao along with Lü Bu.

It was upon receiving this news that Jia Xu brought a beautiful woman to the camp to find Liu Bei.

This is Jiang Li.

However, Jia Xu no longer called her Jiang Li, but instead addressed her by her official title, Diao Chan.

"Lord Liu, the Empress Dowager has sent a secret edict to General Dong, requesting him to guard the North Palace and to kill all the palace servants confined in the torture chamber... The Empress Dowager intends to preside over the grand ceremony tomorrow."

Diao Chan came to warn: "If I remain in the palace, I fear I will surely die. I beg you, my lord, to save me."

After Empress Dowager Dong mistakenly killed Empress He, Diao Chan was the only witness who did not enter the torture chamber because she had to take care of Liu Xie.

This was a ready-made spy, and Liu Bei naturally wanted to use her to keep an eye on Empress Dowager Dong.

As expected, the Empress Dowager caused trouble.

"She really is hard to change her nature... I've already covered up the Empress's death, but she's still not at ease..."

Liu Bei sighed: "Isn't it me she most wants to kill?"

"Your Excellency is a member of the imperial clan, and you also share a teacher-student relationship with the Crown Prince. Furthermore, the Empress Dowager harbors resentment towards you because of the death of General Dong Zhuo... How can the Empress Dowager feel at ease if you were to take charge of the government..."

Diao Chan whispered, "The Empress Dowager has always been like this. She will do anything to get rid of anyone who might harm her."

"That's what she got herself..."

Liu Bei turned to Zhao Yun and said, "Zilong, go with Diaochan to bring the Crown Prince back to my camp. Also, bring out the palace servants from the torture chamber and have Zu Mao return to camp, abandoning the North Palace."

"...Thank you, Your Excellency."

Diao Chan's eyes flickered, but she then bowed her head and thanked her without asking any further questions.

"You are also the Crown Prince's tutor, so you're one of us. Why thank me?"

Liu Bei smiled at Diao Chan: "Go pack your things, you won't be going back to the palace."

"That's right."

Diao Chan paused for a moment, then nodded, still not asking any further questions.

After Zhao Yun and Diao Chan left to carry out their orders, Liu Bei turned to Jia Xu and asked, "Wenhe, what's the situation with Dong Zhuo?"

"A messenger from the underworld reports that Yuan Wei has appeared in Dong Zhongying's camp and has been hidden in Dong Zhongying's main tent. If Yuan Wei wants to save the Yuan family members, he will surely cause Dong Zhongying to fight for power."

Jia Xu said, "These past two days, Dong Zhongying has been preparing his troops and has even sent men to Corpse Village to transport some wealth to distribute to the soldiers. He is probably waiting for the day when the crown prince ascends the throne... Yesterday, Zhang Ji came to see me and said that Dong Zhongying intends to form a marriage alliance with me."

"Well... why don't you just agree to it? You won't lose out in this situation anyway..."

Liu Bei asked Jia Xu with a smile.

"Forget it... He wants to marry his granddaughter Dong Bai to my eldest son Mu. Dong Bai is spoiled, and Dong Zhongying wants to be a generation older than me. I feel like I'm at a disadvantage."

Jia Xu shook his head repeatedly: "A spoiled woman should not be married. Empress He's example is right before our eyes..."

(End of this chapter)