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

Chapter 325 A Tale of Loyalty and Traitors (Combined Chapter)

Linzi Prison.

Fu De was telling Liu Bei what he knew: "My father asked my mother to arrange a marriage between my younger sister and the emperor in an attempt to control the printing of books... My mother then sent my younger sister to His Majesty's side. This was an old practice throughout history, and the Fu family had no ulterior motives."

"But then my mother received a letter from my father, asking her and me to find an opportunity to enter the emperor's residence and control His Majesty."

“My mother was unwilling to do this and wanted to return to Dongwu, but some of our retainers had been bribed. Qi Wang’s subordinate Zhang Kai attacked us on the way and threatened my mother with the lives of my father and us. My mother refused to submit to the enemy and would rather kill herself than comply.”

"Then Zhang Kai used my father's and the orders of the Fu family to coerce me into abducting His Majesty while I was on duty as a guard. When I refused, he made me issue a warrant to send longevity silk to my younger sister, using my life to force the Fu family's retainers to act."

"That's all I know... Fortunately, Commandant Zhang's troops arrived in time, otherwise I would have died at Zhang Kai's hands..."

Voldemort looked very depressed at this moment; he had suffered some injuries to his chest and abdomen.

The wound was inflicted by Zhang Kai, but he didn't have time to kill anyone while fleeing—Zhang Fei sent someone to follow the Fu family steward and rescue Fu De.

"Do you know who coerced your father? I'm afraid the King of Qi doesn't have that kind of power."

Liu Bei pressed for an answer.

"I don't know... but perhaps Yang Xiu knows."

Fu De shook his head: "Yang Xiu once told me not to take up the post of imperial guard, and even advised me to return to Luoyang to be by my father's side to fulfill my filial duties. At that time, I didn't understand his meaning and just thought he was saying it casually..."

When did Yang Xiu say that?

Liu Bei nodded, his attitude not one of interrogation, but rather one of inquiry.

"Just before Wang Fu raised an army in rebellion."

Fu De replied, "Yang Xiu did not hold the position of guard, but he was not skilled in martial arts, so no one paid any attention to it at the time."

At this moment, Fu De was not a criminal, but a witness.

The prisoners were the group of people dressed as servants locked in the cells next door.

These servants were indeed brought by Princess Liu Hua, but the matter is a bit complicated.

By summarizing the information from all parties and the results of the interrogation, Liu Bei had a general understanding of the whole situation.

Liu Hua did indeed intend to place her daughter on the throne as empress and also attempted to acquire the book printing industry, but this was normal practice for her and she had no intention of rebelling—she had no need to rebel, and making Fu Shou empress was in her best interest.

Zhang Kai's plan to have Liu Hua kidnap the emperor likely involved threats. Liu Hua did indeed have many opportunities to meet Liu Xie and was the most likely person to kidnap him.

But Liu Hua refused to comply and, under duress, chose to commit suicide.

Fu Wan was also coerced in Luoyang.

To save his own life, Fu De wrote a warrant, and Fu's retainers, in order to save their master, had no choice but to try to kidnap Liu Xie as instructed by Zhang Kai—but they did not know that the hairpin was poisoned.

Zhuge Liang felt that the princess's servants were not normal, so he recklessly devised a plan to lure them out.

Of course, this matter posed no real danger to Liu Xie. Zhuge Liang instructed Liu Xie to avoid the danger with the imperial guards, and he himself stood in front to block the way.

This was actually a child trying to earn some credit and take the place of the emperor, but Zhuge Liang underestimated the skills of those maids and didn't expect them to have poisoned hairpins, almost ruining the whole thing.

This kind of risk shouldn't have been taken. If suspicion arose but you didn't want to alert the suspect, you should have arrested them secretly. Trying to make a scene like this was completely unnecessary...

But Liu Bei could understand that this was just a child wanting to prove himself, and every child at this age was like that, including Zhuge Liang.

We can only wait until Zhuge Liang recovers before slowly educating him.

Of course, Zhuge Liang did indeed have Zhang Fei secretly track down the steward of the Fu family—although he was ignorant of the immensity of the situation, he did not neglect his duties.

Zhang Kai threatened Fu De's life to force the Fu family retainers to commit the crime. Of course, he couldn't kill Fu De directly before the job was finished, otherwise he wouldn't be able to control the Fu family retainers.

Only if there is hope of kidnapping the emperor will they not kill anyone, nor will they easily run away; they will inevitably wait and see how things go.

Although Zhang Kai still managed to escape, at least Zhang Fei's troops rescued Fu De.

It was Zhang Kai who provided the poisoned hairpin to the maid, which means that Zhang Kai and the people behind him preferred Liu Xie to die.

This would eliminate the suspicions of Empress Dowager Dong, Dong Cheng, Dong Zhuo, and others. Like Liu Bei, they did not want anything to happen to Liu Xie; they only wanted to take Liu Xie back—the mastermind behind the scenes took advantage of this.

The large-scale attack launched by Wang Fu, one of Dong Cheng's subordinates, in Linzi was most likely a result of being manipulated.

The one who most wanted Liu Xie dead was probably Yuan Shao.

Meanwhile, the officials of Luoyang, led by Situ Yang Biao and Taipu Wang Yun, would also benefit from this.

Moreover, they had the ability to deceive Empress Dowager Dong and Dong Cheng, and they also had the greatest motivation to prevent Liu Bei from conducting a talent selection process.

If Liu Xie dies, Liu Bei will lose his greatest prestige, and powerful families will easily control public opinion. They can arbitrarily distort the truth and pin everything on Liu Bei—after all, Liu Xie is in Linzi.

If King Liu Cheng of Qi left Linzi ahead of time, then he was most likely aware of it.

After meeting Fu De, Liu Bei sent his men to bring Yang Xiu to him, while he himself went to interrogate the official in charge of the King of Qi.

The State of Qi currently has no prime minister, only a royal court official named Liu Yan, courtesy name Weishuo.

This person is very young, just reached adulthood, and even earlier than expected, at only nineteen years old.

Liu Yan was from the State of Lu and was considered a member of the royal family. His background was somewhat similar to that of Liu Bei, as he was a branch of the lineage of the King of Qi.

This was the norm for most princes; they would usually appoint distant relatives or collateral branches as their stewards.

However, it is rare for someone to become the Prince's Palace Attendant at the age of nineteen.

"When did Zhang Kai become a retainer of the King of Qi? The King of Qi has no right to form an army. As the Palace Attendant, why did you not inform him of this?"

Liu Bei beckoned the jailer to write a record beside him. Unlike questioning Fu De, this was a real interrogation, but Liu Bei didn't ask the King of Qi; instead, he asked Zhang Kai.

“Zhang Kai… is not one of the king’s men, but is hired to protect the royal palace… Some time ago, the traitor Wang Fu gathered a crowd to plot a rebellion, and the king hired Zhang Kai as a guard.”

Liu Yan's forehead was covered in sweat: "This humble servant advised Your Majesty not to hire this person, but Your Majesty insisted on doing so..."

“Zhang Kai betrayed Magistrate Tao and fled. He was also wanted by both Magistrate Tao and me for allowing his troops to plunder. You should have received the arrest warrant as well. Why does Liu Cheng still dare to hire him? Do you know where Zhang Kai is?”

Liu Bei frowned.

"I truly did not know... I am not involved in such matters within the Prince's residence..."

Liu Yan shook his head.

"As the Chief Physician, you should be in charge of all external affairs of the Prince's residence, yet you don't? What are you in charge of on a daily basis?"

Liu Bei frowned even more deeply.

"Usually...I am in charge of entertaining guests and welcoming guests..."

Liu Yan spoke haltingly.

"You only care about seeking pleasure? Who is in charge of the royal court's policies, sacrifices, and military defense? Who is responsible for overseeing the affairs of the princes?"

Liu Bei rubbed his temples.

The prime minister was also responsible for supervising the vassal kings. If there was no prime minister, then the chief of the prince's office should have been in charge of the supervision. If the vassal kings showed any unusual behavior, they should immediately report it to the prefect.

"No one... This humble servant dares not interfere, and no one dares to interfere."

Liu Yan lowered his head: "Whoever is in charge will die... After the Emperor arrived in Qingzhou, the former Chief Physician died in Judian... The next Chief Physician was appointed, but he also died in Judian after only two months... As a result, I was appointed before I even came of age. I am still young and do not want my body to float in Judian..."

Liu Bei stared at Liu Yan for a while, then nodded: "Then you should at least know where the King of Qi went, right? Would you be willing to guide my men?" "...The King is in Luoyang..."

Liu Yan hesitated for a moment, then his forehead was covered in even more sweat.

“I don’t believe he’s in Luoyang. If you really don’t know the whereabouts of the Prince of Qi, then you’re useless… I’ll make sure your corpse floats on the lake right now.”

Liu Bei shook his head and stared at Liu Yan: "Only useful people can live... Since you are alive as the Physician, then you are also useful to the King of Qi. Your use is to help the King of Qi hide his whereabouts, right? Where exactly did the King of Qi go?"

Liu Yan looked up, fear in her eyes, and her whole body began to tremble, clearly struggling internally.

Liu Bei looked at him quietly: "It seems you really are useless..."

Liu Yan, sweating profusely, immediately cried out, "In Lu... the King and Zhang Kai have both gone to Lu! I beg the general to spare my life..."

"Then lead the way... I'll give you ten days. If you find Zhang Kai, you live; if you don't, you die."

Liu Bei turned to Bian Bing and said, "Lead the troops and follow him to capture people, whether they live or die."

This is an unexpected gain.

Zhang Kai is the key figure at present. He is involved in most things, and he does mostly things like murder, robbery, kidnapping, assassination, and sowing discord.

People in Qingzhou thought Zhang Kai was a retainer of the King of Qi, while people in Xuzhou thought he was a subordinate of Tao Qian... but in reality, he was probably neither.

Zang Ba and Zhao Yun had chased after Zhang Kai together before but failed to catch him, which shows that this man was very good at running away—not only was he good at running away, but he was also extremely good at hiding.

Many people have been arrested in the past few days, but apart from Liu Yan, no one knows where Zhang Kai is hiding.

This wasn't because they hadn't captured Zhang Kai's men—Zuo Yuan had captured several, all of whom had worked for Zhang Kai, including two who had participated in the raid on Hua County and the killing of Zhuge Gui.

But nobody knew where Zhang Kai was.

Because Zhang Kai was neither a traditional local strongman's armed force nor a regular mountain bandit, he had no base of operations or clan settlement.

Zhang Kai is actually a character that has existed since ancient times—a professional assassin.

Or rather, they were mercenaries, the kind who did the dirty work.

Similar to Lü Bu, but Zhang Kai's employment nature was more obvious than Lü Bu's.

"He was hired to do things, and he was paid to do them. When he didn't have an employer, he would go to the local lord to get food and pay"—this is what Zhang Kai's subordinates who were arrested said.

Many wandering knights do this; it's not uncommon in any era, it's just that history books won't record it this way.

After all, historians didn't know about the dark and shady areas hidden behind the scenes, so they could only record things in a master-servant manner. But in reality, Zhang Kai didn't have a true master.

Tao Qian thought he had recruited Zhang Kai, and King Liu Cheng of Qi also thought Zhang Kai had joined him, but Zhang Kai was only after more money.

……

"Princess Liu Hua was murdered by treacherous people... The princess had a strong sense of righteousness and refused to join the rebellion. She committed suicide out of loyalty and righteousness, and is a model of loyalty and righteousness. A decree should be sent throughout the world to build a platform and ornamental columns at the place where she died and erect a monument to commemorate her loyalty and righteousness."

When Yang Xiu was brought before Liu Bei, Liu Bei was having Chen Feng write a letter of commendation.

Or rather, it is a record of loyal ministers and treacherous ministers.

"The treacherous minister... leave his name blank for now, instigated the wicked and rebellious Zhang Kai to murder the eldest princess... harmed members of the royal family and nobles, persecuted loyal officials, and disrupted the court. Execution alone cannot atone for his evil deeds; he shall be condemned by all generations!"

Liu Bei directed Chen Feng to leave the space blank.

"To honor loyalty and righteousness, and to condemn wickedness, this register of loyal ministers and book of wicked ministers are now widely distributed throughout the world, so that both the loyal and the wicked may have their names recorded, so that the benevolent, righteous, loyal, and courageous may be remembered for eternity, and so that the wicked and evil may be despised for all time..."

"Let's put Yuan Shao in the list of treacherous officials first, we'll talk about the other treacherous officials later..."

After saying these words, Liu Bei turned to look at Yang Xiu, who had been brought by his guards.

Yang Xiu trembled all over when he heard what Liu Bei said and looked at Liu Bei.

"Does Yang Lang know why I sent you here?"

When Liu Bei saw Yang Xiu, he waved to him with a gentle smile, like a kind elder.

"I suppose it's to inquire about Luoyang..."

Although Yang Xiu trembled, his reasoning remained clear: "I wonder who the Right General intends to condemn for all eternity?"

"Of course, whoever commits the crime will have their name written on it... and then tens of millions of copies will be printed, striving to make sure everyone in the world has a copy..."

Liu Bei, still smiling, looked at Yang Xiu and said, "Young Master Yang, you have always been intelligent. Do you know who in the world today could be included in the list of treacherous officials?"

"...I don't know..."

Yang Xiu lowered his head and remained silent.

"Your father...does he intend to be listed in the register of loyal ministers or the register of treacherous ministers?"

Liu Bei's smile was like that of a demon.

"...My father may not have such good fortune. General You, Xiu is still here. My father will certainly be loyal to the court and serve His Majesty..."

Yang Xiu swallowed hard and replied, word by word.

"And what about Wang Yun?"

Liu Bei continued to ask.

Yang Xiu stopped speaking and simply bowed deeply.

"In that case, write a letter to Minister Yang and tell your father that I want to compile the Biographies of Loyal Ministers and the Records of Treacherous Ministers. Tell him to quickly bring some loyal ministers to Linzi to oversee the compilation."

Liu Bei nodded and instructed Yang Xiu: "If you are interested in compiling books, you can also write your own biographies of loyal and treacherous individuals and submit them for publication... Chengzu will widely accept submissions from all over the world to ensure fairness..."

"...Thank you, General Xie."

Yang Xiu's fear deepened. He bowed deeply again and said, "General of the Right, perhaps we can compile biographies of traitors, powerful ministers, sycophants, and those of filial piety and righteousness..."

A cold glint flashed in Liu Bei's eyes: "Yang Xiu, stop trying to be clever! Otherwise, you might end up implicating your father and even yourself in the list of treacherous officials!"

……

"Master, perhaps the biographies of traitors and sycophants mentioned by Yang Xiu could also be published... Why are you angry, Master?"

After Yang Xiu left, Chen Feng turned to ask Liu Bei.

"If you post too much, attention will actually decrease... people's attention will be distracted."

Liu Bei shook his head and said, "The Record of Loyal Ministers should be published, but the Record of Treacherous Ministers does not need to be printed. Instead, it should be printed in newspapers to spread the news of my intention to widely record the treacherous ministers. The biggest threat is not to publish the Record of Treacherous Ministers, but to keep making it... Publishing it will render it ineffective."

The biographies of loyal ministers and the records of treacherous ministers were not merely meant to frighten Yang Xiu; they were genuinely intended to be written.

But only the biographies of loyal ministers will be quickly and widely distributed throughout the land... and the biographies of loyal ministers will also indicate that biographies of treacherous ministers are being written.

The Fu family's papermaking workshop finally came in handy.

They're plotting something...

Let's try Liu Bei's open counterattack and see who can withstand it.

(End of this chapter)