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

Chapter 433 The Last Plan
"What does it matter to me where Jiang Ye goes?"

Liu Bei stared at Yuan Shao expressionlessly: "What does this have to do with you?"

It seems that Yuan Shao did indeed launch a 'cross-sea attack on Qingzhou,' but in a different way.

But Liu Bei's emotions were no longer swayed by such things.

"Don't you care about his safety?"

Yuan Shao looked into Liu Bei's eyes.

He was a little surprised.

Because he didn't see any excitement or tension in Liu Bei's eyes, or even any hostility.

Yuan Shao stopped laughing.

If Liu Bei were filled with resentment or ambition, he might be able to drag Liu Bei down with him into the abyss.

But... no matter how talented one is, one cannot deal with someone who has no hostility in their heart.

"Of course I care, after all, he is a disciple of my master. But the young men of my sect are meant to travel the world and see the ways of the world."

Liu Bei spoke calmly, as if a Taoist priest were releasing a dying man from his last obsession: "If he encounters danger while traveling for his studies, that is fate. If he is harmed by others, it is because you scoundrels have disrupted the world. You have brought chaos to the world, and what I should do is eliminate you scoundrels and do my best to stabilize the world so that my disciples will be less in danger when they travel for their studies."

"If he is no longer in Qingzhou, if he has been taken hostage by someone else...aren't you worried about losing power?"

Yuan Shao sighed, sat down on the ground, took out a piece of brocade, and carefully wiped the nicked sword in his hand.

"I have no official rank or title now, only a squad leader. What power do I have? Besides... what's the point of holding a Jiang family orphan hostage?"

Liu Bei smiled and said, "Even if it were you, Yuan Benchu, who has lost the support of scholars across the land, would you still be Yuan Benchu? You are now just a traitor who colludes with the Donghu, a relative by marriage of the Wuhuan chieftain, and a great bandit who wreaks havoc on the world. Who would still regard you as a role model for the world?"

Yuan Shao lowered his head to wipe his sword, remained silent for a while, then looked up at Liu Bei: "Very well... But in any case, he is a disciple of your master, and you must take care of him. I want to exchange Jiang Ye's whereabouts for your promise, is that alright?"

Liu Bei nodded: "Go ahead."

"The widow of Marquis Shi, Tang Ji, is currently in Xizhou. I had no intention of harming her, but I lost control after reading the biography of the treacherous minister... I know I am doomed, and I also know that Xuande will not let Yuan's son go. I only ask Xuande to take care of her and her orphan mother."

Yuan Shao sat up straight on the ground and adjusted his crown: "Jiang Ye misses his hometown and has heard of his grandmother's passing. He wishes to travel there. Fortunately, he has received help from Xin Zhongzhi of Yingchuan and may be on his way to Yingchuan."

"Xin Ping? This is probably not a coincidence, is it?"

Liu Bei stared into Yuan Shao's eyes.

"It was indeed a coincidence. Xin Zhongzhi took the policy examination in Qingzhou and was rated as excellent by the examiner Xu Yuanzhi. He was then transferred to Puyang, Dongjun as an academic official. Last year, he ranked first in the practical examination and was promoted by his brother-in-law Cai Bojie to Linzi as an assistant at the Imperial Academy, supervising the academy."

Yuan Shao smiled at Liu Bei and said, "Xin Zhongzhi once met the late emperor. He said that Jiang Ye's appearance was exactly the same as the late emperor's, and that Jiang Ye wept bitterly upon hearing of the Empress Dowager's death, claiming to be unfilial..."

Liu Bei really didn't expect Xin Ping to come and take the policy test, and then become a minor official in charge of learning.

The position of Xue Cao was not Xue Zheng, but a newly created post responsible for guiding and developing new educational affairs. It was a very low-ranking position, half a rank lower than the Tuntian Supervisor in each county.

The appointment of such a minor county-level official would not have gone through Liu Bei; the position was too insignificant to even catch the eye of the Imperial Secretariat.

It was only because Xin Ping was from Yingchuan and had some fame that Xu Shu personally assessed him; otherwise, he wouldn't have reached Xu Shu's level.

Cai Yong promoted Xin Ping to the position of Assistant Attendant at the Imperial Academy, which was essentially a minor official position. However, because Xin Ping performed well in the local area, he was transferred to the Ministry of Education, but he remained a minor official.

Xin Ping is no longer a big shot. Although he comes from a powerful family, many scholars came to Qingzhou to participate in the examinations, and Liu Bei was unaware of his transfer.

It was precisely because he was a low-level official in charge of the college that he encountered Liu Xie, who was using the alias Jiang Ye—if he had a higher position, he would not have met him.

"...Xin Ping's family is in your hands? Who else did you send to Qingzhou?"

Liu Bei could understand that this was originally supposed to be a normal infiltration mission.

Just as he had his own underlings and Dong Zhuo had his spies, Yuan Shao was adept at such things, so he would naturally send people to carry out infiltration activities.

In fact, Liu Xie never revealed any flaws and his defenses were always very tight.

When Liu Xie heard the news of Empress Dowager Dong's death in Qingzhou, he was overcome with grief and wept bitterly; these were all normal reactions.

Although Empress Dowager Dong was not very clever, she was indeed good to Liu Xie.

But Jiang Ye looks exactly like Liu Hong, and after hearing the news of the Empress Dowager's death, he claimed to be unfilial... It's normal for Xin Ping to notice this.

“There is no one else… Your Qingzhou examination was quite difficult; only Xin Ping succeeded.”

Yuan Shao shook his head and said, "After learning about this, I originally sent Guo Tu to Chang'an to assist my son Yuan Tan, and sent Xin Pi to form an alliance with Cao Mengde, intending to unite all the generals in the world and achieve success in one fell swoop... but neither of them sent back any news."

“I originally wanted Xin Ping to bring Jiang Ye to Liaodong, and for this purpose, we spared no expense to go to sea and defeat Guan Hai, just to make the waterways in Liaodong open. But Xin Ping sent a message saying that His Majesty was going to hold a funeral for the Empress Dowager… And right now, Cao Mengde is planning to hold a funeral for the Empress Dowager.”

“Your disciple Jiang Ye doesn’t want to stay in Qingzhou as an ordinary person. He’d rather go to Yingchuan and become the emperor… Qingzhou has very strict security regulations. If Jiang Ye hadn’t wanted to, Xin Ping wouldn’t have been able to take him away…”

After Yuan Shao finished speaking, he smiled at Liu Bei and said, "Our Han emperors are not people who can be manipulated by others. Xuande, have I made myself clear enough?"

Liu Bei scoffed, "You mean Jiang Ye wanted to go to Yingchuan on his own? Haha... Yuan Shao, you don't understand, your lie won't fool me..."

"Xuande, what did the late emperor do when he was twelve? Lord Dong is the late emperor's own son, so naturally he would emulate the late emperor's intentions. But you, Liu Xuande, how are you any different from Dou Wu now?"

Yuan Shao looked at Liu Bei and slowly raised his head: "To replace the emperor with one's own son and treat the emperor as a poor scholar is such an insult... Even Liang Ji and Dou Wu would not dare to do this."

Yuan Shao was speaking from his own perspective; he believed that Liu Xie's transformation into Jiang Ye was forced upon him by Liu Bei...

He thought Liu Bei was a powerful minister like Liang Ji and Dou Wu, who was forcing the emperor to submit.

However, Liu Bei never forced Liu Xie.

Living as an ordinary person for a few years was Liu Xie's own wish.

A man like Yuan Shao would never understand.

Liu Bei sighed: "This is the difference between you and me... Have you finished your last words? Let's go."

"Please, Xuande, take good care of Tang Ji and her child. The widow and the child are innocent. Now all the scholars in the world know that Marquis Shi has this orphan..."

Yuan Shao tilted his head back, held the cleaned sword upside down, and poked it against his throat: "My life is none of Xuande's concern..."

Having said that, the tip of the sword had already pierced his throat.

Blood spurted out.

Yuan Shao had several personal guards behind him, some of whom were Hu people and some of whom were Han people, all of whom were covered in wounds.

Seeing Yuan Shao commit suicide, all his guards bowed down in respect, and then all raised their swords to stab their throats.

Yuan Shao raised loyal followers for twenty years. Even after he was disgraced and destitute, he still had righteous people who would follow him to the death.

“If you hadn’t colluded with the barbarians, you would have been a hero of your time… but since you’ve become a traitor, I must exterminate your entire clan.”

Liu Bei looked into Yuan Shao's eyes, drew his sword and stepped forward: "You want to use His Majesty to lure me into fighting Cao Cao, and you want me to start a new regime with the so-called orphan of Marquis Shi... I know what you're thinking."

“I will take care of Tang Ji, but your last scheme will not go as you wish… I am not Dou Wu, and Your Majesty is not the late Emperor.”

Yuan Shao was not quite dead yet, and a hint of doubt appeared in his eyes.

But Liu Bei had already struck with his sword.

Yuan Shao's head flew off.

…… ……

Liu Bei had some understanding of Yuan Shao.

At least Liu Bei knew that Yuan Shao would not allow Xin Ping to take Liu Xie to Liaodong.

It was impossible for Yuan Shao to control Liu Xie.

Because Yuan Shao had sent assassins to kill Liu Xie, and Yue Yin died protecting Liu Xie—although Liu Xie was young, with this grudge in the past, Yuan Shao could never control Liu Xie.

It was precisely because Liu Xie was uncontrollable to Yuan Shao that Yuan Shao created the "orphan of Marquis Shi".

Liu Bei knew, of course, that the story of the orphan was fabricated, but now most of the world knew that Marquis Shi had a posthumous child, as this was being spread in Chang'an.

If everyone in the world believes it, then it's as if it really exists.

If Liu Xie had indeed 'voluntarily' gone to Luoyang or Yingchuan and fallen into Cao Cao's hands, Liu Bei would have been in real trouble.

Liu Xie's current identity is Jiang Ye, while Zhuge Liang sits on the throne, a fact that not many people originally knew.

Even if someone doubts the emperor's identity, it's useless. It can't prove who is real anyway. At worst, let Zhuge Liang be the emperor to the end. In any case, who is the emperor depends on who is more recognized by the world. It's just a war of public opinion.

But, but.

If Liu Xie had gone to Yingchuan publicly or been publicly informed, and had held a funeral for Empress Dowager Dong, then the situation would have been different.

Holding a funeral is not a problem in itself, but if Liu Xie borrows the resources of various families in Yingchuan to hold a funeral for Empress Dowager Dong, then he will become the emperor recognized by the vast majority of scholars, regardless of whether it is real or not.

The object of recognition was not filial piety, nor the authenticity of the emperor, but the significance of the matter—it meant that this emperor would represent the interests of the powerful families and gentry of Yingchuan.

The Yingchuan gentry were indeed among the best in the Han Dynasty in terms of resource allocation and propaganda capabilities.

In this situation, it would be really difficult for Zhuge Liang to play the role.

Yuan Shao's actions before his death were actually a calculated scheme.

He wanted to remind Liu Bei that there was still a "surviving orphan of Marquis Shi" in the world.

If Liu Xie fled to Cao Cao's territory, intending to use Cao Cao to control Liu Bei...

Therefore, Liu Bei, as the regent who held the imperial edict, could have deposed Liu Xie and established a new "orphan of the Marquis of Shi".

Yuan Shao clearly wanted Liu Bei to do this.

In Yuan Shao's view, Liu Bei was merely using Liu Xie.

If Liu Xie had truly gone out of control and gone to Yingchuan to hold a funeral for Empress Dowager Dong... if we were to consider only self-interest and disregard all other factors, Liu Bei could indeed have started anew.

Based on this alone, Liu Bei could deduce that Tang Ji's child must be Yuan Shao's.

Of course, regardless of whose child it was, a one- or two-year-old baby is ultimately innocent and should not be implicated by Yuan Shao—from any perspective, Tang Ji and her child were victims, and they should not be implicated just because she was forced by Yuan Shao.

Yuan Shao's dying scheme was to use Liu Bei to allow that child to steal the title of Emperor of Han. Even if Liu Bei didn't fall for it, he could still potentially steal the identity of the emperor's bloodline.

Tang Ji's child was also an orphan of the Yuan family, and also an illegitimate child.

He was an illegitimate child born to a mother who was extremely beautiful.

The child's father had also held the official rank of Tiger General, but he died when the child was young.

Like Yuan Shao.

……

In fact, Xin Ping did not betray Yuan Shao.

How could someone who was sent to Qingzhou as an undercover agent easily betray them?

Xin Ping and Xin Pi did indeed go to join Cao Cao, but this was at Yuan Shao's request.

Months earlier, Yuan Shao had Xin Pi contact the Yingchuan gentry on Cao Cao's side, trying to persuade Cao Cao to send troops to Qingzhou to welcome the emperor while Liu Bei was away.

But at that time, Cao Cao said to Xun Yu, "I am a Han subject, and so are you," and then led his army to fight the Southern Xiongnu.

Liu Bei was unaware of this matter, but he could guess that it was because he had specifically sent Xun You to deliver a message to Cao Cao.

Cao Cao had no intention of becoming a traitor, and Yuan Shao's attempt to get Xin Pi to ally with Cao Cao failed.

Shortly after, news of Empress Dowager Dong's death was received, and Xin Ping, who was infiltrating Linzi to gather intelligence, noticed Jiang Ye's unusual behavior.

Xin Ping probed Jiang Ye, saying, "I heard that before the Empress Dowager passed away, she kept saying that she was unable to see her grandson one last time... But now the world is in chaos, and I don't know when Your Majesty will be able to return to Luoyang to hold a funeral for the Empress Dowager."

Upon hearing this, Liu Xie burst into tears, knelt down facing west, and kowtowed, saying that his grandson was unfilial... and thus the truth was revealed.

Although Liu Xie was intelligent, he was not yet thirteen years old at the time, and even an adult would find it difficult to control his emotions under such circumstances.

After that, Yuan Shao released all the members of the Xin family in Yingchuan and sent Xin Ping to Yingchuan to lure Liu Bei and Cao Cao into fighting each other.

Yuan Shao did not detain the Xin family. After sensing that the situation was not good, Yuan Shao released most of the hostages he had taken hostage, including Guo Tu's family.

He sent Guo Tu to Guanzhong to help Yuan Tan.

Let Xin Ping and Xin Pi 'return to Yingchuan themselves to avoid being implicated'.

Yuan Shao knew that from the moment Xin Ping discovered that Jiang Ye was Liu Xie, Xin Ping only had one path to take.

From Xin Ping's perspective, there was only one choice: if he didn't want to be silenced, he had to abduct Liu Xie immediately.

Moreover, they cannot turn towards Liaodong, as that would only lead to the entire world attacking Liaodong, including Cao Cao and others.

The emperor is not someone anyone can coerce. Gongsun Du truly doesn't have that power. Nobody's stupid; nobody would believe the emperor went to Liaodong to guard the border voluntarily...

The only option is to go to Yingchuan, and only Cao Cao can take on this business.

Yuan Shao released all of Xin's relatives, allowing Xin Ping and his brother to return to Yingchuan and join Cao Cao. This was Xin Ping's only way to survive, and it was also the wish of both Liu Xie and Xin Ping.

Liu Xie did indeed miss home, and he was truly grieving over the death of Empress Dowager Dong. Holding a funeral for Empress Dowager Dong was indeed Liu Xie's duty.

At this time, the entire Henan province was in ruins, and only the nearby Yingchuan province could hold a funeral for Empress Dowager Dong. They couldn't possibly transport the body to Qingzhou...

That is why Xin Ping was able to take Liu Xie away.

Yuan Shao claimed that Xin Ping and Xin Pi had betrayed him, but this was merely to convince Liu Bei that Liu Xie had intentionally left Qingzhou and, through Xin Ping and Xin Pi, had made contact with Cao Cao.

This was to force Liu Bei to abandon Liu Xie and fight against Cao Cao—if he abandoned Liu Xie, Liu Bei would have to start from scratch.

Yuan Shao wanted Liu Bei to believe that Liu Xie was out of control and that Cao Cao was also planning to cause trouble.

However, Liu Bei did not believe it.

The enemy's words are not to be trusted.

After taking Yuan Shao's head, Liu Bei did not immediately return to his army, and he did not even give Guan Yu any other instructions.

Of course, as a squad leader, one shouldn't give orders to the general...

Guan Yu's army marched into Liucheng, and various units continued to purge the traitors who had surrendered.

(End of this chapter)