My Three Kingdoms is not right

Just as Liu Xun's rationality was about to be completely overwhelmed by instinct—

"General!"

The door to the inner room was pushed open.

Chen Gong stood at the door, holding a lamp in her hand. The dim yellow light shone in from behind her, casting a long and thin shadow on the ground.

Her expression was calm. As calm as if she were saying, "The weather is nice today."

But Liu Xun clearly saw that the knuckles of her hand holding the lamp were slightly white.

Lu Bu released Liu Xun, turned around, and said with annoyance at being interrupted, "Gongtai, what are you doing here?"

"I've brought the general some hangover soup." Chen Gong held up the food box in his hand, his voice as calm as if he were reporting military affairs. "Our lord has to patrol the city tomorrow, so it's not advisable for him to drink any more."

Her gaze passed over Lü Bu and landed on Liu Xun.

Liu Xun leaned against the wall, a touch of crimson on his lips, his face flushed, his collar askew, but thankfully not completely torn open.

Chen Gong breathed a sigh of relief.

"I'm not drunk." Lü Bu waved his hand. "You may leave."

"General—"

"Get down!"

Chen Gong did not move.

She stood there, like an old tree growing in a crack in the rock.

"General," her voice trailed off, "Her Highness is a princess of the Han Dynasty, the Emperor's sister. How is your behavior any different from that of a beast?"

"Beast?" Lu Bu sneered. "In this city of Xiapi, who isn't a beast? Starving people eat each other, thirsty people drink sewage... I just wanted a man, how does that make me a beast?"

"Princess Wannian is a noblewoman of the imperial court. If the general behaves rudely, he will surely be despised by the people of the world."

"The people of the world?" Lü Bu laughed maniacally, his laughter filled with madness. "When has the people of the world ever respected me?"

"Cao Cao wanted to kill me, and Yuan Shu, Zhang Yang, and Zang Ba all betrayed their promises and refused to come to my aid! As for the soldiers..."

She abruptly stopped laughing, her eyes turning sinister: "Gao Shun was disrespectful, Hou Cheng was drinking, the generals are disaffected... they haven't considered me their lord for a long time!"

"That's precisely why the general should be even more roused, enforce military discipline, and unite the troops!" Chen Gong retorted, "instead of getting drunk and behaving recklessly here!"

The two stared at each other for a long time.

"Take him away."

Lu Bu turned around, walked back to the couch, plopped down, and grabbed a new wine jar.

"roll!!"

Chen Gong put down the food box and walked to Liu Xun's side: "Your Highness, please."

Liu Xun straightened up, adjusted his collar, and wiped the blood from his lips.

He followed Chen Gong outside.

As he reached the door, he glanced back at Lü Bu.

Hemp egg!

Do you think you're the only one who feels unsatisfied?

Chen Gong carried the lantern and walked ahead at a moderate pace, his blue robe fluttering gently in the night breeze.

Liu Xun followed behind her, and the two walked through the corridors of the Wenhou Mansion one after the other, neither of them speaking.

Moonlight filtered through the gaps in the clouds, falling on the still-flooded flagstones in the courtyard, casting a cold, white glow. In the distance, on the city walls, the torches of patrolling soldiers flickered like fireflies in the night.

Chen Gong stopped and turned around only after he walked out of the gate of the Marquis Wen's residence.

She didn't look at Liu Xun's face, but instead lowered her head, took off her outer robe, shook it out, and draped it over Liu Xun's shoulders.

The blue silk still retained the warmth of Chen Gong's body.

"The dew is heavy as the night deepens; Your Highness, please be careful not to catch a cold."

Liu Xun pulled his clothes tighter; his back was covered in a thin layer of sweat, and the night wind made it quite cold.

Okay, I forgive you.

Chen Gong turned around and continued walking forward.

Liu Xun quickened his pace and walked alongside her.

"Gongtai, do you still believe that Lü Bu can defeat Cao Cao?"

Chen Gong paused for a moment, then continued walking forward.

"What does Your Highness think?"

"I think you know very well what's going on in your heart." Liu Xun looked at her increasingly gaunt profile. "Xiapi has been besieged by water for almost a month, with no food or reinforcements, and the soldiers are losing heart. No matter how skilled Lü Bu is, he is powerless to turn the tide."

Chen Gong did not refute.

She stopped at the entrance of an alley and turned to look at Liu Xun. The moonlight shone on her face, and her eyes were as calm as ever.

"Your Highness is right. Lü Bu cannot win."

Liu Xun did not expect Chen Gong to admit it so readily.

"I knew she couldn't win." Chen Gong leaned against the wall at the alley entrance, looking up at the moon, half-hidden by clouds. "I knew it from the day Cao Cao dug up the Si and Yi rivers."

"Why doesn't Gongtai persuade Lü Bu to surrender?"

Chen Gong remained silent for a moment before slowly speaking: "I am from Dongjun. I studied in my hometown when I was young, and later I was recommended as a filial and incorruptible official and became a county magistrate."

"At that time, the country was relatively peaceful. Although eunuchs were in power and relatives of the empress held sway, people could still get by."

"Later, Dong Zhuo arrived."

"She burned Luoyang, moved the capital to Chang'an, and allowed her troops to plunder, rape, and kidnap, committing all sorts of atrocities. I watched helplessly as my home was turned into ruins, as the people were displaced, and as scholars and scions of noble families were hacked to death in the streets like dogs by the Xiliang soldiers."

"At that time, I thought that the world needed a person, a person who could end the chaos and restore the country."

"So you chose Cao Cao," Liu Xun said.

Chen Gong nodded.

"When Cao Cao raised an army to attack Dong Zhuo, although he had few soldiers and generals, she fought with real swords and spears. While others were observing and conserving their strength, she was truly fighting for her life."

Her eyes glazed over for a moment, as if she were recalling something.

"But later, she killed Bian Rang."

Liu Xun knew Bian Rang. He was a renowned scholar from Yanzhou and had served as the governor of Jiujiang. Cao Cao used a pretext to exterminate his entire clan.

“Bian Rang was an old friend of mine,” Chen Gong said. “She came from a distinguished family and was a great Confucian scholar of her time. Cao Cao killed her not because she was guilty, but because she was an obstacle to him.”

"From that day on, I knew that Cao Cao was not the person I was looking for."

Liu Xun was somewhat surprised, as he thought Chen Gong had turned against him because Cao Cao had killed Lü Boshe.

He asked, "If Cao Cao wasn't the ideal ruler, then is Lü Bu the one Gongtai envisioned?"

Chen Gong glanced back at the Marquis of Wen's residence and smiled calmly: "Lü Bu is barbaric, foolish, capricious, and willful. But she has one redeeming quality—she has neither the ability nor the inclination to govern the world."

"She needs me, she needs Bian Rang, she needs Xu Si and Wang Kai, and she needs the gentry of Xuzhou to help her manage the prefectures, collect grain, and appease the people. So she has no choice but to rely on us."

"As long as the world is governed by scholars well-versed in poetry and literature, and by families with a long tradition of classical studies to establish laws and educate the people, then it doesn't really matter whether the person sitting in that position is surnamed Liu, Yuan, Lü, or something else. Rites and music will not collapse, and the social order will not be broken."

"But Cao Cao is different." Chen Gong's voice suddenly turned cold. "She was too smart, too capable, and too bold and decisive. She saw through these rules; she knew how to use them and how to break them."

"Unfortunately, the world cannot see this clearly."

"But I understand her! Mengde has the ability to wreak havoc on the world, and even more so, the ambition to do so!"