The Three Kingdoms: The Oath of the Peach Garden, the Rise of the Han Dynasty

Liu Hong became increasingly engrossed in the drawing, picked up a pen, and began to revise the sketch himself.

He pointed to the areas painted with grass, frowning, and said, "The grass is painted too roughly; the colors are wrong, and the lines aren't smooth."

As he spoke, he dipped his brush in ink and carefully sketched each patch of grass, making them lifelike and even the patterns on the various flower petals clearly visible.

It can be said that five blessings have come to your door, blessings upon blessings! Blessings upon blessings!

"Guards!" Liu Hong put down his pen and shouted, "Immediately issue an imperial decree to make copies of these drawings and send them to Li Chang. Also, select a few beauties from the palace who have not yet served the emperor and bestow them upon Li Chang as well! This is my reward for my comrades!"

"Your subject obeys!" Zhang Rang replied hastily, while secretly making his own plans.

This Li Chang is so shrewd; I should try to befriend him in the future. Maybe I can get more good stuff from him!

"And another thing," Liu Hong added, "tell Li Chang that if he ever comes across anything fun or interesting, he should send it to the palace. As long as I'm happy, he'll be rewarded with high-ranking positions and generous salaries!"

After saying that, he could no longer contain himself. He took the blueprints and excitedly went to find the craftsmen, ready to start construction on the new palace immediately and try out those novel dances.

And try to deduce the plot!

That night was destined to be a sleepless one for Liu Hong!

In order to allow his joystick to continuously attack the pinch-and-shoot players, Liu Hong even ordered the Imperial Hospital to prepare medicines on multiple occasions!

Improve his joystick battery life and reduce joystick cooldown time!

Until dawn, when the sun was high in the sky!

The smell in the hall had changed! Liu Hong was unusually in such a good mood!

He stared at the sun in the sky, his eyes dark-rimmed and lifeless: "What's the point of being an emperor?"

……

West of the city, Liu Bei's new residence.

Just as everyone was eating around the table and discussing when they could leave Luoyang, a commotion suddenly broke out outside.

"By imperial decree, Li Chang is bestowed with two beautiful ladies, one hundred bolts of brocade, and one thousand taels of gold!"

The chopsticks in everyone's hands stopped instantly, and they all looked at Li Chang.

Zhang Fei spat out a mouthful of rice, his eyes widening: "Fourth Brother! What local specialties did you send to His Majesty? He actually bestowed upon you beauties! Two of them!"

Guan Yu's face flushed instantly, and he turned his head away, not daring to look at the graceful beauties at the door.

Zhao Yun was also a little embarrassed, so he lowered his head and pretended to eat.

Liu Bei opened his mouth, but couldn't utter a word for a long time. His expression was extremely complex, showing shock, helplessness, and a hint of being both amused and exasperated.

Li Chang remained calm, stood up to accept the imperial decree, thanked the eunuch who delivered it, and had the beauty taken to the backyard and settled in.

After the eunuch left, Liu Bei finally couldn't help but ask:

"Fourth brother, what exactly did you send to His Majesty? Why did His Majesty not only bestow gold, silver, and beautiful women upon you, but judging from the eunuch's attitude, he seems to value you exceptionally much?"

Li Chang calmly took a sip of tea and slowly said:

"It's nothing much, just some palace blueprints drawn for His Majesty, and some little gadgets to keep him entertained."

"That's all?" Zhang Fei looked incredulous. "Just a few scraps of paper, and His Majesty will bestow upon you several beauties? I don't believe it!"

Li Chang smiled but offered no explanation.

Instead, he selected one of them, a blueprint that, according to Zhang Fei's preferences, was highly suitable for torture and interrogation, and was worthy of being used by the Aidian Shaoluo.

At the same time, I was also impressed by Liu Hong's painting skills!

These are things that are best kept to ourselves; it's not appropriate to discuss them publicly!

You can't exactly say that he gave Liu Hong a complete ancient version of "Amusing Ourselves to Death" as a gift package.

Li Chang went to great lengths to get rid of Liu Hong and the Eastern Han Dynasty ahead of schedule!

"Brother, don't worry about that." Li Chang's smile faded, and he said seriously, "His Majesty's attention to us has dropped to a minimum. It won't be long before he lets us out of Luoyang."

"Really?" Liu Bei's eyes lit up.

"Of course." Li Chang nodded.

"His Majesty is preoccupied with the new palace and all those new gadgets right now, and he has no interest in us at all. If we just keep a low profile for a few more days, and wait until he gets into the swing of things, then we can find an excuse to request a transfer to a post outside the capital, and he will definitely agree."

Liu Bei breathed a sigh of relief, his heart finally at ease.

He looked at Li Chang, his heart filled with mixed emotions.

Everyone else was racking their brains to curry favor with the emperor, hoping to gain higher official positions and titles. Only his fourth brother was trying to please the emperor, actually hoping to leave this place of trouble as soon as possible.

……

As the saying goes, one should not refuse a gift from an elder! Liu Hong was Li Chang's elder, a sovereign and father figure, so he could not refuse even more!

Li Chang is a normal person. So why does he work so hard? It's all to enrich the material and spiritual needs of the people and himself!

"I've been fighting for almost a year, what's wrong with taking a break!"

Three days later.

Li Chang woke up early to feel the chill of the winter morning.

After practicing a set of Taoist health-preserving boxing techniques that he hadn't practiced in a long time, he fed the flock of black crows that were almost forgotten.

"Day after day!"

The clutter in Li Chang's mind was completely cleared!

Read:

"Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow, how many tomorrows there are! Waiting for tomorrow every day, all things are wasted. People are all burdened by tomorrow, and with endless tomorrows, old age will come."

The waters flow eastward at dawn and dusk, the sun sets in the west through the ages. How many tomorrows are there in a hundred years? Please listen to my song of tomorrow!

"Starting today, I will abstain from alcohol!"

That day, Li Chang began to rack his brains for a good way to make money and support his troops. After thinking for a long time, he realized that as a liberal arts student, he seemed to know nothing!

They can't brew wine, make salt, or even make soap! Their gunpowder is only good for playing tricks!

The collection of certain musical notes has never stopped, but the action has never begun!

After much thought, all that's left is stir-frying?

Fine, I'll cook something. At least it's something to do, better than doing nothing at all.

Less than half a month later, Su Shuang and Zhang Shiping arrived at full speed. The moment they saw Li Chang, they almost knelt down!

"Li Sima! I didn't expect you to still remember us!"

Three days later, with everything prepared, several distinctive restaurants in Luoyang opened for business. With Liu Bei's name associated with them, business was fairly good.

As for the food, some people like it and some don't.

But this also relieved the pressure on the military supplies outside Luoyang.

And so things remained peaceful until December.

Then Jian Yong ran in with a strange expression, holding a message that had just come from the palace.

"Mingdao, you really are..." Jian Yong pointed at Li Chang, unable to utter a complete sentence for a long time.

"News has come from the palace that His Majesty has barely attended the morning court sessions this month, and it's said he's even unsteady on his feet. The Imperial Medical Academy staff are stationed at the West Garden every day, fearing something might happen!"

Li Chang picked up the goji berry, white fungus, and mulberry tea, took a sip, and feigned compassion, saying:

"Wine is poison that burns through the intestines, and lust is a steel knife that scrapes the bones. How can Your Majesty be so careless with your health!"

"But you're too ruthless," Jian Yong said in a low voice.

"How did you come up with those things? Now everyone in the palace treats you like a 'living god,' saying that you can not only summon wind and rain, but also make people 'happy like gods.'"

Li Chang almost spat out his tea:

"What nonsense! I was just offering His Majesty a way to relieve his boredom. Besides, His Majesty has worked hard all his life, what's wrong with him enjoying himself a little!"

These people can only talk to Jian Yong; Li Chang would never say a word to anyone else, not even if he were beaten to death.

The words had barely left his mouth when a rapid sound of horses' hooves suddenly came from outside, accompanied by soldiers' shouts:

"Urgent report! Urgent report from Liangzhou! 800 li express delivery!"

Both of their expressions changed simultaneously.

Liangzhou!

Jian Yong: Oh no, the Han!

Li Chang: That's wonderful! Eastern Han Dynasty!