New Three Kingdoms Tales: Starting as the expressionless Liu Bei

Strange Tales of the Rules of Discussing the Feudal Lords Over Wine:

Rule 1: Seeing is not believing. Do not trust what you see, and whatever happens, always maintain a blank expression.

[Rule 2: Cao Cao's way of thinking is the opposite of ordinary people. To others, this way of thinking is madness; but to Cao Cao, it is strategy.]

You can use this to flatter him. If you can please him, he'll let you leave safely.

Conversely, if you fail to satisfy him, you will lose your life here.

[Rule 3: This rule was personally added by the Heavenly Will. The way to save Yuan Shao is to kill the strange entity within him before he dies according to the historical timeline.]

If you fail to do so, after Yuan Shao's death, you will be slowly eroded by something eerie, and your way of thinking will be controlled by the will of Heaven.

All historical figures corrupted by this strange phenomenon will meet their demise following the same trajectory as the new storyline. If you have been corrupted by this strange phenomenon, you will be no exception.

Only by completing all accepted tasks and not violating any rules can one avoid being corrupted by the strange forces and undisturbed by fate.

Liu Bei read the note line by line, clenching it tightly in his palm, his heart feeling as heavy as lead. The first two rules were alright, as they could be found in Yuan Shao's warning and the plot of the new third. But this third rule was like a heavy hammer blow, slamming into his chest.

He couldn't die, he couldn't be corrupted by the supernatural; this was no longer a choice. The words spoken by Master Tianyi at the beginning were still branded into his mind.

If killed by the supernatural, one will be assimilated by it, and one's soul will be extracted by the will of Heaven, rewarding one with watching the new Three Kingdoms ten thousand times and listening to the song of Guan Yu ten thousand times.

No! That would be worse than death.

He clenched his teeth, a cold laugh escaping his lips. So what if he's saving Yuan Shao? He'd watched the new Three Kingdoms series at least ten times; he couldn't possibly handle Yuan Shao?

He tucked the note into his pocket and looked up again. Cao Cao sat opposite him, smiling broadly. His gaze seemed to see right through him.

Liu Bei composed himself, briefly recalled the original lines, and then slowly began to speak.

"The traitor Dong Zhuo caused chaos in the capital, and war broke out across the land. Officials, commoners, and princes alike were all in dire straits."

"The four-hundred-year-old Han Dynasty is gradually dying out. As a member of the Liu clan, how can I face the spirit of the late emperor in heaven?"

"How painful! How painful! The pain is unbearable."

Cao Cao chuckled upon hearing this.

"I am different from you. On one hand, there is pain, and on the other hand, there is joy."

He had heard this line dozens of times in the new Three Kingdoms series and was mentally prepared. But seeing Cao Cao say it so confidently, Liu Bei's lips still twitched almost imperceptibly.

The screenwriter must have written these lines with their feet.

[Rule 2: Cao Cao's way of thinking is the opposite of ordinary people. To others, this way of thinking is madness; but to Cao Cao, it is strategy.]

He clenched his fists tightly, forcing himself to calm down, his face remaining completely expressionless.

"May I ask, Lord Cao, what brings you this joy?"

Seeing that Liu Bei did not flatter him, Cao Cao's face flushed slightly. Instead of answering Liu Bei's question directly, he began to talk about the rise and fall of dynasties.

"The Xia dynasty lasted five hundred years until the Shang dynasty. The Shang dynasty lasted five hundred years until the Zhou dynasty. The Zhou dynasty lasted three hundred years before the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods arose."

"At that time, the world was in great chaos, which led to the emergence of many heroes."

"This shows that the rise and fall of a nation, its longevity and shortness, are all determined by the will of Heaven."

"It's fate!" This is the first time that "Fate" has appeared through the words of another person, and Cao Cao's first words are the absolute truth.

The rise and fall of a nation are all determined by fate, isn't that right? In the new Three Kingdoms, fate has an extremely powerful ability: to rewrite history.

Wang Yun, the Minister of Works, was supposed to die at the age of fifty-five, but in the new Three Kingdoms, he lived a carefree sixtieth birthday.

Guo Jia's famous theory of ten victories and ten defeats, under the manipulation of fate, was forcibly moved from Guo Jia's mouth to Xun Yu's mouth.

There are even more outrageous stories. When Liu Bei crossed the river to Eastern Wu to marry Sun Shangxiang, on their first night together, Sun Shangxiang resisted fiercely, even threatening him with swords, as if she wanted to kill him on the spot.

But the next morning, he was like a completely different person, so docile it was astonishing.

According to the author's speculation, Liu Bei had probably unintentionally triggered the power of fate at that time, and that night he gave Sun Shangxiang a "will correction fluid" from the power of fate.

When people are controlled by the will of Heaven, they will naturally and obediently return to the right track of history.

This shows that those who follow the will of Heaven gain the world, while those who defy it lose it.

In the new Three Kingdoms series, during the Battle of Guandu, Yuan Shao's 700,000 troops faced Cao Cao's 70,000—a tenfold numerical disadvantage—yet Yuan Shao suffered a crushing defeat. Can you believe it? The screenwriters are just that daring.

But thinking deeper, how did Cao Cao win? Because he had the will of Heaven. Those seemingly absurd plot twists, those impossible reversals, were all corrected by Heaven. That's why Yuan Shao, after his crushing defeat, bitterly cursed, "Heaven helped Cao Cao, not Yuan Shao."

As he was thinking, he heard Cao Cao speak loudly again.

"Without chaotic times, where would heroes come from?"

"Imagine this: in a peaceful and prosperous era, you would only be a weaver of mats and a seller of shoes, while I would only be a junior officer in your household."

"It is precisely because the world is in chaos that you and I have the opportunity to achieve unparalleled fame."

Liu Bei clasped his hands in a fist salute and offered a compliment.

"It seems that Cao Cao was born for this chaotic world."

Cao Cao was taken aback at first, then chuckled, the slight blush on his face fading away like a receding tide. He leaned forward slightly and earnestly corrected him.

"To be born in a chaotic world is unfortunate. But if one can turn chaos into order, wouldn't that be a great fortune amidst misfortune?"

"May I ask, Brother Xuande, what are your aspirations for this alliance meeting?"

He stared intently at Liu Bei, trying to glean some clue from that expressionless face. But Liu Bei's expression remained as still as a pool of water, without a ripple or a wave.

Liu Bei lowered his eyes slightly, as if deep in thought. After a moment, he raised his head and calmly met Cao Cao's gaze.

"Although I am not talented, I am willing to take the rise and fall of the world as my own responsibility."

"Eliminate the traitors and bring peace to the country, and revive the Han Dynasty."

Cao Cao slowly shook his head and sighed softly.

"In my opinion, it is no longer possible to pacify the world. However, it is quite possible to conquer the world."

"The way to conquer the world lies in strategy and tactics. Where strategy and tactics are employed, talents gather. They can assist wise rulers and capable ministers, and command elite troops and strong generals."

*Pfft.* Liu Bei clenched his teeth, forcefully suppressing the laughter that was about to burst from his throat. His face remained calm, but inside he was already doubled over with laughter.

The lines were so cringeworthy, he could barely handle it.

Liu Bei prayed frantically in his heart: "Lord Cao, I am, after all, a member of the Han imperial family. Can you please stop spouting traitorous remarks in front of me?" It was really hard for him to hold back.

Some might think that traveling to this world of strange and unpredictable rules is too easy. All you have to do is suppress your laughter; it's effortless, and I could do it too. But the reality is far from that.

Suppressing laughter is one of the hardest challenges in the world. If it were a bizarre story with normal rules and supernatural elements, Liu Bei might have been scared out of his wits long ago.

But this new Three Kingdoms is so peculiar; although it's extremely bizarre, it also has an unusually large number of hilarious moments.

He glanced at Tang Xiaohu beside him without making a sound. The man's face was calm and expressionless, as if Cao Cao's treasonous words had not reached his ears at all.

"Wow, you can hold your nerve like that?" Liu Bei thought to himself, cursing. "If you can hold your nerve so well, why don't you take over as Liu Bei? I'm about to break down."