New Three Kingdoms Tales: Starting as the expressionless Liu Bei

"Could it be that General Cao harbors ambitions to rule the monarch?"

Liu Bei feigned ignorance, pretending to be confused even though he knew the truth.

A smug look flashed across Cao Cao's face, his expression clearly saying: "What else?" But he kept waving his hands, making a gesture of refusal.

Liu Bei observed this and sneered inwardly. This was Cao Cao's political maneuvering.

If it were a normal person, being accused of harboring ambitions to become a king would surely terrify them, and they would wish to cut out their heart on the spot to prove their innocence.

But Cao Cao was different. His way of thinking was completely opposite to that of ordinary people. The more you accused him of having disloyal intentions, the more pleased he became.

Seeing Cao Cao's smug look, Liu Bei immediately pressed his advantage and added another sentence.

"Could it be that Cao Cao intends to seize the Han throne and establish himself as emperor?"

Cao Cao's face flushed red with excitement, and his voice trembled slightly.

"How dare I, Cao, harbor such improper thoughts!"

As soon as he finished speaking, without waiting for Liu Bei to respond, he immediately changed the subject.

"However, I sensed it as soon as I entered the city gate. The various lords are ostensibly holding an alliance, but in reality, they are scheming against each other. There are quite a few who harbor great ambitions."

Liu Bei nodded slightly in agreement. This wasn't a lie; he genuinely thought so too.

In later versions of the story, when Sun Ce obtained the Imperial Seal, he immediately turned to Sun Jian and said, "Congratulations, Father, you can now become Emperor!" Who could possibly resist that?

"I share that sentiment," Liu Bei replied. "I've been wondering, when Yuan Shao rallied the eighteen warlords to a coalition, were they truly there to eliminate the traitors and restore the Han dynasty?"

As soon as he finished speaking, a strange feeling flashed through his mind for some reason. Afterwards, he felt his mouth was dry and subconsciously picked up the wine glass on the table and took a small sip.

Cao Cao picked up the conversation and slowly shook his head.

"Not necessarily. Among all the loyal ministers in the world, only Xuande and Cao Cao are truly loyal." He paused, his gaze sweeping across Liu Bei's face. "The other warlords, without exception, are all traitors."

In an instant, Liu Bei's pupils contracted, his mouth opened slightly, and his body involuntarily trembled slightly. But he immediately recovered and forcibly suppressed his loss of composure. He steadied himself and pretended to be calm.

"Lord Cao is joking. Liu Bei is merely a commoner who weaves mats and sells shoes; how can he be ranked alongside Lord Cao as a loyal minister?"

Cao Cao laughed heartily, picked up his wine cup and drank it all in one gulp, staring at Liu Bei with a smile.

"Xuande, stop pretending. Let's speak frankly."

Liu Bei felt a chill run down his spine. Though his face remained impassive, his right hand had already silently reached for the hilt of the sword at his waist.

If things turn against him, he can draw his sword at any moment. His face remains unchanged, with that perpetually expressionless face, continuing to play dumb.

"What is Cao Cao saying? I really don't understand."

Behind him, Tang Xiaohu's muscles were taut, his right hand gripping the gun barrel tightly, his knuckles turning slightly white from the force.

The heavy atmosphere almost froze the air. Suddenly, Cao Cao burst into loud laughter, so loud that the candlelight in the room flickered.

He looked Liu Bei up and down with an admiring gaze, making the latter feel uneasy and on pins and needles.

"Xuande, very good." Cao Cao stopped laughing and stared intently at him. "What I like most are people like you who know their mistakes and correct them, but never admit them. If you had just openly admitted them, I would have looked down on you."

Liu Bei's lips twitched. Good heavens, no wonder Cao Cao possessed such unconventional thinking. He had read the new third installment and knew Cao Cao's fickle nature all too well.

He'd barely finished saying, "Don't be angry, anger will diminish your wisdom," before he'd suddenly unleash a torrent of curses, pointing towards Xuzhou and yelling, "Xuzhou has always been mine! Mine!"

He composed himself, continued to play dumb, and took the opportunity to flatter Cao Cao once again.

"Lord Cao truly deserves to be called a wise ruler. However, I really don't understand what Lord Cao is talking about. May I ask you frankly?"

Cao Cao said nothing more, but slowly picked up his wine bowl and took a large gulp. He slammed the bowl down on the table, then stared intently at Liu Bei.

Liu Bei remained expressionless, his gaze calmly meeting Liu Bei's. A heavy sense of oppression washed over him like a tidal wave, almost suffocating him. But he gritted his teeth and endured it.

The silence lasted for an unknown period of time. Suddenly, Cao Cao burst into loud laughter.

"Xuande, you truly amaze me more and more. A talent like yours shouldn't be wasted." Cao Cao leaned forward slightly, his eyes gleaming with fervor. "Why not join me? Let's kill the traitor Dong Zhuo, annihilate the warlords, dominate the Central Plains, and usurp the title of Emperor!"

Dominating the Central Plains, proclaiming himself emperor. Liu Bei felt a chill. Good heavens, Cao Cao has even abandoned all pretense of civility.

He didn't reply immediately, but lowered his eyes and pondered for a moment. After making up his mind, he raised his head again, clasped his hands, and respectfully asked Cao Cao.

"Lord Cao, do you know what place you hold in my heart?"

Oh?

Cao Cao raised an eyebrow, immediately becoming interested, and asked curiously.

"What is it?"

Liu Bei straightened his back and spoke slowly and deliberately with an extremely serious expression.

"Lord Cao, you are ten times more heroic than Dong Zhuo!"

Upon hearing this, even Tang Xiaohu, who always had a poker face, couldn't help but pause for a moment.

Good heavens, Master's mouth is too sharp! Ten times more heroic than Dong Zhuo—is that a compliment or an insult?

Just as he expected, Cao Cao's smile instantly froze.

Liu Bei's heart skipped a beat.

Could I have said something wrong? No, that's not right! This sentence is clearly from the original text, spoken by Emperor Xian of Han, Liu Xie himself.

If he remembered correctly, Cao Cao chuckled to himself for quite a while after hearing this. This should have been the perfect way to deal with Cao Cao's reverse thinking. So why this reaction?

Cao Cao's body was trembling slightly, his expression constantly changing, as if he was desperately suppressing something.

Not knowing what had just happened to Cao Cao, Liu Bei could only rack his brains for a way to escape.

Three seconds later, he quickly exchanged a glance with Tang Xiaohu, having already made up his mind.

He turned his head slightly and asked in a low voice.

"Little Tiger, has General Highway arrived yet?"

Tang Xiaohu was taken aback. He subconsciously looked around; outside the window was a vast, empty plain. They had no idea where this place was, so how did his master know?

But then he thought that his master must have had ulterior motives for asking such a question. He had no choice but to bite the bullet and tell the truth.

"Reporting to Your Majesty, General Lu Gong... should be arriving soon."

Liu Bei withdrew his gaze and looked back at Cao Cao. The other man was still restless, a fine layer of cold sweat beading on his forehead, as if something inside him was struggling wildly, ready to break free at any moment.

He prayed silently. Only that rule could save them; it had to work.

Tang Xiaohu wasn't riding a horse; he was just an ordinary person at this moment. If Cao Cao were to enter his supernatural form at this instant, both of them would likely be in mortal danger.

The air seemed to freeze. In this suffocating silence, Cao Cao suddenly laughed.

It started as a low chuckle squeezed out from deep in his throat, intermittent, like the hooting of an owl.

Then, the laughter rose uncontrollably, lengthened, and turned into a chilling, maniacal laugh.

"Hehehe... Hahahaha..."

"Hehehehehehehehehehe!"

Liu Bei's nerves tensed instantly. His face remained expressionless, but his eyes were fixed on Cao Cao, and he didn't dare to blink.

He didn't know what the other person was laughing at, but the chill down his spine told him that disaster was imminent.

As expected. The laughter abruptly stopped, as if severed by a single stroke. Cao Cao lowered his head, and when he raised it again, his deep black eyes had become as empty as an abyss, staring straight at Liu Bei.

Cao Cao's face began to contort. At first, the muscles beneath his skin slowly twitched, then his entire face seemed to be gripped and kneaded by an invisible giant hand. His bones creaked and groaned as they shifted and rearranged themselves in the contortion.

His body began to swell. The muscles beneath his robes bulged violently, causing the fabric to tear under the strain.

The hands and legs grew thicker and longer in an unnatural proportion, the skin stretched to translucent, and the dark purple blood vessels beneath could be vaguely seen throbbing wildly.

But what was most chilling was his face. Countless scarlet eyeballs were squeezing out one after another from that distorted face.

They made a viscous, watery sound as they pierced the skin, each one spinning, until they all aimed their pupils at Liu Bei.

He recognized several pairs. The cloudy, aged pair belonged to Liu Biao; the empty, indifferent pair belonged to Gongsun Zan; and the bloodshot, pain-filled pair belonged to Yuan Shao.

Cao Cao grinned, his jaws wide and gaping, the slits extending straight to his ears. Countless eyes simultaneously narrowed, squeezing out an utterly maniacal smile.

When he spoke, his voice no longer sounded human; it was a mixture of hoarseness and a deep roar.

"Xuande...you are the person I've ever met who praises me the most. Your praise makes me feel like I'm in heaven, I'm so happy!"

"So, whether you agree or not, you have to join us!"

Liu Bei's heart trembled violently. A chill ran from the soles of his feet to the top of his head, and for a moment, he almost couldn't control his instinct to run away.

But he remained rooted to the spot. He quickly gleaned a crucial piece of information from Cao Cao's words: Cao Cao should not be praised too highly, and his limits should not be repeatedly challenged.

The great law in the new Three Kingdoms, "things don't happen more than three times," also applies to this world of strange and unpredictable rules.

When praised for the first time, Cao Cao blushed slightly, like a young girl in love.

During the second round of flattery, his face flushed and his voice trembled, like that of a newlywed.

The third time he was flattered, he was in ecstasy, completely bewitched. That's the power of the "third time's the charm."

Liu Bei sighed inwardly. Why hadn't he thought of that sooner? It was too late for regrets!

He closed his eyes slightly, waiting for Cao Cao to make his move.

Just then, a loud shout, like a thunderclap, shattered the frozen air.

"You bastard surnamed Cao! Don't you dare be disrespectful to my elder brother! I'll make sure your Grandpa Zhang pokes a thousand holes in you!"