New Three Kingdoms Tales: Starting as the expressionless Liu Bei

Since we can't say it out loud, we can only follow the original text.

Liu Bei remained expressionless, his gaze fixed on the floor, and spoke.

"Liu Bei was a member of the Han imperial family, the son of Emperor Jing, and a descendant of Liu Sheng, the Prince of Zhongshan."

Upon hearing this, the princes present immediately jumped out and began to mock him in unison.

"impossible!"

"It's fake! It must be an imposter!"

Listening to the cacophony from below the stage, Liu Bei had a strange feeling that he was seeing a crooked-mouthed dragon king.

Come to think of it, the new Three Kingdoms series coincided with the rise of these kinds of light novels.

The harsher he's criticized now, the more he'll swoon when Guan Yu slays Hua Xiong.

Liu Bei understood this principle well, and he was not annoyed by the taunts of the other lords. He maintained his expressionless face and waited for Yuan Shao to ask a question.

Upon hearing that Liu Bei was a member of the Han imperial family, Yuan Shao was slightly surprised and continued to press for details.

"May I ask where you come from?"

Liu Bei, still staring at the floor, replied.

"Bei lived in the countryside for generations, without any noble title, and made a living by weaving mats and selling shoes."

"My second brother, Guan Yu, is from Jieliang in Hedong. He makes a living by guarding gates and protecting houses."

"My third brother, Zhang Fei, was from Zhuozhou, Hebei. He made his living by selling wine and slaughtering pigs."

Upon hearing this, Han Fu snorted coldly and sneered.

"One is a mat weaver and a shoe seller, one is a gatekeeper and a guard, and the other is a butcher and a wine seller. How laughable are these three brutes, daring to speak so arrogantly here!"

Zhang Fei's expression changed drastically. He tilted his spear, ready to kill Han Fu, but Guan Yu stopped him. Guan Yu whispered "Third Brother," temporarily suppressing Zhang Fei's anger.

Upon hearing Han Fu's words, the surrounding feudal lords all burst into laughter.

Cao Cao chuckled twice and stepped in to smooth things over.

"Cao believed that a descendant of an emperor, in front of a large audience and all the heroes of the world, could..."

"To speak of weaving mats, selling shoes, selling wine, and slaughtering pigs with such composure shows that this person has an extraordinary mind."

The surrounding feudal lords, upon hearing this, all nodded in agreement.

"That's right!"

"Mengde is absolutely right!"

Liu Bei sneered inwardly. Just moments before, these warlords had been mocking him, but the moment Cao Cao spoke, their attitude completely changed. They were nothing but a bunch of sycophants.

On second thought, this is, after all, a world of strange and unpredictable rules. Could the feudal lords' reactions be related to Cao Cao's bizarre conditions?

Yuan Shao coughed twice, and the surrounding chatter ceased abruptly. He continued to ask.

"Liu Bei, what is the purpose of your visit?"

Liu Bei clasped his hands in a salute, paused briefly, and then, still staring at the floor, began to speak.

"Having heard that Yuan Shao has sent letters throughout the country to gather righteous men to punish the traitors, I have come here specifically to join the alliance."

Yuan Shao was taken aback upon hearing this, looking slightly surprised.

"Oh? How many men do you have?"

Liu Bei chuckled inwardly. The 20,000-strong army was readily available, but unfortunately, they were currently just three empty troops. Once his second and third brothers transformed, wouldn't that be a genuine 20,000-strong army?

Of course, this is just something to think about in your mind; in reality, you still have to follow the script.

"Including myself, there are three of us, riding three horses."

Han Fu was stunned for a moment, then burst into a shrill laugh.

"Hahaha! Are you kidding me? The eighteen warlords of my region each command at least four thousand men!"

"Three mere people dare to come to this alliance meeting?"

Liu Bei glanced at Han Fu, thinking to himself, "This guy talks too much nonsense. Wait till my second brother cuts off Hua Xiong's dog head, then let's see if you're still laughing."

Despite his thoughts, he still bowed respectfully and spoke.

"To uphold the Han dynasty, loyalty and righteousness come first; it does not depend on the number of people."

Yuan Shao was a kind man after all. Seeing that Liu Bei was both a classmate and brother of Gongsun Zan and claimed to be a member of the Han imperial family, he ordered someone to give him a seat at the very end.

After Liu Bei took his seat, his gaze fell on the floor again, only to be surprised to find lines of black characters appearing on it.

The first line reads: Strange Tales of Chenliu City Rules, Part Two.

Oh? There's a second one.

Liu Bei pondered for a moment. But upon reflection, it made sense. The previous rule for Chenliu City only had two rules, but given the importance of the Chenliu City storyline, there must be more than just that one rule.

He steadied himself and continued reading.

[Rule 1: The eighteen warlords appear to be united in their campaign against Dong Zhuo, but apart from Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu, the other sixteen are all rebels.]

No matter how outrageous the traitorous remarks you hear, remain unfazed and maintain your facade.

Rule 2: Cao Cao's authority is beyond question.

You must agree with whatever Cao Cao says; you must do whatever Cao Cao orders you to do.

[Rule 3: The condition for Cao Cao to become enigmatic is that his authority is trampled upon and questioned.]

[Rule 4: Cao Cao's wine is poisonous; drinking it will weaken you. Do not drink it.]

Rule 5: One of the above rules is false.

I rub!

The first point was alright. But upon seeing the second point, Liu Bei's mental defenses completely crumbled.

No wonder the guards at the city gate were so respectful and obsequious to Cao Cao.

No wonder those warlords acted like a group of professional straight men after listening to Cao Cao's words.

It turns out that you can't help but praise them.

Liu Bei cursed inwardly: What kind of ridiculous rules are these? If Cao Cao ordered him to commit suicide, was he really going to hold the sword to his own neck?

As for the fourth point, it is mostly related to the story of killing Hua Xiong while the wine was still warm.

Liu Bei's gaze swept back and forth between the second and fourth rules twice, and he had already made up his mind.

He had read the script and knew that Cao Cao would next offer Guan Yu a cup of warm wine. If Guan Yu drank this poisoned wine and became weak, he might be in serious trouble if he couldn't defeat Hua Xiong.

Although he himself wouldn't die due to the influence of the soul chain, Zhang Fei was still bound to Guan Yu's chain. Losing one of his right arms would severely weaken him.

Back when he first transmigrated, he was genuinely a little intimidated by the bizarre transformations of Guan Yu and Zhang Fei.

But things are different now. He holds the trump card of committing suicide, which he can use to coerce the two into obeying him at any time.

Moreover, these two, after their transformation, possessed combat power comparable to an army of ten thousand; he truly couldn't bear to give them up for nothing.

Therefore, he absolutely must not let Guan Yu touch this cup of poisoned wine.

The last rule, however, plunged him into deep thought.

Rule 5: One of the above rules is false.

It is obvious that the second and fourth statements contradict each other, and the false statement must be hidden between the two.

If the second condition was followed, and Guan Yu unconditionally obeyed Cao Cao, he would have to drink poison, and would most likely have been unable to defeat Hua Xiong, leading to Zhang Fei's death as a result.

If the fourth rule is followed, openly refusing to drink would be a trampling on Cao Cao's authority, triggering his erratic behavior, and the consequences would be equally unimaginable.

Liu Bei quickly went through the deductions in his mind and became increasingly certain: the second rule was false. To be precise, it was not entirely true.

He suddenly recalled the obsequiousness of the guards at the city gate and the flattery of the princes in their tents; those images instantly strung together to form a complete chain of evidence.

The statement, "You must agree with whatever Cao Cao says," is absolutely true.

The statement, "Whatever Cao Cao orders you to do, you must do it," is false.

He could simply nod in agreement with what Cao Cao said. But when Cao Cao asked him to do something, he had to think it through first. Blindly throwing his life away was foolish; selective obedience was the way to survive.

Having figured this out, Liu Bei suddenly understood, realizing it was truly a delicate matter of deduction.

If that's the case, then it's Yuan Shu's turn next. According to the plot, this guy will soon be questioning Cao Cao. Liu Bei bears the heavy responsibility of protecting the Yuan brothers and cannot stand idly by while Yuan Shu steps on this landmine.

How should he remind him? Liu Bei's gaze swept over the crowd, and he already had a plan in mind.