New Three Kingdoms Tales: Starting as the expressionless Liu Bei

Rule 1: Your ancestor was Qin Shi Huang. Don't mistake your ancestor for someone else, or your ancestor in heaven will be very angry.

[Rule 2: During the worship, please maintain a blank expression. If you violate this rule, 50,000 axemen will emerge from the ground and chop you into mincemeat on the spot.]

If you believe your martial arts skills are unparalleled, you are welcome to give it a try.

Upon entering the ancestral temple, Liu Bei discovered this note.

He almost lost his composure after just one glance at the first rule.

Where did he come from? Is this the new Three Kingdoms or the Chu-Han Contention? His late father, Liu Bei, was actually Qin Shi Huang? Who would dare to imagine that?

But then he remembered.

In the original drama, it seems that Liu Bei was bowing to Qin Shi Huang in this scene.

Back then, he would sit in front of the screen and laugh at the characters in the show, saying that they could even mistake their ancestors, and that no matter how much they worshipped, they could never worship Ying Zheng.

Unexpectedly, the slap in the face came so quickly; today, it is he himself who is kneeling here.

Thinking of this, his hand suddenly froze, and an inexplicable chill slowly crept up his spine.

Before he transmigrated, he scoffed at the behavior of the new Liu Bei: his expressionless face was infuriating; he stared down at the floor, pretending to be profound; and his worship of Qin Shi Huang was utterly ridiculous.

But after he traveled through time, he actually did everything exactly as instructed.

Why must I always maintain a blank expression? Because of the rules.

Why look down at the floor? Because the rules will emerge from the floor.

Why should we kneel before this First Emperor who swept across the land? Because the rules state that his predecessor was Qin Shi Huang.

An immense sense of destiny pressed down on him like a mountain, pinning him firmly to the spot.

His lips were slightly parted, his throat was dry, and his fingertips were icy cold.

All of this seemed to have been preordained.

Just then, Zhang Fei shouted at the top of his lungs:

"Brother, how long are you going to keep bowing? I haven't even paid respects to my ancestors yet! If we keep dawdling, we'll miss Sun Jian's victory banquet! Those bastards will snatch all the wine, and the three of us will be starving!"

Liu Bei snapped out of his reverie, temporarily suppressing these distracting thoughts, and turned to look at Zhang Fei, asking expressionlessly, "Third brother, do you also have ancestors to worship?"

Zhang Fei chuckled, didn't reply, and bent down to search through the pile of charred ruins.

He shoved the rubble aside with his thick fingers, and soon he actually pulled out a pitch-black portrait from the ruins.

The man in the painting is broad-shouldered and burly, with a full beard that stands on end, and his expression bears a striking resemblance to Zhang Fei.

Liu Bei looked closely and was somewhat surprised. The person in the painting was actually Fan Kuai. His surprise didn't show on his face; he simply raised an eyebrow slightly.

Zhang Fei placed Fan Kuai's portrait neatly on the pile of rubble on the other side, knelt down, took a wine flask from his waist, unscrewed the lid, and slowly poured the amber-colored wine onto the ground.

He clasped his hands together, looked up at the portrait, and said in a simple voice:

"Ancestor, I, Zhang Fei, have come to pay my respects. Knowing you enjoy this, I specially brought some century-old fine wine from Pei Kingdom. I hope you will drink a few more cups in heaven and bless me, Zhang Fei, to live a few more years. I also wish to enjoy a few more jars of fine wine in this world."

Liu Bei stood aside, a sense of helplessness welling up inside him. Zhang Yide, within three sentences, would inevitably mention the word "wine."

He turned his gaze to Guan Yu, only to find that Guan Yu was also facing away from them, seemingly worshipping something.

Liu Bei's curiosity was piqued, so he stepped behind Guan Yu, leaned over, and asked, "Second brother, what are you praying for?"

Guan Yu did not turn around, but slowly stood up, stepped aside to let the portrait pass, and said calmly and frankly, "Brother, I am paying homage to Guan Gong."

Liu Bei's gaze fell on the portrait, and his pupils suddenly contracted.

The man in the painting had a face as red as a jujube, lips as white as rouge, phoenix eyes, silkworm eyebrows, and a long beard that reached his chest. He wore a green robe and held a Green Dragon Crescent Blade. He was truly majestic and imposing.

The person in the painting was none other than Guan Yu himself. He was kneeling before him, worshipping him with a devout expression.

Liu Bei's lips twitched violently twice. An uncontrollable laugh surged up from deep within his chest and rushed to his throat.

He knew he couldn't stay in that temple for even a second longer. If he did, he would surely laugh out loud in front of fifty thousand executioners and then be chopped into a pile of minced meat.

He turned around abruptly, bit his tongue, and used the sharp pain to forcefully suppress his laughter.

Liu Bei walked out of the hall expressionlessly, but his pace was almost twice as fast as usual, as if something was chasing him.

"Second and third brothers, you two go ahead and pay your respects. I'm going to the banquet now, and I'll reserve two jars of wine for you."

As soon as he finished speaking, two muffled thuds came from behind him.

Zhang Fei shoved Fan Kuai's portrait back into the pile of charred ruins, and Guan Yu silently put down the portrait of himself that he was holding.

The two men brushed the dust off their knees, stood up in unison, and strode after Liu Bei.

We've decided to stop worshipping our ancestors and Guan Yu.

"Big brother, wait for us! What's the point of us bowing after you leave? Hehe..."

Zhang Fei grinned, his round eyes filled with longing for fine wine, a far cry from the simple and honest demeanor he had just displayed when kneeling before Fan Kuai's portrait and devoutly pouring wine.

The group had barely stepped out of the ancestral temple when they saw a disheveled, blood-soaked figure being supported by Cao Ren, staggering towards them.

Cao Cao's hair was disheveled, his face was streaked with black and red, his battle robe was torn to shreds by a sharp blade, and blood was still seeping from the strip of cloth wrapped around his left arm.

"Brother Xuande, Brother Xuande!" He saw Liu Bei in the distance, broke free from Cao Ren's support, and almost pounced on him.

Liu Bei's mind instantly conjured up the scene that was about to unfold, but his face remained impassive. He clasped his hands in greeting and asked calmly, "Brother Mengde, what happened? Why do you look so disheveled?"

Cao Cao did not answer directly. Instead, he grabbed Liu Bei's wrist and, panting, asked, "Brother Xuande, let me ask you, where is Yuan Shao?"

Liu Bei took the wine flask that Zhang Fei always carried from his waist and handed it to Cao Cao, replying unhurriedly, "I heard that they are currently holding a banquet in Changle Palace to celebrate Sun Wentai's victory."

Cao Cao snatched the wine pot and took a big gulp.

Wine mixed with blood dripped from the corner of his mouth, but he didn't bother to wipe it away; his voice was hoarse with anger.

"I led seven thousand elite cavalry in a night-long pursuit of Dong Zhuo, but who would have thought we'd be ambushed by that scoundrel Lü Bu at Xingyang!"

"My troops suffered heavy casualties, their bodies strewn across the battlefield. If Cao Ang hadn't given me his warhorse, I, Cao Cao, would already be beheaded in that chaotic army today!"

When he said the name "Cao Ang," his throat tightened, and the veins on his hand gripping the wine pot bulged.

Liu Bei frowned slightly, a doubt arising in his mind.

According to the plot of the new 3rd, wasn't Lü Bu supposed to be traveling and having romance with Diao Chan? How could he possibly be in two places at Xingyang to ambush Cao Cao?

This question had lingered in his mind for a while, and now was the perfect opportunity to find out. So he asked calmly:

"Brother Mengde, I recently received a secret report from the front lines. It seems that the person who ambushed you was not Lü Bu. The real culprit is probably someone else."

Cao Cao shook his head, his teeth grinding together, and squeezed out each word slowly and deliberately:

"No, it was Lü Bu. That damned scoundrel, I don't know when he learned the art of splitting his three souls. He separated his earth soul from his body and transformed it into another Lü Bu, who ambushed my army in Xingyang."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Fei became interested, leaned forward, stared with his large, round eyes, and asked bluntly, "Hey, General Cao, how did you know about this?"

Cao Cao glanced at him irritably, shoved the wine jug into Zhang Fei's arms, and said coldly, "At that time, Lü Bu and Diao Chan were embracing and kissing each other on the grass by the stream, and my general saw it all clearly."

Upon hearing this, Liu Bei thought to himself, "That's not surprising, that's not surprising."

Lu Bu and Diao Chan were whispering secrets on the grass, triggering that damned eavesdropping rule. Cao Cao's general happened to be reassigned as an eavesdropper and overheard everything.

It is reasonable and fits perfectly.

After explaining the reasons, Cao Cao suddenly suppressed his anger, fixed his bloodshot eyes on Liu Bei, and his tone became abruptly serious:

"Xuande, would you be willing to come with me to see Yuan Shao?"