New Three Kingdoms Tales: Starting as the expressionless Liu Bei

As soon as the court session ended, before all the officials had dispersed, Li Ru impatiently approached Dong Zhuo, clasped his hands in remonstrance, and said:

"Your Majesty, I dare to suggest that you return Diao Chan to Lü Bu!"

Dong Zhuo paused, turned his head, and looked him up and down with his turbid eyes.

Li Ru quickly bowed even lower and explained in rapid succession:

"Prime Minister, consider this: the world is still unsettled, and various warlords are eyeing us covetously. We still need our soldiers to fight to the death. If we wish to achieve hegemony, we must win over Lü Bu!"

"Let him gallop across the battlefield for you, conquering cities and seizing territories, a single rider capable of taking on a thousand men. Only in this way can the Prime Minister's empire be as impregnable as a rock!"

Dong Zhuo nodded thoughtfully, stroking his beard, a rare clarity flashing in his eyes.

Li Ru was delighted to see this, thinking that the old man had finally listened to him. He was about to press his advantage and add a few more words when he saw Dong Zhuo slowly shake his head again.

"Alas, how could we not know all this?" He sighed deeply, and a rare hint of conflict and reluctance appeared on his fleshy face.

"But Diao Chan is a rare beauty, a life-extending wonder that comes along only once in a century. We've lived to be this old, and gold, silver, jewels, high-ranking positions and generous salaries are nothing to us anymore."

"The only thing I can't bear to part with is the endless supply of fine wine in the palace."

He smacked his lips, as if savoring the lingering aroma of wine on his tongue from the previous night.

"That's why we need Diao Chan to prolong our lives. Only with prolonged life can we drink for a few more years. We can't bear to part with her, we really can't bear to!"

Li Ru stood there, feeling a lump in his throat, unable to breathe.

What else could Dong Zhuo possibly have in his head besides drinking?

Although Li Ru also enjoys this kind of thing, he believes he can distinguish between important and trivial matters.

He gritted his teeth, cupped his hands in greeting again, and spoke in a more urgent tone than before:

"Your Majesty, I implore you to reconsider! If Lü Bu, out of anger and resentment, were to defect to another warlord, it would be extremely detrimental to you!"

"Prime Minister, you know best that Lü Bu is a match for 100,000 men, capable of fighting a thousand men single-handedly. If he were to be used by someone else, the consequences would be..."

Dong Zhuo's face suddenly darkened, and he waved his hand impatiently, as if shooing away a noisy fly:

"Impossible! We've treated Lü Bu well, and he's been utterly loyal to us. How could he betray us for a mere woman?"

Seeing that Dong Zhuoyue was becoming increasingly stubborn, Li Ru steeled himself, stroked his few strands of black beard, and loudly retorted, "May I ask, Prime Minister, how did Ding Yuan die?"

He paused, deliberately letting the words linger in the air for a moment, before continuing, word by word.

"On that day, the Prime Minister only used the Red Hare horse to win over Lü Bu and bring him to his side. In the past, he personally killed his adoptive father Ding Yuan for a mount."

"Now, for the sake of his 'mount,' he might abandon the prime minister. At that point, the tide will be turned!"

These words were like a bucket of cold water, splashed squarely on Dong Zhuo's heart.

He paused, his pupils contracting slightly. After a long silence, he slowly nodded and spoke with some difficulty:

"What you said... isn't entirely unreasonable. But, we really can't bear to part with Diao Chan."

Suddenly, as if he had thought of something brilliant, his eyes lit up, and he leaned closer to Li Ru and whispered something.

"How about this: during the day, let Diaochan stay in Mei'wu to prolong our lives. At night, let her serve Lü Bu."

"If that doesn't work, let Lü Bu move to Mei'wu, and the three of us can sleep together. We're all family, why be so formal?"

Li Ru stared blankly at the prime minister before him, whose thought process was different from that of ordinary people, and the last bit of hope in his heart was completely extinguished.

He cupped his hands in greeting, said he had important matters to attend to, and then took his leave.

He stepped out of the palace gate, paused slightly, but instead of heading towards the Grand Minister's residence, he turned a corner and walked straight towards Wang Yun's house.

Not long after, Dong Zhuo returned to Mei Wu.

He tiptoed to Diao Chan's door, but instead of barging in as usual, he quietly brought his face close to the door.

Last time, Diao Chan didn't notice the angle of the bronze mirror and that's why she didn't see Lü Bu standing behind her.

This time she learned her lesson and made sure to place the bronze mirror properly on the dressing table.

As she was combing her long hair, she suddenly noticed a pair of cloudy eyes reflected in the bronze mirror, staring intently at her without moving.

Diao Chan's heart clenched suddenly, and a layer of cold sweat instantly seeped out from her back.

But she was a seasoned actress after all; she only paused for a moment before quickly regaining her composure, pretending not to have seen anything, and continued combing her hair at a leisurely pace, muttering to herself:

"I wonder when the Prime Minister will return. I miss him terribly..."

The pair of eyes outside the door blinked, and then the sound of the door being pushed open rang out.

Dong Zhuo strode in with a grin, his fat face brimming with undisguised smugness.

Diao Chan turned around upon hearing the voice, feigning surprise, and quickly rose to give Dong Zhuo a graceful bow: "This humble woman, Diao Chan, greets the Prime Minister."

Dong Zhuo grabbed her slender waist and pulled her into his arms, laughing loudly:

"My darling, once we're outside Mei'wu, you can call me Prime Minister, and I won't argue with you. But here in Mei'wu, what should you call me?"

Diao Chan's face flushed instantly. She lowered her eyes, and the blush on her cheeks looked like she was genuinely shy.

Her lips moved slightly, and she uttered two words in a voice as soft as a mosquito's buzz: "Husband~"

Dong Zhuo threw his head back and laughed loudly, the sound echoing throughout the room.

But as he was laughing, his gaze suddenly fell on the bronze mirror, and the smile on his face gradually froze.

He pushed Diao Chan away from his embrace slightly, his cloudy eyes staring straight at her, his voice suddenly turning cold:

"My darling, when you were doing your hair in front of the bronze mirror just now, you saw me all along, didn't you? So all those words you just said were just to lie to me, weren't they!"

He became more and more agitated as he spoke, his voice growing louder and louder. His turbid pupils began to turn crimson inch by inch, and a sinister black aura of death began to surge from his entire body.

He's going through a bizarre transformation!

Dong Zhuo stared intently at Diao Chan, muttering under his breath, his voice twisted with pain: "Why, why did you all have to lie to me?"

Diao Chan's heart leaped into her throat, and cold sweat poured down her back.

Her legs buckled, and she collapsed to her knees with a thud, her voice trembling with fear:

"My daughter would never dare to deceive the Prime Minister! Her feelings for you are entirely sincere, without the slightest falsehood!"

Dong Zhuo chuckled. The black aura swirling around him slowly receded into his body like a receding tide, and his scarlet pupils returned to their murky color.

He reached out and pulled Diao Chan up from the ground, his face once again displaying that eerie smile, as if he were coaxing a frightened kitten:

"My intelligence is exceptional. You just stay put and don't try anything funny. Once I become emperor, you'll be the Empress Dowager, and you'll have whatever you want. Do you understand?"

He stretched out his rough, large hands and gently placed them on Diao Chan's small hands, slowly caressing them.

Diao Chan's body stiffened involuntarily, but she dared not make any move to resist.

Seeing this, Dong Zhuo became even bolder, grabbing Diao Chan and playing with her for a while before letting out a long sigh, his voice carrying a barely perceptible hint of weariness and reluctance:

"My darling, there's something we need to tell you."

Diao Chan was held in his arms, and asked softly, "Please speak, Prime Minister."

Dong Zhuo opened his mouth, then closed it again, his fat face showing an expression as if he had swallowed a bitter pill and couldn't utter a word.

He struggled for a while before managing to squeeze out a few words from his throat: "Lu Bu, he wants you."

Ta-da!

A surge of joy welled up in Diao Chan's heart, but Wang Yun's cold face and the words "chain scheme" instantly flashed before her eyes again.

She pinched herself secretly, telling herself to stay calm.

Dong Zhuo didn't notice her momentary wavering; she simply continued to look down at him, her tone full of difficulty:

"Although Lü Bu is our adopted son and the bravest man in the world, after much thought, we think that you two would make a perfect match."

"If Lü Bu gets you, he'll be like a fish in water, inseparable, and will definitely be even more devoted to us."

He paused, then turned his gaze back to Diao Chan's face and asked cautiously.

"Look, here's our plan: you'll come to Mei'wu during the day to prolong our lives. At night, you'll serve Lü Bu. What do you think?"

Diao Chan's eyes instantly reddened. She bit her lip, tears welling in her eyes, her voice filled with grievance and stubbornness:

"Prime Minister, what have I done wrong? Why do you toss me around like an object? Don't I have any human rights?"

"In this life, my heart holds only the Prime Minister. If the Prime Minister insists on doing this, then I am willing to commit suicide right now!"

Before she finished speaking, she suddenly reached out and pulled out the sword from Dong Zhuo's waist. With a flick of her wrist, she swung it towards her own neck.

Dong Zhuo was terrified. He quickly grabbed her wrist with his large hands and forcefully snatched the sword from her neck.

The blade left a shallow bloodstain on her snow-white neck. He glanced at the bloodstain, his voice trembling with heartache:

"My darling! What are you doing! We can't bear to part with you either!"

He tossed the sword far away, let out a long sigh as if he had made a momentous decision, patted Diao Chan on the back, and said in a deep voice.

"Fine, fine. Since you're unwilling, then you can stay in Meiwu and not go anywhere else."

"We have our own ways of dealing with Lü Bu!"