Liu Bian at the start, so you're called Dong Zhuo, right?

Wang Ming bowed and left.

Before long, Liu Bian returned to Chengde Hall. He had just sat down at his desk when an announcement was made outside the hall:

"Wei Shuai Cao Cao—come to pay homage!"

Cao Cao bowed slightly:

"Your Highness."

Liu Bian skipped the pleasantries and went straight to the point:

"A year has passed, and Jizhou is like a stagnant pool."

What do you think?

Cao Cao was silent for a moment before saying:

"Jizhou...Taiping Road"

"Does Your Highness suspect the Way of Peace?"

Then, as if suddenly remembering something, his voice became even more steady:

"The stagnant water isn't that it's not flowing; it's just that someone upstream is blocking the flow."

Just as Liu Bian was about to speak, footsteps sounded outside the hall again.

Xun Yu has arrived.

He bowed upon entering the hall, performing the proper etiquette without appearing pedantic.

Liu Bian asked the same question again.

Xun Yu already knew that Liu Bian was investigating Ji Province and that he suspected the Taiping Dao.

He pondered for a moment, then looked up at Liu Bian:

"Your Highness, this is not a tent from Ji Province."

"It's the mouth of Luoyang."

Cao Cao glanced at him sideways, as if surprised, or perhaps in agreement.

Liu Bian stared at Xun Yu: "Go on."

Xun Yu said, "If there were truly chaos in Ji Province, the movement of goods would leave traces. Now there are no traces at all—there are only two possibilities."

"Or, Ji Province will truly be peaceful."

"Or, someone in Jizhou can erase the marks for it."

"And the one who could wipe away the marks so cleanly is not from Jizhou."

He looked up at Liu Bian, his voice even lower:

"By His Highness's side."

The hall fell into a deathly silence.

Cao Cao did not speak immediately, but his fingers had already unconsciously pressed on the scabbard.

Liu Bian smiled faintly, like a crack in ice.

Of course he knew.

He was the only one who knew "what would happen next".

"Mengde," Liu Bian began, "your men go to Ji Province."

Cao Cao replied, "On what grounds?"

"The Tian Chamber of Commerce will inspect prohibited items," Liu said.

"Bring them road permits, business registration certificates, and articles of association—make them follow the rules. Anyone who doesn't will be punished."

Xun Yu, however, added from the side, "We need to split into two teams."

"The overt team follows the rules, the covert team relies on popular support."

Cao Cao raised an eyebrow: "A hidden team?"

Xun Yu said, "Only if the visible team can get in can the hidden team be seen."

"What the visible team sees is what they are willing to let us see; what the hidden team sees is what they may be hiding."

Liu Bian nodded: "Approved."

He raised his hand and pushed another stack of papers on the table in front of the two of them—it was a copy of the articles of association of the Tian Chamber of Commerce, a sample of road signs, and a register of merchants.

"The second thing," Liu Bian's voice turned cold, "is that from this day forward, all official documents between the Crown Prince's Palace and the Heavenly Merchant Guild will only be processed through one 'true route'."

Cao Cao immediately understood: "I will go and make arrangements."

"The rectification isn't enough," Xun Yu said calmly. "We need to set a trap."

Cao Cao looked at Xun Yu: "Wenruo, what are your plans?"

Xun Yu calmly uttered two words: "Test your words."

"Whose mouth are we testing?" Cao Cao asked.

Xun Yu raised his eyes: "Let's test the waters in Luoyang."

He held up two fingers, as if holding two letters:

"His Highness has issued two orders."

"A decree was issued: Investigate sulfur and hemp cloth in Ji Province."

"A secret order: Investigate the salt routes and paper shops in Jizhou."

"They were sent out by different people and through different entry and exit routes."

"See which part of Jizhou is 'clean' in the end—whichever part is clean is the part that someone wiped beforehand."

A hint of interest flashed across Cao Cao's eyes:

"Good idea. As long as Jizhou takes action to 'wash', it will leave traces of the washing."

Liu Bian looked at the two men and slowly said, "The third thing—joint management."

Cao Cao frowned:

"Zhao Zhong's men are jointly managing the accounts; does Your Highness still intend to use him?"

"Use it," Liu Bian said, his tone unchanged. "The more we use it, the more we need to use it."

He turned to a certain page of the regulations and pointed his finger at the words "verification and signature":

"From this day forward, all accounts related to Jizhou, inspections of prohibited items, and sealing of road permits must be signed by the co-administering envoy."

Cao Cao's eyes lit up, and he immediately replied, "Make him bear the burden of the title."

Xun Yu nodded slightly: "Those who jointly manage the property sign their names, thus sharing the responsibility. If it is to be presented to His Majesty in the future, Your Highness need not argue—simply place the signatures before the Emperor."

Liu Bian said in a low voice, "Not in the future."

"Within a month, I need something that can overturn this stagnant pool."

He paused, a flash of coldness crossing his eyes:

"If someone in Luoyang really does deliver a message—I want him to do it faster and more urgently, so urgently that he'll show his claws."

Cao Cao clasped his hands in a fist and said, "Your subject obeys."

Xun Yu also cupped his hands in greeting: "Your subject also obeys the order."

The lights inside the hall cast the shadows of the three people, making them look like three knives stacked together.

-

After the two men left, Liu Bian did not get up immediately.

Two figures appeared in his mind along with Jizhou—

In history, the two people who were the first among the Ten Attendants to "pass out" were...

Feng Xu, Xu Feng.

But in this life, he changed the path, he took the money, and the Heavenly Chamber of Commerce stretched the old network too tight.

Even someone like Zhao Zhong might be forced to find another way to survive.

He is not afraid of strong opponents.

What he feared was that his rival would start working on the same road as Jizhou.

A breeze blew past the curtain, causing the lamplight to flicker.

Meanwhile, inside the palace, Cao Cao and Xun Yu walked side by side.

The two walked along the long corridor, the palace lanterns casting long shadows.

Cao Cao said in a low voice, "Wenruo just said 'testing the waters.' If this round succeeds, Your Highness will know who is delivering the message."

Xun Yu kept his eyes straight ahead and spoke calmly:

"Knowing is not enough."

Cao Cao glanced sideways: "Not enough?"

Xun Yu said calmly, "Knowing who it is, at most we can cut off one of their hands."

"What Your Highness wants is to find the 'heart' behind this hand—who gave it the courage, and who gave it the path."

Cao Cao smiled:

"You mean, more than one?"

Xun Yu neither nodded nor shook his head, but simply said:

"If there really is a fire in Jizhou, the ability to hide it for a year is not something that can be achieved with just words."

"It relies on—someone to shelter it from the wind."

Cao Cao paused, "Who is the one providing shelter?"

Xun Yu finally glanced at him:

"Once Ji Province makes a move, we'll know who's been protecting it."

"The more they rush to clean it, the more it resembles them writing their own names."

Cao Cao snorted lightly: "Then let them get anxious."

The night was deeper.

The lights were still on in the back hall of the Zhao residence.

After hearing his subordinate's report, Zhao Zhong slowly smiled.

"The Crown Prince wants to investigate Ji Province?"

"Oh."

He reached under the table and pulled out thin sheets of paper from a hidden compartment.

The documents on paper are not the bylaws, nor are they ledgers.

It is a name, a road, and a destination.

Zhao Zhong stared at those lines of text, a mixture of annoyance and pleasure gleaming in his eyes—

That year, he was pressured too much by the Crown Prince.

His money was tied up, his words were suppressed, and even the "joint management" was written into the regulations, as if he had been put in a cage with a legitimate name.

People trapped in cages always need to find a way to breathe.

He suddenly realized that if he wanted to stop the Crown Prince from moving forward, words alone were not enough, nor was impeachment.

We must let those sparks outside spread this fire to the crown prince.

Zhao Zhong gently folded the paper and handed it to his trusted aide beside him, speaking as if he were instructing him on something trivial:

"Send this letter to Feng Xu."

"He knows what to do."

"Here you are."

Zhao Zhong twirled the jade thumb ring twice, as if he were fiddling with a newly dropped piece of paper.

He himself didn't realize it—

From this moment on, he was no longer just a servant tasked with "preventing the crown prince from gaining power."

He began sending messages to Ji Province, using the "fire" of Ji Province to retaliate against the "rules" of the Eastern Palace.

He thought he was just leaving himself an extra way out.

Little did they know about this escape route—

In historical records, they are called "traitors".