Chapter 4: Dragon's Dream

  Lu Zhi looked at it for half a day, bewildered and shook his head: "Your humble servant is shallow and untalented, I don't know what this thing is."

  Liu Bian was getting anxious and pointed at the stone ball, saying "This is a lifesaving secret, how can you not know?" "Lu Qing, with your vast knowledge, how could you not know what this is?"

  Lu Zhi looked embarrassed: "My learning is in the Three Rites, and I have a superficial knowledge of various subjects."

  "Who understands this blog... thing?"

  Lu Zhi thought for a moment: "There is one person who should know, but he's not in Luoyang."

  "Who?"

  Cai Yong

  Liu Bian was speechless. Memories of two lifetimes flooded his mind. Cai Yong was indeed not in Luoyang, he had been demoted to Shuofang by Emperor Ling more than ten years ago, and later angered the governor of Shuofang, Wang Zhi, and had been drifting around for over a decade, now he should be in Jiangdong, it seemed that he had also taken on an apprentice named Gu Yong.

  Then let's wait a bit longer, first solve the crisis in Luoyang and then talk about it. If life is not guaranteed, there is no point in talking about tasks.

  "Lu Qing, now that things have come to this point, what should be done about it?"

  Lu Zhi also felt a bit down. He stood up: "Your Majesty, please rest first and don't go out. There is Min Gong guarding outside, I'll go and come back."

  "Where is Lu Qing going?" Liu Bian asked. Lu Zhi was his backbone, and if Lu Zhi left, what would happen if something went wrong? Min Gong had no fighting power at all in front of Dong Zhuo, and only Lu Zhi, a great Confucian scholar, could barely talk to Dong Zhuo.

  "Your Majesty, I will go and ask one person." Lu Zhi said: "Only this person can clean up the current mess."

  Liu Bian's heart was filled with joy: "Who is it again?"

  "Tai Zhong Da Fu Yang Biao."

  Liu Bian suddenly realized. That's right, apart from Dong Zhuo, the biggest problem now is Yuan Shao brothers. The Yuan Shao brothers not only have troops but also have great appeal, and the four generations of three public officials of the Yuan family are all over the world, only the Hongnong Yang family can compete with them. If Yang Bi comes forward, maybe he can calm down the situation in Luoyang.

  ……

  Lu Zhi hurried away, and Liu Bian sat on the edge of the bed, but couldn't fall asleep. The past period was thrilling, he still hadn't come back to his senses, as if in a dream. He looked at the stone ball in his hand, then at his cut fingers, gritted his teeth, bit down, squeezed out a drop of blood, and gently dabbed it on the stone ball. Then, with both hands tightly hugging the stone ball, he held his breath.

  The blood bead rolled on the stone ball, like Liu Bian's restless and turbulent heart.

  No reaction at all.

  Under Liu Bian's increasingly desperate gaze, the blood beads slid off the stone ball and fell to the ground, seeping into the tiles, leaving only a faint dark red.

  Liu Bian cursed and threw the stone ball onto the bed with a swing of his hand.

  "Brother!" Liu Xie, who was sleeping on the bed, sat up and looked at Liu Bian nervously. They had arrived in a hurry, with many people, and there was no time to tidy up the room. Liu Bian didn't feel safe leaving Liu Xie alone, so he made him sleep together with himself. However, Empress Tang Ying couldn't stay with them and was arranged to stay next door. He thought Liu Xie had already fallen asleep, but unexpectedly, he was still awake. Just as Liu Bian was about to say it was nothing, the words reached his lips and he swallowed them back. He put on a smiling face, pulled Liu Xie into his arms, and asked warmly: "Xie, what is this thing you've been holding onto all along?"

  "I... don't know either."

  Liu Bian refused to give up and asked again: "Where did it come from?"

  Liu Xie lowered his head and said timidly: "Father... left it for me."

  Is that dead old man again? Liu Bian felt somewhat depressed. He knew that Emperor Ling liked Liu Xie and had always wanted to pass the throne to him, for which he fought with General-in-Chief He Jin for several years, but in the end, he was afraid and did not dare to do so. When he died, he was still resentful and entrusted Liu Xie to eunuchs such as Jian Shuo, asking them to continue their efforts and wait for an opportunity to support Liu Xie's ascension to the throne. However, he did not expect that after his death, He Jin would quickly eliminate Jian Shuo with the help of Yuan Shao and others. Now it is even better, Zhang Rang and others have also jumped into the Yellow River to feed the fish and shrimp, and Liu Xie has no helpers at all, a true lone commander, a lonely and helpless person.

  Historically, Emperor Xian of Han was able to ascend to the throne with the help of Dong Zhuo, now that he himself has become Emperor Xian, would Dong Zhuo still do such a thing?

  Liu Bian looked at Liu Xie, his eyes flickering. Liu Xie felt something and curled up into a ball. Liu Bian's heart softened, and he silently scolded himself. He didn't want to use his mind to deal with Dong Zhuo, why scare his younger brother? He was only nine years old, what did he understand? Later becoming the emperor wasn't even his wish.

  However, he still had grievances against the dead old man and refused to let go even in death. He actually left this treasure to his younger brother Liu Xie, without even knowing a shadow of himself.

  "What's the use of that?"

  Liu Xie bit his lip, raised his head and looked at Liu Bian. Liu Bian's eyes were warm and gentle, with a hint of pity. Liu Xie's mood relaxed, and he blurted out: "Emperor Father, there is a great secret inside, if we can crack this secret, we can revive the Great Han."

  It's indeed so! Liu Bian thought to himself, could it have something to do with the dragon? If that's the case, then the old man sending himself to this era isn't entirely implausible.

  "But I really don't know what this is, nor do I know what kind of secret it is."

  Liu Xie said pitifully, although he tried his best to remain calm, he still revealed his tension and unease. Liu Bian couldn't bear to press him anymore, patted his shoulder: "Sleep now, we'll talk about it later. This treasure, I'll keep it for you first, and return it to you when we get back to the palace. Alright?"

  Liu Xie nodded and obediently lay down, closing his eyes.

  ……

  Unconsciously, Liu Bian lay down in his clothes, with one hand holding his younger brother Liu Xie and the other embracing a stone ball.

  In his dream, he seemed to have returned to the 21st century and back to the laboratory. After finishing a day's work, he had the rare opportunity to walk on the ground, standing next to the building that was still under construction, looking at the dazzling number on the opening advertisement, calculating how long it would take him to save up for one square meter, when he could accumulate enough down payment, successfully become a housing slave, and then muster up the courage to ask the old man to let him marry his beloved granddaughter. Just as he was getting more and more desperate in his calculations, the sky suddenly changed color with dark clouds gathering, wind and rain approaching.

  He was flustered and scurried about, looking for a place to take shelter from the rain. Suddenly, a flash of lightning illuminated the entire sky, followed by a rumble of thunder. Just as he was about to cover his ears, he noticed that the lightning hadn't dissipated, but instead transformed into a giant dragon, flying back and forth between heaven and earth.

  He stared with wide eyes at the distant lightning flashing in the sky, his mouth agape.

  Dragon?

  At this time, the thunderstorm rushed to his ears, and the rumbling sound shocked him. He was surprised to find that there seemed to be someone speaking in the thunder.

  "A foolish thing, possessing all under heaven, with a vast mansion of ten thousand rooms, why must you be infatuated with just one small plot of land? With a multitude of beautiful people, why must you be infatuated with just one ordinary object?"

  "Who?" Liu Bian was startled and suddenly sat up, vigilantly looking around.

  There was no billboard in front of him, nor any dark clouds. What entered his eyes was still that ancient-colored room. He was still in the Han Dynasty, still at Ping Le Yuan. Everything was exactly the same as before he fell asleep, except for one more person standing by the door.

  "Your Majesty's tiger-like guards and King Yue have arrived late to rescue you, I beg Your Majesty to forgive their crime."