Chapter 8: The Blazing Vermilion Bird Pavilion

  Yuan Shao stood by and quietly watched Liu Bei's performance, not only did he not stop him, but he also found it somewhat amusing.

  Liu Bian thought what he could roughly guess. He felt that Liu Bian was very childish, and at the same time felt that Dong Zhuo was very foolish, falling into Liu Bian's trap without knowing it, and still being self-satisfied. However, this is also good, the talents under Dong Zhuo were poached by Liu Bian, and the troops under him were divided in two, stationed inside and outside the city, and it will be easier to clean up later.

  So he was delighted to see Liu Bian's actions succeed.

  Not long after, Zhang Xiu and Jia Xu walked in shoulder to shoulder and fell to the ground before Liu Bian. Zhang Xiu was about thirty years old, tall and strong, with a dark complexion and an air of heroism. At this moment, his face was slightly red, and he was excited. Jia Xu looked older than him, with a medium build and a calm expression, not like Zhang Xiu who showed his emotions on his face. However, taking the opportunity to stand up, he glanced at the emperor and immediately lowered his eyelids.

  Just this glance exposed his emotions. He couldn't help but be excited, he couldn't help but be thrilled. From the Son of Heaven's eyes, he saw hope, saw the hope he had been longing for.

  Jia Xu was already over 40 years old and had been recommended as a filial and incorruptible official, serving as a lang officer in Luoyang for several years. However, he was from a humble background in Liangzhou and had no one to recommend him, so he was unable to get promoted. Helpless, he returned to Liangzhou and ended up under Dong Zhuo's command. This time following Dong Zhuo into the capital, he thought it might be an opportunity, but didn't dare to have too much hope. Having spent several years in Luoyang, he deeply knew how people from Liangzhou were despised.

  Last night, by the Yellow River, he blended into the crowd and took a distant glance at Liu Bian. He didn't see Liu Bian's face clearly, but he felt that kind of majestic aura as if ruling over the world, and for a moment, he was somewhat stirred up. However, this excitement soon dissipated because it had nothing to do with him.

  He never expected that the surprise would come so soon, and the emperor called his name. When he heard this news, he was stunned. He couldn't understand how the emperor knew his name. When he was in Luoyang, the emperor was still young, and had a confused expression, and the two hadn't even met before.

  Could it be that the previous emperor knew of my abilities and told the Heavenly Master before his death?

  For a moment, Jia Yu's emotions surged, although he didn't show it, but he was clear that this might be the best opportunity in his life. If he couldn't grasp it tightly, he would feel guilty towards the ancestors of the Jia family, guilty towards Yan Zhong who appreciated him, and possibly even guilty towards the late emperor.

  Jia Xu thought so, and Zhang Huai was even more so. Although Zhang Huai had a good martial art, he hadn't read any books before, let alone seen the emperor, he hadn't even seen Luoyang City. Last night was his first time seeing the Son of Heaven, observing the imperial majesty, even if it was just a glance from afar in the crowd, he already felt extremely excited.

  Jia Xu and Zhang Xiu were excited, Dong Zhuo was also excited. He immediately ordered the deployment of 500 elite cavalrymen to Jia Xu and Zhang Xiu for command, escorting the Emperor back to the palace. He himself led a thousand elite cavalry into the city, and the remaining cavalry was handed over to his son-in-law Niu Fu, stationed at Pingle Temple waiting for orders.

  Yuan Shao listened and secretly sneered. He immediately called someone over, whispered a few words to him, and that person nodded after hearing them, then hastily left.

  ……

  Yuan's Mansion

  Tai Fu Yuan Wei sat on the couch, his wife Ma Lun sat opposite him, neither of them spoke, their eyelids drooping, silent and speechless.

  They had just received news from Yuan Shao's envoy and learned about the events at Ping Le Temple. Yuan Wei was somewhat surprised, but only slightly so.

  "Who would have thought that Dong Zhuo would be deceived by a child? I really don't know what he's been doing in Liangzhou all these years." Yuan Wei raised his head and glanced at Ma Lun: "Could it be Lu Ziguan's (Lu Zhi) idea?"

  Ma Lun smiled silently: "It's not impossible, this younger brother of mine wants to assist the emperor and revive the imperial court."

  "What a pity." Yuan Wei said two words and stopped there.

  Ma Lun nodded: "It's a bit of a pity."

  After a moment, Yuan Yi stood up and lightly shook his sleeves: "Since that's the case, I'll go see for myself what kind of majesty the Emperor has, to be able to suppress even Benchu (Yuan Shao). After preparing for so many years, we can't afford to make any mistakes."

  "What kind of trouble can he cause?" Malan also stood up, helping Yuan Wei to tidy his clothes and picking off a white hair from his shoulder: "Think back to the old days, when the previous emperor set such a big trap for us. Weren't we able to dissolve it into nothingness? After all that hard work, didn't we end up benefiting from it instead? What can this child emperor do to us? Let him make trouble, the more he makes, the easier it is for us to get things done."

  "I just want to start and end well." Yuan Wei nodded slightly, raised his head, and slightly hooked the corner of his mouth: "The efforts of several generations will finally be fulfilled. To have experienced such a great change, I can die with my eyes closed."

  "What a pity..." Malun's face fell: "I wasn't able to leave any descendants for you, and instead benefited others."

  Yuan Wei's eyebrows twitched, and he fell silent for a moment. He reached out to grasp Ma Lun's hand: "Life is often not as one wishes, eight or nine times out of ten. Why must you take it to heart? As long as they are descendants of the Yuan family, whoever it is makes no difference."

  "That being said..."

  Yuan Wei raised his hand, gently covering Ma Lun's lips, shook his head, and signaled to Ma Lun not to say anything more. Ma Lun's eyes reddened, and he buried his face in Yuan Wei's chest.

  ……

  Under the protection of Zhang Hua and Jia Xuan's 500 elite Western Liang cavalry, Liu Bian returned to Luoyang City with Lu Zhi and others leading the way. Walking through the long streets, standing in front of the charred Zhuque Platform, he looked up at it for a long time without saying anything, his eyes somewhat complex.

  The highest point of Luoyang City, the symbol of the imperial palace, was actually burned down by someone with a fire?

  An official stepped forward and said loudly: "Your Majesty, hurry back to the palace, the officials are still waiting in the hall to see you..."

  Liu Bian had originally not wanted to ask about this matter, and only wanted to hurry back to the palace to take a look at the Dongguan Lantai library to see if there were any relevant materials. But when he heard this minister's obviously biased words, he couldn't help but get angry. He interrupted the minister, without even looking him in the eye: "Who is in charge here? Who set the fire?"

  Everyone understood the emperor's intention and fell silent one by one, as if Liu Xuan was thin air.

  Liu's eyebrows rose, and he said slowly: "Not understanding one's duties is dereliction of duty. Doing something but not daring to acknowledge it is cowardice. If the officials of Great Han are derelict in their duties and cowardly, whose responsibility is it?"

  Yuan Shu raised an eyebrow and stepped forward, saying in a loud voice: "Your Majesty, I was the one who set fire to Zhuque Temple."

  Yuan Shao became worried about Yuan Shu as soon as he heard Liu Bei's words. He had wanted to hold back Yuan Shu, but hesitated and withdrew his hand, watching as Yuan Shu walked up to the Emperor and loudly replied.

  "What kind of enemy is it that makes you so anxious, to the point where burning Zhuque Gate is necessary to defend against them?" Liu Bian remained calm and composed, unhurried and unworried, patiently guiding Yuan Shu step by step into the trap. "A few eunuchs don't seem enough to warrant this, could there be Yellow Turbans inside the city?"

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