Mythical Three Kingdoms

”I feel like I’ve stumbled upon something earth-shattering.”

Liu Ye’s expression was somewhat gloomy. Although as a member of the Liu imperial clan, he didn’t have much affection for the Imperial Family or even the Emperor, if his guesses were correct, then things were going to get quite interesting.

”There may be many unbelievable elements, but if I follow this train of thought, everything makes sense, and it would also explain why Li You’s experience is utterly abnormal.” Liu Ye couldn’t help but press his fingers to his temples. Reluctant as he was to believe it, he was now seventy percent certain that Li You was Li Ru.

”But on the other hand, Li You seems to be a decent person. Besides being somewhat reserved, his personality isn’t twisted. He isn’t the tyrant rumors make him out to be, and after spending some time with him, I’ve somewhat understood what he’s like, which means there were other reasons for the Young Emperor’s incident, right?” Liu Ye found himself spontaneously arguing in favor of Li You.

”Zichuan must be aware of this, but he hasn’t said a word, nor has he taken precautions. Does that mean Li You himself is harmless, and I’ve misjudged the person?” Liu Ye thought unwillingly.

”Perhaps it’s best not to tell Lord Xuande for now. With Mount Tai united as one, should I bring this matter up and create internal discord among our ranks, Yuan Benchu might seize the opportunity and cause serious problems. Moreover…” A fierce light flickered in Liu Ye’s eyes.

”What do I care if the Young Emperor lives or dies! I’m even contemplating dethroning Liu Xie to place Brother Xuande on the throne! Compared to that child Liu Xie, Brother Xuande is both talented and virtuous. His ascension would benefit all the people and me!”

Liu Ye rapidly reviewed all the details once more, decisively ignoring the fact that Li You was Li Ru. Liu Ye never considered himself a good man. Had it not been for the emergence of Liu Xuande, which gave Liu Ye hope of restoring the Han Dynasty, he would have already joined Cao Cao. What’s an Emperor or two’s death in the grand scheme of things!

It must be said that Liu Ye was a pragmatist. He would lend a hand if the Han Dynasty could be revived; if it couldn’t, he’d decisively let go and seek a bright future under a worthy leader. Li You’s importance in supporting Liu Bei and the revival of the Han Dynasty far outweighed that of the deceased Young Emperor, so Liu Ye decisively abandoned any notion of causing trouble for Li You, as it was pointless.

”This time, I must find a way to clear Li You’s name. What was he thinking to personally poison the Young Emperor? This madman. While such actions definitely intimidated the officials at the time, you’ve also made it impossible for yourself to be cleared.” Liu Ye thought with a headache. Combining Dong Zhuo’s power at the time, such actions to scare the officials into consolidating his force weren’t fundamentally wrong. But in the long term, if he failed, it would be he who got blackened, not others.

”The situation needs to be handled flawlessly; otherwise, it would be easy for someone to trace back to him. We absolutely can’t let people connect Li Ru to Li You. Was he insane at the time? Was it necessary to personally commit regicide? If there wasn’t a pawn of yours in the Loyalist Army, I, Liu Ziyang, would give you my head. You should have let the Loyalist Army kill the Emperor, then at most you would be charged with failing to protect him!”

Liu Ye felt that Li Ru had completely lost his mind at the time, discarding all better strategies in favor of the worst. Such actions ensured short-term internal stability, but blatantly gave Yuan Shao and his cohort the moral high ground.

”I…” Liu Ye tried to reverse-engineer Li Ru’s thought process at the time and ended up with one impression: Li Ru was gambling, betting that he could single-handedly annihilate the Central Plains Feudal Lords. But in the end, he lost the bet.

”That man is definitely a madman…” Liu Ye found his own thoughts utterly distorted by Li Ru’s inconceivable reasoning.

”So, Li Youu is purely an idealist,” Liu Ye frowned as he thought. ”With this in mind, I feel much more at ease. As for the matter of the Young Emperor, what does that have to do with me? I even hope Cao Mengde finishes off Liu Xie as well.”

From shock to indifference, and then to a wicked courage, the malice of the unscrupulous imperial clan towards the emperor was much greater than that of the average minister.

Especially for a member of the imperial clan like Liu Ye, who basically had no bottom line and was abnormally clever, the threat to the emperor was not just considerable. With his own set of principles to abide by, he adhered to them and then disregarded whether they would doom the emperor. Loyalty and such were nothing but fleeting clouds to people like him.

Hua Xiong had not thought that his simple remark would lead Liu Ye to think about so many things. He was currently studying how to enhance the impact force and attack power using Cloud Qi. Lacking direction before, he felt groggy; now that he had one, Hua Xiong threw himself into his efforts with a vengeance. Losing to Juo Yi was not shameful, but to have lost and not strive to defeat Juo Yi, that to Hua Xiong, was disgraceful!

Just as Hua Xiong could not foresee the depth of insight Liu Ye gained from a single remark, Liu Ye also could not have anticipated that Hua Xiong would actually turn his words into reality. If you cannot beat someone, it means your attack power is insufficient; if you cannot pierce through them, your impact force is lacking. If it’s insufficient, then you must make up for it!

Hua Xiong did not understand that when a type of soldier was nearing perfection, every slight improvement was incredibly difficult. All he knew was that Liu Ye’s words were very true. After their defeat at the hands of Vanguard, the Xiliang Iron Cavalry’s desire for revenge, re-forged with conviction, far exceeded Liu Ye’s expectations. Their insane training and yearning for revenge unleashed a power that drove Hua Xiong towards his goal, step by step.

After Liu Ye and his group departed, the military camp that had been stationed was left with only Zhang Fei, Chen Chi, and Xuu Chu who arrived soon after with a few members of Tiger Guard. Afterwards, Zhang Fei and Xuu Chu, eye to eye, remained stationed across the river.

”Zhongkang, let’s go out and fight today. The winner gets to drink, and the loser patrols the camp!” Zhang Fei slapped the table and roared at Xuu Chu. For Zhang Fei, Liu Ye’s orders were secondary; his second brother already arrived and ordered him to stand by. Guan Yu would be able to reach them from Licheng within ten days at most.

Xuu Chu looked at Zhang Fei; they were really evenly matched and neither could best the other. With eyes spinning, Xuu Chu also slapped the table, ”If it’s a draw, we split the alcohol, and then you go patrol the camp!”

”Fine!” Zhang Fei bellowed, which left Xuu Chu with ringing ears.

Wiping his mouth, Xuu Chu stood up and from the weapon rack nearby, he took his Elephant Trunk Broadsword, swung it twice creating a tearing sound through the air, shook his head, stretched, did a few stretching exercises, and then dashed out with great sword in hand.

Similarly, Zhang Fei also took to the field, carrying his Serpent Spear, while Chen Chi ordered the scouts to expand their inspection area. He certainly did not want to fall into an ambush; furthermore, to avoid surprise attacks, Chen Chi had already started building a permanent facility and even began excavating a moat around the military camp...

Zhang Fei didn’t know how to evaluate Chen Chi’s cautious approach. That kind of precaution probably made the enemy lose any desire to attack upon seeing the encampment. However, for Chen Chi, putting his idle soldiers to work strengthening defenses was preferable; he belonged to the Turtle Stream style after all. (To be continued. If you like this work, please visit Qidian ) to vote for it, or give it a monthly recommendation. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please visit m.qidian.com to read.)