Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator

Not only must the high ground of public opinion be occupied, the high ground called "righteousness" is actually quite crowded.

But as long as Liu Xie exists, Liu Bei will have to be subordinate to Liu Xie under the banner of "Han Dynasty".

Li Ji's original plan was to let Liu Xie abdicate in a more decent manner after unifying the country, thus completing the succession of the throne.

However, this "secret edict" that fell into Li Ji's hands gave him a better opportunity.

After all, the throne obtained by abdication is far inferior to that of the founding monarch who conquered the world and then ascended the throne.

Now Li Ji was only taking advantage of the general situation to force Lu Bu to accept Li Ji's tax reform, and even let Lu Bu promote Liu Bei's group to higher positions.

But when the two sides completely fall out, Liu Xie, who is controlled by Lu Bu, will become a major obstacle for Li Ji.

Apart from anything else, Lu Bu only needed to bring Liu Xie to the top of Hulao Pass, and the righteous cause would force Liu Bei not to take any action to attack Hulao Pass.

"To sacrifice one person to benefit the world, is this benevolence?"

Li Ji asked himself this question, but made a decision without any hesitation. He then sent someone to secretly call over Sun Qian, who was ready to rest after being exhausted from traveling for many days.

This plan requires the support of Sun Qian.

Sun Qian, who rushed over, was shocked and puzzled after hearing Li Ji's explanation, but he still remembered everything in his mind.

The next day.

Li Ji held a welcoming banquet for Sun Qian in the name of the government office and invited many guests.

Nowadays, there are many powerful families in Yuzhou who secretly hate Li Ji, but after learning that Li Ji will also make a brief appearance at the banquet, a large number of them almost begged for a place to attend the banquet, in an attempt to take the opportunity to get closer to Li Ji.

Once the banquet started, it was almost packed with people.

Li Ji also showed up briefly at the banquet to show his respect for Sun Qian, who had returned from Luoyang to meet the emperor. He raised his glass, said a few nice words symbolically, and then left.

This disappointed many of the wealthy and powerful families who had gone to great lengths to successfully attend the banquet, but with the idea of ​​​​shooting rabbits while robbing straw, they turned to approach Sun Qian enthusiastically.

Sun Qian, who had been Liu Bei's envoy to various places many times, was a man who was good at dancing with the sleeves. Amidst the clinking of glasses, he got into a fight with the representatives of the aristocratic families.

As the alcohol started to rise and he was flattered by everyone, Sun Qian, whose face was flushed from drinking, naturally spoke proudly about his experience of going to Luoyang to pay homage to the emperor.

The representatives of the aristocratic families actually did not think this was anything strange, but each of them was well versed in the ways of the world, creating an unusually warm atmosphere.

It was not until Sun Qian took the opportunity to say that the emperor took off a jade belt from his body and gave it to Liu Bei as a reward that some astute people noticed something unusual.

Liu Xie’s current situation in Luoyang is no secret to many well-informed families.

"I wonder if Mr. Gongyou could let us take a closer look at what the jade belt bestowed by His Majesty looks like?"

Someone made a loud suggestion, which immediately attracted a lot of support.

"Why not? Come, bring up the jade belt bestowed by His Majesty."

Sun Qian waved his hand and agreed generously.

Soon, Sun Qian's servant came over carefully holding a tray, on which was placed an exquisite jade belt of extremely fine quality.

Sun Qian continued to drink as he spoke.

"Come, walk in front of the distinguished guests, so that they can appreciate the jade belt given by His Majesty."

Immediately, the servant walked back and forth in the banquet holding a tray. Every time he passed by a person, that person would look at the jade belt with an expression of admiration.

Until, the servant seemed to be tripped by someone, and he staggered and fell to the ground, and the tray in his hand fell to the ground.

This incident caused the banquet to suddenly quiet down, and Sun Qian also flew into a rage. He hurried forward to check if the jade belt was damaged, and scolded the servant repeatedly, and even had the servant dragged away for punishment. "I am sorry for not managing my family well, and I have made you laugh."

Sun Qian apologized as he walked slightly unsteadily, and then he carefully put the jade belt back on the tray and placed it on the table at the side.

Sun Qian seemed to find this matter rather awkward, and he tried to change the subject on purpose, and soon the banquet resumed as if what had just happened was just a trivial episode.

However, Deng Jie, the representative of Yingchuan Deng family, who had just witnessed the servant fall at close range, took the opportunity of a toast to move closer to Chen Zhong, the representative of Yingchuan Chen family, and whispered.

"Brother, that jade belt is not right."

"what?"

Chen Zhong's face was calm, but his tone was a little surprised.

The Chen family of Yingchuan placed all their bets on Lu Bu, but they did not go all out.

Therefore, while the main branch Chen Qun took most of the Chen clan members to Sili, he also left the side branch Chen Zhong in Yingchuan to maintain the family business.

Although the Yingchuan Deng family was not very prominent, Deng Jie's elder sister married Chen Zhong as his principal wife, so the Deng family naturally became one of the aristocratic families with close ties to the Chen family.

"When the servant fell down just now, the jade belt turned over. I saw that there was a gap on the inside of the jade belt, and there seemed to be blood words faintly seen." Deng Jie said in a low and hurried voice.

Chen Zhong's expression couldn't help but change slightly, and his thoughts started to work rapidly.

As Chen Qun's cousin, although Chen Zhong is not as capable as Chen Qun, he is also capable, otherwise he would not have been left in Yingchuan to take charge of the situation.

Therefore, Chen Zhong thought of what Sun Qian had just said, and it was not difficult for him to guess that there might be a secret decree hidden in the jade belt. Moreover, the secret decree passed on at such a critical juncture would undoubtedly be very disadvantageous to Lu Bu, who was bet on by the Yingchuan Chen family.

It should be noted that Lu Bu's biggest bargaining chip is that he controls the emperor and the righteousness of the court. Once the secret decree affects this righteousness, the bet that Yingchuan Chen family has placed on Lu Bu may come to nothing.

More importantly, Sun Qian could display the jade belt so carelessly and openly, which undoubtedly meant that he had not yet discovered the secret hidden in the jade belt.

But when the jade belt is brought back to Liu Bei, he will definitely notice it after handling it personally.

Once the imperial edict hidden in the jade belt is extremely unfavorable to Lu Bu, the interests of the Yingchuan Chen family will ultimately be damaged.

Subconsciously, Chen Zhong's eyes fell on Sun Qian who was drinking with everyone at the banquet, and then he looked at the jade belt that Sun Qian had placed on the main table on the other side.

'This seems like a great time...'

As this thought came to his mind, Chen Zhong's forehead began to sweat almost involuntarily, and he understood that different choices would have completely different impacts on the Yingchuan Chen family.

Between personal life and death and family interests, Chen Zhong gradually made a decision, turned to look at Deng Jie and said.

"The treasures in the jade belt may be related to the interests of our two families in Sili. For the sake of our family, we must not shrink back."

Deng Jie hesitated for a moment and replied in a low voice. "I understand."

Chen Zhong patted Deng Jie on the shoulder, then seeing that no one was paying attention to him, he whispered.

"Okay, come closer, I have a plan..."

After hearing this, Deng Jie nodded slightly, then returned to his seat, found an opportunity and made an excuse to leave to go to the bathroom.

Watching Deng Jie leave, Chen Zhong couldn't help but feel a little sad, knowing that this might be the last time he would see Deng Jie.

Soon, Chen Zhong, who remained calm, waited for the opportunity brought by Deng Jie.

"The fire is coming! The fire is coming! Help!!"

Not far from the banquet hall, a shout suddenly rang out, causing chaos among the people at the banquet. (End of this chapter)