Jinting Han people

Chapter 177: Self-control and Patience (4k)

The next morning, there was wind and a gloomy drizzle, which made the swallows under the eaves chirp non-stop. Apparently, as the weather got colder, they began to think about flying south.

Liu Xian listened to these once pleasant voices, now feeling only an immense sense of anxiety. Li Sheng, Xi An, and the others beside him, seeing his bloodshot eyes, were also terrified and silent, not daring to speak.

No one would have thought that such a horrific case would break out on what should have been an ordinary night: Sun Xiu, the chief secretary of King Zhao, secretly ordered 500 fully armed followers of the Five Pecks of Rice Sect to sneak into Xiayang City, and then openly attacked the Xiayang County Camp and the Xiayang County Government, resulting in hundreds of casualties.

If Liu Xian hadn't arrived in time, Sun Xiu would have committed a massacre, and it wouldn't have been surprising. The saying "there's someone above, but no one can prove it" probably means this.

Fortunately, everything did not turn into the worst situation, and Liu Xian finally took control of the situation.

Sun Xiu would never have dreamed that Liu Xian was not an ordinary county magistrate. This Xiayang County was almost rebuilt by Liu Xian from scratch. As the saying goes, the people's will is in harmony with the county. Liu Xian simply appeared outside the city of Xiayang and beat the Longting drum. In a very short time, he successfully mobilized five pavilions outside the county and nearly four thousand people.

The more than 4,000 civilians had already woken up after hearing the noise, but without a leader, they were terrified and didn't know what to do. But once they heard the county lord had summoned them, even though many of them were unarmed and only had hoes and kitchen knives, they followed Liu Xian to the military camp in the north of the county.

When the mighty fire dragon team appeared outside the county camp, the believers were terrified and at a loss. They were fully armored and well-equipped, and in fact they were not without a fighting force, but under the loud shouts of the county residents, they finally laid down their weapons and were all captured.

Even so, this was the first major incident in Guanzhong since Tufa Shuji's surrender. A Hu people rebellion was only natural, but a conflict involving hundreds of people within the Zhengxi Army was undoubtedly intolerable and would have far-reaching consequences on the frontier.

But Liu Xian really has no intention of thinking about those things now.

He stood up and wandered outside the house. The patter of rain tangled his thoughts, making it almost impossible to think. He could only feel a wave of emotion pulsing through his body. Once fate's judgment came, it would determine whether he would rise or fall. It was like a leaf on a branch in August, or a sparrow in the thick fog of early winter.

When he saw Luzhu lying in a pool of blood, Liu Xian suddenly felt a desperate numbness in his body. He immediately recalled the nightmare that he never wanted to recall, and his hair stood on end.

Fortunately, unlike that year, the wound on Luzhu's neck was not deep and did not hurt any vital parts. She was still breathing, but she fainted simply because of excessive blood loss.

But such blood loss was enough to kill someone. After the urgent bandage, Lu Zhu developed a high fever, her pale body burning frighteningly. Liu Xian had no choice but to follow the doctor's instructions. While boiling the medicine, he summoned several maids and had them constantly wipe Lu Zhu's body with cold water. Even so, Lu Zhu's condition showed no signs of improvement.

This caused Liu Xian extreme distress, and he couldn't sleep at all. Prior to this night, he had already been working for two consecutive days and nights, meaning he hadn't slept for three days. Zhang Gu and the others were also worried about him, so they had no choice but to wait nearby.

But enduring this for several hours is not a solution.

Li Sheng stood up and advised, "You should get some rest early. Didn't Zhaorong act like this just to make you take good care of yourself?"

Zhang Gu also said: "Yes, yes, Huai Chong, you are our backbone. If something unexpected happens, how can I explain it to my wife and the lord?"

But Liu Xian remained unmoved. He continued to pace back and forth under the eaves in front of the yard. The sound of his footsteps interspersed with the sound of rain and the rustling sounds of wiping inside the house made everyone present feel uneasy.

Xi An came up with a solution and said to Liu Xian:

"Biji, if you feel unhappy and want to blame someone, then blame it all on me!"

"What happened last night is all my fault for not paying attention! These people were so sneaky and suspicious, and I didn't even notice anything was wrong, which led to this result. This is all my fault!"

After the words fell, the scene was silent for a while, and Liu Xian also stopped. He opened his eyes and looked at Xi An. After a moment, he shook his head and paced back and forth again.

But this time, Liu Xian finally spoke:

"There's no need to say that, Chi Nu. Sun Xiu's procedures are reasonable and logical. If I were here, I'd probably be caught off guard and find it difficult to see through them, let alone you."

"I'm just a little distracted. There's no need for you to worry. Go and get some rest."

But no one believed his words. After all, they had all followed Liu Xian for a while. Even Li Sheng could see that Liu Xian's words at the moment were too serious. He was obviously trying his best to suppress his emotions. It was by no means the so-called "disorderly".

It is not difficult to guess what emotion is being concealed. It is actually anger.

After being betrayed and plotted against time and again, no one would remain infuriated. Furthermore, Liu Xian was a man accustomed to taking risks. He couldn't tolerate even ordinary flaws in himself, let alone such provocations against his bottom line.

In this situation, he is very likely to do something irrational.

The three people present were silent for a moment, thinking about what to do next. At this moment, Li Sheng suddenly stood up and said to Liu Xian, "My lord, give the order!"

His tone was like a steel knife flying out of nowhere, startling everyone present.

Liu Xian paused for a moment and asked him, "Give an order, what order?"

"Of course it's an order to avenge Sun Xiu!" Li Sheng said firmly. "Having one's wife harmed and the people injured is a grave humiliation. My lord, you should follow Wu Zixu's example and avenge Sun Xiu immediately! It's unmanly to do otherwise!"

"Oh?" Liu Xian's eyes lit up with dazzling rainbows, and he couldn't help but ask, "Does Binshuo think so too?"

He then said, "I plan to save up for half a year and then start a rebellion. What do you think?"

The other two were shocked when this statement came out. After this change, had Liu Xian even started to think about rebellion? Although everyone had secretly thought about it, it was clear that Liu Xian had never planned to be the first to do so.

Li Sheng's heart was also moved, but he remained calm on the surface and responded to Liu Xian's words:
"Of course! A gentleman has his share of things he does and his share of things he doesn't do! If you stop moving forward simply because there are difficulties, wouldn't that make you a coward?"

Li Sheng's voice was filled with passion, while Liu Xian nodded repeatedly as he continued, "In my opinion, although Sun Xiu is the Chief Secretary of the King of Zhao, he has been extremely unpopular over the past two years due to his heavy taxes and levies. Our lord, on the other hand, is a renowned virtuous man, deeply loved by the people of Xiayang, and well-known throughout Guanzhong. This can be considered a victory of virtue!"

"Sun Xiu is good at plotting, but not at commanding troops. Even after such a surprise attack on Xiayang, he was defeated by the lord, which shows how ignorant he is of military strategy. On the other hand, the lord is well-read, experienced in many battles, and has hundreds of horse bandits skilled in looting under his command. He can be said to have won by both wisdom and force!"

"Thinking of your lord's existing connections with the Hu people, I believe all you need to do is raise your voice, and Guanzhong will immediately be flooded with food and support. With these three victories, Sun Xiu will be nothing more than a snail and mantis; he'll be dead and his entire clan will be wiped out in less than a month." "Then, if you return to the old capital and restore the Han Dynasty, the people of the world will yearn for the Han Dynasty. Once the news gets out, righteous men will surely rise up, and the whole world will be shaken! At that time, you can gather a million-strong army and divide it into three groups."

"Leave the journey to me then. I will follow my father's will and head south to recapture Yizhou."

"Deliver it to the county lieutenant and call on the old officials of the Zhuge, Xue, and Ma families to respond and recapture Bingzhou from Hedong."

"My lord, please lead the army yourself, exit Tongguan and attack Luoyang. Given your reputation in Luoyang, I'm sure the enemy will surrender even without a fight. The Queen and the Duke of Lu are nothing but clowns. A single letter from you will have these two thieves beheaded."

"When the time comes, my lord will rebuild the Han Dynasty, restore the country to its former glory, and turn the world from danger to peace. When that time comes, I will be able to reunite with my family. I will surely be revered by the people and praised by future generations as an eternal sage king!"

Li Sheng's words were somewhat debatable at first, but the more he spoke, the more absurd they became. In the end, three armies were coming to sweep across the world, as if conquering the world was something that could be easily achieved.

But this was certainly not Li Sheng's original intention. He was just using such exaggerated words to make a simple ironic admonition. At the moment, Liu Xian's power was not strong enough, and the situation in the world was not chaotic enough. It was far from the time for him to act recklessly.

Of course Liu Xian understood these words, but sometimes people make mistakes not because they don’t understand some words, but because they don’t want to understand.

So after Li Sheng finished speaking, he saw Liu Xian's eyes become restrained. One hand touched the sword at his waist, and his eyes shone with the same cold light as a blade, staring at him coldly:

"Binshuo means I should do nothing?"

Gloomy and suffocating, this was the first time that Li Sheng faced the madness hidden deep in Liu Xian's heart. No one would have thought that under this gentle and elegant appearance, there was such a heavy and crazy soul inside.

This is a man who is capable of killing and who enjoys killing.

Li Sheng could hear the power and passion revealed in it, but he also understood that great people should learn to control their power and passion.

So he remained calm and said to Liu Xian, "My Lord, I'm talking about patience, not doing nothing."

"Patience? Am I not patient enough?"

"Back in Xuzhou, Emperor Zhaolie had worked hard to build a legacy for himself. However, out of a moment of weakness, he adopted a villain like Lü Bu. Ultimately, Lü Bu betrayed him and attacked and seized Xuzhou. My lord, do you remember what Emperor Zhaolie did?"

"..."

It's a well-known story. Liu Bei, our great-grandfather, had just secured Xuzhou and was in a standoff with Yuan Shu when Lü Bu stole the city, leaving him with no place to go. This man, who had whipped the Inspector General with a furious lash while serving as a county magistrate, should have fought Lü Bu to the death, but in the end, he endured the humiliation and surrendered to the villain.

After two years of accumulating wealth and strategic planning, and after enduring the tragedy of cannibalism and losing his family several times, he finally led Cao Cao's army back to Xuzhou and defeated Lü Bu. However, it would take another ten years before he could truly establish his own place.

Of course Liu Xian also knew about this. When he read about it in a book, he didn't think it was a big deal, but now that it happened to him, he felt for the first time the difficulty of this choice.

Li Sheng saw that his momentum had weakened a little, and knew that he had calmed down a little, and then he said:
"My lord, this isn't cowardice or evasion. Everyone wants to be a man of integrity, but that's just how we interact with people. You're dealing with people in a political context, which is completely different."

"Politics allows no room for error, and there's no exit. Losing once means losing everything, and exiting means death. Therefore, either don't move, or if you do, it must be a fatal blow. Have you forgotten the fate of His Highness the Prince of Chu?"

"Now that Sun Xiu has made a grave mistake, it's a crucial time for you to use it as a threat, demand an exorbitant price, and build up your foundation. If this turns into chaos, all your years of patience, my father's hopes, and your family in Luoyang will be destroyed!"

Hearing this, Liu Xian's eyes finally closed. He had actually understood this truth long before, in the imperial prison: his own emotions were insignificant. It was easy to say, but when things really took a turn, he couldn't contain his emotions. It showed how far he was from his great-grandfather and the others.

But now, after hearing the advice from his friends, he has come to his senses again.

He listened to the steady patter of rain outside the window and said quietly to himself, "Anyone who wants to rule the world cannot be a reckless lunatic. On the contrary, he should abandon his own narrow-mindedness and consider things from the perspective of the world."

Thinking of this, Liu Xian's remaining anger finally dissipated, and was replaced by blame for his own immaturity.

He said to Li Sheng with full apology: "I was a little confused just now, I hope Binshuo will not be offended."

Liu Xianyi's friendly expression dispelled everyone's worries. As long as the core remained calm, they believed that any difficulty could be overcome.

Li Sheng also laughed. He said, "After what happened last night, I know that my lord is someone who can accomplish great things. As long as my lord doesn't abandon me, I am willing to go through fire and water for him!"

"You guys go and rest. I'll stay with you for a while. If I really can't bear it anymore, I'll rest."

Since he said so, everyone might as well believe it. After everyone said their goodbyes and the maids left, only Liu Xian and Lu Zhu were left in the courtyard. Oh, and there were also the swallows on the eaves.

Liu Xian moved a stool and sat in front of the bed. He held Luzhu's hand and stroked her pale and hot face with his other hand. He thought about all his lovers and relatives in his heart. After countless ups and downs of emotions, sadness was left in the end.

It was at this time that he first gained a truer understanding of the emperor and power:

People often assume that the emperor possesses everything, but that's a fallacy born of a lack of understanding of responsibility. Even if ordinary people lose everything, they still have the freedom to be themselves. But a king is different. A true king must give up all freedom and be prepared to lose everything before they can truly possess the power to rule the world.

It was because of such choices that his great-grandfather lost his direction in life and died with regret.

The man who had bestowed all the glory upon Liu was the one who caused discord between the couple and the ministers, and finally asked Heaven and Earth, "How can I find brave men to guard the four directions?"

Liu Xian now had a vague idea of how heavy the affairs of state and divine artifacts were.

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(End of this chapter)