Jinting Han people

Although he had guessed that the situation in Luoyang would be bad, the complexity of the situation still exceeded Liu Xian's expectations.

Liu Xian understood early on that the struggle between the Empress's faction and the Prince's faction would not end with the defeat of one side. Over a decade earlier, his teacher, Li Mi, had predicted that due to the decline of political morality, there was no true mutual trust among the various political factions within the Jin Dynasty. Consequently, the struggle between them would be endless and intensify. It might only fully end with the fall of the state, or perhaps not at all.

But when it comes to the specific political struggle, Liu Xian still thinks that everyone will at least wait until the queen and the prince have a clear winner before starting a new struggle.

As it turned out, Liu Xian was too optimistic.

According to Liu Xian's original intention, his main purpose in returning to the capital this time was to help the Crown Prince overthrow the Empress's faction. Firstly, it was to avenge the blood feud with the Chu King's faction eight years ago, secondly, it was to repay the Crown Prince's kindness, and thirdly, it was to see his family again.

As long as he overthrew the Hou clan and restored the crown prince to his position, he could ask the crown prince for a relocation to the imperial court. Just like Guan Yu's farewell to Cao Cao, he would be clear with the crown prince and could focus on his own mission of restoring the country. As for the future, whether he succeeded or failed, or whether the crown prince succeeded or failed, it would be up to heaven to decide; no one could dictate his decision.

Unexpectedly, Sima Yi had only just gained the political upper hand, and had not even secured the decisive power of regent, when the King of Qi and the King of Zhao had already expressed their intention to seize the opportunity to establish independence. This was undoubtedly good news for the Empress Dowager's faction, as it indicated a huge rift within the Prince's faction.

That night after returning from Prince Zhao's mansion, Liu Xian pulled Li Sheng to analyze the political situation. Li Sheng said bluntly:

"The Princes of Qi and Zhao aren't the only ones harboring disloyalty within the imperial clan. Can the Princes of Chengdu and Huainan be trusted? I don't think so. The princes have only temporarily united around the empress. Now that the empress is showing weakness, the princes will think they can be bullied, but the prince is not. They'll immediately turn against her and try to isolate him."

Liu Xian agreed with Li Sheng's opinion. He said with emotion, "No wonder the Crown Prince is reluctant to push forward with the political change. If he had made up his mind, I'm afraid it would have been reported to the Queen the next day, and there would have been no chance of success."

Li Sheng scoffed, "This is a failure of ancestors to accumulate virtue. The Crown Prince may be a wise man, but wisdom isn't the only factor needed to secure his throne. Capacity, character, and courage are all essential... No, more importantly, the accumulated merits of our ancestors... Success, failure, honor, and disgrace in life all depend on this. It's a shame that ordinary people can't see this..."

Liu Xian fell silent, listening to the cicadas' chirping for a moment, his heart mired in confusion. He recalled Zu Ti's words, "The Crown Prince is destined to die, and so is the Empress." Such a simple statement, yet it left him bewildered about his future goals.

This confusion wasn't about his life's path. Liu Xian had long known what kind of person he wanted to be, but in this situation, principles and a sense of right and wrong couldn't help him make a choice. His original plan had been scrapped. Whether he helped the crown prince or not, it seemed the only outcome was a bad one, or an even worse one.

If he continued to stand with the crown prince, without the support of the rest of the royal family, the crown prince would undoubtedly fail, and he, as a member of the crown prince's party, would also fall with him.

However, if he did not stand with the prince and switched to the camp of another prince, not only would he go against his own principles, but he would also be more deeply involved in the vortex of struggle in Luoyang and would find it difficult to escape.

Should we try to escape to Bashu now? The Hou clique still controls the government, and Zhao Xin, a member of the Hou clique, is serving as the governor of Yizhou. This is impossible.

Liu Xian felt trapped in a dead end, with no clear way out. Sun Xiu's suggestion of recruiting him seemed like the best possible solution. But was he really going to join Sun Xiu's group? That would be tantamount to suicide.
Thinking of this, Liu Xian felt that he was shrouded in unprecedented darkness, even darker than when he was in the imperial prison eight years ago, because in the imperial prison, he could still imagine what darkness was and think of a way to overthrow it.

But at this moment, he felt that he had reached the end, as if there had never been a road in the darkness. How could he see the light?
He asked Li Sheng, "Binshuo, what do you think I should do next?"

Li Sheng was also speechless. Although he was very good at analyzing the political situation, he had no better solution in the current situation. In other words, Liu Xian would basically not adopt any of the solutions he could think of.

Liu Xian thought that perhaps he could only ask Crown Prince Sima Yi what he thought. From what he had said before, he should not be completely unpredictable about the current situation. Only by seeing what preparations he had made could he make some targeted arrangements.

If he doesn't have it, then I can only try to find another way out.

So the next morning, at daybreak, he ordered his subordinates to arrange carriages to the Eastern Palace and set off at noon. But to his surprise, just after breakfast, an uninvited guest arrived at the palace.

Surrounded by nearly a hundred armored soldiers, a royal carriage with a green canopy stopped in front of the Bandit-Slaying General's residence. A tall young man walked down. He stood with his hands behind his back, looked around briefly, and said to the gatekeeper:
"Go and inform Liu Xian that Sima Yun, the King of Huainan, is here to visit."

News of the Prince of Huainan's visit quickly alarmed the entire General's Mansion. Liu Xian, stunned, naturally didn't dare neglect his presence. He hurriedly led his staff out to greet him. Li Sheng, Xi Jian, Fu Chang, and the others formed two rows according to their rank. Having heard of Sima Yun's unyielding character, they subconsciously tensed their appearance and dressed meticulously, fearing to leave a bad impression on the prince, who had dared to contradict the Empress in public.

Sima Yun was indeed a man of great authority. In his early years, he was as tall as Sima Wei. As he grew older, his brow bones grew taller, his eyes darker, and his lips, concealed by a short beard, became sharper. His constant sternness gave him a sharp edge. At first glance, he resembled a lion ready to hunt, intimidating without even a flicker of his hand.

Although he said he was here to see Liu Xian, Sima Yun had no intention of talking to him right away. Instead, he said, "Take me for a walk first."

After saying that, he walked into the mansion without waiting for Liu Xian to reply.

Liu Xian had no choice but to walk beside Sima Yun and accompany him for a stroll in the mansion.

The Bandit-Slaying General's Mansion wasn't much to look at. As mentioned before, aside from the several courtyards for living and the offices, there was only a storehouse and a shooting range. Since he had just taken over the guard post, the storehouse wasn't stocked with much, and only the shooting range had just been renovated and was ready for normal use.

Seeing that the shooting range was very clean and the bows and targets were all new, Sima Yun felt itchy and immediately asked Liu Xian to compete with him in archery in the name of King Huainan.

Since the Zhou Dynasty, shooting competition has been a relatively common game among the nobility. However, unlike the pure archery competitions of later generations, even after several simplifications, the procedures and etiquette are still relatively complicated.

Simply put, a normal archery competition consists of three rounds, with four arrows shot in each round. The first round is a warm-up test, while the second and third rounds are the real competition. To count, the arrow must not only hit the target but also penetrate it. Hitting the target is considered a low shot, while hitting the bull's-eye is considered a high shot. A low shot counts as one point, and a high shot counts as three points. At the end of the competition, the person with the fewest points must drink a penalty drink in public and pay their respects to the winner.

For Liu Xian, his archery skills were far inferior to his swordsmanship, so he could only be considered decent. After two rounds of shooting, although every arrow hit the target, only one arrow hit the bull's eye, giving him a total of ten points.

Sima Yun's archery skills were much better. He fired eight arrows in a row, five of which hit the bull's eye, for a total of eighteen points. Although he was not as good as Li Ju and Meng Guan, he could still be considered a rare archery expert.

Liu Xian did not refuse and drank three cups of wine in public as punishment.

But this was not the end. Sima Yun seemed to have the intention of testing them, and ordered the staff of Liu Xian's house to try their archery. Most of Liu Xian's staff were poor scholars who studied the classics hard, and not many of them could shoot arrows, and their scores were usually between two and three. Zhuge Yan hunted in the mountains all year round, and his archery skills were very good. He hit all eight arrows, and four of them were top shots, only two less than Sima Yun. Unexpectedly, Xi Jian and Huan Yi were also good archers, hitting ten and nine respectively. Sima Yun was very surprised to see this, so he asked Xi Jian and their names, and praised them, saying: "Now the political situation is unstable, and the country is in trouble. It needs talents like you to uphold justice. Try your best!"

Xi Jian and others were naturally overjoyed to receive the prince's praise, but Liu Xian noticed some unusual meanings in it.

After the archery competition ended, it was almost noon, and Sima Yun and Liu Xian went into the hall under the pretext of having a meal. Liu Xian had probably guessed Sima Yun's purpose, so he asked everyone else to leave. After the meal was served, Sima Yun and Liu Xian were the only ones left in the room.

Liu Xian usually ate very simply, but since the one who came this time was the King of Huainan, he asked A Luo to prepare two stewed carps.

Sima Yun took two bites, then put down his chopsticks and said to Liu Xian with a smile, "The carp from Luoyang has a strong fishy smell. I've been in Yangzhou for so long that I'm not used to it."

Liu Xian then said, "Your Highness, would you like to change the dish?"

Sima Yun shook his head and said, "That's not necessary. When the late emperor was still alive, he often taught me that when the country is in trouble, we royal family members should be sympathetic to the people and avoid extravagance and waste. My fifth brother also set such an example, which is why he has won everyone's support."

Liu Xian fell silent upon hearing this. He immediately recalled many past events. Sima Wei's frugal lifestyle back then was also related to his advice. He just hadn't expected Sima Wei to actually stick with it.

Sima Yun took another bite of fish and looked at Liu Xian and said, "Come to think of it, Brother Wu was with you before he died, right?"

"Yes."

"You are a man of honor. There are not many people like you in the court."

"Your Highness has given you the compliment."

"I'm not exaggerating. You're the one who takes on responsibilities that others don't dare to shoulder."

When he said this, he sneered:

"Unlike some people who nominally called me back to avenge my fifth brother, but in reality, once they gained a little power, they wanted to have sex with the villain."

Liu Xian was stunned for a moment, then realized that the King of Huainan was talking about the Crown Prince. He couldn't help but defend Sima Yi and said:

"Your Highness, the situation is complicated now. There are too many people with ulterior motives in the capital. It is normal for the Crown Prince to be cautious."

The King of Huainan angrily retorted, "I led my troops back to the capital, not to be cautious. I'd rather die than let the Queen and her people ride on the Sima family's head!"

Having said that, he put down the bamboo chopsticks in his hand again, looked at Liu Xian with a sharp gaze and said:

"It's been eight years. I was in Yangzhou then. When I heard the news of my fifth brother's death, I was filled with indignation. For the past eight years, the evil queen has been trying to oppress my brothers every day, and even toyed with the emperor. The men of the Sima clan have been forced to grovel before her like dogs and horses. I will never tolerate this! Now that I'm back, I must kill her!"

"It's just that I haven't been in the capital for many years. To be honest, there aren't many people here I can trust. But I think that since Fifth Brother befriended you back then, you're someone I can trust. How about you come to my house and we avenge Fifth Brother together? I can also treat you with the courtesy of a nobleman."

Liu Xian was somewhat moved by Sima Yun's sincere words, but at the same time he felt worried, as he keenly sensed that this meant the rift between the Prince of Huainan and the Crown Prince was widening.

He couldn't help but ask, "Your Highness, do you mean to abandon the Crown Prince and fight against the Queen alone?"

The King of Huainan nodded and said, "The evil queen is ruthless and deserves death. Since the Crown Prince is unwilling to do it, I will do it. Besides, how can a coward like him hold the throne securely?"

At this point, he suddenly added: "How can I find brave men to guard the four directions?"

"A few days ago, Prince Zhao came to me and suddenly burst into tears. He said that he had been forced by the Demon Queen over the years to do many things he didn't want to do, and he regretted it. He then said that someone in the royal family needed to stand up for justice, but the Crown Prince seemed to be fine all day long."

"All this happened because my fifth brother was murdered! The Crown Prince is a coward! I must stand up now, stand up for our Sima clan, and seek justice for our family!"

Liu Xian didn't know how to interrupt. Just as the King of Huainan had said, this was entirely a family matter for the Sima family. But Sima Yun had clearly revealed his desire to seize the throne. What was going on? Given the current situation, if the King of Huainan escalated the situation further, a major war would ensue.

He was about to persuade the King of Huainan, but Sima Yun, having heard Liu Xian's thoughts, interrupted him with a wave of his hand and said:
"I'm not that stupid. Since the Crown Prince gave the Demon Queen five months, I will also give him five months. I can still wait for this long."

"I don't ask you to answer immediately. Think carefully about what you can do to honor Fifth Brother's spirit in heaven."

"Even if you don't want to follow me, I'll still consider it a favor to you. Take this. If you need anything, you can always come to see me at the Huainan Palace."

Sima Yun left Liu Xian an ivory bracelet and then stood up to say goodbye. Liu Xian wanted to see him off, but Sima Yun waved his hand and gave up.

As the Huainan King's carriage departed, Liu Xian was momentarily distraught. He realized that the undercurrent in Luoyang had surged to an unimaginable level. And the decision he made this time was likely to be one of the most important in his life. (End of Chapter)