Wei Xiaobao's Three Kingdoms Adventure

Chapter 40 Seeking Death
At daybreak, Wei Xiaobao had already gotten out of bed and hurriedly picked up the clothes on the floor and put them on. He heard He Lingsi's lazy voice behind him: "Are you leaving? Hey, how come you have such a long braid?"

Wei Xiaobao raised his hand to touch his head, only to realize something was wrong, and hurriedly bent down to pick up his hat from the ground.

He Lingsi was even more surprised: "Why is your hair gone? Are you a barbarian?"

Wei Xiaobao put on his hat and said with a smile: "Didn't I tell you that I was a fairy sent by the heavens to save you? This is what we fairies look like."

He Lingsi covered his mouth and laughed, "Bah! How could a god be so disrespectful to a mortal woman?"

Wei Xiaobao thought to himself, "It was you who seduced me, and now you're accusing me of flirting with you."

Wei Xiaobao said: "I am neither from the Han Dynasty nor from the Manchu people."

Wei Xiaobao mistook He Lingsi's "barbarians" for "Manchus". Although he had been granted Manchu banner status by Emperor Kangxi, he always insisted that he was still Han Chinese and never said that he was Manchu.

He Lingsi said: "You are not a god, so who are you?"

Wei Xiaobao thought for a moment and said, "When I get the jade seal, I'll tell you who I am. I'm afraid you won't believe me then."

He Lingsi said, "It's already like this, why should I not trust you? You said last night that the matter of the jade seal has been arranged. Is there anything else you need me to do?"

Wei Xiaobao had already put on his clothes. Looking at the charming He Lingsi on the bed, he thought, "It would be nice to take you back home as my wife. I'm just afraid you might still want to stay here and be the Queen Mother."

Wei Xiaobao said, "I'll have the Ten Eunuchs tie up your eldest brother when he enters the palace, and then take the imperial seal away from him."

He Lingsi asked, "How dare the Ten Attendants attack the General?"

Wei Xiaobao pondered for a long time about the fact that He Jin was killed by the Ten Attendants, hesitating whether to tell He Lingsi.

Seeing that Wei Xiaobao remained silent, He Lingsi urged, "Aren't the Ten Attendants afraid that the General will come after them when the time comes?"

Wei Xiaobao thought to himself, "Whether I tell her or not, He Jin will die anyway. I might as well tell her now so she can prepare in advance."

Wei Xiaobao said, "There is one thing I must tell you in advance. It's about your eldest brother, but you have to promise me not to interfere."

He Lingsi nodded.

Wei Xiaobao continued, "Your elder brother will be killed by the Ten Attendants soon."

He Lingsi sat up from the bed and asked in surprise, "How did you know? Did you arrange this? Why did you want to murder my brother?"

Wei Xiaobao sighed and said, "This matter is destined to happen, and I can't change it."

He Lingsi asked, "What if I let my brother leave Luoyang now?"

Wei Xiaobao thought of the death of Zhang Jiao and his brother, shook his head and said, "Even if we can escape Luoyang, we can't escape what has happened."

He Lingsi asked doubtfully, "What has happened?"

Wei Xiaobao realized that he had let something slip and quickly said, "It was destined to happen. Actually, I shouldn't have told you this, it's all a secret. But I couldn't bear to see you sad, so I told you."

He Ling thought for a long time before speaking, "Since it's destined to happen, there's no need to waste time. My brother and I are half-brothers, and I entered the palace at a young age, so we don't have a deep relationship. I'm worried that after my brother dies, the Ten Attendants will harm me and Bian'er."

Wei Xiaobao went over and sat down beside the bed, trying to recall the story of the Three Kingdoms he had heard in the teahouse. However, he had only heard it in bits and pieces. He vaguely remembered that after Dong Zhuo entered Luoyang, the storyteller never mentioned the Ten Attendants again. Wei Xiaobao said, "Don't worry, the Ten Attendants will no longer be in the palace soon."

The worry on He Lingsi's face disappeared instantly.

Wei Xiaobao looked at her face and thought to himself, "This woman only cares about herself and her son. She doesn't care about her brother's life or death at all. Moreover, the methods she used on Empress Dowager Dong were so cruel. She is really like a wasp with a sting in its tail. Women are the most poisonous. If I bring her back and kill my first wife, second wife, and pretty wife, wouldn't that mean I win one and lose three? I can't do this unprofitable business."

Wei Xiaobao stood up and walked to the window, then turned around and said, "I've already made arrangements with the Ten Attendants. If they come to discuss this with you, you must pretend to know nothing. If something unexpected happens, it might affect your son's chances of becoming emperor."

He Lingsi nodded and thought to himself, "If my brother is destined to die at the hands of the Ten Attendants, I'll have no choice but to rely on Wei Xiaobao. Since he can know things that haven't happened yet, keeping him around will be very useful. It seems I can't give the Imperial Seal to him lightly. Although I don't know what he'll do with it, if I have it in my hands, he'll have something to ask of me."

Thinking of this, He Lingsi suddenly felt a little sad and asked, "Were you sincere to me last night?"

Wei Xiaobao was surprised and embarrassed by He Lingsi's question. He scratched his head and said, "Of course I am sincere to you, but besides you, I also have a first wife and a second wife, a princess wife and Shuang'er good wife. Don't be angry."

He Lingsi sighed and said, "The late emperor had countless more beauties than you. If I were to get mad at all of them, I would have died of anger long ago. As long as you are sincere to me, I will be satisfied."

Wei Xiaobao cursed in his heart, "Damn it! How could I believe your nonsense? That little bitch Jianning said she wasn't jealous, but she's still shouting for war and killing. Anyway, no matter how nice you talk, I won't take you back. When I get the jade seal, we'll go our separate ways. You can be Empress Dowager He in your Han Dynasty, and I'll be Lord Wei in my Qing Dynasty."

Seeing that it was already late, Wei Xiaobao opened the window and said, "Remember to pretend you don't know anything about the Ten Attendants!"

He Lingsi nodded and asked hurriedly, "When will you come again?"

Wei Xiaobao was so frightened that he trembled all over and dared not answer. He said to himself, "I will never come here again."

Wei Xiaobao returned to Liu Xie's bedroom and saw Shuang'er alone. He picked up the water on the table and took a sip.

Shuang'er looked at Wei Xiaobao and asked, "Where did you go last night? Why didn't you come back all night?"

Wei Xiaobao felt uneasy and jokingly said, "Why? You missed me after not seeing me for one night?"

Shuang'er leaned over to Wei Xiaobao, sniffed him, and said, "Why do you smell like rouge?"

Wei Xiaobao pushed Shuang'er away, patted his clothes, and said, "I was almost discovered last night, so I hid in a room, probably the palace maid's room, it was full of this rouge smell."

Shuang'er suppressed a laugh and asked, "Did you meet another beautiful girl? What Miss Zeng said is absolutely right. You really are a playboy who falls in love with every woman you meet."

Wei Xiaobao made a face and said, "No matter how many girls there are, they are not as good as my great wife, my good Shuang'er."

Shuang'er chuckled and said, "You only know how to coax me with nice words. Did you finish what you did last night?"

While eating his cakes, Wei Xiaobao said, "It's done. By the way, where's that old fellow Zhang Jiao?"

Shuang'er cleaned up the crumbs Wei Xiaobao had dropped on the table and said, "He went to court. It seems that someone named Ding Yuan is coming to Luoyang. The emperor wants to discuss the issue of garrisoning troops and Liu Xie's fiefdom with them. Oh, and there's also a man named Dong Zhuo who is coming as well."

Wei Xiaobao was shocked: "Dong Zhuo? Who asked him to come to Luoyang?"

Shuang'er said, "It seems that this news was passed on by General He Jin."

Wei Xiaobao understood and said, "He Jin's troops were no match for the eunuchs' Western Garden Guards, so he called on Dong Zhuo for help. That's how Dong Zhuo seized Luoyang. Damn it, He Jin was courting his own demise. You can't blame me for instigating the Ten Attendants to kill you."

(End of this chapter)