Wei Xiaobao's Three Kingdoms Adventure

Chapter 66 Only fish in troubled waters
Wang Yun wrote a letter to Wei Xiaobao, instructing him, "Present this letter to the Emperor upon your return to the palace. The Heavenly Sacrifice Ceremony will be held in three days. Have the Emperor arrange for the traitor Dong to preside over the ceremony. I will hide Lü Bu in the sacrificial procession, and we will wait for the opportunity to execute the traitor."

Wei Xiaobao asked, "As soon as Dong Zhuo died, wouldn't his Xiliang soldiers immediately rebel?"

Wang Yun smiled and said, "They are just a bunch of rabble. Why worry so much? With Dong Zhuo's death, they are leaderless. With a little appeasement and a combination of kindness and force, they will naturally submit to the court."

Wei Xiaobao thought to himself, "If they don't rebel, how can I escape in the chaos? Can you just watch me run away with your little emperor?"

Wei Xiaobao was eager for the Xiliang soldiers to rebel, but he couldn't say it directly, so he could only go back to the palace to discuss it with Liu Zheng.

After reading Wang Yun's letter and listening to Wei Xiaobao's explanation, Liu Xie immediately wrote an imperial edict and had it delivered to Dong Zhuo.

Wei Xiaobao only knew that Dong Zhuo's injury would definitely not heal in three days, and he thought that Dong Zhuo would refuse the job. However, he did not understand that only the emperor could preside over the royal ceremony of offering sacrifices to heaven. Wang Yun arranged it this way so that Liu Xie would show weakness to Dong Zhuo so that Dong Zhuo would relax his vigilance.

After Dong Zhuo replied, Liu Xie explained the reason, and Wei Xiaobao was completely relieved.

Two days passed in a flash. Wei Xiaobao and Shuang'er had packed their bags and were ready to take Liu Xie away in the chaos after the ceremony of offering sacrifices to heaven the next day.

Jia Xu sent another message asking to see Wei Xiaobao.

Wei Xiaobao was also worried that someone would overturn his table before he opened the dice cup, so he had no choice but to bite the bullet and go see Jia Xu.

Jia Xu was pacing rapidly back and forth in the room. Seeing Wei Xiaobao, he fell to his knees and said, "Captain, help me."

Wei Xiaobao said, "The Grand Tutor will preside over the Heavenly Sacrifice Ceremony on behalf of the Emperor tomorrow. From now on, the Grand Tutor will be no different from the Emperor. I still rely on the Grand Tutor and the Military Advisor for promotion. How can I save the Military Advisor's life?"

Jia Xu said, "I'm afraid the Grand Tutor won't survive tomorrow, and we'll die with him."

Wei Xiaobao's heart sank. "How did this old fellow know that Dong Zhuo would die tomorrow? Damn it, could it be that you too came from over a thousand years in the future? Or do you also have the same astute foresight as Zhuge Liang?"

Wei Xiaobao remained calm and said with a smile, "Military Advisor, you're joking. The Grand Tutor has been chosen by Heaven and will enjoy endless wealth and glory in the future. If you say that, be careful or the Grand Tutor will chop off your head!"

Jia Xu burst into tears and said, "If you, Captain, don't save me, I won't have my head on my head tomorrow."

Wei Xiaobao helped Jia Xu up and said, "What exactly happened? Tell me first."

Jia Xu said, "Lü Bu and Wang Yun are conspiring to assassinate the Grand Tutor during tomorrow's Heavenly Sacrifice Ceremony."

Wei Xiaobao's hand trembled, and Jia Xu immediately noticed it and said, "I know this is incredible. I couldn't believe it when I first heard it."

Wei Xiaobao asked, "Why are you looking for me if you don't report to the Grand Tutor?"

Jia Xu sighed and said, "The Grand Tutor won't see me now. The Emperor's edict arrived at the Grand Tutor's residence the other day, and I've already advised my master. The Emperor's offerings to Heaven are to the Father, so how can anyone else take over? Wouldn't this disrupt the moral code and violate the ancestral rules? Although Yuan Shao and his men have long since withdrawn their troops and are fighting among themselves, if the Emperor were to perform the royal ceremony now, I'm afraid it would provoke attacks from the various princes."

Wei Xiaobao nodded and said, "What you said makes sense, but the Grand Tutor refused to listen and even kicked you out of the Grand Tutor's Mansion, right?"

Jia Xu said, "That's exactly what happened. I risked my life to advise the Grand Tutor, but he only listened to Li Ru's slander."

Wei Xiaobao thought to himself, "Zheng Chenggong in Taiwan believed slander and killed Shi Lang's entire family. I'm very familiar with this kind of thing." Wei Xiaobao said, "Then how did you know about Lu Bu and Wang Yun?"

Jia Xu said, "In order to investigate Diao Chan's situation for the Captain, I sent Tang Zhou out of the city to search for Lü Bu, but he was captured by Lü Bu. Later, Tang Zhou found a chance to escape and told me what happened."

Wei Xiaobao thought to himself, "With Lü Bu's martial arts and Wang Yun's caution, how could they have let Tang Zhou escape? Is there something fishy going on here?"

Wei Xiaobao asked, "Does Tang Zhou know that you were kicked out by the Grand Tutor?"

Jia Xu said, "He knew about this and even tried to persuade me to abandon my lord and join Yuan Shao. I scolded him that day and only then did I let him leave the city to seek out Lü Bu."

Wei Xiaobao had already understood most of it and guessed in his heart: "Tang Zhou must have told all this to Lu Bu, and then Wang Yun set up a counter-espionage plot against you, deliberately telling you about the assassination of Dong Zhuo, so that you would go to Dong Zhuo and tell him now. Given Dong Zhuo's current thinking, even if he didn't chop off your head, he would never believe what you said. Wang Yun, this old fox, is really smart. What did the book say? Is it true or not? Damn it, I don't even know."

Wei Xiaobao couldn't recall the saying "When truth becomes false, falsehood becomes truth," but he had already guessed Wang Yun's plan and asked, "Are you afraid that the Grand Tutor will think you made up this lie to stop him from offering sacrifices to heaven, so you don't dare to tell him the news?"

Jia Xu nodded and said, "I know your character very well. If I tell you now, I'm afraid I won't survive today. But if I don't, tomorrow will be our death."

Wei Xiaobao said, "Even if this is true, Wang Yun shouldn't attack you, right?"

Jia Xu said, "Since my lord has been with us, the old officials in the court have long hated us, the soldiers of Xiliang, to the core. How could they let us off so easily?"

Wei Xiaobao said, "You're not asking me to go to Wang Yun and plead for you, are you? Although I almost became his son-in-law, it was the Grand Tutor who interfered. Now I have no wife, so how can I be responsible for my father-in-law?"

Jia Xu said, "If the Captain asks the Emperor to withdraw the imperial edict and not allow the Grand Tutor to preside over tomorrow's ceremony of offering sacrifices to the Heaven, the crisis can be resolved."

Wei Xiaobao thought to himself, "This plan was proposed by me. You really found the right person."

Wei Xiaobao said, "The Emperor is young, so the Grand Master is in charge of the Heavenly Sacrifice Ceremony. Besides, I am just an eunuch by the Emperor's side. How can I ask the Emperor to withdraw the imperial edict? I am not one of Zhang Fen's Ten Attendants."

Jia Xu said, "I once opposed your lordship's decision to dethrone Liu Bian and enthronize Liu Xie, and now I oppose your lordship's offering to heaven. No matter what the outcome tomorrow, your lordship will not tolerate me. Since the imperial decree cannot be disobeyed, and neither can the will of heaven, I beg you, Captain, to intercede with the emperor. I am willing to serve the emperor until death, and from now on, I will never change my mind."

Wei Xiaobao thought to himself, "So you've been waiting here. Maybe you've already figured out a way out. Since you've already begged for mercy, if I manage to get you naked again, you'll definitely flip the table."

Wei Xiaobao pretended to be lost in thought. After waiting for a long time, he saw an anxious look in Jia Xu's eyes, and then he slowly said, "How about this? Li Jue's army is stationed outside the city. Go to Li Jue tonight and ask him to bring his troops into the city tomorrow."

Jia Xu asked, "How can we protect the Grand Tutor if the army cannot approach the altar?"

Wei Xiaobao said, "I asked you to protect the emperor, what does that have to do with Grand Tutor Guan?"

Jia Xu nodded, with an expression of sudden enlightenment.

Wei Xiaobao was overjoyed: "Once Dong Zhuo dies here and Li Jue's troops charge over there, it would be best if we could have another fight with Lu Bu. The more chaotic the better. Then I can slip away and complete my mission."

(End of this chapter)