Second-hand time travel: Liu Bei, the big-eared bandit

Chapter 1 The Big-Eared Bandit and Cao Mengde
Liu Bei is very irritable right now.

He rode his horse slowly along the river, constantly looking back to check behind him, his eyes bloodshot.

The horse had a tall back and slender legs; it should have been quite handsome.

But at this moment, he was dirty and thin, his mane was matted, and he hung his head and looked listless, clearly having not groomed himself for a long time.

Liu Bei himself was disheveled and dressed in rags, looking like a refugee fleeing from war.

After walking for a while, the horse suddenly stopped.

Liu Bei turned his head, looked ahead, and then carefully examined his left and right sides.

This place is north of Dunqiu County in Dongjun Prefecture, with the Yellow River in front of it.

Liu Bei climbed down from his horse, using his sword as a cane, and slowly made his way to the riverbank.

At this time, the country was suffering from a severe drought and it was also the dry season, so the Yellow River was not very deep.

But at this time, the Yellow River seemed to have changed its course, and the original ferry crossing had become a mudflat, covered with silt, where one would sink as soon as they stepped in, and even if there were boats, they could not cross.

There is nowhere left to go.

We have no choice but to face our pursuers here.

Liu Bei sighed, reached into the bundle on his horse's back, took out the last millet cake, and put it in his mouth to take a bite.

But after thinking about it, he took it out of his mouth and looked at the horse next to him.

"Sigh, I need to give you a good meal first so you'll have the strength to keep running..."

Liu Bei stroked the horse's head, swallowed hard, and stuffed the millet cake into the horse's mouth.

The horse sniffed Liu Bei's hand, barely chewed, and swallowed the millet cake in one gulp, clearly extremely hungry.

Liu Bei was also hungry; his stomach was growling and he was seeing stars.

He had no choice but to hold the water bag and drink it all at once. After drinking for a while, he poured the rest of the water into the horse's mouth.

Hunger and exhaustion are minor issues; the real problem is that he is being hunted.

He is now a fugitive.

If he committed a crime and is being pursued, then there's not much to say, since there must be consequences for breaking the law.

The problem is, he didn't do the illegal or criminal things, but he's the one who has to pay the price.

Two weeks ago, he traveled back in time to the late Han Dynasty and became the spirited young man Liu Bei.

That's right, he was Liu Xuande, the descendant of Prince Jing of Zhongshan, the patriarch of the weaving industry, a national intangible cultural heritage inheritor, the succubus of the Han Dynasty, and Emperor Zhaolie of Han.

To say that someone from a later mule-riding tribe who transmigrated into a true Han dynasty noble family is like winning the lottery.

But Liu Bei didn't think so.

After gaining access to the original owner's memories, he discovered that he was a 'second-hand transmigrator'.

Simply put, he transmigrated into the body of a transmigrator...

Yes, he didn't get the memories of the historical Liu Bei; he got the memories of another time traveler.

In other words, he had a 'predecessor' who first traveled into Liu Bei's body.

And I am a 'second-hand time traveler'.

He's a backup option!

What's even more infuriating is that her ex was both cowardly and promiscuous, causing a lot of trouble and creating tons of problems, but all of it ended up falling on her shoulders.

He robbed people on the street, committed murder and arson, and even seduced other men's wives...

Moreover, his predecessor robbed Yuan Shao's caravan, killed Gongsun Zan's brother, burned Yuan Shu's grain shop, and seduced Cao Cao's wife... He also stole Cao Cao's horse.

It was the sixth year of the Xiping era (177 AD). Liu Bei was only 17 years old, but due to his predecessor's shrewd management, he offended all the strongest forces that would later dominate the Han Dynasty!
Then the ex-husband kicked the bucket, and he time-traveled to take over this second-hand Liu Bei.

So for the past two weeks since he transmigrated, he has been forced to flee, hiding and running away, but he has never been able to shake off his pursuers.

Cao Cao, in particular, relentlessly pursued them like a persistent ghost.

There's nothing I can do; it's because my ex and Boss Cao were fighting over a woman...

Cao Cao is currently the magistrate of Dunqiu County, and he has a large number of county soldiers under his command. With them chasing him from the front and blocking his way from the rear, it is really difficult for him to escape.

At this moment, Cao Cao had cornered them and driven them into a dead end.

"You run really fast, but there's no way out here. Where do you think you can escape to?"

After catching my breath at the ferry crossing, I heard a voice behind me.

A short, stocky young man dressed in brocade robes, riding a horse and carrying a short halberd, blocked the road he had come from.

It was Cao Cao. But he was alone on horseback, presumably because the county guards under Cao Cao were not on horseback and could not keep up.

"Brother Mengde, can't you give me a way out? Bian was a prostitute; I only joked around with her a few times. I didn't know you planned to take her as a concubine at the time..."

Liu Bei threw down the water bag, picked up his sword, turned around, and sighed.

It's ridiculous that I have to defend my ex when I didn't do it myself.

"You think I'm arresting you because of the Bian family? I'm arresting lawbreakers! You big-eared thief, you burned down the grain shop, injured people and stole their property, and even stole my fine horse... As an official of the imperial court, how can I let you escape?"

Cao Cao stared intently at Liu Bei, his short halberd already raised, as if preparing to charge.

I'm weak all over because I haven't eaten, and the horse is exhausted too. We can't run away, and I doubt we can beat them either.

but……

At present, Cao Cao is still young and seems to be a passionate young man who is devoted to public service.

Liu Bei suddenly had a solution.

"The world is suffering from a severe drought, and there are starving people everywhere. As the magistrate of Dunqiu, you should be doing disaster relief first, instead of focusing your attention on me."

Liu Bei threw his sword on the ground, indicating that he did not intend to resist arrest by force.

"You know there's a severe drought and widespread famine? Then why did you burn down the Yuan family's grain store? Do you know how many people that warehouse of grain could have saved?"

Cao Cao's face was gloomy, but he put down his short halberd and slowly rode forward.

“Brother Mengde, you are a young master from a wealthy family, and you probably have never thought about food and clothing. This year, the price of rice in Luoyang is 10,000 coins per bushel, all because the Yuan family hoarded it and raised exorbitant prices! If I hadn’t burned down that shop and let the Yuan family know that the starving people could riot at any time, the Yuan family would not have opened the granaries to distribute grain…”

Liu Bei did not back down, but instead sat down on the ground and asked, "Right now, locusts are flying all over seven provinces, and Dunqiu County is also severely affected. Do you have enough grain for disaster relief?"

"What do you mean by that?"

Cao Cao frowned, but stopped his horse and looked at Liu Bei with some hesitation.

"If you have no grain, why don't I, this big-eared thief, rob another wealthy grain merchant's family? You can then use the grain to provide disaster relief... After this, you can throw me in jail, how about that?"

Liu Bei stretched out his hands as if surrendering himself: "I only ask to do something more for the people. Brother Mengde, a hero like you must be able to distinguish between what is important and what is not."

"...If I want to rob the wealthy families' grain, I can do it myself. Why would I need you?"

Cao Cao squinted at Liu Bei for a moment, then dismounted and walked up to Liu Bei with his short halberd in hand.

He had just taken office as the magistrate of Dunqiu this year when a severe drought struck, leaving him with no food.

At this time, apart from the powerful families in various counties, there was no food in the whole country, and the Yuan family was not the only one hoarding food for profit.

"Because I'm a big-eared thief..."

Liu Bei didn't move, still holding out his hand, even with a smile on his face: "And you, Mengde, are the upright and incorruptible Northern Commandant, the benevolent Magistrate of Dunqiu. You can't be accused of plundering the gentry..."

Cao Cao did not speak, nor did he go forward to arrest Liu Bei. Instead, he sat down on a rock by the roadside.

Seeing that Cao Cao was somewhat tempted, Liu Bei added, "Besides, I'm very skilled at plundering... Brother Mengde, have you ever done robbery before?"

Cao Cao certainly didn't plunder, but he might have abducted someone else's new wife, supposedly in conjunction with Yuan Shao.

"Since you have this intention, then we can give it a try, as a way to atone for your previous sins..."

Cao Cao thought for a while, and then relented: "However, we cannot rob the gentry of Dongjun, otherwise I will be unable to provide disaster relief. You can go to Lihu, though. The Li family of Lihu is quite wealthy, but they hoard grain and refuse to sell it to me..."

Lihu and Dunqiu are very close, but they belong to Jiyin and are not under the jurisdiction of Dongjun.

It seems that Cao Cao had previously tried to buy grain from the Li family of Lihu, but failed.

In those days, during years of famine, wealthy families would almost always sell grain at exorbitant prices to make a fortune, often a hundred times the usual price, and naturally they were unwilling to sell at the normal price.

“No problem. Brother Mengde, please wait for me for a few days. After I have taken the grain from the Li family, I will return and turn myself in.”

Liu Bei cupped his hands in greeting, and his speech began to sound more and more like that of someone from the late Han Dynasty.

“I will go with you on this matter, so that you won’t run away…”

Cao Cao glanced at the horse behind Liu Bei, looked around, and seeing that no one was around, he put away his short halberd and beckoned to Liu Bei: "Teasing my concubine and stealing my horse are minor matters. If you can save the people of this region, I will forgive your past crimes."

Liu Bei bowed deeply, thinking to himself, "Look at how things have turned out. Cao Cao has become a benevolent ruler who loves his people like his own children, while I, Liu Bei, have become a ruthless bandit who plunders the people..."

He picked up the sword from the ground and put it back in its sheath, but his hands were shaking so badly that he couldn't put the sword back in its sheath no matter what he did.

I wanted to mount the horse, but I could barely move my legs.

His body was so weak, thankfully Cao Cao was a reasonable man...

"Damn it, why is it that when it's my turn to transmigrate, I can only be a second-hand transmigrator? And I even have to clean up the mess left by my predecessor!"

Liu Yong used all his strength to finally get on the horse, but he could no longer straighten his back. He could only bend down, hug the horse's head, and rest his face on the horse's head, complaining in a low voice.

(End of this chapter)