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

Chapter 78 Assassination Scheme by Death Squad
February of the third year of Guanghe (180 AD).

Jingzhe.

As the yang energy begins to rise, spring thunder rumbles, and all things revive, it is the season for spring plowing and preparing for agriculture.

That year, Liu Bei was twenty-one years old (by the traditional Chinese age reckoning) and was a large landowner in the river bend, busy with spring plowing.

The headquarters of the Protector of the Wuhuan has been moved to Ji County.

Ji County was the seat of Guangyang and also the seat of Youzhou. It was very close to Zhuo County, only a hundred li (Han li) away, and they were connected by a highway.

The city of Hu is located at Juyong Pass, which is also very close to Zhuo County. Less than two hundred li south of Juyong Pass is the Juma River.

However, Hu City is not yet ready. Qian Zhao and others need to communicate with the Hu people, which cannot be accomplished in a short time. If they want to profit from Hu City, they will need some time.

Last winter, the Xianbei continued to raid the two prefectures of You and Bing.

However, thanks to the opening of the three passes, most of the Wuhuan tribes did not follow the Xianbei invading the border this time, except for the Qiuliju tribe in Liaoxi, which remained unstable.

Although not much trading occurred at the border, it was a friendly signal from the Great Han.

The Wuhuan people's sphere of influence was once again compressed by the Xianbei, forcing the weaker Wuhuan tribes to seek cooperation with the Han Dynasty.

Zou Jing did not recommend Liu Bei for an official position; this was Liu Bei's own decision.

Liu Bei has no plans to take up an official post in other places for the next two years; he wants to farm and develop his economy.

Yang Qiu's death was not unexpected for Liu Bei. Before leaving Luoyang, Liu Bei had suggested that Yang Qiu go out to work, but Yang Qiu refused. Since he refused to leave, the fate of the cruel official was sealed.

For Yang Qiu, dying of illness in prison is the most dignified outcome.

Liu Bei could easily deduce that Yang Qiu had probably offended all the forces at this point.

The final straw was clearly the Yuan family.

When Yang Qiu and his group targeted Yuyang Horse Market, it was destined that they would be abandoned by the Yuan family.

After all, the eunuch faction and the upright officials of the Han Dynasty were indistinguishable. Every family had its own entanglements, and relatives of the emperor, eunuchs, gentry, bandits... were always cooperating with each other.

If people like Liu Heyangqiu insist on eradicating the eunuchs completely, it will naturally implicate the imperial relatives, powerful families, and even the emperor.

Zou Jing didn't pry into Yang Qiu's affairs. He wasn't the type to pry into things, and he knew how to protect himself.

The same applies to Liu Bei.

During this period, many mountain people came down from the Taihang Mountains. Liu Bei was busy selling land, collecting money, and registering households, so he didn't have time to pay attention to other matters.

but……

The newly appointed governor of Youzhou, Liu Yu, is a person who loves to get to the bottom of things.

Before even reaching Ji County, while passing through Zhuo County, Liu Yu asked the prefect Liu Wei, "Is there a man named Liu Xuande here? I heard that he resigned from his post in the street last year, saying that he did not want to be ranked with disloyal, unfilial, unkind, and unjust people... I would like to meet him."

At this time, the governor of the prefecture, Yi Lu, was not highly ranked, holding a salary of 600 shi (a unit of grain), the same as a county magistrate.

These are inspectors responsible for evaluating the performance of officials and reporting to the central government. However, they have no right to directly interfere in local administration or mobilize the army; they can only impeach officials.

Liu Wei had recently engaged in some shady business, and since all the officials in the prefecture were now paid to work, they naturally had to give Liu Yu some face. Therefore, he quickly recounted Liu Bei's three generations of ancestors in detail and even sent someone to invite Liu Bei to the guesthouse to meet Liu Yu.

At the time, Liu Bei was busy persuading farmers, which was of paramount importance and he couldn't leave his post—in fact, Liu Bei mainly didn't want to go; he originally wanted to wait for Liu Yu to leave on his own.

But Liu Yu waited in the guesthouse for a full seven days.

Having no other choice, Liu Bei had to come to the lodging in Zhuo County after completing the spring plowing procedures. Upon meeting, Liu Yu immediately tried to recruit him in a very friendly manner: "When I came here, I passed through Hejian and heard people say that Xuande was loyal, filial, benevolent, and righteous. Now that I have arrived here, I also ask Xuande about his chivalrous and righteous deeds... I wonder if Xuande would be willing to be Liu Bo'an's assistant?"

Liu Yu, courtesy name Bo'an, served as his assistant, which actually meant a retainer, because at this time the governor did not have subordinate officials, only his inner circle of servants.

"I am deeply grateful for your high regard, but I am young and inexperienced, and my mother is still alive and unable to travel far. I need to stay home to take care of her..."

Liu Bei refused.

He didn't even want to serve under a prefect, let alone a governor.

The current governors have little real power and are very prone to offending people. Liu Yu is clearly here specifically to supervise Zou Jing. Liu Bei certainly doesn't intend to be his assistant, otherwise it would be difficult for him to maintain a good relationship with the people.

However, Liu Yu was a bit stubborn. He stayed in Zhuojun for a few more days and then invited Liu Bei to see him again.

This time, Liu Yu gave Liu Bei a recommendation, wanting to recommend Liu Bei to take up a post in Donghai.

Liu Bei refused again, because that area was within the Yuan family's sphere of influence...

A few days later, Liu Yu actually went to Liu Bei's mother's place.

Liu Yu went there in a grand manner, bringing many gifts, probably thinking that if he could persuade Liu's mother, he could persuade Liu Bei.

Liu Bei's mother still lived in the guesthouse, with Zuo Yuan and several maids, as well as several personal guards.

Those guards were the same ones Zhang Fei had brought to protect Liu Wei before; now they were the bodyguards Liu Bei had assigned to his mother.

Liu Yu made a grand entrance, bringing many gifts to the gate of the guesthouse. He had his attendants loudly announce the delivery of the gifts to Liu Bei's mother. It was indeed necessary to make a grand entrance to meet a widowed woman, which was good for both sides.

Liu Yu did indeed want to recruit Liu Bei.

When Liu Bei's mother learned that her son was highly regarded, she personally came out to greet him, and the guards all helped to receive the gifts.

The streets were also clogged with people because of Liu Yu's entourage.

Just as Liu Yu was handing the gift he had brought to his mother, three people suddenly jumped out from the crowd behind him.

Two of them charged at Liu Yu with short knives, while the other raised his crossbow.

The crossbow bolt was pointed at Liu Yu!

Liu Bei's mother was smilingly entertaining Liu Yu when she suddenly saw an assassin attacking Liu Yu from behind. In a panic, she pulled Liu Yu back, but ended up putting herself in the path of the crossbow bolts!
Zuo Yuan rushed towards Liu's mother, but was still a little too slow.

Liu's mother was shot by an arrow and fell to the ground.

Two knife-wielding assassins lunged at Liu Yu from the left and right, while the one who had fired the crossbow, seeing that he had missed his target, also threw down his crossbow, drew his knife, and charged forward.

Liu Yu had quite a few followers, but most of them were carrying gift boxes. Only two guards managed to block two assassins in their haste, but they couldn't stop the third one.

In a panic, Liu Yu held up the gift box and retreated repeatedly.

The assassin's martial arts skills were actually quite average. He cleaved the gift box in Liu Yu's hand with a single slash, leaving only a small wound on Liu Yu's arm. Then, the blade got stuck in the gift box.

"Come die!"

Seeing that Liu's mother had been shot by an arrow, Zuo Yuan angrily drew his sword and rushed forward, stabbing the assassin in the waist.

The assassin kicked Zuo Yuan aside and prepared to assassinate him again, but at this moment Liu Yu's followers finally reacted and rushed forward, trying to capture the assassins alive.

But seeing that they could neither carry out another assassination nor escape, the three assassins all committed suicide!
These are suicide squad members!
(End of this chapter)