Liu Bian at the start, so you're called Dong Zhuo, right?

These words fell lightly, yet they seemed to suck all the air out of the room.

Xu Guan's face turned pale, his fingers clenched his sleeves, and he couldn't even manage a smile.

Liu Bian finally spoke: "Lord Xu."

"Look up."

When Xu Guan looked up, his eyes didn't show official authority, but fear—fear mixed with a hint of pleading, as if someone had grabbed his throat.

Liu Bian looked at him and asked in a low voice, "What did the Yuan family give you?"

Xu Guan's lips trembled, and after a long while, he managed to squeeze out, "Your Highness... I was forced into this."

"How do you force me?" Liu Bian asked calmly.

"Only after Lord He was transferred to the position of Grand General was I able to take up the post of Governor of Henan."

As Xu Guan spoke, a bitter smile appeared on his lips.

"I originally thought that becoming the Governor of Henan would mean I had finally made it through the tough times."

"The entire country is watching Luoyang, this prefecture. If I can stabilize the situation, it's not impossible to advance further in the future."

His voice was dry. "I think that whether it's a good reputation or wealth, it will eventually come to me."

"Not long after I took office, I offended the Ten Attendants because of a case."

He paused, a hint of indescribable fear flashing in his eyes.

"Your Highness, who are the Ten Attendants? They don't need swords, they don't need soldiers. All they need to do is... breathe a breath into His Majesty's ear."

"His Majesty can then turn his back on you."

"That day, I was summoned to the palace. His Majesty asked me, 'As the Governor of Henan, are you serving me or someone else?'"

Xu Guan's voice trembled, as if he had returned to that hall and heard that question of accusation:

"I failed to answer properly, and His Majesty flew into a rage on the spot. He accused me of forming cliques for personal gain, and demanded my dismissal and imprisonment—"

He raised his head, the "official air" in his eyes long gone, replaced only by a sense of helplessness, as if gripped by fate.

"Only then did I realize that the position of Governor of Henan was not secured by ability, but by fate."

Liu Bian looked at him, his gaze unwavering: "And then the Yuan family arrived?"

Xu Guan seemed to be stung by those words, his face turned even paler, and he nodded.

"The person who came... was dressed very plainly, like an accountant. He didn't speak harshly either." He smiled bitterly. "He said: Lord Xu, the Yuan family can protect you."

"I'll save your life, and I'll reinstate you. Even—"

He didn't dare say "go a step further" aloud, but the meaning was already in the air.

Cao Cao gave a soft "hmm," as if he had heard a familiar tactic.

Liu Bian stared at Xu Guan: "You believe it?"

Xu Guan shook his head, then nodded, as if even he himself couldn't discern what he was thinking at that moment:

"I... didn't believe it at first. I'm not afraid of death either."

He raised his head, and for a moment, a stubbornness flashed in his eyes:

"Your Highness, I am truly not afraid of death. If I die, so be it; at most, I will be a 'disfavored' official, and bear the reputation of being 'careless'."

"But that man didn't talk to me about death."

Xu Guan's voice suddenly lowered, almost to the point of whispering:

He asked me: "If you die, what will happen to your wife and children? What will happen to your elderly mother?"

He paused, his throat felt like it was blocked, and he couldn't even breathe properly.

He spoke very calmly, as if he were asking something extremely ordinary.

"It's not a threat." Xu Guan shook his head.

"Your Highness, that wasn't a threat. But those words were more terrifying than any threat."

"Because I know—if they can ask, they can do it."

The hall was eerily quiet.

The lamplight cast Xu Guan's shadow on the wall, the shadow curled up like a prisoner being held by the back of the neck.

Looking at him, Liu Bian suddenly understood: Xu Guan was not a knife raised by the Yuan family; he was more like a life that the Yuan family had pulled back from the brink of death—pulled back meant incurring a debt; and incurring a debt meant having to repay it.

This debt isn't about money; it's about the lives of his wife, children, and elderly mother.

Cao Cao sighed softly beside him:

"So you do their bidding."

Xu Guan closed his eyes and nodded.

"Your Majesty... has no other way."

Liu Bian slowly stood up, walked to Xu Guan, stopped in front of him, and patted him on the shoulder:

"You have a way."

Xu Guan suddenly looked up, a glint of disbelief flashing in his eyes:

"Your Highness... I don't understand."

Liu Bian looked at Xu Guan:

"You're just a magistrate from Henan."

"Being controlled by the Yuan family and watched by the Ten Attendants, I sit in this position every day, trembling with fear, not knowing when I will be used once and then thrown away."

He paused, then said in a deep voice:

"What the Yuan family gave you was a life. But that life isn't yours; it's a rope they've tied to you."

"When you do something for them, the rope loosens a little; if one day you refuse to do it, the rope tightens."

He paused, lowering his voice by half an octave:

What I'm giving you is different from what the Yuan family gives you.

Xu Guan raised his eyes.

Liu Bian looked at him and spoke slowly and deliberately:

"I don't want you to do my bidding. I want you to write down everything that happened tonight, down exactly when the Yuan family came to you, what they said, and what you did for them. Write it down word for word, as a petition, have it printed, sealed, and give it to me."

Xu Guan's expression changed, and his voice revealed fear:

"Your Highness, this... if the Yuan family finds out—"

"Therefore, this petition is not intended to deal with the Yuan family."

Liu Bian interrupted him, "It is your talisman."

Xu Guan was stunned.

Liu Bian looked at him, his gaze calm and even, so calm that one could believe every word he spoke was true:

"It's here with me, sealed away, untouched. If the Yuan family doesn't touch you, it will never appear again."

"But if one day the Yuan family turns against you and tries to use your wife, children, and elderly parents as leverage—that's the card you've played."

He paused, then added at the end:

"With the Yuan family, you're a pawn they can discard at any time. With me, you're a useful person."

"These two paths are not difficult to choose."

The hall remained quiet for a long time.

The lamplight flickered gently in the night breeze, causing the light and shadow on Xu Guan's face to shift. The deep lines etched by years of suppressed emotions appeared much deeper than usual at that moment.

He is a smart man.

-

Zhang Fei was released by Xu Guan himself.

The side courtyard gate opened, and Zhang Fei strode out. Seeing Liu Bian standing in the courtyard, he paused for a moment, then scratched the back of his head, somewhat embarrassed.

"Your Highness, I..."

"Let's go." Liu Bian didn't let him finish his sentence and turned to leave.

Zhang Fei caught up, and after a few steps, he couldn't help but lower his voice and ask:

"Your Highness, those dozen or so people—"

"Keep it."

Zhang Fei simply said "Oh," and didn't ask any more questions. He just strode along beside him, his steps much lighter than when he came.

As I left the Henan Yin government office, a night breeze blew in, carrying the chill of early autumn. It seeped into my collar and made me feel instantly refreshed.

Cao Cao walked to Liu Bian's left and whispered:

"Xu Guan will definitely send a message to the Yuan family tonight."

"Let him report it," Liu argued. "I know better than he does what he'll write."

Cao Cao paused for a moment, then gave a soft "hmm" and didn't ask any further questions.

-

It was already late at night when we returned to Chengde Hall.

Wang Ming turned the lamp up brighter, brought in hot tea, and stepped back to stand by the door.

Liu Bian sat down at the table, picked up his teacup, took a sip, and went over the events of the night from beginning to end.

The matter of Zhang Fei was resolved, and Yuan Shu did not gain any advantage.

Xu Guan pulled it over, and the line was temporarily stabilized.

But Yuan Shu's roots are still there.

He put down his teacup, picked up his pen, and wanted to write something, but the pen tip hovered in mid-air before stopping.

He was thinking about a question—

Yuan Shu used the crudest method tonight: setting a trap, smearing someone, and having the government cover it up. He used every step, but left a loose end with every step.

This doesn't seem like a well-thought-out move; it's more like a test.

Test his reaction, and also test his limits.

What was Yuan Shu really trying to do?

Liu Bian stared at the lamplight on the desk, put down his pen, leaned back in his chair, and closed his eyes.

Yuan Shu is a figure clearly described in historical records: arrogant and conceited, eager to become a powerful ruler, and looking down on all those of lower birth than himself. Yet, tonight, such an arrogant man has employed such a roundabout tactic.

What does this mean?

This indicates that someone is plotting against him behind the scenes.

There's someone behind this.

Just as he thought of this, footsteps came from outside the hall, hurried yet light—it was Wang Ming.

Liu Bian opened his eyes, but before he could speak, Wang Ming had already entered, holding a secret report in his hand. He walked to the desk and whispered:

"Your Highness, they just arrived."

Liu Bian took it and unfolded it.

The lamplight shone on the paper. He glanced at the first line, his fingers pausing slightly.

"Yuan Shao was summoned to the Western Garden tonight, but he has not yet come out."