Liu Xuande would never be a succubus of the Eastern Han Dynasty!

But since the disciple is so outstanding, how can the master not love and protect him?

You have to know that Liu Bei was a poor boy not long ago, but now he can lead the army to defeat the enemy with great power, kill the evildoers like Gan Jiang and Mo Ye, and have a kind and righteous heart.

Master Lu was inevitably moved.

But due to her age, status and even her own indifference to emotions, she was unable to take a step forward.

I originally thought that this life would be the same.

but.

"As I use more of the power of Heaven, my past emotions begin to flow back. If this continues... I will not only become smaller, but my emotions will also become abundant and intense..."

In fact, Mrs. Lu did not have any such dilemma as "the large version is the real me" and "the small version is not me". In her opinion, they are all the same.

Her real dilemma is...

If it doesn't shrink, if I don't make the emotion flow back, how can I love you with all my heart, Xuande?

But if I don’t maintain a big form and let my emotions fade, how can I use my strength to protect you, Xuande?

"Let's wait and see... When you grow up enough to protect me, maybe then..."

-

Before dusk fell, eight pairs of red silk lanterns were already hung high in front of the Wu County prefectural government's residence.

Sheng Xian personally hung the newly carved peach charms on both sides of the vermilion lacquer gate. On the left was inscribed "Sword sweeps away the ink haze and brings peace to the people," and on the right was engraved "Poem completed in Lin Pavilion celebrates a good harvest." The brocade with the horizontal inscription "Peaceful seas and clear rivers" was lifted by the evening breeze, revealing the unwiped blood stains underneath.

That was the last mark left by the Mohist assassin three days ago.

In the courtyard of the mansion stood a three-meter-high mechanical lamp wheel, which Mo Tong had arranged for his disciples to build in just one day.

Nine hundred and ninety-nine crimson lanterns hung along the gears, painted with scenes of three great victories:

The wreckage of the crossbow chariot burned by Sheng Xian turned into plum branches, orchids grew in the cracks of the city wall guarded by Master Lu, and at the top was the scene of Liu Bei beheading the great Mohist scholar. A night-shining pearl was adorned on the edge of the sword, and its glow made the snow in front of the steps glow golden red.

"Lord Xuande, please look at this!"

Sheng Xian was drunk and leaning on the green jade table, when he suddenly opened the gilded tripod.

As the hot air rose, a whole roasted deer was lifted out by a mechanism. Hanging on the deer's horns was the iron mask of the bandit who was personally beheaded by Liu Bei, and in its mouth was the white silk with a poem written by Master Lu.

The musicians played the zither and sang: "Xuan De has broken all the schemes, and the mountains of Wu and the waters of Chu are filled with spring breeze—"

At this time, Master Lu was hiding alone behind the corridor pillar, wearing a silver fox fur coat over a crimson robe, and was quietly using the tassel of his sword to hook the ice edges on the eaves.

Suddenly, Liu Bei raised his glass and laughed, "Do you recognize this?"

He swung his sword to cut off the deer's spine, and the thin slices of meat as thin as a cicada's wing flew into the lacquer plate in the Nine-Curve Corridor. It was the "Jumping Ball Roast".

The soldiers cheered loudly. Someone poured pepper and cypress wine into the charcoal basin, and the flames that rose up turned into the flapping wings of a blue phoenix.

The Wu County market outside the prefectural government has long been a place that never sleeps.

Hu merchants were hawking their wares along the streets, holding glass cups from the Parthian Empire. The fish swimming in the cups were actually jade carvings driven by mechanical devices. Young children were running madly after the lantern car with the twelve zodiac animals. The lantern car was a modified version of the wooden ox and flowing horse that remained from the Mohist school. The rabbit lantern even had a string of candied plums in its mouth.

The most wonderful thing is the Han Canal that passes through the city, with three hundred pleasure boats loaded with lotus lanterns floating downstream.

The old boatman sang a newly composed version of "Pozhen Music" and threw the bronze fragments that broke off when Liu Bei killed Juzi into the water. The fragments ignited a cold blue flame when they met the water, and the red stars from the firecrackers exploding on the shore were reflected into the Milky Way.

Suddenly, I heard the sound of horse hooves like thunder on West Street.

Thirty light cavalrymen came galloping over, holding torches high. Lu Qi, who was in the lead, threw a cloth bag and said, "Catch it!"

Liu Bei grabbed the cloth bag in mid-air, and copper coins fell like rain. Each coin hole had a red rope through it, and on the rope was tied a small wooden carving of the Gan Jiang and Mo Ye swords.

While everyone was laughing, Sheng Xian had already brought out the New Year's gift plate.

The golden nanmu plate contained five pungent vegetables and sticky rice dumplings, and in the center stood a bronze mask of a Mohist master.

Liu Bei shattered the mask with the tip of his sword, and the fragments fell into the wine jar, stirring up thousands of layers of wine foam: "Drink to win!"

As midnight approached, the whole city suddenly became quiet.

Nine hundred mechanical light wheels went out at the same time, leaving only a red light on the tip of Liu Bei's sword.

He leaped onto the eaves of the Drum Tower, then stopped and slashed his sword through the air towards the mountain of firecrackers in front of the prefect's mansion.

Sparks flew all over the city along the fuse soaked in fish oil, and 7,800 firecrackers exploded in the night, covering the ground with red gauze.

"it is good!"

Amid the cheers, Lu Qi quietly stuffed a peach charm with the words "I wish to follow the gentleman to bring peace to the world" into Liu Bei's scabbard.

Sheng Xian lay drunk in the corridor, his official hat tilted over his face, and half a Mohist gear clenched in his palm - in the gap of the gear, a tender green sprout was breaking through the copper.

The snow is falling.

It fell on the silver saddle of the horse, on the straw targets of the sugar men that had not been collected in the market, and on the last bit of warmth left in the Mo family's mechanical lamp wheel.

Only the plum forest by the Hang Canal has its flowers blooming three days earlier tonight.

Mo Tong, who was far away in the Mo family gathering place, seemed to have sensed something and picked up a ball of snowflakes, his eyes flashing with desire and eagerness.

In Qiao County, Cao Cao, who had been sitting in boredom at home, opened his eyes, walked to the window, and raised the corners of his mouth slightly: "In this kind of weather... Oh, I really want to hold you under me, Xuande."

Fighting alone against dozens of riders, his white horses stained with blood, Gongsun Zan's stubborn eyes gleamed with longing: "Junior brother, I will do my best! Let you hug my... um, thigh?"

Finally, Jia Xu, who was sweeping away the snow in the courtyard alone, raised his hands above his head and said with a smile:

"What will happen in the world is still uncertain. However, I am not talented enough, but I am willing to follow you... and bring chaos to the world!"

"Hahahaha, rebirth and harmony, prosperity and righteousness—all of these things must be exchanged for blood and death...Xuan De, don't worry, I won't dirty your hands."

"Let me bear the darkness that you cannot see."

"May you always keep a pure heart and purge away evil."

Here are the author's words

This volume ends.

Although it is divided into two volumes, strictly speaking it belongs to the second volume of the entire outline.

Before the third volume, Liu Bei will first work with Mo Tong to resolve the inheritance issue of the Mo family leader, then Liu Bei will return to Zhuo County for the New Year, and then he will meet Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, whom everyone has been looking forward to for a long time (laughing, he was still very young at that time)

(The popularity is a bit low at the moment, and I'm reflecting on my own problems - the plot is dragging, the proportion of things that are popular is small, the updates are a bit slow, etc.)

The plot has been improved recently, with speed increases and unnecessary things cut out.

Things that are popular are also increasing in proportion.

Regarding the update, it was always 4k before, but recently you can see that it has increased to 6k. I want to increase it to 8k to 1k after my body gets used to it. I will keep working on it.

Although I can't write a novel that will satisfy everyone, I will try my best to make everyone like it.

(Don’t worry, I won’t give up, because writing novels is exactly what I want to do)

Chapter 2: Old and weak

Master Lu came here specifically to see Liu Bei.

Of course, it’s not for anything dirty, but for the right thing.

It was a letter from the imperial court.

Due to the joint memorial of Master Lu and Sheng Xian, Sun Jian appointed him as the magistrate of Youquan County, ordered Lu Kang, the head of the Lu family, to return to the court as a counselor, and Lu Qi as the magistrate of Youquan County.

Mo Tong's title as the great master of Mohism was still retained, but the gathering place of Mohists was changed to the former site of Haiyan County, and all Mohists were ordered not to leave Yangzhou without a transfer order.

Other officials, both big and small, also received rewards.

And Liu Bei, the greatest contributor to this battle...was actually the prefect of Shangjun County in Bingzhou.

This is a strange thing.

The people Liu Bei defeated were the Mohists and bandits in Yangzhou, so if he was going to be given an official position, he should have been given it there. Why was he suddenly transferred to Bingzhou in the north at this time?

Is this the intention of the current emperor, or... are some noble families or eunuchs making trouble behind the scenes?

Everyone knows that the war in the north is serious. The Hu people will come south to attack from time to time. If you don’t have certain abilities, it is very easy for something to go wrong.

Master Lu said calmly, "Your reputation here is too great. Neither the current emperor nor certain court officials will allow you to remain here any longer. Do you understand?"

"The disciple understands."

Liu Bei's expression did not change, but there was a hint of suspicion in his eyes.

Even if he did not stay in Yangzhou for this reason, there were still so many provinces and counties to choose from in the world. Why did he choose Bingzhou, where the war was at its peak?

It makes a lot of sense - since you can pacify the barbarians and Mohists in the south, then go north and help me deal with the Hu people.

It's so willful.

But Master Lu was worthy of being Master Lu. She continued, "I have already written to the Governor of Bingzhou, asking him to cooperate with your actions. Since this is the intention of the court, then you should do it well. This will also help you."

She actually didn't want Liu Bei to enter the official career too early.

This is both a form of protection and a form of fighting without fighting.

Because according to local custom, if a person like Liu Bei who has no background wants to become an official, he must first "make up a pretext", and have at least one or two stories to show his benevolence or filial piety, or even bravery.

Secondly, the most important thing is the recommendation from the officials of the current dynasty.

When ordinary people reach this stage, they can just get an official position for fun.

But if you want to go further, then you must refuse the court's call, stay in your hometown, spend some money, teach some classics, or demonstrate benevolence, righteousness, bravery, etc. In short, do everything that can increase your reputation.

Then, all the officials in the dynasty would rush to visit your home, and then spread out keywords such as "shocking" or "amazing", etc., and do whatever they can to attract people's attention.

If you can do this, you have already completed half of the task. Then you can refuse and decline three more times and you will be able to reach the top in one step.

To put it bluntly, it mainly depends on your connections, and your ability is secondary.

Of course, if you really have so many 'friends', it means that you are either from a prominent family or you are very powerful, and others want to invest in you in advance.

This is the path that Master Lu hoped Liu Bei would take.

With the recommendations of Cao Cao, Lu Zhi, Gongsun Zan and others, Liu Bei could even build up his reputation while traveling. As long as the time came, they would just need to work together to write a book, which would make Liu Bei a famous figure.

But who can blame his own disciples for being too outstanding and too famous?

The imperial court really doesn't bother to pay attention to your secret actions, but what Liu Bei did here... well, it was a bit too glaring.

Even though he could be called "quite accomplished politically", he could not resist the attempts of people within the imperial court to "praise and kill" him - if you can pacify the south, then go to the north to quell the rebellion.

But they completely missed the point.

For Liu Bei, who holds the Chixiao fragment and the Tiandao fragment and has a good appearance, going north is not actually to die, but to... gain merit.

Moreover, among the people here, Sun Jian, Sheng Xian, Lu Qi and even Mo Tong, which one does not have a close personal relationship with Liu Bei?

If he had enough energy, he could even stay in the north and remotely control the affairs of the two counties.

Even the people behind the scenes probably couldn't have imagined that a person who had no roots here before coming here would forge a deep friendship with key people in just a few months.

"Thank you, Master."

Liu Bei bowed his hands in sincere admiration, thinking that his teacher was indeed a celebrity in the late Eastern Han Dynasty, and that people in all the prefectures and counties in the world knew him.

"By the way, Master, may I ask what the name of the Governor of Bingzhou is? What are his achievements? I'll remember them for you."

"Ah."

Master Lu nodded slowly, and then said a name that made Liu Bei's eyes almost widen:

"This man rose to power by defeating the Hu people. He was recommended by Duan Jiming of Sanming in Liangzhou for an official position. He once served as the military commander of Zhang Ranming of Sanming. He was a disciple of the current Prime Minister Yuan Ciyang—Dong Zhuo, Dong Zhongying."

"???"

I am the Grand Tutor Dadong.

Rebirth: My leader is Dong Zhuo?

Of course, these are not the main points.

Liu Bei asked very quickly: "Is this person a man or a woman?"

"...?"

Master Lu glanced at him with a displeased expression and dissuaded him, "This woman is a crude warrior with a brutal temperament. Although she may be considerate of her subordinates, she has absolutely no love for the people. You two cannot play together."

"…That's not what I meant. I just don't think the name gives me a good feeling."

For the sake of little Liu Bei tonight, Liu Bei hurriedly denied it, but this sentence attracted Master Lu's attention.