Eastern Han Dynasty, not the Three Kingdoms

Liu Xie's throat rolled over as he let Liu Bian's iron-like fingers dig into the flesh of his shoulder, a flattering smile emanating from his throat: "Brother, you are wise! Ever since I heard that Ma Chao was resurrected, I have been tossing and turning all night, fearing that..." Before he could finish his words, Liu Bian had already released his hand and laughed out loud, the smell of alcohol wafting towards him: "He is nothing but a stray dog! The Western Liang army has been besieging the city for three months and has been unable to advance an inch. Even if Ma Chao had three heads and six arms..."

The emperor slumped sideways on the Panlong couch, with madness surging in his scarlet eyes: "When the armies of the princes gather in Chang'an, I will personally lead the Tiger Guards to flatten Xiliang! To take down the traitor Ma Chao..." Before he could finish his words, his violent coughing made the dragon robe rise and fall. Liu Xie took the opportunity to kneel half a step to hold on.

"Brother, calm down!" He brushed his fingertips across Liu Bian's clothes, his eyes sweeping over the empty wine pot on the table. "You've been so exhausted today, but did you remember to take the magic medicine?" Liu Bian rubbed his temple and cursed. Just as he was about to call for help, he saw Liu Xie quickly taking the gilded medicine box presented by the eunuch. A look of just the right amount of concern appeared on the young man's pale face. "After taking this medicine, your blood will surge. You need a beautiful woman to calm your mind." He lowered his voice and blew hot air into the emperor's ear. "Let me help you take the medicine, and the eunuch will arrange for a beautiful woman?"

Liu Bian looked at Liu Xie with drunken eyes, then suddenly patted him on the back and laughed: "Good! You are worthy of being my brother..." Before he finished speaking, he collapsed on the cushion. Liu Xie looked at the blue veins bulging in the emperor's neck and opened the medicine box with trembling hands.

Liu Bian slumped on the Panlong couch, his alcohol-smelling breath splattering on the back of Liu Xie's hand. As the slightly hot tea, wrapped in the pill, poured into his mouth, he suddenly choked and coughed violently. The red pill "plopped" onto the golden cushion, where it shimmered eerily in the candlelight, stained with saliva.

"Brother, calm down!" Liu Xie hurriedly knelt, digging his nails into his palms to stop the trembling. He looked at the emperor's flushed face and forced a flattering smile. "It must be that the pill is too big, and you've been drinking too much... How about I dissolve the medicine and take it with warm water? It will definitely cure you!"

Liu Bian narrowed his drunken eyes, met the almost pious worry in Liu Xie's eyes, and smiled contemptuously: "You are the only one who has too many thoughts..." Before he finished speaking, he collapsed on the couch like a pile of mud.

White mist rose from the hot water in the copper kettle. As Liu Xie turned his back, the sound of pills shattering in the celadon bowl was as light as a ghost. A vortex of blood-red lines formed, and he took the opportunity to add the three pills he had prepared. His hand holding the medicine bowl trembled violently, and the rim of the bowl knocked against Liu Bian's teeth. "Brother... please..."

The moment the medicinal soup touched his tongue, Liu Bian grabbed his wrist and said, "Why is it so bitter?!" Liu Xie's throat tightened. He suddenly knelt down, raised the medicine bowl high above his head, and cried, "Brother, I usually swallow the pills whole, so I don't feel the bitterness. This soup must be bitter. Brother, after taking pills for a long time, I think I can tolerate this bitterness."

"That's all!" Liu Bian's release caused the medicine bowl to tip over, spilling the brown liquid onto their lapels. He pinched his nose and downed the remaining medicine, his curses growing fainter. Liu Xie stared at the rolling Adam's apple in the emperor's neck, listening to his increasingly heavy breathing. He suddenly remembered his childhood by the Luo River, when his brother would secretly slip a piece of candied fruit into his mouth while feeding him bitter medicine.

The beaded curtain rustled softly, and a eunuch led a beautiful woman, her hair tied high and her face covered with a light veil, into the hall. Liu Bian's eyes were bloodshot, and his heavy breathing threatened to shatter the jade pendant on his chest. His dragon robe was open at an angle, revealing a large area of ​​his pale chest. A vein throbbed on his forehead, and it was clear that the drug was raging through his body like a raging fire. He waved his hand and said, "Alright! My brother, you can leave now! If the sky falls, I will hold it up!"

Liu Xie looked at his frantic brother, a subtle hint of coldness flashing in his eyes. He straightened his clothes respectfully and bowed deeply: "In this case, I will take my leave. I hope Your Majesty will take care of your health." As he left the palace, his wide sleeves inadvertently swept across the remaining medicine bowl on the table. The brown medicine liquid formed strange patterns on the blue bricks, as if foreshadowing the drastic changes that were about to happen.

The moment the carved wooden door slammed shut, the sound of tearing cloth suddenly echoed from within the palace. Liu Bian, like a mad wolf, stared intently at the trembling beauty with scarlet eyes, a low, animal-like growl emanating from his throat. He roughly ripped open her skirt, his nails digging deep into her delicate skin, leaving hideous bloody marks. The beauty's terrified screams, mixed with the emperor's manic laughter, echoed throughout the empty palace, startling the crows in the courtyard, which fluttered off into the dark night sky. Outside, Liu Xie curled his lips into a cold smile, and under the cover of night, he quietly disappeared into the palace walls.

The drug's effects surged through Liu Bian's blood like a raging fire, his bloodshot eyes nearly popping out of their sockets. The woman's shrill cries and pleas for mercy sounded to him like mere frivolous noises to arouse him. A beastly growl erupted from his throat, his vein-riddled hands gripping her neck tightly, letting warm tears drip onto his wrists until the delicate body slumped to a halt.

"Waste!" Liu Bian kicked the unconscious beauty away and knelt naked on the messy dragon couch, his chest heaving violently. In the flickering candlelight, his sweat-soaked skin was strangely flushed. "Beauty! Find me another beauty!" His trembling voice was filled with madness and anxiety, shocking the eunuchs guarding the door so much that they turned pale.

Soon, another trembling beauty was pushed into the hall. But this was far from enough to satisfy the emperor, completely dominated by the drug. Liu Bian flew into a rage, snatching up the jade cup from the table and slamming it to the ground: "Not enough! Not enough at all!" The broken jade shards splattered on the beauty's ankle, leaving fine blood marks.

As the four beauties were jostled around the dragon bed, Liu Bian's pupils were completely bloodshot. Like a maddened trapped beast, he completely lost himself in the abyss of desire amidst the suffocating scent of powder and blood. Outside the palace, the night deepened, and the walls of the Weiyang Palace locked this absurd and bloody scene in darkness.

The beat of the night watch drum faded, and the carved window lattices of the Weiyang Palace were stained pale. Liu Bian froze on the dragon couch, a muffled roar like a trapped animal emanating from his throat. His violent movements startled the beauties surrounding him. He gasped violently, his mouth wide open, sweat dripping down his chin onto the brocade quilt. Suddenly, he trembled violently, as if struck by lightning.

"No... Impossible..." Fear exploded in the emperor's cloudy pupils, and his blood-stained fingertips tightly grasped the golden curtain beside the couch, "Imperial Physician! Call the imperial physician!" Before he could finish his words, he suddenly felt a tearing pain from under his body, accompanied by the beauty's shrill screams, and warm liquid flowed down his thighs - not the traces of lovemaking, but thick blood.

As the eunuch rushed into the chamber, holding a bronze lamp, he encountered the most horrifying sight of his life: the emperor lay naked in a pool of blood, his lower body like a bursting dam, dark red blood mixed with white foam splattering onto the bed, the brocade quilt, and the beautiful woman's snow-white skin. Liu Bian twitched and grasped at the air, the crown and tassels long gone. His face was purple through his disheveled hair, and he uttered a hoarse sound in his throat, struggling futilely like a fish out of water. The hall was filled with an eerie, sweet, and odorous scent. The dying wail startled a night owl from the eaves, and in the dim light of dawn, this mad farce came to a bloody end.

As the imperial physician stumbled to the emperor's couch, Liu Bian was clutching the bloodstained brocade quilt, twitching violently, his throat emitting a ragged gasp. As the sleeves embroidered with coiled dragons were torn open, revealing the dense purple and black bloodstains on the emperor's forearms, the leading physician's medical box clattered to the ground, and the bronze medicine roller tumbled into a pool of blood.

"Your Majesty, this is... a heart attack from stone poison!" The old doctor tremblingly picked up the scattered medicine residue, and his knuckles knocked on the gilded medicine box, making a hollow echo. "This medicine is based on cinnabar and realgar, mixed with the highly toxic Five Stones Powder. Long-term use will damage the liver and bones, and last night..." He suddenly fell silent, his eyes sweeping over the messy women's clothes and broken wine jars on the ground.

Liu Bian suddenly leaped up and grabbed the imperial physician by the hair, his bloodshot eyes filled with madness and fear. "Lie...lie! The late emperor was strong after taking this medicine, why..." The blood foaming in his throat made him cough violently, and drops of blood seeped from between his fingers and dripped onto the imperial physician's official uniform. "I am the Son of Heaven...it is destiny!"

"Your Majesty!" The old doctor suddenly fell to the ground and cried bitterly, holding up half a pill with trembling hands. "This medicine is indeed a medicine for tigers and wolves!"

Liu Bian let out a deathly hoarse sound, his scarlet fingertips clutching the gilded dragon pattern on the edge of the couch. Blood foam trickled down his mouth, spreading hideous patterns across the bright yellow brocade quilt. "Shi! Shi!" He suddenly erupted, his frantic roar shaking the hall's bronze lamps. "That traitor...!" The emperor's cloudy eyes swelled with surging hatred, and the veins in his neck bulged like a twisted earthworm.

"Call the Emperor's uncle... Call Liu Bei quickly!" He suddenly grasped the physician's wrist, his nails digging into his flesh. "I want him... I want him..." The blood bubble that welled up in his throat muffled the rest of his words. Liu Bian twitched violently and fell backward. Rushing footsteps echoed outside the palace, and the Emperor's wide-open eyes reflected a blurry figure in the void, which gradually lost focus.

The morning mist hadn't yet cleared as Liu Bei galloped down Suzaku Street, the blue-gray palace walls whizzing by. The jade belt buckle at his waist jarred, but he was oblivious. Only the emperor's urgent command echoed in his ears. Only when his horse's hooves reached the square in front of the palace did he abruptly rein in the reins. The Imperial Guards, once clad in black armor, were now completely unfamiliar, their dark patterns gleaming with a cold blue light.

"Second brother, third brother..." Liu Bei's throat tightened. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Zhang Fei quietly holding down the lance, and Guan Yu's phoenix eyes narrowed into a dangerous arc. But when he saw the silver-armored general standing in front of the inner palace gate, his heart eased a little: "Zilong! What on earth..." His voice stopped abruptly. Zhao Yun's pale face was grayish-blue in the morning light, and the silver spear shaft was still stained with blood.

"Lord Liu..." Zhao Yun knelt on one knee, his voice hoarse as tearing silk. "The imperial physician says... Your Majesty... the stone poison has penetrated your marrow, and no medicine can cure it." When he raised his head, Liu Bei saw bloodshot eyes, clearly having been awake all night. From the distant palace came the intermittent wails of crows, startling the courtyard. Their black wings swept through the dim light, casting ominous shadows on the blue bricks.

Liu Bei stumbled half a step, the hem of his brocade robe brushing the moss on the steps. Zhang Fei roared and tried to charge forward, but Guan Yu held him back. The moment the three men rushed into the bedroom, the strong smell of blood hit them—imperial physicians knelt before the dragon bed, and Liu Bian lay naked and stiff in a pool of blood, his eyes wide open as he stared at the coiled dragon in the dome, his fingertips still grasping, as if to tear his enemy apart in the void. Liu Bei felt dizzy and fell to his knees, his forehead banging hard on the cold gold brick. He vaguely heard Zhang Fei's thunderous roar and Guan Yu's gasp echoing in the empty hall.