Eastern Han Dynasty, not the Three Kingdoms

Ma Chao tapped his fingertips on the desk, his eyes fixed on the map of Xiliang hanging on the wall. "According to what you said, sir, Zhang Lu is so willing to abandon even his homeland of Hanzhong? Even if I lead my army to capture his city, he may not resist with all his strength."

Li Ru twirled his beard and smiled slightly. "Your Majesty, if you only promise the right to preach the Tianshi Dao in the territory of Xiliang, Zhang Lu will not be obsessed with the empty title of Hanzhong prefect. But whether he will fight with all his might is still uncertain." He paused, his fingertips lightly tapping the cinnabar mark of Hanzhong County on the map. "Only if you marry both of Zhang Lu's daughters into your family, and deeply bind the inheritance of the Tianshi Dao with the hegemony of the King of Liang, will he unreservedly use the sect's talisman soldiers to build momentum for you."

Dong Bai frowned slightly, his fingertips unconsciously stroking the jade pendant at his waist: "Uncle's words sound so magical. Does the Heavenly Master Dao really have such a powerful power?"

Jia Xu answered for Li Ru: "Miss Dong, don't underestimate the power of doctrine. With your majesty's military strategy, expanding territory is easy, but the difficulty lies in winning the hearts of the people under your rule. Nowadays, the princes in the Central Plains have been fighting for years, and the people are loyal to one family today and to another family tomorrow. The root cause is that they lack faith and sustenance in their hearts." He picked up the teacup and took a sip, and continued, "But if your majesty, after conquering the new land, uses the Tianshi Dao to spread the doctrine and give the people hope for a 'peaceful and prosperous era', even if the enemy invades in the future, the people under your rule will be able to unite to resist the foreign enemies; even if we lose land for a while, as long as the people's hearts are not dispersed, when our army recovers it again, the people will welcome us with food and drink."

Dong Bai listened to these words quietly, and felt a chill on the back of her neck - she originally thought it was just an ordinary political marriage, but she didn't expect that there was such a grand power struggle behind it. The sophistication of this chess game far exceeded her previous imagination.

Li Ru looked at the black iron paperweight that Ma Chao's fingertips were unconsciously stroking, and his old eyes narrowed into slits under the bamboo crown.

"Is the king satisfied with my old minister's plan?" As the old fox bowed, the jade hairpin on his bamboo crown brushed against the Qilin pattern on the screen, startling the iron horses under the eaves and making a clanging sound.

Ma Chao nodded, secretly relieved, and was about to leave. Suddenly, he felt his clothes being pulled, and out of the corner of his eye he saw Dong Bai's hand grabbing his sleeve.

"Satisfied?" Dong Bai suddenly sneered, her black and gold-studded skirt brushing against Li Ru's bamboo crown. "Do you know how many versions of the blueprints I asked Gong Cao to revise in order to expand the palace?" She pointed outside the window at the newly erected pergola in the fourth courtyard. The red silk dowry shone in the twilight, turning into a fragment of light. "Now that we have two more sisters, are we going to let Fu Bao sleep under the veranda and feed the mosquitoes?"

Li Ru clapped his hands and laughed so hard that the bronze lamps hanging from the beams sparkled. "How difficult is that!" He suddenly pointed out the window toward the palace. The Chiwen of the Weiyang Palace shone coldly in the setting sun. "The existing imperial palace, the Dragon Court, is empty. Why don't you just move in?"

Ma Chao's knuckles, gripping the paperweight, suddenly turned white. "Sir, you're confused!" He looked at the map of the world hanging on the wall. "I'm only the King of Liang now. If I take over the imperial palace..."

"It's just an empty shell!" Jia Xu suddenly interrupted, the cloud pattern on the cuff of his brocade robe brushing against the thick ink in the inkstone. "When the king proclaimed himself the King of Liang, who in the world didn't know that it was an act of usurpation?" Ma Chao's face changed.

Without waiting for Ma Chao to speak, Jia Xu said, "If the Han Dynasty still had 50% luck while the previous emperor was alive, then the new emperor who ascended the throne in Xudu is just a puppet controlled by the aristocratic families. How much luck does he have left? Moreover, the imperial seal has long been lost, so how can he really have any luck?"

Ma Chao's face was strange. The imperial seal was lost, but he knew where it was. It had been in Sun Ce's hands before. He didn't dare to say it easily. If these old foxes knew, how could they embolden him to become emperor?

Dong Bai's fingertips paused on Li Ru's sleeve, suddenly recalling the way the people of Baqiao had looked at Shao Che during the day. Behind those envious glances was Li Ru's path to the throne, paved with the beauty trap—when Fu Bao's dowry included the secret scroll of the Celestial Master Dao, the Chiwen Palace in the Weiyang Palace became her logical destination.

"But the world is full of complaints..." Ma Chao's voice suddenly fell silent, his eyes fixed on the Chang'an Palace City marker on the map, which Li Ru had circled with cinnabar.

"The people only care about benefits!" Li Ru suddenly slapped his hand on the center of the map, and the cinnabar handwriting just passed through the main hall of the Weiyang Palace. "When Dong Gong burned Luoyang, did the people shed a tear for the Han Dynasty? They only cried for displacement." The old fox's nails scraped across the Wei River on the map, making a harsh sound. "Even if the king occupies the palace, as long as he can protect the people and live and work in peace, and with the help of the Tianshi Dao, the king will have momentum."

"——Who cares whether the person sitting on the dragon throne is surnamed Liu or Ma?" Jia Xu continued, his gilded belt buckle gleaming in the candlelight. He pointed to the outline of the corner tower of the palace outside the window, "As for that false reputation..."

Dong Bai suddenly let go of Li Ru's hand, and swept the dark silk scarf across the bronze jar on the table. Suddenly, he chuckled: "Uncle, you have already prepared the plan, right?"

Ma Chao gazed at the winding cinnabar lines on the blueprint and marveled inwardly at how meticulously Li Ru had calculated every step, single-mindedly carrying on Master Dong's legacy and overthrowing the corrupt Han dynasty. Yet, the smile beneath Li Ru's bamboo crown revealed a more ruthless plan: rather than remaining the unjustified King of Liang, he might as well reside in this empty Dragon Court, allowing the talismanic waters of the Heavenly Master Dao to exonerate him of his usurpation.

Ma Chao's fingertips traced the Chiwen pattern on the Weiyang Palace blueprint, and he suddenly placed his wolf-hair brush on the mark for "Taiji Hall." "Let's follow your plan and occupy the palace," he said. He looked out the window. The pavilions and towers of the imperial palace could also be seen from here, "but it is still known to the outside world as the 'Prince of Liang's Palace.'"

Li Ru was secretly delighted when he heard this, and his old eyes narrowed under his bamboo hat. "Since that's the case, I, the old minister, will take my leave."

Li Ru quickly winked at Jia Xu, and the two bowed and took their leave. As they were leaving the room, Dong Bai grabbed their beards as they turned around in the corridor.

"My uncle wants to run away?" Dong Bai's hand grasped his goatee, and the sweep of her black skirt made the copper bells on the pillars tinkle. "You gave me two younger sisters for no reason, and you think I can make excuses?"

The old fox groaned and doubled over, nearly knocking the lanterns off the corridor with his bamboo crown. "It hurts, it hurts!" He felt his beard tremble, and when he saw the pearl hairpins on Dong Bai's temples swaying from the force, he said, "Silly girl!"

"You still dare to scold me?" Dong Bai increased the force on his hands, and Li Ru bent over in pain.

Li Ru grimaced in pain, but leaned close to her ear and lowered his voice: "What do you think I'm trying so hard for? Your uncle has taken on this mess for you and has worked so hard to plan for the king." He glanced towards the study, where Ma Chao was circling and modifying the palace blueprints with a cinnabar pen. "The more dedicated I am, the more secure your position as queen will be when the king ascends the throne!"

Dong Bai's fingertips loosened suddenly, and the pearl hairpin almost fell on the blue brick. "The throne of the queen?" She looked at Li Ru's beard, which was trembling from being pulled, and suddenly felt a little embarrassed. "You have already planned this?"

"Of course!" Li Ru rubbed his aching chin, forcing a flattering smile onto his old face beneath the bamboo crown. "Why did I go to such great lengths to dissuade the king from harboring any illusions about the Han court? Why did I go to such great lengths to tie the Taiping Dao to the Xiliang chariot? Why did I instigate the king to seize the palace? It was to allow him to conquer the Central Plains and the world, completing Lord Dong's unfinished work, so that you, my girl, could become the mother of the country. Only then would I be worthy of Lord Dong's kindness in recognizing me!"

Dong Bai suddenly burst out laughing, "Okay, okay, I was wrong about you. You still have some conscience and are still thinking about grandpa." She shook her sleeves and said with a little embarrassment: "Uncle, did it hurt? This is also your fault. You should have said it earlier!"

Li Ru said, "Auntie, are you angry now? If you are, I will take my leave." Only then did Dong Bai put away her hypocritical concern and left with satisfaction.

Li Ru leaned against the porch pillar, panting heavily, and smoothed his beard as he looked in the direction Dong Bai had disappeared. When Jia Xu stepped out from the shadows, he suddenly chuckled: "Finally, I've managed to appease this little girl." His sleeves slipped down, revealing a few strands of plucked beard on his hands. Li Ru's heart ached, and he said to Jia Xu, "I'm wholeheartedly serving the king, and I still have to take care of this little girl's feelings. How easy is that?" Jia Xu laughed heartily: "Mr. Wen You, as long as you can pass this test, haha..."

The July sun scorched the glazed tiles of the palace walls. As Zhang Gui squatted by the West Market's well, his blue Taoist robe was stained with salt from sweat. He sprinkled talisman water on the blind old woman's forehead and suddenly spoke aloud, "Our Heavenly Master Dao reveres the Supreme Lord Laojun. To join, one needs only five pecks of rice, and one will receive the protection of the Great Dao!" Before he finished speaking, a talisman rolled out from his sleeve and floated into the water bucket. The cinnabar inscriptions of "Healing the body and family, utterly impartial and selfless" rippled through the water, startling the onlookers and sending them groping for their grain bags.

"Five dou of rice can cure an illness?" Mr. Wang, the Hu pancake seller, leaned forward, clutching his shriveled purse, air leaking from his toothless mouth. "Last year, my wife had tuberculosis. The doctor spent three dou of millet on her, but she still couldn't be cured..."

Zhang Wei stepped forward, fanning herself with a folding fan. The silver-embroidered Big Dipper pattern on her Taoist robe flickered in the scorching sun. "I teach you to heal illnesses with talismans, water, and incantations," she said, pointing to a newly built charity house near the well, where wheat cakes and water were piled high. "If you are sincere and kind, even if you have no money, you can be cured by drinking the talismans and incantations." She then pulled out a peach wood slip from her sleeve, engraved with the religious rule of "Offenders will be pardoned three times before being executed." "When my master was in Hanzhong, the Taoists valued honesty and integrity above all else. They didn't pick up things on the road, and they left their doors unlocked at night."

Night watchman Li Laoer downed a bowl of talisman water and suddenly slapped his thigh, saying, "No wonder Taoist Zhang always says, 'The reason the universe can last so long is because it didn't create itself!'" His bare chest, stained with talisman water, glowed red in the summer heat. "The other day, I fell drunk in the middle of the street, and it was the Taoist priests who gave me a ride home, for free!"

In front of the former imperial palace, now the Prince of Liang's Mansion, Jia Xu looked at the people queuing up to receive wheat cakes at the charity house set up on Zhuque Street and paused. "Look, Mr. Wenyou, the Five Pecks of Rice Sect has set up charity houses and provided free rice, which is more popular than the imperial granary." He pointed to the Taoist children practicing calligraphy at the foot of the West Market wall. The children were writing the doctrine of "If you plant grain, you will get grain, if you plant beans, you will get beans" on the ground with tree branches. "Now that the people pay five pecks of rice to join the sect, they get protection and food. Why would they still miss the Han emperor?"

李儒竹冠下的眼眯成缝：&34;当年张鲁在汉中，以&39;三官手书&39;让道民忏悔，又以&39;祭酒&39;管治地方，&34;他敲了敲案上的汉中地图，&34;如今咱们借长安百姓之口宣扬：凉王若得天下，便让天师道的&39;义舍&39;遍行四海——&34;

&34;——如此便是&39;天命所归&39;了。&34;贾诩踢开脚边晒裂的符水碗，釉面碎纹里映着&34;凉王府&34;匾额。

李儒抚掌大笑：&34;这便是教义的妙处！&34;他指向远处改砌宫墙的工匠，而此刻的未央宫深处，工匠们正将&34;太极殿&34;匾额翻过来，背面新刻的&34;凉王议事厅&34;。

As dusk drifted over the palace walls, a long line still formed in front of the charity house. The old man clutched the wheat cake he had just received and whispered to his grandson, "Did you hear that? Paying five dou of rice to join the sect will not only cure your illness but also keep you well fed. It's much better than following the Han emperor." The child nodded, biting into the wheat cake. The locust leaves in his hand, gradually drying in the summer heat, looked like the seeds planted by the Tianshi Dao in Chang'an.