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

Seven days later, at the Prince of Chenliu's residence.

Liu Bian brought Cao Cao to visit Liu Xie. He brought not much: a few boxes of pastries, a few small toys, and a stack of books.

Liu Xie was playing in the yard. When he saw him come in, he was stunned for a moment, then ran over and looked up at him.

"Brother!"

Liu Bian bent down, picked him up, and weighed him in his arms:

"It's too heavy."

Liu Xie chuckled, put his arm around his neck, and his eyes shone brightly.

Since his elder brother risked his life to save him a few days ago, Liu Xie had already accepted him as his own elder brother.

Liu Bian carried him inside, asking as they went:

"What have you been eating these past few days?"

"Let's have meat soup!" Liu Xie exclaimed. "So much meat!"

Liu Bian smiled but did not reply.

Once inside, he put Liu Xie down and asked Wang Ming to bring the things up. Liu Xie's eyes lit up when he saw the toys; he picked up a small wooden horse and examined it closely.

Liu Bian sat down beside him, looked at him without saying a word.

After a while, he suddenly asked:

"Brother Xie, has anyone come to see you these past few days?"

Liu Xie didn't even look up:

"Yes. The Empress Dowager sent people over with a lot of gifts."

Liu Bian nodded:

"Did you send anything else?"

Liu Xie thought for a moment:

"They even gave someone a gift. They said it was to help Xie'er manage things."

Liu Bian hummed in agreement and didn't ask any more questions.

He sat for a while, playing with the pony with Liu Xie, then stood up and patted Liu Xie's head:

"My brother has left. He'll come to see you again in a few days."

Liu Xie looked up at him, his eyes shining:

"Is my brother coming again?"

"Again."

Liu Bian walked out of the courtyard, Cao Cao followed beside him, and whispered:

"Your Highness, those people have been verified."

Liu Bian didn't say anything, he just kept walking forward.

Cao Cao continued:

"Two were sent by the Empress Dowager. One was transferred from the former Zhao family, and the other—its origin is unknown."

Liu Bian paused for a moment.

"Unable to trace its origin?"

"Yes," Cao Cao said. "The names don't match, and the tally is old."

Liu Bian remained silent for a while before speaking:

"Follow the rules."

Cao Cao accepted the order and withdrew.

-

The Yuan residence.

It was late at night, but the lamp in the west wing was still on.

The Yuan family never held meetings in the main hall.

The main hall is for outsiders to see; it is spacious and dignified, with portraits of the family heads from the great-grandfather onwards hanging on the walls. Each portrait is solemn, giving the impression that this family has always been a single, cohesive unit without any gaps.

But the real story is said to be told in the small study in the west wing.

"To be honest, you've all seen what's been happening at the Crown Prince's Palace lately, and I've seen it too."

Yuan Shu was impatient. From the moment he entered the room, he did not sit down but instead paced back and forth in the study.

"The Inspectorate has been established, and the Crown Prince has control over the capital's gates. Even that old eunuch Zhang Rang has gone to sign off on accounts—and that's not all. In Ji Province, Liu Bei has driven down grain prices in several counties, and now no merchant caravan dares to bypass the Heavenly Merchant Guild's road permits."

He stopped and looked at everyone in the room:

"Eldest brother, second brother, uncle, are we just going to sit here and wait to die?"

Yuan Ji frowned slightly and looked at Yuan Shu:

"Gonglu, the Crown Prince already wields considerable power. What good will continuing to target him do for the Yuan family?"

"It would be better to show goodwill. We don't need to actually submit, just make a gesture to let the Crown Prince think that the Yuan family is no match for us—that way we'll have room to maneuver."

Silence fell over the study. The three of them turned their gazes toward Yuan Po, who sat in the main seat.

This pillar of the Yuan family is over fifty years old, with gray hair, but his eyes are still like a well, hiding a depth that no one can see.

Seeing everyone looking at him, he instead asked:

"Why are you looking at me?"

"Benchu, the falling out with the Crown Prince was orchestrated by you and Gonglu. What's your take on that?"

Yuan Shao stood up, his face showing no sign of panic, and bowed slightly to Yuan Po, who was seated in the main seat.

"Uncle, it's not that we want to antagonize this Crown Prince."

"Uncle, who do you think His Highness the Crown Prince is targeting with all those things he's done these past few years—lifting the ban on factional strife, establishing chambers of commerce, conducting imperial examinations, setting up clerks, and now the Inspectorate?"

Yuan Po remained silent, his tone somewhat ambiguous.

Yuan Shao continued:

"Lifting the ban on factions wins over the hearts of scholars. But whose students are these scholars? They are our students."

"The purpose of establishing a chamber of commerce is to stabilize grain prices. But if grain prices are stable, who are those who make money through lending during disaster years, hoard grain, and acquire land?"

"Evaluation exams, clerkship, inspections—aren't they all about establishing rules?"

He paused, lowering his voice slightly:

"Once the rules are established, what are we compared to them?"

Yuan Ji's expression changed slightly.

Yuan Shao looked at Yuan Po and said, slowly and deliberately:

"Uncle, the issue between us and the Crown Prince isn't whether we can be on the same side or not."

"Everything he did was digging into our very roots."

"What's the point of trying to be nice to someone like that?"

Yuan Po remained as calm and collected as ever. Yuan Ji couldn't help but ask:

"So you mean... just tough it out like this?"

"It's not about stubbornly resisting," Yuan Shao shook his head. "It's about waiting."

"Wait until he makes a mistake, wait until His Majesty becomes suspicious again, wait until things get chaotic in Liangzhou, then he won't be able to spare any attention."

He stood up, walked to the window, and looked at the night outside:

"No matter how capable the Crown Prince is, he is still just one person. One person cannot manage everything in the world."

"The Qiang rebellion in Liangzhou is out of control. By the time the battle reports reach the capital and His Majesty is overwhelmed with problems, will he still have the mind to keep an eye on us?"

Upon hearing this, Yuan Po finally turned his gaze to Yuan Shao's retreating figure:

"Initially, showing goodwill was a necessary strategy."

"Do you know why our Yuan family has been able to stand strong for a century?"

Yuan Shao did not turn around, but stood by the window, waiting for him to continue.

Yuan Po watched his retreating figure and slowly said:

"It's us, we never gamble."

Yuan Ji's eyes lit up, and he immediately clapped his hands and said:

"What my uncle said makes sense."

"Moreover, the Crown Prince is the current heir apparent and the future emperor."

"If we truly fall out with him completely, when the Crown Prince ascends the throne, it won't just be a matter of us losing a few points of advantage or taking the initiative."

"But..."

He didn't continue speaking, but everyone in the room understood what he meant.

Yuan Po nodded: "So we need to show goodwill, but not completely."

"What do you mean by that, Uncle?" Yuan Ji asked, a hint of doubt in his eyes.

"It's a concession. At least, it lets the Crown Prince know that the Yuan family doesn't necessarily have to oppose him."

"The Yuan family can give him face, and can even help him write the 'Inspectorate' regulations to look more like a set of etiquette—"

Yuan Po paused for a moment, then continued.

"But the Yuan family cannot truly become a signature in his charter."

"What we presented was not a pledge of allegiance, but a gesture: the Yuan family is willing to uphold the dignity of the capital, but the Yuan family must also protect its own boundaries."

He looked at Yuan Ji and said to him:

"You'll have to deliver this message."

Yuan Ji was taken aback, but then he understood and cupped his hands in a gesture of respect to Yuan Po, saying, "Understood."

Yuan Shao then turned around and nodded to Yuan Po: "Agreed."

Yuan Shu gritted his teeth and ultimately remained silent—his second brother had agreed, his uncle had made the decision, and if he made any more trouble, he would be breaking the rules.

Seeing that there were no further opinions, Yuan Ji and Yuan Shu withdrew one after the other.

Just as Yuan Shao was about to bow and take his leave, Yuan Po suddenly spoke, his voice much lower than before, as if casually inquiring about an old matter:

"Benchu, have you heard about the commotion in the streets a few days ago?"

Yuan Shao paused in his steps.

He knew what Yuan Po was asking. On the day the Prince of Chenliu moved his residence, he was assassinated in the street; an arrow and a fire nearly turned the Emperor's decree into a joke.

"Of course I've heard about it."

Yuan Po picked up an old book and casually flipped through two pages:

"Did you arrange this?"

The room fell into a deathly silence.

Yuan Shao did not rush to refute, but instead chuckled:

"Uncle, that's a serious question."

"That was done by the Taiping Dao people and Zhao Zhong's remnants. What does it have to do with me?"

Yuan Po closed the book, pressed his fingertip against the cover, and looked up at Yuan Shao:

"The oil that was poured outside Duanmen that day was tung oil."

"This kind of oil isn't sold to casual consumers by street vendors."

He paused, then continued.

"They're either from the warehouse or they're shipped in bulk."

Yuan Shao remained silent.

Yuan Po continued, "Where did the Taiping Dao and Zhao Zhong's remnants get their wholesale channels?"

Yuan Shao remained silent for a moment before speaking:

"If they want to take action, there will always be someone to sell them out."

Yuan Po looked at him and sighed softly:

"The oil seller knew how to avoid the Eastern Palace's inspection team, how to avoid the Heavenly Merchants Association's road signs, and how to choose which alley entrance to let people through and which old talisman could pass the test."

"Benchu, who do you think this person could be?"

Yuan Shao's fingers tightened slightly inside his sleeve, then loosened. He neither admitted nor denied it.

"What my uncle wants is for the Yuan family to stop being gamblers."

"Then don't put your hands in the fire."

After saying this, he bowed and turned to leave.

Upon hearing this, Yuan Po stopped pursuing the matter and instead asked a seemingly unrelated question:

"Benchu, when do you think something will happen in Liangzhou?"

Yuan Shao paused, remained silent for a moment, and then said:

"Soon."