I, Liu Bian, the hero

Chapter 18
When Liu Bian hurried to Changqiu Palace, his second uncle He Miao was already in the palace and was talking to Empress He.

The two brothers and sisters were talking and laughing, when Zhao Zhong came in with a smile and said: "Empress, Shihou is here."

Empress He ordered Zhao Zhong to bring Liu Bian in. When she saw her son, she asked in surprise, "Bian'er, why are you here?"

Liu Bian clasped his hands and explained: "My son learned that my second uncle entered the palace, so I came here to congratulate my second uncle."

While speaking, his eyes turned to the thin figure in the hall, it was his second uncle He Miao.

His two uncles, He Jin, He Jin, He Miao, and Liu Bian, Liu Bian, have seen each other before. The former is very tall and strong, while the latter is very thin, and the appearance of the two is quite different.

This is of course, because He Jin was born to his father He Zhen and his late ex-wife, while He Miao was born to his mother Wuyang Jun and Zhu Shi, and then remarried to He Jin, and gave birth to Empress He and Xiao Xiao. Ho's.

Therefore, it is not an exaggeration to call He Miao Zhu Miao.

When he first looked at this period of history, Liu Bian felt that the relationship between this family was very complicated. First of all, He Jin and He Miao, they were "half-brothers" in the true sense, and secondly, He Jin and Empress He , Xiao He, and He Miao, Queen He, and Xiao He are half-brothers and sisters of the same father and mother respectively.

With such a complex family, even ordinary families would have to make a lot of troubles, but the He family became a foreign relative, which was a disaster for the Han Dynasty.

"Congratulations to the second uncle, who is a general of chariots and knights, and named Jiyang Marquis."

Walking up to He Miao, Liu Bian cupped his hands and congratulated.

Under Liu Bian's observation, He Miao's eyes showed a little bit of surprise, and then he showed a rather shy smile in Liu Bian's eyes, and calmly replied, "Thank you Shihou."

"what?"

Liu Bian deliberately pretended to be shocked, and looked back at Queen He.

Sure enough, Empress He also complained: "Second Brother, Bian'er is your nephew, why are you so unfamiliar?"

He Miao smiled shyly, shook his head and said, "Courtesy cannot be discarded."

Seeing this, Empress He sighed lightly, and explained to Liu Bian: "Bian'er, don't misunderstand your second uncle, he has been like this since he was a child..."

Since childhood?

Liu Bian looked at He Miao with some surprise and scrutiny, guessing a little bit in his heart.

The reason for this is mostly because of He Miao's embarrassing background. After all, he is the "oil bottle" brought by his mother when she married He Zhen, and he is the son of his mother and her ex-husband. As a butcher in this era, his family must have some money, otherwise how would he bribe Guo Sheng from the same county?
Just like Zhang Fei, who is also a butcher, he has Zhuangzi and Taoyuan in his family, and he can recruit [-] Xiangyongs to fight with Liu Bei. The He family should not be bad.

For such a well-off He family, He Miao came to the He family as an oil bottle, and he must have been discriminated against. It is not surprising that he has become withdrawn over time.

At this time, Zhao Zhong ordered people to bring two chairs, one for He Miao and one for Liu Bian.

After the two sat down, Empress He chatted with He Miao again, as if they were talking about paying homage to their father He Zhen: "...the day is coming soon, and my mother is urging me again, second brother, you need to talk about it first , go back and take mother to worship."

"Okay." He Miao nodded, and immediately asked, "Do you want to notify the general?"

Empress He sighed complicatedly: "I'll talk to him later."

"Okay." He Miao smiled shyly again.

From the side, Liu Bian muttered to himself: It is not a fiction that the historical records say that He Miao and He Jin were not close.

Thinking about it carefully, one is the eldest son of the He family, who has been fawned on since childhood, and the other is not even considered a concubine, and has been discriminated against. It is strange that these two brothers can get together.

In the following time, Empress He and He Miao chatted for a long time. Most of the time, Empress He was talking, while He Miao listened quietly, nodding occasionally, and even the reply was very brief "um", 'Good' or something like that.

Obviously He Miao is the elder brother and Empress He is the younger sister, but it seems to be reversed to others, as if Empress He is the elder sister and is telling the younger brother.

After a long time, the two brothers and sisters finished their conversation, and soon He Miao went to the side hall of Changqiu Palace to visit his mother, Lord Wuyang.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Liu Bian ran to Empress He's side, and asked pretendingly puzzled, "Queen Mother, does Second Uncle not like me?"

Empress He guessed that her son might have misunderstood something because of her second brother's previous behavior, she shook her head and said, "Didn't you tell me, your second uncle has been like this since he was a child...some things are not easy to talk about as a mother, anyway, your second uncle When I was young, I suffered a lot at home, so my temperament became withdrawn and I didn't like to contact outsiders."

Liu Bian nodded secretly: It seems that his judgment should be correct.

Not long after, He Miao came out of the hall and bid farewell to Empress He, Liu Bian took the opportunity to shout, "Mother, I will see off my second uncle for you."

"Okay." Empress He agreed with a smile, while He Miao glanced at Liu Bian in surprise, but didn't say much.

The uncle and nephew walked out of the Changqiu Palace, followed by Zhao Chun and the two young eunuchs.

After walking more than twenty steps, neither of them opened their mouths.

Liu Bian looked up at He Miao, carefully sizing up the second uncle.

It is said that he observed that He Miao was about [-] years old, and his appearance was actually not bad, but it was a bit gloomy, and he didn't like to talk, which inevitably made people feel cold.

He was looking at it, and suddenly He Miao also turned to look at him, and the eyes of the uncle and nephew collided, and the atmosphere seemed a little awkward.

"Uh……"

Perhaps because he felt that as an elder, he was the one to take the lead in breaking this embarrassing situation. Although He Miao looked uncomfortable, he began to say something: "I heard from the queen that Shihou has been working very hard in learning recently?"

Seeing that He Miao held back such a sentence for a long time, Liu Bian couldn't help laughing.

I have to say that the performance of this second uncle reminded him of a friend who suffered from mild social phobia.

He dared to bet that as long as he replied "um" at this time, the second uncle would definitely not be able to get back to the words immediately.

But I still don't try, after all, Liu Bian's purpose is to build a good relationship with this second uncle who died in vain in history.

Why do you say you died in vain?

The reason is very simple, because on the night of He Jin's death, He Miao also happened to be in the palace, and unfortunately ran into He Jin's general Wu Kuang.

At that time Wu Kuang shouted: "He Miao conspired to kill brother, let's kill him together!"

He Miao wanted to escape, but was surrounded by Wu Kuang's men and chopped into pieces.

Then the question arises, first of all, what was He Miao doing in the palace at that time?
Secondly, why is there no description of He Miao's accompanying guards?

You know, He Miao was Henan Yin and General Cheqi, who was in charge of Henan's military administration, and he held military power in his hands, so he was hacked to death in the palace for no reason?What was He Miao doing in the palace at that time?
Could it be that like Dong Zhuo, he entered the palace without authorization and caused trouble for the concubines and maids?

Or did he enter the palace at the request of Empress He, who was deceived by Zhang Rang, to persuade He Jin together and prevent He Jin from eradicating the eunuchs in the palace?
Obviously the latter.

But unfortunately, Zhang Rang chose to kill He Jin when he was desperate. He deceived Empress He into summoning He Jin into the palace so that they would hack him to death. Unfortunately, He Miao was also implicated.

If it is said that He Jin was brave but not resourceful, then He Miao really died unjustly. He was obviously invited by Empress He to persuade their elder brother He Jin, but in the end he was involved in the Luoyang Palace Rebellion. General, he was hacked to death just like that.

It's no wonder that in history, Queen He only scolded He Jin for being useless before she died, but did not mention He Miao, because she also knew that her second brother was also implicated and died very wrongly.

As for why there was no description of He Miao's entourage and guards at that time, you can see from He Miao's performance today. He didn't even feel comfortable staying with his own nephew, so how could he endure a group of guards following him?
Perhaps in his opinion, it is better to be alone and free than to endure discomfort and cultivate loyal guards.

Perhaps it was precisely because of this that when the crisis came, He Miao didn't even have a single guard who could block the knife, and the dignified relatives who held the military power were killed by a group of rebels.

Wronged, it is really wronged to die.

Thinking of this, Liu Bian couldn't help scolding He Jin again: You are a reckless fool!

"Ok!"

All kinds of thoughts flashed through his mind, Liu Bian nodded in response to He Miao, and immediately chatted awkwardly with the latter: "...I heard that the Xingyang thieves are very violent, but I didn't expect the second uncle to calm down in just twenty days. Really great."

"Shihou Miao praised it. Although the Xingyang bandits are said to be in the tens of thousands, they are actually only a few thousand, and their armor is not complete. Even if someone else led the army to conquer, they would still be able to win a complete victory."

"Then... uh, did the second uncle kill someone too?"

"Kill a few."

For the rest of the time, Liu Bian was mostly asking questions. As for He Miao, it could be seen that he was actually working hard to answer, but his speaking skills were really poor and he was easy to stand cold.

He Miao didn't take the initiative to say until he was only tens of feet away from the palace gate, "Shi Hou can send me here, and send me further...it's not good."

Hearing this, even Liu Bian felt that this second uncle was too cautious in his life, and he simply didn't fit his status as a relative.

But having said that, it was also because Liu Bian found that the second uncle was so cautious and calm that Liu Bian had more and more high hopes for him.

After all, such an uncle is really unlikely to compete with him for power in the future.

"OK then."

Liu Biangong cupped his hands and said: "I will send my second uncle here. If I have a chance in the future, I will go and play with my second uncle."

He Miao opened her mouth in surprise and unexpectedly, and immediately showed a slightly shy smile: "Okay."

"Then I'm going back."

"I respectfully send Shihou off."

"Second uncle, we are all one family, don't be so divided..."

"Ok."

After a while, He Miao looked at the back of Liu Bian's leaving, with doubts flashing across his face.

He also didn't understand why his nephew, who had only met once or twice, acted like he wanted to be close to him, but this feeling was not bad.

After all, if it weren't for special circumstances, he would already have a child at his age, so how could he be childless?

Seeing the figure of his nephew disappearing from sight, He Miao turned around and walked towards the palace gate, and left in a carriage.

(End of this chapter)