Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator.

The Emperor has passed away!

Especially the collapse of Emperor Liu Hong of the already tottering Great Han Dynasty had a huge impact in every aspect.

For Liu Bei, when he learned of this news, he was stunned for a long time before he came back to his senses.

It wasn't just sadness over the death of the Han Emperor that made Liu Bei feel uneasy and nervous, but also Li Ji's judgment on the situation of the Great Han Dynasty years ago.

Once the Emperor passed away, what followed would be a true chaotic world!

Others could hardly imagine the shock in Liu Bei's heart at this moment and the pressure he was under, but when Liu Bei looked around, he found that the most important Li Ji had not yet returned.

However, at the thought of Li Ji's existence, Liu Bei inexplicably felt a lot more at ease, and he knew that the Emperor's death also meant that Li Ji, who had been appointed as the Governor of Liaodong Commandery, could return to Wu Commandery from Yingzhou.

In addition, knowing that the situation of the Great Han Dynasty would be changing unpredictably next, Liu Bei, in addition to trying to send people to Yingzhou to contact Li Ji as soon as possible, urgently summoned Guan Yu, who had been stationed in Yizhou for many years, to return.

Under heavy pressure, while making various preparations, Liu Bei also asked the Brocade-Clothed Guards to do their best to find out information in Luoyang.

After Liu Hong's death, he was given the posthumous title "Emperor Xiaoling", and his eldest son Liu Bian succeeded to the throne and was buried in Wenling in June.

However, the situation within the imperial court did not stabilize after Liu Bian succeeded to the throne. The emperor was young and the empress's relatives were strong, which meant that the power in the court was actually in the hands of Empress Dowager He and General-in-Chief He Jin.

After Liu Bian succeeded to the throne, He Jin, who held great power, could hardly wait to get rid of the Ten Attendants, who had been political enemies for many years, and take sole control of the power.

However, Empress Dowager He, who was just a woman in the deep palace, was persuaded by the Ten Attendants to protect them, intending to avoid Liu Bian from being bullied after He Jin completely took control of the power due to his young age.

In this way, when Emperor Ling Liu Hong was still in power, he could still suppress the struggle and contradiction between He Jin and the Ten Attendants within a certain range.

But now that Liu Bian was in power, coupled with the personal involvement of General-in-Chief He Jin and Empress Dowager He, this also led to the complete outbreak of the contradiction between the Ten Attendants and General-in-Chief He Jin. The two sides were already close to armed confrontation, preparing to completely resolve each other by means other than politics.

When the Brocade-Clothed Guards sent back the news that "Under Yuan Shao's advice, General-in-Chief He Jin ordered Dong Zhuo, Ding Yuan, Wang Kuang, and Qiao Mao to lead troops to station in the four directions of Luoyang to kill the eunuchs."

Liu Bei was so angry that he was almost trembling, and he kept cursing He Jin and Yuan Shao in his home.

He cursed "He Jin is as stupid as a pig, occupying a high position in vain…"

He cursed "Yuan Shao is really harboring ulterior motives, his heart is punishable…"

At this moment, Liu Bei's vision was far from what it was in the original trajectory when he was displaced. He had been the governor of a commandery for many years, and he had often discussed the changes in the situation and the general trend of the world with Li Ji.

Liu Bei almost instantly judged that this was a way to invite disaster. The emperor was young and the ministers were strong, and he also led generals with heavy troops to station around Luoyang. This was undoubtedly leading wolves into the house.

As long as those generals harbored ambition, the imperial capital Luoyang would be directly under the threat of their military force.

This made Liu Bei feel a strong sense of foreboding. He wanted to stop it, but he was far away in Wu Commandery, and he knew that even if he wrote to the imperial court, it would not reach Emperor Liu Bian's desk at all.

Or rather, even if it reached Liu Bian's desk, Liu Bian, who had lost power, was just a mascot and could not stop the struggle between General-in-Chief He Jin and the Ten Attendants.

It was also in early August, when Liu Bei was worried, that the army led by Li Ji finally arrived at the port of Wu Commandery.

The familiar scenery of Wu Commandery appeared in front of them, which made all the soldiers, including Li Ji, feel a lot of emotions.

In the port, Liu Bei had already led a group of civil officials and generals to greet them.

What surprised Li Ji a little was that Guan Yu had already returned to Wu Commandery.

This made Li Ji realize that during his return voyage, the situation within the imperial court might have further deteriorated, otherwise Liu Bei would not have specially summoned Guan Yu back from Yizhou in advance.

However, Li Ji calmed down slightly, suppressed those worries, and led the generals to disembark.

Seeing that familiar face again after more than two years, Liu Bei's heart was filled with emotions, his eyes were hot, and before Li Ji had completely disembarked, he strode towards Li Ji's direction.

Looking at Liu Bei who couldn't wait to greet him, Li Ji's expression also moved, and he was about to speed up his pace and say something when a loud noise suddenly sounded from behind.

"Big Brother! Second Brother!! I miss you so much…"

Immediately, Zhang Fei took a few big steps and crossed Li Ji, opening his arms and rushing towards Liu Bei and Guan Yu.

"Yide?!"

Liu Bei's voice had three parts surprise, three parts longing, and four parts absent-mindedness. Looking at Zhang Fei, he subconsciously showed joy, but his eyes still slanted towards Li Ji's direction.

To this, Li Ji smiled dumbly, and also responded to Liu Bei with a look, and then unhurriedly led the generals to Liu Bei, cupped his hands and bowed, and said.

"Lord, I am fortunate not to have failed my mission. After two years, the matter of Yingzhou has been settled."

Immediately, Li Ji took out the military talisman from his sleeve and handed it back to Liu Bei.

Liu Bei pushed Zhang Fei, who was still quite excited, to Guan Yu, walked to Li Ji, took the military talisman and put it in his sleeve casually, and then held Li Ji with both hands and helped Li Ji up.

"Zikun, I can't express the joy in my heart at this moment, but it's not because the matter of Yingzhou has been settled, but because Zikun has returned safely. Fortunately, Heaven blesses Bei, and also blesses Zikun, so that the vast waves have not hurt Zikun in the slightest."

"Letting the Lord worry is Ji's fault."

Li Ji replied.

Liu Bei couldn't help but patted Li Ji's arm heavily. Between the eye contact, everything was already inexpressible.

Immediately, Liu Bei looked at the generals behind Li Ji and also personally cared for and comforted them one by one, which also moved all the generals greatly.

Even Jia Xu, under the fatal charm exuded by Liu Bei, was also greatly touched in his eyes.

Li Ji took the opportunity to scan the civil officials and generals who came with Liu Bei. There were many familiar faces, and there were also many unfamiliar faces.

Among them, when Li Ji looked at Gu Yong, who had a much darker complexion in the crowd and looked like he was gritting his teeth, his eyes unconsciously wandered a little, and he felt a headache.

Why did the Lord also transfer Gu Yong back from Yizhou?

Originally, Li Ji was thinking of waiting until he returned to Wu Commandery, and then be a good person to rescue Gu Yong from the dire straits of Yizhou, and let Gu Yong be grateful.

As a result, Liu Bei recalled Guan Yu at the same time, and also brought Gu Yong back, wouldn't that be all exposed?

Liu Bei, who was becoming more and more like a master, cared for all the generals one by one, and also rewarded and comforted the many soldiers who participated in this expedition with the various money and food prepared in advance.

When Liu Bei and a group of civil officials and generals saw that the spirit of the more than 30,000 soldiers was obviously far from comparable to ordinary commandery soldiers, almost all of them were amazed.

Elite!

This is undoubtedly an elite in every sense!

At this moment, Liu Bei, who had been worried about the changes in the situation of the Great Han Dynasty, inexplicably felt that his whole person had settled down.

With these 30,000 elites, even if the Great Han Dynasty really entered a chaotic world as Zikun judged, even if it could not quickly pacify the chaotic world at that time, it would definitely be able to protect one side of peace, and then slowly plan for it and restore the Han Dynasty.

On the point of buying people's hearts, if Liu Bei claimed to be the second in the world, I am afraid no one would dare to recognize the first.

In less than an hour, the many soldiers who were originally eager to return home and had experienced more than a month of sea voyage.

Under the lure of many rewards and Liu Bei's personal charm, almost all of them seemed to have rekindled their fighting spirit and were willing to die for Liu Bei.

However, after simply settling the soldiers, Liu Bei hurriedly pulled Li Ji into his carriage.

Originally, Li Ji thought that Liu Bei had something confidential to discuss with him, but he didn't want to find out that there were also two boys who looked about three years old in the carriage.

One of the boys had quite big eyes, and some of his face and body were a little chubby, looking very naive and cute.

The other boy had bright eyes, and every move was a bit like a little adult. He was kneeling in the carriage in a proper manner.

"Zikun, this is Adou and Xiang'er. I think you must miss them very much after not seeing them for two years, right?"

Liu Bei said, while affectionately touching the head of the boy who was always kneeling properly.

As for the naive and cute boy, he was a little afraid of Liu Bei's meaning. Subconsciously, he moved in another direction, and his round eyes looked at Li Ji, revealing full of curiosity.

This made Li Ji, who couldn't tell who was who from the appearance, naturally pulled over the naive and cute boy who was not very close to Liu Bei, and asked gently.

"Xiang'er, do you recognize your father?"

Suddenly, as soon as Li Ji said this, the atmosphere in the carriage seemed to be still.

The boy who was still kneeling properly at this moment bowed to Li Ji and said.

"Greetings, Father. I am Li Xiang, and the one in your arms is Adou."

???

Li Ji.

Hearing this, Li Ji looked at Li Xiang who was respectfully saluting, and then looked at Adou, who was being pulled into his arms and blinking his eyes and looking at him curiously, and the embarrassment on his face could hardly stop.

Who would have thought that Liu Bei was not close to Adou at all, but was so affectionate to Li Xiang?

"Sorry, Young Lord, Ji has lost his courtesy."

Immediately, Li Ji, who had reacted, quickly released Adou, and then was about to salute, but Liu Bei quickly stopped him and said.

"Adou and Xiang'er are sworn brothers, and Zikun is also Adou's adoptive father. Adou should regard Zikun as his own father. How can a father salute his son?"

With that, Liu Bei's expression turned serious as he scolded the still somewhat bewildered A Dou.

"A Dou, what are you still standing there for? Didn't you see that your sworn brother has already paid his respects to Zikun? Have you forgotten all the teachings you receive on a daily basis?"

These words startled A Dou so much that he trembled, and he quickly followed Li Xiang's example, bowing to Li Ji and saying,

"A... A Dou pays respects to adoptive father."

(End of chapter)