Chapter 3: A Heaven-sized Bet

  The sky gradually brightened, and the sunlight shone into the forest. Liu Jian, hiding behind a large tree, slowly opened his eyes. His throat was sore, and he couldn't help but think of what had happened last night.

  Last night's killing of two Cao soldiers was the most thrilling experience since he came to this era, even surpassing being driven out to attack the Yellow Turbans.

  If it weren't for the two Cao army soldiers underestimating him at the beginning, he would have definitely been no match for them one-on-one and would have surely died. Now thinking back on it, his heart still skips a beat with fear.

  He thought of the leather pouch again, and Liu Jian suddenly sat up, took the leather pouch hanging from the tree behind him. It was for this leather pouch that he almost lost his life, and he didn't know if the things inside were worth risking his life for.

  He first took out a short sword, the sword had no scabbard, and was simply wrapped in a piece of cloth. He then pulled out a small, heavy wooden box from his bag, which was made of high-quality golden nanmu wood, with various floral patterns, very delicate. Liu San suddenly became excited, could it be that the box contained gold, pearls, or precious jewels?

  He almost held his breath, carefully opening the box, inside which was lined with golden brocade, tied up with a knot, wrapping something. Undoing the knot, it revealed a bronze official seal, with a tortoise-shaped handle, square and flat, only the size of a fist.

  It turned out to be an official seal. Liu Jian felt a little disappointed in his heart, and then looked at other objects, including a letter and a bamboo slip, but there was nothing valuable.

  He took out the copper seal again, squinted at it in the sunlight for a moment, and barely recognized the seal script on it, "Golden Peace Pavilion Marquis Seal".

  This was actually a marquis's seal, he inhaled cold air, and only then did he realize that the group of people who were killed yesterday were not simple identities.

  Liu Jian involuntarily raised his head and looked towards a large stone under the tree, only to see that white-clothed man sitting on the stone, staring blankly at the sunrise.

  He seemed to have been sitting like this since dawn, with a heavy heart, but Liu Jian could also understand that all the people who had traveled with him were dead, and he must be very sad.

  Liu Jian jumped down from the tree and slowly walked in front of him, placing the skin bag on a large stone beside him. "This is still given to you! It's useless for me."

  The man in white sighed and said, "Everyone is dead, what's the point of giving it to him?"

  "Thank you, little brother!"

  The man in white took out a letter and a bamboo slip from the leather pouch, the letter was written on fine hemp paper, he opened it again and read it once more, a wry smile appeared at the corner of his mouth, he had promised the master that he would definitely bring back Master Jing to Xiangyang, now that the person was dead, how could he go back and report to the master.

  "Who is this... Jin Pingting Hou?" Liu Jian asked curiously.

  "He is the younger brother of my master, and my master is also the governor of Jingzhou." The man in white clothes did not hide it, considering Liu Jian had saved his life.

  "Oh!"

  Liu Jian suddenly realized that the Liu Zhou Mu he mentioned was actually Liu Bei, but he still found it strange. Liu Bei's younger brother should be at least 40 or 50 years old, yet the person in the cow cart looked like a young man.

  "Yesterday died on the ox cart, was it... your master's younger brother?"

  "No, it's his son, which is also my master's nephew."

  The man in white sighed, "I was sent by the lord to go to Mount Yang's old house to pick him up and bring him back to Xiangyang. Who would have thought that last night we encountered Cao's cavalry patrol, and... and he was killed by them! Alas!"

  Nephew!

  Liu Jian suddenly realized that the young man was Liu Bei's nephew, and he had been killed by Cao's army halfway, which was indeed unexpected.

  Liu Jian sighed and asked: "Then what do you plan to do now?"

  "What else can I do? I have no face to see my lord, and can only abandon my wife and children, and flee to the ends of the earth."

  After finishing speaking, the man in white stood up and bowed deeply to Liu Jian, "I am Wu Xiu from Jingzhou. I was rescued by you, sir, and I'm extremely grateful. If there's an opportunity in the future, I will definitely repay your kindness."

  After finishing speaking, he picked up his leather bag and turned around to leave, but Liu Jian called out to him, "Please stay!"

  The man in white turned back and asked, "Is there anything else, young master?"

  Liu Jian glanced at the hilt of the sword exposed outside the scabbard and smiled: "That short sword, if it's not being used, can you give it to me?"

  The sharpness of that short sword last night left a very deep impression on him.

  "Okay!"

  The man in white handed him a short sword, Liu Jian took it over, "Thank you."

  He was extremely fond of this short sword in his heart, and swung it lightly a few times. Unfortunately, the scabbard was lost last night, and he had to get another one.

  "Sir, we shall meet again."

  The man in white turned and walked away, but just two steps later, an idea suddenly jumped out of his mind. Young master! A 14 or 15-year-old boy, could this be the heavens saving himself?

  He suddenly turned around, widened his eyes and looked Liu Jian up and down. The figure was a bit like him, and the age was about the same.

  "What... what's your name? Where are you from?" The man in white asked with a trembling voice.

  "My name is Liu Jian, I am a hunter in the mountains."

  "You also have the surname Liu."

  The eyes of the man in white slowly lit up, this is truly heaven's will!

  Thinking of his wife and children at home, Wu Xiu gritted his teeth and made a determined decision. He went forward, knelt down and bowed, "Wu Xiu, the bookkeeper of Jingzhou, begs to ask the young master for one thing!"

  His eyes fixed on Liu Jian, his eyes showing a pleading expression. Liu Jian's mind moved, and he also thought of something, his heart began to heat up.

  "What's wrong? Speak up!"

  "Please, young master, pretend to be my younger brother and go with me to Xiangyang."

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  "You must forget your original name, remember! You are called Liu Xuan, 16 years old this year, from Gaoping County, Shanyang Prefecture. Be careful with every word, there can't be any slight mistake."

  On a mountain path leading north, Wu Xiu was repeatedly teaching some of the most important things. If this kid were to reveal anything, his life would be in danger.

  Liu Jian smiled and said: "My name is Liu Xuan, remember it. However, I recall that Liu Bei's courtesy name was Jing Sheng, why didn't my name avoid using the character 'Xuan'?"

  "You can't mention your uncle's name, absolutely cannot mention it, this point must be remembered."

  Liu Jian saw his attitude was very serious, and he also put away the joking intention, nodded, he also warned himself, Liu Jian was his name in his previous life, already dead, his name this life is called Liu Jing.

  Wu Xiu's attitude became serious, and he said: "This name was given to you by your uncle. He loved you very much, so he gave you the character 'Jing' from his own courtesy name. You are of the Jade generation, so you are called Jing."

  Liu Jian... No! From now on, he's called Liu Jing. First things first, he must forget his previous name as Liu Jian in his past life. He silently reminded himself that if he wanted to survive in the Three Kingdoms era, he had to have an identity belonging to this era.

  Liu Bei's nephew, this opportunity, he must grasp it no matter what.

  He repeated his own name in his heart again, 'Liu Xuan, this is your new beginning.'

  Lowering his head in thought for a moment, Liu Xuan furrowed his brow and said: "Actually, I think there are quite a few loopholes here. For example, my parents should recognize me, right? And what about the relatives at home? As soon as they see me, it'll be exposed. How am I supposed to deal with that?"

  Wu Xiu smiled, "Don't worry about these things. Your father passed away seven years ago and your mother died last year, so Uncle thought of bringing you to Jingzhou. As for the relatives, they all came to Jingzhou many years ago. They may not even recognize you anymore. As long as your face looks similar, that's enough! Children will grow up eventually!"

  He handed the letter to Liu Xuan again, laughing and saying: "This is a letter your uncle wrote to your father, but the result was that your father drove you and your mother out two years ago. I don't know what he was thinking, anyway this letter wasn't delivered and was brought back instead. You take a look yourself!"

  Liu Jue took the letter and read it carefully. The letter said that his nephew's father had died early, and his mother had passed away last year. From birth to now, he had never been cared for or pitied, which made him feel very ashamed. This meant that Liu Bei had never seen this nephew before, nor had he sent anyone to visit him, which was why he felt ashamed.

  Liu Jue nodded silently, took over the bamboo slip and looked at it. It was his original slip, equivalent to an identity certificate in later generations, with his birth eight characters, as well as his parents' names. This was sent to Liu Biao to prove his identity.

  "What about my accent? I don't know how much it differs from the accent back home."

  "Your accent is a bit like the Tai Shan County area, although there's still some difference, it's not a big issue. You can say you've been studying in Tai Shan all along, I know there are many schools over there, and with me covering for you on the side, we should be able to get through this."

  "I understand! But I still have a few questions."

  "It's okay, go ahead and ask. We need to consider all the details carefully so that there won't be any problems. By the way, remember the various etiquette and forms of address I taught you last night, don't forget them."

  Two people talked all the way north, at this time they were still in the territory of Runan County, passing through Rangshan Mountain, and walking more than 100 miles, they could enter the territory of Jingzhou.

  ．．．．．．

  The county seat of Xinye County is Ancheng County. About 200 miles north of Ancheng County, there is a hilly area with undulating terrain and an elevation of about 100 meters. This tens-of-square-kilometer hilly mountainous area is called Yangshan Mountain.

  Liu Xuan and Wu Xi had no mounts, and they didn't walk fast. The two hadn't eaten for a day and night, and were so hungry that they felt dizzy and their eyes blurred. Unfortunately, all around was a vast wilderness, not even a wild rabbit could be found.

  It wasn't until dusk that they saw the distant mountains of Mang, by which time the sky was already darkening. The two had just entered a hill and were preparing to find a place to spend the night when suddenly an arrow flew over their heads with a sharp whistling sound.

  "Seize them!"

  Nearly a hundred Yellow Turban soldiers, who had been lying in ambush on both sides of the road, suddenly emerged from all directions and surrounded them before they could react. Dozens of bows and arrows were drawn and aimed at them.

  Wu Xiu hastily raised his hand and shouted loudly: "We are just ordinary people, please don't harm us."

  "Nonsense!"

  A captain stepped forward, pointing his battle sword at the two of them and shouted loudly: "You must be Cao's scouts, take them away!"

  At this time, Liu Xuan calmly said: "Liu Huangshu can be in, I am his cousin, I want to see him!"

  Several Yellow Turban soldiers who were about to rush forward stopped in their tracks, turned around and looked at Tun Chang. Tun Chang was taken aback, and it turned out that he was a nephew of the Liu imperial clan. He hesitated for a moment, then whispered to one of his soldiers, who took off immediately.

  Wu Xu was shocked in his heart, could Liu Bei be here? He came from Shanyang County and just passed by Runan County, not knowing that Liu Bei had returned to Runan County again. He couldn't have imagined that Liu Bei would be here. If Liu Bei is here, things will be easy to handle.

  Liu Jue secretly sneered, if Liu Bei was really here, things would be troublesome, they would inevitably suffer a key attack from the Cao army, he claimed to be Liu Bei's nephew, just not wanting to be tied up like a rice dumpling and humiliated.

  At this time, a great general rode up on horseback, about seven feet five inches tall, nearly forty years old, with a big beard. His arrival made the soldiers all respectfully give way.

  This man was Liu Pi, the leader of the Yellow Turbans from Runan. He and Liu Bei had been defeated by Cao's army and were forced to flee with over 4,000 remaining soldiers. They had just arrived at this place and were preparing to search for Liu Bei again when they received news that Liu Bei's nephew had come.

  He thought it was Guan Ping, Liu Bei sent to find them, so he rode his horse and rushed over, but unexpectedly they were two unfamiliar people. Liu Bi was suddenly furious, with a big knife in his hand, the snow-white blade tip pressed against Liu Xuan's throat, "Who are you, dare to impersonate the emperor's uncle and nephew, are you tired of living?"

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