There were only two people in the cabin, Sima Yi and Zhong Yu were sitting opposite each other, and there was only a candlestick on the table in the middle.

"I hope you can fully calm down before telling all the truth, otherwise even if I tell you it would be empty talk."

Although Sima Yi said nothing, Zhong Yu still got a positive answer from his firm eyes.

Zhong Yu chuckled softly: "Everything starts with the 'Forever Rage' one hundred and seventeen years ago..."

On June 23, 92 AD (the fourth year of Yongyuan), Emperor Liu Zhao, who was suppressed by Dou's relatives for a long time, after careful planning with the Qinghe King Liu Qing, he finally decided to end his accumulation and attack the Dou clan who had been in charge of the government for many years.

With the joint assistance of Jinwu and the five captains of the Northern Army, Liu Zhao waved his iron fist and suddenly arrested Dou's minions Guo Huang, Guo Ju, Deng Die, and Deng Lei in the palace, and executed them on the spot.

After first cutting off the main force of the group with Dou Xian as the core, Liu Zhao sent troops to surround Dou Xian, Dou Du and Dou Jing's mansions. Because the move was too fast, Dou had no time to respond.

Liu Zhao sent his eunuch to Beigong to formally propose to Dou Xian to take back the general's seal. Dou Xian, who had no choice but to act. After that, Liu Zhao wanted to execute them directly, but thought that doing so would cause turmoil in the court, so at Liu Qing's suggestion, he decided to change Dou Xian as the champion marquis first, deprived Dou Xian, Dou Du and Dou Jing of all military powers and then drove them back to their respective fiefs.

Liu Zhao hated Empress Dowager Dou, who forced his biological mother to death, but he thought that Empress Dowager Dou always regarded him as his own and had the kindness of nurturing and teaching him, so he finally decided to let her go.

However, the matter did not end there. After returning to his territory, the Dou family and the other two were unwilling to fail like this, so they secretly colluded with each other and actively contacted their old subordinates to rebel.

All of these actions were expected by Liu Zhao. He had been prepared for a long time and transferred all the relevant people who had close ties with the Dou brothers from important positions in the military, causing their plan to die before it was implemented.

Liu Zhao, who wanted to give them a way out, realized that he could not lenient with the Dou family issue, so he first ordered Dou Xian and others not to leave his mansion, and then obeyed the opinions of the eunuch Zheng Zhong to send people to force the Dou family and the other two to commit suicide.

At this point, Liu Zhao completely took over the military and political power in his hands, and successfully imitated King Zhaoxiang of Qin and Emperor Xuan of Han.

After taking power, Liu Zhao worked hard to govern the country after taking office, showing his ability to govern the country that was different from ordinary people. He continued to appoint important officials in the court such as Ban Chao and Liu Shang. He listened to the government affairs every day and often reviewed memorials until late at night. He often inquire about major military and political affairs by himself. He took the principle of "selecting officials as virtuous, and lenient and relaxing" as his governing country, and he was once famous for his "work and humbleness to end".

As an adult, Liu Zhao accidentally met Ban Chao's youngest daughter Ban Yue in Liu Qing's mansion. The two developed feelings for each other. For this reason, Liu Zhao gradually neglected the palace queen Yin and often sneaked out of the palace to have a private meeting with Ban Yue.

However, everything was in line with the prophecy of "cutting the grass without eradicating the roots, and the spring breeze was blowing again". Although Liu Zhao suppressed all the main leaders of the Dou family, he did not pursue the Dou family's widow because of his kindness, which led to the subsequent tragedy.

In 102 AD, Queen Yin held a grudge because she lost Liu Zhao's favor. She used witchcraft to curse Liu Zhao under the instigation of the Dou family's remaining party, and poisoned Liu Sheng, the eldest son born to Ban Yue and Liu Zhao, which almost died.

Not only that, because he was jealous of the fact that he was increasingly favored by Liu Zhao in the palace because of his virtue, Queen Yin even poisoned the son of Deng Sui, the son of the nobleman Deng Sui in the palace. The successive loss of his son made Liu Zhao finally unable to bear it. He issued an order to depose Queen Yin and move him to Tong Palace, change Deng Sui as the queen, and vowed to never meet Queen Yin.

At the same time, Liu Zhao also noticed that someone behind Queen Yin was instigating her. In order to worry that the child she gave birth to would be unexpected again, Liu Zhao took Liu Sheng out of the palace and returned it to his biological mother Ban Yue to raise him, and secretly began to order Liu Qing and Zheng Zhong to investigate the behind-the-scenes envoy. Because of the loss of his son, Liu Zhao obeyed Zheng Zhong's suggestions for the eunuchs to take power despite Liu Qing's opposition, which made the politics of the Eastern Han Dynasty firmly grasped the eunuchs for nearly a hundred years.

During his reign, Liu Zhao's outstanding ability to govern the country made the Eastern Han Empire prosperous during his tenure. He issued several edicts to provide relief to the victims, reduce taxes, resettle refugees, attach importance to agriculture, and stabilize the border. During his tenure, the area of ​​farmland reached 7.32 million hectares, and the population of the people reached more than 50 million, which was known as the highest in history.

However, Liu Zhao completely underestimated the Dou family's sphere of influence. Most of the offspring he and Empress Deng died for no reason outside the palace. Zheng Zhong, the Hou of Aixiang, was only concerned about accumulating his own strength at this time and did not have any intention to help Liu Zhao find out the evidence of the Dou family. Liu Qing was unable to support his own family and did not gain much.

This caused Liu Zhao's physical and mental health to suffer a great severe damage, his physical condition continued to decline, and he often showed symptoms of fainting on the spot.

Sitting outside the city, Liu Zhao, looking at the weakness and illness caused by his eldest son Liu Sheng's previous poisoning, he began to feel deeply worried about the future Han Dynasty. Empress Deng had just given birth to Liu Long, and Liu Long would have no confidence in whether Liu Zhao would encounter an unexpected situation like the previous prince.

He couldn't help but stretch out his hand to slowly stroke her abdomen when he was sitting beside him. At this time, Liu Zhao had already had a long-term and extremely risky idea in his heart.

In order to ensure that his plan is as safe as possible, Liu Zhao specially found Liu Qing, whom he trusted, and said to him: "Many of my princes have died one after another. Sheng'er is suffering from serious illnesses for many years and is unable to take on this major task. Now my health is not good now, so it is better to make arrangements for some things early."

After hearing Liu Zhao's words, Liu Qing quickly understood what Liu Zhao meant.

Liu Zhao's body was already very weak at this time. He knew that he might die at any time, so he drafted two imperial edicts and his imperial seal in advance and handed them to Liu Qing, and said earnestly to him:

"Brother, I have no one around me who can trust. Today I have something to ask you for something important."

Liu Qing felt very guilty about this, and he immediately knelt on the ground and cried:

"Your Majesty, it's useless for me. I was unable to find out the traitors and rebels. But your Majesty, you are in your prime, and the country of the Han Dynasty cannot do without your governance. Please don't say these words again."

Liu Zhao smiled bitterly and said, "Brother, are you the same for others flattering me? You and I know exactly what my body is like and how long can I last. I have no other way now, so I have to ask you..."

He held Liu Qing's left hand and gently patted Liu Qing's back with his right hand, which made Liu Qing even more severity of the situation. When he opened the imperial edict written by Liu Zhao himself, he was shocked...

"I don't know if the newly born Long'er will be like his previous emperor brother. Now, besides Sheng'er, I only have children in Yue'er's womb. If Sheng'er and Long'er encounter unexpected problems, I hope someone can inherit the orthodox Han Dynasty..."

From what Liu Zhao expressed in the imperial edict, Liu Qing saw such an extremely important content:

If Liu Long dies in the future, Liu Hu, the son of Liu Qing, the King of Qinghe, will be appointed as the emperor, and the empress Deng Sui will assist in the administration.

When Liu Qing looked at the amazing details in the imperial edict, Liu Zhao on the opposite side was also paying attention to his every move.

After watching it, Liu Qing quickly knelt on the ground: "Your Majesty, Hu'er is young and ignorant, and he may not be able to take the responsibility of the king!"

After coughing twice, Liu Zhao stretched out his hand and raised Liu Qing's arm:

"To be honest, I don't want my child to be involved in the palace struggle again, but among the brothers, I can believe in you. If Long'er really... I hope you can teach Hu'er to become a competent monarch."

Another imperial edict that Liu Qing was even more dumbfounded after he opened it:

If the emperor who later became a king was not virtuous, abandoned government affairs, corrupted the court, and damaged the country, it would be replaced by the descendants born by Ban Yue, and no one could violate it, otherwise it would be like deceiving the world and destroying the ancestors, and everyone would be punished...

Liu Zhao told Liu Qing about the previous incident that Emperor Zhang of Han gave him to him during his lifetime:

"I remember when Emperor Guangwu met himself in his dream, he was chased by rioters to the entrance of the imperial tomb. Just when he was in a terrible crisis, he suddenly rushed out of the imperial tomb with wings on his back and a white tiger with auspicious clouds on his feet blocked the pursuit soldiers, dispersed them all, and then turned into colorful lights and disappeared in front of him. The warlock had told me that this unborn child was the life of the white tiger. I hope that Ban Yue and my son can protect the Han Dynasty for generations..."

On December 22, 105 AD (the first year of Yuanxing), Emperor Liu Zhao, who was unable to move due to illness, sat at the dragon at the gate of Zhangde Palace with the help of the eunuch. He looked up at the sky that was originally clear and suddenly covered with dark clouds. Then, a burning meteorite fell from the dark clouds, and cut through the sky and fell heavily on the ground in front of Zhangde Palace.

The earth shook for a moment, and the guards and eunuchs were extremely panicked. Only Liu Zhao seemed extremely calm. He said to the eunuch:

"Go and have a look..."

The eunuch stepped forward and looked at the meteorite with burnt smoke. Some unclear words could be seen on it. When they were burning with burnt rocks, they covered their mouths and coughed while looking at the words on it, they found that four short words were actually written on the meteorite:

I am determined to avoid the hustle and bustle of the world, but I have a long journey of life in troubled times. I have been quiet in the Qing tombs for thousands of years, and tigers turn into horses and gather in the food trough...
Chapter completed!