Chapter 36: When it comes to romance, I'm a jinx!

"...

[Wasn't it just a little push? Sometimes the Chancellor has a bad temper, but it doesn't matter, hahaha! The Chancellor still has ambition; he is still eyeing the throne, and his courage remains intact! He is treating the entire wealth of Luoyang as if it were nothing, throwing it out to let the warlords of Guandong bite each other like dogs. He has finally woken up!] Li Ru was ecstatic. All his previous decadence and dissatisfaction vanished instantly. As long as Dong Zhuo's ambition remained, his own ideals would have a place to land!

Li Ru had completely misunderstood Dong Zhuo's intentions. "Living a better life" was not what Li Ru thought it meant—he didn't think it meant being second only to one person and then taking a step further in a few days to eliminate that person directly...

Well, it was a wonderful misunderstanding. An invigorated Li Ru was terrifying. Especially when Dong Zhuo made the domineering decision to abandon the entirety of Luoyang, all of Li Ru's shackles were cast off.

"Since the Chancellor is willing to abandon Luoyang, why not abandon the Imperial Seal as well? Throw away both the vast Luoyang, which represents the Han authority, and the Imperial Seal, which is said to represent the supreme position, to those Guandong rats!" Li Ru was initially excited, but then worried that Dong Zhuo was merely acting on a momentary impulse, so he specifically tested him.

Clearly, Dong Zhuo hesitated. Luoyang was lost, but it didn't matter since everything had already been emptied out; losing it wouldn't hurt. However, the Imperial Seal was said to represent the supreme position; it was not something that an emptied Luoyang could compare to.

"If the Chancellor wants to live a better life, discarding this thing is the only righteous path. If the Han dynasty loses the Imperial Seal, whether they are still considered legitimate becomes a matter of a single word. Furthermore, the Guandong warlords cannot act with one heart; a single Imperial Seal is enough to split them into several small factions, causing them to fight amongst themselves until they are too weak to advance westward." Li Ru continued his persuasion.

To be honest, Li Ru didn't actually hold much hope that Dong Zhuo would discard the seal; this was merely a test. The fact that Dong Zhuo hesitated proved he was truly contemplating the issue. This was a true display of "cutting off one's own flesh to save the limb"—a sign of immense courage!

Seeing Dong Zhuo's hesitation, Li Ru was instantly driven to madness with joy. He had finally woken up; after waiting so long, he had finally woken up.

Dong Zhuo hesitated for a long time. Looking at the solemn Li Ru, he felt quite strange. [What is wrong with this guy? Forget it, I'll just ask what I want to know first.]

"Wenyou, if I give up the Imperial Seal, how long can we remain peaceful in Yongliang?" Dong Zhuo asked the question he truly cared about. He wanted to live a quiet life now. Yesterday's events had truly frightened him. The wine and women of Luoyang had hollowed out his body; he no longer possessed his former ambition and only thought of drifting along while enjoying his good life.

"Chancellor..." Li Ru's voice carried a slight tremor. To ask such a question meant that, if necessary, Dong Zhuo would truly abandon the seal. This could no longer be described merely as ambition or courage; this was the aura of an emperor. With such an aura, what was there to fear about achieving greatness?

Li Ru thought carefully and finally looked at Dong Zhuo with bright eyes, saying, "Chancellor, if the matter of the Imperial Seal is handled correctly, it will not only cause the warlord alliance to fracture, but for the next five to eight years, as long as we blockade Hangu Pass, the storms of Guandong will find it difficult to enter Yongliang. That amount of time is enough for us to become strong enough to defeat all the warlords under heaven. At that point, the seal will be nothing more than a piece of jade discarded by a Duke."

Dong Zhuo's greed for the seal was not great. As a Western Liang brute who had never received a formal education, he did not understand what the seal represented in Li Ru's heart.

In Dong Zhuo's view, with an emperor and military might, one could just carve an imprint on a brick and it would be the same thing. To him, the fact that Qin Shi Huang used the He Shi Bi to carve the seal was merely a medium; if it was gone, it was gone, and he could just carve another one later. Five to eight years of peaceful living sounded wonderful—especially since Li Ru said they could defeat all the warlords. That was the important news!

Dong Zhuo was currently no different from a small child; he had been hit, couldn't fight back, and wanted to hide at home out of fear. But now, a clever man was telling him that if he just threw away a piece of candy he didn't like, those bastards would fight like madmen to grab it, and in a few years, he could come back and step on whoever he wanted!

Of course, if an ordinary person had said this, Dong Zhuo certainly wouldn't have believed it. But since Li Ru said it, Dong Zhuo believed him. Everything this man said came true; he had never seen him fail.

"Fine, the seal is yours. Do whatever you want with it. I am tired. Do not ask me about anything recently; handle it yourself!" Dong Zhuo said to Li Ru with a slightly ferocious smile on his face.

Looking at that slight smile on Dong Zhuo's face, Li Ru naturally thought that Dong Zhuo was comforting him, telling him not to feel psychological pressure. Hearing Dong Zhuo say he was tired and not to ask him anything further, Li Ru felt even more moved. When would he ever need Dong Zhuo to make such a massive sacrifice?

"I shall surely give my life to repay the Chancellor's kindness!" Li Ru kowtowed toward Dong Zhuo's desolate retreating figure, a fire erupting in his heart—not toward Dong Zhuo, but toward the Guandong warlords.

As Dong Zhuo walked out the door, he was utterly confused. Why was Li Ru being so inexplicably grateful and even kowtowing? Had he done something shocking?

Three days later, Jia Xu, who was hiding in Chang'an and scooping meat out of a bronze tripod, received a message from Li Ru and felt his soul leave his body. [Holy crap, that bastard Li Ru actually succeeded! Using Luoyang and the Imperial Seal as bait... that is way too much courage! He's trying to scare me to death. Wasn't his ambition almost hollowed out by wine, women, and wealth before? Why did he get so invigorated the moment I left? Is this supposed to be a horror story?]

Seeing his master rolling around on the floor of the hall clutching his head, Jia Xu's old servant hurried to get medicine and helped him up.

"Jia Fu, do you think a bastard whose ambition has been eroded by wine, women, and wealth can become incredibly courageous within a few days? To the point where his bravery rivals that of the First Emperor of Qin?" Jia Xu said with a face full of gloom.

Jia Fu kept his head low and said nothing. To not get involved in anything and merely serve Jia Xu was his duty.

[How can something so eerie happen? Am I some kind of jinx?] Jia Xu thought helplessly. In the past, he had managed to get to Dong Zhuo's side because he saw potential in him. But as soon as he left, Dong Zhuo began to degenerate. He had run back to Chang'an because he no longer believed in the current Dong Zhuo and was prepared to quit, yet the moment he ran, Dong Zhuo regained his ambition and immense courage!

Jia Xu did not suspect Li Ru was joking. Firstly, aside from being ruthless, Li Ru's character was quite steadfast. Secondly, one could not joke about such matters; whether it was abandoning Luoyang or the Imperial Seal, it would shock the world! Especially the seal—if Li Ru truly released it, no matter how secretly the recipient obtained it, it would eventually spread like wildfire until everyone knew.

Thinking of this, Jia Xu felt depressed...

(End of Chapter)"