After completing the first trading area, it was lunchtime.

"Smack!"

Liu Hong closed his folding fan and turned around: "Let's go eat!"

"Uh... young master, we're afraid we don't have enough money!"

Xi Zhicai touched his nearly empty money pouch and looked at his emperor with a bitter expression.

Liu Hong smiled and waved his hand: "It's alright. I've heard that many new restaurants have recently opened in Luoyang. The dishes are similar to those of the Royal Restaurant, and the prices are cheaper. Let's go there and have a try."

"You..."

Xi Zhicai was speechless. He realized that the emperor was determined to spend all of his money on wine.

Sigh, I can only blame myself for always freeloading off the emperor in the past; now it's time to pay the price.

With a sigh in his heart, Xi Zhicai followed Liu Hong out of the market with a pained expression.

Seeing this, Lü Bu, Dong Zhuo, Huang Zhong, and the others behind them couldn't help but chuckle to themselves.

Although they all had money on them, they did not intend to lend it to Xi Zhicai.

It's just that the people in the military and political affairs department are too demanding of these military officers, causing them a lot of suffering.

Now that they finally had the chance to see Xi Zhicai, the head of the military and political affairs department, suffer a setback, they were naturally happy to watch the spectacle from the sidelines.

Before long, the group arrived on the main street, looking for a suitable restaurant.

"Hey? There seems to be some commotion up ahead! Let's go check it out!"

Seeing a large crowd gathered on the street, Liu Hong walked over with great interest.

Following behind, Dong Zhuo nudged Huang Zhong beside him and whispered, "Your Majesty, do you also enjoy watching the show?"

Huang Zhong pursed his lips. "If Your Majesty doesn't like crowds, why does he want to leave the palace?"

Dong Zhuo chuckled awkwardly, "No, what I meant was, I never expected Your Majesty to share the same hobby as me!"

"Stop trying to glorify yourself. Who wouldn't want to watch a good show?"

Huang Zhong's eyelids twitched, and he ignored the shameless fellow.

Soon, the group arrived. Liu Hong had just stopped when he heard shouts and curses coming from the crowd:

"You bunch of bald bastards, I've warned you more than once not to let us see you in Luoyang. How dare you come into the city again today? Haven't you had enough of being beaten?"

"We really can't survive anymore, so we have to come to the city to beg for food. Please, can you spare us?" A slightly aged voice pleaded.

"Hmph~, if you can't survive, then get out! Those who stay here and refuse to leave deserve to starve to death!"

"But we've lived here for so many years, where are you going to take us?"

"Go wherever you want, just don't let us see you again, or we'll strip you naked and throw you all out into the street!"

Upon hearing this conversation, Liu Hong, who was standing outside the crowd, frowned.

He never imagined that such blatant acts of bullying and oppression would still occur in Luoyang today.

Immediately, Liu Hong turned his head and glanced at Dong Zhuo behind him.

Dong Zhuo understood, then strode forward and shouted, "Make way, everyone!!"

Upon seeing the burly, menacing-looking Dong Zhuo, the common people who had been pushed aside were somewhat frightened and quickly moved aside.

The conversation in the crowd also stopped because of Dong Zhuo's shout.

Liu Hong walked into the crowd with a sullen face. He wanted to see who dared to bully others like this under his feet.

Upon entering and taking a look, Liu Hong immediately felt relieved.

In an open space amidst the crowd, three bald monks dressed in black robes were surrounded by five Taoist priests from the Taiping Sect.

The two people who spoke just now were a middle-aged Taoist priest and an elderly monk.

Upon seeing Liu Hong walking out of the crowd, the middle-aged Taoist priest's expression immediately changed. He quickly stepped forward, raised his hands in a salute, and said, "This humble Taoist greets young master!"

Liu Hong nodded and looked at the monks: "What's going on?"

"In response to your question, young master, these hairless... these monks have violated the agreement with our sect by trespassing into the city, and I am about to expel them!"

The Taoist priest answered respectfully, his words revealing his undisguised disgust for these monks.

This religion, Buddhism, originated in ancient India and was very popular in countries such as Kushan and Parthia. Later, when Zhang Qian was sent to the Western Regions, it spread along the Silk Road.

Their doctrines were very popular among some high-ranking officials and nobles. The White Horse Temple outside Luoyang was built for them by Emperor Xiaohe.

After so many years of development, the number of followers of the Buddhist religion has become very large.

Therefore, from the very beginning of the Taiping Sect's founding, the brothers Zhang Jiao and Zhang Liang regarded the Buddhist sect members existing outside Luoyang as their greatest enemy.

In the eyes of the followers of the Taiping Sect, the Buddhist monks' so-called reincarnation and rebirth in the Pure Land are clearly words that teach people to be complacent, to weaken the people and bring disaster to the country.

In addition, the natural antagonism between religions has led to constant friction between the Taiping Religion and the Futu Religion in recent years.

In the beginning, when the two groups met, they only talked and tried to defeat each other with their own doctrines.

As a result, the followers of the Taiping Sect suffered a crushing defeat in every debate, unable to win an argument against their opponents.

Later they discovered that these bald men had nothing to do all day but study how to debate with people, and they were even more capable than those who liked to engage in empty talk and grand pronouncements.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!