In this life, Liu Bian and He Ling were not poisoned.
But their life in the palace was not very good.
Dong Zhuo forbade officials from approaching the palace at will, so these royalists naturally had no way to help improve the living conditions of He Ling and Liu Bian.
The mother and son are now living a slightly better life than ordinary people, occasionally having some meat soup to drink, so they don't starve to death.
"Mother... A eunuch secretly brought me a bowl of chicken soup from outside the palace. Please nourish yourself and don't catch a cold."
"My dear son...you may all go down and warm yourselves up."
The vast harem, however, lacked any semblance of vibrant life.
Those who still followed and protected Liu Bian and He Ling were only a few eunuchs and palace maids who had received their favors.
"My son...has Dong Zhuo been making things difficult for you lately?"
"No, after he demanded that I bestow titles upon a large group of people last month, he hasn't made any excessive requests. It's just that he's always had the final say in the court, which makes me uneasy..."
He Ling nodded helplessly. If she had known this would happen, she would have had her two older brothers curry favor with Zhao Hao back then, and they wouldn't be in this miserable situation of being imprisoned today.
"My son, do not be afraid. Although your sister is not the Empress Dowager's biological daughter, she is still of royal blood."
As long as your sister's relationship with the General of the North remains strong, Dong Zhuo will always have something to consider.
Liu Bian nodded helplessly, "Mother, General Zhao has been promoted to General of Chariots and Cavalry and is now a Marquis of Qin. He will no longer be the General Who Guards the North."
He Ling was taken aback, sensing something, and quickly asked, "My son, when did this happen? Why... was he enfeoffed as the Marquis of Qin?"
"Mother, it happened a little over a month ago. Strangely enough, it was General Zhao himself who requested to be enfeoffed as the Marquis of Qin, not Dong Zhuo and his group."
Perhaps General Zhao wants more fiefdoms in Bingzhou, but if he were to grant single-character titles within his territory, it might arouse suspicion among the people, who might think he intends to establish his own independent regime...
He Ling remained noncommittal, but relying on a woman's sixth sense, she immediately understood the news the moment she heard it.
What Zhao Hao was thinking was that he planned to attack Dong Zhuo and take back all the former Qin territories!
"Perhaps... there really is hope?"
"Mother, what are you saying?"
"Ahem, no, no, do you still practice the sword techniques that Master Wang taught you before?"
"This... I haven't practiced in a long time."
"In that case, your mother will try her best to find you more meat. Although you need to learn how to handle government affairs, you must not neglect martial arts to strengthen your body!"
Liu Bian was somewhat uneasy, "But... Mother, your expenses are already quite low, what will you do if I give it to you? Besides, won't Dong Zhuo resent me if I go to practice martial arts?"
He Ling shook her head. "You are the ruler, and he is the subject. Since when has Dong Zhuo been allowed to interfere in the ruler's affairs, whether they are official or private? My son, you can't be too weak sometimes, otherwise those people will take advantage of you and become increasingly disrespectful!"
Listen to your mother, take good care of your health so you can protect yourself should the situation change in the future, understand?
Liu Bian nodded helplessly, "Then... I will try my best."
The harsh winter winds swept across all thirteen provinces of China.
In the original history, Dong Zhuo was already planning to burn Luoyang and move the capital to Chang'an.
Now, Zhao Hao has interrupted this historical process, and although Dong Zhuo did not move the capital.
But the idea of moving the capital... has gradually emerged!
In 191, early spring arrived.
Dong Zhuo first suggested moving the capital back to Chang'an in court.
However, Dong Zhuo could not withstand the resistance from the officials.
In this life, Dong Zhuo did not exterminate the Yuan family members who remained in Luoyang, nor did he depose the emperor or poison the empress. He simply did not have the ability to move the capital with a single word.
In the original history, Dong Zhuo relied on poisoning Liu Bian and He Ling to gradually move the main force of Xiliang to Luoyang, and then used a massive fire to move the capital.
Now, things aren't so easy.
Whenever Dong Zhuo wanted to take action, he would always think of that iron-blooded and mighty army in the north.
It's really unpleasant to feel like you're always being outdone.
If it weren't for the spies sent by Xiliang to Bingzhou and the grasslands returning and verifying the intelligence that Bingzhou's population had surged and its economic and agricultural levels had improved significantly, he would have already taken action against these thorns in his side.
At present, Dong Zhuo is making great efforts to win over other people with military power and is constantly recruiting soldiers to strengthen his own forces.
Under these circumstances, the formal forces of the Xiliang Army expanded wildly, growing to a size of 200,000!
However, only 70,000 of them were genuine Xiliang cavalry. The remaining 130,000 were just Qiang ethnic cavalry escorts.
Furthermore, where did Dong Zhuo get so many warhorses? He mostly used inferior horses and camels as a supplement, merely filling in the gaps.
Therefore, even though Dong Zhuo's army expanded to such a terrifying size, its actual combat strength was still very limited.
Dong Zhuo's plan was simple: once these people were sufficiently trained, he would force them to move the capital to Chang'an and then compel the young emperor to abdicate.
If we can't kill Liu Bian, can't we wait until he abdicates and then do something about it? At the very least, we can throw him out and then live the happy life he's always dreamed of.
However, this plan was inherently unreasonable. If Dong Zhuo did this, regardless of whether Zhao Hao had any agreement with them, the agreement would likely be torn up.
If the Xiliang army does not kill Liu Bian and He Ling at that time, other warlords will definitely use them as a pretext to oppose them.
But if we kill them, it will fulfill the wishes of many people, and then we will be enemies of the world, and we will be defeated sooner or later.
Li Ru looked out the window at the gradually melting snow and sighed helplessly.
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