Chapter 23: The Heaven Worship's Switch (Additional Chapter)

  Holding the imperial edict, Li Zhe's heart was still pounding with excitement. There was no way around it, this matter was just too thrilling.

  Calm down, Li Zhe adjusted his clothes and stepped out of the ear room.

  As soon as he entered the hall, he saw that everyone inside was waiting. Zhao Yun and Mi Zhu stood solemnly by the door, while Zhang San stood alone in the corner with a huff. When Er Ye saw Li Zhe come in, he almost immediately turned his face to one side, only Liu Bei came forward two steps as if nothing had happened.

  Li Zhe solemnly returned the imperial edict to Liu Bei, bowed deeply and said:

  "Zhe Duo has indeed committed an offense. It is truly a matter of great importance to serve the king, and as the son bears the weight of tens of thousands of elderly people's trust, he really dare not be careless in his actions!"

  Liu Bei's face showed no signs of displeasure, and he stretched out his hand to support Li Zhe.

  "Wise nephew, where did you get this idea from? You have done the right thing. The more cautious you are in handling affairs, the more it shows that you have the court and the emperor in your heart. How could I possibly blame you? If not, all the heroes of the world would not follow the orders of the Son of Heaven, and would arbitrarily forge imperial edicts to take action, wouldn't that be a great chaos in the world?"

  Li Zhe secretly thought to himself: These words are too hypocritical! Now isn't the world in great chaos, and you old man are one of the main culprits? However, such thoughts only dared to think in his heart, and his mouth still apologized repeatedly.

  However, things have been done, and there is no room for maneuvering. At this time, among the three Englishmen, Liu Bei's thoughts are deep, as if nothing had happened, but the second and third masters have already explicitly expressed their dissatisfaction with Li Zhe.

  Li Zhe didn't dare delay and changed the subject:

  "Lord Guan, since we have already paid our respects to the imperial edict, let us hasten to prepare for the auspicious hour and hold a ceremony to offer sacrifices to Heaven, and swear an oath with blood!" Upon hearing this, the atmosphere in the room began to heat up again, after all, the main event was at hand.

  Liu Bei again called upon all his subordinates to come and meet Li Hui one by one. Mi Zhu, Sun Qian, Jian Yong, Zhou Cang, Liao Hua, Pei Yuan Shao and other famous figures all appeared on the scene. Liu Bi and Gong Du, the two tragic soy sauce men of legend, also arrived at the hall. This time, in order to save face for the allied army, Liu Bi and Gong Du also participated in the alliance ceremony as representatives of the local forces of Ru'nan County.

  At this moment, the heroes gathered together, and the hall was filled with outstanding talents. They began to formally discuss the great cause of the northern expedition against Dong Zhuo. During this time, everyone shared a common goal and unanimously condemned Cao Mengde, without mentioning him by name.

  After a while, the subordinate came to report that the altar was set up, and Liu Bei got up to invite everyone to go together. Li Zhe hurriedly pushed away saying he had an emergency, went to the toilet, got up and left the hall, and got another white eye from San Ye.

  A few steps later, I walked into the previous ear room and returned to modern times.

  The fake imperial edict had been successfully made in the hall, and a nearly identical one was placed on the table. A group of people stared at Li Zhe with eager eyes, waiting for him to make a judgment.

  Li Zhe picked it up and examined it carefully, this thing was indeed exquisite, the material, workmanship, text, seal and original were exactly the same. For someone like Li Zhe, there was no way to spot any flaws.

  With a determined look on his face, Li Zhe smiled and stretched out one big thumb towards the crowd:

  "Things are indeed good, time is tight, I won't praise you all for now, I'll go back and exchange, after success, come back and celebrate with everyone!"

  Everyone who heard this breathed a sigh of relief and put their worries back in their stomachs.

  Li Zhe turned around and said to Liao Yun Kai:

  "Take good care of yourselves! I'll entertain you all personally when I get back!"

  Liao Yunkai nodded in agreement, apparently already understanding Li Zhe's meaning.

  Li Zhe took the fake goods back.

  Back in the Three Kingdoms, the crowd in the hall had been waiting anxiously and rushed out together. A group of people surged forward, heading to the ceremony venue.

  At this time, the altar was only a square of three or four zhangs of earth, and Liu Bei's power was weak at this time. This preparation was also extremely hasty, and it was impossible to set up a large array.

  Under the altar, inside and outside three layers were packed with soldiers, every three steps a post and five steps a sentry, surrounding the altar in a dense and crowded manner. Further away was a tightly packed crowd of people craning their necks to see something unusual.

  Li Zhe and his entourage wore loose robes, while the generals were helmeted and armored, in formal attire, under the leadership of dozens of soldiers holding long spears, passing through the crowd. Around them, refugees constantly cheered for Liu Bei, and many even knelt down to worship.

  Liu Bei then responded with a smile comparable to that of a professional actor, waving his fists in all directions, looking like a superstar wherever he went, and the sound of cheers and applause followed him. The two brothers, Er Ye and San Ye, also had an air of pride about them as they followed behind him.

  Li Zhe thought to himself, "It's a pity that Zhuge Liang was born in the Three Kingdoms era. If he were alive today, he would definitely become a president or leader of some sort. His performance is truly gifted, not something that can be cultivated through practice."

  A group of people arrived at the stage, just as they were about to go on stage, Liu Bei suddenly turned his head around, with a sincere expression, wanting Li Zhe to walk in front. Li Zhe didn't dare, was frightened and flustered, hastily yielding. Luckily, San Ye squeezed over from the side, without saying a word, hugged his big brother and pushed him onto the stage, while also giving Li Zhe a big glare on the way back, which gave Li Zhe quite a scare!

  The crowd then went on stage, in order, put offerings on the altar, and then retreated.

  Liu Bei composed himself, took a step forward, swept his eyes around the audience below, took a incense stick from Guan Yu's hand, faced upwards and performed three bows, singing:

  "The heavens have eyes, and our ancestors are watching from above. I, Liu Bei, an unworthy descendant, respectfully offer my sincerest reverence to the celestial bodies and the spirits of the mountains and rivers!"

  The Han dynasty is in decline, treacherous officials are without principle, they do not respect the Son of Heaven, and they deceive the spirits.

  "I, Liu Bei, am here by the Emperor's decree, to unite all heroes and protect our great Han dynasty's rivers and mountains, in order to achieve a grand goal. May our ancestors' spirits bless me with success!"

  Then, Liu Bei took a step back, turned around, and nodded to Zhen Fu. Zhen Fu hastily pulled out the imperial edict package he had prepared for a long time and was about to open it. Suddenly, Li Zhe slipped over like a ghost in front of everyone, helped Zhen Fu slowly open the package, and without saying a word, took the imperial edict from Zhen Fu's hand, held it with both hands, and walked towards Liu Bei.

  Just then, a gust of wind blew by, dust flew everywhere, and everyone involuntarily blinked their eyes. But they heard a cry of "Aiyo!" as Li Zhe suddenly fell to the ground!

  Everyone was speechless for a moment, and Liu Bei's face immediately turned black. This child, who initially seemed clever, unexpectedly had a rotten heart, and became more and more displeasing to the eye. How dare he be so rude on this grand occasion of swearing an oath to heaven!

  He didn't know that Li Zhe had already quietly exchanged the imperial edict with a fake one in his spatial ring, without making any noise or leaving any clues. When Li Zhe stood up, the imperial edict in his hand had been replaced with a counterfeit one. With a sincere and apologetic expression on his face, Li Zhe presented the fake edict to Liu Bei with both hands.

  Liu Bei's face turned dark as he took over the imperial edict and never looked at Li Zhe again.

  After the imperial edict was read aloud, the soldiers and civilians around cheered, the people on the platform took out their cow ear knives, one by one cut open their wrists, dripped blood into a bowl, then everyone held up the blood wine to circle around the platform, finally drank it in big gulps, only then did they complete the ritual.

  The solemn and grand oath-taking ceremony made the surrounding civilians and soldiers all look stunned, when the ceremony was successful, a thunderous applause burst out, everyone waved their hands and danced with excitement, as if the people on stage were all from their own family.

  In Ancheng City, at this moment, the morale of the soldiers reached its peak!

  Liu Bei looked at the tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians in front of him, with a surge of ambition and confidence, his courage reaching its peak! At this moment! This is where I, Liu Bei, will rise again! Cao Mengde, you just wait for me in Xuchang City!

  Today's signing was a success, thinking about it makes everyone happy, can't help with anything else, so I'll just add another chapter! There will be another chapter after 9:30 tonight! Wishing everyone a pleasant mood, as pleasant as mine!