The House of Gong Sun

  After a while, the young master of Jin Fu finally woke up, looking at his right hand's index finger wrapped like a rice dumpling, the wound still burning with pain. As soon as he thought that he would be missing half a finger from now on, he was furious and slapped Li Guan Shi's face with his left hand.

  "A bunch of useless fools, with so many people watching, and yet this mad dog was still able to bite Grandfather's finger. What is the point of having all of you?"

  Li Guan was full of grievances, whose fault is this? Not yours, old man, for pointing at people with your finger, can you get your finger bitten off? But he dare not say this now, the young master's temper is notoriously violent, if he's not careful, his head won't be spared.

  "Your Excellency, this is just a mere boy, I'll kill him for you right away and help you vent your anger."

  "Kill him, wouldn't that be letting him off easy? Come on, take him and cut him into a thousand pieces, disembowel him... no, no, no, just brand him with a hot iron, flay him alive... Ah, mother, my fingers! Make him suffer for three days and three nights. Whoever kills him within these three days will have to answer to me!" The young master in brocade was shouting almost incoherently now.

  Those two bare-armed men went over and dragged Liu Ze up, preparing to tie him to the pillar before doing as Jin Fu Gong Zi had said.

  Liu Ze was now relaxed and let them arrange things as they pleased.

  At this time, a loud shout came: "Halt!"

  Everyone was stunned, and two people quickly walked in. The first person wore a brocade robe, also dressed as a noble young master, but his figure was taller and more majestic than the brocade-robed young master, and his face was even more handsome and elegant. The person behind him was dressed as a scholar, slightly younger, with a simple linen garment, a face like jade, lips like rouge, and an unusual appearance: ears drooping to his shoulders, hands hanging over his knees, eyes that seemed to see right through you. The shout clearly came from the handsome young master's mouth.

  Li Guan Shi and others hastily paid their respects. "Your humble servants have seen the young master."

  The handsome young master ignored them and walked directly to the front of Jin Fu Gongzi, saying in a deep voice: "Third brother, I heard that you just beheaded five civilians. Such an important matter, why did you dare to act arbitrarily?"

  The young noble in brocade glanced at him with disdain, snorted and said: "They are just a few lowly commoners, why should you, the great young master, personally bother with such trivial matters?"

  "How can you say it's a small matter? The construction of Wubao is urgent and must be completed before the autumn harvest. At this critical moment, you indiscriminately executed five people without distinguishing between right and wrong. If this provokes a riot, can you take responsibility?"

  The young master in brocade was also furious, saying: "Gongsun Zan, how can I do it without your command? Moreover, those few villains committed the crime of escaping, and according to military law, they should be punished. What's wrong with that?"

  Gongsun Zan? Liu Ze, who had long since put life and death out of his mind, suddenly heard this name and was shocked to the core. He couldn't help but take a few more glances at the handsome young man, never expecting that he would be Gongsun Zan, one of the heroes of the late Han Dynasty. For over a decade, he had been based in Youzhou, and could be considered one of the top warlords. In the end, he was unfortunately defeated by Yuan Shao. It was unexpected to see him here, it seemed that he had indeed traveled back to the late Eastern Han Dynasty. The curtain of the Three Kingdoms was about to open, this was an era that made people's blood boil with excitement, heroic and majestic, with countless heroes competing for dominance, and numerous princes and generals taking the stage. Being able to witness this period of history was an honor in itself.

  In his past life, Liu Ze's favorite thing to read was the history of the Three Kingdoms, and his favorite game to play was also a Three Kingdoms game. He could be said to be an out-and-out Three Kingdoms fanatic. Thinking that he had the good fortune to find himself in the era of kings like Cao Cao, Liu Bei, and Sun Quan made his blood boil with excitement. However, in an instant, he let out a bitter laugh. After all, he was being taken as a spy and had even bitten off the young master's finger - it would be difficult to say whether he could make it through today alive. As the most pathetic transmigrator, he probably also had the shortest lifespan among transmigrators. The Three Kingdoms might be hot-blooded, but that had nothing to do with him; he was just a fleeting passerby in this era. Don't even mention trying to change history - even wanting to leave behind a single mark on history would be an extravagant hope.

  Gongsun Zan's face also turned unpleasant, as an elder brother, being called by his name was somewhat displeasing.

  "Gongsun Fan, Third Uncle entrusted you with the duty of overseeing affairs, not to abuse your power and disregard human life. Those five civilians were not soldiers, why must they be punished according to military law? Even if it is military law, shouldn't you have reported back to Third Uncle first? When did Third Uncle ever allow you to act on your own?"

  Mentioning Third Uncle, Gong Sunfan's expression changed slightly, and he said somewhat dejectedly: "Thank you for reminding me, brother. I will personally inform Third Uncle about this matter."

  "Third brother, I'm also reminding you with good intentions. The Liu City Wu Fortress project is an urgent matter and cannot be delayed by even a fraction of a second. If the construction period is indeed delayed due to the people's uprising, how will you explain it to Second Brother? And if Zhao Taishou blames us for it, how will we take responsibility?" Seeing Gong Sunfan yield, Gong Sunzhan also didn't show any courtesy. "Who is this person? What crime did he commit? Why was he beaten so severely?"

  As soon as Liu Ze was mentioned, Gong Sunfan gritted his teeth in hatred.

  "This little thief is a spy of the Xianbei people, and was caught by us. Under severe torture, he refused to confess, and even took advantage of my unpreparedness to bite off one of my fingers. If I don't grind his bones into powder today, it will be hard to alleviate the hatred in my heart!"

  Gongsun Zan snorted, since he was a Xianbei spy, he didn't need to care about him anymore. Moreover, he had bitten Gongsun Fan's finger, although they usually didn't get along, but after all, they were brothers of the same clan, and it wasn't worth making their relationship more awkward because of an outsider.

  The Gong Sun family in Liaoxi was a renowned and respected clan, with ancestors who had held high-ranking positions for generations. They were considered to be one of the most prominent families in the region. Although Gong Sun Zan was the eldest son of the main branch, his mother was a concubine, and in this era where maternal lineage was highly valued, even as the eldest son, he did not have a position in the family. After his father's death, it was naturally his younger brother, Gong Sun Guang, who succeeded to the title. Gong Sun Fan, on the other hand, was the legitimate son of the second branch, but his father was born out of wedlock and held a lower status than even the third branch, which included their uncle Gong Sun Xun. Nevertheless, Gong Sun Fan still looked down on Gong Sun Zan, who was born to a slave maid, for his own mother was a high-ranking lady from the royal family of Liaodong, far superior in status to Gong Sun Zan's mother.

  At this time, the young scholar who followed Gong Sunzhan into the room glanced at Liu Ze from afar, his gaze falling on Liu Ze's back. Although his back was covered in bloodstains from the flogging, a blue birthmark on his left shoulder was still quite eye-catching, and the young scholar's gaze fell precisely on that birthmark.

  He couldn't help but walk up, carefully examining Liu Ze's face, his expression became agitated, and he hastily asked: "May I ask how to address your esteemed name?"

  Liu Ze couldn't help but feel puzzled, he had been beaten up badly earlier, yet no one asked for his name, nor did they know why this scholar who came with Gong Sun Zan was so concerned about him. However, strange as it was, he still told the truth.

  "My humble name is Liu Ze, may I ask what instructions you have for me?"

  "Liu Ze... Liu Ze..." The young man muttered to himself, and then asked, "Where is your home? Are your parents still alive?"

  Liu Ze didn't dare say that he was a time-traveler again, so he had to repeat the first lie he made up, saying something about his family being in Youzhou, and how he got separated from his parents at a young age and was taken in by an unknown old man in the mountains.

  Young Master Shi grabbed Gong Sun's arm and said hastily, "Brother Bo, he might be Liu Ze, the brother who has been missing for many years."

  Gongsun Zan slightly furrowed his brow and said, "Younger brother, it can't be this coincidental, can it? There are many people in the world with the same name and surname. Moreover, your younger brother has been missing for many years, and his appearance is no longer recognizable. Why do you insist that he is definitely your younger brother?"

  "My younger brother has had a blue birthmark on his left shoulder since he was young, and there is also a red mole on the sole of his right foot. Is it or not? Just take off your shoes to check. Can you take off your shoes and have a look, little brother?"

  Liu Ze couldn't help but laugh, perhaps he and this scholar's lost younger brother shared the same name and surname, so the scholar took him for a close relative. How could he have such an older brother when he had traveled through thousands of years? Probably this scholar was driven mad by his search for his younger brother. Moreover, there wasn't even a red birthmark on his foot.

  "This brother, you may have made a mistake, I don't have any siblings. But if you want to look, go ahead and take a look." Those shoes had long been tattered and could only barely hang on his feet. Liu Ze just needed to lightly kick them off, but with just a bit of force, all the wounds on his body throbbed in pain, causing Liu Ze to furrow his brow.

  The young gentleman merely glanced at him and immediately burst into tears, embracing Liu Ze and wailing loudly.

  "Brother, I've finally found you! Heaven is just!"

  Liu Ze was stunned. What's going on? Could it be that a red birthmark really grew on the sole of his foot? From his bizarre transmigration, to mysteriously shrinking, and then unexpectedly gaining an older brother, Liu Ze faintly felt that there were some unusual things at play here. Was it possible that a divine being was secretly guiding him?

  "Little brother, I am your elder brother Liu Bei. You got lost when you were four years old and we have been searching for you for many years. Heaven has taken pity on us and finally allowed us to meet again today! Come back home with me quickly and see Father and Mother, they will be overjoyed..."

  His words were almost spoken in tears and cries, Liu Ze didn't hear a few words clearly, but the name of Liu Bei he heard was clear. Liu Bei? Is it really Liu Bei? The founding emperor of Shu Han in the Three Kingdoms, Liu Bei? Heaven, am I not dreaming? I've actually become Liu Bei's brother?