Chapter 1: The Big-Eared Thief and Cao Mengde

Liu Bei was feeling extremely irritable.

He rode his horse slowly along the riverbank, constantly looking back over his shoulder, his eyes bloodshot. The horse, with its high withers and slender legs, should have been a magnificent steed, but it was now filthy and emaciated, its mane matted and its head hanging low in exhaustion. It was clear it had not been cared for in a long time. Liu Bei himself was disheveled, his clothes in tatters, looking every bit like a displaced refugee.

After traveling for a while, the horse suddenly stopped. Liu Bei turned his head to look ahead, then carefully scrutinized his surroundings. He was to the north of Dunqiu County in Dong Commandery, with the Yellow River ahead. Liu Bei climbed down from the horse, using his sword as a crutch, and shuffled step by step toward the riverbank.

A great drought gripped the land, and it was the low-water season; the Yellow River was not deep. However, it seemed the river had shifted its course. The original ferry crossing had become a stretch of mudflats, and the silt was so thick that one would sink with every step. Even if there had been a boat, it would have been impossible to cross.

There was nowhere left to go. He would have to face his pursuers here.

Liu Bei sighed, reached into the pack on the horse’s back, and pulled out the last millet cake. He bit into it, but after a moment’s thought, he pulled it from his mouth and looked at the horse beside him.

"Sigh, you need to eat something decent first, or you won't have the strength to keep running..."

Liu Bei stroked the horse’s head, swallowed hard, and pushed the millet cake into the horse’s mouth. The beast sniffed his hand and swallowed the cake almost without chewing, evidently starving. Liu Bei was hungry too; his stomach growled, and stars danced before his eyes. He had no choice but to take a desperate gulp from his water skin, then poured the remainder into the horse's mouth.

Hunger and exhaustion were minor issues; the real problem was that he was being hunted. He was a fugitive. If he had committed a crime and was being pursued, that would be one thing—every crime has its price. But the problem was that he hadn't committed these crimes, yet the consequences had fallen entirely on him.

Half a month ago, he had transmigrated to the end of the Han Dynasty and become the spirited young Liu Bei. Yes, that Liu Bei—the descendant of Prince Jing of Zhongshan, the patriarch of the weaving industry, the inheritor of intangible cultural heritage, the charmer of the Han Dynasty, and the future Emperor Zhaolie of Han, Liu Xuande.

Technically, for a common laborer from the future to transmigrate into a true Han nobleman should have been like winning the lottery. But Liu Bei didn’t see it that way. After acquiring the original owner's memories, he realized he was a "second-hand transmigrator." Simply put, he had transmigrated into someone who had already transmigrated.

He hadn't received the memories of the historical Liu Bei; he had received those of another transmigrator. In other words, he had a "predecessor" who had arrived in Liu Bei’s body first.

He was a "second-hand transmigrator." A backup!

What was even more infuriating was that the predecessor was both cowardly and reckless, stirring up a mountain of trouble that now fell squarely on his shoulders. Highway robbery, arson, seducing other men's wives... The predecessor had raided Yuan Shao’s caravan, killed Gongsun Zan’s younger brother, torched Yuan Shu’s grain store, and seduced Cao Cao’s wife—while stealing Cao Cao’s horse to boot.

It was the sixth year of Xiping (177 AD). Liu Bei was only seventeen, yet thanks to his predecessor’s flamboyant antics, he had offended every major power of the late Han era. Then, the predecessor had kicked the bucket, and he had transmigrated to take over this "second-hand" Liu Bei.

For the past half-month, he had been forced to flee, hiding and dodging, but he had never managed to shake off his pursuers. Especially Cao Cao, who was like a lingering ghost, pursuing him relentlessly. There was no helping it; after all, his predecessor had tried to snatch a woman from Boss Cao. Cao Cao was currently the Magistrate of Dunqiu, and with plenty of yamen runners at his disposal, he had tracked him down, blocked his path, and left him with nowhere to run.

"You certainly run fast, but there is no road left here. Let's see where you can escape to now!"

After catching his breath at the ferry for a moment, a voice came from behind. A short, sturdy youth in fine silk robes, riding a horse and holding a short halberd, blocked the path he had come from. It was Cao Cao. He was alone, likely because his yamen runners lacked horses and couldn't keep up.

"Brother Mengde, can't you give me a way out? Lady Bian is from a lowly background; I only teased her a bit. I didn't know you intended to take her as a concubine at the time..." Liu Bei dropped his water skin, drew his sword, and turned around with a sigh. It was infuriating to have to defend his predecessor for things he hadn't done.

"Do you think I am hunting you for the sake of Lady Bian? I am hunting an outlaw! Big-Eared Thief, you burned grain stores, harmed people for wealth, and even stole my fine horse... As an official of the Imperial Court, how can I allow you to escape?" Cao Cao stared at Liu Bei with a stern expression, his short halberd raised as if ready to charge.

He hadn't eaten, his body was weak, and the horse was exhausted. He couldn't run, and he certainly couldn't win a fight. But... Cao Cao was still young, and he seemed to be a hot-blooded youth dedicated to the public good. Liu Bei suddenly had an idea.

"The world is suffering from a great drought, and the starving are everywhere. As the Magistrate of Dunqiu, you should be focused on disaster relief, not wasting your efforts on me." Liu Bei threw his sword to the ground, signaling he would not resist arrest.

"You are aware that the world is starving? Then why did you burn the Yuan family's grain store? Do you know how many lives a single granary could have saved?" Cao Cao’s face darkened, but he lowered his halberd and moved his horse slowly forward.

"Brother Mengde, you are a son of a noble family; you have likely never worried about food or clothing. A hu of rice in Luoyang costs ten thousand coins this year because the Yuan family is hoarding supplies and driving up prices! If I hadn't burned that store to show the Yuan family that the starving people would riot, they never would have opened their granaries..." Liu Bei did not back down; he sat on the ground and continued, "There are locusts in seven provinces, and Dunqiu is hit hard. Do you have enough grain for disaster relief?"

"What do you mean by that?" Cao Cao frowned, stopping his horse and looking at Liu Bei with hesitation.

"If you have no grain, why not let me—this 'Big-Eared Thief'—go rob another wealthy grain merchant? Then you can use that grain for relief... After that, you can throw me into prison. How about it?" Liu Bei held out his hands as if to surrender. "I only ask to do something for the people. A hero like Brother Mengde must know what is truly important."

"...If I wanted to rob a wealthy family, I could do it myself. Why would I need you?" Cao Cao narrowed his eyes at Liu Bei for a moment, then dismounted and walked toward him, holding his halberd. He had just become the Magistrate of Dunqiu and was indeed empty-handed. In these times, everyone except the wealthy families was starving, and the Yuan family weren't the only ones hoarding.

"Because I am the 'Big-Eared Thief'..." Liu Bei remained still, hands extended, a smile on his face. "And you, Brother Mengde, are the upright Northern Prefect, the Magistrate of Dunqiu who loves the people as his own children. You cannot afford the reputation of a thief who raids noble families..."

Cao Cao said nothing, but he did not move to arrest Liu Bei. Instead, he sat on a rock by the roadside. Seeing Cao Cao waver, Liu Bei added, "Besides, I am very experienced in the art of robbery... Has Brother Mengde ever done such a thing?"

Cao Cao was an upright young man; of course he hadn't. He *had* snatched a newlywed bride once, but he had done that with Yuan Shao.

"Since you have such intentions, we might as well give it a try. It could be considered atonement for your previous sins..." Cao Cao thought for a moment and finally relented. "However, you cannot rob the noble families of Dong Commandery, or I won't be able to handle the disaster relief. You could go to Lihu; the Li family of Lihu has significant wealth but refuses to sell their grain to me..."

Lihu was close to Dunqiu but belonged to Jiyin Commandery, outside the jurisdiction of Dong. It seemed Cao Cao had tried to buy grain from them and failed. In a disaster year, wealthy families would sell grain at a hundred times the normal price, naturally refusing to sell at a fair rate.

"Easily done. Brother Mengde, wait for me a few days. Once I have secured the Li family's grain, I will return to surrender." Liu Bei cupped his hands, his speech becoming increasingly like that of a man from the end of the Han Dynasty.

"I will go with you, to ensure you don't run away..." Cao Cao glanced at the horse behind Liu Bei, checked the surroundings, and seeing no one, tucked away his halberd and gestured for Liu Bei to follow. "Seducing my concubine and stealing my horse are trivial matters. If we can save the people, I can overlook your past crimes."

Liu Bei bowed. He thought to himself, what a mess—Cao Cao had become a benevolent ruler who loved the people, while he, as Liu Bei, had become the villain who raided the populace... He picked up his sword and tried to sheath it, but his hands were shaking so violently that he couldn't hit the mark. He tried to mount the horse, but his legs wouldn't obey. His body was so weak. It was fortunate that Cao Cao was a man of reason.

"Damn it all! Why, when it's my turn to transmigrate, do I have to be a second-hand transmigrator? And why do I have to wipe up the mess left by my predecessor?"

Liu Bei used every ounce of his remaining strength to climb onto the horse. Unable to sit upright, he leaned forward, hugging the horse's neck, resting his face against its head, and muttered his complaints.