Speaking of which, up until now, Liu Bei has not done anything overly inappropriate regarding the Han Dynasty. On the contrary, he has been tirelessly striving to rebuild and restore the Han Dynasty.
Thus, even though some of the feudal lords spread rumors claiming that Liu Bei has ambitions to usurp, there has been no evidence supporting this. In fact, Liu Bei has truly been working to solidify the foundations of the Han Dynasty. This fact is acknowledged by all sages, including Cao Cao, though they are quite curious as to where Liu Bei's wealth and resources come from.
This has also become the source of their confidence in being able to slow Liu Bei down. Their aim is not to force Liu Bei to completely give up his offensives, but rather, when faced with an imperial edict, even knowing there may be deceit involved, Liu Bei's loyalty would cause him to hesitate for a moment. From Xiahou Yuan's perspective, the current imperial edict has had unexpectedly spectacular effects.
