Bad Dragon-rearer
Kong Jia wasn’t a good emperor. He spent all his time eating, drinking and hunting. But heaven still sent him a present—two pairs of dragons.
Emperor Kong Jia’s advisers searched for someone to care for his new pets. A man named Liu Lei applied for the position, claiming that his ancestors had looked after another emperor’s dragons. He was the only person who wanted the job, so the emperor took him on.
Liu Lei bragged a lot, but didn’t really know how to care for dragons. When his neglect led to one of the female dragons dying, he knew he would be in serious trouble if the emperor found out. He decided to get rid of the evidence by chopping up the dead dragon and turning it into pickle. He even gave some to the emperor to try. Eventually the emperor wanted to know where his other female dragon was. Liu Lei knew that he faced execution, so he ran away and changed his name.