[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-overthrowing-han":3,"chapter-overthrowing-han-overthrowing-han-chapter-377":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Overthrowing Han",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},1223136,1620,"Chapter 377: What Crime Did the Western Palace and Eastern Watchtower Commit?","overthrowing-han-chapter-377",377,"\u003Cp>\"How did I, Dong Zhongying, end up in this state today?\" Dong Zhuo stroked the broken blade on the table, momentarily dazed and lost.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To this, Liu Ai still kept his eyes shut in response.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Chief Clerk, how many armored soldiers remain on the outer walls?\" Dong Zhuo waited for a long while, and seeing no one answer, pressed down the broken blade and asked with a serious expression.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"A little over two thousand, perhaps?\" Liu Ai finally opened his eyes and replied earnestly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Isn't that quite a lot?\" Dong Zhuo seemed slightly taken aback.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"That is only because the fortress walls are too high and there is but a single city gate, making it very difficult to flee,\" Liu Ai said with sincerity. \"If we were to open the gates and meet them in battle, or if the General of the Guard launched a general assault, I fear the majority would turn their coats.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"How many men does Gongsun Wenqi have outside now?\" Dong Zhuo continued to ask.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Around a hundred thousand,\" Liu Ai answered, lowering his head.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Not that many.\" Dong Zhuo shook his head repeatedly. \"He brought twenty thousand troops out, and I had seventy or eighty thousand. Then we fought for a year, and both sides suffered considerable losses. Even if he subdued the Bobo bandits in between and gained many more soldiers, the two forces combined surely still number fewer than a hundred thousand fighting men... And if he did not deceive me before, then Li Jue, Li Meng, Duan Wei, and Hu Zhen are now only east of Tongguan, with twenty or thirty thousand troops yet to surrender... Therefore, he has at most fifty or sixty thousand troops. The rest must be conscripted laborers and able-bodied men from the Three Adjuncts.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"And what of it, even if it is only fifty or sixty thousand troops?\" Liu Ai listened quietly as his lord finished speaking, then calmly asked in return.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dong Zhuo immediately fell silent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing this, Liu Ai said no more. He cupped his hands slightly, preparing to withdraw from the hall. But just as he stepped one foot out the main door and was about to reach the outer corridor, he suddenly heard a soft sigh from behind him: \"A fine head — who will be the one to sever it?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Liu Ai's figure paused briefly. An indescribable bitterness welled up in his heart, nearly bringing him to tears, but he hurriedly lifted his feet and strode swiftly away.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dong Zhuo watched his last trusted confidant depart. Only after a long while did he force himself up by supporting his belt and rise to his feet. He then went to the side corridor and gazed into the distance at the military camp opposite — the inner layer of Long Live Fort had been specially built by mobilizing laborers to ram earth for its foundation, naturally placing it at a height, so there was no worry about the view.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In truth, during these days, although Dong Zhuo drank and made merry daily, in his occasional sober moments he would still come here to observe Gongsun Xun's military camp and guess at the situation. However, as one piece of bad news after another arrived — even the head of his own blood brother was delivered inside by Gongsun Xun — and as the troops and horses outside the walls grew ever more numerous and the encampments ever larger, such observations had become utterly meaningless.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Indeed, they are mostly conscripted laborers and the like.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After watching for half the day, Dong Zhuo reached a conclusion that mattered little either way, then returned once more to his seat in the hall. He picked up that familiar yet strange broken blade, and also removed the scabbard, revealing a blade-glow like autumn water.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In truth, Dong Zhongying had known from the very beginning that this was merely an exceptionally sharp old broken blade, and absolutely not some 'relic of Xiang Yu.' But this claim came from the renowned scholar Cai Bojie, and represented Cai Yong's recognition of him, a frontier rustic from Xiliang. So he had gladly gone along with it, telling everyone he met that this blade was the 'Broken Blade of Xiang Yu,' to let the world know that even Cai Bojie thought highly of him, Dong Zhuo.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And later, when he became a former retainer of the Yuan clan, then rose to be Inspector of Bingzhou and a Regional Governor, and no longer needed to care about the mere opinion of a Cai Yong, this blade was given away to that outstanding talent from Youzhou he had met that rainy day inside the government offices of Jinyang City... Thinking back, it had already been thirteen years.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fortunately, it was that man. His own aged mother and granddaughter could probably still be preserved, right? At this thought, Dong Zhuo shook his head helplessly and finally pointed the blade at himself.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet at this moment, a laughable thing occurred. It turned out that after seizing great power, Dong Zhuo had acted with unrestrained arrogance, and in his later years his body had grown increasingly obese. And this broken blade, probably for the sake of convenient use on horseback while in Gongsun Xun's hands, had its hilt specially lengthened. So when he held the broken blade reversed, intending to end his own life, he could not freely exert force to pierce his throat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dong Zhuo himself laughed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, laugh as he might, Grand Tutor Dong had no desire to call Liu Ai back, even though he knew his Chief Clerk must at that moment be standing in a corner of the outer corridor, waiting for news. This was not because he feared his ugly state before death being seen by others, but because he had just hinted and requested it once, and Liu Ai had clearly been unwilling to do this deed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His last trusted confidant — he had already shown him the utmost loyalty and kindness. Why make things difficult for him over such a matter?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Do any of you know how to use a blade?\" Left with no choice, Dong Zhuo could only ask the surrounding concubines and beauties, all of whose faces had long since turned pale. \"This blade's edge is the keenest under heaven. A light thrust to my throat will suffice.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At these words, the many women sitting or standing around all paled in great alarm. Yet amidst the confusion, one young and beautiful concubine rose and answered boldly, lifting her voice: \"This servant is willing to try!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Who are you, what is your background, and what do you do by my side?\" Dong Zhuo found this woman's face familiar, but could not recall her origins at all, and was momentarily dazed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"In reply to the Grand Tutor,\" the woman bowed slightly and said, \"this servant's surname is Ren. I was originally a palace lady of Zhaoyang Palace, always serving as a female official in charge of the marten-tail caps. When the Grand Tutor came to this fort and ordered palace ladies to be selected and transferred here, so that this place might follow palace protocol, I came from the palace to this place, specially managing the Grand Tutor's marten-tail cap. Therefore, everyone above and below simply calls me Diaochan...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dong Zhuo suddenly understood. It must be said, his previous selection of so many beauties was not merely for so-called lust. In truth, at his age, the spirit was willing but the flesh was weak. And the reason he did so, especially selecting palace ladies, was in fact still for the status of 'supreme nobility,' still for the phrase 'protocol equal to the palace.'\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The walls of Chang'an were seven zhang high, so the outer walls of his Mei Fort must also be seven zhang high; the Weiyang Palace in Chang'an City occupied the commanding heights, so his inner residence must also be built atop a rammed-earth high platform; the Chang'an palace had a female official specially managing the marten-tail caps of the emperor's close attendants, so he had this palace lady surnamed Ren fetched from the palace to specially manage his clothing and headwear...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So, returning to the matter at hand, this Diaochan was in fact his personal maidservant. No wonder she looked familiar.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"To think that as I near death, I, Dong Zhuo, could still have a maidservant so loyal, and with such a bold spirit...\" After clarifying the other's identity, Grand Tutor Dong slowly shook his head, then simply pointed at the broken blade on the table and sighed softly. \"Very well, I must trouble you.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Diaochan, hearing this, stepped forward. She took the blade with both hands directly from the table, then bowed slightly in salute: \"Grand Tutor, there is one thing I must make clear to you. I wonder if you are willing to hear it?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"At this point, what words of yours cannot be spoken, and what words cannot I hear?\" Dong Zhuo could not help but stroke his great belly and laugh ruefully.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Grand Tutor,\" Diaochan held the blade and faced him with a solemn expression, \"I am but a woman, ordinarily doing nothing more than arranging caps and headwear. When have I ever held a blade? And the reason I am willing to hold this blade and kill today is truly not without cause...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Speak, then.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"The world is in chaos. I, a weak woman, survived as a palace lady in Luoyang, originally seeking nothing else. Only, in the past, within the palace, the fifteen female officials in charge of marten-tail caps regarded each other as family, relying on one another.\" Diaochan forced herself to stand straight and reported. \"Of these fifteen, besides myself, the other fourteen — back when Grand General He died in the Southern Palace, three died first in the chaos. I thought that was already a calamity beyond measure, yet I never imagined that when the Grand Tutor forced the relocation of the capital, and the entire palace moved west, of the remaining eleven, one died of illness on the road, seven were bestowed as gifts or even directly seized by armored soldiers and Qiang and Hu troops, and two were lost along the way, their whereabouts unknown. The one remaining person had just settled with me in the Chang'an palace when she received the Grand Tutor's summons and was thus separated from me... I do not understand the matters that great men like the Grand Tutor undertake, but as for me, I have always hated the Grand Tutor to the marrow! My willingness to hold this blade today is only because this servant wishes to kill the Grand Tutor, and for no other reason!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dong Zhuo, hearing this, remained silent for a long while, yet did not argue. He merely raised his hand and pointed to the blood vessel on the side of his own neck: \"Thrust the blade here — it will best vent your hatred!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Without a word, Diaochan gripped the blade with both hands and thrust straight.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In that instant, the blood vessel in the neck of Grand Tutor Dong, who lay back in his seat with head tilted up, burst open. Fresh blood gushed forth, nearly dyeing the entire low table before him a blood-red. And that sheet of white paper Gongsun Xun had sent, bearing a doggerel poem, was also instantly soaked through by the blood. The words of life and death could only be faintly discerned now.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A moment later, hearing the great commotion within the hall, Liu Ai, standing outside the corridor, let out a sigh. Yet he paused for a moment longer before finally entering the hall. And he, ignoring Diaochan, who stood holding the blade and drenched in blood, and the many women thrown into chaos, merely prostrated himself before the already breathless Dong Zhuo, kowtowed in apology, then withdrew from the hall once more and turned back to take charge of the overall situation within the fort.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the afternoon, Liu Ai formally opened the fort gates and requested surrender.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Go back inside and report to the Elder Lady Dong.\" Just as Xi Zhong was preparing to personally lead the White Horse Volunteers to take over Long Live Fort, Gongsun Xun, seated on the high platform within the camp, where he had been casually conversing with Han Sui, Ma Teng, and various notable clans from Guanxi and high officials of the Three Adjuncts, suddenly spoke to Liu Ai, who was kneeling on the ground. \"Dong Zhuo has sinned against the state. It is only right to display his head to the public, to uphold the law. But no matter what, a family matriarch in her nineties and a granddaughter not yet of age — the so-called old, young, women, and children — will not continue to cause harm. I have old ties with that man, and cannot but offer some protection. Only, without proper name or status, it would inevitably invite gossip... Therefore, ask the Elder Lady on my behalf: I wish to arrange a marriage between my second son, Gongsun Ping, and the Dong clan daughter, Dong Bai. I wonder if she would be willing?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Liu Ai, hearing this, was immediately overjoyed and repeatedly expressed his gratitude. Yet the many high officials and renowned scholars on the platform could not help but change countenance one after another, some startled, some doubtful.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In truth, reporting to the Elder Lady Dong was nonsense, and the talk of lacking proper name or status was even more nonsense. Because at this point, the entire Dong clan could only be disposed of at Gongsun Xun's will. And that Gongsun Xun and Dong Zhuo had old ties was also something everyone knew. Today, having sent in the broken blade and the poem urging death to persuade Dong Zhuo to commit suicide, everyone could also guess that he would preserve Dong Zhuo's aged mother and granddaughter.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the problem was, preservation was one thing — yet that the Dong clan could actually still form a marriage alliance with the Gongsun clan was somewhat hard for people to accept.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"General of the Guard!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As expected, no sooner were these words spoken, before Liu Ai could even turn around, someone beside him rose up indignantly. It was none other than Song Yi, Administrator of Left Pingyi. \"Dong Zhuo brought calamity upon the state, incurring the shared wrath of gods and men! Even if his entire clan cannot be executed, his bones should be crushed and ashes scattered to set the record straight. How can we merely display his head to the public? And since the Dong clan is a criminal clan, even if they are not put to death, their titles should be stripped and they should be exiled back to their homeland. Why, instead, arrange a marriage with the young master of the General of the Guard? Once word of this spreads, do you not fear that all under heaven will think the General and Dong Zhuo are birds of a feather?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"How has this gentleman come to be so indignant?\" Being called birds of a feather with Dong Zhuo, Gongsun Xun did not grow angry, but merely smiled, pointed at the man, and asked those around him curiously.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"In reply to the General of the Guard,\" the one who spoke was unexpectedly Han Sui. This 'old friend of the General of the Guard,' who had once been killed by the Wei River, spoke carefully and softly. \"Administrator Song is a former retainer of the Yuan clan. Grand Tutor Yuan Kui's entire family was killed earlier — it is only natural that he harbors anger in his heart...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gongsun Xun suddenly understood.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But before this man could continue his remonstration, and before Gongsun Xun could speak, Xi Zhong, the General of the Household of the Forward Army Advisor, who was just about to enter Long Live Fort, suddenly halted and spoke: \"May I venture to ask Prefect Song: Dong Zhuo brought calamity upon the state, his crimes deep and heavy. But was it not our general who single-mindedly achieved the merit of punishing Dong? Instead of feeling grateful, you speak with insolence — what is the meaning of this?!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Song Yi, knowing he had misspoken, could only hurriedly rise from his mat, bow in apology, and offer an explanation: \"It is not that I intended to censure the General of the Guard. It is truly that the Grand Tutor's entire family was executed, and as a former retainer, I often find it hard to calm my heart, secretly pondering revenge and the venting of hatred... General of the Guard, I spoke out of turn regarding the marriage. I only beg the General to permit us former retainers of the Yuan clan to mutilate his corpse and burn his bones to ashes, to appease our hatred. If this can be done, I imagine the General of Chariots and Cavalry Yuan and the General of the Rear, upon learning of it, would also be grateful to the General.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Where is this General of Chariots and Cavalry Yuan?\" Before Gongsun Xun could speak, Xi Zhong grew even more furious. \"Yuan Shao calls himself General of Chariots and Cavalry, invading provinces and commanderies. That man brings calamity upon the state — he is clearly no less than Dong Zhuo! Our general fought bitterly for three thousand li, toiling for a full year to rescue the imperiled and restore order to this point. Instead of showing respect, you instead honor a traitor to the state?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hearing Gongsun Xun's trusted confidant so denounce Yuan Shao, Song Yi was shocked and terrified, completely at a loss as to how to respond. Even the others seated there were all inwardly alarmed and fearful.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Enough.\" Gongsun Xun said dismissively. \"Although General of Chariots and Cavalry Yuan's title was self-proclaimed, it was also forced by the circumstances of the time, and cannot be considered usurpation... Zhicai, go with Chief Clerk Liu into the fort. I will handle things here myself.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Only then did Xi Zhong cup his hands and depart, and Song Yi also hurriedly apologized once more.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Sir Song.\" Gongsun Xun watched Xi Zhong leave, and only then spoke slowly to Administrator Song, who knelt on the ground with his cap removed. \"Zhicai has followed me through bitter campaigns for a year, and today we have just achieved victory. Hearing such words from you, it is inevitable that he would feel some displeasure... You must understand, the allied forces of Hebei, Guandong, and Xuyang rose together. Xuyang made an empty show of strength, and Guandong gave up halfway. Only I, leading you gentlemen of the northern lands and twenty thousand soldiers, toiled for thousands of li to reach this place and accomplish this great deed. Yet listening to your words, it seems as if the state's meritorious official who forced Dong Zhuo to his death and rescued the imperiled and restored order is not me, but rather General of Chariots and Cavalry Yuan. Do you hold me in such contempt?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Song Yi grew even more panicked and could only kowtow in apology. Yet, as it happened, not a single person around rose to intercede for him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Rise!\" Gongsun Xun laughed upon seeing this, seemingly without any intention of pursuing the matter further. \"How can one be condemned for mere words?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Prefect Song scrambled to his feet in utter disarray, a sorry sight indeed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"However,\" Gongsun Xun said, his expression suddenly turning solemn once the other man had risen, \"there is one thing that puzzles me, and I would ask Lord Song to explain it for me... You are a former retainer of the Yuan clan, so it is not incomprehensible that you harbor such indignation in your heart. But why, when I was fighting bitterly outside Tongguan earlier, did you, holding the weighty post of Left Pingyi, fail to raise troops to aid me? Instead, you served Dong Zhuo with such meticulous care — conscripting laborers for him, building fortifications, and scouring for wealth and goods — as though you were a former retainer of the Dong clan rather than the Yuan clan. And now, after I have toiled to punish Dong Zhuo, pressing on to this point and driving the traitor to his death, you put on a show of righteous hatred before me? Two faces — which one is real, and which one is false?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was late summer, early autumn in the seventh month, the heat not yet faded, yet upon the high platform in the camp, where not even a crow or sparrow stirred, Song Yi felt only an icy chill throughout his body. It was not that the man did not wish to defend himself, but that he found himself utterly unable to open his mouth.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Let us do this, then,\" Gongsun Xun continued slowly. \"If you wish to prove your innocence, why not take your own life and follow Grand Tutor Yuan's entire household, thereby achieving a noble name? If you do so, I will burn Dong Zhuo's corpse to fulfill your great righteousness. And if you cannot do this, why not simply surrender your seal of office and return to your hometown of Taiyuan to study? When I pacified Taiyuan, though I regarded you as an accomplice of the Dong clan, I only confiscated half of your family estate — the remainder is enough for you to study and live out your old age.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Song Yi stood on the platform for a long time, and at last understood that by stepping forward as a former retainer of the Yuan clan, he had committed a grave taboo and become an object for making an example of. Even less did he dare to go and die. So, left with no alternative, he presented his seal and cord of office, and then, under the escort of two soldiers, departed in panic and alone, without even a horse to ride. It was only when he reached Mei County that the acting county magistrate, Zhang Ji, still recognized him as his old superior and privately gifted him an ox cart and some traveling funds, sparing him from utter humiliation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As it happened, the stores in Mei Fort were exceedingly vast — gold and silver alone amounted to no less than seventy or eighty thousand jin, to say nothing of the other cloth, bronze coins, lacquerware, pottery, and iron goods. Seeing that Xi Zhong truly could not finish cataloging everything in a short time, Gongsun Xun abandoned the idea of waiting there. He merely issued a portion of the stores and bestowed generous rewards upon the main force of the Youzhou Army that had arrived, to boost morale. Then he disbanded the conscripted laborers, leaving only Xi Zhong and a small force to sort out the supplies, while he himself departed that gentle land where Dong Zhuo's ambitions had once been dulled. He hung his broken blade at his side once more, mounted his white horse, and led the entire army forth toward Chang'an.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing this, Han Sui, Ma Teng, and the other warlords from various parts of Xiliang who had nominally accepted Dong Zhuo's amnesty dared not be remiss. Without waiting for orders, they each led their forces to follow, as docile as hounds before a cat. By the tenth day of the seventh month, when the entire army reached the north bank of the Wei River and joined forces with Wang Xiu, Lou Gui, and Tian Feng, who had been waiting there, the troops behind Gongsun Xun — whether combat soldiers or support troops — had truly swelled to nearly one hundred thousand.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That night, an envoy from Chang'an arrived bearing an imperial credential to proclaim an edict, but Gongsun Xun drove him straight back, declaring that he would personally go to Weiyang Palace the next day to pay his respects to the Son of Heaven. Any edicts, he said, could wait until tomorrow.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The envoy, Ma Midi, though he had once served as Grand Commandant and was a man of high rank and great renown, was after all merely a scholar. Left with no alternative, he could only retreat to Chang'an.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The next morning, Gongsun Xun paused only briefly on the north bank of the Wei before leading the entire army across the Wei River via Wei Bridge.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As they approached the city, the main body of the army halted outside the walls. The two generals Gao Shun and Xu Huang led ten thousand infantry to take control of the city defenses, armories, government offices, and palaces without shedding a drop of blood, while the three generals Han Dang, Cheng Lian, and Wei Yue led three thousand cavalry to secure the main thoroughfares.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At noon, General of the Guard Gongsun Xun, leading the White Horse Volunteers, the entire officer corps, his staff and subordinate officials, and the officials of the Three Adjuncts who had been summoned to Mei Fort, entered Chang'an through Luocheng Gate in full regalia with all ceremonial banners and canopies. It is worth noting that just before entering the city, Han Sui took the lead, and all the army officers, accompanying military clerks, and even the local officials of the Three Adjuncts switched to white horses and followed him into the city.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Once inside the city, nearly two thousand white-horse riders clustered around Gongsun Xun as they passed Mingguang Palace and Changle Palace, turned at the armory, and paraded their might all the way before turning at the East Watchtower, preparing to enter Weiyang Palace directly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was at this point, however, that someone finally barred the way of Gongsun Xun's white-horse contingent — the Excellency over the Masses, acting Director of the Imperial Secretariat, Wang Yun, leading the hundred officials to receive him here, with Gentleman Attendant of the Yellow Gate Zhong Yao arriving bearing an imperial edict.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"The Emperor declares: The Han possesses all under Heaven, its ordained span without limit. Now there is the traitor Dong Zhuo, whose crimes are monstrous and evil in the extreme...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Gentleman Attendant of the Yellow Gate, please pause a moment.\" The edict had barely begun when Gongsun Xun, who had just dismounted and bowed to receive the decree, raised his head and interrupted. \"The edict you are proclaiming says, 'the traitor Dong Zhuo, whose crimes are monstrous and evil in the extreme' — is that correct?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"It... it is so,\" Zhong Yao replied, drenched in sweat, as the officials, officers, and Volunteers all around exchanged bewildered glances.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"General of the Guard,\" Wang Yun said, left with no choice but to step forward, bow, and inquire, \"The Son of Heaven is young; this edict was drafted by the Imperial Secretariat. May I ask what the problem is?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"There is one,\" Gongsun Xun said, resting his hand on the broken blade at his waist as he advanced several steps, then turned and faced Wang Zishi with head held high. \"Lord Wang, may I ask: what crime has Dong Zhuo committed?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At that moment — the cusp of summer and autumn in the seventh month, in the afternoon, beneath the western sunlight and amid the warm breezes, atop the East Watchtower of Weiyang Palace — a sudden silence fell, so profound that not even a crow or sparrow could be heard.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>—————I am the dividing line of Weiyang in the seventh month—————\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"The Lady Ren was originally a palace woman serving as the Sable Cicada official of Zhaoyang Palace. When the Han fell into chaos under Dong Zhuo's tyranny, and all matters were conducted in imitation of the Son of Heaven's rites, she was moved to Your Majesty Fort, still serving as the Sable Cicada official. Not long after, the Grand Ancestor of our dynasty campaigned against Dong Zhuo, driving straight through to besiege Your Majesty Fort. He returned the broken blade gifted by Dong Zhuo, and when Dong Zhuo saw it, he understood. He wished to take his own life to spare his family, but being corpulent, he could not manage it. He turned to those around him, but none responded. Only Lady Ren stepped forth and declared aloud: 'The realm has long wished to kill the Grand Preceptor, and I, your servant, have also long wished to kill the Grand Preceptor. It is only that a weak woman could not accomplish it. I thank the Grand Preceptor for granting me the grace of dying by my hand.' Dong Zhuo was silent, and she then stabbed him to death. When the Grand Ancestor entered the fort, Dong Zhuo's body had already been removed from the hall, and there was no one around. Only Lady Ren stood to the side, blade in hand, bathed in blood, her speech clear and lucid. She recounted everything that had happened, then returned the broken blade. The Grand Ancestor marveled at her, took the blade, and with his hand wiped her face. Seeing her countenance, he smiled and said: 'I did not expect a Sable Cicada could kill a man.' He then took her as his consort.\" — A New Account of the Tales of the World, Chapter on Speech\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>PS: Continuing to offer a book sacrifice — The Kunlun Bird. This is a book from the same period; its performance has always kept me down. I especially want to sacrifice it. ^.^!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Also, let me tell everyone: to express my gratitude, with the help of Han Men and Big Brother, I have personally prepared custom commemorative gifts for all the Alliance Masters. These are purely commemorative gifts, but since they are custom-made, I hope all Alliance Masters will take the initiative to join the group and contact Han Men to report your addresses and information for convenient mailing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(End of Chapter)\u003C\u002Fp>",4955,"2026-06-04T19:42:26.060Z",1,"Novelzhen Translator","280f3a211f21bc5d209af509896c74ea7e9343c7ea688b187c86c60337f1c738","overthrowing-han-chapter-378","overthrowing-han-chapter-376",548,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Foverthrowing-han-cover.jpg"]