The Dice Are Cast
General He Jin was on edge. What good was holding military authority as the Grand General if he couldn't even persuade his half-sister, Empress Dowager He? Despite the Ten Attendants—those eunuch scoundrels—corrupting the court and even turning their blades on him, she still shielded them.
She can't even trust her own blood kin.
His fury barely contained, He Jin's heavy footsteps echoed as he approached the secret chamber. He pushed open the door to a room thick with tense silence. Inside waited hardliners like Yuan Shao alongside elders represented by Nosik.
"Grand General, call this off even now. You've already executed Jian Shuo and seized control of the capital's troops. With the world's armies in your grasp, why risk something so dangerous?"
Nosik spoke the moment He Jin sat. With Jian Shuo—the former head of the Capital Guards—dead, He Jin had absorbed the entire Western Garden Army under the emperor's direct command. The argument was that the Ten Attendants had no troops left but eunuchs, so there was no need for such schemes.
"Lord Elder, how can we leave those Ten Attendants be? They're like maggots—if you let them be for even a moment, they multiply."
Yuan Shao challenged him, as if asking whether Nosik didn't know how tenaciously the eunuchs clung to life. Every time someone rose to purge them, the eunuchs had slaughtered their foes and survived.
"Is Lord Yuan's scheme for the Grand General's benefit, or for the warlords'? We already have a sharp sword to shatter the rotten gate—why borrow an axe from another's house? That's not wisdom; it's self-sabotage."
Chen Lin skewered Yuan Shao's plan with biting sarcasm, the kind of verbal venom that would one day briefly ease Jojo's headaches.
"Grand General, everyone including the gardens is ready. We've excluded brutish sorts like Dong Zhuo, so with your decision, this will surely succeed."
Yuan Shao brushed off Chen Lin's barbs and pressed He Jin. As Jang Myeong had advised, Dong Zhuo was out of the plan, so nothing should go awry.
My judgment will decide our fate.
Should he gamble against the realm itself? He Jin hesitated. But dragging this out might let another Jian Shuo emerge.
"Very well. Send word to the garden commanders: burn Mengjin Ferry!"
At last, He Jin cast the dice. No one knew what numbers they would show.
Gazing north from the manor garden, the faint red glow at Luoyang's walls hinted at something massive ablaze—a fire devouring the sky itself. It rose from the direction of Mengjin Ferry.
It's begun.
Yuan Shao's scheme was unfolding far off. Whispers outside the walls spoke of Black Mountain Bandits raiding and torching Mengjin. To counter the Ten Attendants' bandit amnesty policy head-on, He Jin had unleashed agitators.
"We must flee... raid... south gate..."
Luoyang buzzed with terrified murmurs. Even officials, mere mortals themselves, fled toward He Jin's manor in droves. If things proceeded, He Jin would have cause to purge the Ten Attendants.
I slipped through the chaotic darkness to the appointed abandoned house. The creaking door revealed over forty rough men inside—mercenaries from Luoyang's underbelly, hired by me for the past ten days after they sniffed out the money.
"Pair up in twos. From now on, operate in pairs for the next ten days. Memorize each other's faces."
They quickly formed pairs, organized into teams before a single watch had passed. I tossed each team a short wooden flute.
"Before the palace fires rise, scout escape routes between the palace north gate and Luoyang's north gate."
If the Ten Attendants fled with the emperor, flames would surely engulf the palace. Until then, no issues, so best to map paths now.
"When the palace ignites, return here, then to your posts. I'll give orders then. And as promised, no risking your lives—don't worry."
A murmur rippled at my assurance. "Don't die. Dead men can't spend pay."
I distributed advances, not relishing the thought of my hires dying.
Mengjin burned. Luoyang seethed like a kicked hive, offices and palace abuzz. Turbid faction chattered, Clear faction clamored, the imperial house debated in panic.
Turbid or Clear, imperial—all talked inside the palace, indistinguishable from outside. To outsiders, they were all the same scum anyway.
The Clear faction buzzed loudly. With pretext to exile the Ten Attendants, their voices brimmed with vigor. They debated scope and severity of punishment. One side demanded total arrest; the other questioned if recent eunuchs counted. Left wall called demotion insufficient; right wall chorused death for their deep crimes.
The Turbid faction groveled in talk. They schemed survival: slip home quietly with hidden wealth for luxury; sacrifice corrupt heads to escape alive. Subordinates whispered they'd only followed orders—kill the bosses and done. Superiors muttered cut many tails to blame underlings.
Yet Clear and Turbid alike converged on He Jin's manor. Someone had to die for Mengjin's blaze.
"Grand General! Slay the Ten Attendants who pardoned those bandits, restore order, and subdue the traitors who mocked the court's mercy!"
The Ten Attendants, architects of the bandit amnesty, made perfect scapegoats. Save themselves, Clear crushed Turbid via eunuchs; Turbid sacrificed them to survive. No divide.
"This should sway even Empress Dowager He."
He Jin figured she'd consent to the purge this time. But amid the chaos, she remained ice-cold.
"How can you rashly kill the late emperor's valued aides? You hold the armies—focus on quelling outer unrest."
"Brother-in-law overreacts to the eunuchs. Reconcile now to stabilize the court."
With He Miao—bribed heavily by eunuchs—backing her, He Jin retreated empty-handed again. Yuan Shao's self-staged Mengjin blaze to oust them hit a wall.
Seeing He Jin waver post-failure, Yuan Shao judged he couldn't wait.
"Grand General, the dice are cast. Outer troops march on Luoyang, Mengjin's flames still rage. Retreat now, and blame falls on you—we all become traitors."
He Jin's eyes wavered under pressure.
"What should I do?"
"Grant me authority. I'll be your blade, sweep the villains, force the Empress Dowager's consent."
Having staged it, Yuan Shao risked execution if it failed. His neck on the line swayed He Jin. He granted Yuan Shao the Colonel of the Retainers and the imperial baton.
The Colonel oversaw Luoyang and seven counties—high officials now arrestable. The baton symbolized proxy imperial command. Yuan Shao gained not just arrest power but summary execution for military offenders—life-and-death authority rivaling one below the emperor.
Yuan Shao moved at once. Delay invited counterattack. He chained Ten Attendants' kin and bribed officials into prison. Like an ox in stubborn might, lightning in speed, Luoyang's jails overflowed. His blade showed no sign of stopping.
Empress Dowager, must I sever every limb before you yield?
Silent pressure on her, a declaration to bend her by force, not words. Even if she resisted, things wouldn't improve.
Fear birthed resignation. At last, she raised the white flag.
"Bring brush and paper."
She drafted an edict dismissing all Ten Attendants, from Zhang Rang to Duan Gui. A few eunuch allies of He Jin survived in the palace.
The Ten Attendants kowtowed, silk robes soiled, begging He Jin for life.
"Grand General, our crimes are grave, but consider our long service to the late emperor—spare us. We'll return home quietly for our remaining days."
He Jin gazed coldly at the worm-like eunuchs. Triumph mingled with vague emptiness. He ordered icily,
"The Empress Dowager's edict is issued. Pack and leave Luoyang at once."
Back at the manor, Jojo sought me out with excited voice.
"Myeong, fresh news: the Empress Dowager ordered all Ten Attendants dismissed and sent home. Brother Benchu pulled it off."
I was charting the terrain north of Luoyang from mercenary reports. Jojo's thrilled announcement wasn't urgent to me, so I didn't look up.
Seeing no reaction, he asked puzzled,
"Are you listening? We cleared a major hurdle. Yet you don't seem pleased."
"Jojo, a snake sent slithering home without decapitation brews deadlier venom for its return."
My cold declaration, eyes on him, chilled the room.
"What do you mean? The edict's issued. How can they revive?"
"The Empress Dowager shielded them to keep a check on growing in-laws. Power isn't shared even between parents and children—let alone step-siblings."
Jojo, sharper in politics than I, surely knew. He'd just frozen at the eunuchs' fall. I thawed his mind with harsh truth.
"She'll reinstate them at first chance. And they're not the type to slink away."
Jojo stroked his goatee, face hardening as he grasped my prediction wasn't mere conjecture. I marked escape routes on the map in red ink.
"Myeong, you mean this isn't over. Got a plan?"
"Why else follow to Luoyang and meet the Colonel of Retainers if not?"
I showed the black-and-red map of Luoyang's north.
"For days, mercenaries have scouted north Luoyang. We can snap the water ridge I mentioned as we wish."