46. The One Who Punishes the Traitor (1)
46. The One Who Punishes the Traitor (1)
March, 190 AD. Spring.
Winter had ended, and spring had arrived.
Luoyang was close to the north, so the cold weather persisted, but thanks to the warm sunlight, one could see the piles of accumulated snow melting little by little.
It had been four months since Dong Zhuo left for Chang'an.
The people of Luoyang were finally free from the gaze of that terrible Dong Zhuo, but instead, they had to bear heavy taxes due to the costs consumed by the construction of the Chang'an Imperial Palace and civil engineering projects.
"The enemy will come someday. Prepare your bodies and build up your strength for that moment!"
Lee Seong-hwi was training the soldiers.
Dong Zhuo's spies were watching.
Lee Seong-hwi used the excuse of needing to build the strength to block the Guandong Warlords to train the soldiers conscripted from Luoyang.
"Ack!"
"Aack!"
The soldiers shouted.
Even though the weather was still cold, the soldiers were shirtless, swinging wooden swords and wooden poles as they went through training.
They were honing their martial arts, dripping with sweat.
Perhaps thanks to the skill [Training] that Lee Seong-hwi possessed, the soldiers' proficiency was improving by leaps and bounds with each passing day.
'They don't seem to have noticed. Well, they're just soldiers conscripted from Luoyang. I've never told any of them about the assassination plan for Dong Zhuo.'
The important thing was that they were from Luoyang.
There was no man from Luoyang who didn't hate Dong Zhuo. He expected that if he told them the plan someday, most of them would join the uprising.
'When the uprising happens, you're all dead meat.'
Lee Seong-hwi patted the officers on the shoulders.
They were spies for the Dong Zhuo army.
Lackeys who reported his every move to the General of Chariots and Cavalry Dong Min. However, Lee Seong-hwi treated them like friendly comrades and smiled.
"Did you eat?"
"No, not yet."
"Then let's go. And you, tell the soldiers to rest in a warm place."
"Yes!"
He walked away with the officers.
He wanted to fill his stomach by eating some warm soup and rice to heat up his body, which had been chilled by the cold.
But it seemed he would have to put that off.
He wanted to go eat, but there was a guest who had come to find him.
"Should I call you General of the Right? Hahaha!"
It was Xiahou Dun of the Cao Cao army.
This man, with his free-spirited personality, had come to find Lee Seong-hwi, claiming they were from the same hometown.
Xiahou Dun's face was not well-known.
Even though the might of the Cao Cao army, which had unified Yan Province, was shaking the world, among Cao Cao's relatives, Xiahou Dun's face was not particularly well-known.
"Are you trying to get yourself killed?"
He shoved Xiahou Dun into his quarters.
Afterward, Lee Seong-hwi raised his voice, blaming Xiahou Dun for his recklessness in coming to find him.
"My face might be rough, but it's not like I'm known to the people here. They'll just think friends from the same hometown met."
"What are you talking about? I don't have any friends."
"I knew from the start that you were the type to have no friends. Plus, our Mengde doesn't have any friends either."
A pair that fits well, isn't it?
Xiahou Dun rattled on with nonsense, grating on Lee Seong-hwi's nerves.
Whether he knew it or not, he was busy bursting into good-natured laughter with his arms crossed.
"Let's have some tea. You must have been cold waiting."
"You've made it big. Even if you are a lackey for Dong Zhuo's army. General of the Right and Xingyang Commandant, a meteoric rise that even our Mengde couldn't dream of, isn't it?"
"That sounds like sarcasm."
"Haha, don't misunderstand. I have no intention of blaming you. I just wanted to blame the bum who is living well and eating well while leaving my cute Mengde behind."
It is sarcasm, alright.
Lee Seong-hwi gave a bitter smile at Xiahou Dun's words.
"Mengde said that you are going to kill Dong Zhuo."
He brought it up directly.
Lee Seong-hwi couldn't help but be surprised by those words.
How many lives does this man think he has? To openly discuss Dong Zhuo's life in a place where Dong Zhuo's officers were spread out everywhere.
"Did Cao Cao really say that?"
"I'm telling you."
He couldn't feel anyone's presence nearby.
However, if word got out that he had contacted an outsider, Dong Zhuo's lackeys would swarm. It wouldn't be good to talk to Xiahou Dun for a long time.
'As expected of Cao Mengde, she guessed in advance that I was trying to kill Dong Zhuo. I had given a hint, but... as expected, she's sharp.'
Even as a woman, Cao Cao was Cao Cao.
She was undoubtedly the person who would become the Taizu who founded the Wei Dynasty. Cao Cao's eye for people had already seen through Lee Seong-hwi's movements.
Did she send Xiahou Dun to me on purpose?
No, that's not it. If she were to send someone, she would have sent someone else, not the light-headed Xiahou Dun.
"When are you going to rise up?"
Xiahou Dun asked.
Lee Seong-hwi answered that question.
"It won't be long."
The time for revolution will surely come.
Very slowly, little by little, it was approaching, but the wind of revolution would definitely blow in Luoyang.
Behead the traitor Dong Zhuo and save Luoyang.
Lee Seong-hwi had been hiding his true intentions while enduring blatant surveillance for the past four months solely for that purpose.
"I see."
Xiahou Dun stood up from his seat.
Knowing that it would be troublesome for Lee Seong-hwi if they talked for a long time, he smiled and pressed his bamboo hat down on his head.
"By the way, bandits were rampant on the way here. I saved a merchant caravan that was being attacked by a bandit group on my way here. The world is a total mess."
"Even if we send troops to wipe them out on a large scale, other bandit groups take their place as soon as we turn around. Isn't that proof that it's an era where bandits thrive?"
Those bandits were originally the people of Luoyang.
To cover the taxes to be offered to Chang'an, murderous tax rates swept through the homes of Luoyang, and eventually, the people who could no longer afford to pay turned into bandits, thinking it was a do-or-die situation.
If a country is in trouble, bandits are bound to appear.
Since the mastermind who threw the world into chaos was living in luxury in Chang'an, it was impossible for bandits not to swarm.
"Should I give you some travel money?"
"I'd be grateful if you did."
Xiahou Dun reached out without hesitation.
Lee Seong-hwi sighed and handed him some money that would be enough to buy a bowl of soup and rice.
"How is Yan Province?"
"Very good. As the days go by, our influence is expanding, talents are gathering like clouds, and the soldiers have reached tens of thousands. How about it, are you jealous?"
Xiahou Dun spoke as if they were close.
He seemed to be trying to see Lee Seong-hwi's reaction to the news of the rapidly growing Cao Cao army.
Lee Seong-hwi answered.
"I was sure you would succeed in raising an army and grow into a warlord."
"Of course. Because the ruler is Mengde."
Xiahou Dun was sending infinite trust.
He spoke with conviction, saying that if it were Cao Cao, she would surely become a warlord who would seize the world.
I want you to join us.
Xiahou Dun brought up the story of the Cao Cao army and subtly offered Lee Seong-hwi a position.
"Are you telling me to defect? You're the only one who would say that so confidently."
But that was exactly who Xiahou Dun was.
A great general who leads countless warriors while showing a confident and manly appearance. Even if he lacks intelligence, the words that come from his heart are always sincere.
"Mengde misses you a lot. I know it's impossible, but come to Yan Province sometime."
Xiahou Dun left after leaving those words.
After he left, the officers appeared.
They were looking behind Xiahou Dun, showing disappointment that they couldn't overhear the conversation he had with the outsider who had suddenly appeared.
The Emperor Liu Xie had fallen ill with a serious disease.
At first, they thought it was just a winter cold, but it reached the point where it showed symptoms of dehydration accompanied by a high fever.
The atmosphere in the court became serious.
The subjects expressed concern about whether the young Emperor would be able to overcome the severe illness, and some even jumped to conclusions about who should succeed to the throne if something unfortunate were to happen.
"Did they fall for it?"
Liu Xie, who was lying on the bedding, asked.
The young girl sat up, raising her upper body slowly.
The rumor that she had fallen ill with a serious disease was a lie.
It was true that she had suffered from a mild cold, but the rumor that she had fallen ill with a serious disease accompanied by a high fever was an exaggerated ruse.
"That is correct."
Wang Yun answered.
He smiled at the intelligent Emperor, saying it was a perfect performance.
"Now, the lawless Dong Zhuo will only wait for Your Majesty to pass away. Because the traitor's goal is to receive abdication from the Han Dynasty imperial family and open his own heaven."
"A rude fellow."
"Yes, he is a traitor who deserves to die ten times over."
Liu Xie gritted her teeth.
Although she was young, she knew at least that Dong Zhuo must not be left alive.
For the sake of the country, the traitor must die.
As long as Dong Zhuo held wealth and power in his grasp, the chaotic times that were rapidly dividing the Han Dynasty would only deepen.
The Emperor was young.
But she had an outstanding brain, enough to be called a prodigy early on.
She knew well that her role was important to kill Dong Zhuo. So, she decided to follow Wang Yun's guidance and put the opportunity to kill the traitor into action.
"You mean I should pretend to be hovering between life and death and bring up the story of abdication to trick Dong Zhuo."
"Yes, that is correct. It is a distressing matter that is hard to even put into words... but it is an unavoidable task to kill the traitor. Please never forgive this incompetent subject."
"Raise your head, Minister of Education. The fact that the country was taken by a traitor is due to the incompetence and corruption of the imperial family. It is because the previous Emperor practiced wrong politics, and it is by no means the Minister of Education's fault."
Liu Xie was indeed smart and intelligent.
She admitted that the country had been devastated by the mistakes committed by the Han Dynasty imperial family so far, and she had come to think that above all, Dong Zhuo must be killed to restore it.
The time to kill Dong Zhuo was not far off.
Liu Xie clasped her hands together and prayed.
She prayed and prayed to her father and older brother in heaven to help this matter succeed safely.
"The person named Lee Seong-hwi is truly amazing. Was such a talent in the Han Dynasty?"
Liu Xie could not help but admire.
To think there was a person who was giving such devoted service for the Han Dynasty.
He was different from the warlords who only looked out for their own interests.
Liu Xie admired that there was a loyal subject fighting solely for the country. Liu Xie, who had heard about Lee Seong-hwi from Wang Yun, expressed her wish that she must meet him.
"When the Dong Zhuo army tried to enter Luoyang, he was the person who blocked them with his whole body. It was also Xingyang Commandant Lee Seong-hwi who gave me a hint and told me the specific plan to kill Dong Zhuo."
Wang Yun praised him until his mouth went dry.
He said that he was the only one who could save the Han Dynasty imperial family, and that they must trust him to kill Dong Zhuo.
"I trust you, Minister of Education. How could I, the Emperor, doubt a loyal subject who fights for the country? If he cuts off Dong Zhuo's head... I will treat him with lifelong gratitude."
She prayed that he would save her someday.
To take her out of this hell surrounded by traitors on all sides, and to save the people who were pouring out their suffering.
A young girl born in tragedy.
Liu Xie decided to stake her entire fate on the man named Lee Seong-hwi, not as an Emperor, but as a young girl.