Usurpation. And a Thorny Path
Crown Prince Liu Seong-hwi had slain Commander Hua Xiong at Yangren and annihilated the Imperial Guard. The destruction of Dong Zhuo's follow-up forces, which had marched from Luoyang, compounded the damage still further.
Fifty thousand.
A grand army of fifty thousand had evaporated in a day and a half.
Dong Zhuo's forces had reached their zenith after co-opting Luoyang's Central Army and installing a new emperor. For an army that had relied on iron-fisted military rule ever since occupying Luoyang, Hua Xiong's catastrophic defeat was more than enough to shake the foundations of their power.
"Filthy traitors...! Kill them now!"
"This humiliation, this disgrace—the Grand Preceptor will repay it!!"
Li Meng and Hu Feng, the Unit Commanders who had led the follow-up forces into battle, were captured. The Dong Zhuo officers who had become prisoners after the brutal defeat spat out their words in a fury.
The other Dong Zhuo officers were no different.
We will not beg for our lives.
You bastards will inevitably be put down by the court's army in Luoyang.
The officers of Xiliang origin all displayed unyielding loyalty. It was only the Central Army officers absorbed into Dong Zhuo's ranks who groveled and begged for their lives.
"Decapitate them."
The military officers waiting behind raised their sharp blades.
And so, the Dong Zhuo officers who had shouted their fatalistic oaths, and even the Central Army officers who had begged for life and pleaded for mercy—all were beheaded without exception.
Heads fell in an instant.
At the same moment, hot blood spurted like fountains.
Liu Seong-hwi judged the prisoners captured on the battlefield with extreme severity. As the Alliance Leader of the Anti-Dong Zhuo Coalition, which had raised an army to punish the arch-traitor of all ages, he had to demonstrate uncompromising resolve to the entire realm.
"Load all the severed heads onto wagons and send them to Luoyang. It is a declaration of war against Dong Zhuo's army."
"Yes, sir!"
Was it the exhaustion from the bloody battle?
Or was it the reek of blood, which had stained every mountain and stream?
A brief headache washed over him.
He had fought a pitched battle in which both sides combined had nearly a hundred thousand men. He had led the battle that would decide the fate of the Anti-Dong Zhuo Coalition to victory, so it was only natural that the tension was draining away.
"Are you all right?"
"Of course, Sister."
Sister.
He raised his head and met the eyes of the woman whose voice was so gentle.
A beautiful woman with long white hair was watching him with a cautious gaze. As her hair, snow-petal white and lovely, cascaded down, her elongated ears flaunted their presence.
"Huu...! You have no idea how shocked I was when I saw the Crown Prince's back as you led the Death-Defying Unit to raid Hua Xiong's main force. Yide—my youngest sister and I even screamed, do you realize that? It was far too reckless."
"To create an opening, I had no choice but to carry out a special assault. Had I not targeted Hua Xiong alone, horse and blade, reversing the tide of battle would have been difficult."
The forces of Liu Bei and Sun Jian, which had served as the vanguard, had been completely isolated by Dong Zhuo's general offensive. And so, Liu Seong-hwi had been forced to conduct the special assault himself.
The result was flawlessly brilliant.
He had slain Hua Xiong and routed an army of fifty thousand.
Only a fraction of the defeated Luoyang troops escaped the battlefield. Most of the officers and men who had joined the fight were killed or captured, delivering a devastating blow to Dong Zhuo's forces.
"I am sorry. I have no excuse... Had we been more capable, the Crown Prince would never have had to shoulder such danger."
"Everyone gave their best. You do not need to reproach yourself."
"Yes... Next time, I will serve and support you with all my strength, so that the Crown Prince will not have to carry the burden alone."
"I will look forward to the courageous fighting of you and your sworn sisters."
Liu Bei's army and Sun Jian's army.
The units that had formed the two wings were highly capable and outstanding.
Their opponent had been the Han Dynasty's strongest elite army corps.
The two sides had been of similar scale, but a drastic gap in combat power and training had existed.
The very fact that they had silently endured such a fierce, deadly struggle was a fine achievement. Had he joined the battle commanding some other force of the Anti-Dong Zhuo Coalition, avoiding a crushing defeat would have been difficult.
"I... that is. May I ask one thing?"
"Yes."
Just as she was about to conclude her business and leave the command tent,
Liu Bei paused mid-step and turned her head.
Did she mean to ask a favor of him?
He detected a deeply meaningful emotion in Liu Bei's eyes, which shone like rubies.
"When the coalition army's campaign succeeds, does the Crown Prince intend to return to the south?"
"..."
"Ah! I would never dare—a mere cadet imperial clan member who once wove mats—to prattle on presumptuously! I am merely curious... how Your Highness intends to restore order to the chaotic political landscape after executing the arch-traitor of all ages."
"I have no intention of twisting your question into an offense. You do not need to be so flustered."
Flap-flap-.
Her long ears moved up and down with furious energy.
A truly vigorous motion.
At this rate, she might actually manage to levitate.
He burst into loud laughter at the sight of Liu Bei waving her hands in denial while her ears flapped wildly on both sides. At this, Liu Bei's snow-white face reddened, and she became completely flustered.
Her figure was voluptuous and bewitching, yet her face was as cute and innocent as a maiden's. He could wholly understand the hearts of the volunteer soldiers who would throw away their lives like dust for Liu Bei's sake.
"I intend to enthrone my father as the new Emperor of Han."
"Wha, what...?!"
Liu Bei's eyes flew wide open, and her full lips trembled.
She had guessed some of it.
To be honest, anyone who was not a complete fool would have guessed it instinctively.
The reason she had recoiled in shock right in front of him was Liu Seong-hwi's act of candidly revealing that he was plotting to defy Heaven. Joy surged within her at the sight of Liu Seong-hwi, who seemed to genuinely trust her—a destitute cadet imperial clan member from the frontier—even as a sense of unease crept in.
"The new emperor, a mere seven years old, is nothing but a puppet installed by Dong Zhuo. To be honest, I do not want the current Han Imperial House—which consorted with eunuchs and engaged in the damnable sale of offices and all-pervading corruption—to prolong its line as if nothing had ever happened."
"Ah..."
"Was Emperor Guangwu, who restored the Han, not also a lowly cadet imperial clan member far removed from the main line, yet he pacified the chaos of the Central Plains and became a new emperor, did he not?"
"...Yes, I know the history."
There is no reason to be loyal to a feckless imperial house.
The Han Imperial House, which produced Emperor Huan and Emperor Ling—names synonymous with witless sovereigns—deserves to face judgment.
Even a cadet imperial clan member of the humblest origin has the right to seize Heaven itself.
Emperor Guangwu, Liu Xiu, had also been nothing more than a destitute cadet imperial clan member who wore shabby clothes and worked the fields, yet in the end, he succeeded in defying Heaven and founded a new dynasty.
"The process of driving out the existing dynasty and establishing a new one will certainly be a brutally thorny path. That is why I will not make the shameless request of asking you, Sister, to join the great cause."
"Then... why did Your Highness reveal your intention to rebel?"
"I have no ulterior motive. I stake my father's good name on it."
"..."
It is late at night. You should return now.
With a faint smile, Liu Seong-hwi spoke to Liu Bei, whose consternation was plain to see.
He had no intention of gaining her cooperation.
Nor did he intend to ask her to understand him or offer encouragement.
Yes.
It had been nothing more than a simple whim, an eccentric act.
* * *
The woman with the flowing white hair stepped out of the command tent.
At once, the black-haired beauty who had been waiting outside approached her.
"Elder Sister, what did you talk about? You were in there longer than I expected."
"Just... This and that."
Guan Yu.
A loyal sworn sister.
She was blunt and coldly rational, but harbored a warmer nature than anyone for those around her.
Liu Bei smiled faintly to reassure Guan Yu, who was looking at her with concern. Then, as if chased by something, she hurried her steps toward her own tent.
"Sorry... I'm so tired I want to rest. Would you mind leaving me alone?"
"Of course. I was tactless as usual, lacking in consideration. Rest well, Elder Sister."
Her sworn sister withdrew, and she was left alone.
At that, the white-haired beauty's face spread into a broad smile.
A face she had never shown anyone,
her true face, hidden behind layers of benevolence, righteousness, and human obligations.
"Aaaah...! Aaaaaah...!!"
Haa-! Haa-!
Her mouth gaped open as she let out ragged breaths.
Thick, sticky saliva dripped from her full lips, drawing a thin thread. Soon, the sweet saliva dripped down onto the beauty's lush breasts.
"Yes, that's right...! The current imperial house deserves to be destroyed! The vermin who ruined the nation, who in an instant cast a four-hundred-year dynasty into the abyss of chaos! Emperor? Son of Heaven? They're maggots who wouldn't suffer enough even if they were thrown into a sea of fire to burn in agony for a billion eons!!"
The foolish, witless sovereigns who, though born as the descendants of Heaven and inheriting absolute power from birth, let themselves be seduced by the whispers of eunuchs and wrecked the country.
I,
I, who am nothing more than a destitute cadet imperial clan member, had to suffer in poverty.
How can you bastards, born as direct-line imperial clan members of the rich and prosperous Han Imperial House, having inherited power as if it were your due, be so witless and stupid?
You had the wealth and power that I do not.
You inherited the noble bloodline and status that I could never enjoy.
If heavenly fortune permitted you to be born as direct-line imperial clan members of the Han Imperial House, then you should have fulfilled your duties and responsibilities. That is why Heaven granted you the chance to be born into the direct line.
"Ever since I was small, I had to starve while selling straw sandals and mats! Working under cold, driving rain, stroking my empty stomach every night before falling asleep, as a matter of course...! I lived my life being pointed at as lower than a base butcher, a cadet imperial clan member!! You damned direct-line imperial clan members, blessed by Heaven's choice, got to enjoy wealth and glory from the moment you were born, so why on earth——!!!"
The era of peace collapsed and an age of chaos arrived.
Prosperity and plenty vanished, while starving bandit hordes began to spring up in all quarters.
It was the fault of the successive incompetent emperors.
Because of them, her circumstances had grown even more desperate, until even her life was threatened.
The goods she had meant to sell at the market were stolen.
Even the meager fortune left behind by her father, who had died early, was plundered.
She had even nearly lost her life to thugs who had turned into bandits.
"Ahaha, ahahaha...!"
-To be honest, I do not want the current Han Imperial House—which consorted with eunuchs and engaged in the damnable sale of offices and all-pervading corruption—to prolong its line as if nothing had ever happened.
-Was Emperor Guangwu, who restored the Han, not also a lowly cadet imperial clan member far removed from the main line, yet he pacified the chaos of the Central Plains and became a new emperor, did he not?
She recalled the words spoken by the Crown Prince of a princely state.
Calling to mind that voice, thick with powerful resolve, Liu Bei drew a vivid blush across her face and clutched both cheeks with her hands.
"To think there was a cadet imperial clan member who thinks exactly as I do, who is plotting the usurpation of Heaven that I had believed was nothing more than a delusion...!"
He would put an end to the existing dynasty and open a new one.
A cadet imperial clan member would drag the direct-line imperial clan down from the throne and ascend to the pinnacle of power.
It was a magnificent and solemn resolve.
And indeed, a reckless and avaricious intent to rebel.
For Liu Bei, who had lived her life as an earnest leader of a righteous army while desperately suppressing her urge to murder and tear apart the Han Imperial House, Liu Seong-hwi—who was planning usurpation—was an immoral ideal.
"Please tear down every last one of those incompetent direct-line imperial clan members from power, and become the Emperor of Han yourself, you who have chosen the thorny path of defying Heaven and usurpation... The new Heaven should be yours—none is more worthy!"
She recalled Liu Seong-hwi's eyes, which had resolved on usurpation.
She recalled Liu Seong-hwi's voice, which had confessed to plotting to defy Heaven.
Her entire body flushed with heat.
The mere act of recalling him made her hips tremble and twitch.
A hot flood of pleasure and excitement overflowed from her lower abdomen. The white-haired beauty crossed her long, slender legs and felt the space between them beginning to grow wet.
Squelch-. Squelch-.
Her undergarments soaked through.
When she stroked her lower abdomen with one hand, a flash of such extreme pleasure struck her that it felt like it had slammed into her very spine.
"I, this Liu Bei, for the sake of your usurpation... will do anything."
