Long live the Emperor! Ten thousand years! Ten thousand of ten thousand years!
Long live the Emperor! Ten thousand years! Ten thousand of ten thousand years!
"Tch. I didn't think Yuan Shao would go that far..."
Zhang Rang frowned, irritation written across his face.
Beside her, Dong Zhuo let out a small sigh and apologized in a regretful tone.
"I am sorry. Who could have imagined such a thing... I saw it as a chance to build goodwill with that Unmatched Under Heaven talent and deliberately gave them leave, but it seems the timing was ill-chosen."
"Haah... No, truth be told, I never foresaw that happening either. I had already been watching the movements of people like Yuan Shu and Lu Zhi. I simply didn't know Yuan Shao would pull a stunt like that."
At the banquet, Yuan Shao had mobilized her subordinate generals Yan Liang and Wen Chou and seized control of the room in one sweep.
Her provocation, with no proper army to speak of, was as sudden as it was reckless,
yet the act succeeded in thoroughly rousing the spirits of the ministers, who had been utterly dispirited.
Part of the reason this was possible was that the martial prowess of her generals Yan Liang and Wen Chou was far from ordinary, but the decisive factor was the strongest lineup of generals Ding Yuan possessed.
Lü Bu, Zhang Liao, Gao Shun—because they were not present at that moment... More precisely, they were nearby. But even as the commotion erupted, they were in no state to move.
As it happened, right then,
the three of them were deep in a drinking bout with Dong Zhuo's subordinate officers Hua Xiong, Li Jue, and Guo Si in a detached building adjacent to the banquet hall.
On the surface, it was a banquet, and they were not on direct security duty, so the situation itself was not particularly problematic.
Generals are people too; they are allowed to enjoy themselves when the time calls for it.
But because they had vacated their places, Yuan Shao's subordinates Yan Liang and Wen Chou were able to dominate the proceedings with a brief rampage and then, together with Yuan Shao, leisurely walk out of the banquet hall without the slightest interference.
If Lü Bu had at least been there, short of taking Yuan Shao's head, she could have beaten down Yan Liang and Wen Chou and turned the situation around...
In the end, with the mood completely ruined, they had no choice but to wrap up that day's banquet halfheartedly, and the matter of the deposition was also postponed for later discussion.
Yet Zhang Rang proved unexpectedly magnanimous and forgave the blunder.
"Young friends can get carried away when they drink. There's no need to dwell on it. Above all, thanks to that, we gained a fair amount as well."
"When you say we gained something?"
Despite the delay, Zhang Rang considered that, in the final analysis, this incident was not entirely a bad thing.
After that event, Yuan Shao had departed Luoyang with the forces under her command.
Since she had stirred up this much hostility without even an army to speak of, the choice was only natural.
With Yuan Shao's departure, a considerable number of the Pure Stream Faction members stationed within Luoyang also left the Imperial Capital together with her.
This, in the end, brought about a weakening of the Pure Stream Faction's power within Luoyang, and from that perspective, the strength of Zhang Rang, Ding Yuan, and the Turbid Stream Faction grew somewhat larger than before.
"Furthermore, the fact that this incident allowed us to distinguish friend from foe is also a good thing. Plenty of those who were half-heartedly involved and might have stabbed us in the back have disappeared as well."
"That... is certainly true. Then when do you plan to proceed with the deposition?"
"I intend to handle it next week, at the same hour. This time there should be no one to interfere, but just in case, we will double the guard."
"You should. A second mistake in a matter like this cannot be permitted."
The fact that Yuan Shu was still around was somewhat grating, but even he had kept quiet after Ding Yuan issued a warning the other day.
To Zhang Rang, who had thus decided to end everything at the upcoming council,
Dong Zhuo posed a cautious question.
"In that case, Zhang Rang... what do you plan to do with the deposed emperor?"
"I was thinking of confining him and his mother in a suitable place. Formally it's an abdication, so that would also look the part."
Since sending him away to a distant place was dangerous, Zhang Rang intended to imprison him in a Detached Palace or the like.
But.
"Kill him."
"Mm..."
Dong Zhuo was stating the simplest and surest method, in practical terms.
To this, however, Zhang Rang replied with a troubled voice.
"No matter what... that's a bit... if we do something like that, won't there be considerable backlash?"
"Even so, if you let him live, he will be a source of trouble again and again. If it truly weighs on you, I will handle it discreetly on my end."
"... Haah."
Even at Dong Zhuo's words, Zhang Rang could not bring himself to make a decision.
If the other party had been a mere political enemy, she would have made that choice without a moment's hesitation.
But Empress Dowager He aside, the emperor was still a naive child.
What was more, Zhang Rang himself had watched that child's birth and upbringing from right beside her until now.
Given that the late Emperor, privately, had called him "father,"
Zhang Rang could not help but feel just a tiny bit of human pity for the little one.
Being a eunuch, unable to bear children, was a circumstance that especially intensified such feelings.
In the end, she slowly shook her head and spoke.
"Leave him be. Surely we can manage to watch over a single child. If something happens later, perhaps, but killing an ignorant youngster who knows nothing of the world without any pretext is far too great a burden."
"... Understood. I will obey your command."
At Zhang Rang's words, Dong Zhuo bowed deeply.
Where no one could see, the corners of her eyes faintly furrowed.
*
Dong Zhuo returned to the private residence she had arranged in Luoyang.
Seeing the displeased expression on her lord's face,
Li Ru, Dong Zhuo's strategist, confirmed once again in a cautious voice what had just taken place.
"So, Zhang Rang intends to spare the emperor even after deposing him. Is that it?"
"It seems so. Having watched the boy since infancy, she apparently feels some affection for him."
"Hm... That is unexpected. I took her for a heartless, bloodless creature who knew only power and wealth."
As the head of the Ten Regular Attendants, Zhang Rang had been the perfect illustration of a person consumed by wealth and glory.
For such a person to force herself to show mercy in a situation where the answer was blindingly obvious—that a deposed monarch is merely a seed for rebellion—was, beyond simple surprise, something that threw their plans into disarray.
"It can't be helped; it looks like we'll have to handle this part on our own."
"I'll ask that of you. As you know, this is the single most crucial part of our plan."
With those words, Dong Zhuo and Li Ru calmly lifted their teacups.
The two felt a bit of irritation at the old fox's unexpected display, but...
As Li Ru drank her tea, she privately reflected that Dong Zhuo's conduct before her eyes was even more unexpected than Zhang Rang's.
'Who would have thought my lord would ever harbor a feeling like romantic affection...'
Dong Zhuo had lived her entire life solely by a greed for advancement and power, and Li Ru had been assisting that very Dong Zhuo all along.
The fact that such a lord had chosen love with a man over the power she could have grasped immediately was more than enough to leave Li Ru still astonished.
But... despite this change in her lord, Li Ru knew.
That a person's fundamentals do not easily change.
Even though her lord was at that moment fiddling with the golden hairpin gifted by the man who would become her husband,
Li Ru could sense that the emotion contained within it was not solely pure affection.
Dong Zhuo's smoldering eyes, or the way she unflinchingly advocated the purge of the emperor.
Above all, setting everything else aside, the very object of that affection was Yuan Shu, already informally designated the next heir of the Yuan Clan, one of the foremost great houses of the Han.
His bloodline alone made him a person of sufficient value,
and as a man who habitually looked after the common people, his reputation was also high.
Going further, judging by the military achievements shown through this very Yellow Turban Rebellion Suppression, his ability was also of a profoundly extraordinary level.
House, reputation, and even ability.
Li Ru, being sharp, could calculate without difficulty just how great an advantage it would bring to be bound to this man who possessed everything in abundance.
'Her feelings of affection are genuine, yet she uses even those as a lever for her aims. As expected of my lord...'
Thus, smiling wryly at her own foolishness for having briefly harbored concern over her lord's actions, Li Ru carefully set down her empty teacup.
Just then.
"By the way, what is that fellow doing now? That... the one called Cao Mengde."
"As before. Again today, she is said to have offered bribes to General Ding Yuan and used her own private funds to host a banquet for his subordinate officers."
During the brief, private council they had held just before entering Luoyang.
There, Yuan Shu, Yuan Shao, and Dong Zhuo had all decided to cooperate and proceed with this matter, but one person alone, Cao Cao, had declared she would move independently.
Cao Cao had said she would resolve this affair in her own way, and ever since had pursued an independent course.
Whether that might be betrayal, Dong Zhuo was still watching her warily.
"For now, Gonglu has vouched that she is someone we can trust... But the more I watch, the more suspicious she looks. What scheme on earth could make her do such things..."
"Judging by appearances, she seems to be trying to win General-in-Chief Ding Yuan's favor... but for what purpose, I cannot yet tell."
"Is there no chance she might betray us later?"
"Well... one cannot read a person's heart, so I cannot be certain, but I see the likelihood as low. If she intended betrayal, she would have done it before Yuan Shao caused that incident."
"Mm..."
Despite Li Ru's words, Dong Zhuo's expression remained far from comfortable.
Thinking that she had to tighten the reins of vigilance over a situation that was not proceeding smoothly in many respects, Dong Zhuo slowly set down her empty teacup.
Especially her vigilance toward that Cao Cao...
Just then.
"My lord! General Yuan has sent a letter!"
"Hm? From Gonglu?"
Dong Zhuo's face lit up at the sudden news.
But,
as she unfolded the letter, deep anguish began to settle on her face.
"What is the matter?"
"... Mm."
*
"It cannot be! You filthy traitors! How dare you depose the emperor!"
"What are you doing! Drag the Empress Dowager out at once!"
"This cannot be! You will be punished by heaven! All of you will be cursed by heaven!"
Empress Dowager He shrieked, shedding tears of blood,
but her meaningless struggle was restrained by the armed Imperial Guards.
Thus Empress Dowager He was driven out of the main hall together with the deposed emperor.
Immediately after, within the hall where a heavy silence hung,
Zhang Rang stood before the three-year-old child emperor, who sat on the Jade Throne cradled in Empress Dowager Dong's arms, and cried out in a dignified voice:
"In accordance with the will of Her Highness Empress Dowager Dong! From this hour forward, we shall serve Prince of Chenliu Liu Xie as the new emperor!"
"Her Majesty the Emperor, ten thousand years, ten thousand times ten thousand years!"
"Ten thousand years, ten thousand times ten thousand years!"
Together with the emperor, Empress Dowager Dong received the ministers' salutations, a satisfied smile on her face.
"Waaaaah! Waaaaah!"
Yet from the mouth of the young emperor, who was receiving the worship of all those present, burst a wail tinged with fear.
The fourteenth emperor of the Later Han.
In the Original Timeline, Emperor Xian Liu Xie would bear the cruel burden of bringing the four-hundred-year Han dynasty to an end.
Here, the little girl burst into tears as she ascended to the highest seat in the land.
For some, an object of ecstasy.
For some, an object of awe.
For some, an object of envy.
And for some... receiving gazes of pity.