The Rebellion of the Ten Eunuchs (7)
It was noon on the sixth day of the sixth month in the sixth year of Zhongping (189 AD). In the imperial palace of Luoyang, Ha Jin sat astride his horse, gazing at the palace gates with a face carved from stone. The midday sun blazed across his armor with blinding brilliance, yet a deep shadow seemed to cling to his features.
He replayed the recent memory in his mind. When word arrived that a decree of reinstatement had been issued, he had clenched his fists and stood in silence for a long time. The decision handed down by the Empress Dowager mocked his past weakness like a deliberate insult. The quiet rage that had accumulated inside him now surged like molten iron, impossible to contain any longer.
He issued his orders with icy calm.
“Have the main force stand by outside the palace’s southern gate. No more than ten men will enter the palace with me.”
“Yes, Grand General!”
Ha Jin dismounted, sword belted at his waist, and strode forward with the chosen guards. His steps were those of a man marching onto a battlefield, not entering the imperial court. When they reached the main gate, a single eunuch was already waiting.
“Grand General. Her Majesty the Empress Dowager awaits you in the inner chamber.”
Ha Jin gave a silent nod. As the eunuch turned, he followed. Ten paces behind, his guards advanced with heavy, measured tread. His eyes never stopped scanning the surroundings.
“The palace… is far too quiet,” he muttered under his breath. A primal instinct sent a chill of warning crawling across his skin. “I told Benchu to pull back his troops, but I never expected it to be this silent.”
When they arrived before the Empress Dowager’s residence, Ha Jin stepped inside at the eunuch’s guidance. His guards followed after a quick glance from him. The moment they crossed the threshold—
BANG!
A heavy, dull crash echoed as the doors of the chamber slammed shut with brutal force. The sound of bolts sliding into place reverberated in every direction.
“What is the meaning of this?!” Ha Jin spun around. Outside, soldiers were already barricading the doors with iron chains.
“Grand General!”
His guards reached for their weapons, but the sound of deliberate footsteps echoed from the depths of the chamber. From beneath the gloomy shadows, a man’s face slowly emerged.
“Jang Yang…!” Ha Jin spat the name through gritted teeth.
Jang Yang approached with that familiar oily smile, moving with deliberate slowness. Behind him, familiar faces appeared one by one from the darkness—Jo Chung, Gwak Seung, Dan Gyu, and the rest. Every one of them had straightened their robes, dressed with the neat propriety of court officials attending the Emperor.
Ha Jin’s gaze flicked left and right. Beyond the pillars, past the walls, faint footsteps and silhouettes multiplied in the gloom.
It’s an ambush.
Cold sweat trickled down Ha Jin’s back, but his outward bearing remained proud and unyielding.
“Jang Yang! What exactly are you scheming?!”
He took one bold step forward, refusing to be cowed. Jang Yang lowered his head in a show of deference, yet his lips curled with veiled mockery. In his hands he unfurled a thick scroll.
The traitor Ha Jin, under the pretext of safeguarding His Majesty the Emperor, has raised a private army, suppressed officials of the inner court, arbitrarily dismissed loyal subjects, seized control of the government, and thrown the realm into chaos.
Therefore, the Empress Dowager and His Majesty the Emperor, acting in accordance with Heaven’s will, command that the traitor Ha Jin be executed at once. Only by cleansing this sin may the world be set right once more.
Ha Jin’s eyes narrowed to slits. A decree…? In the imperial court of Han, an edict from the Emperor carried the weight of a death sentence. Countless precedents flashed through his mind. Previous emperors, wary of powerful relatives by marriage, had used eunuchs to issue such decrees and eliminate them. So it has come to this again… the same old trap.
Jang Yang stepped forward with absolute confidence and began to read the edict aloud in a soft, almost reverent tone.
Ha Jin snorted. “You dare label the Grand General of the realm a traitor?!”
Jang Yang ignored the outburst and continued in that same smooth, oily voice.
Before the final words had even faded, Ha Jin drew the sword at his waist.
“So you’ve lured me into a trap.” His voice was low, yet it trembled with a lifetime of fury and resentment. “I will show you that this blade has not yet rusted!”
He raised his sword high and roared, “Hear me! Slay every last one of these rebels!”
But before the echo of his command could die, Jang Yang lightly clapped his hands. At the signal, countless soldiers poured from the shadows of the chamber. Their silver armor and gleaming spearheads filled the hall. There were more than a hundred, and every movement spoke of disciplined elite troops.
Ha Jin’s eyes widened. “...Ah.”
That single syllable carried the crushing weight of reality collapsing around him. These were not soldiers from the Grand General’s own forces. Their weapons and formation marked them unmistakably as the Emperor’s elite Golden Army.
He scanned his surroundings desperately. The ten guards he had brought were already frozen with terror, retreating step by step. Several dropped their weapons the moment spearheads were leveled at them. Their fear had outrun even his rage.
“I am the Grand General of the realm,” Ha Jin declared, stepping forward slowly. “How dare the Golden Army point blades at my throat?”
Jang Yang smiled serenely, like a playwright watching the final act unfold exactly as scripted. “Her Majesty the Empress Dowager and His Majesty the Emperor have already declared you a traitor, Grand General. How can you still claim to hold that title?”
Ha Jin’s sword rose. The motion was not swift, but it was resolute. “Since you have drawn your blades, I have no choice but to meet you with mine.”
With those words he lifted his sword high. His steps were heavy, his cloak billowing behind him. The few guards still at his side finally understood the situation and quietly drew their own weapons. A razor-sharp tension filled the Empress Dowager’s chamber.
Ha Jin took one step forward.
Jang Yang raised his hand and gave the signal. The Golden Army’s spears moved as one. With the thunder of countless footsteps, the soldiers controlled by the Ten Eunuchs charged toward Ha Jin and his guards.
Ha Jin swung his blade with ferocious power. One soldier’s head flew from his shoulders in a spray of crimson. A second and third followed instantly. “Uwaaaaah!”
His roar shook the pillars of the chamber. The floor quickly turned scarlet. Yet it was hopeless. Though he had claimed several lives in his fury, the number of men still fighting at his side could now be counted on one hand.
Jang Yang watched from a safe distance, murmuring softly, “Heh heh. It seems the Grand General has not neglected his martial training.”
His voice dripped with nothing but mockery. Like a player placing the final stone on a giant baduk board, Jang Yang snapped his fingers and issued the command.
“Tighten the encirclement.”
The Golden Army advanced with mechanical precision. Their spearpoints drew a shrinking half-circle, slowly strangling the breath from Ha Jin and his remaining men. The clang of metal, the scrape of boots, and the approaching silence themselves became instruments of terror.
Ha Jin closed his mouth. He simply gripped his sword and pressed his back against the last of his soldiers inside the tightening ring.
“We fight to the end.”
His voice was as dry and low as a dying wind. The guards nodded. Some were bleeding, others trembled before the spearheads, but none fled.
“Grand General, we will stay with you until the last.” Though the soldier’s voice shook, his eyes burned with determination.
Ha Jin tightened his grip. The blood-slick hilt had become one with his sweat. Seeing this, Jang Yang’s expression changed. The smile vanished, replaced by a twisted scowl. From behind him, Jo Chung, Gwak Seung, and Dan Gyu slowly approached.
Gwak Seung suddenly shouted, his voice frantic with grievance and madness. “Ha Jin! How could you betray us?! You rose to office because of us! We made you Grand General! How can you turn your blade against us now?!”
Jo Chung gnashed his teeth. “We lived for His Majesty! We offered our lives for His Majesty! Yet you repay that kindness by raising troops to slaughter us! Are you truly a loyal subject after this?!”
Ha Jin slowly lifted his head. “Yes… I truly tried not to forget that debt.” For the first time, his voice trembled. “But you did not protect His Majesty. You imprisoned him and earned the hatred of the entire realm.”
The Ten Eunuchs had no answer. Jang Yang’s hands shook. Gwak Seung’s entire body quivered. In contrast, Ha Jin’s shadow stretched long and dark across the blood-soaked floor.
“Even in death, the Grand General of the realm will never kneel before the likes of you.”
His words cut like a winter blade, sharp and final. Jang Yang broke the silence with his last command.
“Charge.”
One word. It rang colder than any death sentence. At Jang Yang’s order the Golden Army surged forward like a storm of steel. Countless spearpoints flashed. The thunder of boots swallowed everything.
Ha Jin raised his sword. He did not shout. He simply prepared, in silence, for the final battle he could still fight. The tip of his blade was already stained black with blood. His palms had split open from the constant friction. Yet he refused to lower his weapon.
“For the Grand General!”
A few guards remained at his side, lifting their swords. Sensing their approaching fate, they simply guarded his flanks and hurled themselves at the enemy. In an instant the chamber filled with the chaotic symphony of clashing steel, screams, and desperate howls.
Ha Jin cut down three soldiers who rushed him, then slashed the eyes of another who tried to stab his flank. But the tide never slowed. A deep wound opened on his knee. Strength fled from his left arm.
“Uwaaaaaah!!”
His roar thundered like a storm. Even as his remaining soldiers fell one by one, he continued swinging his sword until the end. Then—
Bleeding and staggering, Ha Jin found Jang Yang standing quietly before him. A thin dagger gleamed in the eunuch’s hand. Jo Chung, Gwak Seung, Dan Gyu, and the rest of the Ten Eunuchs flanked him. Every pair of eyes burned with fury, resentment, and bitter rage.
“Ha Jin!” Gwak Seung shrieked. “Why did you betray us?! We trusted you! We raised you!”
Ha Jin looked at them. He simply shook his head without a word. Jang Yang moved.
With an expressionless face, he drove the dagger into Ha Jin’s chest. The blade sank deep, parting flesh.
“Kh…!”
A short groan escaped Ha Jin’s lips. He refused to fall to his knees. Then Gwak Seung, Jo Chung, Dan Gyu, and the others rushed in. More than ten daggers plunged into his body in rapid succession. Blood gushed from his chest, spraying in every direction. Still he remained standing, refusing to kneel until the very last moment.
I only wanted… to remain a loyal subject of Han…
The thought drifted through his fading mind. His vision blurred. A heavy silence rang in his ears. Fragments of the past flashed before him—the day he received his office, his younger sister smiling as she took his hand, the young Liu Bian clutching his armor and laughing, “So you’ve become Grand General?” And now, this final image of himself collapsing in a pool of blood inside the Empress Dowager’s chamber.
“How… futile…”
Still refusing to release his sword, Ha Jin looked up at the ceiling one last time. A faint glimpse of blue sky entered his dimming eyes. He swallowed his final regret.
If only I had acted sooner…
With that thought, his eyes lost their light. He collapsed heavily onto the blood-drenched floor. Inside the Empress Dowager’s chamber, only the thick metallic stench of blood and a crushing silence remained.