Free Web NovelChapter 2059: Chapter 1832: Blood Spilled
"It’s over, it’s over, there’s no way to explain to the family head now." In a certain courtyard in Chang’an, a middle-aged man’s lips curled bitterly; this time, he truly had no way to justify things.
As the sword light shattered over Weiyang Palace, chaos engulfed Chang’an completely. Led by Dong Cheng, Wang Zifu, and others, the Royalist faction charged out of their homes toward the palace, but by now the fire had grown too large to extinguish.
As for the Emperor, he couldn’t be found. Three hundred steps outside the main hall of Weiyang Palace, a sword was embedded in the paving stone, bearing a noticeable mark. Even without anyone wielding it, the sword exuded such a sharp aura that ordinary people dared not approach.
This sword was a spiritual weapon akin to Guan Yu’s Green Dragon Crescent Blade and Lyu Bu’s Sky Piercer Halberd. It was unclear if the wielder had died, their strong obsession forming a spirit, or if it already possessed a spirit.
This solitary sword, with its sheer sharpness, deterred any private soldiers from approaching. Being akin to half a manifestation of Inner Qi.
"Your Majesty!" Dong Cheng, seeing the blaze was unstoppable, knelt on the stone-paved road before the main hall and cried aloud. Everyone behind him seemed to share Dong Cheng’s grief, kneeling like him.
Dong Cheng wept, and after three bows and nine knocks, he rose, shedding all traces of a civil servant’s timidity, leaving only his resolve to die.
"Let’s go, we kill!" Dong Cheng said coldly to everyone around him.
Wang Zifu and the others exchanged puzzled glances. Shouldn’t we be desperately trying to put out the fire now? Even if it’s futile, we should continue. Why suddenly turn to killing?
"Who are we going to kill?" Huang Kui asked.
"The Imperial Clan, the Han Officials, we’ll kill them one family at a time until we’re all dead!" Dong Cheng said coldly, "They’re all enemies."
Wang Zifu and others were shocked but didn’t stop Dong Cheng. A group of Liu Xie’s loyalists led their private soldiers, massacring family after family. The Son of Heaven was dead, they had no intention of living, and all suspected parties—including Han Imperial Kinsmen and Han Officials—deserved to be buried.
For them, there was no need to consider evidence. Just kill. The Emperor had suffered, what else needed verification?
As for others’ thoughts, failing to heed Imperial orders is disloyal. Not aiding when the Emperor suffers is unjust. There’s no error in killing those disloyal and unjust. Moreover, Dong Cheng’s heart was already set on death, merely dragging others down with him.
Driven by such a mindset, Dong Cheng brazenly knocked on the gates of those with motives and those disloyal and unjust.
Some refused to open the door; Dong Cheng broke in, slaughtering families. Others saw Dong Cheng at the door and shut it tight—only to be killed as Dong Cheng broke in, wiping out their entire households.
In the face of thousands of private soldiers gathering, although their combat power was far less than regular Han Army soldiers, they couldn’t be resisted by unprepared officials unless, like Zhong Yao and Yang Biao, they had early preparations with Protector and contraband from the government treasury.
"Liu Yu?" Dong Cheng sneered at Liu Yu’s residence, "Knock."
Through this journey, Dong Cheng’s muddled mind assembled a connection—the Imperials of the Han Dynasty, the core of recent thought was constitutional governance. The influence on the Emperor was one thing, but it severely affected the Imperial Clan.
If this tactic worked, the Imperial Clan and the Son of Heaven should be bound together. But after the Emperor’s death, Dong Cheng found clarity—previously obscured—realizing the Emperor and Imperial Clan were not tied together after all.
Han Son of Heaven Liu Xie could be forced into constitutional governance, causing collective restraint on the Imperial Clan. However, if the Emperor was replaced, the Clan’s interests wouldn’t be harmed. So why not change the Emperor?
For the Eastern Han emperorship, to the Imperial Clan, the throne rotates; it’s customary. Liu Xie’s demise ended Liu Hong’s lineage, allowing selection from other branches, with Liu Bei as a prime candidate.
[If all Liu Clan members are at the Minister of Ceremonies’ place, then kill them all!] Dong Cheng took a deep breath and knocked on Liu Yu’s residence door. Liu Yu’s gatekeeper opened the gates, and Dong Cheng led a group in, yet they didn’t act immediately, until...
"You parasites indeed!" Dong Cheng, upon seeing the Han Imperial Kinsmen in Liu Yu’s main hall, grew furious. Immediately, a rain of arrows fell, and a group flooded the main hall.
Xianyu Fu pulled Liu Yu aside, an arrow brushing past Liu Yu’s nose, while several Liu Clan members were shot down, succumbing to cries of misery.
"Qi and Zhou, protect the Lord, I’ll hold the rear." Weidun shouted, shielding Liu Yu, directing others to guard Liu Yu.
Yan and Zhao reputed for righteous men, Liu Yu indeed served well in Youzhou, thus upon knowing Liu Yu lived, many Youzhou warriors and disciples volunteered their allegiance. Following Weidun’s shout, five or six Qi Refining to Gang warriors charged ahead, fiercely protecting Liu Yu, while more righteous men surged from the rear hall.
A violent clash erupted in the main hall. But Liu Yu’s side was fewer, unprepared—and under Dong Cheng’s heavy crossbow suppression, Qi and Zhou could only protect Liu Yu and Liu Heo’s escape. The rest of the Liu Clan present perished.
Youzhou warriors shielded Liu Yu fleeing, those whom Dong Cheng had attacked but narrowly escaped now gathered their forces, either from their own homes or friends, to block Dong Cheng. Dong Cheng, on this occasion, truly angered many.
Both sides engaged fiercely on Chang’an’s streets. Dong Cheng, with superior equipment and decent battle experience, triumphed. Yet surveying his surroundings, merely a dozen followers remained. Among Han Officials and Liu Imperial Kinsmen, after this conflict, only one in ten survived.
Wang Zifu, Huang Kui, and others had fallen along this killing path, and Dong Cheng was near his end. Chang’an’s streets reeked of blood.
"Leave, you don’t need to worry about me anymore. You’ve been loyal for a lifetime; take the Dong Family wealth and vanish from Chang’an anonymously." Dong Cheng told the dozen behind him, knowing without looking that the Dong Family and others were probably slaughtered. ƒreewebηoveℓ.com
The dozen guards bowed and promptly departed with their weapons, aware that soon even retreat wouldn’t be possible.
Once the group left, Dong Cheng collapsed.
"Unexpectedly, in my old age, I die so ignobly." Dong Cheng’s consciousness faded. Yet at that moment, the quiet road echoed with the sound of carriage wheels. Dong Cheng mustered all his strength to open his eyes.
"You..." Dong Cheng, though his vision was blurred and unclear, instinctively recognized the other, struggling to speak but failing to complete his words, coughing up blood.
"Hate..." Dong Cheng’s faint voice emerged, then silence. As the carriage slowly passed, Dong Cheng’s eyes lit with a shimmering glow. Seemingly witnessing something, or perhaps an illusion of the Han Dynasty’s prosperity, a slow smile crept across his lips.
A carriage appearing from darkness returned into it, leaving only the sound of wheels on stone, fading with the wind. Han Son of Heaven Liu Xie’s era thus ended.
As the cost of the previous era’s end, nearly all veteran Han Officials of considerable rank were slaughtered by Dong Cheng. Among the Liu Clan, few notable, competent figures remained to consult on or propose changes in the Emperor.
Triumphant Northern Frontier troops, holding numerous Chen Qi petitions of Yizhou and Sichuan and Shu’s ruler Liu Zhang, trembled upon hearing the news the next day.
