Free Web NovelChapter 675: 675 The Mantis Stalks the Cicada, Unaware of the Oriole Behind
When Yuan Shao’s wife was taken away by Lu Ming, none of the Yuan clan members stood up; those who did were arrested and imprisoned.
They weren’t killed because they didn’t want to escalate the conflict. Even Yuan Wei remained silent.
Even though the Yuan clan had followers and former officials all over the land, and could rally other warlords to attack Lu Ming, they had no soldiers in Luoyang. Even their private armies combined couldn’t defeat him, so they pretended to be deaf and unaware.
After finishing his business, Lu Ming emerged from his room and strolled leisurely into the living room.
A sallow-faced man sat inside, his expression filled with anger, seemingly struggling to suppress his rage.
"So it’s Brother Mengde. Bring tea."
Lu Ming smiled and stepped forward, instructing a servant to bring tea.
"Brother Mengde, don’t glare at me. It’s bad enough that your son Cao Zhang slandered me, but he even implicated the Empress Dowager. You should be thanking your lucky stars that your entire family wasn’t executed."
It turned out that Lu Ming had captured Cao Cao’s family members, but not his servants.
Therefore, after his arduous journey back from Chenliu, Cao Cao, upon hearing the news, hurriedly came to visit Lu Ming, hoping to negotiate a settlement.
Cao Cao, suppressing his anger, tried his best to appear calm: "Anmin, you’ve also arrested Yuan Shao’s family, and many officials’ families as well. You’re making enemies everywhere; this is unwise!"
"Every wrong has its perpetrator, every debt its debtor. Whoever opposes me, I’ll deal with them. I don’t care who’s behind them, who’s standing with them. From the moment they decided to oppose me, we were enemies."
Lu Ming leisurely sipped his wine, looking at Cao Cao: "Considering our past as fellow officers of the Western Garden, I can show leniency and release your son Cao Zhi for now. Afterwards, each of you will receive two thousand taels of gold, which can be exchanged for grain, silk, or other supplies, but the exchange rate will be 80%. Zhou Cang, go and bring Cao Zhi up."
"Yes, my lord."
Zhou Cang accepted the order and went out. A short while later, he returned with a child—Cao Cao’s son, Cao Zhi.
Cao Cao glanced at his son; he actually preferred to take his eldest son, Cao Pi, with him. "Anmin, two thousand taels of gold is no small sum. Aren’t you being a bit too greedy?" ƒree𝑤ebnσvel.com
"I’ve finished speaking. What you need to do is take over. This isn’t for me, it’s for the Empress Dowager."
Lu Ming slowly picked up his teacup, a cold smile playing on his lips.
"You!"
Even a man of great stature like Cao Cao couldn’t help but erupt in fury.
He was currently penniless and simply didn’t have that much money. His sons, daughters, wives, and concubines would demand thirty to forty thousand taels of gold, and he couldn’t even come up with two thousand.
Wasn’t this putting him in a difficult position?!
"Alright, I won’t keep you for dinner. When you’ve raised enough money, come back to me to redeem them. But I’m telling you, hurry up, otherwise, they’ll come after you for all the food they’ve eaten!"
Lu Ming snorted, showing no respect for Cao Cao.
He wasn’t worried about Cao Cao’s ability to expand his power.
Even if Cao Cao was powerful enough to cut off his supplies, he still wouldn’t survive. Grain was the crucial element.
Cao Cao desperately suppressed his anger; he couldn’t imagine what his wives and concubines would suffer.
But circumstances forced him to act against Lu Ming. He was no match for Lu Ming, and he had no troops. He could only grit his teeth and swallow his anger: "Let’s go."
Besides Cao Cao, Yuan Shao’s family was also ransacked by Lu Ming. This included Dong Cheng, the nephew of Empress Dowager Dong, and Fu Wan, a high-ranking official. Lu Ming looted their families, taking away valuables, paintings, and books.
They were already on their way to Hangu Pass, with no intention of returning them.
Dong Cheng, Empress Dowager Dong’s nephew, had been caught up in the rumors, giving Lu Ming the opportunity to break down the door and take his wife and daughter.
His daughter, the future Consort Dong, who would marry Liu Xie, was still unmarried and had been taken away.
And Fu Wan was of paramount importance...
The Imperial Clan Court had already planned to recruit Fu Wan’s niece, Fu Shou, as the Crown Princess.
After Liu Xie ascended the throne, the Crown Princess would become the Empress.
However, due to a rumor scandal involving Fu Wan’s son, who instigated the rumors, it was clearly related to the Yuan family.
They hadn’t expected retribution to come so quickly. Lu Ming completely disregarded future recruitment efforts and his reputation, imprisoning them.
Fu Wan was a Zhongsan Dafu (a high-ranking official), and his wife was Liu Hua, the eldest daughter of Emperor Huan of Han, also a princess. freewebnovel.cσ๓
Although his status had declined somewhat after Emperor Huan’s death, he was still a member of the imperial family, and his family originated from the Langya Fu clan, making his position quite secure.
Now, Lu Ming had turned his back on them, even arresting Liu Hua.
This was a severe humiliation for Fu Wan, leaving the future father-in-law of the Emperor so angry that he couldn’t get up for several days.
Just as the situation was turbulent and the Yuan family was preparing to join forces with others to remonstrate to the death, a shocking piece of news arrived.
General He Jin had been assassinated!
Liu Xie was still young. Both the eunuchs and the general coveted power. Faced with supreme authority, even familial ties could yield, let alone those with long-standing grudges!
The Ten Attendants forged an imperial edict from Crown Prince Liu Xie, summoning General He Jin to the palace to discuss important matters.
As He Jin entered the palace, the gates were immediately slammed shut, and a large number of eunuchs surrounded him.
Up to this point, He Jin was still somewhat fearless.
But when he saw the gleaming swords in the hands of Zhang Rang and the others, he couldn’t help but feel uneasy. He shouted, "I am the Grand General, in control of all the military power in the land! What can you dog eunuchs do to me!"
Zhang Rang sneered, "You pig-slaughterer, what abilities do you have? If we hadn’t thought highly of you, how could you and your siblings have risen to such heights? Now you’ve become ungrateful, trying to wipe us out and climb the social ladder for yourself. Do you think you can do it?"
"Don’t waste your breath on him!"
The eunuchs, unable to contain themselves any longer, swung their swords and chopped He Jin into mincemeat!
When He Jin’s head was thrown out of the palace, Niu Fu and Guo Si, who had been waiting patiently, followed Dong Zhuo’s orders, stormed the palace gates, and killed everyone they encountered, completely eliminating the eunuchs.
