Taiheiki

Chapter 284 First Announcement
"Within the palace?" Yuan Ji sneered. "Have you forgotten? His adopted son, Nie Sheng, is a Tiger-General, and the palace eunuchs and servants are all the Empress Dowager's men! Moreover, even within the palace, he has strongmen by his side at all times. How can you kill him?"

"Hahaha!" Yuan Shu laughed loudly, "Brother, you don't know this. Although that Tiger-General of the Central Army is Wei Cong's adopted son, the Three Gentlemen of the Palace are chosen from among the filial, incorruptible, loyal, and brave men selected from all the prefectures and counties. How could they willingly be at Wei Cong's beck and call? Perhaps one day next month, their heads will be thrown into the street and kicked around!" As he said this, he casually threw a wine bottle on the table to the ground and kicked it with his foot: "Just like this!"

Seeing this, the bystanders burst into laughter and imitated Yuan Shu by kicking the wine bottles on the ground, shouting, "That's right! One day, we'll be kicking Wei Cong's head around like this!"

Seeing the crowd's unbridled arrogance, Yuan Ji was as if possessed by evil spirits, and was speechless with shock. He was filled with fear at the thought of the terrible consequences if Wei Cong found out about everything that had happened tonight.

Those who conspired in Lugu that night included Yuan Shu, Bao Xin, Wu Jing, He Yong, Wu Qiong, Xu You, and others. They were all close friends of Yuan Shao during his lifetime, renowned scholars, as well as some students from the Imperial Academy and officials.

Wang Zhi was from Youfufeng in Guanzhong. His ancestors had served as Protector of the Qiang and Prefect of Jincheng. He himself was summoned by the court for his skill with spears and bows and arrows, and now served as a Tiger-Ben General (an official under the Tiger-Ben General, with a salary of 600 shi). His father had once received favors from the Yuan family of Runan, so he was invited to attend this gathering at Lugu.

The day after the gathering, Wang Zhi was invited to a mansion in Lugu. Yuan Shu pointed to a wooden box next to him and said, "This time, you will be in charge of recruiting men to deal with the traitor Wei Cong. After the matter is accomplished, you can choose any two thousand shi (a unit of grain) from any prefecture or county in the land. Here is a hundred taels of gold; take it for your expenses!" As he spoke, he opened the lid of the wooden box, revealing a dazzling array of gold ingots, a sight to behold.

Although Wang Zhi attended the gathering that night, he had assumed Yuan Shu's arrogance was merely a momentary outburst of nonsense, something he would forget once it was over. He was shocked to discover that Yuan Shu had taken it seriously and even asked him to recruit men to carry out his plan. His mind was thrown into turmoil. Fortunately, he was quite shrewd and remained outwardly calm, simply prostrating himself and saying, "Yes, sir!"

Seeing Wang Zhi's demeanor, Yuan Shu was even more delighted and laughed, "Don't worry about Wei Cong's large number of followers. This traitor's actions are extremely unpopular. Just behead him, and although his followers are numerous, how many will dare to step forward? At that time, tens of thousands of scholars in the capital and members of the Guandong faction will all rise up in support, and wiping out his followers will be as easy as turning one's hand! Just do your thing, I have other men to help you, and we will definitely be able to eliminate this traitor Wei!"

Wang Zhi took the wooden box back to his lodgings. Weighing the pros and cons in his mind, he felt that the chances of winning were extremely slim. His ancestors had also received favors from the Yuan family. Caught in a dilemma, he couldn't help but sigh. His wife heard this and asked him in bed that night, "Husband, you were sighing all day. It seems that something is troubling you."

"Yes!" Wang Zhi sighed, "There is indeed a difficult matter. If I choose the wrong one, not only will my life be in danger, but my entire clan may also be wiped out!"

"Ah!" The king's wife exclaimed in fright, "Extermination of three clans, could it be a rebellion?"

"Although it's not exactly treason, it's pretty much it!" Wang Zhi gave a bitter smile and recounted the matter Yuan Shu had entrusted to him: "Alas! Wei Cong is now the Grand General and Minister of the Imperial Secretariat, and he's also married to the Empress Dowager's sister. He's surrounded by guards wherever he goes. Killing him isn't so easy. If things go wrong, his entire family will be wiped out. But if I don't agree, I'm afraid Yuan Shu won't spare me either, or he'll be afraid I'll leak the news. If I had known this would happen, I wouldn't have gone to that gathering at Lugu."

"You said Yuan Shu gave you one hundred taels of gold, where is it?" Wang's wife asked.

"Gold? I was afraid someone would find it and cause trouble, so I hid it at the bottom of the woodpile in the yard!" Wang Zhi said.

"Wait a minute!" Wang's wife jumped out of bed, put on her coat, and went to the courtyard. A moment later, she returned with a wooden box. She opened it, and the gold ingots inside gleamed alluringly under the lamplight. Wang's wife greedily picked up one and examined it, then said to Wang Zhi, "In my opinion, this is an opportunity. Take this box of gold and go to Wei Cong right now to report him. I've heard that although Wei Cong is ruthless, he's very generous to his own people. He'll definitely reward you handsomely!"

"Tell them!" Wang Zhi was startled: "Do you know who was there in Lugu that day? Bao Xin, Wu Jing, He Yong, Wu Qiong, Xu You, these are all heroes who are famous throughout the land. As a former disciple and official of the Yuan family, if I betray my former master, no one in the world will let me go. In the end, I will still die. Not only that, but my reputation will also be ruined!"

"Then why don't you go and assassinate Wei Cong?" Wang's wife sneered. "You said it yourself. Wei Cong is always surrounded by guards wherever he goes. How could you possibly succeed? Even if you did succeed, you would be killed by Wei Cong's guards. So Yuan Shu is sending you to do something that will surely lead to your death. This hundred taels of gold is your money to save your life. The promise of two thousand shi of grain is just empty promises! And if you betray Wei Cong, then everyone who attended the gathering at Lugu Valley that day will die. No matter how many heroes there are in the world, once they're dead, they're just ghosts. Do you think you, a living person, are afraid of a ghost?"

“But, but there were hundreds of people at the party that day, so many people are going to die because of me! I can’t bear it!” Wang Zhi said with a bitter smile.

"If they don't die, it's your death. Can you bear it?" Wang's wife sneered. "This matter can't be delayed. You're not the only one who can report to Wei Cong. Only the first person to benefit from this will get the reward. If you're late, you might not even be able to save your life!"

Wang's wife's last words dealt Wang Zhi a decisive blow. He stood up, stamped his foot, and said, "That's right, blame Yuan Gonglu. How could he possibly succeed with such reckless behavior? I can't entrust my life to such a reckless person!" With that, he put on his coat, picked up the wooden box containing the gold, and left that very night.

————————————————————————

Late at night on December 17th, 169 AD, Wang Zhi hurriedly arrived outside the General's mansion and reported, "Wang Zhi, the Tiger-like General, has important business to discuss with the General!"

Huang Ping was on night duty. He looked Wang Zhi up and down and saw that he was tall, with a fair complexion and long beard, and a dignified appearance. He was holding a wooden box and looked nervous. Huang Ping became suspicious: "You are Tiger-General, and your superior is General Nie. Why didn't you report to him? Also, it is already late at night. Why didn't you come during the day?"

Wang Zhi gave a wry smile: "It is indeed a confidential matter and must be reported to the General in person. There are many eyes and ears during the day, and it may be discovered by others, causing trouble!"

"Alright!" Huang Ping looked at Wang Zhi, confirming that the other party didn't seem to be faking it: "I hope you really have something important to report, otherwise you'll be the one who suffers in the end if you disturb the General in the middle of the night!"

"Of course, I understand!" Wang Zhi replied. He followed Huang Ping into the General's mansion and waited in a side room. After about half a cup of tea's time, Wei Cong arrived. Wang Zhi knelt down and kowtowed twice: "General, two days ago, I was invited by Yuan Shu to a manor in Deer Valley in the northwest of the city for a gathering. During the gathering, Yuan Shu acted wildly, saying he wanted to kill you, General, and hang your head in the marketplace. The next day, he summoned me again, gave me one hundred taels of gold, and asked me to bribe my men to ambush and kill you when you entered the palace. I was terrified and rushed here overnight to confess! This is the one hundred taels of gold he gave me!" As he spoke, he held up the wooden box. Upon hearing this shocking news, Wei Cong's sleepiness vanished. He gestured for his men to open the wooden box, picked up a gold ingot, examined it, confirmed it was genuine gold, and threw it inside. He asked, "Since you knew about Yuan Shu's conspiracy yesterday, why did you only report it tonight?"

"This—" Wang Zhi was taken aback by Wei Cong's question. After hesitating for a moment, he replied, "My father and his family received favors from the Yuan family. On the first day, we thought it was just Yuan Shu having a drunken tantrum, since that's how he usually acts, so we didn't report it. It was only after he summoned us today that we realized he really wanted to harm you, so we reported it!"

"Your fathers received favors from the Yuan family?" Wei Cong looked coldly at Wang Zhi kneeling on the ground. "What favors?"

At this moment, Wang Zhi couldn't help but feel a pang of regret. He shouldn't have said so much, but there was no going back now. If he didn't make things clear, Wei Cong would definitely not let him off the hook: "When my father was a county official, he offended the prefect and was thrown into prison. Later, he was rescued by Yuan Cheng!"

"So you mean the Yuan family saved your father's life?" Wei Cong nodded. "That's why you didn't want to report them at first, which is only natural! I understand! Do you remember who came to the gathering that night?"

"I remember, I remember most of it!" Wang Zhi exhaled a long breath and quickly replied.

"Alright! Huang Ping, go get some paper and pen, and have him copy it down as soon as possible!"

"Yes, sir!" Huang Ping replied and hurried out. Wei Cong looked at Wang Zhi kneeling on the ground and said gently, "Get up! Don't worry, you can say that you saved my life this time. After this is over, I will definitely reward you handsomely!"

"Thank you, General!" Wang Zhi hurriedly bowed again, tears welling up in his eyes, unsure whether it was from joy or fear.

Wei Cong comforted Wang Zhi a few more times, then got up and left. The moment he stepped outside, the smile vanished, replaced by anger and terror. He knew, of course, that Yuan Shu's plan was one of the very few ways that could potentially harm him. After all, even if he entered the palace, he couldn't possibly have hundreds or thousands of guards with him; at most, he'd only have a dozen or twenty men. Once surrounded by officials or swordsmen, even a thousand troops outside the palace would be useless.

"Immediately issue an order to summon Deng Zhong, Nie Sheng, and Yuan Tian to see me!"

"Here!"

The first to arrive was Deng Zhong. Wei Cong summoned him to his study: "The situation is urgent! Yuan Shu summoned his entourage at Lugu in the west of the city the day before yesterday, intending to assassinate me. The Yuan family has held the position of one of the Three Dukes for four generations, with numerous protégés and former officials. Yuan Shu also has a reputation abroad, and many of his men are outlaws. I fear the capital is already full of rebels. Once you return, immediately urge the soldiers to secure the city gates and the armory, in preparation for any unforeseen events!"

"Yes, sir!" Deng Zhong was also startled: "General, the most important thing right now is the Empress Dowager and the Ministry of Personnel! As long as those two places are safe, there's nothing to worry about!"

“I know that!” Wei Cong nodded: “Asheng is in the palace, and Yuan Tian is in the Northern Army. As long as we are on guard, there is nothing to worry about! You take control of the city gates and armory. As for the matter of apprehending the thieves in Lugu, I will mobilize the troops outside the city!”

"Understood!" Deng Zhong replied and returned to the Sili Commandant's Office. Wei Cong wrote a letter, using his own seal, and summoned a trusted aide: "Take my imperial insignia and leave the city tonight. Order Wen Sheng to mobilize a thousand men and immediately head to Lugu Valley to wipe out the rebels!" After sending the messenger, Wei Cong ordered the mobilization of troops within the city. Overnight, more than two thousand armored and archer-wielding men gathered at the General's Mansion.

The next morning, just as dawn was breaking, Wei Cong, surrounded by hundreds of guards, entered the palace to pay his respects to the Empress Dowager.

"General, why are you in the palace so early? Is there something urgent?" Dou looked at Wei Cong in surprise. In her memory, although this man rose to power through military force, he always had a pleasing smile on his face and rarely displayed the sternness and murderous intent of a military general. But today, however, he was frowning, dressed in military uniform, as if he were about to kill someone.

“Indeed, it is an urgent matter!” Wei Cong said, “Last night, Wang Zhi, a Tiger-like physician, came to my residence to confess that two days ago, a traitor gathered a crowd in Lugu, west of the city, plotting to murder me and then launch an uprising to overthrow the world. After learning of this, I have already sent men to Lugu to arrest him, so I came to report to the Empress Dowager early this morning. Please forgive me for any disturbance!” With that, Wei Cong bowed and kowtowed.

"Such a thing is true!" Upon hearing this, the Empress Dowager was both shocked and frightened. Could this group of people be related to her? Had Wei Cong come here so early in the morning to interrogate her? But she really didn't know anything about this.

"Does the General know who the leader of this group of rebels is?" she asked cautiously.

“It’s not certain yet!” Wei Cong said, “According to the person who came forward, those present at the time included Yuan Shu, Yuan Ji, Bao Xin, Wu Jing, He Yong, Wu Qiong, and Xu You. These people were all quite prestigious and were well-known scholars!”

"Oh!" Upon hearing these names, Dou Miao breathed a sigh of relief. These people should have no connection with the Dou family. She smiled and said, "In that case, General, just send men to arrest them. Why bother coming to see me?"

“Yuan Shu and Yuan Ji are both family members of Lord Yuan, and the others are also famous scholars from Guandong!” Wei Cong said in a deep voice, “These people are plotting rebellion. I would not regret dying for them, but I fear that they will shake the Han Dynasty and cause another rebellion like the Moth Rebellion!”

(End of this chapter)