Three Kingdoms: The Kingdom Cannot Be Partial

Chapter 2: Emperor Wang loses Shu, the demon bird captures his soul (2.7k)
"Reporting to the Chief Secretary and the Minister of the Court, Your Majesty... Your Majesty just suddenly got up from his bed to write. As he was writing, for some reason, he suddenly... suddenly..."

The eunuch's voice trembled slightly, his eyes full of panic, as if he was looking for the right words, but he couldn't utter a word for a long time.

"What's the sudden?" Dong Yun growled anxiously.

On the other side, the mature and steady Jiang Wan was also somewhat dismayed.

The eunuch was so frightened by Dong Yun's shout that he was as quiet as a cicada. Only then did he realize that the two important officials seemed to have misunderstood him. He quickly avoided his gaze and said timidly:
"Suddenly, he started flailing around with his hands and feet, his eyes were blank, and he was mumbling nonsense that I couldn't understand at all, as if... as if..."

"Shut up, what do you want to say? Who taught you to say these things?!" Before the eunuch could finish his words, Dong Yun glared at him and interrupted him in a harsh voice.

"No... no one taught me!" Although he was mentally prepared and his words were correct, the eunuch was still frightened by Dong Yun and trembled slightly.

Dong Yun was not only appointed as the General of the Tiger Guards, but also served as the Palace Attendant, responsible for giving loyal advice and assisting the emperor in handling palace affairs.

Now that the emperor is not away, the government is in vain, and the prime minister is on a northern expedition, all palace affairs, big or small, are almost all handled by the Shizhong.

In addition, he was a man of great dignity and was not afraid to speak out against the emperor. Everyone in the palace, including the emperor, was afraid of him as if he were a rat seeing a cat.

It can be said that the most majestic person in the palace now is not the emperor, but this minister.

"Is it Lai Min?!" Dong Yun looked grim and didn't believe it at all.

"No, it's not!" The eunuch hurriedly raised his head to explain, his eyes meeting Dong Yun's, but this time his voice was unusually firm.

Dong Yun stared at the eunuch's eyes for a long time before his expression finally relaxed a little.

This eunuch was personally approved by the Prime Minister to enter the palace.

Although he had never had face-to-face contact with him before, he still had a good impression of him and was clear about his background and behavior.

Otherwise, such a small cleaning man would not be arranged to serve the emperor in such a tense situation.

"How is Your Majesty now?" Dong Yun's voice was emotionless.

"Slept over."

"Have you heard those rumors?" Dong Yun looked away, stroked his beard and asked after thinking for a while.

The eunuch was stunned by Dong Yun's question, then lowered his head and said "hmm" timidly.

There was another moment of silence.

"Besides you, who else is in Xuanshi?" Dong Yun remained in deep thought and did not look at the eunuch again.

"Your Majesty ordered the others to go out and asked me to hold the lamp, so... I am the only one here.

"I didn't dare to make a sound, and fearing Your Majesty would fall, I stayed by your side. As a result, Your Majesty really lost his strength and was about to fall. I hurried to support him and found that Your Majesty had fallen asleep.

"I carefully helped His Majesty onto the couch, and then hurried over to report to you two."

The eunuch repeated Liu Chan's instructions almost word for word.

Dong Yun looked up and exchanged glances with Jiang Wan, then looked at the eunuch:

"You go back to the Huangmen Office and wait for orders.

"Remember, you saw nothing and heard nothing."

After saying this, Dong Yun waved his hand to send him away.

After the eunuch closed the door, Dong Yun looked at Jiang Wan again, his brows furrowed.

"What happened to Your Majesty? Is it true, as those evil rumors say, that a strange bird has taken your soul?"

After asking this question, even Dong Yun himself felt it was strange. He had always been skeptical about the absurd theories of prophecies and divinations. Why was his faith shaken now?
Jiang Wan shook his head: "Let's go to the Xuanshi Hall first."

"Yes." Dong Yun nodded slightly. "If what this eunuch said is true, until the storm subsides, we should let the officials serve Your Majesty in the Xuanshi Hall."

Jiang Wan: "Okay, I'll arrange the people."

Dong Yun said, "Well, all the eunuchs who served His Majesty yesterday will be temporarily transferred to the Prime Minister's Residence to investigate who is spreading rumors and causing trouble."

The two of them didn't say anything more. They left the guard house and went to the Xuanshi Hall together, feeling worried.

Yesterday, a solar eclipse and an earthquake occurred simultaneously. According to the theory of the interaction between heaven and man, this is a sign of "the wisdom of the sage being obscured and the virtue of the emperor failing." Everyone in the palace, from top to bottom, was in a state of panic.

After the emperor returned from the temple of the previous emperor, he stayed directly in the Xuanshi Palace. Empress Zhang was persuaded to go to Changle Palace to live with Empress Dowager Wu.

All gates in the palace began to be on alert.

There were so many signs that even a fool could see that something big was about to happen.

If all the eunuchs who served the emperor yesterday were transferred to other places for control, who knows what kind of chaos the servants in the palace would become?

So they could only be allowed to return to the palace first and then ordered to keep their mouths shut.

But the rumor still spread.

However, Wan and Yun had no idea whether it was the eunuchs who served the emperor yesterday who were disturbing the palace, or whether other slaves and foreign officials had joined hands to stir up trouble among the people.

You must know that yesterday there was a solar eclipse and an earthquake at the same time, then a strange bird was hovering in the temple of the late emperor and making incessant noises, and the statue of the late emperor was smashed to pieces by the beams and pillars due to the earthquake.

To make matters worse, the emperor first fell into a coma, and then behaved strangely after waking up. Just as the eunuch had said, he was saying some words or syllables that no one could understand, and soon fell asleep again.

These things happened simultaneously in full view of the public, with nearly a hundred officials accompanying the emperor.

Among them were many "famous people in Shu" who looked down on the emperor and had no respect for the country, such as Lai Min, Du Qiong, Li Miao, and Zhou Qun.

Upon seeing this, these people pretended to be frightened in the temple of the former emperor and began to spread rumors to confuse the people.

What about "Wang Di lost Shu"?
What is the saying "the cuckoo takes over the magpie's nest"?
What is said is that "the former emperor avoided mentioning "Bei" and the latter emperor avoided mentioning "Chan", which means that the Han Dynasty has already prepared and should pass it on to Wei";
It says something like "In ancient times, the word 'Cao' was not used in the names of official posts. Since the Han Dynasty, all official posts have been named with 'Cao'. Clerks are called 'Shu Cao', and soldiers are called 'Shi Cao'. This may be the will of heaven that Han was under the 'Cao'";
They said something like "It is impossible to defy fate, and the Ge family's Northern Expedition is against heaven, so there is no chance of victory and failure is inevitable."

In short, public opinion is surging and people's hearts are unpredictable.

However, these "famous people in Shu" were all well-known in the two Sichuan provinces, and they could not be touched, otherwise "the whole world would be disappointed" and people would support Wei.

In addition, most of these "renowned people in Shu" were officials and ministers, holding important honorary positions, ranking above Jiang Wan and Dong Yun.

The two of them really did not have the qualifications and authority to deal with these people, so they could only scold them and give them strict orders again and again.

Even though the prime minister was used to put pressure on them in the end, it had little effect and he could not do anything about these people.

In this way, how these people spread rumors in private was no longer something Dong Yun and Jiang Wan could control.

The two of them quickly arrived at the Xuanshi Hall in the outer court, and the Tiger Guards opened the door.

Although the emperor might not be able to hear them, the two men still sang "Your servant Wan, please see you" outside the door, and waited for a few breaths before pushing the door open.

With a "squeak" sound, the door was pushed open.

Jiang Wan was about to take a step forward, but the next moment his steps suddenly stopped, his expression suddenly froze, and then the trance turned into surprise.

Dong Yun was at the back and couldn't see what was happening inside. Just as he was beginning to feel doubtful, a voice that sounded neither hurried nor slow reached his ears.

"My Lords, besides the solar eclipse and earthquake, what else happened in the late emperor's temple yesterday?
"Why have all the waiters around me been replaced?
"What is it that even I cannot know?"

The emperor asked three questions in succession. His seemingly calm voice was like thunder out of the blue at this moment, shocking Dong Yun into a trance and making him suddenly confused.

He rose from the Prince's attendant to the Emperor's chamberlain, and had been with the Emperor for eight years, always by his side.

In terms of understanding of the emperor, if he said he was second to none, I'm afraid even the prime minister wouldn't dare to say he was first. Who has ever heard the emperor speak in such a tone?
My first reaction at this moment was, could it be that the emperor’s soul had really been taken away?
Suppressing this absurd thought, Dong Yun moved aside and looked past Jiang Wan into the left side of the room. Then his expression turned into surprise, just like Jiang Wan's.

The emperor was seen wearing a crown with twelve tassels on his head, a robe with twelve chapters on his body, a leather belt with a jade hook at his waist, red shoes and silk sandals at his feet. He was kneeling upright in front of the table, with the solemn appearance of an emperor.

This is the ceremonial robe that the emperor wore when he offered sacrifices to the ancestral temple yesterday. He carried the sun and the moon on his shoulders and the stars on his back. He would not wear it unless it was a very solemn occasion.

What is this, Emperor?

Dong Yun was already surprised by the emperor's tone of voice, and now he was even more confused.

It was not until Jiang Wan finished the ceremony that he finally came to his senses and hurriedly saluted the emperor. Then he looked at Jiang Wan uncontrollably, but saw that the look of surprise and suspicion on Jiang Wan's face was no less than his.

The Xuanshi Hall was silent for a moment.

(End of this chapter)