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“You dare to bear arms toward me!”
the Dowager cried with disbelief. “You
are not even men! How dare you-”
“You will be kept here until the crisis is over,” Wang Fu ordered as the
Dowager and her ladies-in-waiting cowered with fear. “We shall now go to the
barracks.”
“What is happening???” the Dowager sobbed as Hou Lan and another eunuch
loomed over her with their swords drawn.
In another part of the palace, an altogether different diplomatic
approach was adopted by another group of eunuchs.
“Your Majesty!”
The young emperor was startled by the sudden appearance of a group of
eunuchs led by Cao Jie and his close allies Zhang Rang and Zhao Zhong.
“Your Majesty,” Cao Jie said with theatrical concern, “a conspiracy is afoot! You must hide
yourself, and quickly!”
Emperor Ling was terrified, and said, “Wh-what… what threatens us???”
“There is no time!” Zhao Zhong said as he thrust the hilt of a short
sword into the young monarch’s unprepared hands. “You will need this, Your
Majesty, in case we are unable to hold them off!”
“Is this some sort of game…?” the boy emperor chuckled nervously as he
stared at the sword in his hands. “If it is, then we are not-”
“This is no game!” Zhang Rang insisted. “Please, Your Majesty, you must
enter your inner quarters and remain there! We will do all we can!”
The emperor believed this last protestation and fled toward his inner
quarters with a group of armed eunuchs.
“We will protect you, even beyond death if we must!” Zhang Rang said as
he closed the door behind the emperor and prepared for his fictional confrontation
with a non-existent foe.
“…You would die for us…!” Emperor Ling whispered as he sat in his inner
quarters and stared at his guards. “But… who…?”
The eunuch Zhao Zhong sighed forlornly and said, “I had heard rumours,
but… I never imagined them to be true.”
“What rumours…?” Emperor Ling demanded.
“…That… that Dou Wu, father of the Empress Dowager, and the Grand Tutor,
Chen Fan… plot a coup,” Zhao Zhong
said with theatrical reluctance.
“Our Grand Tutor… and our Commander-in-Chief… plot against us…?” Emperor Ling murmured.
“They first intended to isolate you, surrounding you as the Liangs did
to your divine ancestor,” Zhao Zhong explained further.
“That is why they would not have my- …I mean our… mother created Dowager, and gave themselves high positions!”
Emperor Ling decided. “They intended treason all along!”
“They have also restored many Partisans to court, Your Majesty,” Zhao
Zhong said solemnly. “That… aiee.
That can only mean that we have been lucky… we were perhaps but days away from
destruction.”
Emperor Ling tightened his grip on his sword, and said, “When we are
secured, and the danger has passed… they shall know no peace from us.”
Zhao Zhong smiled slightly and said, “Let us be glad we are safe for
now, Your Majesty; let the will of Heaven protect us.”
“Zhang Rang and Zhao Zhong have secured the emperor,” Cao Jie reported
as Wang Fu approached him with the Imperial Seal in hand.
“And as you can see, the Empress Dowager is dealt with… as is Shan
Bing,” Wang Fu said without regret.
“Ah, yes… I should have thought of that,” Cao Jie admitted.
“What shall we do now?” the eunuch Su Kang asked.
“We go to the home of Chen Fan,” Guan Ba supposed.
“Yes, and we deal with him once and for all, as he intended for us,” Cao
Jie declared. “We shall give him ‘death’.”