“Yellow Sky”: Crisis for the Han Dynasty sample (Act I) -- T. P. M. Thorne

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“…Is there no end to this…?”
Two brothers that were also relatives of the emperor - Imperial Clerk Liu Dai and Ceremonial Assistant Liu Yao - sat and stared with disbelief at the latest defamation attempt by the ‘Ten’.
“Lu Kang is a fine man, a xiaolian,” Liu Dai continued. “This man has turned remote and lawless places into promising settlements! What was there to arrest him for? ‘Disrespectful tone’, indeed! ‘Contemptuous traitor’, indeed! All that he has done in his memorial is point out that the sovereign would be wrong to raise taxes and ‘recruit volunteers’ to build a bronze statues when the country is beset with all manner of woes: such a move would be, as he has said, unpopular with the common people and nobles alike. But the eunuchs, their evil greed is boundless… even princes and empresses are not immune!”
“That being the case, then neither are we,” Liu Yao said. “Brother, you have rank: if you go against them, you risk an accusation of sedition, citing our link to the Han. I don’t want to say such things, but… perhaps we should remain silent. If all good men hand themselves to these dogs so easily, then-”
“Lu Kang is a good man, and I intend to speak on his behalf,” Liu Dai insisted. “The case I present will be fair and devoid of anything but legal proceedings: if the eunuchs win, then so be it, but I can’t just sit here and do nothing.”
“…Alright,” Liu Yao murmured. “Heaven be with us, then.”
Liu Dai was fortunate: his petition had no consequences, and three-times-Administrator Lu Kang - who had faced imprisonment and worse for the crimes that he had been accused of - was released, relieved of all rank and status and sent home to Wu Prefecture in Yang Province to endure the life of a commoner.

“How many years has it been now, Benchu?”
Cao Cao was sat in the living quarters of his old friend Yuan Shao’s Ru County home once again, enjoying heated wine. The two had been exchanging whimsical poems and reciting songs in an effort to avoid a conversation that Cao Cao now felt was unavoidable.

“…Too many,” Yuan Shao replied bitterly. “So many times, they have gotten so close to discovering us… and so many times, we have been lucky. But when-”
“I meant ‘How many years has it been since our current emperor ascended the throne’, though it’s my fault for not being specific,” Cao Cao said miserably.
“Nine… no, ten,” Yuan Shao realised.
Ten…?” Cao Cao snickered as he sipped his wine. “I thought it was less than that.”
“No, it really was ten years ago,” Yuan Shao chortled. “Ten long, insufferable years… but does His Majesty get better…? …No… he gets worse.”
“Forgive me, I’m a little ‘out of touch’ with things since my ‘promotion’,” Cao Cao said with a self-deprecatory smile.
“…Yes,” Yuan Shao chuckled as he recalled the reason for Cao Cao’s polite removal from the capital. “I must admit, your rash idiocy almost risked our divine task, and still annoys me a little.”
“Can you blame me???” Cao Cao chortled. “Yes, I know that I am the son of a man whose status is owed entirely to a good-natured eunuch adopting him, and there are still some good eunuchs, like Lü Qiang… so unlike you, I retain some impartiality.”
“But…?” Yuan Shao prompted.
“But,” Cao Cao continued, “seeing a man that is related by blood to one of the ‘Ten’, strolling confidently, ignoring good moral conduct… can I not punish him?”

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