Back in time .

  October 29th .

  Henei Commandery City .

  Dong Zhuo Army returned to Henei City with his 100,000 troops . They were expecting a warm welcome from the citizens and the officials as they were part of the Imperial Army .

  However .

  "Begone, traitors!"

  "Thieves!"

  "Assholes!"

  As they entered the city and marching along the main road, the townspeople cursed at Dong Zhuo and his soldiers, which angered them .

  "What the fOOk! I’m fighting for you lots, and you dare to curse me!?" Screamed Dong Zhuo .

  Li Ru also frowned . He had received his scout reports that there was a squad pretending to be one of their soldiers ransacking the nobles and the government treasuries .

  This group of imposters left the city after a day, which never reappeared again .

  "My lord, I’m afraid that we have been scammed," Li Ru reported to Dong Zhuo .

  "What!? Who dares scamming me!?"

  "I believe it was Zhang Tong’s disguised unit that slipped through the mountain valley a weeks ago . According to our investigation, they visited this city before they left for Shangdang . "

  Hearing that he had been played, the face of Dong Zhuo reddened, and his breath became rough . He drew his sword and threw it into the protesting crowd, killing an innocent onlooker .

  The peasants, who had been busy spitting and cursing at Dong Zhuo, were shocked by the sudden action of this Prime Minister . They screamed and dispersed in a chaotic manner, thinking that the soldiers would kill them .

  "Blasphemy! This is the unfilial act! Li Ru, do not send reinforcement to Shangdang! From this point on, Zhang Tong and I are through! We are not father and son-in-law!"

  Dong Zhuo knew that the disguised force was from Tong Army . As a result of his thinking, he believed that Tong had plotted against him .

  Li Ru bowed, "Understood . I shall relay your decree to the others . But, my lord, we still have to appease the city before we move to Luo Yang . I need your permission to take over the domestic affair of this city . "

  "No need! We will not waste our precious time with these peasants! Soldiers, arrest all fools that disgraced us! You have the permission to kill and loot! If you find any beautiful girl, tribute them all to me, and I’ll reward you!"

  Like a devil incarnated, Dong Zhuo disregarded the domestic stability of Henei City and gave a pillage order .

  Instead of disapproving their Lord’s decree, the soldiers smiled in glee . They rushed toward the town buildings, kicking open doors and started pillaging like bandits .

  The one hundred thousand soldiers were like an army of plague, killing, raping, and stealing everything they deemed worthy . Within an hour, the City of Henei turned into a city of Hell . Black smoke from the fire rose from buildings and screams could be heard everywhere .

  Numb by the actions of his lord, Li Ru stared at the carnage scene with an indifferent expression on his face .

  Furthermore,

  "Gather your loots to the treasuries! For those who contribute the most will be given a noble status and slaves!"

  Without batting an eye, he also ordered a similar task, arousing his subordinates into more plundering .

  \r \r \r

  Li Ru watched the city while he was thinking, ’Since we only need this city as a fortress to defend the north, civilians are unnecessary . We can turn all of them into slaves and sell them at the western border for profits . ’

  ’Liu Ping is likely to die in the war . I should prepare the men to start building siege weapons in advance . ’

  ’Once we reach Luo Yang, we will take over the city and the Imperial Court by force!’ ……

  November 2nd, 182 A . D .

  The Capital City, Luo Yang .

  Wang Yun was standing in the throne room with his daughter, Diao Chan . In his hands was a golden scroll, which indicated that it was the edict of the Emperor .

  Wang Yun was reading the decree out loud to inform all ministers in the throne room . ……

  [I, Liu Ping, have considered the future of our dynasty . While I am trying to suppress the rebels and the Xiongnu, I overlooked an urgent matter of our country .

  My father has posted a high taxes on the merchants, nobles, and the peasants, which we have forgotten to adjust the new tax rate to suit our current economic power .

  This year, we were narrow-minded and too focused on the Xiongnu invasion, and we did not pay attention to the lack of harvest before we even dispatched our troops .

  These two reasons are enough to shame me to death . It made me realized I am not a competence Emperor worthy to succeed The Great Han Wudi .

  With me as the only successor to the throne, I felt suffocated, and I have prayed to Heaven to give me an option to salvage our mistakes .

  Then, I saw a sign . During our travel to Jinyang, we saw an azure dragon on the night sky, watching us from above . It appeared before me and gave me a prophecy, saying that I am but a stepping stone for the new righteous Empress of our country .

  I was confused at first, but it came to me that there was a particular individual who showed exceptional talents at a young age . She is the adopted daughter of Wang Yun, called Diao Chan . The girl has been getting famous these days as her intelligence is not that something of a 6-year-old can possess .

  If she is this smart at this age, I believe she will be an extraordinary figure like the previous great Emperors . So I asked the dragon about her if my thought is correct, and it nodded in acknowledgment .

  The dragon also warned me with another prophecy . It was shocking and frustrating to the point that even my hands are shaking as I am writing this edict .

  It is likely that I will die in this war!

  To prepare for such a scenario if the prophecy comes true, I am giving a decree in advance . If I were to die in this war, Diao Chan must succeed the throne without fail! Even if I return, Diao Chan will still be the next Empress!

  Do not let other Liu Clan members take the throne or the country will be in chaos for another one hundred years!

  This is my will! I will leave everything to Wang Yun and Diao Chan from now on . Everybody must attend to them as you have listened to me .

  Signed – Liu Ping] ……

  Everyone stared at Wang Yun in shock and disbelief . This decree was fishy in many ways .

  "Accept the mandate of the Emperor!" Shouted Wang Yun .

  "Wait! I want to confirm the authenticity of the edict!" Liu Yu, the Minister of the Imperial Liu Clan, protested .

  This minister was also the true governor of Ganling Commandery City, southeast of Julu . He held two positions in the government at the same time .

  Because of his dual positions, he entrusted his governing duties to his subordinates and stationed himself in Luo Yang . Unfortunately, his city was raided and taken over by Zhang Yan and a mysterious sorcerer, and ultimately fell under the control of Sun Jian .

  Initially, he was a good and honest governor who cared about his city and his citizens . He had worked hard under Emperor Ling for years and never missed the annual tributes .

  Emperor Ling noticed his loyalty and his deeds . Thus, Liu Yu was rewarded with the position of the Minister of the Imperial Liu Clan .

  This position had a significant underlying as an unofficial candidate to the throne! Had the royal family lost all of their successors, Liu Yu would have the right to claim it as the head of the Liu Clan!

  He had already lost his influenced city, and he was about to lose the title as the Imperial Clan head . The throne was rightfully his if Liu Ping died so giving the throne to an outsider was unacceptable to Liu Yu .

  Wang Yun peered at Liu Yu and snorted . The old fox revealed the content of the scroll to the public, showing the red stamp of the Imperial Seal .

  The seal was unique ancient characters which had a meaning; "Accept the Mandate of the Heaven, May the Emperor Live a Prosperous and a Long Life . " These letters were carved into the jade seal which had been passed down since the foundation of the Qin Dynasty .

  These red characters could not be forged in this era as the only ones who knew about this ancient writing were the Emperors . No commoner or nobles were allowed to practice writing these series of characters, or their entire family could be executed for committing treasons .

  "Do you question the authenticity of this seal!?" Roared Wang Yun .

  Liu Yu stared at the seal in shock . He had seen the seal many times before when he was serving the previous Emperor . He could not deny the red characters in the stamp .

  Gritting his teeth, Liu Yu stepped down and knelt, "May the Emperor live a long and prosperous life . "

  Wang Yun was elated . He darted his eyes around in the throne room to see if there was any other official who objected this decree . Everybody in the room had already knelt and accepted the edict, but dissatisfaction still showed on their expression .

  "By order of the Emperor, Diao Chan will be crown as the Empress of Han! However, because we are at war with the Xiongnu, we shall postpone the coronation ceremony and all other rituals until we confirm the result of the war!"

  All officials bowed in acknowledgment, yet they glanced around to check the others reaction . Some of them gritted their teeth, and some of them cursed Wang Yun in silent . Everybody did not like this kind of development as they thought that Wang Yun attempted to steal the throne . ……

  Later that day, Wang Yun returned with Diao Chan to her inner palace . His back soaked with sweat as it was nerve-wracking trying to suppress the nobles in the throne room .

  "You are doing great, father . " Medusa in Diao Chan’s form calmed her foster father .

  "This will bring us a lot of troubles! Little girl, are you sure this is the decree of His Majesty?"

  "Yes . Do you think I’m capable of writing such a complicate edict you read? Don’t overestimate your daughter, father . "

  Wang Yun scratched his head in helplessness . He also did know anything about the dragon in the edict or how he returned to Luo Yang . For some reason, he miraculously arrived in Diao Chan’s inner palace after meeting the monster in the forest .

  Though he was glad that he was not captured by the Xiongnu, he still could not get rid of his fear toward the mysterious snake monster .

  "For now, let’s wait for the news about the Emperor and sabotage the strength of Liu Clan . You should get close to their clan supporters and make them turn against each other . That way, you can secure your political power . "

  Wang Yun gave Diao Chan a wry smile . He had been a loyal minister under Liu Clan for decades . Now, he had to fight against them in a political struggle as the supporter of the new Empress .

  "Little girl, what about Dong Zhuo? You said that his army is in Henei at the moment . I think he will return to Luo Yang soon . Do you have a plan for them?"

  The infighting between ministers and Liu Yu had begun, but Wang Yun had not forgotten about the cruel Prime Minister, Dong Zhuo . He had heard about Dong Zhuo’s retreat and his location from both his subordinates and Diao Chan . The returning of Dong Zhuo would cause many complications in the Court again .

  Diao Chan nodded, "Yes . I’ve made a pact with the monster that rescued you . She will help us fending off Dong Zhuo . Father doesn’t have to worry about it . "

  "She rescued me?"

  "Yes . She’s a servant of the dragon in the edict . Everything is real . "

  Wang Yun gulped . Even though he had been getting a bad vibe from this little girl, he could not come up with another explanation of the recent events around him .

  Giving up thinking, Wang Yun patted his daughter’s head .

  "I’ll arrange more guards around you . I don’t think that Liu Yu will give up because of an edict . He will send scouts and spies to confirm the status of His Majesty Ping, then he will come back to bite us soon . You should be careful . "

  "I know . He won’t be able to do anything . "

  Diao Chan gave her father a bright smile . No matter what Dong Zhuo had prepared for them, she could destroy his army with a single snap of her fingers .