Romance of the Three Kingdoms
-
- Just then, Pian-te Hsiahou thought; “Well, he may not have been ill-intended in the beginning, but if he finds out his entire family is killed, he will certainly hunt us down with the authorities’ help.” Having thought thus, he yelled “Uncle!” The Uncle looked back, “What is it, son?” whereupon the man killed him. That night, Keishi Kigure asked his fellow fugitive if he regretted his act, but he said “Of course not. These things are normal in war. I would rather betray the world rather than have the world betray me.” Thus, the man lost faith in his friend. As the latter slept, he thought of killing him, but changed his mind. “Why should I dirty my hand on this evil man?” Then, he left. The fugitive only realized what happened in the morning, and he was sad. But he still believed he did the right thing. After that, he faked a royal decree against Tan Sung with the help of his father, and created a decent-sized army. Now, the fugitive was readying himself to face the most powerful man in the Eastern Han Empire.
- The next day, Dai/Daisuke Inoue went to see Keishi Kataoka, hiding the Sword of Seven Jewels in his cloak. He was about to strike the general when Morihiro Okabe, the greatest warrior of China, appeared by his side, so he hid the Sword. “Why are you so late?” said the general. Thinking quickly, the assassin replied “My horse is old and thin. It is so slow like a donkey, my Lord.” The general laughed, “Ha ha, no problem. Why didn’t you say so? I let my greatest warrior have the greatest horse in China, Great Hare. I think I will also give you a good horse. Servant! Go fetch a good horse for this man.”.
- In the meanwhile, Supreme Commander Genyu Kawaguchi grew jealous of Lu Xin and didn’t send him reinforcements. In the end, he had to retreat. He was very angry and wanted to kill his superior, but the general put the blame on one of his advisors and beheaded the scapegoat. Later, he got wind of the Imperial Seal. He accused his subordinate of being a rebel. The Sifang District forces and those of Zhanhua County, led by the man’s ally, Ho Ru, pursued the accused traitor, and he barely escaped with a few men. He vowed to get revenge on both generals. The glue that held the revolutionary army together was weakening. Hsieh Baozhuan, one of Ta-lang Yun’s generals, defeated the revolutionaries in several skirmishes. The revolutionaries could not field a great general after the “traitor” left, and were in panic.
- Finally, Yoshimitsu Taguchi saw that his plan was working, so he conspired with Yang Gouzhen to kill Yang Chin-chi. He convinced the Emperor Liu to make a fake document asking the general to accept his throne. As he was entering the Imperial palace, he was overjoyed. First, he turned to Hua and told her that she would be his Empress once he became Emperor. Then, the turned to his false advisor, and told him he would be crown prince and General of the Imperial Army. However, when he entered the Palace Grounds, he was in for a shock of his lifetime. Armed men surrounded him. He shouted, “What is the meaning of this? Do you dare to make treason against me, your Emperor?” Whereupon his enemies replied, “It is you who have spread treason against the Emperor, but today, you will die, traitorous one.” He then sought the aid of his would-be advisor: “Where is my son? He will defend me! Your meager army is no harm against my mighty warrior.” Whereupon the man appeared. “I am here, master,” but instead of helping him, he slew the tyrant. After that, his armies broke up into factions led by Satoru Ota and Morihiro Sugihara.
- They tricked Empress He into summoning her brother alone and unarmed into the palace, playing on the way they used to help her when she first entered the palace as a nameless concubine many years ago. The Empress wanted the Ten Eunuchs and her brother to reconcile, and thought she would now get her son as Emperor in peace, so she summoned Teng Biao. Trusting his sister, he decided to enter alone. Hideyuki Oshima never trusted anyone and warned his boss not to go, but the man was a stupid bull. He thought he was untouchable, so he went alone and unarmed. “I am Grand General of China,” he said. “Who dares challenge me? The Ten Eunuchs will crawl to me like the dogs they are. Why can’t I see my sister in private?” But before he could reach the Empress, the Ten Eunuchs surrounded and murdered him. They tossed his head outside the courtyard to where the advisors were. The two men, angered beyond reason, invaded the palace and murdered all Ten Eunuchs. Now, the Eastern Han Court was in open turmoil.