Chapter 2953: The Skeleton King vs Demon King

“They are my sworn sisters.” Zu An introduced the two ladies.

“I have heard about them. They are impressive heroines.” Lu Zhi was surprised. When he heard about the two ladies’ valiance on the battlefield, he had expected them to be built like bears. He hadn’t expected them to be so beautiful.

Yun Jianyue and Tingxue quickly bowed to Lu Zhi. Both of them had been to many worlds, which built their mental fortitude. But for some reason, they felt nervous in Lu Zhi’s presence. Is it because he is Zu An’s teacher?

Lu Zhi led them into his camp and introduced them to his commanders. All those qualified to enter his tent were high-ranking commanders from the capital. The original Liu Bei wouldn’t have been qualified to meet them, but they still greeted him amicably in view of Lu Zhi’s high prestige and his current post as the chief commander.

Only then did Zu An learn that these people were the leaders of the Northern Army’s Five Divisions. They were also known as the Five Great Vice Generals.

The Northern Army was the Eastern Han’s most elite field army, consisting of the Garrison Cavalry Division, the Yue Cavalry Division, the Infantry Division, the Changshui Division, and the Archery Division.

The Garrison Cavalry Division was composed of Han cavalrymen. The Yue Cavalry Division was composed of elite cavalrymen from different places. It was headed by Wu Qiong. The Infantry Division was composed of valiant foot soldiers from the northwest. It was headed by Wei Jie. The Changshui Division was composed of soldiers recruited from the northern ethnic tribes. It was headed by Zhong Ji. Meanwhile, the Archery Division was composed of crossbow-wielding soldiers.

The ones heading the Yue Cavalry Division, the Infantry Division, and the Changshui Division were Wu Qiong, Wei Jie, and Zhong Ji respectively. Zu An had never heard of them, but he wouldn’t dare to treat them as mere sidekicks from ‘Romance of the Three Kingdoms’. One had to be decently capable in order to become a top commander of an empire. These people wouldn’t be mere extras.

The leader of the Archery Division was Ju Jun. Zu An also didn’t have any impression of this name, but the unique family name reminded him of the top strategist recruited by Yuan Shao, Ju Shou. He wondered, Might they be from the same clan?

But the one who left him with the deepest impression was the leader of the Garrison Cavalry Division. He seemed more like a scholarly, middle-aged man rather than a military commander. His name was Fu Wan. In the original history, he was Emperor Xian of Han’s father-in-law. He was executed by Cao Cao during the Robed Edict Incident.

Zu An thought, No wonder his daughter was selected as the empress in the future. He is quite handsome...

While Zu An was observing Fu Wan, a shrill voice suddenly echoed, “Lord Lu, isn’t your introduction disingenuous? He merely defeated a couple of small fries from the Yellow Turban Army. We are fighting the Yellow Turban Army’s main force and enjoying the same level of success as well.”

Zu An looked over and saw a young commander looking at him with contempt. His opulent clothes hinted at his noble birth, but his little beard and triangular eyes made him seem like a monkey.

Lu Zhi was displeased by that remark.

Another young commander rebuffed the man, saying, “That’s an unfair comparison, Gonglu. We are leading the empire’s most elite army, whereas Xuande’s troops are volunteers recruited on the spot.” This commander had a square face, which made him look like a typical righteous character. He looked much more mature and composed.

Zu An was astonished. He only knew one person named Gonglu in this world, and that was Yuan Shu. I didn’t expect to meet him here.

Yuan Shu was displeased. “Jingsheng, you are playing the good guy again. You have never made use of your background despite being a direct descendant of the imperial family. Yet this distant many generations removed fellow dares claim to be a member of the imperial relatives. How laughable.”

“Enough! The nation is in crisis due to the Yellow Turban Uprising. Anyone who can aid in quelling the uprising is a pillar of our Great Han. We shouldn’t be judging people by their birth right now,” Lu Zhi said with a frown.

“Lord Lu is right!” the other commanders spoke up in agreement.

Yuan Shu harrumphed. He disagreed, but he knew better than to refute Lu Zhi here. Instead, he looked at Tingxue and Yun Jianyue, whom he deemed more interesting than the distant imperial relative. What a pity it is for them to follow that downtrodden man. I should bring them over to my side...

Tingxue sensed his gaze, and her expression turned cold. She would have decapitated Yuan Shu on the spot if not for her worry that she would obstruct Zu An’s plan.

Yun Jianyue secretly decided to toy with that foolish scion later to teach him a lesson. Given her mastery of the Heavenly Devil’s Temptation, it would be easy for her to pull that off.

Lu Zhi continued to introduce his commanders.

Only then did Zu An learn that the square-faced commander was Liu Biao, a marquis in the Northern Army. His official position was beneath that of the Five Great Vice Generals, but he had the power to supervise them.

Emperor Ling of Han was likely worried about the Northern Army running rogue, so he dispatched an imperial relative to keep an eye on them.

Yuan Shu’s official position was the Commander of the Valiant Tiger Imperial Army, who were the emperor’s personal guards. The fact that he had been dispatched showed just how seriously Emperor Ling took the Yellow Turban threat.

Yuan Shu was a commander of the imperial guards, as well as a direct descendant of the powerful Yuan clan. It was no wonder he didn’t fear Lu Zhi.

The group moved on to discuss their plan for dealing with the Yellow Turban Army. The commanders were positive that they could eradicate the Yellow Turbans’ main force within a month.

Zu An was worried. What will Princess Ni Huang do? In the following days, however, he remained respectful to Lu Zhi.

Lu Zhi was also delighted to see his student making a name for himself, and it also helped that they were both from Zhuo Commandery. So, Lu Zhi unreservedly imparted to Zu An his insights about the battlefield, as well as knowledge regarding the present political situation.

Zu An gained a deeper understanding of this world. If this were a game, my stats would have been slowly crawling up over the last few days.

But the good days didn’t last long.

The imperial court sent a eunuch, Zuo Feng, down to survey the military situation. Zuo Feng demanded a bribe from Lu Zhi, but the righteous Lu Zhi turned down the demand, claiming that the army was already facing a shortage of rations. In the end, Zuo Feng left resentfully.

Despite knowing the trajectory of fate and that Lu Zhi being stripped of his position was beneficial to Princess Ni Huang, Zu An remembered Lu Zhi’s kindness and tried to persuade him to bribe Zuo Feng.

Lu Zhi interjected, “Xuande, the eunuchs have been monopolizing power for nearly a hundred years now, causing great distress to the people. Our academic faction has clashed many times with the eunuchs. During the time of the previous emperor, we suffered heavy losses due to the Disaster of Partisan Prohibitions, thus allowing the eunuchs to claim the upper hand.

“If I bribed the eunuchs right now, that would be equivalent to lowering our heads to them. I can lose my head and shed blood, but I cannot allow my honor to be sullied!”

Zu An had only known about the Disaster of Partisan Prohibitions as a phrase in history. Witnessing the intensity of the clash in person left him shaken up. Of course, with the benefit of hindsight, he was also aware that most major clans were nowhere as selfless as Lu Zhi. Most of them prioritized their own interests.

It didn’t take long for an imperial edict to arrive. Lu Zhi was forced to return to the capital on a prisoner convoy. Zu An intended to escort Lu Zhi back, thinking that it would be a good chance for him to come into contact with the Eastern Han’s center of power. He knew that was the key for him to realize his plans.

However, his request was rejected. The imperial court had a rule that prohibited officials from following a prisoner convoy without permission. Left with no choice, Zu An had to remain on the battlefield.

Just then, a soldier reported that the Eastern Imperial General, who had been assigned to take over Lu Zhi’s position as the chief commander, had ordered for all the commanders to gather and pay respect to him.

That person was the Demon King of the earlier years of the Three Kingdoms—Dong Zhuo!

—

Robed Edict Incident:

Some context:

At this point, the officials and warlords were so fed up with the eunuchs that they marched on the imperial palace to kill the eunuchs.

Eventually, one of the warlords, Dong Zhuo, installed a new emperor (Liu Xie, Emperor Xian of Han), and effectively claimed control of imperial politics.

Later, Emperor Xian managed to escape. Cao Cao found him, took him in, and offered him protection... but in truth, he was merely using Emperor Xian as a figurehead for legitimacy.

At one point, Emperor Xian secretly wrote an edict with his blood ordering Cao Cao’s assassination, and he ordered his concubine’s father (Dong Cheng) to relay it to whomever was willing to help.

The assassination failed, and a mass purge followed.

Empress Fu (Emperor Xian’s wife) was frightened, so she wrote a letter to her father, Fu Wan, requesting for him to start a campaign against Cao Cao. However, her father was afraid and didn’t do a thing at all. The letter was discovered, and the Fu clan was executed.

Disaster of Partisan Prohibitions

During this time, some of the officials started forming coalitions.

Fearing that the officials were gaining too much power, the emperor issued a rule to prevent such coalitions. The eunuchs used these rules to crack down on individuals who spoke up against them, either preventing them from entering the imperial court or stripping them of their positions.