Chapter 161 Conspiracy
When Wang Xuan said he would teach Miss Diaochan martial arts cultivation methods, he certainly wasn't lying to her.
At first, Diao Chan was somewhat wary, fearing that Wang Xuan would take advantage of her. However, after spending a few days together, Miss Diao Chan gradually lowered her guard and realized that Wang Xuan was not the lecherous man she had imagined.
Diao Chan possesses exceptional martial arts talent, but this talent lies not in her physical body, but in her soul.
This talent is not apparent at the Acquired and Innate realms. However, once she enters the Dao through martial arts and cultivates the Path of Primordial Spirit Immortal Martial Arts, her cultivation speed will advance by leaps and bounds.
Wang Xuan directly passed on the "Righteous Qi Technique" of Jixia Academy to Diao Chan. This profound skill was created by Confucius, a Confucian scholar, and directly leads to the realm of perfect supernatural powers. It is even more advanced than the "Ziyang True Explanation" of the Wang family.
Cultivation is a long-term process that takes a long time to see results; not everyone is like Wang Xuan, who has a cheat code.
After Wang Xuan explained the cultivation methods and experiences of the Acquired Realm to Diao Chan in detail, he was pulled away by his adoptive father, and the two secretly plotted in a secret room.
"Our Wang family has been favored by the Emperor for generations. Now, the traitor Dong Zhuo has brought disaster to the country and imprisoned the Emperor. We should purge the court of corrupt officials and save the country from this crisis!" Wang Yun stated the main purpose of today's conspiracy as soon as he opened his mouth.
Wang Xuan couldn't help but roll his eyes.
Having just transmigrated into the body of Wang Yun's son, he believed that Wang Yun was truly as recorded in history books, a loyal subject of the Han Dynasty, willing to sacrifice his entire family for the revival of the Han.
But so much time has passed, and he has long since seen through his father's true nature.
Ultimately, Wang Yun's loyalty to the Han emperor was nothing more than driven by self-interest!
Wang Yun was the Grand Minister of Works in the Han Dynasty, second only to Emperor Liu Xie and Chancellor Dong Zhuo in status. Previously, Yuan Wei held an even higher position in the court, but unfortunately, he had been killed by Dong Zhuo.
If Dong Zhuo were eliminated, Wang Yun would be second only to the emperor! Considering that the current emperor is young, wouldn't all the important affairs of state fall into Wang Yun's hands?
As the saying goes, "Duke Zhou feared rumors in his day, and Wang Mang was humble before his usurpation. Had they died then, who would know their loyalty or treachery?"
In the original history, Wang Yun had only recently seized power when his entire family was wiped out by the rebel army from Liangzhou. He hadn't even had a chance to reveal any ambitions, which is why he became a loyal subject of the Han Dynasty. If he had truly held power for decades, he might have become another Cao Cao, using the emperor to command the other warlords!
Although Wang Xuan understood the situation perfectly well, he didn't say much. As a transmigrator, he naturally had no loyalty to the Han Dynasty royal family, and he would even welcome his father's attempt to usurp the throne.
The father and son exchanged a glance. Wang Yun felt a little guilty under his son's ambiguous smile and quickly changed the subject, saying, "If we want to get rid of Dong Zhuo, we still need to plan carefully."
"Although Dong Zhuo had millions of elite soldiers under his command, the vast majority of them were concentrated in the border areas, either to defend against the warlords in the east or to guard against Ma Teng and Han Sui in the west."
"In addition, the fertile land of Guanzhong, spanning thousands of miles, also needs an army to be stationed there in order to ensure Dong Zhuo's authority."
"The actual number of troops stationed in Chang'an was only a few hundred thousand, among which the 50,000 elite iron-clad soldiers who were Dong Zhuo's personal bodyguards were the most powerful."
"If we want to get rid of Dong Zhuo, we must find a way to deal with Lü Bu and his 50,000 elite armored soldiers!"
Wang Xuan thought for a moment and felt that his father must have already planned it, so he said, "Dad, didn't you already have a plan? Tell me about it."
Wang Yun glared at him and said irritably, "I do have a plan. Although the Xiliang army is loyal to Dong Zhuo, he has been indulging in wine and women since he took over the court. In addition, he also needs to spend a lot of energy on handling state affairs, so his control over the Xiliang army has naturally become somewhat lax."
"I have already bribed some generals in the Xiliang army who are loyal to the Han Dynasty, promising them high positions and great benefits. Once we make our move, the hundreds of thousands of troops in Chang'an will temporarily remain neutral. As long as we kill Dong Zhuo, those hundreds of thousands of troops will be at our disposal."
"As for those 50,000 elite armored soldiers, they are not easy to bribe, so we should choose to make our move in the palace. With the emperor's cooperation, we can use the dragon energy to temporarily isolate the military energy, so that the 50,000 troops cannot play their role for the time being."
"If you put in the effort and manage to kill Dong Zhuo among the civil and military officials of Liangzhou, such as Lü Bu and Li Ru, then the Liangzhou army will be leaderless."
Wang Xuan patted his chest and said with great pride, "I have the great general Taishi Ci, who can deal with Li Ru. As for Lü Bu, I can use my Xuan Yin Avatar to activate my spiritual treasure and fight him to a standstill!"
Wang Yun added, "Lu Zhi and Zhu Jun both have the cultivation level of the late-stage Celestial Realm and are loyal to the Han Dynasty. We can bring them over to join us in attacking Lü Bu and Dong Zhuo."
In fact, Wang Yun also wanted to bring Cai Yong over, since Cai Yong was a great Confucian scholar of the time and also had the cultivation of a late-stage Celestial Being.
Unfortunately, Dong Zhuo had been kind to Cai Yong, as evidenced by Cai Yong's mourning for Dong Zhuo after his death. Cai Yong would never help the Wang family father and son to deal with Dong Zhuo; at most, he would remain neutral.
Although Wang Yun did not know that Cai Yong would mourn Dong Zhuo after his death, he could guess that Cai Yong would never help him, so he did not include Cai Yong in his calculations.
"Lu Zhi, Zhu Jun?!" Wang Xuan originally thought his cheap father's plan was reliable, but he suddenly felt something was wrong and a sudden impulse arose in his heart.
With Lu Zhi and Zhu Jun's combined cultivation, they were enough to rival Lü Bu. So why were they almost invisible when it came to killing Dong Zhuo?
Although the combat power level in the main world is ridiculously high, the plot is no different from the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" that Wang Xuan saw in his previous life.
When they were dealing with Dong Zhuo, Lu Zhi and Zhu Jun certainly wouldn't have appeared. Could it be that someone was stopping them?
For the sake of his own life, Wang Xuan felt he needed to bring in more helpers. He thought through all the experts he knew and finally came up with a target.
"Father, Liu Bei, Liu Xuande, is a hero of our time. His two sworn brothers have both reached the late stage of the Celestial Realm. If we can summon them as well, the assassination of Dong Zhuo will be a sure thing!"
Wang Xuan was working for the Liu family, so naturally he had to call over his three good buddies, Liu Bei and his two brothers.
"Liu Bei..." Wang Yun hesitated upon hearing this. If Liu Bei was truly loyal to the Han Dynasty, then naturally there was nothing to worry about. However, summoning Liu Bei, a member of the Han imperial family, made him fear that power would fall into Liu Bei's hands, leaving him with nothing.
Chapter 162 Liu Xuande, Unparalleled in Loyalty and Righteousness!
Wang Xuan naturally guessed what his father was worried about, so he said, "Although Liu Bei is a member of the Han imperial family, he has no power or influence. His status is only that of a county magistrate, and he absolutely cannot enter the central government. Moreover, Guanzhong is Dong Zhuo's territory, so Liu Bei certainly cannot lead his troops to attack. He can only come here alone with his two sworn brothers."
Upon hearing this, Wang Yun breathed a sigh of relief and nodded in agreement.
Even in the imperial court, seniority matters. Liu Bei, a mere county magistrate, could only be promoted to the rank of prefect of a commandery at most, and perhaps be granted the title of marquis or a nominal generalship, even if he made great contributions this time.
Trying to rise to the top in one step, directly from county magistrate to the rank of one of the Three Dukes, would be opposed by all the officials in the court. This would break the rules of official promotion!
Unless you are like Dong Zhuo or Cao Cao, directly controlling the entire court with a large army, you can do whatever you want and ignore these rules.
Wang Yun immediately wrote a secret letter, which Taishi Ci took to Liu Bei and his two brothers to summon them.
As a member of the Han imperial family, Liu Bei had long harbored ambitions to restore the Han dynasty. Moreover, this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for him. Once he overthrew Dong Zhuo, he could be promoted and given a status no less than that of Cao Cao or Yuan Shao.
From any perspective, Liu Bei had absolutely no reason to refuse.
As expected, Liu Bei did not disappoint Wang Xuan. Taishi Ci returned just five days after leaving, accompanied by Liu Bei and his two brothers.
"Liu Bei, Magistrate of Pingyuan, greets Lord Situ!" After secretly arriving at the Wang family, Liu Bei immediately bowed deeply to Wang Yun.
Liu Bei looked at Wang Yun with burning eyes. He had finally latched onto this golden thigh and would never let go of him no matter what.
Even their own elder brother knelt down and kowtowed to Wang Yun, so Guan Yu and Zhang Fei were no exception and could only obediently perform a grand salute to Wang Yun.
However, people in this era were not too resistant to kowtowing, because stools had not yet been invented. When meeting guests and chatting, people usually knelt down, and kneeling was as common as resting.
"Three righteous men, please rise quickly!" Wang Yun had already learned of Guan Yu and Zhang Fei's abilities from Wang Xuan, so he naturally dared not be presumptuous and hurriedly stepped forward to help the three of them up.
“Three righteous men, the treacherous Dong Zhuo now occupies the court, holding the emperor hostage to command the princes. This is a time of national crisis. Are you willing to lend me a hand and work together to eliminate Dong Zhuo?” Wang Yun’s expression was so sincere that anyone who saw him would praise him as a “great loyal minister.”
Upon hearing this, Liu Bei immediately burst into tears: "The Emperor is in distress, and I, Liu Xuande, am powerless to help. Every time I think of this, my heart aches. Now that I have the opportunity to do my part for His Majesty, I, Liu Xuande, will certainly not stand idly by, even if it means dying without a burial place!"
"Excellent! Xuande truly lives up to his reputation as a descendant of the Han imperial family and is indeed a hero of our time!" Wang Yun was overjoyed upon hearing this and praised Liu Bei without reservation.
Wang Xuan watched quietly from the side. His father and Liu Bei were clearly putting on an act!
Seeing that the two were getting more and more into their performance and wouldn't stop for a long time, Wang Xuan couldn't help but roll his eyes and interrupt, saying, "You two are both loyal subjects of the Han Dynasty. Let's talk about this kind of mutual flattery after we've killed Dong Zhuo!"
Wang Yun and Liu Bei exchanged a glance, both looking incredibly embarrassed. Fortunately, both of them were extremely thick-skinned and quickly put their awkwardness behind them, turning instead to discuss how to deal with Dong Zhuo.
"I'll deal with that traitor Lü Bu!" Zhang Fei declared with boundless pride, declaring his intention to challenge Lü Bu to a duel.
"Third brother, stop fooling around. You can't beat Lü Bu in a one-on-one fight." Guan Yu stroked his beard and said arrogantly, "Although Lü Bu's character is not good, his martial arts are the best in the world. Only I, Guan Yunchang, can contend with him!"
The two fierce generals immediately started arguing, their faces red and necks thick, each wanting to fight Lü Bu one-on-one.
Liu Bei, his face dark, shouted, "Yun Chang, Yi De, stop acting recklessly! This battle concerns the future of the Han Dynasty, and we must give it our all. The two of you join forces to hold off Lü Bu!"
Guan Yu and Zhang Fei immediately deflated. Although they refused to admit defeat, they knew how formidable Lü Bu was. Lü Bu's cultivation had reached the Perfected Celestial Realm, while they were only at the late Celestial Realm stage. In a one-on-one fight, they indeed couldn't defeat Lü Bu.
"With Guan Yu and Zhang Fei as righteous warriors to deal with Lü Bu, we still need to use the dragon's aura to isolate the military aura, so that Dong Zhuo's 50,000 elite iron-clad soldiers will be temporarily unable to fight and will be rendered useless." Wang Yun looked intently at Liu Bei: "It is rumored that Xuande possesses the Chixiao Sword, which is a national treasure of the Han Dynasty. If the emperor has permission, he can use it to mobilize the imperial dragon aura of the Han Dynasty!"
"As expected, that old scoundrel is wicked; he's after my Crimson Sky Sword!" Liu Bei cursed inwardly, but didn't show it on his face. He respectfully took out his twin swords and handed them to Wang Yun.
"Lord Situ, you may not know this, but although my twin swords can temporarily transform into the Crimson Sky Divine Sword, they are not the true Crimson Sky Divine Sword, and only possess the power for a single strike! I only managed to frighten Lü Bu by using a trick back then." Liu Bei said sincerely, "My Liu Xuande family has declined, and I don't even have the title of a marquis now, so how could I possibly possess the Crimson Sky Divine Sword?"
Liu Bei's words made perfect sense. After all, there were more than ten generations between Liu Bei and the current emperor, and the Crimson Sky Divine Sword of the Liu family would never be passed down to him.
After listening to Liu Bei's words, Wang Yun believed him to a great extent. He then took Liu Bei's twin swords and examined them carefully for a while. Finding nothing unusual, he prepared to return them to Liu Bei.
“These twin swords are most likely the transformed Crimson Sky Divine Sword!” Wang Xuan raised an eyebrow, his eyes turning golden at some point, taking in the fortunes of everyone present.
Above Liu Bei's head was a deep purple pillar of destiny, with a ten-foot-long snake coiled around it, which was the destiny derived from the destiny.
Carp can transform into dragons, and snakes can also transform into dragons. Liu Bei is also a hidden dragon, and he has the potential to contend for the world and transform into a true dragon in the future.
Wang Yun was influenced by Liu Bei's good fortune, so he believed Liu Bei's words and gave up his idea of seizing the Twin Swords.
"The path of destiny is truly unpredictable! Even though my father also possesses a deep purple destiny, he was still misled by Liu Bei's destiny." Wang Xuan sighed inwardly, realizing the difference in their destinies.
Both Liu Bei and Wang Yun possessed a deep purple destiny, but Liu Bei's destiny transformed into that of a dragon, a qualitative change that made his destiny half a realm stronger than ordinary destiny.
Chapter 163 Killing Dong Zhuo!
And so, a plot to kill Dong Zhuo slowly unfolded.
Once everything was ready, Huang Wan, the Minister of the Capital Region, took Emperor Liu Xie's imperial edict to summon Dong Zhuo to the palace for an audience.
Dong Zhuo now controls the entire court, turning Liu Xie into his puppet. Even if Liu Xie summons him, he might not go. Therefore, in order to lure Dong Zhuo to the capital, the imperial edict stated that the throne would be passed to Dong Zhuo.
Dong Zhuo was skeptical when he saw the imperial edict. He didn't suspect anyone wanted to kill him, but he didn't quite believe the edict's statement that the emperor would abdicate the throne to him.
"I want to see what that little emperor is up to!" Dong Zhuo sneered, taking his adopted son Lü Bu with him and Li Ru along as well.
Lu Bu's cultivation had reached the peak of the Celestial Realm, and he could rival 100,000 Dao soldiers on his own. Li Ru was also a master of the Celestial Realm. With these two protecting him closely, Dong Zhuo's safety should have been assured.
Still not entirely at ease, Dong Zhuo ordered his men to bring along the 50,000 elite armored soldiers, arranging them in formation outside the palace. In case of any unforeseen circumstances, Dong Zhuo could immediately summon the military's morale to force his way out of the palace.
With these multiple safeguards in place, Dong Zhuo finally felt relieved and prepared to enter the palace.
The strategist Li Ru felt increasingly uneasy and stopped Dong Zhuo, saying, "Prime Minister, the young emperor's sudden summons to the palace is likely a trap. The General's fate was just a few years ago. If someone has arranged for troops to ambush us in the palace, it will be very dangerous."
Upon hearing this, Dong Zhuo felt a chill run down his spine. This was the impulsive whim of a martial artist! He was about to turn and leave, ordering Lü Bu to lead his troops to search the palace thoroughly before making any further moves.
However, at this moment, a sudden surge of calamity descended from the sky, spreading towards the innate fortunes of Dong Zhuo and Li Ru.
This is the calamity descended by the Heavenly Dao of the main world. The Heavenly Dao intends to use Wang Xuan and his group to kill Dong Zhuo!
As soon as the black calamity energy descended, a yellow light flashed out, blocking most of it, leaving only a small portion to entangle Dong Zhuo and Li Ru's innate destiny.
Even a small amount of the calamity energy still affected Dong Zhuo. Just a second ago, he was about to say that he wanted to leave, but he changed his mind before he could finish speaking.
"Li Ru, you're overthinking it. The reason General He Jin was tricked into the palace and killed was because the Ten Attendants were there; He Jin didn't control the palace. But I control the entire court, and everyone inside and outside the palace is my man, so there's nothing to worry about." Dong Zhuo laughed loudly, "Besides, with me, Fengxian, here, who can kill me?"