The 33rd time: The Heroine Hua Mulan Brings Rain with Her Pear Blossom Hairpin; The Loyal General Yu Qian Sacrifices Himself on the Western Expedition

  Dong Zhuo listened to Li Ru's words and returned to his seat, drinking several cups of wine and saying: "If it doesn't work out, what crime should I be guilty of?"

  Li Ru smiled and said: "I would rather die by execution or boil myself in a large cauldron!"

  "Good! This is exactly what you said!" Dong Zhuo surprisingly toasted Li Ru with a cup of wine.

  Li Ru said after thanking him: "The Prime Minister should have thought of who to send, right?"

  Dong Zhuo burst out laughing and immediately ordered Li Ru to draft an imperial edict, then sent someone to inform the Minister of Works, Wang Yun, that he was to set off the next day to proclaim the edict in Xiliang.

  According to the "Book of Later Han", Wang Yun, styled Zishi, was a native of Taiyuan Qi (present-day Qixian, Shanxi). He was born into an official family and started his career at a young age. In his prime, he became the Governor of Yuzhou. During the reign of Emperor Ling of Han, he lost in a power struggle against one of the "Ten Regular Attendants", Zhang Rang, and was forced to retire from office. After He Jin came into power in 189 AD, Wang Yun resumed his official career, serving as an Assistant Officer in the Imperial Secretariat and then as the Governor of Henan.

  That evening, after dinner, Wang Yun sat in the main hall thinking about the situation of the world. Suddenly, a fragrance wafted into his nose, he looked up and saw that it was his adopted daughter Diao Chan carefully walking over with a freshly brewed pot of tea.

  At this time, Diao Chan was wearing a white thin blouse, with her hair high and curly, her eyebrows curved without makeup, and her dimples seemed to appear even when she wasn't smiling. With just one frown and one smile, she truly exhausted the purple color of the sky, making countless young girls blush with shame.

  Wang Yun sighed and said, "If it were a prosperous era, with your beauty, you would surely be honored for life and live a life of wealth and nobility. However, the country is on the verge of collapse, war is constant, and I'm afraid you will also find it difficult to live a peaceful life."

  Diao Chan suddenly heard her adoptive father say such words, and hastily comforted him: "Adoptive father, you're thinking too much. Although the world is not at peace now, it's my good fortune from three lifetimes that I can recognize you as my adoptive father."

  Wang Yun took the tea from Diaochan's hand, took a light sip and said: "I am already over fifty years old, after working hard for the great Han dynasty for a few more years, I will naturally enter the yellow dust. But you are in your prime youth, your adoptive father is worried about you! You should say what kind of man you have a crush on, your adoptive father can help you find someone suitable, and also fulfill one of his wishes!"

  Diao Chan immediately turned around, her face already filled with blushes. She said softly: "Daughter is unwilling to go anywhere, only willing to spend a lifetime by the side of Father Yi, serving Father Yi!"

  Wang Yun smiled and said, "Silly girl, a woman should not stay at home after coming of age. Now your adoptive father is as nervous as if he's walking on thin ice every day, it's not a good idea for you to stay by his side either. Your adoptive father plans to help you find an ordinary family to marry into, so that you can live a stable life, what do you think?"

  "Life has no nobility or baseness, as long as he treats me with a true heart, regardless of his family background, Diao Chan is willing to spend the rest of her life with him."

  Wang Yun burst out laughing and said: "My daughter is indeed different from others, good! So very good! Father-in-law has been waiting just for these words!"

  Diao Chan also covered her face and laughed upon hearing her adoptive father's words.

  Just as the father and daughter were laughing and chatting, someone outside the door suddenly said, "Lord Wang is about to receive an imperial edict!"

  Wang Yun hastily put on his official robes, tidied himself up, and led his whole family to kneel down in the main hall. After the eunuch finished reading out the imperial edict, Wang Yun hesitated and did not accept the edict.

  "Huang Men urged: 'Lord Wang, hurry up and accept the edict! This is a task given to you by His Majesty, and His Majesty has great trust in you. You must not disappoint His Majesty's expectations!'"

  Under the urging of the crowd, Wang Yun finally took over the imperial edict with a trembling hand. Diao Chan found that her adoptive father seemed to have aged a lot in an instant.

  After seeing off Huang Men, Wang Yun supported his waist and looked at the dark night.

  Wang Yun's three sons, Wang Gai, Wang Jing and Wang Ding, came together and said: "Father, Wuwei is far away, please ask the Emperor to let us go instead of you to read out the imperial edict!"

  "Nonsense! Absolute nonsense! Stop your idle chatter. The task entrusted by the Emperor, I will complete it even if it means sacrificing my life."

  "But, but earlier that yellow gate said to let you go to Wuwei! That's a land of jackals and wolves. The great armies of Han Sui, Li Jue, and Guo Si were all defeated, aren't you going there to send yourself to death? I think this is definitely another one of Dong Zhuo's sinister plots! He's using the emperor's banner to let you go to your death!" Wang Jing spoke with true sincerity.

  Wang Ding also had tears in his eyes and said: "Father, why did he tell you the location but not let you see the imperial edict? Is there some conspiracy behind this?"

  Wang Yun saw his three sons chattering on and on, saying nothing of substance, and scolded: "You three get out of here and go to sleep at once! Go, don't bother me with this nonsense!"

  Wang Gai, Wang Jing and Wang Ding saw their father get angry, so they had no choice but to lower their heads and leave.

  Diao Chan stood beside Wang Yun without saying a word.

  King Wang looked at the imperial edict in his hand, then looked at Diao Chan and said: "I just said I'd help you find a good husband, but unexpectedly I've gotten myself into such a precarious situation! If I don't come back, take the money I left for you and find yourself a good family!"

  "No! I won't!" At this point, Diao Chan could no longer hold back and began to sob quietly.

  "Don't cry. The children of my Wang Yun's family never easily shed tears."

  Diao Chan wiped away the tears from the corner of her eyes and said, "Father, let Diao Chan accompany you to Wuwei, so that someone can take care of you along the way."

  "The imperial edict has already set a deadline, let's depart immediately at dawn tomorrow and arrive in Wuwei within four days. If there is any delay, I'm afraid not even the governor's head can be guaranteed to remain in Wuwei!"

  When he heard the fourth day, Diao Chan burst into tears again. Luoyang is more than 2,500 miles away from Wuwei. If Wang Yun, a man over fifty years old, wants to reach Wuwei within four days, he must travel six or seven hundred miles a day. This speed has already exceeded the speed of 600 miles plus emergency.

  "Never mind, I've been troubled for most of my life, and I'm not afraid of this trouble. Even if I don't make it, I'll die to prove my will." As he said this, Wang Yun also left behind two lines of old tears.

  Under the dim light, the father and daughter who were originally chatting and laughing suddenly burst into tears facing each other.

  However, after crying for a while, Wang Yun wiped away his tears and faced north to pay his respects. He then called over his three sons and, in front of them and Diaochan, told them what to do if something unexpected were to happen to him.

  Several people couldn't help but burst into tears again. Wang Yun, however, didn't have the heart to cry at this moment. He instructed his servants to prepare the best horses and set off early the next morning.

  At this time, in Wang Yun's heart, apart from worrying about whether his old bones could hold up to Wuwei, he was also thinking of another thing that might help him achieve his long-held wish, provided, of course, that he didn't die on the way.

  The next day, just after dawn, Wang Yun left the mansion early, but what surprised him was that there were already three soldiers waiting outside the mansion.

  Wang Yun brought out a servant, and one of the soldiers said: "We three have been ordered by the Prime Minister to escort King Wang to Wuwei to proclaim the imperial edict."

  Wang Yun had no reason to refuse at this time and could not refuse. It was clear that Dong Zhuo did not trust him, so he sent someone to monitor him.

  It's said that on this journey, they climbed mountains and crossed rivers, rushing along with the stars above and the moon at their feet. Wang Yun was truly exhausting his old bones. Among the three soldiers, one of them couldn't bear the hardships of traveling day and night, and secretly slipped away. As for this situation, Wang Yun didn't have the heart to bother with it.

  Every time they passed a post station, Wang Yun always made the post-house servants change horses as quickly as possible. As a result, several horses died of exhaustion on the way, and he himself became thinner and thinner, eating less every day.

  The four-day deadline has arrived, and Wang Yun has also arrived at the gate of Wuwei City. His casual clothes are already tattered, but fortunately, he had prepared a brand new official uniform.

  They entered the inn in a group of three and changed their clothes. Wang Yun immediately brought two soldiers to Ma Teng's mansion.

  Ma Teng was shocked when he heard that Wang Yun had come from afar to read out the imperial edict.

  Wang Yun met Ma Teng and first said, "General Ma's battle at Quyang was a great defeat for Li Jue's 30,000 elite soldiers, shaking the world. It's truly something to be congratulated!"

  Ma Teng invited him to sit down, then hastily ordered someone to summon Ma Chao and others. Then he said to Wang Yun: "General Wang enjoys the salary of the emperor, should think for the emperor, don't you think that General Ma is rebelling?"

  Wang Yun stroked his beard and said, "Indeed, many people in the imperial court have been saying that you, General, intend to rebel. But in my humble opinion, you are trying to prop up a collapsing building and support the state in its time of crisis."

  Ma Teng was perplexed by this. As far as he knew, Wang Yun had always been extremely obedient to Dong Zhuo, so how could he say such a thing?

  Pong De, who was standing beside him, said to Wang Yun: "Isn't the king here to punish the guilty?"

  Wang Yun placed the imperial edict on the table and said, "To be honest, I'm not even sure what this imperial edict says. The reason I traveled thousands of miles and risked my life to see General Ma is just to resolve a knot in my heart!"

  "Oh?" Ma Teng stared straight at Wang Yun.

  Wang Yun said: "If Dong Zhuo is not eliminated, the world will be difficult to calm! Looking at the current situation in the world, only you and Ma Teng can match Dong Zhuo. Although I appear to be obedient to Dong Zhuo on the surface, in reality, I am secretly uniting with various anti-Dong forces. Once the opportunity arises, I will surely take down that Dong thief. I have long heard that General is a descendant of General Ma Yuan, loyal only to the Han dynasty. This time you came, although it was by imperial order, but also wanted to take the opportunity to discuss important matters with General, please fulfill General's wish!"

  "Wang Yun, do you want to rebel?" The two soldiers standing beside him were still intimidated by Ma Teng's power, but upon hearing this, they could no longer bear it. As Dong Zhuo's men, they did not believe that Wang Yun and Ma Teng would kill them.

  "Where did this reckless little soldier come from?" Pang De roared, and the two soldiers were immediately frightened, their legs going soft, and they didn't dare say another word.

  Wang Yun said, "They are just two small soldiers sent by Dong Zhuo to spy on me."

  At this point, Wang Yun gave a wink to Pang De. Although Pang De understood what he meant, he still asked for confirmation from Ma Teng. After Ma Teng nodded in agreement, Pang De swung his large knife and the two poor soldiers immediately went to meet King Yan...