Chapter 44: Who Should I Operate On?

  Long Feng was exceptionally summoned by Dong Zhuo to attend the early court session. As before, Dong Zhuo's massive body sat beside Emperor Liu Xie, while the officials and military officers below sat in a strict and orderly manner. The Han Dynasty had always held morning court sessions since the time of Emperor Ling. The sudden summons to an early court session made many people fearful, especially when they saw many Western Liang soldiers appearing within the palace grounds as they entered.

  Dong Jun, as the newly appointed Upper Army Colonel, although not of high rank, held the defense of the capital and even the imperial palace, appearing majestically before all military officers. The eunuch had just finished shouting when Dong Jun immediately stepped forward to report: "Your Majesty, yesterday when I was on patrol, I discovered a suspicious group in the city. These people were bought by Cao Cao to prepare for an assassination attempt on my elder brother. Counselor Cao Cao has already fled in fear of punishment. Please issue an imperial decree to arrest Cao Cao!"

  Wang Yun immediately understood that Cao Cao had made a mistake. He was worried, fearing that Dong Zhuo would use this matter to implicate himself, and involuntarily looked at Long Fei standing in the back. Long Fei, on the other hand, appeared nonchalant, closing his eyes and dozing off.

  Yuan Yi coldly smiled and said: "Prefect Dong, Cao Cao is a Discerner of the Imperial Court, his father Cao Song was once a Commander-in-Chief, there's no evidence so I dare not falsely accuse!"

  Long Fei sighed and said, "It's you again, Yuan Wei, this is what you get for being so reckless."

  Dong Jin smiled and said: "Your Majesty, I dare to say so, naturally there is evidence. I personally led people to capture two assassins, just outside the palace. If you gentlemen do not believe it, bring them in and ask!"

  Liu Xie glanced at Dong Zhuo with a slanted eye and said loudly: "Bring in the assassin!"

  Two half-dead men were dragged in, their bodies covered in wounds, and they had clearly suffered a great deal of physical pain. They couldn't even walk on their own, and were only able to move forward because the guards were pulling them. When they reached the center of the grand hall, the guards released their grip, and the two men collapsed to the ground, motionless, as if dead. Dong Yin stepped forward, slowly crouched down, and stretched out his right hand to lift up one of the men's heads: "Speak! Tell me again what you told me before, in front of His Majesty and all these officials!"

  That man took a deep breath, his voice weakly saying: "I am Zhang San, an assassin from the Black Ice, sent to Luoyang under orders to cooperate with Lord Cao and assassinate Grandmaster Dong!"

  "Gentlemen, isn't it clear and evident? What more is there to say with such solid evidence?" Dong Cheng bowed his head and said to Emperor Xian of Han: "Please Your Majesty issue an order to arrest Cao Cao at once!"

  "General Dong!" Yuan Wei hastily said: "It's not credible to believe in just one person's words! Your Majesty, I think this matter should be carefully considered. This person mentioned something about 'black ice', but I've never heard of it before. Be careful not to be deceived by others and mistakenly arrest the loyal and virtuous people of our great Han!" As Yuan Wei spoke, he didn't forget to glance sideways at Dong Yun.

  "...". From the bottom of his heart, Liu Xie did not want to arrest anyone, but this was said by Dong Zhuo's brother, Dong Chao, and must have been instructed by Dong Zhuo. He had no choice but to do it, so he hesitated.

  "Gentlemen, the name 'Hei Bing' may be unfamiliar to you all, but I'm sure some of you know about Hei Bing Tai. This was the most ruthless assassination organization in Qin State back in the day. Whenever Qin State suffered a defeat in battle, they would send out these people to assassinate high-ranking officials and generals of other states. During the time of Qin Shi Huang, it reached its peak. Do any of you still remember the Wu Mu Ya created by Emperor Gaozu? It was actually modeled after Hei Bing Tai of Qin State. The intention was to emulate Ying Zheng, but it ended up becoming a tool for Empress Lü and Wang Mang's chaotic rule. It wasn't until the time of Emperor Guangwu that an order was given to disband it. And this Hei Bing is precisely the remaining evil root from back then!"

  "Ah! So that's how it is!" The crowd began to discuss and speculate, many of whom didn't actually know the truth, but after hearing Li Su's words, they suddenly understood.

  "This is just Mr. Li's speculation, it can't be used as evidence!" Although Yuan Wei didn't know about the Black Ice Platform and Wumeng Cliff, he was clear about his own situation - since he had already taken a stance against Dong Zhuo, he could only continue to speak.

  Li Su took out the White Dragon Wall from his bosom, which was given by Long Fei, and held it with both hands: "Your Majesty, please look at this object. It is the token of Hei Bing, the White Dragon Wall, which was found in Cao Cao's house!"

  "Cough!" Dong Zhuo coughed, and the crowd hastily stopped their discussion. Dong Zhuo moved his stout body: "Since that's the case, it seems Cao Cao really wants to assassinate me. Li Ru, draft an imperial edict to notify all provinces and counties to arrest the assassin Cao Cao. Whoever captures Cao Cao will be rewarded with a marquisate of 10,000 households and a prize of 10,000 taels of gold!"

  The first round of fighting ended with Yuan Shao's defeat. Cao Song had a good relationship with the Yuan family when he was in court, and the two families were intermarried for generations. Although the Cao family had no officials at present, their actual power in the court could not be underestimated, so Yuan Shao hoped to pull the Cao family to his side by saving Cao Cao's life. However, he failed.

  Li Ru was about to draft the edict, when Long Fei suddenly said in a loud voice: "Taishi, this Cao Cao can collude with Hei Bing, and it's likely that he has already hidden himself and disappeared. If we want to capture him by edict, I'm afraid it won't work. The only way is to use his own trick against him!"

  "What does this mean!"

  Long Fei stepped forward: "As far as I know, Hei Bing only recognizes money and not people. There's nothing they can't do in the world. Why don't we use Hei Bing to capture Cao Cao? The imperial court is already short-handed, and the various regions of Guandong are not obedient to orders. Cao Cao will inevitably escape back to his hometown, and we will be powerless to stop him. It's better to hire Hei Bing sooner rather than later!"

  Li Ru nodded: "This plan is excellent! Your Majesty, Taishi and I also think that Long Xiao Wei said it right!"

  Cai Yong rushed out and hastily stopped him: "The great Han dynasty is actually going to rely on a group of assassins, this will damage the national prestige, damage Your Majesty's dignity, please think thrice!"

  Liu Xie took a glance at Dong Zhuo, who was sitting there with a face full of anger and bulging eyes, which was a sign that he was about to kill someone. Liu Xie hastily asked: "Taichang Lord! Is there any money left in the treasury?"

  Tai Cang hurriedly knelt down and reported: "I report to Your Majesty, the treasury, the treasury, the treasury..." He said three treasuries in a row, and then couldn't say anything else.

  "There's no need to be so evasive! Either it is or it isn't!" Li said coldly.

  "I report to Your Majesty, the treasury is already empty, there's hardly any money or grain left!"

  "What?" Liu Xie heard this and instead put down the stone in his heart, turned around with a smile and said: "Taishi, you see that there is no money in the treasury, we are also powerless!"

  "Money is no object!" Long Fei spoke for the second time: "Last time, it was to rebuild the eight schools of Xiyuan, and all the adults helped out. This time, it's for the prosperity of our great Han dynasty for a thousand years, so I'm sure none of you will be stingy about it! Lord Yuan Wei, what do you say?"

  Everything is clear now. The long passage before was just a setup, and the key issue is still about money. Dong Zhuo wants to squeeze them dry before he's willing to let go! Everyone fell silent again, even Yuan Shu realized he had been deceived, and hastily tried to clear himself: "I didn't say that! I still have over a hundred mouths to feed at home, if you want to capture Cao Cao, just send troops. Yesterday's matter, today should not have left Tiger Trap Pass yet!" After finishing speaking, he quickly sat down and stopped talking.

  "The Yuan family, four generations and three nobles. The second brother of Lord Yuan, Yuan Feng, is the current Minister of Works, and Lord Yuan is the current Minister of War. The eldest son of the Yuan family, Yuan Shao, is the governor of Bohai, the second son Yuan Shu is the governor of Nanyang. There are 1231 slaves in the household, with 82 grain stores and 15 fabric stores in Luoyang, as well as 37 tea houses and taverns. In addition, there are 5,000 mu of land in Runan, and also land in Hongnong and Changle in Luoyang. Who doesn't know that the Yuan family is rich enough to rival a country? Even Lord Yuan himself would cry out in poverty! If it's like this, then everyone in the Han Dynasty is just begging for food!" Long Fei spoke in one breath about the Yuan family's wealth, causing the people on the side of the Western Liang army to burst into laughter. Among the court officials, many were also hearing the details of the Yuan family's assets for the first time, and they all showed a look of surprise.

  Long Feng continued: "The descendants of the Yuan family are all over the world, and every state and county has people from the Yuan family. Everyone regards being able to get along with Lord Yuan as their greatest wish in life. From the beginning of this year, the governor of Shanyang, Yuan Yi, presented 5,000 taels of gold; the governor of Dongjun, Qiao Mao, presented 3,800 taels of gold; Liu Dai of Yanzhou presented 6,000 taels of gold; Kong Yu, the governor of Yuzhou, presented 6,300 taels of gold; Han Fu, the governor of Jizhou, presented 10,000 taels of gold; Yuan Shao, the governor of Bohai, presented 30,000 taels of gold. Later, General Nanyang, Taishou Yuan Wu, was even more generous and presented 50,000 taels of gold. In just a few months, Lord Yuan has received tens of thousands of taels of gold. Am I right?"

  "Your Majesty!" Yuan Yi panted heavily: "The Emperor, Long Fei slandered me, a humble minister... My family, the Yuans, have served the great Han and Your Majesty with loyalty for four generations and three public offices..."

  "Director Yuan! Stop pretending!" Long Fei pulled out a bamboo scroll from his chest: "Everyone, this is the account book of Director Yuan's mansion from the first few months of this year. I don't know how many more there are for the past few decades. If you want to take a look, you can ask Director Yuan to borrow it. Maybe he'll lend it to us if he's in a good mood. I had to put in a lot of effort to steal this one!"

  "Slap!" Dong Zhuo slapped his palm on the dragon case in front of Emperor Liu Xie, causing a dragon-shaped paperweight to fall off: "Yuan Yi, as a marshal, is supposed to set an example for all officials, but he has been so corrupt. Come! Take Yuan Yi and Yuan Fang down and throw them into prison. Li Su, I order you to go with Long Fei to search and seize the Yuan estate immediately!"

  No one among the civil and military officials dared to speak. No one had expected that things would suddenly turn out this way. Just a moment ago, he was still one of the Three Dukes, but in an instant, he became a prisoner under arrest. Just a moment ago, his wealth could rival that of a nation, but in an instant, it was all confiscated. As he watched the soldiers pouring into the gate, Yuan Feng was already stunned and was carried out with stiff limbs. Yuan Wei continuously shouted: "I am Yuan Shi, a three-time Duke, loyal to the Han Dynasty, and also to Your Majesty! Dong Zhuo, you treacherous villain, Long Fei, you petty man..."

  Liu Xie was also a bit foolish, just now he still wanted to protect Cao Cao, and now even the Yuan brothers were involved. He turned his face sideways and secretly took another look at Dong Zhuo, a strange fear surged up in his heart. Dong Zhuo slowly got up with the support of the crowd: "If nothing's wrong, let's disperse! I'm also tired!" He walked towards the rear palace.

  Dong Jin hastily followed up: "Big brother, how was what I did? This matter is still pretty good, right?"

  "Who?" Dong Zhuo sneered: "Honestly, was it Long Fei who gave you the idea?"

  Dong Zhi lowered his head and chuckled. Dong Zhuo's eyes turned, looking at Dong Zhi: "From now on, pay more attention to that Long Fei, this person is ruthless and cunning, and just now he put the Yuan brothers in a desperate situation, although we helped from behind, but also need to be good at using it, this point, you have to learn well."