Three Kingdoms Mythology World.

Chapter 2607 Dong Zhuo VS Ding Yuan (Part 2)

Chapter 2584 Dong Zhuo VS Ding Yuan (Part 2)

"Haha!~~" Dong Zhuo laughed heartily, as if he had expected this situation and did not care at all.

However, the next second, he slammed the wine bowl down, and a violent aura erupted. Whistling sounds echoed from the curtains and screens.

Lu Bu and the others outside the door were all focused and waiting, ready to rush in at any moment.

Given the past grudge between Dong Zhuo and his adoptive father, they had to be extremely careful. Moreover, this was Dong Zhuo's home turf, and they wouldn't be surprised if he really launched an attack regardless of the consequences. After all, Dong Zhuo was becoming increasingly audacious.

"Please do not be alarmed, everyone. I have something to say, please listen carefully." At this moment, Dong Zhuo's voice came from inside the hall.

He glanced around meaningfully and said quietly:
"Since ancient times, the emperor has been the master of all people and the supreme ruler, and it is only because he is responsible for maintaining the ancestral temple and establishing the state that he is in charge. However, the current emperor is weak and lacks authority, and his demeanor as a ruler is not up to par. He is not as intelligent, studious, shrewd, and capable as the Prince of Chenliu, and his qualities are a hundred times better than the emperor's." Dong Zhuo began to lay the groundwork.

Immediately afterward, Dong Zhuo's thick eyebrows furrowed, and an aura of dominance emanated from him. He said in a deep voice, "I intend to depose the young emperor and install the Prince of Chenliu as the successor to the throne."

However, Dong Zhuo's words were like a thunderclap from a clear sky, shocking everyone present and causing their pupils to shrink sharply.

Even Li Ru, standing behind him, slightly changed his expression. This wasn't supposed to be the theme of today's banquet; why did the lord suddenly bring up the matter of deposing and installing emperors?

Instead of first dealing with Ding Yuan and seizing all military power in Luoyang, the plan was to depose and install Liu Bian to establish authority, thus bolstering the court and elevating the emperor's prestige to its peak, while also taking advantage of Liu Bian's imperial fortune and the Yongzhou Cauldron.

Then, they pushed Liu Xie, who had nothing, to the throne, put him in control of the imperial court, and began to take over completely. They dismissed people such as Lin Mu and Lu Zhi, effectively sidelining the entire Han Dynasty. After that, they installed a prince of a different surname to test the waters, and slowly usurped the Han Dynasty.

Unexpectedly, our lord Dong Zhuo was in such a hurry that he revealed it ahead of time. What awaits us now is a storm of fury!
"What do you all think?" Dong Zhuo spoke eloquently, as if he were discussing an ordinary matter.

Below, everyone remained silent, their faces ashen, and no one said anything immediately.

Veteran generals like Lu Zhi and Zhu Jun were all shaken upon hearing Dong Zhuo's words. They knew Dong Zhuo was arrogant, but they never imagined he would be this arrogant.

Discussing the abolition of the emperor and the establishment of a new one directly at a public banquet reveals their arrogance to the extreme!

Yuan Shao, Cao Cao, and others also had different expressions.

"Hmph! Who are you to dare utter such arrogant words?" Ding Yuan, the biggest rival, was furious upon hearing this and overturned the table in front of him, drawing all eyes to him.

"The Emperor is the legitimate son of the late Emperor. Although he is young and lacks authority, he has made no mistakes. With the assistance of the virtuous Empress Dowager He, he will surely grow into the supreme ruler. How dare you, you old fool, presume to discuss the deposition and installation of the new emperor? What are your intentions?!" Ding Yuan said righteously.

While refuting Dong Zhuo, he also tried to flatter Empress Dowager He.

"This act is tantamount to treason!!"

"Do you intend to seize the throne and usurp the fate of the nation by deposing the emperor?!" Ding Yuan bluntly revealed Dong Zhuo's motives.

"How dare you!! Ding Jianyang, how dare you spread such heresies at my banquet? Where is my dignity? Guards!!!" Dong Zhuo slammed his fist on the table and shouted.

Although Lao Tzu secretly intended to do that, could he really say it out loud?

Hua Xiong, Niu Fu, and others immediately rushed out from the back hall and came to Dong Zhuo's side. If something seemed amiss, they immediately launched a fierce attack.

"Hmph! Today, those who obey me will prosper, and those who defy me will perish!" Dong Zhuo roared, displaying an arrogant and unruly demeanor.

Dong Zhuo's true colors began to be revealed.

"My lord, at this banquet today, we shall not discuss state affairs, hehe... let's not discuss state affairs." Li Ru stepped forward to ease the atmosphere.

"Jianyang, calm down, calm down!" Some ministers who were close to Dong Zhuo also spoke up to ease the situation.

Lu Bu, who was outside the door, had already reacted when Ding Yuan overturned the table. He quickly stepped in and stood behind Ding Yuan, his halberd gleaming with a cold light...

The two generals began to confront each other, seemingly preparing for a major battle.

After Lü Bu stopped, he glanced contemptuously at Hua Xiong and the others, then unleashed his aura, instantly freezing the atmosphere in the room. Even the renowned scholars and officials were suppressed by his aura.

Cao Cao frowned again when he saw Lü Bu's disregard for etiquette.

Although Lü Bu was renowned and hailed as a tiger general of his time, Cao Cao didn't hold him in high regard. After all, he had even recognized Ding Yuan as his adoptive father…

Zhao Yun was much weaker than Lü Bu and had no reputation, but Lü Bu liked him very much when he saw him. That's the difference!

Perhaps Cao Cao also saw that Lü Bu possessed the qualities of a tiger and a treacherous beast...

Lu Bu's aura was profound and unrestrained. Even when Hua Xiong and the others joined forces, they were no match for his pressure, and many of them had to take several steps back.

Dong Zhuo, the one in charge, turned pale, feeling as if a huge boulder was pressing down on him. Lü Bu was showing such disrespect, acting so brazenly on his own turf!

He arranged for Hua Xiong and the others to stay in the back hall, which was undoubtedly a sign that he intended to eliminate Ding Yuan. However, Ding Yuan was extremely cautious, always traveling with Lü Bu. Lü Bu had already thwarted his plans many times… Dong Zhuo gave Lü Bu a deep look, lost in thought…

Seeing this, the others had various expressions. Some picked up their wine bowls and took a sip, clearly intending to watch the show. They hoped that Dong Zhuo and Ding Yuan would fight, preferably to the point of mutual destruction.

However, some people stood up to dissuade him, such as Yuan Shao.

Yuan Shao sat in the first seat to Dong Zhuo's left, his expression extremely complicated. He said, "Lord Dong, the Ten Attendants have just been eliminated, the court has just been stabilized, and everything needs to be rebuilt. It is not advisable to cause any more trouble and lest the people be uneasy!"

In fact, neither Yuan Shao nor the Yuan family expected that Dong Zhuo would be so arrogant and unscrupulous.

You can bully the common people, rob wealthy merchants, and harass men and women—that's one thing. But now that Luoyang is gradually stabilizing, and you don't have overwhelming power to back you up, you're directly discussing such a major issue in front of everyone? You're really not afraid of death!

Upon hearing Yuan Shao's speech, Dong Zhuo's lips curled into a cold smile. This Yuan Shao had led his troops into the palace, driven out the emperor, and committed heinous crimes, causing the Han Dynasty to lose face and the imperial family's prestige, resulting in the theft of palace resources and an unprecedentedly weak defense. The guarding duties had to be handled by outside troops like Ding Yuan—an unprecedented situation.

Their crimes were more akin to acts of treason. If Liu Hong were alive, Yuan Shao would have wiped out the entire Yuan clan if he had dared to do such a thing. Liu Hong didn't dare to touch them simply because he lacked a good pretext.

It's ridiculous that Yuan Shao is now so shameless as to say that he's doing this for the sake of the people and the Han Dynasty!
"My actions are also for the sake of the common people and for the prosperity of the nation. Only when a wise ruler appears can our Han Dynasty be restored and its majesty restored!" Dong Zhuo also spoke shamelessly.

"Furthermore, gentlemen, when the late Emperor was alive, he was close to the Prince of Chenliu and always wanted to make him the Crown Prince. However, this failed because the Ten Attendants controlled the imperial court. Now we can be considered to be correcting the mistakes of the Ten Attendants and bringing the Han Dynasty back to the right path." Dong Zhuo brought up the Ten Attendants again to lash out at their corpse.

"I have a late emperor's edict in my possession, which appoints the Prince of Chenliu as his successor." Dong Zhuo threw out his trump card.

The crowd, who had been silent and lost in thought, were jolted again upon hearing Dong Zhuo's words.

"Ridiculous! Ridiculous! You old scoundrel, how dare you fabricate the late emperor's edict! You deserve to die a thousand deaths!!!" Ding Yuan was furious and strode away.

Given Liu Hong's personality, he might actually have left such a will.

Reaching the doorway, Ding Yuan turned around, his face grim, and shouted, "You old scoundrel Dong Zhuo, don't even think about succeeding!!"

Upon hearing this, Dong Zhuo snorted coldly, and a strong murderous aura appeared in his eyes as he watched Ding Yuan's departing figure.

Ding Yuan left his seat, while the others remained seated at the table, silent.

"Gentlemen, my actions are also for the purpose of restoring the Han Dynasty."

"When the late emperor was alive, I was invited by him to secretly meet with him."

"It seems that the late emperor knew that General He Jin and Empress Dowager He would control the court, so he set up a plan and left a backup plan."

"The best proof of this is the late emperor's mother, Empress Dowager Dong!" Dong Zhuo threw out another trump card.

"I learned of the late emperor's will from his mother, Empress Dowager Dong," Dong Zhuo said sincerely, as if everything that had happened was real and well-founded.

He, Dong Zhuo, was a loyal minister of the Han Dynasty!

"Dong Gong's words are incorrect. What I know is that you sent people to plunder the ancestral land of the royal family, kidnap the Empress Dowager, and destroy the place where the dragon rose..." Lu Zhi also stood up and began to refute Dong Zhuo.

Before Dong Zhuo could speak, Lu Zhi continued, “In the past, Tai Jia was unwise, so Yi Yin banished him to Tong Palace; the King of Changyi ascended the throne of Wei for twenty-seven days and committed more than three thousand evils, so Huo Guang reported to the Imperial Ancestral Temple and deposed him. Although the current emperor is young, he is intelligent and benevolent, and has not made any mistakes.”

"Dong Gong is an outsider who has never participated in state affairs and does not possess the great talents of Yi Yin or Huo Guang. How can he talk about such important matters as deposing and installing emperors?"

"As the sage said, having the ambition of Yi Yin is acceptable, but lacking the ambition of Yi Yin is treason!" Lu Zhi shouted.

A powerful aura also rippled out.

Clearly, Lu Zhi had also begun to break ties with Dong Zhuo. He was aware of Dong Zhuo's treacherous ambitions and was not going to go along with him.

"Clang!!" Dong Zhuo roared in fury, standing up abruptly and drawing his long sword: "Today I will kill you, you arrogant traitor!!!"

Seeing the murderous aura emanating from Dong Zhuo, Yuan Shao drew half of his sword, seemingly intending to come to his aid. Cao Cao and the others also stood up, coldly watching Dong Zhuo.

"Lord Dong, you mustn't!"

"Lord Dong, you mustn't!" Several people at the banquet stood up urgently to dissuade him.

Killing Lu Zhi...that won't do!

“Lord Dong, Minister Lu is a great Confucian scholar with a far-reaching reputation. He is a role model for scholars throughout the land. If we kill him today, the world will be shocked.”

Upon hearing this, Dong Zhuo's expression hardened. He sheathed his sword, then laughed heartily, "Haha, everyone, you've been frightened. Please have a seat..."

(End of this chapter)