Three Kingdoms Mythology World.

Chapter 2667 Stealing the Imperial Tomb

"Yizhen, you're so foolish!!" Lu Zhi sighed as he looked at Huangfu Song, who was covered in wounds and looked utterly disheveled.

He had just picked Huangfu Song up from prison.

“Zigan…it’s a long story. If I don’t enter Luoyang, Dong Zhuo…will murder the emperor!!” Huangfu Song said with a sorrowful expression and a somber mood.

"He dares?!?" Lu Zhi roared in fury upon hearing this.

He immediately lowered his eyes, his anger vanished, and said softly, "He wouldn't dare. He's exploiting this weakness of yours, which is why he used this scheme to lure you to the capital..."

"Zigan, even if there's only a 10% chance, I can't take the risk..."

"Now that Qiao Mao and Yuan Shao have issued a proclamation to the world, calling on righteous armies and warriors to enter the capital to purge the court of corrupt officials, they have already enraged Dong Zhuo, that bear... If I provoke him further, things may very well go wrong..."

"According to intelligence, the army is mainly composed of troops from Guandong. There are very few officials from Bingzhou and Liangzhou in the west. The west is Dong Zhuo's retreat route. He won't leave a thorn in his side!" Huangfu Song said slowly.

"Sigh..." Lu Zhi sighed heavily upon hearing this.

"That's true. In the current situation, the only option is to appease Dong Zhuo first, so he doesn't despair and become desperate. Then we can observe the situation and wait for an opportunity," Lu Zhi sighed and analyzed.

They are all intelligent men with a good grasp of the situation. As long as they are not as impatient as last time, Dong Zhuo will not seize the opportunity.

“Although Dong Zhuo is cruel, his foundation is not yet stable. If he acts rashly, it will not only bring no benefit but also great harm. He dares not make a hasty move,” Lu Zhi said meaningfully.

Huangfu Song nodded upon hearing this. After a moment of contemplation, a solemn expression appeared on his face, and he said in a low voice, "Actually, I also have concerns. If the Guandong rebels can unite as one, they can still be kept in check; but if they have selfish motives, then the world is in danger... There might even be a second, a third... or even countless Dong Zhuos..."

Upon hearing Huangfu Song's words, Lu Zhi was jolted. He had been afraid of this situation, which was why he had never dared to unite the troops under the jurisdiction of the prefectures and counties to enter the capital to purge the court of corrupt officials in his fight against Dong Zhuo.

Isn't this the same foolish approach that He Jinzhi took?
Lu Zhi was renowned throughout the land and had many followers. If he raised his arm to call upon others, the number of people who responded would be no less than that of Qiao Mao and Yuan Shao.

With Zhu Jun and Huangfu Song added to the mix, it would be even more terrifying...

But aside from doing it themselves, the three of them never called for foreign troops to enter Beijing...

Even Lin Mu was viewed with great suspicion by them, and they lacked that kind of resolute determination.

He looked at Huangfu Song with a solemn expression: "Yizhen, we cannot place all our hopes on the Guandong Coalition. We must secretly contact loyal officials of the imperial court, secretly accumulate strength, and wait for an opportunity. Perhaps we can eliminate Dong Zhuo without bloodshed!"

"Is this Zishi's scheme to sow discord?" Huangfu Song asked in a low voice upon hearing this.

“Yes… Zishi’s plan is the best strategy… Lü Bu is a man we can win over!” Lu Zhi nodded in agreement.

"If Dong Zhuo were to get rid of... his group of tyrannical generals, what would he do? The Xiliang army is crude and rude, and is by no means a benevolent force."

"Without a leader... we can continue to use the strategy of sowing discord..." Lu Zhi said quietly.

"I'm afraid they might just overthrow Luoyang..." Huangfu Song sighed.

“Let’s go…we should go back and freshen up first…” After considering his concerns, Lu Zhi sighed softly and then left with Huangfu Song.

……

All the key fortresses and routes from Luoyang to Xiliang were basically under the control of Dong Zhuo's army. Dong Zhuo was no longer worried about his rear.

However, Dong Zhuo now faces both internal and external troubles. The internal troubles stem from the ill-intentioned civil and military officials. Dong Zhuo keeps a very strict eye on these officials, and has directly shut down all channels of communication.

Emperor Liu Xie of Han kept a close watch on him.

With overwhelming force, they placed the emperor and all officials under house arrest...

The reason Li Ru made such a drastic move was that, even before the rebel army had been united, Li Ru had secretly planned for Dong Zhuo's future after moving the capital to Chang'an.

Dong Zhuo spared Huangfu Song's life and instead heavily relied on Huangfu Jianshou, all in order to quickly seize Chang'an and make proper arrangements there.

As expected, with the assistance of Huangfu Jianshou, the Xiliang army easily took control of Chang'an, the only royal city.

At the same time, Dong Zhuo also began recruiting soldiers, but he did not do so in Sili. Instead, he sent Li Su back to Xiliang to recruit Qiang warriors.

Soon, a rough and rudimentary temporary army was stationed in Chang'an.

Meanwhile, Dong Zhuo secretly arranged for his relatives to be moved to Chang'an.

As for external threats, Dong Zhuo began making many preparations before the storm arrived.

He promoted his trusted confidants, actively prepared for war, and deployed heavy troops to guard all the fortresses. All the major generals were also stationed at the key fortresses and passes.

In addition, in order to hoard provisions, Dong Zhuo began to break his promise and tacitly allowed the Xiliang cavalry and Bingzhou iron cavalry to begin large-scale looting in Luoyang, the capital.

Secretly, on Li Ru's advice, Dong Zhuo began to extract maximum value from Luoyang, the capital city... such as the imperial tombs!

That's right... Dong Zhuo dared to rob tombs! He happened to have a force of 5,000 mountain-moving warriors under his command!
However, imperial tombs are not so easy to rob. They are riddled with traps and mechanisms, filled with terrifying danger, and concealed by special power within; the slightest carelessness can result in devastating losses.

The imperial mausoleum was originally guarded by members of the Han imperial family, but Dong Zhuo forcibly expelled them all under various pretexts and took complete control of the mausoleum. During this process, numerous conflicts erupted, and many members of the Han imperial family and their soldiers were brutally slaughtered by Dong Zhuo.

This brutal behavior enraged the Han imperial relatives who had initially come to watch the spectacle... Unfortunately, there was nothing they could do...

However, Dong Zhuo's process of excavating the imperial tombs was not smooth sailing, or rather, it was a disastrous one.

The 5,000-strong mountain-moving warriors had searched several tombs, but before they could find the main tomb, they lost 3,000 mountain-moving warriors and 30,000 Xiliang cavalry, causing Dong Zhuo great distress.

Fortunately, he took over the entire palace and found some blueprints and information about the imperial tomb in some of the halls, which made the excavation of the tomb much smoother.

It's illogical that the construction plans for the imperial tombs of the Han Dynasty could have survived; who would want to be disturbed by the living after death?

However, because the imperial tombs were located within the capital city of Luoyang, heavily guarded day and night by members of the Han imperial family, they were safe as long as no major problems arose. Therefore, some emperors neglected this...

Now, a big problem has arisen: Dong Zhuo has taken control of the entire capital!

To ensure the smooth progress of the operation, Dong Zhuo specially selected a group of elite soldiers from the Bingzhou cavalry, led by Zhang Liao, who were responsible for guarding the area around the tomb raiding site to prevent anyone from interfering.

He knew very well that once news of the tomb raiding leaked out, it would surely arouse public outrage, especially among the Liu family princes. At that time, he would not only face opposition from within the court, but also attacks from various feudal lords!

Of the eighteen warlords, none held the title of Prince of Liu. Was this because the Liu princely titles were weak and lacked troops? Certainly not… They were simply upholding their ancestral precepts and adhering to their principles…

If Dong Zhuo breaches our bottom line... then there's no point in holding on!

With everything prepared, on a dark and windy night, Dong Zhuo and Tongtian Heihuanglong personally led the Mountain Moving Warriors and elite soldiers to secretly infiltrate the largest imperial tomb.

That's right, Dong Zhuo and the national guardian beast have both come to rob the imperial tombs!!!

Only Dong Zhuo and the Tongtian Black Dragon could do something so absurd... Aren't they afraid of karma? Of course they are... But Dong Zhuo has a dragon-shaped jade seal... This item happens to be one of the keys to opening the imperial tomb!

It is also one of the important tools for suppressing the karmic forces of the imperial tombs.

Dong Zhuo went through great lengths, giving up so many things, including his hatred for Ji Beiqin, to obtain this item, precisely because it was of great use.

This theft of the imperial tombs is one of them!

Secondly, there's the fortune, energy, and incense power within the imperial tomb!

The imperial mausoleums are one of the true foundations of the Han Dynasty, and also its last line of defense and core...

"This time, I must find the third source of the Dragon's Fortune! And those two other things... to fulfill the conditions for the Yongzhou Cauldron to recognize its master!!" Dong Zhuo stared at the gloomy entrance to the underground palace, a resolute look on his face as he muttered to himself.

He disregarded everything to descend into the tomb, one of his purposes being to claim the Yongzhou Cauldron as his master!

Neither Liu Bian nor Dong Zhuo truly made the Yongzhou Cauldron recognize its master.

Liu Bian's control over the Yongzhou Cauldron did not actually mean that it had already recognized its master; rather, it was due to the influence of his imperial status.

When the Mountain Moving Warriors carefully opened the entrance to the underground palace, a sinister aura rushed out, sending chills down their spines.

Based on their experience from the previous eight attempts, the mountain-moving warriors slowly advanced in the darkness.

Unlike other tombs with rows of eternal lamps, this tomb was pitch black, without a single ray of light... Any ordinary torches that entered would immediately go out and could not be lit again.

Other lighting devices were also completely unusable in this underground palace. It was extremely strange.

Besides, this underground palace also possesses an incomparably terrifying aura of malevolence and killing intent... as if symbolizing the emperor who slumbers here having slaughtered countless people... creating unparalleled carnage...

However, Dong Zhuo and the Tongtian Black Dragon still drove more people to flood in, and then, the man and the dragon were the last to enter.

The reason Lin Mu's men knew that Dong Zhuo had 5,000 Mountain-Moving Warriors was because they had been observing them...

After Dong Zhuo and his entourage entered, hundreds of figures slowly appeared at the entrance to the underground palace. The entrance to the underground palace was now closed…

"Wen Yuan, thank you!" A dark figure whispered his thanks to a burly man from the leading group.

Clearly, the latter is Zhang Liao, also known as Zhang Wenyuan.

"Our lord said he owes you a great favor!" the shadowy figure continued.

"Midnight, this underground palace is eerie and terrifying. Do you really want to go down? Without protective capabilities, even a divine general would have difficulty escaping... We already lost a divine general-level mountain-moving warrior!" Upon hearing this, Zhang Liao didn't say anything else, but instead tried to dissuade them.

Midnight, the courtesy name of Xu Ying.

The group that followed was none other than Lin Mu's men.

"Let's just go down and take a look, no need to be reckless!" Xu Ying shook her head and looked at Zhang Liao seriously.

It's the same old trick: make Zhang Liao owe the Great Wilderness Territory or the Great Wilderness Territory owes Zhang Liao, whether it's favors or resources... as long as it can be owed, owe it to the extreme.

(End of this chapter)