A thousand-year-old family begins with one fighting against ten thousand.

"The Empress Dowager can then accompany the Prince of Hongnong to his fiefdom, with the Imperial Guards following her, and she can live a life of wealth and honor."

Li Ru stepped forward to offer his advice.

Time passed by, and soon it was half an hour as Dong Zhuo had mentioned.

The sounds of battle could already be heard coming from outside the palace in Weiyang Palace. Empress Dowager He looked at the court officials with pleading eyes.

Empress Dowager He smiled sadly: "If even one member of the Wei family were here, they would not allow you to be so arrogant."

"Very well, where are the Imperial Guards? Escort me and the Prince of Hongnong to Hongnong County."

After the Imperial Guards were taken away, only three thousand remained to guard the palace.

Dong Zhuo then took over the palace guards, ordered the Prince of Chenliu to ascend the throne, and had the court officials pay their respects.

Using the name of Emperor Xian of Han, Dong Zhuo appointed himself as Chancellor, allowing him to pay homage without using his name, enter the court without bowing, and even walk on his shoes in the palace.

At the same time, he lavishly conscripted respected scholars from the common people, bestowed upon them great titles and honors, and treated them with great favor.

"Bitter Sea, why do you ask me to let the Prince of Hongnong leave?"

"If anyone uses the identity of the Prince of Hongnong to make a fuss, it will be very bad."

Dong Zhuo asked Wei Ya.

"What I want is for them to use the identity of the Prince of Hongnong to their advantage. The Han Dynasty is currently unstable on all sides, and we don't have much time to waste."

"We must eliminate those opposing forces as quickly as possible and unite the strength of the Han Dynasty into one before we can quell the rebellious foreign tribes."

A hint of worry crossed Wei Ya's brow. The Han Dynasty was currently rife with internal strife, and if it weren't for that, he wouldn't have advised Dong Zhuo to enter the capital.

The current government is simply unbearable to look at!

He's utterly useless, a liability who only drags the country down, and even that's considered good. He's secretly colluding with the enemy, as if he's afraid the Han Dynasty doesn't have enough or strong enough enemies.

How can a country be governed well when surrounded by these insects!

Dong Zhuo understood immediately and grasped Wei Ya's meaning.

There will inevitably be people who oppose Dong Zhuo. They will never let the Prince of Hongnong go and will naturally gather around him to support his restoration to the throne.

One country, two dynasties—as long as he can represent the legitimate dynasty and defeat the other, everything before can be erased.

Based on this achievement, he was able to firmly grasp the power of the Han Dynasty and achieve their goals.

"How many more days until Fengxian returns?"

After setting aside his doubts, Dong Zhuo began to think about the fierce general he was about to acquire.

"Judging from the schedule, I should be back in the next few days."

Li Ru did some quick calculations and concluded that, given Red Hare's speed and Lü Bu's urgency, it shouldn't take more than a few days.

"Very well, I wish to adopt Lü Bu as my son. What do you think, Wenyou?"

Dong Zhuo then asked.

"Excellent."

"Lu Bu was extremely sentimental. Just because Ding Yuan helped him wipe out that band of bandits, he was willing to serve Ding Yuan as a civil official clerk. This shows his loyalty and righteousness."

"Dong Gong's adoption of Lü Bu as his son is a perfect match, a powerful alliance."

Li Ru smiled and said, "Adopting a son is a good way to win over Dong Zhuo and Lü Bu."

As for the fact that Lü Bu had once killed his adoptive father Ding Yuan, no one present cared.

What is Ding Yuan's thing? How does he cooperate with Dong Zhuo?

Isn't this an insult to Dong Zhuo?!

Several days later, Lü Bu indeed returned to Chang'an.

Upon returning to Chang'an, he went straight to Dong Zhuo's residence.

"Lü Bu is deeply grateful for the great kindness and virtue shown to him by the Prime Minister; he will never forget it."

Dong Zhuo personally stepped forward and helped Lü Bu up, saying, "Fengxian possesses the courage of a hegemon, a peerless hero. How can he be subservient to a petty man!"

"I greatly admire heroes like Fengxian; there's no need for thanks, Fengxian!"

"Lu Bu is willing to serve as the Prime Minister's horse handler and saddler; please grant his request!"

Lü Bu bowed again.

Dong Zhuo laughed heartily, "I hit it off immediately with Fengxian, and I intend to adopt him as my son. Is Fengxian interested?"

Lu Bu was taken aback. He felt somewhat resentful towards his adoptive father and son because of what Ding Yuan had done, but considering Dong Zhuo's kindness, he still agreed.

"Good, good, good, good! Fengxian has rendered meritorious service in killing Ding Yuan. He is hereby appointed as General of the Household and Marquis of Duting."

Dong Zhuo was overjoyed and immediately bestowed honors upon Lü Bu.

Lü Bu bowed in gratitude.

After gaining control of the court, Dong Zhuo wanted to make a difference, but he found himself constantly constrained by powerful families.

No matter what kind of decrees he issues, even if they are good for the people, they will always end up with bad consequences due to the embellishment and misunderstandings of these people.

Moreover, these powerful families were extremely good at hindering him, making Dong Zhuo feel that he had a lot of skills but was unable to implement them at all.

Dong Zhuo then understood why Wei Ya and Li Ru both wanted to deal with the aristocratic families.

While there are certainly good families among the powerful clans, most of them are driven by self-interest, exploiting the Han Dynasty and its people.

Dong Zhuo, being a former border general, naturally couldn't stand this, so he began to wreak havoc in the court.

Even the Yuan family was killed without hesitation.

He slaughtered so many people in the court that no one dared to openly oppose him anymore.

Many people came to Yuan Kui's residence to hold him accountable, since Dong Zhuo used the Yuan family's name when he entered the capital and also used the Yuan family's name when he expanded his power.

Otherwise, Dong Zhuo's expansion would not have been so easy.

Yuan Wei had not expected that Dong Zhuo, this jackal, would be so uncontrollable; his words as his "benefactor" were completely useless.

However, that fool Dong Zhuo actually let the Prince of Hongnong go.

This struggle for the throne was a matter of life or death, so the Yuan family had no choice but to implement their second plan.

Raise an army to support the Prince of Hongnong and recapture Chang'an!

Under the instigation of the Yuan family, many prefects, governors, and provincial governors began to pledge allegiance to the Prince of Hongnong, and supported him to become emperor in Luoyang, thus destroying the Han Xiandi regime established by Dong Zhuo.

Empress Dowager He ultimately could not resist the temptation of power. With the help of many powerful families and prefects, she came to Chang'an and established another Han dynasty.

The world was divided into two, with the regimes of the young emperor and the emperor Xian coexisting. The deification of the Han imperial family was completely shattered, and the impression of the emperor as sacred and inviolable in the hearts of the people was gone forever.

In order to win over more local forces, the regimes of Emperor Xian and Emperor Shao continuously bestowed titles upon prefects, governors, and provincial governors in various regions.

This led to local governors, prefects, and provincial governors obeying orders but refusing to comply, and demanding exorbitant prices.

The Han Dynasty gradually lost control over the local areas.

The Xian Emperor's regime was still relatively stable, as Dong Zhuo at least controlled the entire Guanzhong region and Liangzhou region.

The young emperor's regime couldn't even issue orders outside of Luoyang City; they could only control one city, and even that city wasn't under their control.

Under the emperor's bestowal of titles, and in reality through the influence of the Yuan family, eighteen vassal lords declared their allegiance to the emperor.