The Three Kingdoms: My Wife is a Great and Good Teacher

Dong Zhuo did not continue to explain. After thinking for a moment, he felt that Cai Yong's method was good and sent him away.

"Among the great scholars in the court, Cai Yong is considered to be the more obedient one." Li Ru spoke after Cai Yong left.

"Wang Yun, Lu Zhi, Zheng Xuan and others are not so honest. It would be fine if these great scholars retired like Zheng Xuan, but if they followed Lu Zhi..."

"There is only one Lu Zhi in the world." Dong Zhuo said.

"Since Cai Yong can understand current affairs, that's all."

Li Ru nodded. These great scholars really didn't need them to express their opinions. They just needed them to speak immediately.

It was the aristocratic families who controlled the land, not these literati, who influenced Dong Zhuo's rise to power.

"Hasn't there been any news from Wenhe yet?" Dong Zhuo suddenly asked.

Li Ru shook his head: "I haven't received any news about Jia Xu's return."

"But... Prime Minister, please rest assured. Although Jia Xu is young, he has an extremely smooth personality and will definitely not put himself in danger."

"Since she was able to lure Liu Zhaoqing and others away for the Prime Minister, she must have a way to escape."

"He should be back soon and help the Prime Minister again."

Li Ru was quite confident in Jia Xu, or rather, in her ability to save her life.

Dong Zhuo also felt that it made sense, so he stopped worrying about it.

"Not only was Wenhe used as bait, but almost all of my 100,000-man army was killed by him... Liu Zhaoqing, Liu Zhaoqing..."

Dong Zhuo muttered, a look of regret in his eyes.

"He had such power, but he opposed me, and I was defeated miserably by him."

Li Ru, who was standing by, saw that Dong Zhuo seemed a little dejected, so he immediately bowed and said.

"Although the Prime Minister was defeated, he did not gain nothing."

"Han Fu's army of 120,000 was wiped out by the Prime Minister, and although only a few of the troops returned from this expedition, some, such as Hua Xiong, Zhang Xiu, and Lu Bu, returned safely."

"These outstanding people are the most important wealth. If the soldiers are killed, we can recruit more. With the resources of Sili and the treatment that Xiangguo can provide, we can recruit another 100,000 in less than three months."

Although this is what he said, it was obviously just consolation. Take the issue of recruiting soldiers, even if he could really recruit 100,000 soldiers in three months, these new recruits would never be able to compare to the 80,000 elite soldiers that Dong Zhuo lost.

Fortunately, Dong Zhuo was not the kind of person who would be discouraged by a defeat.

"How is Fengxian now?"

"Still resting. It seems that there is some kind of toxin in the body." Li Ru replied.

Dong Zhuo frowned.

"How many troops can we deploy around Luoyang?"

"If we only count our troops in Zhili, there should be more than 10,000 people, but if we count the soldiers from the surrounding counties and prefectures, we should be able to mobilize 40,000 or 50,000 people." Li Ru replied immediately.

Forty or fifty thousand... is totally not enough.

Dong Zhuo's general Lu Bu has not responded yet, and his adviser Jia Xu is nowhere to be found and when he will return.

It was nothing but a foolish dream to rely on the county garrisons that had been instigated by Lu Zhi and Huangfu Song to rebel in order to defeat Kong Jun's 100,000-strong coalition army.

She understood why Li Ru mentioned Sima.

In this kind of situation, only means like the one used by the ferocious beast Hua Chaofeng can turn the tide.

After a moment's silence, Dong Zhuo said to Li Ru, "Pass my order to him secretly and ask him to come to the capital to see me."

-

That day, after Cai Yong returned to his mansion, his expression was full of thought and doubt.

Although Dong Zhuo looked normal, there was something strange about him after he returned from the expedition.

Where is the emperor's carriage? What happened to Jia Xu and Lu Bu? And why are these the only ones left when Dong Zhuo's army returned?

As a person who studied Confucian classics, Cai Yong was not good at fighting. He only had a rough understanding of the normal development of a battle. In a battle like this one with strange and unknown circumstances, he could not understand what was going on no matter how hard he tried.

But there was one thing Cai Yong understood: he needed to confirm the emperor's physical condition.

This is also what Wang Yun was worried about.

Although the current Emperor of the Han Dynasty does not control power as well as the previous emperor, as a symbol of the dynasty, nothing must happen to him.

With Dong Zhuo in power and many princes in power, even if the dynasty was "existing in name only", if the monarch was really dead, there would be no possibility of revival.

Cai Yong immediately began to prepare to go to the palace to meet the emperor, and during this period, Dong Zhuo also issued several orders.

First, she let the ministers in prison return to their homes, then she issued a recruitment order with extremely generous benefits, and then it was reported that she would ask His Majesty to issue an edict to mobilize most of the troops from the states and counties around Luoyang to defend Luoyang.

These measures were all very useful, and Cai Yong had no complaints about them.

After he entered the palace, he was taken by palace maids to the great hall where the emperor rested. When he saw the petite figure through the curtain, Cai Yong felt relieved.

"Your Majesty, I, Cai Yong, congratulate you on your health." Cai Yong knelt down and bowed to pay great respect to the emperor.

The emperor did not reply, as if he did not take it seriously.

Cai Yong didn't care about this. He would feel at ease as long as the emperor was still alive.

And now it seems that Cai Yong also realized that he was probably guided by Dong Zhuo to come and see His Majesty.

There are many people like him who are worried about the safety of His Majesty. Dong Zhuo needs to use Cai Yong to tell Luoyang and the people of the world that the Emperor of Han is safe.

And Cai Yong was this "medium", so this small "Zhonglang" could meet the emperor so easily.

"Since Your Majesty is in good health, I will..."

Just as Cai Yong was about to leave, the emperor on the other side of the curtain raised his sleeves.

Cai Yong was surprised to find that she seemed to be... wiping tears?

"His Majesty?"

The emperor still did not respond.

"Cai Zhonglang, your majesty is weak and cannot be exposed to the cold wind. Now that you have seen it, you can go back." At this time, a eunuch beside the emperor said lightly.

This person is obviously a spy placed by Dong Zhuo next to Your Majesty, and his words also represent Dong Zhuo's opinion.

Cai Yong immediately bowed his head and left.

However, after leaving the hall, the image of His Majesty wiping tears was still in Cai Yong's mind.

Is Your Majesty sad about the loss of the Han Dynasty's destiny and your own failure in fulfilling the destiny?

But there is no need for Your Majesty to shed tears in front of him for such matters.

So, Your Majesty must want to tell Cai Yong something.

After pondering for a moment, Cai Yong looked around and then walked out of the palace.

But when turning the corner, they set foot on another road, which led to the bedroom where King Hongnong lived.

Although Liu Bian, King of Hongnong, was deposed by Dong Zhuo, the Sili Province was often in turmoil due to the anti-Dong coalition, so Liu Bian still lived in the palace.

If there is anything that can make Your Majesty sad, then your brother Liu Bian, the only remaining blood relative of the young Majesty, must know something about it.

After the imperial power was seized, Dong Zhuo had spies throughout the palace, and the royal family in the palace was restricted everywhere. The only exception was the meeting between the two legitimate sons of the previous emperor, whom Dong Zhuo did not impose too many restrictions on.

One reason is that the two men have special identities, and the other is that Liu Bian was already a young emperor, and Liu Xie was even younger, so there was no need to be too cautious.

Cai Yong thought that as long as he found Liu Bian and asked him clearly, he would know why the emperor was crying.

But he didn't expect that when he arrived in front of Liu Bian's bedroom, he found eunuchs and palace maids moving things inside.

Seeing bedding, clothes and other items being moved out and thrown on the open space in front of the palace, Cai Yong was surprised and extremely angry.

"You guys are just going to throw away the things of King Hongnong so casually?!"

Although Cai Yong was not as determined as Wang Yun to sacrifice himself for justice, as a great Confucian scholar he was also a person who respected the emperor and understood etiquette.

Even if Liu Bian was no longer the emperor, these servants would not dare to treat him like this.

However, when the servants saw him making such accusations, they all looked puzzled and continued to do their own things.

When Cai Yong reprimanded again, someone finally said impatiently:

"King Hongnong is dead, so are these things still here?"

"Be careful with your words! Mind your own business!" As soon as the man finished speaking, his companion beside him immediately reminded him.

The other party also realized that he had talked too much. As slaves, they only had to complete the orders from their superiors. If they talked too much, they would make mistakes.

Hearing this, Cai Yong stood there for a moment and looked at the man.

Before he could go forward to ask, a soldier suddenly blocked his way behind him.

"Cai Zhonglang, it's getting late. We should go back." The soldier in black armor reminded coldly.

-

On that day, news that King Hongnong was suspected to have died spread like wildfire throughout the capital.

Even if officials patrolled the restaurants and teahouses in Luoyang to stop discussions of the matter, they could not cover up the facts.

Instead, it further confirmed the news that the former emperor had died.

And soon some news came from Dong Zhuo's soldiers who had returned.

King Hongnong did not die suddenly in the palace, but was transformed into some kind of ferocious beast and died during the battle with the anti-Dong coalition forces.

In connection with these pieces of information, someone soon suggested that the "Son of Heaven" that Dong Zhuo brought with him to the battle to witness his great victory might be the King of Hongnong.

The deaths of Dong Zhuo and Liu Bian are naturally closely related. Even if someone was instructed to say this later, even if this inference is true, then King Hongnong was also killed by the anti-Dong coalition.

But anyone with a discerning eye knows that King Hongnong Liu Bian was purely a victim of Dong Zhuo, and the blame cannot be shifted to the anti-Dong coalition.

Just as the news was spreading and about to intensify, it was about to cause unrest in Luoyang again.

Early the next morning, a piece of news from the west shocked everyone in Luoyang.

"Great victory! Great victory!"

A galloping horse broke the silence of the early morning, and the voice of the messenger on the horse pierced the entire Luoyang morning sky.

"More than 90,000 rebels outside Chang'an were annihilated! Our army won a great victory!"

In less than an hour, the news of the great victory in Chang'an spread throughout Luoyang.

And at this moment, in Dong Zhuo's mansion.

A man wearing a conical hat and a plain black gown raised his head slightly and looked at the woman sitting in the high seat.

The woman's purple eyes were full of surprise, and the corners of his mouth slowly curled up.

He raised his hand and bowed, then slowly said, "I am honored to have fulfilled the Prime Minister's order."

Chapter 315 Sima's Advice, Speed ​​Up 4.2K

Dong Zhuo gradually came back to her senses. Her gaze lingered on the man in the bamboo hat for a moment, and then she spoke again to Li Ru beside her:

"Looking for detailed battle reports."

Li Ru took the order and immediately asked someone to write another express letter to Chang'an.

However, the man in the bamboo hat smiled and said, "Prime Minister, there is no need to do this. If you are curious about how this is done, I can tell you."

"The reason why Kong Jun's army collapsed in an instant like wheat waves blown by the wind is that what he faced was not an army, nor a group of dead soldiers, but... the true spirit of heaven and earth, being destroyed by a creature that surpassed ordinary divine beasts."

"Evil spirit?"

"That's right." The man in the bamboo hat nodded.

Dong Zhuo did not show any joy. She was still quite wary of the person in front of her.

"If you can control the evil spirit, why do you keep doing these things in secret?"

"Prime Minister, I think highly of you." The man shook his head. "I don't command the evil spirit. I only provide it with 'guidance'."

"'Guide'?" Dong Zhuo hesitated for a moment, then continued, "But, I don't think I asked you to take action directly, right?"

"This is my sincerity in cooperating with the Prime Minister, and my sole purpose is to reassure him." The man said respectfully.

"As long as I join hands with the Prime Minister, all the nine provinces in the world, the gods of mountains and seas will submit."

Putting his hands on the chair, Dong Zhuo paused for a moment and said, "Go on."