Reborn In The Three Kingdoms

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”Liu Xie, his empress, their two children, and several women both young and old. The rest...” Yun Que’s voice trailed off. The unspoken truth hung in the air. The rest of the Liu clan had already been quietly eliminated by Cao Cao, which was an eradication to ensure the Han Dynasty was down for good.

Zhang Song exhaled slowly. ”Then we must move quickly. Every day we delay is another day Cao Cao might decide to finish the job right then and there. Forcing Your Majesty to change the plan.”

Yun Que nodded. ”Our agents inside Luoyang are ready. The plan is simple, a diversion at the eastern gate to draw the guards’ attention, while a small team infiltrates the estate from the west. We’ll use the servants’ passages, they’re less watched.”

”And the trail?” Fa Zheng asked.

A ghost of a smile crossed Yun Que’s lips. ”Left deliberately messy. A dropped insignia from Yi Province. A witness who ’accidentally’ overhears the rescuers mention Liu Zhang’s name. Enough to point fingers, but not enough to be conclusive.”

Meng Da chuckled darkly. ”So Cao Cao will know it’s Liu Zhang, but won’t be able to prove it outright. Perfect.”

”When?” Zhang Song asked.

”Three nights from now,” Yun Que said. ”The moon will be new. Darkest night for the darkest work.”

The four of them exchanged glances. The plan was set.

Now, all that remained was the execution.

Two days later, the Willow Grove Estate was a deceptively peaceful place, a sprawling compound of manicured gardens and quiet pavilions, its beauty belying its purpose as a gilded prison.

Liu Xie, the former emperor, sat by a window in his chambers, staring blankly at the moonless sky. At twenty, he looked far older, his once youthful face lined with the weight of a lifetime of powerlessness. His wife, Empress Dong, sat beside him, her hands clasped tightly around those of their children, a boy of five and a girl of three.

”Do you think they’ll let us see the plum blossoms this year, Father?” the little girl asked.

Liu Xie’s throat tightened. ”Perhaps,” he whispered.

He never got to answer further.

A sound, like the scuff of a boot against tile, came from the corridor. Then another. Liu Xie stiffened, his instincts honed by years of survival kicking in.

”Get the children under the bed,” he hissed to Empress Dong.

She moved without question, gathering the little ones and pushing them beneath the heavy frame just as the door slid open silently.

Three figures entered, clad in black from head to toe. The lead operative raised a finger to his lips.

*”Your Majesty,”* he murmured, bowing. *”We’re here to take you to Chengdu. To your Imperial Cousin, Liu Zhang.”*

Liu Xie’s breath caught. ”Liu... Zhang?”

”Yes, Your Majesty. But we must move now.”

For a heartbeat, Liu Xie hesitated. This could be a trick. A test orchestrated by Cao Cao to root out any lingering defiance.

But then his son whimpered under the bed, and the decision was made.

”Very well,” Liu Xie said, standing. ”Lead the way.”

The extraction was swift, clinical. The diversion at the eastern gate, a staged fight between two ”drunken” travelers, had drawn most of the guards. The few remaining were silently neutralized by Oriole operatives armed with needle thin daggers tipped with a sleeping draught.

Liu Xie and his family joined by the old and young woman’s were ushered through the servants’ quarters, then out into the night where several covered wagons awaited. As the former emperor climbed inside, his foot caught on something, a small wooden insignia bearing the crest of Yi Province.

He frowned, picking it up. ”This...”

The lead operative snatched it from his hand. ”Nothing of consequence, Your Majesty.”

But Liu Xie wasn’t a fool. He had spent his life surrounded by liars. He knew a planted clue when he saw one.

Still, he said nothing. If this was his only chance at freedom, he would take it, even if it meant being someone else’s pawn.

The wagon rolled into the night, leaving behind a single, carefully placed piece of evidence, a scrap of fabric torn from a robe identical to those worn by Liu Zhang’s personal soldiers.

Dawn broke over Luoyang, and with it came chaos.

The discovery of the empty estate sent shockwaves through Cao Cao’s inner circle. By midday, the insignia and fabric had been ”found,” and the conclusion was inevitable.

Cao Cao received the news in the middle of a war council. For a long moment, he simply stared at the evidence laid before him, then burst into laughter.

”Liu Zhang?” he said, shaking his head. ”That spineless worm actually dared to venture his hand out of Yi Province?!”

Guo Jia, with his intellect he realized something was wrong as soon as he saw this, and with his voice full of caution, frowned. ”It’s too obvious, my lord. The evidence is... convenient.”

”Of course it is,” Cao Cao snapped. ”But that doesn’t mean it’s false. We know Liu Zhang’s outburst on Chebgdu through our spies. This is exactly the kind of clumsy, emotional move he’d make.”

Xun Yu stepped forward. ”Then we must respond, my lord. Publicly. Decisively. Let the world see what happens to those who steal from Cao Cao.”

Cao Cao’s smile was razor thin. ”Oh, we will. But first...” He turned to a messenger. ”Send word to Chengdu. Demand Liu Xie’s immediate return. At the same time, have our Southern Army at once toward Jianmen Pass at once.”

Hearing that, all of his closest advisors cupped their hands and bowed, knowing that they couldn’t persuade Cao Cao to change his mind. So now they could only ensure that everything went well and according to the plan.

Aroun a week later, in. Chengdu, Liu Zhang stood frozen in his court room when he was presented with his guest, staring at the small, bedraggled family before him.

”Imperial Cousin?” he whispered.

Liu Xie, still dressed in the plain clothes of a peasant, bowed deeply. ”I... I owe you my life, Cousin.”

For a moment, Liu Zhang’s chest swelled with pride. Then the implications crashed down on him.

”Cao Cao will come for you,” he said. ”For all of us.”

From the shadows, Fa Zheng stepped forward. ”Then let him come, my lord. Let the world see the true face of the man who proclaimed himself to be emperor.”

Liu Zhang hesitated, but only for a heartbeat. The fire that had been kindled weeks ago now blazed anew.

”Prepare the army stationed at the north,” he ordered. ”And send word to every province in the land, the Han Dynasty lives on in Chengdu!”

The proclamation went out, carried by fast riders and whispered by spies. Within days, the realm knew, that the Han had been reborn, with Emperor Xian reclaimed his position and made the new capital on Chengdu.

And with these news spread, everyone knew that Cao Cao would have to crush it with his own hands.

In Xiapi, Lie Fan received the reports with quiet satisfaction.

”It’s done Your Majesty,” Jia Xu said. ”Liu Xie is in Chengdu and ascend back to his throne, with Liu Zhang has declared the Han restored. And Cao Cao...”

”Is marching his army south,” Lie Fan finished. ”Perfect.”

He turned to the window, watching as the first light of dawn painted the sky.

Three emperors.

Three dynasties.

And now, the time for him to make his move once again have come.

”Send word to Gongsun Gong and Li Wei,” he said softly. ”The northern campaign against Baekje and Silla should begins at once. Tell them that Oriole Agents have managed to inflitrate Gaya’s upper governments, and manipulate the King Of Gaya to help Goguryeo in attacking Baekje and Silla.”

Jia Xu cupped his hand and bowed, accepting Lie Fan’s order with his usual quiet gravity. The moment he exited the chamber, he called for brush, ink, and parchment, setting himself to the task with calm efficiency.

The letters he penned were precise, blending Lie Fan’s intentions with his own strategic flourishes. The first was addressed to Gongsun Gong in Xiangping, the other to Li Wei, The Head Of The Lie Clan Supervision Bureau in. Goguryeo, currently residing in the capital city of Gungnae.

To Gongsun Gong, he reaffirmed the time to strike had come. With Cao Cao’s attention shifting entirely to the south, their northern flank was wide open. Jia Xu explained that Oriole Agents had successfully infiltrated Gaya’s royal court and manipulated their king into allying with Goguryeo.

This would give Goguryeo the momentum and legitimacy needed to press forward. ”The Southern border is secure,” Jia Xu wrote. ”Supplies and reinforcements will arrive via the western sea routes. You need only focus your might against Baekje and Silla. Reinforce Li Wei.”

To Li Wei, Jia Xu wrote in a more detailed tone. He described the broader strategy, how the rising tension between Wei and the so called restored Han in Chengdu provided the perfect veil for the Hengyuan Dynasty to expand its influence over the peninsula. ”Drive Baekje and Silla to their knees,” Jia Xu urged. ”And let the land between the Yellow Sea and the Sea of Wa (Japan) know the name of Emperor Hongyi.”

He closed both letters with the seal and signature:

Chancellor of the Hengyuan Dynasty, Jia Xu.

Once sealed with wax and marked with coded insignia known only to Oriole couriers, he handed the scrolls to the ever present Oriole Agent stationed in the eastern quarter of the palace, a man cloaked in the unassuming garb of a traveling merchant.

With a silent nod, the agent tucked the scrolls into a hidden compartment beneath his satchel and vanished into the city’s flow, en route to the agent network.

Meanwhile, in Luoyang, the capital of what was once the Han and now the dawning Wei Dynasty, a grand transformation had taken place. Following the rescue of Liu Xie and the declaration of the Han’s restoration in Chengdu by Liu Zhang, Cao Cao’s hand had been forced to stop his proclamation. Now, he could no longer wait.

With urgency burning in his heart, he proceeded with his long planned proclamation. Upon a raised dais in the heart of Luoyang, before an assembly of civil officials, generals, scholars, and citizens, Cao Cao stood dressed in robes of imperial gold, his brow adorned with a crown of black jade.

The city square was festooned with silk banners, and the people who had been gathered, willingly or coerced, cheered loudly, though some with more enthusiasm than others.

”From this day forth,” Cao Cao’s voice rang, iron and certainty wrapped in ceremony, ”I ascend not as mere regent of a crumbling court, but as the true Son of Heaven. The Han has ended. The Mandate of Heaven has passed to the Wei Dynasty. I am Emperor Wu!”

The people cheered, a sea of raised fists and cries of long life. Firecrackers exploded in the background, gongs and drums accompanying the pageantry. But beneath the spectacle, many within the political elite exchanged furtive glances. Not because of the proclamation, but because of the timing.

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Name: Lie Fan

Title: Founding Emperor Of Hengyuan Dynasty

Age: 34 (201 AD)

Level: 16

Next Level: 462,000

Renown: 2325

Cultivation: Yin Yang Separation (level 9)

SP: 1,121,700

ATTRIBUTE POINTS

STR: 966 (+20)

VIT: 623 (+20)

AGI: 623 (+10)

INT: 667

CHR: 98

WIS: 549

WILL: 432

ATR Points: 0