Mythical Version of Three Kingdom

Ignoring the schemes that Ma Teng and Han Sui, two sly characters, might be plotting, it’s quite surprising that these two actually became sworn brothers. They even started addressing each other as ”older brother” and ”younger brother” in such a friendly manner.

”Menqi, from now on, Wen Yue will be your uncle. You must treat him with respect!” Ma Teng said, patting Ma Chao’s shoulder.

”...” Ma Chao stared wide-eyed at Han Sui.

”Nephew, you are indeed a young hero. I believe you will achieve great things in the future.” Han Sui, who had previously been sarcastic and critical, now appeared to be a kind and caring elder, leaving Ma Chao utterly confused. What was going on here?

”From now on, we brothers will work together to fight against the traitors of the state and restore the Han dynasty to save the Emperor!” Ma Teng proclaimed righteously.

”Yes, restore the Han dynasty and fight against the traitors!” Han Sui echoed. After a lifetime of struggles, he finally earned an official position with legitimacy.

”Chao’er, Lingming, quickly return to Longxi to mobilize troops! Coordinate with the Qiang people and prepare to rescue the Emperor,” Ma Teng said with high spirits.

”Yanming, you also need to organize your army quickly. The Emperor is still waiting for our rescue. I expect you to lead your troops to Gaoping in An Ding within ten days. Brother Shoucheng and I will go ahead and wait for you there, while we also scout the situation in Yongzhou!” Han Sui spoke as if he were fully committed to the role, smiling and showing none of the tension that had been present when they first met. It really seemed as though he intended to join Ma Teng in the endeavor.

It’s quite remarkable how Ma Teng and Han Sui have come to this point. Initially, they had deep grudges against each other and fought in Xiliang for over a year, resulting in many deaths on both sides. However, a forged imperial edict forced them to come to a truce. To prevent each other from sabotaging their efforts during the campaign, they followed the Central Plains custom and became sworn brothers.

Normally, such brotherhoods, formed with different goals in mind, wouldn’t last long. After the battle, it would be expected that they’d turn against each other again. However, the threat posed by Li Jue and Guo Si was so great that it nearly destroyed both Han Sui and Ma Teng.In their unfortunate situation, the two had no choice but to lick each other’s wounds. Over time, a genuine bond developed between them. After the battle in Yongzhou, they realized that their only chance of survival against the Central Plains heroes was to unite. So, they stopped their internal conflicts, started supporting each other, and let bygones be bygones. Surprisingly, their relationship began to improve steadily.

By the time Jia Xu and Liu Ye received intelligence that the imperial edict had reached Jincheng, Ma Teng and Han Sui had already mobilized nearly 100,000 troops. The army was primarily composed of Xiliang cavalry, as the region had an abundance of horses and Qiang people. Ma Teng, who had a good rapport with the Qiang people, along with Han Sui, who was revered by them for his intelligence, made for two strong leaders that the Qiang people couldn’t help but follow.

Initially, Ma Teng and Han Sui had only around 40,000 troops. However, along the way, they gathered Qiang people who brought their own provisions, swelling their forces to nearly 100,000. People like Cheng Yin, Ma Wan, and Liang Xing arrived with three to five thousand or even eight to ten thousand troops to participate in the new Loyalist Assembly, recognizing Ma Teng as the leader and Han Sui as the military strategist. Their soldiers were willing to follow their commands.

It’s important to note that these people weren’t driven by loyalty to the Han dynasty. Instead, they knew that if they didn’t surrender now that Ma Teng and Han Sui had reconciled, their future prospects would be bleak. As a result, they all joined the new Loyalist Army.

However, the fact that all the local Xiliang leaders joined this campaign and were subsequently decimated by Li Jue and Guo Si is precisely why Ma Teng and Han Sui’s forces survived after this event—because everyone else had perished.

Ma Teng led his force of over 90,000 troops, falsely claiming it was 100,000, and marched toward Yongzhou in grand fashion. Before they even reached Zuofengyi in Chang’an, Li Jue had already received urgent reports, which infuriated him.

”Ado, that brute Ma Teng dares to cause us trouble! And that damned little Emperor dares to plot against us from behind!” Li Jue cursed as he angrily read the report. Immediately, he blamed Liu Xie for everything. ”Let’s go to the palace and select some noblewomen to humiliate that scoundrel. If it weren’t for the Chancellor back then, how could he have ascended the throne?”

Guo Si, a high-ranking general who had risen from the ranks of banditry, couldn’t make sense of the report. However, he agreed with Li Jue’s sentiment. If it weren’t for the Chancellor supporting the little Emperor back then, who knows where he would be now? And yet, he still dares to cause them trouble!

”Let’s send Zhang Ji and Pan Chou to deal with those two scoundrels, Ma Teng and Han Sui,” Guo Si said disdainfully. ”We two will go to the palace and ask the little Emperor what he plans to do! How dare he secretly communicate with outsiders and ignore us, the state’s regents?” Such bold words, directly questioning the Emperor’s authority...

”It shouldn’t be a problem. Although Ma Teng’s forces are numerous, in terms of strength, our Xiliang cavalry far surpasses theirs,” Li Jue said, scratching his head. ”It’s a pity that our strategist and Mr. Jia are missing. If they were here, we wouldn’t have to deal with such trouble.”

”Ah, our strategist and Mr. Jia... Why weren’t we in the city at that time?” Guo Si lamented with regret. They had realized that court affairs were far more complex than they had initially thought. Relying solely on military power wouldn’t necessarily solve the problems; there were too many intricate schemes involved.

”Enough of that. Let’s go to the palace and warn the little Emperor. If he dares to cause us trouble again, Ado, what should we do?” Li Jue asked, trailing off as he pondered. It seemed that besides humiliating the Emperor by sleeping with his women, they didn’t have many other options.

”How about we kill some ministers?” Guo Si suggested reluctantly. Killing the Emperor was out of the question, and as for sleeping with his concubines, they’d already done that countless times. Causing chaos in the harem had been a practice since Dong Zhuo’s time, and yet, who cared? What, the loyal ministers with some ability had all been eliminated, and those without ability were only good for dying or bleeding; they were utterly useless!

”Good idea. Let’s intimidate them. During the court session, we can pick out anyone we don’t like and kill them on the spot,” Li Jue proposed. ”I’ve been annoyed with this bunch for a long time. Killing a few will also scare the little Emperor. It’s a good way to make use of these useless fools.”

”I think we should start with Yang Biao,” Guo Si immediately targeted Yang Biao, the Grand Commandant. He found Yang Biao particularly annoying, even though Yang Biao hadn’t done much. But Guo Si had a feeling that if he killed Yang Biao, the court’s troubles would disappear.

”No, don’t. When the Chancellor killed Yuan Wei, it provoked Yuan Shao to attack us. If we kill Yang Biao and anger Yuan Shu, it won’t be good,” Li Jue advised, recalling the complex relationships in the Han dynasty. He hadn’t forgotten that Yuan Shu’s wife was Yang Biao’s daughter. Yuan Shao’s previous wrath had indeed frightened Li Jue and his cohorts. If it could be avoided, Li Jue preferred not to provoke the Yuan family again.

”Fine, we’ll just pick a few others and kill them instead. We’ll make sure to splash Yang Biao with some blood too!” Guo Si, remembering Yuan Shao’s fury, shuddered and abandoned the idea. He decided to randomly select a few ministers to execute and settle for splattering Yang Biao with their blood.

”Idiot! Why don’t we summon everyone to the court session?” Li Jue, prompted by Guo Si’s suggestion, came up with an even grander idea.