Volume One, Chapter Seven: The Poison Master's Three Stratagems—A Chain of Schemes

On the twenty-second day of the first month of the first year of the Xingping era, Chang'an was struck by a blizzard the likes of which had not been seen in a decade.

The window lattices of the Warm Chamber in Weiyang Palace rattled under the assault of the northern wind. Liu Xie stared at the flickering embers in the charcoal brazier, his fingertips unconsciously tracing the gilded tiger tally on the desk.

Today marked the tenth day since Liu Xie had transmigrated to the end of the Han Dynasty.

In these ten days, he had not only secured the allegiance of Jia Xu, styled Wenhe, but had also won the support of loyalist officials in the court, including Gentleman of the Yellow Gate Zhong Yao, Prefect of the Gentlemen of the Imperial Guard and Imperial Brother-in-law Fu Wan, Grand Marshal Yang Biao, as well as the new Imperial Brother-in-law Dong Cheng and Huangfu Li. In the shadows, he also commanded Hu Che'er and the one thousand Imperial Guards under his lead. These developments had incrementally increased Liu Xie's National Fortune value.

Command: 60
Might: 60
Cunning: 82 (81+1)
Politics: 65 (62+3)
Charisma: 81
National Fortune: 201
Public Sentiment: 0

[Destined Sovereignty]:
Effect 1: When in dire peril, there is a 50% chance to trigger the "Survival Against the Odds" effect, granting a random temporary buff.
Effect 2: Increases National Fortune by one point every day.

The strategic planning of these past few days, along with the battle of wits against the likes of Li Jue and Guo Si, had led to a modest improvement in Liu Xie’s attributes.

The start was decent enough. Compared to his predecessor, his lineup was luxurious, and his own strength had grown, providing him with a glimmer of self-preservation in these chaotic times.

"Your Majesty." Jia Xu’s voice drifted from the shadows. His withered fingers traced three lines across a sheepskin map. "Regarding the situation in Chang'an, I have three strategies. I wonder how Your Majesty intends to proceed?"

"Oh? I am eager to hear them." Liu Xie looked at the swirling snow outside the window and replied solemnly.

Jia Xu cleared his throat and said in a deep voice, "The superior strategy: sow discord between Li Jue and Guo Si, win over Fan Chou and Zhang Ji, and spread rumors that Guo Si has invited Ma Teng and Han Sui to 'rectify the court,' thereby splitting the Xiliang army so that Your Majesty may profit from the chaos."

Jia Xu sipped some warm wine to moisten his throat and continued, "The middle strategy: Ma Teng has always been known for his loyalty; we could send a secret envoy to promise him an official title to attack Chang'an from the outside. Your Majesty could then coordinate from within to drive Li Jue and his cohorts out of the city." After a pause, he slowly exhaled, "And the inferior strategy: summon Cao Cao from Puyang and the White Wave rebels from Bingzhou to attack Li Jue and Guo Si, forcing them to deplete each other's strength before we slowly move to reclaim control."

As he finished, a thunderclap exploded outside the window. The pale flash of lightning illuminated three cinnabar marks on the map: one labeled with the character "Ma" for Ma Teng, one with "Cao" for Cao Cao, and one marking the region of the White Wave and Black Mountain rebels in Bingzhou.

Liu Xie listened, staring at the forces marked on the map, and remained silent.

In history, Liu Xie had secretly summoned Ma Teng and Han Sui to attack Chang'an, only for them to be defeated by Li Jue and Guo Si. Following the subsequent infighting between the two tyrants, the original host fled to Luoyang and contacted the White Wave rebels of Bingzhou to rescue the carriage. This led to the emergence of Yang Feng and Zhang Ji, and eventually, Cao Cao arrived to take charge, ushering in the era of "holding the Emperor to command the lords."

"Ma Teng and Han Sui may appear loyal, but they are tigers and wolves at heart. However, we can employ the 'borrowed tiger to devour the wolf' tactic. We shall promise them official titles to induce them to genuinely attack Chang'an, while we spread word that it was Guo Si who contacted them, with the goal of driving out Li Jue to monopolize the court. This will fuel their mutual suspicion and lead to infighting. During this time, we will accelerate our efforts to win over Fan Chou and Zhang Ji to secure command of the Xiliang troops."

Drawing upon the trajectory of history and Jia Xu's counsel, Liu Xie merged the superior and middle strategies, adding details before speaking.

Upon hearing this, Jia Xu could not help but exclaim, "Brilliant!"

He then perfected the plan: "Guo Si's wife is prone to jealousy; we can exploit that to further alienate Li Jue and Guo Si. When Ma and Han arrive, we shall claim they were invited by Guo Si. With both external threats and internal strife, our room for maneuver will expand significantly. We will also leak word that Fan Chou and Han Sui are fellow countrymen and may be planning to join forces. Li Jue’s suspicious nature will prevent him from allowing Guo Si and Fan Chou to ally with Ma and Han, and he will inevitably turn his guard against Fan Chou. Once Fan Chou feels his life is threatened, we shall have our opportunity."

"A masterful 'borrowed knife to kill'!" The young Emperor’s pupils contracted. "Excellent! Excellent! Excellent!"

Liu Xie bowed deeply to Jia Xu. "Everything rests on you, Wenhe. I await your good news!"

The city of Chang'an in the twelfth month was shrouded in leaden clouds, and the snow on Suzaku Avenue had been ground into black mud by cart wheels.

Since seizing power, Li Jue and Guo Si had been cruel and ruthless to the people, allowing their troops to plunder and slaughter at will, then decapitating victims to claim they were bandits and demand rewards.

They sent trusted guards to monitor Liu Xie’s every move, but because of Jia Xu, those "monitors" were actually Liu Xie’s own loyalists.

On the surface, however, officials entering and leaving the palace had to undergo searches by the Imperial Guards, making the Emperor’s situation appear dire.

The court officials were all appointed or demoted by these two thugs. Because Zhu Jun carried significant prestige, Li Jue and Guo Si, seeking to stabilize the court, had pressured him into service, appointing him Minister of the Imperial Household to oversee court affairs.

The Weiyang Palace remained calm for a few days, but outside, rumors swirled throughout Chang'an.

The fabric sign of a tavern in the Eastern Market snapped in the cold wind. Several merchants wrapped in sheepskin coats huddled in a corner, their white breath mingling with hushed whispers.

"Have you heard? Guo Si is secretly colluding with the Emperor to get rid of General Li!"

"I even heard that Guo Si’s favorite concubine, Lady Liu, is actually a spy planted by General Li!" another said mysteriously. "They say Lady Liu reports every move Guo Si makes to Li Jue every night."

These rumors spread like wildfire across Chang'an.

More alarmingly, people began spreading word within the Xiliang army that Li Jue was preparing to purge Guo Si’s old subordinates.

The rumors grew increasingly intense, and the relationship between Li Jue and Guo Si deteriorated rapidly. Their subordinates often clashed in the streets, with violence narrowly averted on several occasions.

"I heard General Guo broke the leg of the Marquis of Chiyang’s brother-in-law!" An old man selling charcoal added a piece of pine to his brazier, sending sparks flying.

The silk merchant lowered his voice mysteriously: "That’s not all! My second uncle works at the Grand Marshal’s office; he said that the day before yesterday, Guo Si’s personal guards shot an arrow stained with blood into Li Jue’s residence—carved onto the shaft were the words 'Rectify the court'!"

The hostile standoff left the people of Chang'an in a state of constant panic.

One day, several riders galloped toward the city gates, racing frantically into the city!

"Urgent report! Urgent report!"

The scout reported to Li Jue: "Report to the General! The Administrator of Xiliang, Ma Teng, and the Inspector of Bingzhou, Han Sui, have led an army of over one hundred thousand toward Chang'an. They are nearly at the gates, flying the banner of 'Rectifying the court' to march against us!"

Upon hearing this, Li Jue and Guo Si were furious! They immediately summoned the civil and military officials to discuss countermeasures!

In truth, this was exactly one link in the chain of strategies devised by Liu Xie and Jia Xu!

Liu Xie had first dispatched secret envoys to contact Ma Teng and Han Sui, offering heavy promises to induce them to attack Chang'an.

After receiving the secret summons, Ma Teng and Han Sui first sent men into Chang'an to conspire with Palace Attendant Ma Yu, Remonstrance Official Zhong Shao, and Left Colonel of the Gentlemen Liu Fan. Once they confirmed the authenticity of the secret summons, they immediately raised their armies and launched a lightning assault on Chang'an!