Chương 312: The Death of He Jin, Bloodlust

"What... what do you want to do?" He Jin asked, his face pale.

"What are you doing?" Zhang Rang sneered.

Then...

"He Jin!" Zhang Rang roared, startling He Jin.

"Do you know your crime?!"

He Jin was stunned and said, "I... what crime have I committed?"

Zhang Rang took two steps forward, pointed at He Jin's nose, and began to curse, venting all the resentment he had accumulated over the years:

"He Jin! The world is in chaos, why should we eunuchs be blamed for everything? Put your hand on your heart and tell me, when the late emperor and the empress dowager fell out and he almost deposed her, who was it that cried and begged for mercy, emptying their family fortune to help your He family through the crisis? It was us! What did we want? We just wanted to rely on your He family and live a few days of peace, didn't we?"

He grew angrier as he spoke, spitting all over He Jin's face as he said, "And what did you do? You repaid kindness with enmity! You're heartless and treacherous! You wanted to exterminate our entire clan! He Jin, you've gone too far!"

He Jin opened his mouth to argue, "I..."

"I... I did it for the imperial court..."

"For the sake of the court?" Duan Gui sneered.

"Your sister is the Empress Dowager, your nephew is the Emperor, and you're the Grand General! What more do you want? You want to usurp the throne, don't you?"

"I don't......"

"No?" Zhang Rang glared angrily.

"If you didn't kill Jian Shuo? Kill Dong Zhong? And now you want to kill us!"

It's not over yet.

He Jin was so angry at the scolding that his face turned red, and he took a step back.

Shangfang Supervisor Qu Mu couldn't wait any longer. He drew his sword, and with a flash of cold light, "click!"

A perfectly healthy head rolled to the ground, eyes still wide open, mouth still agape, the second half of the word "I" forever stuck in its throat.

He Jin's last thought before his death was probably: "I, a great general, have just... died like this?"

A legendary pig-slaughtering general ended his life in this absurd way.

That's right, He Jin, the Grand General of the Han Dynasty, the Minister of the Imperial Secretariat, and the head of the He family, was chopped down by a eunuch he despised in front of the Jiade Hall.

His death was even more gruesome than when he killed Dong Zhong.

Zhang Rang and the others wiped the blood from their faces; their hands were trembling.

Cut the Gordian knot!

He immediately ordered his men to search He Jin's personal belongings and find the blank imperial seal, then forged an imperial edict on the spot:

"Fanling was appointed Commandant of the Capital Region, and Xu Xiang was appointed Governor of Henan."

Then, they wrapped He Jin's bloody head in a cloth and sent it out.

Upon receiving the imperial edict, the Minister of the Imperial Secretariat immediately muttered to himself, "This handwriting... something's not right? The seal is fine too... Could we ask the General to come out and discuss this, to confirm it?"

The eunuch delivering the imperial edict sneered, said nothing, and slammed the cloth bundle in his hand onto the table. With a "thud," He Jin's head rolled out, still dripping blood.

The eunuch shouted at the top of his lungs, "He Jin has plotted a rebellion and has been executed!"

The ministers looked down and saw that the dead face was none other than the great general who had just been boasting in front of them.

They were so frightened that several of them collapsed on the spot.

...

Outside the palace gates.

He Jin's generals Wu Kuang and Zhang Zhang were guarding the palace when they suddenly saw the palace gates tightly closed and heard faint shouts of battle coming from inside.

Just then, a junior officer covered in blood stumbled out:

"No... it's terrible! The General has been killed by the eunuchs! His head has been chopped off!"

Wu Kuang's mind went blank for a second!

Then his eyes instantly reddened, and he drew his sword: "You dog eunuchs! You killed my lord! Brothers, follow me into the palace and slaughter those spineless bastards!"

He Miao hesitated, saying, "Wait... is there some misunderstanding? Let's clarify this first..."

Wu Kuang glared at him fiercely. A misunderstanding? A misunderstanding my ass! Your brother's head's practically on the throne, and you call that a misunderstanding?

He couldn't be bothered with that coward He Miao, so he mustered his troops and charged toward the palace gate!

The palace gates were tightly shut, and the eunuchs had long been hiding on the city walls, armed with swords and spears.

Yuan Shu, the Tiger General, also received the news, and he was even more anxious than Wu Kuang.

He didn't have much of a relationship with He Jin, but he had a grudge against the eunuchs! Yuan Shao kept shouting to kill the eunuchs, and now the eunuchs had even killed the Grand General. This was unacceptable!

He led his troops to the palace gate, only to find they couldn't get in. He was furious and jumped up and down in anger.

"Damn it! Set it on fire! Burn down the door!"

The soldiers carried over kerosene and firewood, poured it onto the Nangong Qing Suo Gate, threw away the tinderbox, and with a whoosh!

Flames shot into the sky, and thick smoke billowed, turning half the sky red!

This is the famous "Burning of the Palace Gates" incident in history, which directly added fuel to the fire of the Luoyang coup.

Zhang Rang and his accomplices were holding He Lian, the young Emperor Liu Bian, Prince Liu Xie of Chenliu, and a group of ministers and officials hostage in the palace, preparing to escape to the North Palace via the covered walkway.

Hearing the deafening shouts of battle outside, and the firelight turning the window paper yellow, Zhang Rang forced himself to remain calm and lied to He Lian:

"Empress Dowager, don't be afraid! It's the General's troops who have rebelled! They're burning down the palace and attacking the gates, trying to assassinate His Majesty! We will escort you and His Majesty to the North Palace for temporary refuge!"

Empress Dowager He was so frightened that she was completely at a loss and could only nod.

The group stumbled and staggered as they ran from the covered walkway toward the North Palace.

They hadn't run far when an old man wielding a long spear suddenly appeared by the window of the pavilion!

It was Minister Lu Zhi!

The old, tough man stood outside the window, brandishing his spear and pointing it at Duan Gui, shouting, "Duan Gui, you traitor! You've kidnapped the Empress Dowager and the Emperor! What is your punishment?! Release them at once!"

The voice was so loud that Duan Gui was so embarrassed and breathless from the scolding that his hand trembled. Taking advantage of this, Empress Dowager He broke free and jumped off the pavilion!

Fortunately, it wasn't high, and there was grass below, so although He Lian was dazed and confused after the fall, she survived.

Lu Zhi quickly helped He Lian up and escorted her to a safe area.

Zhang Rang, no longer caring about He Lian, grabbed the two children, Liu Bian and Liu Xie, along with several ministers, and continued his frantic run towards the North Palace.

...

Outside the North Palace.

Yuan Shao and his uncle Yuan Kui have already arrived with their troops.

He conspired with Yuan Wei and directly forged an imperial edict to lure Fan Ling and Xu Xiang, the two newly appointed "fake Sili" and "fake Henan Yin," to the capital. Without saying a word, they seized them and beheaded them!

Then, together with He Miao, they led troops to guard the Vermilion Bird Gate, which was the only way to the Northern Palace.

Arrest one eunuch, kill one.

Catch one pair, cut off the other pair.

Before long, several eunuchs fled in panic; they were Zhao Zhong and his men.

"Halt!" Yuan Shao ordered.

Zhao Zhong stopped in his tracks, turned around, and was terrified to see Yuan Shao's sword already at his neck.

"Captain Yuan... let's talk this out..."

"Shut up!" Yuan Shao raised his knife and brought it down, Zhao Zhong's head rolling far away.

The other eunuchs were so frightened that their legs went weak and they knelt down to beg for mercy.

Yuan Shao didn't even blink, and he killed them all with a single stroke.

...

Wu Kuang, on the other hand, was in a bloodthirsty frenzy and couldn't stand anyone.

Upon suddenly seeing He Miao, he grew angrier the more he thought about it: He Miao had been speaking up for the eunuchs from beginning to end, and wasn't on the same page as his own brother! He Jin was killed by the eunuchs, but he got away scot-free.