At this moment, Empress Dowager He did not expose Yuan Wei and his group's intentions. She decided to first protect the young emperor and leave the place with Huang Wan and Lu Zhi.
"I will obey the Empress Dowager's decree!"
After Yuan Shao was squeezed out by the Yuan family and Dong Zhuo, in order to balance the power of the various forces, Dong Zhuo did not want the Yuan family's military strength to become too large, while the Yuan family did not want Dong Zhuo to annex the imperial army.
Thus, Lu Zhi and others, the three Yellow Turban generals who were idle at home, were ordered by the emperor to take over the five schools of the Northern Army and the Western Garden Army, forming a separate faction with the Yuzhou Army under Huang Wan, the governor of Yuzhou.
When they received the imperial edict, they entered the palace without hesitation to serve the emperor.
However, what they found hard to understand was that Empress Dowager He had asked them to come to the palace to pick up the young emperor and prepare for his eastern tour.
Isn't this just a case of fearing Liu Wei's million-strong army and preparing to flee Luoyang?
Before they could think about it any further, they learned that Luoyang was on fire and Dong Zhuo was causing chaos. They rushed to the palace and found Dong Zhuo and Yuan Shu locked in a fierce battle.
Now that Empress Dowager He had ordered them to protect the young emperor and leave, they had some doubts, but they didn't dwell on it and acted immediately.
Yuan Wei and Yuan Shu were taken aback, not expecting the Empress Dowager to resort to such tricks.
They didn't want to stay behind and become cannon fodder.
"Your Majesty, let's go together!" Yuan Wei quickly said, "If we stay here to cover the retreat, we won't be able to hold them off."
"Grand Tutor, you are paid by the emperor and are obligated to serve him. At this time, you dare not die for your country?"
When Empress Dowager He saw Huang Wan and Lu Zhi arrive with their troops, she naturally straightened her back and immediately gave them a cold rebuke.
Yuan Wei suffered in silence, but he was unwilling to let the young emperor and empress dowager leave like that.
Just as they were racking their brains for a solution, a burst of laughter erupted.
Dong Zhuo restrained his soldiers and led a group of people to the front.
"Grand Tutor, Grand Commandant, your residences have been breached by my soldiers, and your families are now in my hands!"
"Why don't you come over here obediently and let's have a proper talk!"
Dong Zhuo shouted loudly at Yuan Wei and the others.
"You traitor Dong Zhuo, who are you trying to scare?"
Yuan Shu immediately retorted, "I have already arranged for people to guard the area; you can forget about succeeding."
"With your small force, how can you stop the fierce warriors of Bingzhou?" Dong Zhuo sneered.
Although Yuan Wei and the others did not believe it, they could not help but worry.
Just then, someone ran up in a panic: "Grand Tutor, Grand Commandant, something terrible has happened! The Lady has been arrested!"
Yuan Wei and the others stood there dumbfounded for a long time before pointing at Dong Zhuo, their mouths trembling with anger:
"Don't let your family suffer the consequences, you traitor Dong Zhuo! How could you do such a heinous thing?"
"Grand Tutor, I'm sorry! As long as you hand over the Empress Dowager and His Majesty, I promise not to harm your families."
Dong Zhuo looked confident of victory.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
