by Luo Guanzhong
12Consort Tang also composed a verse, which went:
13
The great and almighty heavens have collapsed, and the vast earth is in ruins; as a concubine of the emperor, I regret that I cannot follow him into the hereafter.
Life and death are two separate roads, and now we part company; how did this loneliness come upon me? My heart is full of sadness!
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Having finished their verses, they embraced each other and began to cry. Li Ru barked, "Chancellor of State is impatiently waiting for us to report back to him, but both of you are stalling; who do you think will save you?" The empress dowager cursed, "That scoundrel Dong is forcing a mother and her son, and heaven will not protect him! You are helping an evil tyrant, and your whole family shall certainly be wiped out!" Ru was furious, and grabbed the empress dowager with both hands, throwing her straight down the stairs. He ordered his soldiers to hang Consort Tang, and to kill the young emperor by pouring the poisoned wine down the his throat. He then reported back to Dong Zhuo. Zhuo ordered their bodies be buried outside of the city. From then on, he entered the palace each evening and had his way with the ladies-in-waiting of the palace; he then spent the night sleeping on the dragon bed. He led his troops out of the city to the area around Yangcheng. Around the second lunar month, the villagers were holding their springtime earth god festival. All of the men and women were gathered together; Zhuo ordered his soldiers to surround and kill them. They seized the women and spoils, and loaded them onto their carts. They also hung more than 1,000 severed heads on the carts. They made their way back to the capital in a long caravan, and spread the word that they had returned from a major victory against bandits. They burned the human heads at the gates of the city, and the women and spoils were divided amongst all the soldiers.
Continued next week. Tomorrow's installment from Lays of Ancient Rome by Macaulay.
This is one of four great novels from China, published when it was the most highly civilization in the world. Map shows China at the time of this story.
Chapter Summary: Deposing the Han emperor: Chenliu becomes emperor; plotting against the villain Dong: Mengde presents a dagger.
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This translation from Wikipedia. See license CC-BY-SA.
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