Chapter 31: The Imperial Jade Seal Tests One's Heart

  "What's going on?" Tai Shi and Liao Hua asked in unison.

  Li Chong sighed, he really didn't know how to answer, the following events would not change much. Dong Zhuo burned Luoyang, took the emperor and officials hostage, moved the capital to Chang'an, Sun Jian obtained the jade seal, Cao Cao pursued alone but failed, was ambushed by Xu Rong, and returned in defeat.

  This is an inevitable thing that will happen. What Li Zhong wants to do is to take advantage of Xu Rong's ambush against Cao Cao and strike the iron while it is hot, eliminating this great enemy in advance.

  But Li Chong couldn't help but feel that he was being a bit ungrateful, having eaten Cao Cao's food and lived in his house, and then using Cao Cao to obtain an official position, and now wanting to secretly plot against him.

  "Ah!" Li sighed and said: "I'm still unsure, let's talk about it later."

  Tai Shi Zi didn't ask any further, raised his wine cup and said: "Anyway, Zihui has obtained an official position, let's toast to that." After saying this, Tai Shi Zi drained the cup in one gulp.

  Liao Hua also chimed in: "Today is such a happy day, let's not mention anything else."

  Li Chong raised his wine cup, thinking to himself that it was up to him whether or not to kill Cao Cao later on. What's there to worry about? At worst, he could let Cao Cao off the hook this one time. With heroes like Liu Bei and Sun Quan already around, what difference would adding another Cao Cao make? The key thing was to get his hands on the Imperial Seal of China.

  Li Chong's guess was not wrong, Cao Cao, Yuan Shu and Sun Jian all strongly opposed reconciliation with Dong Zhuo. Sun Jian flatly refused Dong Zhuo's intention to make peace with him, cursing loudly: "Zhuo defies heaven and has no way, destroying the royal family. If I don't destroy your three clans and show them to the four seas, then I will die without closing my eyes. How can I make peace with you?"

  Cao Cao said even more decisively: "If Dong's rebel wants to negotiate a truce, that can be done. Hand over Lü Bu and I will withdraw my troops."

  He did not mention returning to Luoyang to report back to Dong Zhuo, but only mentioned Dong Zhuo in Luoyang.

  Dong Zhuo is now also in a state of anxiety, he just received the news that Niu Fu's defeat at the hands of Bai Po has returned to Chang'an, losing many soldiers and generals, the situation in Guanzhong is very chaotic. What makes Dong Zhuo even more angry is that Ma Teng, the governor of Xiliang and the general who conquered the west, is eager to move, Chang'an is unstable, Dong Zhuo can only once again propose the matter of moving the capital to Chang'an.

  "Ma Teng, you insolent boy! I appointed you as the General of Conquering the West, but now I regret it!" Dong Zhuo was furious and threw the letter to the ground, shouting: "Summon Li Ru to see me."

  A moment later, Li Ru hastily arrived.

  Dong Zhuo's expression had calmed down, and he said in a low voice: "Wen You, this is an urgent report from Chang'an. Take a look first."

  Li Ru took over the letter, carefully read it through, put the letter on the desk and slowly said: "How does the Grand Master plan to respond?"

  Dong Zhuo stood up and walked around Li Ru a few times before saying, "Now that Guanzhong is unstable, I can only lead the army back to Chang'an."

  Li Ru nodded and said: "The Grand Master's words are extremely correct, but... Now the money and grain are lacking, and there are many wealthy households in Luoyang. We can confiscate their property to fill the military expenses."

  Dong Zhuo halted his movements, closed his eyes for a long time, and then nodded his head saying: "These words are very good."

  In the first year of Chuping, on February 17 (according to historical records, it was a Dinghai day), Dong Zhuo ordered the western migration, and first sent Emperor Xian to migrate west by carriage. He also forced hundreds of millions of people in Luoyang to move to Chang'an with infantry and cavalry, and the common people were trampled to death, starved to death, robbed and killed, filling the roads. Dong Zhuo stayed in Biyong Garden in Luoyang, ordering the capture of rich men, killing them under false charges, confiscating their property, and countless people died. He also sent Lü Bu to excavate the imperial mausoleum of the former emperor and the tombs of officials below, and confiscated the treasures inside.

  Finally set fire and burned the palaces, temples, government offices, and homes of Luoyang. Within 200 miles of Luoyang, all buildings were destroyed, not a single chicken or dog was left.

  Dong Zhuo's brutal actions shocked the world.

  The allied forces inside Tiger Trap Pass received news that Yuan Shao immediately led the allied army to attack Luoyang.

  Without mentioning Yuan Shao sending someone to extinguish the remaining fire and stationing soldiers, Li Chong took advantage of others' unpreparedness, leading his subordinates to rush straight to the imperial palace. His goal was the transmission jade seal inside the South Hall's dry well.

  If it weren't for Li Chong, the Jade Seal should have been obtained by Sun Jian when he observed the celestial phenomena at night and discovered that a dry well emitted five-colored rays. However, Sun Jian is currently busy covering up the tomb excavated by Dong Zhuo, so there's no opportunity for him to compete with Li Chong for the Jade Seal.

  Arriving at the South Pavilion, Li Chong ordered his soldiers to pretend to clean up debris and guard the surroundings closely. He led Liao Hua and Taishi Ci to search for a dry well.

  Before long, Li Chong discovered a dry well in the courtyard and hastily ordered Liao Hua to tie a rope around his waist and lower him down into the well for an inspection.

  Soon, Liao Hua pulled up a female corpse. The female corpse had not rotted, and was dressed in palace attire, with a beautiful face. Around her neck was tied a brocade bag. Li Chong opened the brocade bag, inside which was a crimson wooden box, locked with a golden lock. Li Chong opened the wooden box, took out a jade seal, the jade seal was four inches square, on top of which were five dragons intertwined, and one corner of the jade seal was inlaid with gold.

  Li Chong turned over the jade seal and saw that it was engraved with eight seal characters. Although Li Chong did not recognize small seal script, he could also guess what was written on it: Receive the Mandate of Heaven, Long Life and Eternal Prosperity.

  Li Zhong put away the jade seal and handed it to Taishi Ci, saying: "Zi Yi, this is the imperial jade seal of Huaxia, you must take good care of it, don't lose it."

  "What! The imperial seal...!" Taishi Ci was about to shout out loud when he suddenly covered his mouth, his eyes wide with shock.

  Liao Hua had long covered his mouth, and his eyes were red from holding back tears.

  Li Zhong said in a low voice: "All of you shut up, we'll talk again when we get back to our tent tonight."

  On this day, Taishi Ci was extremely nervous, constantly touching his chest, feeling like the days were passing slowly. As soon as night fell, Taishi Ci hastily took out the Imperial Seal and carefully handed it to Li Zhong, saying: "You'd better take care of it yourself, to be honest, since I lost my money bag in Donglai last time, I don't dare to keep valuable things."

  "Plop......" Liao Hua was drinking water and almost choked when he heard this.

  Li Chong was also a bit stunned, could it be that when he had someone steal Tai Shi Ci's money bag earlier, he actually stole something that would bring about later consequences? This is truly a case of reaping what one has sown. As for his own and Liao Hua's martial arts skills, who would dare to take responsibility for safeguarding such an important thing?

  Tai Shi Ci took a deep breath, carefully placed the Imperial Seal in his bosom and said solemnly: "Zi Hui, you shouldn't have opened the wooden box. The Imperial Seal is too precious."

  Li Zhong stared at Tai Shi Ci for a long time, then smiled and said: "Why can't I open the wooden box? You are all my most trusted brothers! Why can't you let me know that this is the Imperial Seal of Succession? If I, Li Zihui, don't even have one person to trust, then it's better for me to give up on the idea of contending for the throne!"

  Tai Shi Cai stared blankly at Li Chong, a warm current surging in his chest. He knew that Li Chong handing over the Imperial Seal to him was like entrusting his life to him; if he had even a hint of disloyalty, Li Chong would immediately die without a burial place. This was what kind of trust.

  A man will die for one who understands him, it is not necessarily so!

  Thinking of this, Ta Shi Cai, the tough guy, couldn't help but feel a surge of emotions in his eyes. He also knew Li Chong's thoughts, but he didn't have any repulsive feelings. After all, Li Chong had staked too much. Ta Shi Cai suddenly knelt down on one knee and said in a trembling voice: "Just for Master's words today, my life belongs to Master! I will follow Master's orders unconditionally! There is no second heart!"

  Liao Hua was taken aback, then immediately understood and also knelt down on the ground, saying in a low voice: "Liao Hua pays his respects to Your Excellency! Liao Hua won't say much, this worthless life from now on belongs to Your Excellency!"

  Li Zhongchang let out a breath and felt much lighter in his heart, he had gambled with the Imperial Seal of the State and his own life as stakes, and finally won, winning over people's hearts.