Watching Chen Qun's departing back, a shadow flickered through Sima Zhao's eyes.
Sima Zhao did not fear Chen Qun's threats in the slightest. His entire clan was dead, and his own body was already mutilated. The only thing keeping him alive was hatred, so there was nothing left for him to fear.
The reason he still heeded Chen Qun's words was the power in the man's hands. Only by firmly grasping power as Zhao Gao had could one do whatever one pleased.
Wei's border troubles never ceased, while popular uprisings frequently erupted within the country. When Sima Zhao first began to show his hand last year, interested parties quietly came knocking.
Eunuchs had no descendants. Their ability to meddle in government and wield power rested entirely on the emperor's tacit approval and support. When an emperor favored cultivating a eunuch faction, it was either to counter the civil officials' bloc or to keep the maternal relatives and meritorious nobles in check.
Because eunuchs had no foundation, they could easily become political sacrifices. Having received Sima Yi's instruction in his youth, Sima Zhao understood that, aside from relying on the emperor, an official eunuch needed to win over civil ministers or military commanders as well. Only then could he become like Zhao Gao.
By purging the minor clans of Luoyang and the lackeys of Henan's great clans, Sima Zhao earned the appreciation of Hebei's aristocratic families. They secretly reached out to this young man and urged Cao Pi to move the capital back to Ye City. Their reason was that the Son of Heaven could not be left in constant peril, and that if the Central Plains could no longer be held, the Yellow River could still be relied upon to block the Han army.
Ye City was one of the