What Did You Mean, the Yellow Heaven Had Descended?

Outside Lieren County.

After fleeing for nearly two days, Lu Zhi finally stopped. His hair hung loose as he looked at the mere two hundred cavalrymen around him, his heart steeped in despair. For a moment, he even felt the urge to take his own life.

Clang!

"Lord Lu, please don't do anything rash!"

Zong Yuan had long worried that Lu Zhi might lose heart, so he had kept a close eye on him. The moment he saw Lu Zhi draw his sword, he grabbed his sword-wielding right hand.

"The Yellow Heaven has descended, and the world is in upheaval. Great Han needs your service now more than ever. How can you throw your life away over a single defeat?" Zong Yuan urged.

The battered-looking officers around them spoke up as well. "Lord Lu, think of the greater good! The court still needs to rely on your wisdom, courage, and military skill!"

Lu Zhi gave a bitter laugh. "Wisdom and courage? What wisdom and courage! The twenty thousand elite troops the court gave me were wiped out in a single battle. How can I face the world—or His Majesty—again?"

Zong Yuan grew anxious. "This wasn't your fault! You led us out from Luoyang and won battle after battle, driving the Moth Bandits' leader back to Guangzong. What a glorious record!

"It was simply that mortal strength couldn't rival Heaven's will. The Moth Bandits had the Immortal Gods on their side. Whoever had come would have been defeated."

Lu Zhi turned to Zong Yuan, his voice hoarse. "Do you also believe the Moth Bandits have Heaven's will?"

At that, Zong Yuan wanted to slap himself. How had he let his inner thoughts slip out?

As deputy commander of the Han Army's northern front, he absolutely could not acknowledge that the Yellow Turban rebels had Heaven's will—not when that will was laid out so plainly before them.

He hesitated, then tried to make amends. "You said it yourself: the Moth Bandits have the Yellow Heaven Descends, and our Great Han has the Blue Heaven Descends. So, so each side has its own Heaven's will..."

Lu Zhi gave a scornful laugh. "Do you really believe what you just said?"

Zong Yuan fell silent. The soldiers and officers around them had nothing to say, either.

How could they believe Lu Zhi's words meant to bolster their morale? They were simply loyal to Great Han and to Lu Zhi, and that was why they had stayed by his side as they fled.

Zong Yuan sighed. "With the situation as it is, what can we do? If our Great Han has no Blue Heaven to protect it, then whether it's you, Lord Huangfu, or Lord Zhu, I'm afraid all of you...

"But if the Blue Heaven does protect us, wouldn't it be a pity for you to give your life now? Don't you want to raise tens of thousands of troops again and defeat the Moth Bandits fair and square, to wash away this disgrace?"

Lu Zhi was silent for a long time.

Just then, the gates of Lieren County slowly opened. The Magistrate of Lieren emerged under the protection of a group of local militiamen, his face full of shock.

He looked around and saw Lu Zhi with his hair in disarray and dark circles under his eyes. Zong Yuan and the others—over a hundred men—had all abandoned their helmets and armor and looked utterly wretched. His heart lurched.

"Lord Lu? General Zong? W-what happened?" the magistrate asked shakily. "Did... did we lose?"

Lu Zhi said nothing. Zong Yuan gave a bitter smile and lowered his voice. "We lost."

The magistrate trembled and nearly lost his footing. His teeth chattered. "Then how many soldiers are left?"

He looked all around, hoping to see a defeated force of ten thousand or at least several thousand. Anything was fine, so long as the entire army hadn't been wiped out.

But Zong Yuan shook his head slightly. "Everyone is here."

The magistrate froze. "Everyone is here?"

He looked around and saw only a hundred-odd cavalrymen, all of them having cast aside their armor—nothing but bareback riders.

He staggered two steps and nearly fell, his heart sinking into utter despair.

With the Han Army wiped out, what could Lieren County, so close to Guangzong, possibly use to resist the Yellow Turban Army's attack?

If he lost Lieren County, he might not be executed, but his career would certainly be ruined.

Lu Zhi's voice was strained. "Our army has been wiped out, and Lieren is close to Guangzong. The urgent task is to requisition the common people, prepare the city defenses, and ask Luoyang for reinforcements."

The magistrate recovered and nodded repeatedly. "Yes, that's what we must do. We'll do everything as Lord Lu sees fit."

There was no shortage of blame-shifting in his words, but he couldn't really be faulted. Lu Zhi had lost the twenty thousand elite troops the court had struggled to assemble. What could a lowly county magistrate possibly rely on to defend the city?

There might not even be as many people in his county as there were in the Yellow Turban Army!

Lu Zhi had no choice but to shoulder the task of defending the city. Until a new force of Han troops arrived to reinforce them, he had no intention of retreating any farther.

If they retreated again, they would have to flee all the way to Ye City, leave Ji Province, and reach Luoyang!

As the dispirited group entered the city, the magistrate suddenly slapped his forehead, remembering something. He said cautiously, "Lord Lu, the court has sent an Imperial Envoy."

An Imperial Envoy was a messenger from the emperor.

Lu Zhi stopped. "Is the Imperial Envoy in Lieren now?"

"He arrived yesterday." The magistrate hesitated. "The envoy is called Zuo Feng. He's a Junior Yellow Gate and is said to be close to Regular Palace Attendant Zhang Rang. He's notoriously overbearing. As he traveled here, he extorted every city along the way. Anyone who didn't give him gold and silk was cursed at, threatened, or even whipped. Everyone is furious, but no one dares speak up."

Lu Zhi's expression shifted repeatedly.

He had already lost his entire army, and now the emperor had sent a "military inspector"—an overbearing eunuch, no less. All those troubles piled together gave him a terrible headache.

"Let's go into the city first," Lu Zhi said helplessly.

Whether Zuo Feng was overbearing or not, he would have to face him eventually.

Besides, the Imperial Envoy's presence in Lieren did have one advantage: he could quickly carry news of the Han Army's defeat back to Luoyang and ask Emperor Liu Hong for reinforcements.

The party entered the city with their heads bowed. Lu Zhi didn't even wash his face before heading straight to see the Junior Yellow Gate, Zuo Feng.

When he saw Zuo Feng, the man was sitting on a mat. The low table before him was laden with honeyed water, wine, and fruit. In the hall, more than ten beauties in flowing skirts danced, their eyes downcast and their faces shy.

Flutes and strings filled the air; wine warmed the body and ears.

Lu Zhi kept his eyes straight ahead as he entered the room and waved a hand. "Everyone, leave."

The music stopped. The beauties looked at one another uncertainly. Zuo Feng, his gaze clouded with drink, looked at Lu Zhi and blinked. Unsure, he asked, "General Lu?"

"It's me," Lu Zhi said.

Zuo Feng looked him up and down. Seeing the sorrow etched between his brows, he was startled. He turned to the musicians and beauties. "All of you, out!"

The musicians and beauties lowered their heads and filed out in small steps. Zuo Feng rose and walked up to Lu Zhi, alarmed. "Shouldn't you be leading the army in its siege of Guangzong, Lord Lu? Why are you in Lieren?"

Lu Zhi fell silent for a moment, not knowing what to say.

Seeing him like this, Zuo Feng sobered at once. He pressed him. "Could it be that our army... our army was defeated?!"

"Defeated," Lu Zhi said in a muffled voice.

Zuo Feng's vision went dark. "Didn't you keep sending victory reports to Luoyang, saying that you had trapped the rebel leader Zhang Jiao in Guangzong? How did everything change in less than a month?"

Lu Zhi tugged at the corners of his mouth. "I had Guangzong surrounded on all sides. Seeing that his cause was doomed, Zhang Jiao came out of the city and fought us in a desperate battle to the death. Our elite troops broke the enemy's advance time and again in less than half an hour. Victory was right before our eyes..."

He let out a long sigh. "The Yellow Heaven descended!"

Zuo Feng stared at him in confusion. "What do you mean, the Yellow Heaven descended? Isn't that the Moth Bandits' slogan for their rebellion?"

Lu Zhi spoke each word slowly. "The Yellow Heaven—the God Huang Tian! The Sovereign Yellow Absolute descended!"