Liu Hong, wearing the Heaven-Reaching Crown and a black robe, with jade hanging at his waist, looked utterly savage in the splendid palace chamber.
He strode toward Zuo Feng, who was kneeling, then suddenly raised his leg and kicked hard, sending him sprawling across the floor.
Zuo Feng didn't dare cry out in pain. He scrambled up and shuffled on his knees before Liu Hong, pressing his forehead to the ground. "Your Majesty, every word this servant said was true. I didn't deceive you in the slightest!"
Liu Hong laughed in fury. "God Huang Tian! Sovereign Yellow Absolute! Ha, ha, ha! Do you take me for a fool?!"
He had read the Yellow Turban Army's scripture, the Great Peace Scripture.
"Thus do the Three Bonds and Six Disciplines bring lasting good fortune." "Speak with loyalty and filial piety, and do not stray from the will of Heaven and Earth." "The people's duty is to sustain the state and its princes." "Those who rule must cultivate the fields and provide for the people"...
Every line taught the emperor how to govern and told the people they must be obedient. It was nothing like a seditious text.
That was also why Liu Hong had pardoned Zhang Jiao after his first rebellion was discovered. He simply didn't believe that the Great Virtuous Teacher would rise up for a bunch of peasants.
It wasn't until Zhang Jiao raised his forces for a second time—this time, with hundreds of thousands of Yellow Turbans sweeping across the land—that Liu Hong panicked and hurriedly sent troops to suppress them.
Even so, he still didn't believe the Great Peace Scripture was a seditious text.
What was more, the book rarely mentioned spirits and gods. The so-called "Yellow Heaven Holy Infant" and "Sovereign Yellow Absolute" didn't appear in it at all. Those ideas only circulated among the Yellow Turban soldiers.
How could Liu Hong believe the nonsense that God Huang Tian had been reincarnated?
Zuo Feng wept until tears and snot streamed down his face. "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, don't you know what kind of person I am? I'm a coward through and through. How would I dare deceive you?"
Only then did Liu Hong manage to rein in his anger and gradually calm down.
Years of indulgence in wine and women, however, had left the Han Empire's highest ruler, though only in his twenties, looking pale and weak.
He drew a deep breath and asked slowly, "Did you see God Huang Tian with your own eyes?"
Zuo Feng shook his head. "No. I'd only just reached Lieren when General Lu and the others arrived, fleeing after their defeat. That's how I heard about it.
"At first, I didn't believe it either. It was only after questioning them closely that I slowly came to believe it. The fear on those defeated soldiers' faces couldn't have been faked..."
"So you didn't see this so-called god yourself?" Liu Hong repeated.
"No." Zuo Feng hunched over. "I'd planned to go to Guangzong myself to gather intelligence, but General Lu and the others stopped me at all costs. Then I thought, if I died in Guangzong, who would report back to Your Majesty? So I hurried back to Luoyang."
Liu Hong gave a cold snort.
How could he not see that Zuo Feng had been too afraid to go to Guangzong? But now wasn't the time to hold that against him.
He thought for a moment, then asked, "Was Lu Zhi's army really wiped out to the last man?"
Zuo Feng answered honestly. "It's all gone. Fewer than two hundred cavalrymen remain."
Liu Hong angrily slapped the table. "Twenty thousand troops! Twenty thousand!"
Whether the Yellow Heaven Holy Infant was real or not, Liu Hong was certain that Lu Zhi had thrown away the twenty thousand elite troops he had struggled to assemble. It enraged him beyond measure.
"Get out! Get out!" Liu Hong roared, pointing at Zuo Feng.
Zuo Feng kowtowed several times, then rolled out of the chamber like a gourd.
Liu Hong returned to his couch and picked up several battle reports from the table.
"Zhu Jun is still attacking Wan City and can't take it after all this time. Useless! Idiot!"
"Huangfu Song is fighting the Moth Bandit Bu Si in Dong Commandery. He's won several battles and slain more than ten thousand enemy troops. He says he'll destroy Bu Si within ten days..."
"Dong Zhuo and Cao Cao just defeated a small Yellow Turban force, right near Ji Province..."
Liu Hong thought for a moment, then began drafting an imperial decree.
He ordered Dong Zhuo and Cao Cao's forces to march to Lieren and join up with Lu Zhi. Huangfu Song was to destroy Bu Si, pacify Dong Commandery in Yan Province, then immediately march to Ji Province and join forces with Lu Zhi, Dong Zhuo, and Cao Cao.
As he wrote, he hesitated. He had wanted to have Lu Zhi escorted back to Luoyang for trial, but after weighing it over, he decided not to touch him for the time being.
The reason was simple: Lu Zhi knew the most about Zhang Jiao's Yellow Turban forces. If he were sent back to Luoyang, Huangfu Song and the others would know nothing about what was happening around Guangzong.
Still, Lu Zhi couldn't go unpunished. Liu Hong ordered him stripped of his post as General, and made to serve in the army as a commoner. Huangfu Song would take command in Ji Province instead.
Compared with Lu Zhi, a defeated general, Huangfu Song was much more to Liu Hong's liking.
He killed without mercy, used brutal methods, and was utterly loyal—a vicious hound in the emperor's service!
After sending out the decree, Liu Hong paced through the palace hall, murmuring, "God Huang Tian, Sovereign Yellow Absolute..."
Prophecies and apocryphal writings were popular in the Han Dynasty. The court and the common folk alike half-believed in ghosts and gods, and Liu Hong was inevitably influenced by it. Though he didn't really believe gods could walk among mortals, Lu Zhi, Zong Yuan, and Zuo Feng had all sworn their claims were true.
Lu Zhi in particular was a man renowned throughout the land. If even he claimed that the Yellow Turban Army had divine aid, Liu Hong couldn't help but believe it.
"Could gods truly exist in this world? Was the Grand Progenitor High Emperor really the reincarnation of the Son of the Red Emperor?"
He sank into deep reverie.
Nearly a month after arriving in the Late Han Dynasty World, Huang Tian had not only grown into a handsome, graceful young man, aging a year for every day that passed, but had also reached the third level of Qi Refining!
He had even brushed against the threshold of the fourth level. Perhaps he could break through at any moment.
Over the past month, at his command, the Yellow Turban Army had used the surrendered Han soldiers as instructors and undergone intensive training.
They still couldn't be called elite, but they were far stronger than before, and had at least reached the training standards of the Commandery Soldiers.
Equipped with the armor, halberds, and spears seized from the Han army camp, the Yellow Turban Army had been remade from the ground up.
One day, Zhang Jiao came to the place where Huang Tian practiced and bowed respectfully.
"Master, after a month of training, tens of thousands of soldiers have been transformed. They're eager for battle and wish to request your permission to sweep across Ji Province and bring about an age of prosperity under Huang Tian!"
As the leader of the Yellow Turban Army throughout the land, Zhang Jiao had been taken in by Huang Tian as a nominal disciple. Though he hadn't yet been taught any "immortal arts," his body had been tempered by spiritual energy, leaving him full of vigor.
Huang Tian focused on cultivation, while Zhang Jiao handled all affairs in Guangzong. He managed an army of more than fifty thousand and over sixty thousand old and weak refugees with great efficiency.
But the small city of Guangzong was hard-pressed to hold a hundred and twenty thousand people. Food was especially scarce, with only enough to last another month at most. They had no choice but to wage war beyond the city to obtain provisions.
Huang Tian wore a Cloud Pattern Daoist Robe, with no crown on his head. He had tied his hair back with a Green Jade Hairpin. His eyes were clear and bright as he looked at his first disciple. "What do you think?"
After spending this time together, Zhang Jiao understood Huang Tian's temperament. He knew his master wasn't looking to hear empty words like "I will obey your every command." He thought for a few moments, then spoke his mind.
"This disciple believes we could send a force of fifteen thousand men to capture Quzhou, Guangping, and Pingxiang, then march north to link up with the forces at Xiaquyang and support one another."
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