"Even if we surrender the city, will our lives merely be spared?"
Though Liu Yan was usually good at keeping his composure, he couldn't help feeling a flicker of anger now. The Yellow Turban Army clearly didn't give a damn about the seventy or eighty thousand troops inside the city.
He rose in a fury. "I want to meet this god of yours!"
Zhang Jiao shook his head. "The Holy Venerable will not meet with you."
"How do you know?!" Liu Yan asked, forcing down his anger.
"Because the Holy Venerable knew long ago that you would seek peace. That is why he issued his divine decree."
Liu Yan froze. "He knew long ago?"
"The Holy Venerable knew before you even shot over your token," Zhang Jiao replied with a nod.
A chill suddenly rose in the hearts of Liu Yan and the other three. Could this so-called Sovereign Yellow Absolute God really see the future? How were they supposed to fight a war like this?
Peace talks? The Yellow Turban Army wouldn't negotiate!
Did they have no choice but to surrender the city?
Heavy-hearted, Liu Yan asked one last time, "Is there truly no room for negotiation?"
Zhang Jiao shook his head. "Gentlemen, please return. Take the divine decree back to the false emperor. If he offers up the city of his own accord, perhaps our army will spare his life."
The word "false emperor" struck Liu Yan like a knife. He gave a cold snort and said unhappily, "If your army is so arrogant, then we'll fight beneath Luoyang's mighty walls and see whether you have what it takes to take this great city!"
Zhang Jiao remained perfectly calm, which only infuriated Liu Yan further. To the weak, a strong man's calm could itself be an insult.
Liu Yan swept out, and Liu Bei and the other two hurried after him.
"Great Virtuous Teacher, those men were rude. Shall we seize them and teach them a lesson?" Huang Shao's gruff voice rang out.
Zhang Jiao replied, "There's no need. They're just the last cries of men on the brink of death."
Fuming, Liu Yan strode out of the Yellow Turban camp. Once he was on horseback, he realized he was drenched in cold sweat. The damp clothes clung uncomfortably to his skin. He looked back at the camp, dark and densely packed, his heart awash with conflicting emotions.
Liu Bei rode over. "Clan Chief, it seems peace is impossible."
Liu Yan let out a long sigh. "Yes. We can only settle this with blades now. The victors live; the defeated die."
The two fell silent, facing each other. Suddenly, Guan Yu's gaze landed on a spot in the distance, and he asked in puzzlement, "What are those Moth Bandits doing? Piling up earth to build a city?"
Liu Yan and Liu Bei looked in the direction Guan Yu pointed. They saw many Yellow Turban soldiers digging up soil and piling it together, seemingly to build a high platform.
"Maybe they're making an earthen hill, so their archers can stand on top and shoot down into the city?" Zhang Fei guessed.
Liu Bei shook his head. "They're piling up the earth too far from the city wall. How could arrows shot from a hill reach the city?"
"Perhaps they mean to use it as a lookout," Guan Yu mused.
"Most likely."
Apart from that explanation, they could think of no other reason for the Yellow Turban Army to pile up earth.
"Don't overthink it. We should head back and report the outcome of the peace talks to His Majesty."
Liu Yan tugged the reins. His horse neighed and carried him toward Luoyang, with Liu Bei and the others quickly following. Their hooves left faint prints on the dirt road.
In the imperial palace, Liu Hong flew into a rage after hearing Liu Yan and the others' report. "Damn Moth Bandits! Damn Moth Bandits!"
Liu Yan and Liu Bei silently lowered their heads.
"If the Moth Bandits won't give me a way to live, then let's see who emerges victorious! There are seventy or eighty thousand troops in the city. We can conscript more commoners, too—one hundred thousand men will be easy to gather. With an army of one hundred thousand, fortified walls, and powerful weapons, I refuse to believe we can't hold Luoyang!"
Liu Hong immediately issued an order for Grand Marshal Deng Sheng and Great General He Jin to conscript civilians in the city, the more the better. Ideally, they would station a soldier in every corner of the walls, making the city as impregnable as an iron fortress.
After the order went out, Luoyang, already far from peaceful, grew even more tumultuous. Brutal soldiers roamed the streets, seizing able-bodied men, the old, and the young without restraint.
The able-bodied could be made into soldiers; the old and young could be used for ransom.
If anyone wanted to buy back an elderly father or young son, they had to hand over a fortune. Otherwise, the old and young could serve as soldiers, too. Whether they were given grain to eat or swords to the throat was another matter entirely...
In just a few days, Luoyang had become a boiling cauldron. The common people and gentry alike were gripped by fear and unease.
In stark contrast to the raucous city, the Yellow Turban camp outside the walls was exceptionally quiet. For days, the Yellow Turban Army had made no move to attack the city. They did nothing but drill their soldiers and pile up earth with single-minded devotion.
"What in the world are the Moth Bandits planning? Why aren't they attacking the city?"
Yuan Shao was deeply puzzled. News that the Yellow Turban Army had demanded the Han Court's "unconditional surrender" had long spread through Luoyang. Faced with the Yellow Turban Army's hardline stance, the ministers were all deeply troubled. They feared that unless they surrendered the city, the Yellow Turban Army would soon launch wave after wave of attacks.
Yet several days had passed, and the Yellow Turban Army hadn't shot a single arrow at the walls, much less swarmed them like ants.
Even more baffling, the Yellow Turban Army hadn't built a single siege weapon. They had devoted themselves entirely to piling up earth and raising a high platform, doing nothing else.
"Could the Moth Bandits have no intention of attacking the city, and only plan to lay siege until they exhaust our food?" Yuan Shao wondered. "No, that can't be it. There's plenty of grain left in the city. Before the Moth Bandits surrounded Luoyang, Grand Marshal Deng had already transported a great deal of grain here from other regions. It might not last three or five years, but it would be enough for a year or half a year. The Moth Bandits couldn't possibly be unaware of this."
He had long since secretly sent people to contact the Yellow Turban Army, telling them roughly how things stood inside the city.
It was a way out that Yuan Shao had kept for himself.
And Yuan Shao was certain that he wasn't the only one. Others must have been sending information to the army outside the city, too.
If only men like them could control the city gates. Otherwise, one night the gates of Luoyang might suddenly swing open, and the Yellow Turban Army outside could stroll right in.
"Perhaps it has something to do with the high platform they're building outside the city..." Yuan Shao mused.
The Yellow Turban Army's earthworks had drawn the attention of He Jin, Deng Sheng, and the others. After all, it was strange enough that they were building a platform instead of attacking the city. It was impossible not to notice.
Yet no one had any idea why the Yellow Turban Army was doing it.
Gongsun Zan, Sun Jian, Liu Bei, and other military officers had all petitioned to send a force out of the city to destroy the earthen platform. Whatever the enemy wanted to do, they only had to stop them from doing it!
Unfortunately, Emperor Liu Hong refused. He even issued a stern order demanding that all the armies hold the city and forbidding them to venture out and fight. They were to wait patiently for reinforcements—if any were coming at all.
The emperor's command could not be disobeyed. Everyone could only watch as the earthen platform rose from nothing, growing to a height of three zhang, three chi, and three cun. A square table was placed atop it, and yellow earthen-colored flags were planted on all four sides, making it look like an extremely crude sacrificial rite.
"Whatever that earthen platform is for, we'll know the result within the next few days at the latest..."
A powerful premonition stirred in Yuan Shao's heart. One day soon, something would happen—something capable of changing the entire situation in Luoyang and the course of the realm.
"So I need to make a few more preparations. My household retainers and dependents, the dozens of soldiers Wu Kuang assigned me, the hundred fine horses, the escape route near Dongyang Gate..."