Yan Province.
Inside the grand hall of the chancellor's residence, the atmosphere was solemn and austere.
Cao Cao sat upright in the seat of honor, one hand resting on his knee, the other gently stroking the hilt of the Heaven-Leaning Sword at his waist. His eyes were half closed, as though he were dozing.
Emperor Xian of Han, Liu Xie, sat beside him in a slightly lower seat. Slender and somewhat pale, he seemed out of place in the imposing hall, more like an exquisite ornament.
Just then, a travel-worn scout stumbled and scrambled inside, wet flecks of mud still clinging to his armor, his face filled with terror and disbelief.
"Report!"
The scout's hoarse shout broke the silence in the hall.
"Reporting to the chancellor! Your Majesty!"
"Urgent news from Huainan!"
Cao Cao's eyes snapped open, a sharp gleam flashing through them.
"Speak."
The scout swallowed, seemingly struggling to find words for something that would overturn everything they knew. Even his voice trembled.
"Y-Yuan Shu is dead!"
At these words, the assembled civil and military officials burst into an uproar.
Yuan Shu was dead?
That fellow might have been nothing but dry bones in a tomb, but he still commanded over a hundred thousand troops. How could he have died just like that?
Cao Cao raised an eyebrow, though inwardly he was hardly surprised.
By proclaiming himself emperor, Yuan Shu had sought his own death. It would have been no surprise whoever destroyed him.
What truly interested him was who had plucked that peach.
"Who did it?"
Cao Cao asked in a low voice.
An expression a hundred times more terrified than before appeared on the scout's face. Trembling, he said,
"It... it was Yang Feng!"
"Not only did he kill Yuan Shu, he also... also ascended the throne in Shouchun and proclaimed himself emperor. His empire is called... the Great Yang Empire!"
Boom!
The news was like a thunderbolt from the highest heavens, striking the center of the hall and crashing down upon the crown of everyone's head.
The entire hall instantly fell deathly silent. A falling pin could have been heard.
Everyone stood frozen in place as though struck by an immobilization spell, the same word written on every face.
Absurd.
Even Cao Cao, who ordinarily never let joy or anger show on his face, could no longer maintain his composure.
He shot to his feet so abruptly that the table before him shook, sending its bamboo slips clattering across the floor.
"What did you say?"
Cao Cao's voice was filled with incredulous shock.
"A slave?"
"How dared he kill Yuan Shu?"
"And establish some... Great Ocean Empire?"
Cao Cao had instinctively misheard "Great Yang" as "Great Ocean." To his ears, the name sounded as ridiculous as children playing house, yet behind that absurdity lay the utmost provocation against the order of the entire world.
A slave, someone at the very bottom of society, had actually killed a regional lord and then made himself emperor?
This was no longer merely rebellion.
This was telling everyone under heaven that the rules no longer existed.
While Cao Cao was still reeling, Emperor Xian of Han, Liu Xie, who had remained motionless beside him for a long time, suddenly let out a wail and began sobbing like a child who had suffered the greatest injustice in the world.
As he cried, he pounded his chest with his fists, tears and snot streaming down his face, looking like a madman.
"I am incompetent!"
"I have failed my ancestors!"
"To think that our Great Han's four-hundred-year realm has fallen so low that even a mere slave can proclaim himself emperor!"
"How can I face Emperor Gaozu!"
"How can I face Emperor Guangwu!"
The young man's cries were piercing and despairing, echoing through the spacious hall and adding further sorrow to its already somber atmosphere.
Yet to Cao Cao, that sorrow sounded unbearably grating.
He whipped his head around, his hawklike eyes shooting toward Liu Xie like knives, and unleashed an earth-shattering roar.
"Shut up!"
"Stop crying!"
The powerful bellow carried boundless killing intent and authority, forcibly choking off Liu Xie's sobs in an instant.
Liu Xie shuddered in fright and gave a sobbing hiccup. He looked at Cao Cao with his tear-streaked face, no longer daring to make a sound.
The civil and military officials throughout the hall were as silent as cicadas in winter, not even daring to breathe loudly.
Within Cao Cao, fury was already surging to the heavens.
Cry, cry, cry! All you knew how to do was cry!
What could you do besides cry?
If your Liu ancestors had not been incompetent, how could the world have come to this?
If you were not utterly useless as emperor, why would I, Cao Mengde, have to exhaust my mind and strength like this!
Now that something had happened, you were shoving all the responsibility onto your ancestors. Who was this performance of a filial descendant supposed to impress?
Utter trash!
Just then, a slightly languid yet exceptionally clear voice rang out in the hall.
"My lord, calm your anger."
Guo Jia stepped out from the ranks of civil officials and cupped his hands toward Cao Cao.
His own heart was likewise churning like an overturned sea, filled with shock.
Hadn't that slave named Yang Feng moved far too quickly?
One day he had still been playing along with Yuan Shu, that very night he had slaughtered him, and the next day he had simply ascended the throne and proclaimed himself emperor. Such efficiency, such audacity-it was unheard of.
This fellow was either a complete madman or a ruthless overlord whose calculations left nothing unaccounted for.
Either way, now was not the time for anger.
Guo Jia quickly assessed the situation and immediately offered Cao Cao his counsel.
"My lord, Yang Feng's actions may look insane, but in truth, they are foolish in the extreme."
"He was born a slave and has no foundation whatsoever, yet he has brazenly proclaimed himself emperor. He has already become the common enemy of all under heaven."
"There is no need for us to act. The lords throughout the realm will certainly rise against him together. His so-called 'Great Ocean Empire' will be no more than a night-blooming flower, gone in a moment. It will never amount to anything."
"In my opinion, what should concern us most now is whether the Heavenly Screen will appear again today."
Guo Jia's words were like a basin of cold water, instantly extinguishing most of Cao Cao's fury.
That was right.
Fengxiao was right.
Why should he waste his anger on a dead man?
By proclaiming himself emperor, Yang Feng had placed himself in opposition to every lord. He was now the largest, most conspicuous target under heaven, and everyone wanted to loose an arrow at him to win the fine reputation of "upholding the Han imperial house."
Why should he be the bird that stuck its head out first?
What truly mattered was that mysterious, unfathomable Heavenly Screen that could foretell the future.
That was the true key to deciding who would possess the realm!
At this thought, Cao Cao slowly sat back down, his expression regaining its calm.
"Fengxiao is entirely correct."
"Pass down my orders. Put the entire army on alert and watch how events unfold."
Meanwhile, in Ji Province to the north.
Upon hearing the news, Yuan Shao reacted a hundred times more violently than Cao Cao.
Bang!
He kicked over the table before him, shattering its costly lacquerware and wine vessels across the floor.
"Trash!"
"Yuan Shu was an utterly worthless piece of trash!"
Yuan Shao's face flushed crimson with anger, veins bulging as he paced back and forth through the hall, cursing furiously.
"For four generations, our Yuan family has held the Three Ducal Offices. What glory!"
"And what did Yuan Gonglu do? He let some slave who had crawled out of who knows where slaughter him!"
"This is an unspeakable humiliation for our Yuan family!"
"How am I supposed to face the heroes of the realm now!"
Below him, Tian Feng, Ju Shou, and the other advisers exchanged glances, their hearts filled with helplessness.
Their lord always focused on such remarkably different things.
Seeing Yuan Shao grow angrier with every curse, looking ready to march south at once and tear that slave named Yang Feng into ten thousand pieces, Tian Feng hurried forward a step, bowed, and urged him,
"My lord, calm your anger!"
"That whelp Yang Feng acts against all proper order and is bringing about his own destruction. He is no cause for concern."
"Our most urgent task is to wait and see what changes occur in the Heavenly Screen. That is what truly matters to our plans to take the realm!"
"Yes, my lord. Let us first see what happens with the Heavenly Screen!"
Everyone chimed in with their agreement.
Yuan Shao breathed heavily, his chest heaving violently, but ultimately forced down the fury in his heart.
That was right. The Heavenly Screen mattered most.
Yet at this very moment, the most terrified person under heaven was neither Cao Cao nor Yuan Shao.
It was Liu Zhang, far away in Yizhou, who had nearly been frightened to death.