Liu Zhang hit the icy floor with a thud, collapsing stiffly into a sitting position as though every bone had been pulled from his body.
He raised a trembling finger and pointed at the empty space before him, as though the Heavenly Screen that had scared his soul out of his body still hung there. His lips quivered, but for a long while, he could not get out a complete sentence.
"Th-this... th-th-this... how is this possible?"
He whipped his head around, his bloodshot eyes fixing on Fa Zheng and Li Yan, who stood below him in the hall.
"Fa Zheng."
"Li Yan."
"You two... how dare you two?"
His voice was as anguished as a cuckoo crying blood, filled with boundless shock and fear.
"You actually took advantage of me sleeping at night... to kill me?"
"You... you treacherous ministers and rebels!"
Standing there listening to Liu Zhang's accusations, Li Yan and Fa Zheng had already cursed the creator of that Heavenly Screen every way they could think of.
What an absolute bastard.
What the hell was this?
The two of us are still serving perfectly well under you, Liu Zhang, and you just exposed the dirty work we're going to do at night in the future?
Right in front of our lord, you said the two of us would sneak into his bedchamber in the middle of the night, cut off his head, and then drape the yellow robe over that fellow called Yang Feng?
You... what kind of behavior was this?
Great. Now even jumping into the Yellow River wouldn't wash us clean.
Both men lowered their heads in unison, eyes on their noses and noses pointed toward their hearts, not daring to look at Liu Zhang's face, which had already twisted beyond recognition.
After all, whatever the future held, this man was still their lord now.
Looking at the two fellows below him playing deaf and dumb, Liu Zhang felt hot blood rush straight to his head and nearly fainted from rage on the spot.
He struggled to brace himself against the table beside him, then slammed his hand down on it.
"Li Yan!"
"Fa Zheng!"
"You... don't you two have anything to explain?"
Yet after letting out that roar, fierce on the outside but weak within, what welled up in Liu Zhang's heart was not anger, but endless grievance and desolation.
An explanation?
Did he need an explanation?
His heart was as clear as a polished mirror.
Li Yan and Fa Zheng represented the deeply rooted great clans of Yizhou, with tangled networks beneath them and influence stretching throughout the province and its commanderies.
Never mind that he had only heard the Heavenly Screen's side of the story-even if he actually caught them with evidence of rebellion, would he dare act against them?
Kill them?
He feared that before he could even raise his blade, their two families' private soldiers would have surrounded the provincial governor's residence so tightly that not a drop of water could get through.
Then there would be no need to wait until night. His head would part company with his body in broad daylight.
The thought sent a chill through Liu Zhang's heart.
His position as Governor of Yizhou sounded glorious, but in reality, he was nothing more than a puppet stripped of power.
And Li Yan and Fa Zheng, standing below him, clearly understood all the workings of this just as well.
The two exchanged a glance, each seeing a trace of understanding in the other's eyes.
What was there to fear?
Liu Zhang wouldn't dare touch us.
Once he understood this, Li Yan's back instantly straightened. He hurried forward a step and bowed deeply to Liu Zhang, forcing an utterly sincere expression onto his face as he loudly declared his loyalty.
"My lord, please rest assured."
"The Heavenly Screen's words are nothing but wicked lies to mislead the masses. How can they be so readily believed?"
"My loyalty to you, my lord, is witnessed by the sun and moon, and attested by heaven and earth!"
"We would absolutely, absolutely never commit such a monstrous act of treason as the Heavenly Screen described. Please set your mind a hundred and twenty times at ease!"
Liu Zhang trembled all over with rage, his clenched teeth grinding audibly.
A hundred and twenty times at ease?
Just looking at you two now has my heart practically leaping into my throat.
But what could he say?
He could say nothing.
He could not afford to provoke them.
He drew a deep breath, then slowly let it out, forcibly suppressing that towering rage and fear. He even managed a smile uglier than a crying face.
He beckoned to the two and said in an almost soothing tone, "Good... good. I know how loyal you are."
"You must not let that Heavenly Screen bewitch your minds."
"That Yang Feng... what does that Yang Feng amount to?"
"He's nothing but a crowd-pleaser who can write a couple of lousy verses."
"How could he possibly be mentioned in the same breath as us?"
These words were less an attempt to persuade Li Yan and Fa Zheng than an attempt to hypnotize himself.
Fa Zheng and Li Yan understood his meaning perfectly and hurriedly nodded over and over like chicks pecking at grain.
"You are right, my lord."
"We understand."
"That Yang Feng is nothing but a whelp. We will never let him bewitch us."
Having watched the two make their "promises," Liu Zhang could only wave helplessly, signaling for them to withdraw.
What else could he do but let it go?
He truly could not afford to provoke these two.
Now, Liu Zhang's sole wish was to station a few more squads of guards outside his door when he went to sleep tonight, so that the Heavenly Screen's prophecy would not come true ahead of time.
As for the future...
He would see tomorrow.
He would wait and see how tomorrow's Heavenly Screen described Cao Cao and Lü Bu joining forces to attack Yang Feng.
Ideally, they would strike hard enough to grind that traitor Yang's bones to dust and scatter his ashes.
But... what exactly did "shooting a cannon at the camp gate" mean?
Did it mean firing a catapult at the camp gate?
Liu Zhang could not puzzle it out, however hard he thought.
Meanwhile, at that very moment, in the distant imperial palace of Shouchun.