It happened that the figure who had felled Dong Zhuo was none other than Li Ru. He hurried forward, lifting the stricken tyrant to a seat in the academy hall. Dong Zhuo glared, “Why did you barge in?”
Li Ru stammered, “My lord, I came to your gate and heard your furious cry, then saw Lü Bu fleeing, shouting, ‘My lord would kill me!’ In haste I rushed into the garden to intervene—and by misfortune I knocked into Your Excellency. I beg your forgiveness for this grave error!”
Dong Zhuo snorted, “That insolent mutineer! He plays with my concubine—this outrage must be avenged!”
Li Ru bowed his head, “Exalted Chancellor, consider: when Duke Zhuang of Chu once broke an engagement with Jiang Xiong over a lady, he did not slay him, and in the end Jiang Xiong’s sacrifice saved the state. Lü Bu is no mere woman’s plaything but your fiercest general. If you grant Diao Chan to him instead of executing him, his gratitude will bind him to you for life, and he will pay back your kindness with his very blood. Please weigh this carefully.”
Dong Zhuo fell silent a long while, then sighed, “What you say is wise—I will ponder it.” With that, Li Ru withdrew.
Passing to the inner hall, Dong Zhuo summoned Diao Chan. “Why did you consort with Lü Bu?”
She wept, “I slipped into the rear garden to admire the blossoms when Lü Bu suddenly appeared. He said, ‘I am your adoptive son—why should you flee?’ He pressed me toward the Fengyi Pavilion. Fearing his intent, I sought to cast myself into the lotus pond, but he caught me just as Your Excellency arrived to save me.”
Dong Zhuo’s eyes glowed, “Tomorrow I will give you to Lü Bu as his bride—what say you?”
Diao Chan shrieked, “I am already in your service, a noblewoman! To be handed over to a soldier’s status is an insult I would die rather than suffer!” She drew the jeweled sword from the wall to end her life.
Panicked, Dong Zhuo flung the sword aside and clutched her in his arms. “I was only teasing you!”
She collapsed against him, weeping, “This was surely Li Ru’s trick! He and Lü Bu are close allies; he schemes without care for your dignity or my life. In that man’s heart there are only ambition and betrayal!”
Dong Zhuo stroked her hair. “How could I ever abandon you? Tomorrow we shall journey together to my fortress at Mei Castle—there you’ll find joy and safety. Do not fear.”
Relieved, Diao Chan dried her tears and bowed her thanks.
The next morning Li Ru appeared. “Today is auspicious—shall I escort Diao Chan to Lü Bu?”
Dong Zhuo frowned, “He is my son by oath! Such a gift would be indiscreet. I shall spare him punishment but not reward. Go and comfort him with gentle words.”
Li Ru warned, “My lord, do not allow your heart to be swayed by any woman.”
Dong Zhuo’s face darkened. “Would you have your own wife given to Lü Bu? Say no more of this matter—or be executed!”
Li Ru withdrew, staring skyward in despair. “We shall all perish by a woman’s hand yet…”
That very day Dong Zhuo commanded his cortege and bade the ministers farewell. Diao Chan rode in the carriage, and as it departed she glimpsed Lü Bu among the throng—his eyes fixed upon her, a look of agony on his face. She veiled her tears as best she could.
Lü Bu held his stirrups on a ridge, watching the dust cloud shrink until only Wang Yun approached and greeted him.
Wang Yun, feigning frailty, said, “I heard Your Excellency was returning to Mei Fortress today. Though ill, I could not let you leave without seeing me.”
Lü Bu asked, “Why do you stand here, lost in sorrow?”
“I think only of you and Diao Chan,” Wang Yun answered. Lü Bu’s brow furrowed.
Wang Yun invited him into the inner chamber and served wine. Lü Bu recounted the chaos at Fengyi Pavilion. Wang Yun sighed, “Dong Zhuo’s lust shames the realm, and still I have suffered such wrongs too long. You are a hero of the age—yet your honor lies besmirched! Why stand by when you could end his tyranny?”
Lü Bu’s eyes blazed. “I swear I will slay that fiend to avenge my shame!”
Wang Yun laid a hand on Lü Bu’s mouth. “Not a word—for your fury might harm me. A hero bows even to false ties.”
Lü Bu clenched his teeth but nodded. “I will rid the world of him.”
Wang Yun at once summoned his deputy ministers Sun Rui and Huang Wan. Sun Rui proposed:
“The Emperor’s health has just returned: send an envoy to Mei Fortress bearing a secret imperial decree. Once Dong Zhuo arrives at the palace gate, let Lü Bu and hidden troops spring the trap and execute him in the Emperor’s name. That is the surest plan.”
Huang Wan asked, “Who would undertake such a mission?”
Sun Rui said, “Lü Bu’s comrade Li Su, who has cause to hate Dong Zhuo, would do it without hesitation.”
Wang Yun smiled. “Send for him.”
When Li Su arrived, Lü Bu said, “You once urged me to slay Ding Yuan; now this is your chance against Dong Zhuo. Will you deliver the Emperor’s edict, ambush the fortress, and free the realm?”
Li Su drew his arrow in oath. “With my last breath I stand with you, General!”
Next day Li Su rode to Mei Fortress with a dozen riders. When summoned, Dong Zhuo asked, “What imperial command brings you?”
Li Su bowed deeply. “The Son of Heaven, newly recovered, commands that all officials assemble at the Western Palace to discuss transfer of the throne to Chancellor Dong.”
Dong Zhuo’s eyes lit up. “What does Minister Wang Yun say?”
Li Su replied, “He has already erected the throne platform—he awaits your arrival.”
Overjoyed, Dong Zhuo declared, “Last night I dreamed a dragon wrapped around me—today’s summons proves heaven’s will! We must not delay.”
He ordered his garrison captains Li Jue, Guo Si, Zhang Ji, and Fan Chou to hold the fortress with three thousand men, while he marshaled the imperial carriage and marched back to the capital in state. To Li Su he said, “I make you Commander of the Imperial Guards.”
That evening Dong Zhuo told his ninety-year-old mother, “I go to claim the throne—soon you shall be Empress Dowager.” She trembled, “I fear this is not an auspicious sign.”
He laughed off her worry. “Only when the ghosts welcome us shall I worry!”
On the road he even rejoiced over a broken wheel and a snorting horse, interpreting these as signs of heaven’s favor.
But rumor spread: children in the suburbs sang,
“A thousand-mile grass, how lush and green! Ten days till burial, and no one’s seen.”
Dong Zhuo asked Li Su their meaning; Li Su whispered, “They hail the Zhou dynasty’s fall and your rule’s rise.” Dong Zhuo laughed it off.
At dawn he trooped in to court with full ceremony. He saw a man in plain robes outside with a banner bearing the character 口 (“mouth”) at each end. Puzzled, he asked Li Su, who replied, “He is a madman.”
Dong Zhuo advanced to the Hall of State. Ministers lined the path in splendid robes, but at the North Gate his escort halted—only his carriage of twenty retainers was allowed in. As he crossed the threshold, he saw Wang Yun and his loyal guards with drawn swords.
Lü Bu rode beside him, drawing his halberd. Suddenly the gates burst open and Wang Yun’s soldiers charged. Dong Zhuo’s armor repelled the swords, but a spear pierced his arm and he toppled from the carriage. He called, “Where is my son Lü Bu?!”
Lü Bu leapt forward, thrust his halberd through Li Su’s throat, and seized the sealed imperial edict. “By the Emperor’s command,” he cried, “we execute the traitor Dong Zhuo!” The guards roared their assent.
A poem of the day ran:
“His empire built, he thought himself king— Yet fell as a wealthy brat, undone by fate’s cruel swing.”
Lü Bu, lanterns blazing, summoned, “Who aided Dong Zhuo’s crimes but Li Ru?” Li Su volunteered to bring him bound. Soon Li Ru arrived, escorted to market and beheaded; Dong Zhuo’s corpse was displayed in the street, his bloated limbs burned in the noonday sun and his head trodden underfoot.
Wang Yun then dispatched Lü Bu with generals Huang Fu and Li Su to ransack Mei Fortress. They freed all common folk, sparing none of Dong Zhuo’s kin—even his aged mother was executed, and his brother and nephew beheaded. The treasures of the fortress—hundreds of thousands in gold, silver, silks, pearls, and grain—filled hundreds of wagons.
As they feasted in celebration, rumor came that one man wept over Dong Zhuo’s corpse. Enraged, Wang Yun ordered him seized. It proved to be the Minister of Works, Cai Yong, who knelt, “I wept not for the tyrant but for the ruin of the Han. If I am to die, let me be branded and maimed so my disgrace may shame future scribes.”
Yet the ministers pleaded for his life; only Wang Yun’s cousin Ma Ri Di protested in vain. Wang Yun, fearing reproach, refused clemency and had Cai Yong hanged. The land mourned his loss. A lament ran:
“Dong Zhuo’s crimes rent the realm apart; How came one Cai Yong to bleed so smart? Where now the sons of Zhuge’s famed command? Who stands to save the Han from ruin’s hand?”
Meanwhile Li Jue, Guo Si, Zhang Ji, and Fan Chou had fled Mei Fortress to Shaanxi, petitioning pardon in Chang’an. Wang Yun declared, “They abetted Dong Zhuo—no pardon for them.”
Huddled in the west, the four conspirators resolved they could not survive alone. Jia Xu proposed:
“If you scatter, a mere watchman could bind you. Better to rally the locals and your forces, march on Chang’an, and avenge Dong Zhuo. If we fail, we can still flee.”
The others agreed and sowed fear across Liangzhou: “Wang Yun plans to purge all of us!” Soon they had an army of one hundred thousand in four columns, marching on the capital.
They encountered Dong Zhuo’s son-in-law, Colonel Niu Fu, with five thousand soldiers. Li Jue joined forces with him as vanguard.
Wang Yun heard the news and turned to Lü Bu. “My lord, the four beasts approach! Will you stand with me?”
Lü Bu replied, “They are mere vermin—fear not.”
He led Li Su and guards out to meet the enemy; in the vanguard Li Su fell upon Niu Fu and routed him. That very night, in a surprise counterstroke, Niu Fu returned under cover of darkness and sacked Wang Yun’s camp. Li Su’s forces were shattered; only a few hundred retreated to Lü Bu, who slew Li Su for his failure.
The next day Lü Bu sallied forth and defeated Niu Fu again. Emboldened, he pursued them but soon heard a hail of horns: Li Jue’s columns were at the city gates. Lü Bu hurried back and met them outside. In the ensuing skirmish he outmaneuvered Li Jue and Guo Si until the enemy adopted a Fabian stall: they fenced, advanced, then withdrew—wearing down Lü Bu’s patience for days.
When at last they struck toward Chang’an, the gates were betrayed from within by Dong Zhuo’s remnants Li Meng and Wang Fang. The four rivals surged into the capital as Lü Bu’s men fled.
Ministers and courtiers fell like wheat before the scythe. Afterward Li Jue and Guo Si held the Emperor hostage in the palace, declaring, “Dong Zhuo was slain by treachery—now we avenge him, not rebel!” Wang Yun cried, “The villain’s crimes were manifold—how dare you excuse them!”
But in the chaos none could heed him. Li Jue and Guo Si slew the faithful Wang Yun beneath the Phoenix Tower; his family was butchered and the Han court plunged into fresh misery.
Thus did Dong Zhuo’s reign of terror end—but the carnage of betrayal and revenge continued to sweep the realm.
