lowly butchers and hucksters. It is we who recommended you to the Emperor and raised you to the dignity and wealth you now have. And this is your gratitude! You only want to slaughter us. You called us sordid and dirty, who is the clean one?”
He Jin was panic-stricken and looked about for a way to escape, but the gates were all closed. Then the assassins appeared, and did their bloody work.
Closing the days of the Hans, and the years of their rule were near spent,
Stupid and tactless was He Jin, yet stood he highest in office;
Many were those who advised him, but he was deaf as he heard not;
Therefore he fell a victim under the sharp swords of the eunuchs.
So He Jin was killed.
Meanwhile, Yuan Shao had been waiting for him to come out for a long time. Impatient at the delay, he called out through the gate: “Your carriage is waiting, General!” In response, the head of the murdered man was flung over the wall. A decree was then proclaimed that He Jin had contemplated treachery and had therefore been slain, but all his followers would be given pardon. Yuan Shao shouted angrily, “The eunuchs have murdered the Great General. Let all those who want to slay this wicked party come and help me!”
Then one of He Jin’s officers set fire to a palace gate. Yuan Shu and his men burst into the palace and began slaying eunuchs regardless of their age or rank. At the same time, Yuan Shao and Cao Cao also broke in. Four of the notorious Ten were driven to the Blue Flower Lodge, where they were cruelly killed. Everywhere in the palace, flames of fire went high into the sky. Another four eunuchs led by Zhang Rang carried off the Empress Dowager, the new Emperor, and the Prince of Chenliu toward the North Palace.
Now Lu Zhi did not leave the capital after his resignation. Hearing of the trouble in the palace, he donned his armor, took his spear, and stood waiting by the side of a building, ready to fight. Then he saw in the distance the eunuch Duan Gui hurrying the Empress Dowager along. “You treacherous rebel, how dare you abduct the Empress!” he shouted. Duan Gui fled at once. The Empress leaped out of a window but was rescued in time by Lu Zhi and was taken to a place of safety.
At this time, He Jin’s brother He Miao came out of the inner palace, sword in hand. “He was also in the plot to slay his brother,” cried an officer. “He shall die with the others!”
“Let’s kill the plotter against his own brother,” cried the others in unison. He Miao tried to escape but was hemmed in on all sides. He was slain mercilessly.
Yuan Shao then ordered his soldiers to go and seek out all the families of The Ten, sparing none. In that slaughter many beardless men were killed by mistake.
In the meantime, Cao Cao was busy putting out the fire in the palace. Then he asked the Empress Dowager to assume responsibility for state affairs for the time being. A search party was also sent out at his order to chase Zhang Rang and others and to look for the young Emperor.
The two chief eunuchs, Zhang Rang and Duan Gui, had hustled away the Emperor and the Prince of Chenliu. Breaking through the fire and smoke, they rushed all the way to Beimang Hills. At about the second geng, * or the second watch, they heard an uproar behind them and saw the soldiers chasing them. Riding in front was an officer from Henan called Ming Gong who shouted, “Stop, you wicked rebels!” Zhang Rang, seeing that the end had come, drowned himself in a river.
The two boys, ignorant of the meaning of all this, dared not utter a cry, but crept in among the rank grass by the river bank. The soldiers scattered in all directions to look for them but failed to find them. Four hours later they were still hiding among the dew-wet grass, feeling very hungry. They wept in each other’s arms quietly lest anyone should hear them.
“This is no place to stay long,” said the Prince, “We must find some way out.”
So they knotted their clothes together and managed
He Jin was panic-stricken and looked about for a way to escape, but the gates were all closed. Then the assassins appeared, and did their bloody work.
Closing the days of the Hans, and the years of their rule were near spent,
Stupid and tactless was He Jin, yet stood he highest in office;
Many were those who advised him, but he was deaf as he heard not;
Therefore he fell a victim under the sharp swords of the eunuchs.
So He Jin was killed.
Meanwhile, Yuan Shao had been waiting for him to come out for a long time. Impatient at the delay, he called out through the gate: “Your carriage is waiting, General!” In response, the head of the murdered man was flung over the wall. A decree was then proclaimed that He Jin had contemplated treachery and had therefore been slain, but all his followers would be given pardon. Yuan Shao shouted angrily, “The eunuchs have murdered the Great General. Let all those who want to slay this wicked party come and help me!”
Then one of He Jin’s officers set fire to a palace gate. Yuan Shu and his men burst into the palace and began slaying eunuchs regardless of their age or rank. At the same time, Yuan Shao and Cao Cao also broke in. Four of the notorious Ten were driven to the Blue Flower Lodge, where they were cruelly killed. Everywhere in the palace, flames of fire went high into the sky. Another four eunuchs led by Zhang Rang carried off the Empress Dowager, the new Emperor, and the Prince of Chenliu toward the North Palace.
Now Lu Zhi did not leave the capital after his resignation. Hearing of the trouble in the palace, he donned his armor, took his spear, and stood waiting by the side of a building, ready to fight. Then he saw in the distance the eunuch Duan Gui hurrying the Empress Dowager along. “You treacherous rebel, how dare you abduct the Empress!” he shouted. Duan Gui fled at once. The Empress leaped out of a window but was rescued in time by Lu Zhi and was taken to a place of safety.
At this time, He Jin’s brother He Miao came out of the inner palace, sword in hand. “He was also in the plot to slay his brother,” cried an officer. “He shall die with the others!”
“Let’s kill the plotter against his own brother,” cried the others in unison. He Miao tried to escape but was hemmed in on all sides. He was slain mercilessly.
Yuan Shao then ordered his soldiers to go and seek out all the families of The Ten, sparing none. In that slaughter many beardless men were killed by mistake.
In the meantime, Cao Cao was busy putting out the fire in the palace. Then he asked the Empress Dowager to assume responsibility for state affairs for the time being. A search party was also sent out at his order to chase Zhang Rang and others and to look for the young Emperor.
The two chief eunuchs, Zhang Rang and Duan Gui, had hustled away the Emperor and the Prince of Chenliu. Breaking through the fire and smoke, they rushed all the way to Beimang Hills. At about the second geng, * or the second watch, they heard an uproar behind them and saw the soldiers chasing them. Riding in front was an officer from Henan called Ming Gong who shouted, “Stop, you wicked rebels!” Zhang Rang, seeing that the end had come, drowned himself in a river.
The two boys, ignorant of the meaning of all this, dared not utter a cry, but crept in among the rank grass by the river bank. The soldiers scattered in all directions to look for them but failed to find them. Four hours later they were still hiding among the dew-wet grass, feeling very hungry. They wept in each other’s arms quietly lest anyone should hear them.
“This is no place to stay long,” said the Prince, “We must find some way out.”
So they knotted their clothes together and managed
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