Chapter 225 - My CO Stash #25 - My Life as the Son of a Tyrant is... Complicate as Expected by Nelyahros01 (OregairuXRomanceOfTheThreeKingdoms) (1/2)

-Another 8man Isekai~ This time around our favorite cynic got unlucky as he's arrived just before the start of the Collapse of the Han Dynasty, also he's the foster son of a future/potential cannibal, Dong Zhuo! (・_・;)

Sypnosis: ???

Rated: M

Words: 11K

Posted on: forum.questionablequesting.com/threads/my-life-as-the-son-of-a-tyrant-is-complicate-as-expected-oregairu-rotk.11648/ (Nelyahros01)

PS: If you're not able to copy/paste the link, you have everything in here to find it, by simply searching the author and the story title. It sucks that you can't copy links on mobile (´ー｀)

-I'll be putting the chapter ones of all the fanfics mentioned, to give you guys a sample if you wan't more please do go to the website and support the author! (And maybe even convince them to start uploading chapters in here as well!)

Prologue + Interlude

”Dong Yi(董夷), it was a brilliant idea to march my men in and out of the Capital at night. Now everyone thinks I have more men than I did when I entered. Now the issue is asserting control over the city.” Dong Zhuo says this to me now as I alone out of his advisors are allowed to remain seated while he addresses from where stands.

There are perks to being the adoptive son of a warlord after all. But that said he did address the question to me so I take a sip of tea to wet my mouth before I replied ”We found Emperor Shao outside the city, no we did not find him, we rescued him and the Prince of Chenliu from the chaos. He Jin was a fool to believe that the Eunuchs would not defile the sacred ground of the Palace with bloodshed.”

Li Ru now perks up and says ”Indeed Dong Yi speaks true, the Eunuchs have grown bold and brazen by growing fat of the yolk of the Han. They have been nestled in it's nectar for far too long and need to be removed permanently!”

I scoff at that before saying ”The Eunuchs raised Emperor Ling from boyhood to be their puppet. They are also to blame for He Jin's rise to power. How does a butcher become the General in Chief (大將軍) of the Han?”

It is a perfectly good question, but inappropriate at this time and so my 'foster father' scolds me saying ”Yi, stand up.”

Sighing I obey his command as he now states ”That sort of talk is fine with me when discussing the issues at hand. It is not fine when we are trying to discuss the solutions for the issues at hand. Now all of you, your job is to think up a solution to this mess. So I'm waiting?”

When Dong Zhuo asks you to think up something, it means that I can't think of a practicable solution himself. But while we all are thinking about solutions, trust Li Ru to think of other problems. ”My Lord, we also need to address the matter of Emperor Shao and the Empress Dowager He.”

He has a point, the Empress is also part of this mess. Her son, formerly Prince Bian and now Emperor Shao is weak and incapable of making decisions. If memory serves, Dong Zhuo manages to coerce her into letting Prince Xie become the Emperor. That said I do also believe that he then has her and her son exiled from the palace due to offending the late Empress Dong and then stripping them of their titles, putting them under house arrest and sentencing them to death.

Should I attempt to try to dissuade my foster father from this course of action or should I simply allow it to play out. By all accounts Empress He is not the nicest of people and her son was raised to be a puppet for her and He Jin. Which begs the question if there is any purpose to saving them at all? Perhaps I've been around Dong Zhuo far too long that I am thinking of simply abandoning people to be murdered by Li Ru?

That said pity the one who is made Emperor now, they have nothing but a title and clothes that can easily be taken away. Words are wind and clothes are something you can always misplace at the worst of times. That said I let Li Ru continue now when he says ”Emperor Shao is nothing but a puppet for his mother the Dowager Empress He. You saw how indecisives he was yourself my Lord. He can't do anything without his mother while the Prince of Chenliu, Prince Xie was calm, collected and capable of making decisions and following instructions.”

He's not wrong, but He Jin's lieutenants are still in command of his forces. Not to mention Ding Yuan is still around and still has Lu Bu with him. So cutting Li Ru off I say ”Yes indeed but let us not forget that we only have three thousand men with us, Ding Yuan who would certainly oppose this dethroning Emperor Shao and has men nearby he can call on. Chen Yin, Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu, all men who were followers of He Jin and will not let us do as we please. I motion that we assimilate the forces which are leaderless within the Capital as quickly as we can under the pretext of asserting order. That way Ding Yuan and the others will not be able to call our bluff and move upon us when we declare our goals.”

Li Ru scowls, but he's not upset with me, he's upset with the fact that he didn't think of that. He's quite short sighted as it turns out and is willing to go for quick and easy solutions. Something which I used to do but now given where I am cannot afford to do. That said I've come a long way from simply being Hikigaya Hachiman, a new name, a new life, a new family and all I did was help the right person at the right time. Heck in hindsight I may not have helped that man had I known who he was.

”Indeed Yi you are correct while we seem to have more men we don't actually have more men. Thus if I decide to make any moves and anyone attempts to counter me. The ruse would be over and we may be all crushed. I believe we shall move towards assimilating those forces without any direction right now. After that we can deal with the Emperor and the Dowager Empress.” It is a good thing that my foster father has not forsaken reason for madness, he too sees as I see and understands our precarious position. We will need to cement our position and make it unassailable before we make moves which no doubt are going to piss everyone off.

Now as he walks by we all bow as is customary and begin to follow him out of this room. We must act swiftly to make sure no one else does what we are doing. But before I step out of the room as well Dong Zhuo raises his hand and addresses me saying ”Yi, stay here and entertain the Emperor and the Dowager Empress until I return.”

I am uncertain if he is doing this because he trusts me to keep them in place or if he doesn't trust the others not to do something stupid. That or he could be doing this because he doesn't want to risk me out in the chaos of the Capital city at this point in time. His motives aside I bow and say ”Of course father, I will do as you command.”

I am so glad the Dowager Empress He has not put the moves on me. Not because I cannot resist her, but she's an Empress, well Dowager Empress at any rate. It might be my own bias from being from the future, someone in such a high position is supposed to have standards. That said I am certain her lack of attempts to charm me is less due to her having morals and more due to her being xenophobic. This is China, ancient China, so racism and xenophobia run rampant, especially since most of their foriegn neighbors are marauding hordes and assholes.

That said she is trying to find a way to start a conversation because unlike me, she finds the silence disturbing. Of course it's disturbing she has no idea what is coming next. It is that silence when a child has done something wrong and they are uncertain if they have hidden it well enough or their parents just are deciding on the punishment.

It would appear that the silence is too unbearable for her and she breaks it asking ”Your Master Dong Zhuo, he is going to secure the Capital and drive out the Eunuchs isn't he? And restore the proper order to Luoyang?”

”My Father is working on a solution to the chaos that has corrupted the Capital and the Imperial Palace. But the state of the city and of those within it require time and resources that we may have to gather.” I say this politely now letting her know that I'm not a servant of any sort and in fact am the foster son of Dong Zhuo, which does take her back.

However her shock is replaced by indignation as she states ”That's unacceptable, the General of the Vanguard (前將軍) should be able to restore order at once!”

I can't restrain my chuckle when she says this, clearly she has no idea what is going on. She has not a clue as to the scope of the rot beneath and within the Imperial Court. One would think that since she was in the Imperial Court and opposed the Eunuchs she should know. But then again the closer you are to something, the harder it is to see it. But of course she might just be trying to assert authority by being unreasonable. How unfortunate that I've had to handle and deal with the unruly people of my father's province, compared to that she's just a toothless old hag with no strength.

”Dowager Empress He, my Father was called here to put down the Eunuchs who had grown too powerful and too arrogant. But when we arrived we found the Emperor and his brother the Prince Xie outside the Capital alone with dead Eunuchs to blame. He was charged with putting down the Rebellious Eunuchs, it was not told that we would need to restore order to the Capital and rescue the Emperor. Which was the mess we encountered due to the arrogance and incompetence of the General in Chief.” I don't name him, but the way her eyes burn at me as if she wishes for me to spontaneously combust is something that I find delightful. This cl_u_s_terf_u_c_k_e_d could have been entirely avoided had He Jin not thought it was a good idea to simply 'meet with the Eunuchs'.

She now threatens me saying ”You dare, you dare insult my brother to my face I could have you killed for that!”

Oh this is good, is going to be entertaining as I now say ”Okay then, have me killed for it?”

Looking at the guard now she stands up and points to him saying ”You there, this man has insulted the General and Chief of the Han. The uncle of the Emperor and the Imperial Uncle, it is your duty as a subject of the Han to strike him down and kill him lest his shame be yours.”

The man in question looks at her and does nothing, he is my soldier after all and is actually a Qiang. Which translates to his like and loyalty to the Han Emperor being questionable at best. Not to mention i pay him not her, so he just stays still and does nothing. Not just him but the next guard and the guard after that and the guard after that. She only stops because she can't leave the rather large room she is and finally sits herself down.

Making sure I am as polite as possible I inform Dowager Empress He ”Dowager Empress, the Capital is in a chaotic state, the Emperor was almost murdered by the Eunuchs and we arrived to find that not only is the General in Chief dead, but his forces leaderless and complacent or complicit with the chaos at hand. I myself refuse to lie so I am only saying things as they are.”

She is still furious, still enraged but seeing as she can't do anything she has stopped and is trying to calm herself down. It must be hard for her, since until a few days or weeks ago she had all this power and now she has none. But one can ask if she ever had any real power since it would have to be wielded through He Jin her brother. That said I am still not convinced that she needs to die, then again I am not convinced that there is any merit to sparing her and her son.

Killing her and her son will cause mass discontent in the Imperial Court, their deaths do not create a power vacuum. That was made by He Jin's death, their deaths though allow Dong Zhuo to gain the lion share if not gain the monopoly on the power vacuum. That said Dowager Empress now seems to have calmed down some more and also seems to have gained a little more insight to how desperate her situation is for now she asks ”What will become of my son and I? Your Father is going to restore order and allow him to take his place upon the throne isn't he?”

”My Father will first stabilize Luoyang and then the Imperial Place while purging the Eunuchs and their supporters from the city. One should not worry about what he is going to eat for supper while he is in the middle of crossing a roaring river.” In short it means that I actually don't know what is going to happen to them. I know that Li Ru is supposed to kill them, but I also know that things can change, of course that said they may just die all the same.

Prologue 2

It is taking longer than I would like for my foster father to take control of the forces within Luoyang. That said he may have already taken control of them and without me there listened to something Li Ru suggested. Of course if he is asserting order right now, that isn't a bad thing. Just leaves me here with a less than happy Dowager Empress and her child that cannot even talk without needing his mother's permission. There is a difference between being reliant on someone and then there is what Emperor Shao is, someone who was raised to be the puppet of others.

It's revolting really, to think that this child would be the Emperor in name, sit upon the throne. Then only do and say what He Jin and Dowager Empress He told him to. It is a childish notion to think that one such as Emperor Shao could ever hold the supposed 'Mandate of Heaven'. With Emperor Ling before him and now Emperor Shao his son on the throne I guess it is true. It is clear for all to see who but look that the rule of the Han is failing, the lineage is all but spent, its pride and dignity forgotten.

Perhaps that is why my Foster Father placed me here, because he trusts me to neither kill her or give into her. He knows that it doesn't matter if she makes promises of titles, fame, wealth, women or even spreads her own legs for me. I cannot simply be bought by her, tempted by her or persuaded by her into doing anything. That and unlike Li Ru, I have a greater level of tolerance for verbal abuse. Had she threatened Li Ru instead of me, I am certain he would have had his guard slap her across her face in response to that.

”Your Father, the General of the Vanguard, is going to restore order to the city. He said he would do so, he is going to keep the Emperor and myself self while purging the Eunuchs from the Capital?” I can hear the desperation in her voice as clearly as I can see it in her eyes and upon her face. She knows that her world, her life and the life of her child rest on a knife's edge. She is intelligent enough to have put together those pieces at least by now.

That said while part of me wishes to be crueler to her, I can't help but pity her. Does she deserve death for her part in all of this, does her son? There is never any simple black and white is there, all is a mix of a vulgar and profane grey. A grey that we must all partake in and are all trapped in. Should my Foster Father instill the Prince of Chenliu, then keeping them alive would be unwise. They can be used against him to 'restore the true Emperor', a Casus Belli for the warlords. And yet killing them would also cause the same Casus Belli to occur, the call to restore the Han and throw down the Tyrant who murdered the Emperor.

It's strange, I don't see her as the Dowager Empress ordering me to get her and her son the Emperor out of harm's way. No right now she just seems to be a woman, a woman pleading for her life and that of her son to be spared. At the end of the day, free from all titles and responsibility, one could say she is just that. But to answer her question I inform her ”My Father will do whatever it takes to restore order to the Capital. Rest knowing that he will not allow this Chaos to continue and he will find a way to purge the Imperial Palace of those responsible for this travesty.”

It would appear that those words do not comfort her, because she understands that she is also to blame for this mess. I can say it is with the passing of each minute, she comes to understand more and more about how badly she has messed up. How odd that I don't feel any sense of satisfaction or glee from watching her world collapse around her.

Her eyes are almost pleading now as she asks ”My son, my son and I will be safe, your Father will see to it?”

”All sons live in the shadow of their father, but that doesn't mean I can speak for him. My father is more used to dealing with rebellious Qiang and maurdading Xiongnu. The delicate and precarious nature of the Imperial Court Intrigues are alien to us and thus will be dealt with in less conventional means.” I say this knowing that several of those means are mass purges that evidently drew inspiration from Xiang Yu's more infamous deeds, although I am unconvinced that the slaughter of the Qin soldier's happened or at least happened in the way the Han present it.

A soldier comes in now running in and falls to one knee before me saying ”Young master, I have a report from your father!”

He hands me a silk missive which I now sigh and open and read quickly. ”My Son, it is as you said the Capital is in Chaos. Fortunately I have been able to assimilate the leaderless elite units of He Jin into my forces so far. The Yuan Family has stayed put at their Residence and have fortified it in case of attack. Yuan Shu who is the Imperial Corps Commander of the Imperial Tiger Guards is cooperating with me right now in purging the Eunuchs. He is doing this with much gusto and enthusiasm.”

Returning to reading now my foster father has also said ”There are still forces and those loyal to the Eunuch Faction within the Capital. It will take time to properly purge them, that said I require you to remain with the Empress until I return. Li Ru has been requesting that I relieve you of your duty and place him there. While I doubt he has the same taste in women as you-.”

That's not a line I am just simply going to read. I've never shown any tendencies that would make me out to be like Cao Cao. Neither have I let it be known that I may or may not have a thing like that, either way I am displeased it has been brought up in this context. She's the Dowager Empress, the mother of the current Emperor and also a lady who seeks power. She no doubt was willing to use her late husband, her late brother and now her son to attain and hold onto power. Excuse me but that is planting red flags in my opinion as far as the eye can see.

It takes a great amount of personal resolve to read the rest of the message which I do sadly. ”-Yet while I know you shall not do so nor can she persuade you to do so. Know that I am utterly disgusted with the state of the Capital, I am going to have to wash away the corruption and rot with blood. As to whose blood yet I am undecided, but believe we will convene tonight at our base and decide.”

So it was both important and unimportant, looking at the messenger I say ”I believe I've read the message, returned to my Father and let him know that I will do as he has asked.

It is late into the night now when all have convened back at the base. My foster Father looks tired or at least appears to look tired but there are some things that cannot wait. For example how to properly purge the Eunuch Faction and their supports while also incorporating the rest of the people in the Capital into our own forces. Thanks to the fact that we acted quickly, we've started to absorb He Jin's troops, his most elite were first to join us. To be honest I find it slightly annoying at how little any of the rank and file care for who they serve just as long as they survive and get paid.

Even the elite units are somewhat like this since Dong Zhuo has managed to absorb them. I know not everyone can be Liu Bei or Cao Cao, but this is just sad. Regardless of what I feel though my foster father now declares ”We have begun the process to absorb He Jin's forces and are doing so even now. At this point we have increased our number almost five times over. Ding Yuan's forces here are also purging the Eunuchs, although he is quite opposed to my wardenship of the Emperor. It would appear that he believes that we should restore the Emperor to the Imperial Palace first.”

Now he pauses as if trying to give someone else a turn to speak. Which is promptly taken by the conniving Li Ru who says ”That is unacceptable, my Lord we are not fools who would return the Emperor to a crumbling house. We must first rid the Capital of the filth before the Emperor can be restored. Anything else would be disgraceful.”

He has a point sadly, we cannot simply put the Emperor back into the Imperial Place which isn't a feasible location to defend. While it has its merits and we do have the manpower, there are many things about it we don't know. We also established a base here so extending ourselves out there is a bridge too far at this point. I speak up voicing my approval of this and adding an edition of my own when I say ”Li Ru is correct, we cannot possibly seat the Emperor on the throne without overextending ourselves. We have to exert our control from strategic point to strategic point. Only then can we secure the Imperial Palace and known that we will have both enough men and adequate supplies to put down any resistance that might spring up or seek to take advantage of the young Emperor.”

”Dong Yi speaks truly my Lord, as does Li Ru. We need to complete your consolidation of power here before we make any more moves.” Li Su says this although I find him more detestable that Li Ru. I would hazard a guess that he is just as ambitious as Li Ru, but unlike Li Ru is far more willing to take a longer approach.

My Father takes in all that was just said before nodding ”Indeed we cannot overextend ourselves and grasp the Imperial Palace just yet. The Eunuchs alone are not to blame for this tragic turn of events, if they were, then those Yuans would have been able to take control of the situation by now.”

He is right after all, the Eunuchs are not the only ones to blame for this situation and thus there is much yet to be done. I however am not eager to assign blame before we can adequately punish those responsible for it. Let alone the fact that we can't waste resources on pursuing tasks which drain what strength we have to do what needs to be done. So with this in mind I advise my Father ”Father if I may be so bold, we must first stabilize the Capital and solidify our position here before we decide to assign blame and allot punishment. Right now there are five factions with the city, the Yuans who are murdering the remnants of the Eunuch Faction and anyone caught in between. The Eunuchs who caused most of this mess. Ding Yuan who was also called here like yourself, father to restore order. Ourselves who of course are doing our best to restore the Emperor and of course the leaderless people be their soldiers or civil officials.”

I stop now because I hoped by pointing out this fact I let them know how chaotic a five way struggle for power in the Capital city can be. Also they should be aware that a five sided battle would ruin the Capital in every way and form. It would appear my Foster indeed sees this as well and says ”Very well my son you speak wisely as always. We shall send for more men and we shall do what we can to secure as many men and supplies we can. Also we must make sure that the Dowager Empress and Emperor are adequately guarded at all times.”

When my Father says that last bit about 'adequately guarded' he means enough troops who will not listen to her words or pleas. Which might be harder to do than some would expect because while the Dowager Empress is no longer young. She is not old either and has had the lifestyle that allowed her to maintain her beauty or at least the superficial beauty that she would put on.

That said we must also find men who won't listen to her, but do not hate the Han enough to dare to have their way with her if things get chaotic. Until our base here is beyond reproach and all other factions have been dealt with, we must safeguard the Dowager Empress and Emperor Shao. My foster Father no doubt knows this, which is why he is yet to discuss removing the Dowager Empress because she's too dangerous to be left alive at least from his point of view. I am yet to be convinced there is any merit to saving her and Emperor Shao's life. Live or die they will be used against my foster Father because of what they represent.

Clapping his hands now my father raises his voice and says ”Come now, we all must rest after last night, I give you all leave to do so. But Yi, stay back there is still something I wish to discuss with you.”

Well that doesn't sound ominous at all does it father?

Prologue 3

When we are alone my Foster Father asks me ”You've been in the presence of the Emperor and the Dowager Empress, tell me your honest opinion of them. Don't omit certain judgements this time, there is only me here now, this way no one else can take advantage of it. Li Su, though doesn't comprehend why you are bitter about what he did.”

He doesn't understand, then he's an idiot for not understanding, fool is more short sighted than Li Ru is at times. But what he did which annoyed me is not the topic at hand so I honestly answer my foster Father ”I believe that the Emperor has been raised to be a puppet, he has no initiative, no ambition of his own nor does he seem capable of making decisions without the approval of his mother. He's been raised to be the ideal puppet but only for certain people. I can't help but pity him, his life has been ruined by those who should have raised him to be better.”

Father strokes his beard taking in what I just said, it is likely that I am damning the Emperor and Dowager Empress Shao with my words right now. That said I am not going to simply lie for no purpose, there is no guarantee that I could get them spared as my foster Father is no fool. He understands the threat they pose and will act accordingly, that said he now says ”Indeed, I cannot help but feel disgusted that the Han has fallen to this. His brother, the Prince of Chenliu showed far greater decivincess and majesty when they stumbled upon our forces.”