[Lightscreen]
[In ancient times, epidemics were always regarded as a warning from Heaven itself, something to be treated with the utmost caution.
At Ruxukou, Cao Cao had accepted Sun Quan's letter of submission and withdrawn with honor. Yet back in Ye City, the epidemic raging through the capital left the King of Wei exhausted in both body and spirit.
After decisively cutting through the chaos and settling the matter of succession, the winners and losers of the heir dispute gradually emerged into the open.
For the Sima clan of Henei, the death of the eldest son, Sima Lang, from the epidemic was a source of genuine grief.
But the second son, Sima Yi, having wagered everything on Cao Pi, the Gentleman of the Five Senses, emerged with overwhelming success. This, too, brought a measure of comfort to the Sima household.
In the twenty second year of Jian'an, Wei Wudi was already past sixty. His ambitions were fading with age.
Meanwhile, thirty eight year old Sima Xuān stepped boldly onto the stage of power, eyes burning with intent.
From the perspective of history, epidemics and the passage of time were always the most ruthless accelerants. Beginning with the twenty second year of Jian'an:
Xiahou Yuan was cut down in battle at Mount Dingjun.
Guan Yunchang was defeated at Maicheng, captured, and executed.
Zhang Fei was murdered in Langzhong due to his violent temper and lack of restraint.
Ma Chao died in Shu, coughing blood in suppressed rage and despair.
In Jingzhou, Lü Meng achieved success and then perished, his path cut short.
In Jiangdu, Zhang Liao rode out while gravely ill and died on campaign.
In Luoyang, Cao Cao died of illness, dividing incense and selling his shoes.
At Baidi City, Liu Bei entrusted his son to others, his vengeance unfulfilled.
The stars that adorned the era of the Three Kingdoms fell one after another, until only a lingering elegy drifted through the autumn winds of Wuzhang Plains.
With the grand pattern of the Three Kingdoms set and difficult to overturn, Sima Xuān finally stepped forward to have his name called.
After Cao Pi was established as Crown Prince, Sima Yi, whose elder brother had died in the epidemic, gradually began to reveal his edge.
He was swiftly promoted to Palace Attendant to the Crown Prince, and together with Chen Qun, Wu Zhi, and Zhu Le, he became known as Cao Pi's Four Companions. The signs of a favored and trusted retainer were already unmistakable.
As for what followed, history had long since recorded it clearly. Sima Yi imitated the methods of the Cao clan, and then went even further.
So much so that even his great grandson, Emperor Ming of Jin, sighed upon hearing of his ancestor's actions and lamented,
"If things are as you say, how could the mandate last long?"
The year before Jian'an twenty two, the Southern Xiongnu Chanyu Huchuquan, intimidated by Cao Cao's reputation, came to pay homage and was ultimately forced to remain in Ye City.
On one hand, Cao Cao treated the Southern Xiongnu Chanyu with extremely high courtesy.
On the other, he acted swiftly and decisively, dividing the Southern Xiongnu into five groups and relocating them inland, both to bolster population numbers and to hasten their sinicization.
One of these groups was led by the Left Worthy King, who found life as a Han subject agreeable. He changed his surname to Liu and became known as Liu Bao.
Liu Bao later had a son named Liu Yuan. This man would go on to completely lift the curtain on the era of the Sixteen Kingdoms as the founding emperor of Han Zhao.
Posthumously titled Emperor Guangwen, with the temple name Gaozu, he even honored Liu Shan as Emperor Xiaohuai during his reign, and established a spirit tablet for Liu Bang the Second, conducting sacrifices according to the rites of Three Ancestors and Five Forebears. In a sense, this could be considered a peculiar continuation of Han legitimacy.
The Central Plains were thrown into upheaval. The Five Barbarians trampled scholar robes beneath iron hooves, severed the legacy of the elite with blades, and turned the heartland into a battlefield where the fate of the Nine Provinces was decided.
In the end, they divided and consumed the last remnants of the late Han and the Two Jin dynasties.
Three hundred years of warfare stretched on without end. Blood and fire flowed across the land of China. Natural disasters, military chaos, famine, and epidemics repeated in endless cycles, grinding all living beings into dust.
Cai Wenji once sang:
"Heaven is unkind, sending chaos and separation.
Earth is unkind, forcing me to meet such times."
There could be no truer annotation for this era.
And if one were to peel back the fog of three centuries of war, the source of it all could be traced back to that great epidemic of Jian'an twenty two.
These diseases, which coexist with humanity and persist through generations, inserted themselves into human history with the most brutal indifference.
With a single kick, they overturned the carefully planned trajectories of kings and ministers alike, sending history hurtling down a track no one could foresee.
And as everyone knew, the might of epidemics did not end there.]
Listening to the young voice's lament from the light screen, Ma Chao's first reaction was disbelief.
How strong was Xiahou Yuan, really? Could Ma Mengqi not judge that? And yet he died at Mount Dingjun. Could that man even force his way into Hanzhong?
Just two months ago, Duke Xuande had captured Xiahou Yuan along with nearly thirty thousand troops, suffering losses of only a little over a thousand.
If such a Xiahou Yuan could kill his way into Hanzhong, then Ma Chao felt he himself ought to be able to trample Chang'an beneath his horse's hooves without difficulty.
And then there was Guan Yunchang, defeated and fleeing to Maicheng?
This general's victories in Jing and Xiang had made his name resound throughout the realm. Who could possibly look down on him? Who could force him into retreat?
Before even a second could be spared to grieve over Zhang Fei's death, the next thought surged into Ma Chao's mind.
"I… die of suppressed rage?"
Old wounds reopened. Liu Bei's gaze drifted, unfocused. Kongming's feather fan stopped moving, and he let out a quiet sigh.
Only Zhang Fei showed the least emotion.
He could understand his elder brother's feelings, and deeply admired the strategist's efforts to prop up a collapsing world.
But whenever he thought about his own cause of death…
Zhang Fei would immediately snap awake. His mood turned as cold and steady as on the battlefield, without the slightest ripple.
Still, seeing Ma Chao's stunned and bewildered expression now, Zhang Fei felt a rare sense of balance return.
"These matters," Zhang Fei said slowly, "does Mengqi wish to know more?"
There was no hesitation. Ma Chao nodded so hard it looked like a chick pecking at grain.
Zhang Fei's mood genuinely brightened. He split into a grin, two rows of white teeth flashing so brightly that Ma Chao felt his scalp prickle.
The words that followed were like a blast of winter wind.
"Easy enough. Two thousand fine horses."
Those few words wiped away Ma Chao's tangled thoughts completely. His most instinctive feelings toward Zhang Fei surged back to the forefront as he snarled,
"Two thousand? I would sooner cough blood and die on the spot."
Such sighs were a luxury for Pang Tong.
By later historical records, he should already be lying in a dusty tomb by now.
Turning the thought over in his mind, he instead reflected on the cycle of Wei and Jin usurpations.
"Epidemics run rampant, life and death are uncertain. Nobles indulge in excess, powerful ministers quietly nurture treacherous intent. Perhaps none of this is purely man made disaster."
The epidemic of Jian'an twenty two seemed to strike Cao Pi especially hard, yet it was this very man who would eventually ascend the throne.
And yet he could still burn the bridge behind him, openly claiming that abdication due to virtue was nothing but a lie, without the slightest concern for how he himself had risen.
His ministers felt the same chill. That they might begin harboring thoughts of their own seemed only natural.
Pang Tong even remembered the later joke known as the "Luoshui Fart", and wondered whether it, too, had been influenced in part by the epidemic.
After all, when dying peacefully was already a luxury, who would still care whether an oath was kept?
Fa Zheng, whose ancestral home lay in Guanzhong, understood the chaos of the Xiongnu and Qiang better than most. He, too, spoke with subdued emotion.
"Cao bandit's method of dividing the Xiongnu tribes was not without merit. Yet he did not expect the disaster of the great epidemic to instead benefit them."
After all, struck by the same plague, the Xiongnu, accustomed to raising horses, could scatter and flee on horseback.
The Han people, burdened with families and belongings, leaving their homes behind, found it far harder to escape the epidemic's grasp.
Forcing aside the image of Yiling's sky filled with flames, Liu Bei found it difficult to judge Liu Yuan for a time.
Though his ancestors were Xiongnu, what he accomplished surpassed many born of the Liu clan itself.
Thus Liu Bei could only turn to praise instead.
"I have long heard of Cai Bojie's daughter's talent. Only after hearing the lament of later generations do I truly understand how exceptional she was."
Kongming and the others nodded in silence.
For truth be told, in such an age of chaos, who would truly wish to be born into these times?