Chapter 357

　　Chapter 357 – Book 3 Epilogue

　　December, 187 A . D .

　　Tong, Li Feihong, and other officers returned to Ye City to attend Hua s.h.i.+ and He Xing funeral .

　　Kong Rong and his subordinates also visited Ye City to attend this funeral as well . They were shocked and disbelieved at first, but they still came here, ensuring their stance as Tong's new subordinates .

　　Lu Zhi, Zhao Yun, Tian Yu, and all former Gongsun Zan's soldiers also attended the funeral .

　　While Tong was sitting alone, watching the cold dead bodies of his wives before the cremation ceremony, Zhao Yun and Tian Yu knelt down before Tong .

　　Zhao Yun spoke first, "I've failed my duty . I'm here for my punishment . "

　　Tian Yu also knelt and slammed his head on the floor, "I've failed to protect her majesty . I'm here to receive my death!"

　　Tong did not speak to both of them . He simply stared down at these two future legends with a sad look .

　　While they were in silence, waiting for Tong to speak, Liu Xie ran to Tong, crying and hugging him .

　　"Papa, mama is dead! Mama is dead!"

　　Zhang Min, Hua s.h.i.+'s daughter, also ran to Tong . Both of them wailed, which their crying voice silent all funeral attendees . All of them watched Tong with sympathy and pity as this was the hardest time for Tong's family .

　　Tong hugged his adopted son and his daughter tight, "They are resting in Heaven, Bohe, Min'er . They will become angels, and they will watch over us from above . "

　　The crying did not stop . Instead, it worsened as the children were too young to control their emotion .

　　As his children did not stop crying, tears flowed from Tong's eyes as he also cried along with them .

　　An hour later, they exhausted themselves and fell asleep . Tong pa.s.sed both his children to caretakers and turned to the two men, who were still kowtowing on the ground .

　　Every onlooker was expecting a harsh scold from Tong . Even Jia Xu believed that Tong might kill them out of anger .

　　With traces of tears on his face, Tong also knelt and kowtowed to Zhao Yun and Tian Yu .

　　"Thank you for saving my son . "

　　The onlooking crowd was shocked . Since Tong was a respected figure which should be equal to their emperor, he should not bow or kneel to anyone .

　　Jia Xu and Xun Yu rushed to Tong's sides, trying to get him up .

　　"What are you doing, my lord!? You will sooner or later be an emperor . You can't bow your head to anyone!"

　　"You're her majesty's prince consort! You can't bow to ordinary soldiers!"

　　Zhao Yun and Tian Yu also gazed at Tong in disbelief . They knew about Tong's status, which they had prepared for capital punishment, yet Tong thanked them?

　　"No, I did what I thought it has to be done . "

　　Tong shook off Jia Xu and Xun Yu's hands and knelt before Zhao Yuan and Tian Yu again .

　　"Thank you for saving my son . "

　　Still shocked, Zhao Yun's voice cracked, "B-But we failed our duties . Her Majesty was …"

　　Tong raised his head up, looking at them with a smile . However, his teary eyes revealed his thought .

　　"Had both of you not been there, Liu Xie would have died along with his mother . "

　　"But her …"

　　"You didn't fail your duties . Both my wife and my Liu Xie were their targets, and you protected him . Thank you for saving my son . "

　　Tong kowtowed again . Although Tong had stopped crying, all onlookers thought that he was crying while he was bowing his head .

　　Zhao Yun also had the same thought . Because of guilt and various emotions, Zhao Yun's eyes became moist .

　　Tian Yu was more open than Zhao Yun . He wept as he slammed his forehead on the ground again, "I'm sorry! I should have been more careful! I'm so sorry!"

　　It had become a weird situation where three young men were kowtowing at the others .

　　Tong raised his head to look at Zhao Yun and Tian Yu with a bitter smile . He raised them up and hugged them .

　　"Thank you for coming back alive . "

　　Zhao Yun could no longer hold his tears . He sobbed and cried as he leaned on Tong's shoulder . Tian Yu was the same, wailing without shame .

　　From this day, Zhao Yun and Tian Yu vowed in their heart that they would not repeat the same mistake again .

　　Zhao Yun engraved an oath within his mind, 'Till death, I'll use this life for him! I'll become stronger, and I'll be his strongest s.h.i.+eld! No one else under my care will die as long as I live!'

　　Tian Yu also established his career goal, 'I'll redeem myself . I'll learn more about tactics and strategies, so no one can ambush my troops and me again! I'll be a guardian general that stands firm in all kinds of adversaries!'

　　Tong, Tian Yu, and Zhao Yun had not realized this yet . All scholars who witnessed their actions took notes at these events, and they planned to write it in their records .

　　Some of them thought that Tong was a pretender, faking crying to win the hearts of the talented youths .

　　Some believed that Tong was a kind-hearted man who forgave Zhao Yun and Tian Yu's crimes for neglecting duties .

　　The rest interpreted it as Tong showed mercy on his junior disciples as all of them studied under Lu Zhi .

　　Among the crowd, only Li Feihong and Te Langpu looked at them with complicated emotion . Tong had stolen the role of Liu Bei and tamed Zhao Yun in a similar manner, which was a complete coincident .

　　Dong Bai, w.a.n.g Yun, and Diaochan attended the funeral later, but they did not approach Tong . As their status could complicate this entire scene, they withdrew back to Friday's resident, waiting for the right opportunity to speak with Tong again .

　　 .

　　After the event, w.a.n.g Men was executed in public .

　　Jia Xu took this chance to propaganda the death of He Xing and Hua s.h.i.+, turning it into a grand conspiracy of the Sun Clan and Gongsun Clan .

　　Because of Jia Xu's vicious tongue, the civilians were in an uproar, cursing and swearing at Sun Fang and Gongsun Du . As a byproduct of such move, more strong men joined the military with their free-will, vowing to avenge for the empress and Tong's wife .

　　The emotion spread from the inner city to outer city areas . Then, they reached other towns through the words of mouths, gossips, and spies, escalating the sadness to anger, and from anger to hatred .

　　By the end of December, Han-royalist officers in Julu, Ye, Zhongshan, Jinyang, and even Beihei of Kong Rong were in an uproar, requesting their governors to dispatch troops, so they could partic.i.p.ate in a campaign and revenge for the empress .

　　Because of the news, Cao Cao and other warlords became aware of the He Xing's death, which changed their perspective about this country's power struggle .

　　All eyes were on Tong once again as they waited for Tong's decision .

　　To all warlords, Liu Xie was the only one who could succeed the throne . If Tong took the throne, they would frame him as a tyrant traitor of Han, and all lords would have the legitimate reason to form a nation-wide coalition against Tong . Afterward, the throne would be available for grasp, which would become their opportunity .

　　On the other hand, if Tong allowed Liu Xie to take the throne, they could still reap benefits from the young emperor . By bribing or showing Liu Xie with women and gold, they could sway this child and manipulate him into issuing imperial decrees, which would favor their status .

　　The threat of Xiongnu had not been solved, yet everyone was looking for an opportunity to seize power .

　　This was a period of chaos .