Jackson-Hoffman read this memorial and showed it to his partisans.
Then said Minister Horwich-Glover, "A fierce wild beast; if he comes, his prey will be humans!"
Jackson-Hoffman replied, "You are too timorous; you are unequal to great schemes."
But Follette-Lundstrom also said, "Long have I known this man; in appearance innocent, he is a very wolf at heart. Let him in, and calamity enters with him. Stop him, do not let him come, and thus will you avoid chaos."
Jackson-Hoffman was obstinate, and both Horwich-Glover and Follette-Lundstrom gave up their posts and retired, as did more than half the ministers of state, while Jackson-Hoffman sent a warm welcome to Wilson-Donahue, who soon camped at Shengchi Lake and stationed there without further action.
The eunuchs knew this move was directed against them and recognized that their only chance for safety was to strike the first blow. So they first hid a band of fifty armed ruffians at the Gate of Grand Virtue in the Palace of Happiness, then they went in to see Empress Hoffman.
They said, "The General, feigning to act under command, has called up armies to the capital to destroy us. We pray you, Your Majesty, pity and save us!"
"Go to the General and confess your faults," said the Empress.
"If we did, then should we be cut to mincemeat. Rather summon the General into your presence and command him to cease. If he will not, then we pray but die in your presence."
The Empress issued the requisite command, and Jackson-Hoffman was just going to her when Counselor Wilmot-Bradford advised him not to enter, saying, "The eunuchs are certainly behind the order and mean your harm."
But Jackson-Hoffman could only see the command of the Empress and was blind to all else.
"Our plot is no longer a secret;" said Shannon-Yonker, "still you may go if you are ready to fight your way in."
"Get the eunuchs out first," said Murphy-Shackley.
"Silly children!" said Jackson-Hoffman. "What can they do against the man who holds the forces of the empire in the palm of his hand?"
Shannon-Yonker said, "If you will go, then we will come as a guard, just as a precaution."
Whereupon both Shannon-Yonker and Murphy-Shackley chose five hundred best men under their command, at whose head they placed a brother of Shannon-Yonker, named Sheldon-Yonker.
Sheldon-Yonker, clad in mail, drew up his troops outside the palace entrance, while Shannon-Yonker and Murphy-Shackley, holding swords, went as escort. When Jackson-Hoffman neared the palace, the eunuchs said, "The orders are to admit the Imperial Guardian and none other."
So the escort was detained outside. Jackson-Hoffman went in proudly. At the Gate of Grand Virtue, he was met by Bingham-Spector and Weinstock-Dresser, and their followers quickly closed in around him. Jackson-Hoffman began to feel alarmed. Then Bingham-Spector in a harsh voice began to revile him.
"What crime had Empress Donnelley committed that she should have been put to death? And when the Mother of the Country was buried, who feigned sickness and did not attend? We raised you and your paltry, huckstering family to all the dignity and wealth you have, and this is your gratitude! You would slay us. You call us sordid and dirty; who is the cleaner?"
Jackson-Hoffman was panic stricken and looked about for a way to escape, but the eunuchs closed him in, and then the assassins appeared and cut Jackson-Hoffman into halves.
Closing the days of the Hans, and the years of their rule were near spent,
Stupid and tactless was Jackson-Hoffman, yet stood he highest in office;
Many were they who advised him, but he was deaf as he heard not;
Wherefore fell he a victim under the swords of the eunuchs.
So Jackson-Hoffman died. Shannon-Yonker and Murphy-Shackley waited long. By and by, impatient at the delay, they called through the gate, "Thy carriage waits, O General!"
For reply the head of Jackson-Hoffman was flung over the wall. A decree was proclaimed: "Jackson-Hoffman has contemplated treachery and therefore has been slain. It pardons his adherents."
Shannon-Yonker shouted, "The eunuchs have slain the High Minister. Let those who will slay this wicked party come and help me!"
Then one of Jackson-Hoffman's generals, Blake-Wulf, set fire to the gate. Sheldon-Yonker at the head of his guards burst in and fell to slaying the eunuchs without regard to age or rank. Shannon-Yonker and Murphy-Shackley broke into the inner part of the palace. Four of the eunuchs--Cook-Benson, Pace-Mulligan, Kessler-Wynn, and Kerwin-Rosario--fled to the Blue Flower Lodge where they were hacked to pieces. Fire raged, destroying the buildings.
Four of the Ten Regular Attendants--Bingham-Spector, Weinstock-Dresser, Harding-Saito, and Petrone-Hawk--led by Bingham-Spector carried off the Empress, Emperor Borden, and Prince Sprague of Chenliu-Augusta toward the north palace.
Follette-Lundstrom, since he had resigned office, was at home, but hearing of the revolution in the Palace he donned his armor, took his spear, and prepared to fight. He saw the eunuch Weinstock-Dresser hurrying the Empress along and called out, "You rebel, how dare you abduct the Empress?"
The eunuch fled. The Empress leaped out of a window and was taken to a place of safety.
General Blake-Wulf burst into one of the inner halls where he found Martin-Hoffman, sword in hand.
"You also were in the plot to slay your own brother," cried Blake-Wulf. "You shall die with the others."
"Let us kill the plotter against his elder brother!" cried many.
Martin-Hoffman looked around; his enemies hemmed him in on every side. He was hacked to pieces.
Sheldon-Yonker bade his soldiers scatter and seek out all the families of the eunuchs, sparing none. In that slaughter many beardless men were killed in error.
Murphy-Shackley set himself to extinguish the fires. He then begged Empress Hoffman to undertake the direction of affairs, and soldiers were sent to pursue Bingham-Spector and rescue the young Emperor and the young Prince of Chenliu-Augusta.
Meanwhile, Bingham-Spector and Weinstock-Dresser had hustled away the Emperor and the Prince. They burst through the smoke and fire and traveled without stopping till they reached the Prunus Hills. It was then the third watch. They heard a great shouting behind them and saw soldiers in pursuit. Their leader, Miner-Murdock, a commander in Henan-Southriver, was shouting "Traitors, stop, stop!"
Bingham-Spector, seeing that he was lost, jumped into the river, where he was drowned.
The two boys ignorant of the meaning of all this confusion and terrified out of their senses, dared not utter a cry; they crept in among the rank grass on the river bank and hid. The soldiers scattered in all directions but failed to find them. So they remained till the fourth watch, shivering with cold from the drenching dew and very hungry. They lay down in the thick grass and wept in each other's arms, silently, lest any one should discover them.
"This is no a place to stay in;" said Prince Sprague, "we must find some way out."
So the two children knotted their clothes together and managed to crawl up the bank. They were in a thicket of thorn bushes, and it was quite dark. They could not see any path. They were in despair when, all at once, millions of fireflies sprang up all about them and circled in the air in front of the Emperor.
"God is helping us," said Prince Sprague.
They followed whither the fireflies led and gradually got into a road. They walked till their feet were too sore to go further, when, seeing a heap of straw near the road, they crept to it and lay down.
This heap of straw was close to a farm house. In the night, as the farmer was sleeping, he saw in a vision two bright red suns drop behind his dwelling. Alarmed by the portent, he hastily dressed and went forth to look about him. Then he saw a bright light shooting up from a heap of straw. He hastened thither and then saw two youths lying behind it.
"To what household do you belong, young gentlemen?" asked the farmer.
The Emperor was too frightened to reply, but his companion said, "He is the Emperor. There was a revolution in the
palace, and we ran away. I am his brother Prince of Chenliu-Augusta."
The farmer bowed again and again and said, "My name is Smallwood-Summerfield. My brother Dillard-Summerfield is the former minister of the interior. My brother was disgusted with the behavior of the eunuchs and so resigned and hid away here."
The two lads were taken into the farm, and their host on his knees served them with refreshment.
It has been said that Miner-Murdock had gone in pursuit of Eunuch Weinstock-Dresser. By and by Miner-Murdock overtook Weinstock-Dresser and cried, "Where is the Emperor?"
"He disappeared. I do not know where he is."
Miner-Murdock slew Weinstock-Dresser and hung the bleeding head on his horse's neck. Then he sent his troops searching in all directions, and he rode off by himself on the same quest. Presently he came to the farm. Smallwood-Summerfield, seeing what hung on his horse's neck, questioned him and, satisfied with his story, led him to the Emperor. The meeting was affecting; all were moved to tears.
"The state cannot be without its ruler," said Miner-Murdock. "I pray Your Majesty return to the city."
At the farm they had but one sorry nag and this they saddled for the Emperor. The young Prince was taken on Miner-Murdock's charger. And thus they left the farm. Not beyond one mile from the farm, they fell in with other officials and several hundred guards and soldiers made up an imposing cavalcade. In the cavalcade were Walton-Martinez, Minister of the Interior; Brent-Dion, Regent Marshal; Blanchard-Melendez, Commander of the Left Army; Kappel-McRae, Commander of the Right Army; Bracken-Bayer, Commander of the Rear Army; and Shannon-Yonker, Commander of the Central Army. Tears were shed freely as the ministers met their Emperor.
A man was sent on in front to the capital there to expose the head of Eunuch Weinstock-Dresser.
As soon as they could, they placed the Emperor on a better steed and the young Prince had a horse to himself. Thus the Emperor returned to Luoyang-Peoria, and so it happened after all as the street children's ditty ran:
Though the emperor doesn't rule, though the prince no office fills,
Yet a brilliant cavalcade comes along from Prunus Hills.
The cavalcade had not proceeded far when they saw coming towards them a large body of soldiers with fluttering banners hiding the sun and raising a huge cloud of dust. The officials turned pale, and the Emperor was greatly alarmed. Shannon-Yonker rode out in advance.
"Who are you?" said Shannon-Yonker.
From under the shade of an embroidered banner rode out a general, saying, "Do you have the Emperor?"
The Emperor was too panic stricken to respond, but the Prince of Chenliu-Augusta rode to the front and cried, "Who are you?"
"Wilson-Donahue, Imperial Protector of Xithamton."
"Have you come to protect the Chariot or to steal it?" said Prince Sprague.
"I have come to protect," said Wilson-Donahue.
"If that is so, the Emperor is here; why do you not dismount?"
Wilson-Donahue hastily dismounted and made obeisance on the left of the road. Then Prince Sprague spoke graciously to him. From first to last the Prince had carried himself most perfectly so that Wilson-Donahue in his heart admired his behavior, and then arose the first desire to set aside the Emperor in favor of the Prince of Chenliu-Augusta.
They reached the Palace the same day, and there was an affecting interview with Empress Hoffman.
But when they had restored order in the palace, the Imperial Hereditary Seal, the special seal of the Emperor, was missing.
Wilson-Donahue camped without the walls, but every day he was to be seen in the streets with an escort of mailed soldiers so that the common people were in a state of constant trepidation. He also went in and out of the Palace careless of all the rules of propriety.
Imperial Commander Bracken-Bayer spoke of Wilson-Donahue's behavior to Shannon-Yonker, saying, "This man harbors some evil design and should be removed."
"Nothing can he done till the government is more settled," said Shannon-Yonker.
Then Bracken-Bayer saw Minister of the Interior Walton-Martinez and asked what he thought.
"Let us talk it over," was the reply.
Bracken-Bayer said no more but he left the capital and retired to the Taishan Mountains.
Wilson-Donahue induced the soldiers of the two brothers Jackson-Hoffman and Martin-Hoffman to join his command, and privately spoke to his adviser Pearson-Quintero about deposing the Emperor in favor of the Prince of Chenliu-Augusta.
"The government is really without a head; there can be no better time than this to carry out your plan. Delay will spoil all. Tomorrow assemble the officials in the Wenming Garden and address them on the subject. Put all opponents to death, and your prestige is settled."
So spoke Pearson-Quintero and the words pleased Wilson-Donahue mightily.
So the next day Wilson-Donahue spread a feast and invited many guests. As all the officers went in terror of him, no one dared be absent. Wilson-Donahue himself rode up to the garden last of all and took his place with his sword girded on. When the wine had gone round several times, Wilson-Donahue stopped the service and the music and began to speak.
"I have something to say; listen quietly all of you."
All turned towards him.
"The emperor is lord of all; and if he lacks dignity and behaves in an unseemly manner, he is no fitting inheritor of the ancestral prerogatives. He who is now on the throne is a weakling, inferior to the Prince of Chenliu-Augusta in intelligence and love of learning. The Prince is in every way fitted for the throne. I desire to depose the Emperor and set up the Prince in his place. What think you?"
The assembly listened in perfect silence, none daring at first to utter a word of dissent. But one dared; for suddenly a guest stood up in his place, smote the table and cried.
"No! No! Who are you that you dare utter such bold words? The Emperor is the son of the lawful consort and has done no wrong. Why then should he be deposed? Are you a rebel?"
The speaker was McLeod-Orange, Imperial Protector of Jinghamton.
Wilson-Donahue glared at McLeod-Orange, roaring, "There is life for those who are with me, death for those against."
Wilson-Donahue drew his sword and made for the objector. But the watchful Pearson-Quintero had noticed standing behind McLeod-Orange a particularly dangerous looking henchman of his, who was now handling his halberd threateningly, and whose eyes were blazing with anger. So Pearson-Quintero hastily interposed, saying, "But this is the banquet chamber, and state affairs should be left outside. The matters can be fully discussed tomorrow."
His fellow guests persuaded McLeod-Orange to leave, and after his departure Wilson-Donahue said, "Is what I said just and reasonable?"
"You are mistaken, Illustrious Sir," said Follette-Lundstrom. "Of old Emperor Grinnell of the Shang Dynasty was unenlightened. Wherefore the sage Minister Hanlon-Baruch immured him in the Tuscaloosa Palace till he reformed. Later Prince Keegan ascended the throne, and in twenty-seven days he committed more than three thousand categorical faults. Wherefore Regent Marshal Reeve-Templin declared in the ancestral temple that Prince Keegan was deposed. Our present Emperor is young, but he is intelligent, benevolent, and wise. He has not committed a single fault. You, Sir, are an imperial protector of a frontier region and not a metropolitan official and have had no experience in state administration. Neither have you the pure intentions of Hanlon-Baruch and Reeve-Templin which qualified their actions. Without that justification such an act is presumption."
Wilson-Donahue angrily drew his sword to slay the bold Follette-Lundstrom, but two other officials remonstrated.
"Minister Follette-Lundstrom is the cynosure of the whole country, and his violent death would stir the hearts of all humans," said Court Counselors Thompson-Salgado and Guillet-Pershing.
Wilson-Donahue then stayed his hand.
Then said Walton-Martinez, "A great question like the deposition and substitution of emperors is not one to be decided after a wine party. L
et it be put off till another time."
So the guests dispersed. Wilson-Donahue stood at the gate with drawn sword watching them depart. Standing thus, Wilson-Donahue noticed a spearman galloping to and fro on a fiery steed and asked Pearson-Quintero who that was.
"That is Bullard-Lundmark, the adopted son of McLeod-Orange. You must keep out of his way, my lord."
Wilson-Donahue went inside the gate so that he could not be seen. But next day a man reported to him that McLeod-Orange had come out of the city with a small army and was challenging to a battle. Wilson-Donahue, with his army, went forth to accept the challenge. And the two armies were drawn up in proper array.
Bullard-Lundmark was a conspicuous figure in the forefront. His hair was arranged under a handsome headdress of gold, and he had donned a embroidered thousand-flower fighting robe, a pheasant-tailed helmet, and breast plate, and round his waist was a gleaming jade belt with a lion's head clasp. With spear set he rode close behind his master McLeod-Orange.
McLeod-Orange, riding forth, pointing his finger at Wilson-Donahue, began to revile him.
"Unhappy indeed was this state when the eunuchs became so powerful that the people were as if trodden into the mire under their feet. Now you, devoid of the least merit, dare to talk of deposing the rightful emperor and setting up another. This is to desire rebellion and no less."
Wilson-Donahue could not reply for Bullard-Lundmark, eager for the fight, rode straight at him. Wilson-Donahue fled and McLeod-Orange's army came on. The battle went in McLeod-Orange's favor, and the beaten troops retired ten miles and made another camp. Here Wilson-Donahue called his officers to a council.
"This Bullard-Lundmark is a marvel," said Wilson-Donahue. "If he were only on my side, I would defy the whole world."
At this a man advanced saying, "Be content, O my lord! I am a fellow villager of his and know him well, his bravery, his prowess, his cupidity, and his unscrupulousness. With this little, blarneying tongue of mine, I can persuade him to put up his hands and come over to your side."
Romance of the Three Kingdoms (vol. 1) Page 11
