"I would sooner die than let these rebels fight me!"
Cao Mao secretly plotted to kill Sima Zhao, but Wang Shen betrayed him.
Sima Zhao ordered Jia Chong to lead troops into the palace, where deadly threats lurked inside and out.
In the bloody battle, Cao Mao personally plunged his sword into Sima Zhao's chest.
But fate was not on his side. The emperor was struck by several arrows, and with his dying breath, entrusted a blood-written edict to his younger brother, Cao Huang.
Disguised as a beggar, Cao Huang fled Luoyang and encountered Xiahou Ba outside the city gates.
Acting on Jiang Wei's orders, Xiahou Ba had infiltrated Luoyang to escort him west into Shu.
Thus began a thousand-mile flight across Wei and Shu, burdened with blood feuds and the hope of restoration.
