Wei Wu Approaches the End

In the twenty-fifth year of Jian'an, Cao Cao died in Luoyang, leaving these final words: "If Heaven's Mandate is mine, then I am King Wen of Zhou." What he left behind was an empire that the Sima clan would steal from his descendants by replaying the very same script.

In the fifth year of Ganlu, Emperor Cao Mao of Wei drew his sword and mounted his carriage, intending to strike down Sima Zhao. History remembers it as "The Emperor Dies at the Southern Gate."

That same day, the greatest schemer in two thousand years awoke inside the "abdication script" he had invented himself.

Blades gleamed throughout the palace. The court was full of traitors, and even the imperial guards he had left to his descendants now bore the Sima name.

The ministers waited to see how this young emperor, who would "rather die as the Noble Duke of Gaogui," would meet his end.

Cao Cao laughed.

I taught the world the art of usurping the throne. Today, I will take it back with my own hands.