Eastern Han Dynasty, not the Three Kingdoms

Upon hearing this, Dian Wei felt a surge of guilt. He dropped heavily to his knees, knocking his head against the ground with a resounding thud. The thuds echoed throughout the palace, as if each thud struck his heart. He repented deeply, "My dear lady, it's all my drunkenness that has led to this horrific situation. I, Dian Wei, have caused you such a shock. Even if I die ten thousand times, I can't atone for this sin!" He continued to bang his head against the ground, the sound of his forehead hitting the ground even more depressing in the silence.

Seeing this, Lu Wan felt anxious. She hurriedly said, "Forget it, Brother Dian, please stop kowtow. The emperor ultimately failed, and I'm fine. It was just a momentary oversight on your part. Please don't blame yourself so much."

Dian Wei was filled with remorse and self-blame, constantly kowtowed and apologized. Soon, his forehead was bruised, and his once resolute face now looked a little disheveled with guilt. But he continued to kneel upright on the ground, prostrating himself, his tone filled with heartache, and said, "Miss, all this is my fault for drinking too much. If I hadn't been so drunk last night and failed to stay by your side, you would have been in such great danger. General Ma entrusted me with the important task of protecting you, but now I have failed so miserably. How can I face the general in the future? I truly deserve death!"

At this point, Dian Wei raised his head slightly, his eyes revealing determination, and continued, "From today on, I will quit drinking. I swear here that I will never touch that alcohol again in my life. I only hope that you, young lady, can consider my past dedication and forgive my mistake this time."

Lu Wan looked at Dian Wei's distressed and self-blaming expression, and her heart was filled with mixed emotions. She sighed softly and said, "Forget it, Brother Dian, there's no need to blame yourself so much. Besides, you drink often on weekdays, so why did you become so drunk and unconscious last night?"

Dian Wei's face was filled with regret, and he said bitterly, "Last night was truly bizarre. I don't know what was going on with Wang Yue and Shi A, the master and his apprentice, but they kept urging me to drink. It was almost incessant. I thought we'd just have a few drinks, but who could have imagined that we'd all end up drunk. I drink regularly, but never to the extent I did last night. This is truly bizarre."

After hearing Dian Wei's words, Lu Wan began to understand a little. She frowned and said solemnly, "Hey, now I think about it, this was all done intentionally by the master and the disciple. They did this so that they could get you away, so that the emperor would have a chance to get close to me. Just after you left, someone unexpectedly brought me a bowl of medicinal food last night. I didn't have much of an appetite at the time, and I was inexplicably suspicious, so I didn't eat it. If I had eaten it without thinking, I'm afraid the consequences would have been disastrous."

At this point, Lu Wan couldn't help but sigh slightly, her eyes filled with disappointment and resentment. She continued, "After all these things, I've finally seen through the ugly face of this emperor. I really never imagined that as the emperor of the Han Dynasty, he should be respected by all the people and care about the world, but who could have foreseen that his heart was filled with such despicable tricks. He relied on that hypocritical face to deceive everyone, even someone as shrewd as my father was deceived by him and placed high hopes on him. I didn't expect him to be such a person. Fortunately, last night I finally tore off his hypocritical mask and let me see his true face."

Lu Wan paused, looked at Dian Wei, and said with a worried look on her face, "Brother Dian, you and I must be extra careful in this palace from now on. Since the emperor has such intentions, I'm afraid our safety will be in constant danger from now on. We can't let our guard down anymore and must be on guard at all times."

Upon hearing this, Dian Wei suddenly realized that the seemingly ordinary banquet last night was actually a carefully planned conspiracy! He was so angry that his hair stood on end, his eyes widened, and he stood up with a "swoosh". He clenched his fists tightly, his knuckles cracking, as if he wanted to vent all the anger in his heart through his hands.

Then, he said to Lu Wan with a determined look on his face, "Miss, just sit here quietly and don't worry about anything. I'm going to go and deal with those master and disciple right now. I have to vent my anger for you. Let's see if they dare to plot against us again!"

Seeing this, Lu Wan hurriedly and anxiously advised, "Brother Dian, please don't be impulsive! It's obvious that the Emperor is behind this, and the master and disciple are simply following the Emperor's plan. From now on, while you're in this palace, don't get too close to the palace officials or the guards. You're a simple-minded person, and you've never been wary of others, but the people in this palace are treacherous. If you cause any more trouble, it will be troublesome."

Dian Wei was so angry that he stamped his feet and panted like an enraged bull. But he knew Lu Wan was right, so he could only say angrily, "Miss, if you let them go like this, I will be so upset! I must kill the master and disciple. If we don't kill them, how can we guard against these villains in this palace in the future? How can we ensure your safety?"

Lu Wan sighed softly and patiently advised, "Brother Dian, there's really no need to be like this. Think about it, if the emperor was really determined to disregard our lives and wanted to kill us, we would have died more than a hundred times already. Brother Chao is still commanding the troops outside, and with the Xiliang army backing us up, we are at least as safe as a rock in this palace. We just have to be more careful about the emperor's tricks in the future. Brother Dian, please come in now and take away the messy clothes left here by the emperor, as well as the bloodstained sheets on the bed. Then you can have a good rest, because daybreak will soon be approaching."

After hearing what Lu Wan said, Dian Wei was still angry, but he also understood that it was not appropriate to act rashly at this moment. He had no choice but to lower his head and silently clean up the messy items according to Lu Wan's instructions. However, he secretly swore in his heart that he would be extra careful in the future and never let Lu Wan suffer such grievances and danger again.

When the eastern sky brightened, Wang Yue and Shi A, the master and disciple, finally woke up from their hangover. Each of them held their still groggy and aching heads with one hand as they blearily opened their eyes. After taking in their surroundings, they looked at each other in confusion, for they looked around but saw no sign of Dian Wei.

This made the two men extremely anxious, and they hurriedly asked the attendant nearby. When the attendant told them that Dian Wei had left in the latter half of the night, just before dawn, the master and disciple breathed a sigh of relief, secretly thinking that Dian Wei probably didn't know anything about what happened last night, and wouldn't ruin the emperor's good deeds.

Thinking of this, the master and disciple hurriedly rushed towards the emperor's bedroom. Along the way, they thought happily that the emperor had got what he wanted last night and must be in a good mood at the moment. He should reward them according to their merits. When they thought of the rewards that were about to come, they couldn't help but quicken their pace.

Soon, the two arrived outside the emperor's bedroom. But as soon as they arrived, they noticed something was amiss. At the entrance to the bedroom, the eunuchs stood solemnly, no one daring to enter.

Shi A was a relatively straightforward person. Seeing this, he didn't think much about it. He raised his leg and was about to step in. He was thinking happily in his heart that he had made such a great contribution to the emperor, and the emperor must be waiting to reward him now.

Fortunately, Wang Yue was more thoughtful and quick-witted. He quickly grabbed Shi A and then lowered his voice to ask the eunuch beside him, "I wonder what the situation is? What happened last night? Where is His Majesty now?"

The eunuch didn't dare to hide anything and told Wang Yue everything that had happened the previous night. It turned out that the emperor had first gone to Lu Wan's place, but not only did he fail, he was even stabbed by her. He then went to Consort Gongsun's place, but was again ruthlessly rejected by her. Later, the emperor returned to the palace and once again tormented the palace maids, continuing this pattern for most of the night. At this moment, the emperor was still soundly asleep in his chambers.

Upon hearing this, Wang Yue slapped his head and said with deep regret, "Oh no! This is bad!" He and Shi A exchanged glances, each one terrified and bewildered. Shi A was at a loss for words. He quickly leaned towards Wang Yue and cried, "Master...Master, what...what should we do? Could it be that all our careful planning last night has been ruined?"

Wang Yue glared at him unhappily, his heart full of resentment, and said, "Now you finally remember the Master, huh! Now that things have come to this, what else can we do? We can only kneel here obediently and wait for the Emperor to wake up and make his decision. We worked so hard to get this situation together, but I don't know how it turned into this mess now."

After hearing this, the master and disciple did not dare to say another word. They could only kneel upright in front of the palace door, not daring to make a sound. They waited anxiously for the emperor to wake up, wondering in fear how he would execute them.