That night Cho slept in a tent in the midst of his escort. In the suburbs that evening some children at play were singing a little ditty and the words drifted in on the wind.
“The grass in the meadow looks fresh now and green,
Yet wait but ten days, not a blade will be seen.”[1]
The song sounded ominous but Li Su was again prepared with a happy interpretation. “It only means that the Lius are about to disappear and the Tungs to be exalted.”
Next morning at the first streak of dawn Tung Cho prepared for his appearance at court. On the way he saw a Taoist, dressed in a black robe and wearing a white turban, who carried in his hand a tall staff with a long strip of white cloth attached. At each end of the cloth was drawn a mouth.
“What is the meaning of this?” said Tung Cho.
“He is a madman,” said Li Su, and he told the guards to drive the fellow away.
Tung Cho went in and found all the officials in court dress lining the road. Li Su walked beside his carriage, a sword in his hand. When he reached the side room on the north he found soldiers drawn up outside and only the pushers of the palace carriage, a score or so, were allowed to proceed further. When he arrived near the Reception Hall he saw that Wang Yün and all the other officials standing at the door were armed.
“Why are they all armed?” said he to Li Su. Li Su was silent. The pushers urged the carriage forward swiftly to the entrance.
Suddenly Wang Yün shouted, “The rebel is here! where are the executioners?”
At this call sprang from both sides men armed with halberds and spears who attacked Tung Cho. He had not put on the breastplate he usually wore and a spear pierced his breast. He sank down in the carriage calling loudly for his son, “Where is Fêng-hsien?”
“Here, and with a decree to deal with a rebel,” said Lü Pu savagely, as he appeared in front of his “father.”
Thereupon he thrust his halberd through his victim’s throat. Then Li Su hacked off the head and held it up. Lü Pu, his left hand holding his halberd, thrust his right hand into his bosom whence he drew the decree, crying, “The decree was to slay the rebel Tung Cho; no other.”
The whole assembly shouted, “Live for ever! O Emperor.”
A sympathetic poet has written a few lines in pity:—
Await the time, O noble, and be king,
Or failing, reap the solace riches bring;
Heaven n’er is partial, but severely just,
Meiwu stood strong yet now it lies in dust.
- ↑ The grass in the meadow is an ingenious quip on Tung Cho’s surname; as is the “ten days” on his distinguishing name.
