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Chang'an

Both

The old Western Han capital. Dong Zhuo moved Emperor Xian here and died here. Li Jue and Guo Si then fought over the court. The novel also sets the chain plot in Chang’an.

The frame is historical. Character, dialogue, and scale are often rewritten by the novel.

Modern site
Modern Xi’an, Shaanxi
Region
Guanzhong

Chang’an had been the Western Han capital. After abandoning Luoyang, Dong Zhuo moved Emperor Xian here and made himself Grand Preceptor. In 192 Lü Bu killed him as he entered court. Wang Yun’s plot is historical. Diaochan finishing the chain stratagem at the Phoenix Pavilion is the novel’s staging of that murder, set between the court and Dong Zhuo’s residence.

Once Dong Zhuo was dead, his Liangzhou officers Li Jue and Guo Si entered Chang’an in his name, killed Wang Yun, and seized the emperor. The new capital was not a restored peace. It was the next soldiers’ quarrel. Dong Zhuo and Lü Bu have to be read as a line from the deposition in Luoyang to the murder and the revenge in Chang’an.