the manipulation of state affairs by the prime minister dong zhuo towards the end of the eastern han dynasty(25-220) aroused strong anger in people, but nobody dared to air it. upright ministers wanted to but failed to think of a way to get rid of him. deep at night and alone in his garden, wang yun, a minister, sighed at these worries, his teaful eyes cast up at the moon. suddenly, he heard a sigh from the pavilion（阁，亭子） nearby. he went over to see diao chan, the six*-year-old, very beautiful singsong girl in his family. upon enquiry, the girl went down on her knees and said, "your excellency has treated me so nice after i came. how could i repay your kindness? i have noticed your knitted eyebrows1. you must have *g worries that idare not ask. i sighed, because i wish icould * you in some way."
who could beli*, thought wang that the destiny of the han dynasty lies in this girl's hand. he *ed the girl up, then he himself prostrated2 and kowtowed（叩头） to her. "why do you bow to me?" the puzzled girl asked. she repeated her offer to * in any way.
convinced of her resolute3 attitude, wang yun was straightforward4: "both dong zhuo and his stepson lv bu love women. i'll take you as my step daughter, then i'll betroth5 you to lv bu before i present you as a gift to dong zhuo. you will seek opportunities to sow discord6 between them and make lv kill dong. in this way we can preserve the han dynasty." "if i fail to do as you say," she vowed7, "i will die a violent death." these were the interlocking（连锁的） stratagems8 laid by wang yun and diao chan.
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