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WARNING: THE FOLLOWING COMMENTARY MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS. SERIOUSLY.
Okay, so now it's Chapter 20. That means that we're 1/6th of the way through the novel. Yay!
For several chapters, the story has focused on Xuzhou, and the events there. Now, Lu Bu, the mightiest warrior in the land, is dead, as is Chen Gong. (Moment of silence, everyone...) The power of Yuan Shu has been broken, and Liu Bei is pretty much subordinate to Cao Cao at this point...
Cao Cao the cunning, it would seem, has won all. Following the execution of Lu Bu, Cao Cao has gained the services of two of Lu Bu's most exceptional officers, Zang Ba and Zhang Liao. Zang Ba is capable enough, but Zhang Liao is perhaps a greater prize than the entire province of Xu.
So now that Cao Cao has triumphed over Lu Bu, the most dangerous of the enemies threatening his flank, so to speak, has been crushed, and Cao Cao's position on the Central Plains grows more secure. So what's next for His Scottishness?
Back in the capitol, Xu Chang, Cao Cao wields almost absolute power over the Imperial Court. (Sound familiar at all? Dong Zhuo, Li Jue and Guo Si once enjoyed a similar power.) Liu Xian, the Emperor of the Han, can see quite clearly his authority being eroded away by his prime minister.
At this point, the Son of Heaven writes a decree, in his own blood. Said decree is a call to loyal servants of the dynasty to remove Cao Cao from the mortal coil, by any means necessary. This decree is perhaps the most important one ever issued during Liu Xian's lifetime. In a way, one could say that Liu Xian's "Jade Girdle decree" is responsible for the development of the Three Kingdoms following the collapse of the Han. Why? Well, for one, it turns Liu Bei and Cao Cao into enemies (though Cao Cao doesn't know it yet). Up to this point, Cao Cao has held out some hope of attracting the very charismatic Liu Bei (distant uncle of the Emperor) to his banner, and with Bei, his two sworn brothers, Zhang Fei and Guan Yu, warriors without peer. With the Emperor's command to kill Cao Cao, however, Liu Bei's destiny heads along a divergent path from Cao Cao's, and in the decades to come, it is Liu Bei who will prove to be Cao Cao's greatest enemy.
Also worthy of mention here is Ma Teng. (Yay! Finally, someone from Xi Liang who ISN'T a villain!) Ma Teng appeared previously in the novel, leading an army to attack Li Jue and Guo Si. Now, he's back, and he's also got designs to kill Cao Cao. Cao Cao might very well destroy Ma Teng, but doing so will only lend wings to the tiger, as the old saying goes...