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Chapter 17 of Romance of the Three Kingdoms marks a turning point in the fragmentation of the Eastern Han dynasty, where ambition, legitimacy, and survival collide in the wake of Yuan Shu’s fateful decision to declare himself emperor.
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In the turbulent years of the late Eastern Han dynasty, alliances were fragile, and loyalty was often a transaction. Nowhere is this more evident than in the dramatic rupture between Sun Ce and Yuan Shu in 197 AD. What began as a patron-client relationship—born from the legacy of Sun Ce’s father, the famed general…