11 Wildest Assassinations During Total War: Three Kingdoms' Historical Setting

After He Jin's death, Dong Zhuo, the Governor of the western frontier province of Xi, became the new de facto ruler of the Imperial government. One of the first things he committed himself to was forcing the sitting Emperor to abdicate in favor of his nine-year-old brother.

After banishing the young ex-Emperor and his mother - He Jin's sister for those keeping track of things - Dong Zhuo sent his son-in-law and chief adviser, Li Ru, to kill the young lad. Shao's fatal offense? He wrote a poem critical of what had been done to him.

Li Ru took poisoned wine to the palace of banishment and politely requested the Emperor, his mother, and the boy's courtesan drink it. When they refused he became less polite. Li Ru had the courtesan strangled, threw the Empress out of a window, and then force-fed the boy the wine. The icing on the poisoned cake, though? Empress He had used a similar tactic to kill her step-son's grandmother a few years earlier – minus the defenestration, of course.