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 nearby. He went over to see Diao Chan， the sixteen-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 Icame. How could I repay your kindness？ Ihave noticed your knitted eyebrows¹， You must have big worries that Idare not ask. Isighed， because Iwish Icould help you in some way.”

Who could believe， thought Wang that the destiny of the Han Dynasty lies in this girl's hand. He helped the girl up， then he himself prostrated² and kowtowed to her. “Why do you bow to me？” the puzzled girl asked. She repeated her offer to help in any way.

Convinced of her resolüte³ attitude， Wang Yun was straightforward⁴： “Both Dong Zhuo and his stepson Lü Bu love women. I'll take you as my step daughter， then I'll betroth⁵ you to Lü Bu before I present you as a gift to Dong Zhuo. You will seek opportunities to sow discord⁶ between them and make Lü 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 stratagems⁸ laid by Wang Yun and Diao Chan.

东汉末年，太师董卓专权，朝野上下敢怒不敢言。正直的大臣们都想除掉他，但又苦于无好计可施。司徒王允，深夜独自到花园，望着天空一轮明月，心想着国家大事，不觉悄然泪下，他忽然听见牡丹亭处有人长叹，走过去一看，原来是家中十六岁的美丽歌女貂蝉。问她为何长叹，貂蝉跪道：“我自入府，大人待我恩重如山，我不知如何报答才好。最近见大人总是愁眉不展，一定是有难办的大事，但又不敢问，故而长叹，如果我能与大人分忧就好了。”王允一听，猛然醒悟说：“没想到汉朝天下，竟在一个女子手中啊！”他把貂蝉领到亭内，跪在地上给貂蝉叩头。貂蝉忙问：“大人，你这是干什么？有用我之处，尽管吩咐。”王允见貂蝉十分坚决，就说：“董卓和吕布都是好色之徒。我收你为义女，先把你许给吕布为妻，然后再献给董卓为妾，你在他们二人之间周旋，见机行事，挑拨离间。设法让吕布杀掉董卓，以保住汉朝江山。”貂蝉听后，满口答应，并发誓说：“如果我不按大人说的去做，不报大义，我当被乱刀砍死！”这就是王允和貂蝉共同定下的连环计，最后除掉了董卓。