Is “The secret edict in the robe ordered Dong Cheng to kill Cao Cao” true?
attested in history
According to the Records of the Three Kingdoms, Book of Shu, Biography of the Former Lord, and the Book of the Later Han, Emperor Xian secretly gave Dong Cheng a robe with a hidden edict, ordering him to kill Cao Cao. The plot was leaked and thwarted.
Emperor Xian of Han
In official histories, he is a wandering emperor who ultimately abdicates to a puppet ruler, while in fiction he is portrayed with great sympathy.