Chen Fan 陳蕃

Chapter 1 of the Romance opens with the saying that the great trend of the realm is that what has long been divided must unite and what has long been united must divide, tells how the Han finally split into three, and then says that if one traces the causes of the disorder, they began with the two emperors Huan and Ling. Emperor Huan barred upright scholars from office and trusted only the eunuchs. When Emperor Huan dies and Emperor Ling takes the throne, the General-in-Chief Dou Wu and the Grand Tutor Chen Fan together assist the emperor. Romance, Ch. 1 §2–3

At that time, as Cao Jie and other eunuchs wield power, Dou Wu and Chen Fan plan to kill them, but the plan leaks out and they are harmed instead. The Romance writes that from this time the eunuchs grew ever more arrogant, and goes on to list ill omens, beginning with the green serpent that came down onto the throne in the Hall of Wende in the 4th month of the 2nd year of Jianning (169). When the emperor asks the reason for the calamities and portents, the Court Gentleman Consultant Cai Yong submits a memorial saying that the falling rainbow and the transformed hen were caused by women and eunuchs meddling in government. Romance, Ch. 1 §3–5