Volume 1: Kyoto Winds and Clouds Chapter 18: With Sword in Hand, There Are Brave Warriors

  Liu Zhang knew that Liu Hong would marry He Jin's sister as the empress, but as for what He Jin's sister was named, there is no record in history. However, there is a legend about Empress He of Ling Shi. What Liu Zhang did not expect was that this Empress He was actually favored by Liu Hong because of him! To be honest, Empress He had a bad reputation in history, just because she poisoned Wang Mei Ren, forced Dong Tai Hou to death, and had a reputation for being cruel. In addition, she interfered with politics but failed to balance the power between the generals and eunuchs, leading to Dong Zhuo's entry into the capital, and a reputation for bringing disaster to the country and its people, which was hard to escape. But now, she is just a small woman who wants to live a good life!

  He Lingsi was extremely grateful to Liu Zhang, if it wasn't for Liu Zhang saving her at the critical moment, her life would have been ruined! Although the Han Dynasty did not place as much emphasis on women's chastity as later generations, a woman who remarried still didn't have the same value as a virgin. Take Emperor Wu of Han's mother, for example, she was disliked by Empress Dowager Dou just because she was a second wife, and even Emperor Wu himself wasn't favored by his grandmother. Otherwise, since the throne had been passed down from father to son starting from Xia Yu, why did Empress Dowager Dou always want Emperor Jing to pass the throne to his younger brother? Was it just because she loved her youngest son? Not necessarily!

  Since He Lingyi became the concubine, Emperor Liu went to Empress Song's place less often. Empress Song, who was born as a palace maid and had been favored by the emperor for several years but had no children, had long thought of letting the emperor take another wife. Now that He Lingyi was also a palace maid, Empress Song wanted to befriend her. Of course, He Lingyi would not refuse the olive branch extended by the empress. As time went on, the empress and the concubine surprisingly became good sisters, which is unprecedented in Chinese history! Gradually, He Lingyi's status rose higher and higher, becoming the second most powerful woman after the empress!

  Liu Zhang enters the palace every day, and Liu Hong often keeps him in the palace. 14 or 15-year-old He Ling thought Liu Zhang was lovely, and every time Liu Zhang entered the palace, she would come to find him and often make some intimate movements, making Liu Zhang blush! However, Liu Hong only regarded them as siblings' intimacy, after all, Liu Zhang was only five years old. Even if he had any thoughts about the emperor's ***, it was a case of having more desire than ability!

  As time passed, the matter of Liu Bei collecting taxes from Yuan Shu was also forgotten with the passage of time. The only ones who probably didn't forget this matter were Yuan Feng, Yuan Wei, and Yuan Shu! The Yuan family couldn't forget such a humiliation, so after Yuan Shao entered Luoyang, Yuan Wei and Yuan Feng took care of him and definitely wanted to find a way to make Liu Bei and Liu Yan suffer! When Yuan Shao heard that Liu Bei was only a five-year-old child, he immediately looked down on Yuan Shu with disdain and vowed to let Liu Bei suffer more than Yuan Shu! Yuan Shao was born to a concubine, and Yuan Shu had always looked down on him. Yuan Shao's boasting made Yuan Shu extremely angry, and he even hoped that Liu Bei would severely deal with Yuan Shao, as for the Yuan family's face, Yuan Shu couldn't care less!

  Yuan Shao thought for a moment and suddenly realized that the best way to deal with Liu Zhang was to beat him up in public, just like Liu Zhang had beaten Yuan Shu. This would not only restore Yuan Shu's lost face but also let others know the power of the Yuan family! However, according to information, Liu Zhang had two extremely capable bodyguards by his side. In the end, Yuan Shao steeled himself and thought that no matter how powerful Liu Zhang's bodyguards were, could they really take on a hundred men? He didn't believe it, thinking that even the slaves in the Yuan family's household in Luoyang could handle a five-year-old child. If all else failed, he would just borrow a few dozen soldiers from the military, as there were many people in the military who owed favors to the Yuan family!

  Liu Zhang still didn't know that someone was plotting against him, and now he's being driven crazy by He Lingyi, the new concubine of Liu Hong. It's not that He Lingyi is ungrateful or bullying Liu Zhang, but rather that although Liu Zhang has a five-year-old body, he has an adult mind. A beautiful woman pestering him all day, even if she's already married, is something Liu Zhang can't handle. Especially since Liu Zhang knows she's the famous Empress He of history, he avoids her as much as possible. However, after some time, Liu Zhang discovers that He Lingyi isn't as sinister as written in the history books, but rather like an older sister next door, making him unable to resist getting close to her. This is because Liu Zhang has a soft spot for He Lingyi and she likes him very much, resulting in this outcome. If it were an enemy, He Lingyi would never be so easy to talk to!

  After spending a day in the palace, Liu Zhang dragged his tired body to the Zong Zheng Mansion. Thinking of He Lingsi's charm, Liu Zhang couldn't help but let out a bitter smile. Originally, he could have left after finishing Cai Yong's lesson every day, but now he had to stay and accompany He Lingsi. It was really incomprehensible - other women were accompanied by their husbands, while he, a younger uncle, was accompanying his sister-in-law; what kind of situation was this?

  "Be careful!" Shi Ah suddenly had a premonition, Huang Zhong also protected Liu Zhang in front of him, and the guards sent by Emperor Liu immediately surrounded Liu Zhang.

  "What's wrong?" Liu Zhang saw that everyone had taken up a fighting stance, and he instinctively came back to his senses, his tired body also entering a state of tension. After all, he had followed Shi Ah and learned martial arts for some time, and even if he didn't have the keen sense of crisis that a warrior would have, his reaction was not slow.

  "Gentlemen, we may have fallen into someone's ambush!" Huang Zhong said seriously: "This street should have many people at this time, but now there are only a few pedestrians. It means that the front and back have been blocked by others. According to my observation, there are at least ten or more people secretly watching us nearby!"

  "Shi Ah, Han Sheng, dare to kill people?" Liu Zhang suddenly excitedly licked his lips and said: "Most of these people are from the Yuan family, they will not dare to kill me, but want to hurt me! Since that's the case, we don't need to show mercy, let's just kill them all!"

  "Murdering someone on the street, won't that be improper?" Huang Zhong furrowed his brow and said: "After all, this is the capital of Great Han!"

  "Han Sheng, don't worry. Since these people dare to ambush me, they must have come prepared!" Liu Zhang smiled and said: "Without anyone from the Yuan family showing up, these people are just street thugs. Killing them all is no big deal!"

  "Han Sheng, these people are coming with malicious intentions. If we don't take action, it will be bad luck for the young master!" Shi A Leng smiled and said: "Don't worry, my master has instructed me that as long as the young master is safe, everything else will be up to His Majesty to decide!"

  Huang Zhong, upon hearing that he had the emperor's backing, immediately put down the huge stone in his heart. In Jingzhou, he had offended the young masters of aristocratic families and was suppressed to the position of military governor. Moreover, as a military man, he valued law and discipline, so he had some concerns. However, he forgot that now he had Liu Zhang's protection, and the one protecting Liu Zhang was the current emperor! As long as the emperor didn't give his consent, who would dare to commit the great evil of killing Liu Zhang? Even the Yuan family only wanted to humiliate Liu Zhang and make him lose face.

  "Not good!" Huang Zhong saw over a hundred people rushing out from the street corner, and surprisingly found that their movements were neat and tidy, obviously they were elite soldiers.

  "What's wrong?" Liu Zhang also saw that this group of people was extraordinary, but he didn't know why Huang Zhong was surprised. It must be known that the guards given to Liu Zhang by Emperor Ling were all top-notch warriors from the Imperial Guard. To say one could take on a hundred might be an exaggeration, but to say one could take on ten would still be no problem.

  "Gentlemen, these are the elite of the army!" Huang Zhong narrowed his eyes and said: "It seems that we must take drastic measures! Otherwise, we will definitely suffer a defeat here!" It turned out that although Huang Zhong did not refute Liu Zhang's words, he also did not intend to follow Liu Zhang's words completely. After all, Huang Zhong was not Liu Zhang, and he had not yet reached the point of being lawless and daring to kill people on the street. Of course, this was under normal circumstances!

  At the sound of the command, more than a hundred people rushed out from the street corner to kill Liu Zhang. The people sent by Emperor Xian tightly protected Liu Zhang, while Huang Zhong and Shi Aluo, one holding a knife and the other a sword, charged into the crowd. After the knives and swords passed, several heads flew up. Yuan Shao, who was watching from a distance, saw the flying heads and suddenly felt a pang in his heart! He wasn't feeling pity, but fear! He didn't expect Liu Zhang and others to really dare to kill people. This is the capital of the great Han Dynasty, hurting a few people is no big deal, but once someone dies, it's trouble! Yuan Shao quickly led his men away. Fortunately, these people were just following orders from their superiors. The little leader Qu Xuan didn't even dare to provoke the powerful Yuan family.

  Huang Zhong and Shi Aluo were brave, but they couldn't withstand the enemy's numerical superiority. Moreover, many of the soldiers were well-versed in battle tactics, and Huang Zhong and Shi Aluo were surrounded. The guards sent by Liu Xuan, although elite troops from the Imperial Guard, found it difficult to resist the enemy's attacks. Seeing that Huang Zhong and Shi Aluo dared to kill people, the enemy also became more ruthless. In the end, several of Liu Zhang's personal guards were killed!

  "Be careful, young master!" Shi Ah had just killed one person and turned his head to look at Liu Zhang. Suddenly, he saw a big man with a knife chopping towards Liu Zhang, but the guards beside Liu Zhang were resisting the enemy, and even Liu Zhang himself was fighting with a sword.

  "Thief! You can be killed!" A long sword accompanied by a loud shout, like a white silk, stabbed into the chest of the big man who was ambushing Liu Zhang. The big man looked at his chest in surprise and fell down unwillingly! A tall and strong man with a height of eight feet, walked up to him, drew out his treasured sword and said: "Killing innocent women and children! You deserve to die!"

  With the help of Da Han, Huang Zhong and others quickly defeated the enemy. Looking at the blood all over the ground, Liu Zhang suddenly felt a wave of nausea. Another look at Huang Zhong's bloody face, with various bits and pieces still hanging from his body, he couldn't bear it anymore, and let out a loud "Wah!" as he started vomiting violently, his eyes turned black, and he fainted! This was after all Liu Zhang's first time seeing such a bloody scene, in the past when watching war movies, no matter how realistic they were, they didn't compare to being there in person! Just the smell of blood in the air was something that couldn't be replicated in front of a TV or in a movie theater.

  Huang Zhong picked up Liu Zhang, and Shi Er saluted the great Han with a fist: "Thank you, General Huang, for your assistance!"

  "It's nothing!" The big Han retorted: "Even small children are killed, these are all damned beasts! However, looking at these people, they seem to be the elite of the army, I don't know why they're making things difficult for this young master?"

  "Why don't you, brave warrior, follow me to the government office and change into some clean clothes before we discuss further?" Although Da Han hadn't killed many people, whether it was a sword or a knife, stabbing in and pulling out would still splatter blood all over him. Especially for a military general like Huang Zhong, who wanted that bloody battle look, so Da Han didn't refuse either. He had originally planned to visit someone else, but now covered in fresh blood, it would be good if he didn't scare others!