Volume 1: Kyoto Turbulence Chapter 68: Outsmarting the Thugs on Main Street

  Empress He was leaning on the couch, with Little Liu Bian sleeping beside her. Just as He Jin was about to make his obeisance, she raised an eyebrow and said in a low voice, "Big brother, if you have something to say, then say it. Must we go through this formal routine, siblings that we are? And there's no one else around, be careful not to wake up your nephew!"

  He Jin said somewhat awkwardly: "Etiquette cannot be abandoned, after all, little sister is the empress!"

  He Lingsi sighed and said, "Big brother, you're not unaware of my situation, why must it be like this? To tell the truth, if it weren't for Zhan, I might have even been deposed by the Emperor!"

  "What?" He Jin exclaimed in surprise: "So to speak, Liu Zhang has been kind to our He family!"

  "It's all thanks to you!" He Lingsi smiled and said, "Big brother isn't unaware, if it wasn't for Zangdi's help back then, I would have been humiliated by Yuan Su long ago. How could I have become the empress? The other day, Wang Meiren secretly harmed your nephew, I wanted to poison her to death. If it wasn't for Zangdi strategizing for me, I would have done something stupid already. Zangdi also helped me scheme against Wang Meiren, didn't you see that recently the emperor has been a bit cold towards Wang Meiren?"

  Thinking back to the time when Emperor Ling ordered Liu Xie to be handed over to Empress Dowager Dong for care, He Jin would not have been a fool if he had guessed that this was Liu Xuan's doing behind the scenes. A person who quietly stirred up the water could make it murky, yet among the inner and outer courtiers, there were hardly anyone who knew of his existence. He Jin looked at Empress He, who seemed gentle, but felt a chill run down his back.

  He Jing saw that He Jin's complexion was somewhat off and smiled as he asked, "Big brother, are you uncomfortable somewhere? Do you want me to find an imperial physician for you?"

  "He... hesitated for a moment and said: "Little sister, if I and the Yuan family are secretly plotting against Liu Zhang..."

  "What!" This time it was He Lingsi's turn to be stunned, she stared at He Jin and gritted her teeth: "Big brother, did you just say that you and the Yuans colluded to deal with Zuan-di?"

  "Yes..." He Jin lowered his head, not daring to look at his own sister.

  "You...!" He Ling thought with a murderous look on his face said to He Jin: "Are you out of your mind from fever?! You clearly know that Zhang is one of us, yet you joined forces with the Yuan family to deal with him! Fine! Even if Zhang suffers a calamity, what benefits will you gain? What benefits will I gain? In the end, it's still the Yuan family who'll reap the benefits! I don't care, but if anything happens to Zhang, I'll settle the score with you!"

  "Huh?" He Jin looked at Empress He in shock, he really didn't expect her to react so strongly. He Jin asked weakly: "Little sister, big brother knows his mistake, but now I'm already in a difficult situation, can't just abandon the Yuan family, right?!"

  "Why not?" He Lingsi seemed to have thought of something, and suddenly smiled: "Big brother, why are we so stupid! Zhan's younger brother is so clever, he must have a way to deal with the Yuan family. Let's just remind him! Hurry up and get the Yuan family's plan out!"

  He Jin carefully told the plan of Yuan Shao, and He Ling was sent back. Then a small yellow gate left the palace and went to Liu Yan's house. Of course, this little yellow door is just going to ask Liu Zhang to enter the palace. Liu Zhang, who was playing with Da Qiao at home, heard that He Ling had invited him, thinking that there was something important, immediately followed the little yellow gate to the palace.

  "Imperial sister, why the sudden summons? Is there something important?" Seeing He Lingsi on the couch with her clothes in disarray and leaning against Liu Bian, Liu Zhang felt a pang of distress. The feeling of being constantly teased was really unbearable, but he couldn't just execute that person on the spot!

  He Lingsi saw Liu Zhang's embarrassed appearance and couldn't help but tease: "Our champion Hou actually gets shy too?"

  Liu Zhang really didn't know how to respond to He Lingsi's words, and he helplessly scratched his head. Seeing Liu Zhang not speaking, He Lingsi also stopped teasing him. Then, He Lingsi sat up straight and said seriously: "Zhang brother, I have something important to tell you!"

  "Please speak frankly, Imperial Sister-in-law!" Seeing He Lingsi's serious expression, Liu Zhang also became solemn.

  "My useless brother has joined forces with the Yuans to deal with you!" He Ling thoughtfully told Liu Zhang everything that He Jin had told her.

  Liu Zhang clapped his hands and laughed loudly: "Good! Too good!"

  "Brother Liu, those Xiliang soldiers are not to be trifled with! With the skills of the Youlin Army, they are absolutely no match for Dong Zhuo's Xiliang soldiers!" He Lingci saw that Liu Zhang was not only not worried, but seemed to have the intention of competing with Dong Zhuo, and suddenly became somewhat anxious. It must be known that Liu Zhang is He Lingci's supporter, if he loses his military power, it will be a blow to He Lingci.

  "Empress, don't you believe in my abilities?" Liu Zhang's piercing gaze made He Lingsi feel a little shy.

  "No... it's not..." He Lingshu's beautiful head drooped slightly, her neck turning a lovely shade of pink.

  Liu Zhang didn't notice He Lingsi's expression, he laughed loudly: "Imperial sister, you tell the general to cooperate with the Yuan family, I will make the Yuan family not get away with it! And that Dong Zhuo, last time did not clean him up, because it was not yet the time. Since he disrespects wine and doesn't drink the penalty wine, then I'll let him understand well, I Liu Zhang am not so easily bullied! A tiger not showing its might, he takes me for a sick cat?"

  "This... Commander Liu, perhaps it's better to give up! What if..." He Ling thought heard Liu's words and hesitated greatly, because she deeply understood the standards of the Imperial Guard. With only two or three months of training, He Ling did not think that Liu's troops could fight against Dong Zhuo's Western Liang soldiers.

  "No chance!" Liu Chao said resolutely: "The Western Liang Iron Cavalry? Don't mention fighting, they can't even ride horses. Even if they did, I'm not afraid! Imperial sister, you can rest assured! Dong Zhuo this kid, I must teach him a lesson, otherwise he won't know the height of heaven and earth!"

  Since Liu Zhang has made up his mind, He Lingsi can no longer stop him. A clever woman will never block a man's path, but will help him move forward, even if it means resorting to unscrupulous methods.

  After Liu Chao left, He Lingyi immediately sent the news to the General's Mansion. He Jin originally did not want to turn against the Yuan family, in his view, the value of the Yuan family was much higher than that of Liu Chao. Since Empress He wanted him to cooperate with the Yuan family, He Jin naturally would not refuse. Anyway, this time it was a struggle between the Yuan family and Liu Chao, which had little to do with He Jin's relationship.

  Liu Zhang left the imperial palace and did not return to his residence, but instead went directly to the outskirts of the city. Even if the Yuan family wanted to cause trouble for Liu Zhang, they would not have done so directly; therefore, he needed to go and greet Zhao Yun and others, not because he was afraid that Zhao Yun and others would cause trouble, but rather because he was worried that Zhao Yun and others would retreat in the face of adversity and lose the initiative. As for causing trouble, who would Liu Zhang be afraid of? Not to mention anything else, with his identity as a member of the imperial family and a crown prince, only he could find fault with others; who would dare to provoke him?! After greeting Zhao Yun and others, Liu Zhang returned home to wait for Yuan Shao's move.

  After several days, the Yuan family had been quiet. Liu Zhang still thought that the Yuan family was frightened and did not dare to take any action. Unexpectedly, on New Year's Eve, a small soldier suddenly rushed into Liu Yan's mansion and reported: The general under the command of the Colonel of the City Gate, Feng Fang, beat up the soldiers sent by Liu Zhang to purchase supplies!

  "Finally, I'm taking action!" Liu Zhang smiled slyly, and Da Qiao and Xiao Qiao struggled to put his armor on him, hang the snake-slaying sword. Liu Zhang strode out of the mansion, had someone bring over his Overlord Spear and lead out the Elephant Dragon Horse!

  Led by Xiao Zhu, Liu Zhang and Shi Ah soon arrived at the scene. They saw seven or eight members of the Imperial Guard surrounded by twenty or thirty members of the Metropolitan Command, led by a general wearing shining armor. However, the general was very measured and did not allow his soldiers to draw their swords, only surrounding the Imperial Guards with wooden clubs.

  "Useless, truly useless!" The commander in shining armor looked at his twenty or thirty men who couldn't take down the seven or eight members of the Feather Forest Army and cursed nonstop.

  "Trash should be discarded!" A cold voice rang out, the commander in shining armor turned his head to look, and saw a young man wearing a purple gold crown, dressed in Tang Dynasty-style linked armor, with a long sword at his waist and a large spear in hand, riding an extremely magnificent emerald green divine horse.

  "Who are you?" The commander's face showed some disdain.

  "The dead don't need to know!" Liu Zhang's spear pierced the general's throat, and blood suddenly spurted out. The general covered his neck, and fell down in disbelief!

  "It's murder..." The onlookers didn't expect that the young general would actually take action and kill someone. After a brief silence, a commotion suddenly erupted in the streets.

  The men of the Zhili Xiao Wei were about to take advantage of the chaos to slip away, but Liu Zhang's seven or eight soldiers immediately rushed forward and tied up those people. Shi Ah and Liu Zhang then killed another seven or eight people before letting them give up their idea of escaping.

  "Speak! Who sent you here!" Liu Zhang's spear pointed at the throat of one of the soldiers, and that soldier swallowed a mouthful of water, not speaking.

  "Whoosh!" The long spear pierced the soldier's throat, and Liu Zhang came to another soldier, similarly pointing his long spear at his throat.

  "I said!" Not everyone is a tough guy, the soldier in front of him obviously isn't. He shouted: "Yes... Captain Feng... let us... come!"

  "Summon Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun, Zhang Ren and Huang Zu, each leading a thousand soldiers to come over. We will go find Feng Xu to settle this matter!" Liu Zhang coldly said: "Shi Ah, you go to the imperial palace to inform His Majesty, so as not to disturb him! Just say it's my affair with the Yuan family, His Majesty will understand."

  "Yes!" The feud between Liu Zhang and the Yuan family was not just a day or two, but only Shi Ah and others knew that it was not entirely a grudge between Liu Zhang and the Yuan family, but also a conflict between Liu Hong, the Ten Eunuchs, and the great aristocratic families.

  Soon, Zhao Yun and others led the troops to Xiyuan. When Zhou Yi, the governor of Luoyang, heard that Liu Zhang had brought troops to kill his way into the capital, his legs were soft with fear! To know, bringing troops to threaten the capital is a crime of rebellion. Although Liu Zhang, as a member of the Han imperial family, did not need to be executed along with his nine clans, for Liu Zhang, being dismissed from office was unavoidable. However, Shi E's actions were even faster, and before Zhao Yun and others had entered the city, Emperor Xian's tiger tally and edict had already been obtained.

  Actually, Liu Hong did not mind Liu Zhang and the Yuan family fighting. If Liu Zhang won, Liu Hong would not have minded his expansion. If Liu Zhang lost, Liu Hong would have taken him to appease the great families of the world. However, Liu Hong was not a ruthless person, so Liu Zhang's life would never be in danger. Moreover, members of the imperial clan who were killed by the emperor during the Han dynasty were almost non-existent. Even if they rebelled, the sons and younger brothers of the imperial clan would at most be imprisoned for life.