Chapter 2369: Divine Soldier Counterattacks
Liu Bian was shocked and hastily asked his uncle He Jin, "Uncle, I often heard my mother mention that in Nanyang there is a fellow townsman of ours who is called the 'God of Archery', named Huang Zhong or Huang Han Sheng. Could this be the general?"
"Haha, the big prince really has vision, and immediately recognized Han Sheng's identity. That's right, this one is indeed a person from Nanyang, skilled in archery, and is the general's most trusted old friend, currently serving as the captain of the Imperial Guard. From now on, with him leading 500 Imperial Guards to guard the history museum, I believe there will be no fear of any assassins."
"I have long admired General Huang's reputation, and today I see that he is indeed a true hero. Thank you, Uncle, for making such thorough arrangements, and thank you too, General Huang."
Liu Bian of course knew who Huang Zhong was, he just had to put on a show, after all he was so young and some things couldn't be too eye-catching. However, in his heart, he began to make plans, since heaven had sent Huang Zhong to his side, then no matter what, he would seize him and let him become his loyal confidant, then why worry about not succeeding in big things.
"The great prince, this is the duty of the last general."
"General Huang, these three are my friends Liu Bei, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei. They took an oath of brotherhood in the Peach Garden and each is a hero of our time. I hope you will get to know them better later on. Ah yes, uncle, they were all meritorious officers who helped put down the Yellow Turbans, but because they had no money to bribe the eunuchs, their achievements never reached my father's ears. As a great general, I hope you can help them obtain some official position so that those with merit may be rewarded."
"Oh, and another thing." He Jin was naturally very arrogant when facing Liu Bei and his two companions.
"We report to the General, when we first joined the army, we were familiar with Lu Shangshu and Zhu Jiangjun, they all knew our merits. We hope that the General will fulfill us." Liu Bei heard this and was overjoyed in his heart, he hastily stepped forward to pay his respects, hoping to obtain a minor official position and leave the capital, then he could soar as high as the birds flying in the sky.
"This is not difficult, as long as there is real merit, it will definitely be rewarded. However, the Crown Prince needs manpower here now, so you three temporarily stay by the Crown Prince's side to protect the Crown Prince. After the Crown Prince becomes the East Palace three months later, this general will plan for your positions and rewards."
General He Jin nodded, but did not immediately agree to help the three men find employment. Instead, he turned his eyes and said to them, which was exactly what Liu Bian had in mind, although he didn't show it, and pretended to be nonchalant as he gazed at the three of them.
As a result, Liu Biao found that Liu Bei's face looked somewhat unpleasant, while Guan Yu and Zhang Fei did not change their expressions. He understood even more clearly Liu Bei's proud and ambitious personality, and became secretly wary of him.
"It was General's order, naturally, the lower general had to follow." Liu Bei felt very helpless, but there was nothing he could do.
"Your Highness, I, Zhang Letian, have come at the behest of Her Ladyship to pay my respects."
After Liu Bian's conversation with General-in-Chief He Jin was over, the eunuch Zhang Rang, who was in his fifties, with a pale complexion, no beard on his chin, and a pair of small eyes squeezed between his chubby cheeks, making them appear especially narrow, came to pay his respects.
"Your Majesty, please be assured that Liu Bian is not in the palace serving his mother, Empress He. It's a lot of trouble for you to come here. Please return and inform Empress He that Liu Bian is safe and sound, and ask her not to worry. In three months, Liu Bian will be able to return to the palace and reunite with Empress He. At that time, he will pay his respects again."
"Please be at ease, Your Highness. I will definitely convey the message to Her Majesty. Your Highness, General, Her Majesty is still waiting for my response, so I'll take my leave now."
As soon as Zhang Rang left, General-in-Chief He Jin's face turned gloomy: "Hmph, these eunuchs have been deceiving the Emperor and Empress in the palace, cultivating their own followers. You must never trust them, Crown Prince."
"Uncle's words are quite right, Bian'er will remember them in his heart."
Before the words had fallen, the outer Yu Lin military officer came in to report that the Jinyiwei sent by Emperor Ling had also arrived at the Shi Fu, but was blocked outside the Shi Fu by the Yu Lin military, and only the commander of the Jinyiwei, Bao Hong, was allowed to enter the mansion to pay respects to Crown Prince Liu Bian.
"Mo Jiang Hong, see the Crown Prince, pay respects to the General."
After Bao Hong entered, he saw General He Jin standing beside him. He hastily paid his respects to Liu Bian and General He Jin separately, while recalling the three steps of guards and five steps of sentries he had seen along the way in the Shi manor, only then did he realize that General He Jin had already increased the number of personnel on duty.
"General Bao arrived at the Shi residence in the dead of night, what brings you here?" He Jin asked knowingly.
"I report to General, I have brought 200 imperial guards under the order of His Majesty to guard the Shi Mansion and protect the safety of Prince Bian."
"Oh, that's a lot of trouble for the general, but now this general has already dispatched 500 Imperial Guards to protect the Crown Prince. Your Imperial Guard is newly formed and the personnel are uneven, if there are some bad people mixed in, wouldn't it cause even more trouble? So you all go back, this general will go to report to the Emperor tomorrow, and the Shi family won't need to bother your Imperial Guard."
He Jin immediately interrupted Bao Hong's words, he was suspicious of this matter and the Imperial Guards, how could he let the Imperial Guards enter the Shi residence again? If Jian Shuo took the opportunity to arrange for assassins to come in, with the Imperial Guards as inside responders, wouldn't Liu Bian be even more in danger? Therefore, no matter what, he had to suppress the Imperial Guards and not allow them to enter the Shi residence.
"General, this is an imperial order, and we are also acting on orders. Moreover, the Imperial Guard under your command still needs to defend the capital's key areas. If we withdraw troops, it may lead to a lack of defense in other key areas. Please agree to let us take over the protection of the Crown Prince."
"This doesn't need to be said again, the Imperial Guard is absolutely not allowed to enter the Shi Manor, this general won't repeat it."
He Jin was furious and scolded Bao Hong, directly driving him out of the Shi manor. Liu Bian saw this from the side and shook his head secretly, thinking that He Jin was also incompetent in handling matters. This would only make more enemies for him, and once he lost power, no one would help him.
However, Bao Hong did not withdraw his troops and instead had the Imperial Guards stationed outside Shi's residence. The next day, Emperor Ling issued an order for him to withdraw the Imperial Guards. He Shou's threat to impeach Zhong Yu, the commander of the Imperial Guards, also came to nothing, and it was likely that Emperor Ling had put a stop to it.
Time slowly passed, and half a month later, Liu Bian had opened up three meridians, his martial arts finally reached F-level, and his military service points exceeded 600, while his faith points exceeded 70, which greatly surprised him.
Just as he was about to exchange these merits and beliefs for some goods, he suddenly heard that Liu Bei had met his mentor Lu Zhi, who was just going to ask Lu Zhi to plead for them in front of the emperor to get an official position.
"No wonder this temporary task has only been half completed. It turns out that Liu Bei had always wanted to leave, and now he finally wants to go. We must think of a way to keep him."
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