Chapter 40: Cao Zixiao

  The moon is dark and the wind is strong...

  "Killing night!" A phrase inexplicably popped up in his mind, Liu Xuan looked up at the gloomy sky and felt a heavy darkness, not even a single star could be seen.

  In addition, although spring has begun at this time, the weather is still not completely warm. The wind blowing on my face at night makes me feel numb all over my face.

  She turned her head and glanced at the carriage beside her, where a delicate face was revealed under the lifted curtain, with an expression of slight worry, constantly glancing at Liu Xuan's body. After a while, she spoke up: "Your Majesty might as well get on the carriage to avoid this cold wind."

  Liu Xuan sat high on the horseback, this horse was carefully selected from the imperial city and was a top-grade fine steed specifically for the emperor's ride - in fact, it wouldn't be right to say so, the horses ridden by the emperor would definitely have a good temperament and wouldn't suddenly go crazy and hurt the Son of Heaven, but if we talk about its strength, at most it was just average.

  Not to mention Red Hare that Lü Bu rode, even Cao Cao's Shadow would be stronger than the horse Liu Xuan rode by more than one level.

  Liu Xuan certainly had the confidence to subdue those fine horses, but this was not the time to get bogged down in such trivial matters. Having finally waited for Dong Zhuo to leave the capital, leading his troops to garrison Tiger Trap and compete with the heroes of Guandong, why not take advantage of this opportunity to leave Luoyang and rush to Chang'an?

  In fact, this plan did not go so smoothly. At the beginning, Dong Zhuo did not want to lead his troops to fight against the heroes of Guandong, but only sent Hua Xiong to guard the pass.

  Alas, Hua Xiong was determined to make a name for himself and led his troops out of the pass to meet the enemy as soon as he arrived at Tiger Trap Pass (also known as Zhen Water Pass).

  Hua Xiong indeed had some ability, the first few battles were all won with the Guandong heroes crying and wailing, the vanguard of the Allied Forces of the Heroes, Jiangdong Sun Wentai was defeated in front of Hua Xiong and returned, also losing his general Zumo.

  The news was sent back to Luoyang, and all the officials in the court were also shocked. It is worth noting that Sun Jian, known as the "Tiger of Jiangdong", was a famous general who was beaten by Hua Xiong. Is it not heaven's will to destroy Dong Zhuo? Fortunately, news came later that Hua Xiong was beheaded by a red-faced general in the allied army, and the officials secretly breathed a sigh of relief. However, this provoked Dong Zhuo's great anger.

  At this time, Liu Xuan had already discussed with Wang Yun the matter of moving the capital. Many courtiers such as Taifu Yang Bi, Sili Xuewei Huang Wan, Tai Pu Lu Kuai and Da Honglu Zhou Juan felt that moving the capital to avoid disaster would damage the imperial prestige, but at this time it was not an ordinary period, and they could no longer care about so much.

  Zongzheng Liu Ai is a member of the imperial family, and at this time he only considers the interests of the royal family. Even if things have reached this point today, he doesn't think about whether moving the capital will have a great impact or not. When he heard that Liu Xuan wanted to take advantage of Dong Zhuo's absence to lead the officials from the imperial court and the Imperial Guard to Chang'an, and then establish Chang'an as the capital to govern the world, he considered how this group of people could smoothly arrive in Chang'an, and how they could seize control of Chang'an, which is under Dong Zhuo's grasp.

  Fortunately, Wang Yun was present at this time. Knowing that Lü Bu had already been won over by Liu Xuan, Wang the Governor-General roughly revealed some information to the crowd, only telling them to return and prepare individually, waiting for the right moment to leave Luoyang immediately.

  For a period of time afterwards, the court was unusually calm. Dong Zhuo did not know what had actually happened and thought that the officials were intimidated by his display of military might and no longer dared to oppose him.

  After some thought, it seemed that he could indeed go all out to deal with the Eastern warlords, and so he had the idea of personally leading his troops into battle. However, Li Ru felt uneasy about this and advised Dong Zhuo not to make any rash moves.

  At that time, Lü Bu was by his side and immediately said: "Father, rest assured and go ahead. I will lead the Hu Bao army to guard the capital. If there is any unusual movement, I will exterminate the whole family."

  Lü Bu said this, Dong Zhuo naturally had no more worries. Li Ru felt it was not proper but also didn't dare to say anything, and only said: "With the Marquis of Wen alone sitting in the palace, it's probably difficult to take care of everything. We still need someone to garrison the capital together with the Marquis of Wen to assist him."

  At this time, Liu Xuan had already issued an edict appointing Lü Bu as the Marquis of Wen, which is why Li Ru addressed him in this manner.

  Lü Bu listened, secretly delighted, but on the surface he restrained himself and showed no emotion: "Li Su is from the same hometown as me, and we have had a lot of dealings in the past. Keeping him in the capital will surely guarantee that Luoyang will be safe."

  Liu Xuan did not expect that winning over Lü Bu would have such an effect, as he was by Dong Zhuo's side at all times and knew his every move. With Dong Zhuo's trust in him, a few words of persuasion were enough to firmly establish Dong Zhuo's decision to lead the army out of the capital.

  In the spring of Jian'an 1 (190 AD), Dong Zhuo led a large army to rush to Hu Lao, with Xu Rong, Fan Chou, and Zhang Ji all by his side. Li Jue, Guo Si, and his son-in-law Niu Fu had already gone to guard their hometown in the northwest.

  Dong Zhuo left, and Liu Xuan's side immediately became busy. In just two days, everything was ready here. Taking advantage of the dark sky today, it was almost impossible to see even a shadow from afar. Immediately packing up important things, they led out their carriages and horses from Luoyang's west gate - Li Su had already received the news and opened the city gate, with soldiers blocking the rear.

  At this time, all the officials in the court brought their families with them, and there were countless carriages and horses. The vanguard had already left Luoyang City, but the rear troops were still guarding the city gate and had not come out yet. Liu Xuan looked at this long queue that seemed to have no end, and he also let out a helpless sigh.

  "This is even more frustrating than Liu Xuan's escape to the south with his people!"

  Liu Bei still had enough time and preparation, but Liu Xuan's side was very tight. Fortunately, the Zhongyi Temple and the Chengmen School were already in Liu Xuan's hands. Li Su and Huangfu Song controlled the city and sealed the city gate, which could buy a few days of time without letting Dong Zhuo know.

  However, Dong Zhuo kept sending people back to Luoyang to gather information, and it was impossible to conceal the truth any longer. The timing was just right after the previous messenger had left, and the next one would not arrive so soon in this interval.

  Along the way, many people complained loudly about being tired. Liu Xuan heard all these words clearly, even though there were people beside them who understood reason and scolded loudly, but Liu Xuan still knew the resentment in their hearts.

  "Do you think I will lead you out of Luoyang and let you suffer in vain?"

  Although he didn't say it out loud, he secretly took note of these people in his heart. He was never a broad-minded person to begin with, and since he wasn't satisfied with all the officials in the Manchu court, he had been looking for an excuse to replace them for some time now.

  "Take it easy from now on!"

  While muttering to himself, Cai Yan's face appeared from the carriage beside him, calling out to him to get on - The carriage wasn't very big, in order to travel conveniently and avoid arousing suspicion, only a small carriage was used. Cai Yan and her personal palace maid were already on the carriage, their faces stern. With Liu Xuan being so big, getting on would likely make the carriage move even slower.

  "At this critical moment, who has time for those things?"

  However, Cai Yan was concerned about herself and didn't want to coldly rebuke him, so she said: "Let's hurry up and move forward, it's better to arrive at Tongguan early, once we pass Tongguan, we can rest assured."

  As long as we enter Tongguan and seize the pass, we can rely on the pass to block Dong Zhuo's pursuing troops, and the rest of the road will naturally not need to be rushed like this.

  It's better to press on as quickly as possible for now and not think about so much else.

  They had been traveling like this for several days, and on this day, as they were walking, the guards around them suddenly became alert, and a distant noise could be heard from behind. Turning back to look, they saw that the horizon was faintly lit up, with smoke and dust rising everywhere, giving off an aura of covering the sky and blocking out the sun.

  "This speed..."

  Liu Xuan's eyes narrowed and he immediately realized that this was Dong Zhuo's pursuing troops arriving, and at such a fast speed, it was likely that he had dispatched all his cavalry.

  Xun Yu also saw the scene behind him and saw the Emperor looking up, immediately saying: "It must be that Dong Zhuo received news and sent cavalry to rush over, so they caught up so quickly."

  At this point, he looked up and glanced at Liu Xuan's face, finding that the young emperor was still calm and composed, and secretly praised him in his heart, thinking that his uncle had chosen a master who was indeed extraordinary. This kind of composure was something that ordinary people couldn't match.

  "However, Your Majesty need not worry. General Huangfu and Colonel Li's troops may not be able to repel the enemy, but they can ensure that you and the officials are safe. Once the Imperial Guard arrives, the enemy will surely be defeated."

  At the head of this large army was Lü Bu's Tiger and Leopard Cavalry, relying not only on Lü Bu's bravery but also his identity to deceive the gates of Tong Pass and Chang'an.

  Cao Cao led the Imperial Guard to ambush halfway, waiting for Dong Zhuo's pursuing troops to kill them, and then attack from behind, in coordination with Huangfu Song and Li Su's cavalry to attack the enemy from both sides.

  The enemy was all cavalry, so facing the pincer movement of infantry and cavalry was even more powerless. This battle had just begun and almost immediately decided the outcome. Nearly two thousand feathered Lin riders, those pursuing troops trapped by Huangfu Song and Li Su, were killed in a massacre. Finally, they pursued for another twenty miles, thoroughly defeating this branch of the army before withdrawing. By the time they caught up with Liu Xuan's main force again, Liu Xuan and the officials had almost reached Tongguan.

  When Cao Cao returned, Liu Xuan was resting in the temporary camp. Cao Cao strode in with big steps, and behind him a general held something round and black in his hand. It couldn't be seen clearly in the dark night, but just as they were about to arrive at the emperor's tent, it became clear by the firelight that it was a head.

  At this time, Liu Xuan was talking to several ministers in the account. Cao Cao brought people and heads into the house. These people were frightened, but Liu Xuan curiously asked: "Who is this?"

  The general holding the head first made a big gift, and then respectfully replied: "This man is Wang Fang, the captain of Dong Zhuo's account, who led the cavalry to chase Your Majesty just a few days ago."

  "Oh?"

  When they heard this man's answer, everyone understood that the person in front of them was still their enemy.

  Originally, everyone rushed to hurry, thinking that they would not be caught up by Dong Zhuo on this road. Unexpectedly, a few days ago, he suddenly arrived, scaring them badly. After that, they didn't dare to delay for a moment, and in the past few days, even those who were riding in carriages felt like their whole body was about to fall apart. Therefore, they naturally had no good feelings towards this person. At this time, seeing his head, they only felt that they had finally vented their anger.

  As for Cao Cao bringing this person here, it's probably to show off his achievements.

  Liu Xuan naturally understood that the general in front of him was Cao Ren, Cao Cao's own brother and a future top-notch general. He must be preparing to reuse him. Now that he had been sent to his presence, it was likely to leave an impression on him.

  "This merit will be recorded for now, and when we arrive in Chang'an, it will be rewarded together!"

  However, Liu Xuan did not expect that when everyone was resting, Cao Cao quietly asked: "Your Majesty thinks that using Cao Zixiao to command the Hu and Bao cavalry is how?"