Chapter 4 Human Feelings

  That legendary Liu Xuan, relying solely on the name of a Han dynasty descendant, can travel all over the world. Compared to that unknown distant relative with an unknown number of light-years of blood lineage, he is much more orthodox than him.

  However, he also understood that although this was an advantage, it was not necessarily a disadvantage. Nowadays, the Han dynasty is in decline, especially after the imperial court has experienced two incompetent emperors, its reputation has fallen to a very low level, and it is estimated that it will be difficult for him to take advantage of his orthodox identity as a member of the Han royal family.

  Unless...

  "Unless I can make those who look down on me acknowledge my abilities!"

  He looked up at the sky, which was not sunny today. The whole day was gloomy and overcast, and as the days were getting colder, even in the imperial city with walls to block the wind, the knife-like cold wind still made people feel uncomfortable.

  He turned around in confusion, but unexpectedly ran into an acquaintance. Liu Xuan stopped in his tracks, looking at the person who, after seeing him, lit up and immediately turned to walk towards him without hesitation. He thought to himself, probably guessing why this person was here.

  "It seems like there's trouble outside again, and now I'm bothering you with this!"

  He exchanged greetings with the middle-aged man opposite him, and Liu Xuan didn't put on any airs of a prince in front of this person! Not to mention that the Han imperial family wasn't so prestigious to begin with, but the identity of the person in front of him was none other than He Jin, the great general who held power over the court at present.

  "Where is the Crown Prince going?"

  Liu Xuan is dressed today as if he's going out, and since this road is the one leading out of the palace, it's clear that he's heading out, which is why there's such a question.

  "Staying in the palace is suffocating, let's go out and take a stroll!"

  Although he doesn't move around much on ordinary days, it doesn't mean that he has never left the palace in his entire life. From time to time, he would still go out and take a stroll, getting a glimpse of what the capital looks like at this moment.

  However, the person in front of him didn't leave through the main gate, but instead exited from this side door, which made Liu Xuan a bit curious: "Lord Zhu, what's going on...?"

  There's no need to ask too many questions, especially since he doesn't know if this gentleman's affairs can be discussed or not. If they can't be discussed, asking would only cause trouble.

  But unexpectedly, the person opposite him waited for him to ask before speaking. As soon as he heard this, he immediately laughed and said: "Your Highness also knows that in previous years, the Yellow Turbans were rampant. Although I and General Huangfu pacified the bandits, there are still many remnants scattered all over the place, making people's heads ache."

  As soon as he said this, Liu Xuan understood that he had indeed not guessed wrong, and the person in front of him did not hide anything from himself. It seemed that his actions back then were effective after all.

  "So it's like this, I suppose Lord Zhu is going to lead the army into battle again?"

  He thought about it and before he inexplicably ran to that immortal country, he was also a very ordinary young man, who was also interested in the many stories of this period, so he studied for a while.

  But he couldn't think of such a thing happening, it seems that nothing has changed, and this small matter is not worth paying attention to.

  Since it wasn't a major battle, he didn't have any more thoughts to ask about. However, the person in front of him didn't think so, and only heard him say: "Although the Yellow Turban bandits were not strong in combat power last time, their many methods were indeed difficult to defend against. If it weren't for the few talismans obtained from the palace before departure, I'm afraid it wouldn't have been possible to annihilate the bandits so smoothly!"

  "This time, however, I'm not very confident, and I don't know if there are any more talismans left in the palace?"

  Hearing him say that, Liu Xuan secretly rejoiced in his heart: "I'm not afraid of you coming to ask me for help, I'm only afraid that you won't take me seriously. Now that you know my abilities, as long as I make a good impression and build a relationship with you, it will be beneficial for establishing my foundation in this world!"

  At that time, when the Yellow Turbans were rampant, the imperial court sent Zhu Jun and Huangfu Song to lead the army to exterminate the Yellow Turban bandits. When they set out, Liu Xuan, as the eldest son of the emperor, naturally came to watch and even took the opportunity to say a few words to the two leaders and gave them some talismans.

  In fact, at that time, Huangfu Song and Zhu Jun did not think these talismans were of any use. They just pretended to be grateful because the prince was after all a prince, wanting to get past it by putting on an act.

  Although Liu Xuan looked young in appearance, he was not a child's soul inside. When they saw him, they naturally knew what was going on and didn't say anything. After exchanging a few more words, he left directly.

  It seemed that the matter had come to an end, but when Zhu Jun and Huangfu Song led the northern army's five camps with hundreds of thousands of soldiers to meet the Yellow Turban bandits, they realized how thorny the situation was.

  The Yellow Turbans' ability to fight is really not that strong, even if they claim to have a million people, in the eyes of these two, it's just a mob, and they don't even need to use any strategy, leading their elite soldiers to charge forward head-on, and these bandits will probably collapse and disperse.

  It was unexpected that the Yellow Turban bandits, Zhang brothers, actually understood witchcraft and magic. They used flying sand and walking stones or scattered beans to form soldiers, making the two men suffer unbearably. For a time, they were at a disadvantage in the battle situation.

  It just so happened that at this time, the two of them remembered the talisman given to them by Crown Prince Liu Xuan before they left. With a mindset of trying it out without any harm, during one battle when they saw the enemy using magic again, they took out the talisman. Unexpectedly, as soon as the talisman was taken out, the raging sandstorm and flying sand all disappeared, and the beans that were sprinkled by the opposing side did not transform into thousands of elite soldiers, but instead fell to the ground with a rustling sound - too far away, even if there was any movement, they couldn't hear it.

  Zhu Huan and Huang Fu were overjoyed when they saw this, knowing that with the talisman's protection, the bandits' evil spells would no longer work. They could only engage in a fierce battle head-on, which didn't scare them at all. As a result, for some time afterwards, the two led their troops to victory after victory, defeating the Yellow Turban rebels and bringing peace back to the land.

  After returning to the capital, both of them were rewarded. However, Zhu Jun and Huang Fu knew that without the amulet sent by the Crown Prince, this battle would not have been so smooth, and it would not have taken more than half a year to pacify the rebels. Therefore, they both took time to go and thank Liu Xuan in person. Liu Xuan also established a good relationship with these two powerful generals in the court because of this.

  This time, Zhu Jun was ordered to go on an expedition again. As soon as he thought about dealing with the remnants of Huang Chao's forces and facing those evil spells and magic, he felt a headache. And the talismans that Liu Xuan had given him years ago had long been used up; would he have to go to some Taoist temple or Buddhist monastery to ask for some objects to ward off evil spirits?

  Unexpectedly, they met the eldest prince Liu Xuan before leaving the imperial city. Zhu Jun was overjoyed and took the initiative to greet him and walked alongside him while explaining what had happened this time.

  As they walked out of the imperial city, Liu Xuan also knew that Zhu Jun was going to deal with the most powerful branch of the Yellow Turban remnants this time. These bandits were a loss to the prestige of the court if left unattended, not to mention that they were wreaking havoc on the local areas. The people in the court who really got things done didn't like them either, so it was only natural that they wanted to eliminate them as soon as possible, which was why Zhu Jun, a renowned general, led the army.

  "This is simple, I have some talismans on me that can ward off evil spirits. Giving them all to you will be enough!"

  Liu Xuan's more generous and magnanimous behavior, the more it makes Zhu Jun feel close to him. Moreover, when he expresses some passionate patriotic remarks, Zhu Jun, who is extremely loyal to the Han dynasty, naturally feels a surge of goodwill towards him. Later on, if there's an opportunity, as long as this Zhu gentleman slightly favors him, the benefits will be enormous.

  Moreover, Liu Xuan wanted to ascend to the throne as emperor, and it wouldn't do if he didn't have someone reliable under his command. And now that we're in such chaotic times, the best person to use would naturally be someone who holds military power.

  At present, there are actually not many people in power in the imperial court: General-in-Chief He Jin is the leader, and his younger brother He Miao also controls a considerable number of soldiers.

  Then there were the two famous generals, Huangfu Song and Zhu Jun. Unlike He Jin, these two men were loyal to the Han dynasty and did not have any intention of turning their troops into private armies. After each battle, they would return the Tiger Tally and would not casually socialize with the soldiers.

  However, these two men have great prestige, and if they were to call out loudly, it's likely that more than half of the soldiers in the capital would be willing to respond. The key lies in whether or not they are willing to do so.

  In addition, the Ten Eunuchs also controlled a part of the palace guards, which made Liu Xuan most apprehensive - he knew that the Ten Eunuchs supported his third brother Liu Xie, and it would be difficult for him to win over this group of people. The only way was to find someone who could counter them.

  Apart from these few people, the eight Western Garden Campus Guards newly formed by Emperor Father also have military power. However, in name, the Western Garden Eight Campus Guards are under the command of Xiao Huangmen Jianzhuo, and it's a bit difficult for him to make his own moves on this matter.

  Watching Zhu Jun's joyful departure, Liu Xuan took Cao Jue and turned a few more times, eventually turning to the Western Garden Army - because it was set up in the western garden of Luoyang, and there was no special name, so they were all called the Western Garden Army or the Eight Schools of the Western Garden.

  Not yet close, the sound of military training was heard. Liu Xuan stopped in his tracks and listened quietly for a while, turning it over in his mind before finally making up his mind to move forward, but hadn't gone far when he was blocked by soldiers - a military camp is not a place that can be approached casually.

  But since he had come, Liu Xuan naturally couldn't return empty-handed, so he spoke up: "I'm afraid I'll have to trouble you to inform the Military Colonel and Chancellor Cao about a visit from a relative of my family!"

  The soldier saw that Liu Xuan's appearance was not ordinary, he was tall and strong, and his clothes were not like those of an ordinary person, so he was also very polite and did not dare to be rude. At this time, when he heard the other party clearly say who they wanted to find, he didn't dare to delay either, letting his companion continue to stand guard, while he himself turned around and went in to inform the others.

  As the soldiers approached, Liu Xuan took a step back, indicating that he had no other intentions, then turned his head and smiled at Cao Jie: "It's quite troublesome to see this relative of yours!"

  He had already figured out in his heart that although the eight school lieutenants of Xiguan were under the command of the eunuch Xia Huangmen, these eight people who commanded the army also had no good feelings towards the eunuchs, so they mostly followed He Jin's deployment - later during the Ten Eunuchs' Rebellion, the Xiguan Army was the main force that killed the eunuchs.

  Besides, I have some connection with that Cao Xiao Wei, let's talk about our friendship first!

  "If we can recruit this generation's top hero to our side, even if we can't smoothly inherit the throne, there will be opportunities to seize it in the future." After some thought: "However, the difficulty seems a bit high?"