Chapter 10: The King of Liang?

  Zhongping six years, this year has a very important position in Liu Xuan's memory.

  In the end, there is only one reason, that is, when he was playing various Three Kingdoms games back then, no matter which company released what type of game, this year would always be one of the very important scripts.

  Most of the time, the name of the script is set as: Overthrow Dong Zhuo!

  From this point on, it can be known that the protagonist of this era will be Dong Zhuo, a powerful warlord who controls the army in Liangzhou.

  "Zhongping Six Years!"

  As for the year AD, Liu Xuan also knew it in his heart, but he thought that if everything went smoothly with what he wanted to do, whether this thing of AD would exist or not was still uncertain.

  Judging from the news received from Cao Cao, everything is still developing according to the original historical trajectory, and Liu Xuan only needs to wait quietly for changes.

  But this time, he didn't have to wait too long.

  At the same time that he had finally completed the tempering of his long sword, a major event occurred in the palace: the Emperor had passed away!

  "Has he finally gone west?"

  As he watched Cao Pi bow his head and report to him, Liu Xuan couldn't quite put into words what was on his mind.

  For this emperor father, he didn't have too much emotion. After all, before he remade his physical body, he was already an existence with mature thoughts. Even if he really became his son, it would be difficult for him to rely on his parents like ordinary children do.

  Moreover, since his birth, this cheap father has not fulfilled half of the father's obligations to himself. This makes him even less emotional about the emperor father. Now that he hears that he has passed away, it is difficult for him to feel any sadness in his heart, and he just nodded slightly, indicating that he knew.

  The emperor passed away, and the palace was not in a state of great chaos. After all, the emperor's body had been like that for half a year, and today's events were expected by everyone, even all matters had been arranged properly. Now it's just a matter of proceeding according to plan.

  Liu Xuan also put on the prepared hemp clothes, then followed the ritual and was busy for a while. When everything was done, Empress Dowager Dong sat at the head, with Empress He sitting beside her. Below them were Liu Xuan and his two younger brothers in a row, as well as General-in-Chief He Jin, who dominated the imperial court at present.

  "This is going to establish a new ruler!"

  At the sight of this, Liu Xuan knew what was going on. With He Jin present and Empress He accompanying him, even if Empress Dowager Dong, Han Emperor Ling's birth mother (since she had already passed away, her posthumous title was already set), were to preside over the situation, it would still be difficult to resist the joint pressure from this brother and sister duo, one inside and one outside.

  However, Liu Xuan did not mind these things, even if Empress Dowager Dong deliberately dragged him into the matter.

  "Xuan Er is the eldest son of the Emperor. If a new ruler is to be established, it should naturally be the eldest son who is enthroned. What logic is there in deposing the elder and establishing the younger?"

  He Jin was extremely dissatisfied with Empress Dowager Dong's words, and with his power dominating the imperial court, he had an arrogant attitude as if he were the greatest. He clenched his fist and spoke without any respect: "The Second Prince is the son of the empress, making him the legitimate heir; how can it be reasonable to pass over the legitimate heir in favor of a son born of a concubine?"

  Empress Dong's eyebrows stood on end as she shouted: "You are all of imperial blood, what nonsense is this about being born out of wedlock?"

  The two of them debated back and forth, but in the end it was just about fighting for the throne. Liu Xuan had no interest in this, now that the situation is clear, how could the emperor's position fall to someone else? Although Liu Xuan had a mind to ascend to the throne, he also knew that it wasn't the right time yet and needed to endure for a while longer.

  As for Empress Dowager Dong, everything she said was about herself. She thought that Emperor Xian of Han was still young and couldn't understand things, and didn't have the power to protect himself. If he were to be pushed to the forefront to compete with Liu Bian for the throne, whether he succeeded or not, he would inevitably suffer from calamities.

  And yourself?

  Empress Dowager Dong didn't particularly like him either, after all he was only the son of a humble and unremarkable palace maid. Moreover, his mother had passed away soon after giving birth to him, so she hadn't even had the chance to curry favor with Empress Dowager Dong. Furthermore, Liu Xuan would only pay respects to the empress dowager according to etiquette, unlike ordinary children who would try to win people's affection, so Empress Dowager Dong and he really didn't have a close relationship.

  She glanced at herself from time to time, seemingly wanting him to speak up. Liu Xuan saw this and became even more dissatisfied: "You want to fight for the emperor's position for your own little grandson, but you're asking me to take the lead and bear the knife? This old lady is not a good thing!"

  Withdraw her gaze, as if nothing had been seen, quietly sitting there, from time to time turning her head to glance at her two younger brothers.

  Only Liu Xie, the youngest of the three brothers, sat upright in his original position, with a calm face no matter what happened. However, Liu Xuan's gaze was keen and saw that this younger brother's muscles were tense all over, and his hands hidden in his wide sleeves must be tightly clenched. It seems that this third brother is not as calm as he appears on the surface.

  As for Liu Bian...

  The second brother actually looked at himself with a apologetic face from time to time, which made Liu Xuan stunned.

  "Does this younger brother think he owes himself an apology?"

  After some thought, Liu Xuan still managed to judge that Liu Bian was truly apologetic towards himself. Of course, he also knew that this matter actually had nothing to do with Liu Bian; the struggle for the throne? It would be more accurate to say that certain people were vying for it rather than the three brothers.

  Watching Empress Dowager Dong finally succumbing to He Jin's overwhelming power, Liu Xuan knew that today's farce was over.

  The final result is that the eldest son Liu Bian ascends to the throne, today's plan is complete, tomorrow we still need to go through the motions with the various officials in the imperial court, and then announce it to the world, followed by the coronation ceremony - all of which have nothing to do with Liu Xuan anymore.

  Liu Xuan, being a prince, was naturally also arranged for, and ultimately Liu Xuan was enfeoffed as the Prince of Liang.

  The king's position conferred by the prince, generally with a county name in front, but Liang is not a county, actually called Liang State. This is because during the Eastern Han Dynasty, counties and states were set up in parallel at the local level, but administratively they were still at the same level. Liang State was located in the northern part of Yu Province, close to Yan Province, with a large population and fertile land, which was considered a good place. If Liu Xuan was conferred as King of Liang, living there would also be considered fortunate.

  But Liu Xuan didn't care about these things. He only cared about that title: Prince of Liang? It sounds like it doesn't belong to a good person.

  Liu Xie still followed history and made Chen Liu Wang, nothing worth noting.

  However, the good thing is that Empress Dowager Dong hopes to spend more time with her grandson, so Liu Xuan and Liu Xie don't have to leave the palace immediately. This is convenient for Liu Xuan, saving him from thinking of an excuse to stay here.

  "It's just a matter of a few months, dragging it out will get us through!"

  Out of the palace, Liu Xuan's identity had changed from the eldest son of the emperor to the King of Liang. Alas, this King of Liang was just a nominal title - in the early years of the Han dynasty, kings still had real power, but by now, they were left with only an empty name, without even half a bit of authority.

  But Liu Xuan also found that it wasn't completely useless, he unexpectedly discovered that since the name of Liang Wang was established, the dragon energy in his body seemed to have changed slightly, and the thin dragon energy that had been shrouding the imperial city could be absorbed a little more easily.

  Having obtained the title of Prince of Liang, it can be said that he has also obtained orthodox recognition, so the dragon energy of this Han dynasty will be even more close to him!

  All the way, no experiment was conducted, just lowering his head and frowning in thought.

  Cao Cao's position in the Western Garden Army became increasingly awkward, and now even his own soldiers were gradually being controlled by others. Zhu Xu and Huang Fu, although they had returned to their posts, would not relinquish control of the troops due to their personalities. In order to protect himself, he still lacked a loyal and trusted force that could be deployed at will!

  This task must be handed over to Cao Cao, but what excuse should be used?

  Cao Cao is now the eighth lieutenant of Xiyuan, even if he lives an unhappy life, this position is a real and powerful military post, the trouble it brings is that it is also quite troublesome to move around.

  "It seems like I can only wait until I ascend to the throne myself before making my move!"

  Afterwards, time seemed to be getting duller.

  Liu Bian's ascension to the throne did not bring about a great stir, as the imperial court recognized Liu Bian's status as the legitimate heir. Moreover, with General-in-Chief He Jin's protection and support, as well as the alliance with Grand Tutor Yuan Wei, who joined forces with He Jin to assist in governance, no one dared to oppose these two men. Thus, at first glance, it seemed that the Han dynasty had finally stabilized, and the struggle between the eunuchs and He Jin had reached its final conclusion.

  Only Liu Xuan knew that all of this was just the calm before the storm.

  It was indeed not long before the news of He Jin's death and the slaughter of the eunuchs spread, and the Ten Attendants had no choice but to seek refuge with Empress He, who was also known as Empress Dowager He. She managed to save their lives by sacrificing only one person, Zhongliang.

  At this time, Liu Xuan was still hiding in his own bedroom, secretly delighted: "These people are fighting each other and have forgotten about me, what a good thing!"

  Days passed one by one, and the letters sent by Cao Cao became more frequent. Liu Xuan knew that the day had arrived - in the last letter, Cao Cao had explicitly stated that He Jin had already assembled external troops to enter the capital, and the chaotic situation he had been expecting was about to arrive.

  Before that, he just had to wait for the struggle between the Ten Eunuchs and He Jin to reach a boiling point.

  Indeed, the struggle between the two sides reached its peak after Empress Dong was murdered. The Ten Eunuchs thought that if they did not eliminate He Jin, they would have no place to stand, so they assembled the palace guards, forged an edict from the empress, and finally had He Jin killed.

  All of this, Liu Xuan saw clearly as a paper crane, but he didn't intervene because only when He Jin dies will the chaotic situation truly begin.

  At this time, it was already the sixth year of Zhongping, that is, the first year of Guangxi, in August. After this month, the famous Dong Taishi in history will step onto the historical stage.

  However, before that, Liu Xuan, who had been living a low-key life for 19 years, would take the first step onto the stage of this chaotic world today.

  "We will still overthrow Dong Zhuo... it's just that the inside details will be different, and it won't be like the original plan!"

  Through the paper crane's transmission, Yuan Shao and Cao Cao led the Western Garden Army to kill their way into the imperial palace. At this time, the imperial palace had fallen into chaos, with sounds of slaughter rising and falling, and many palaces were set on fire, it was unclear whether it was done by the Western Garden Army or the eunuchs who intentionally created chaos in order to escape.

  Seeing this, Liu Xuan just coldly smiled: "This dynasty is declining thoroughly enough, a group of eunuchs and a group of generals leading soldiers can run amok in the imperial city, although I know it has nothing to do with me, but looking at it still makes one feel unpleasant!"

  He got up, hung his long sword at his waist, and Liu Xuan strode out of the bedroom.

  On the opposite side was a group of elite soldiers armed with sharp weapons - the Xiyuan Army, who charged forward while shouting.

  "All eunuchs in the palace who are white-faced and useless shall be executed!"