Chapter 13: Cover-up?

  Liu Xuan looked up and saw that Zhang Rang was disheveled, his clothes were torn and tattered, his face was bruised and swollen, and he looked extremely wretched. If someone had seen him at this moment, they would hardly have believed that this man was the infamous eunuch Zhang Rang, who had brought disaster to the imperial court.

  At this time, Cao Cao also saw the comer clearly. After seeing him, he was also extremely angry. The long sword that had been inserted into the scabbard at his waist was drawn out by him in one go. His mouth was even more furious: "Eunuchs, today is your death date!"

  He had already seen that the person being chased from behind was none other than Lu Zhi, the current Minister of Works. Originally, Lu had seen the intense struggle in the imperial court, with both factions fighting for their own interests and no one paying attention to the chaos of the world today. People like him who truly wanted to make contributions to the people and the Han dynasty were filled with indignation and depression, unable to bear it any longer, and even harbored thoughts of resigning from office - if things couldn't be changed, then it was better to just ignore them and avoid trouble.

  Just as he made up his mind to leave, Cao Cao, one of the eight western garden imperial guards and a military counselor, somehow got wind of the news and came to visit him in person, advising him not to abandon the people and the new emperor because of temporary anger.

  After much persuasion, Lu Zhi did not really put aside his idea of leaving, but he also did not actually resign. Instead, he agreed to wait and see. If the new emperor was a wise and enlightened ruler, then Lu Zhi would not mind contributing his strength again for the country and the people. But if the new emperor was also like the previous one, being reckless and tyrannical, then there really wouldn't be anything worth staying for.

  Cao Cao knew it was impossible to persuade Lu Zhi to give up his original intention at once, and seeing that Lu Zhi had a mind to stay behind, he took his leave and departed without further ado.

  Just a few days later, Zhu Jun and Huang Fu also came one after another.

  These two men were appointed by the former emperor to lead troops and quell the Yellow Turban rebels in various regions, and they also belonged to a faction that did practical things in the court, so their relationship was quite close.

  Nor did they know how the two of them knew their intentions, and they actually came to persuade him, so Lu Zhi had no choice but to nod and stay, temporarily putting aside his mind to resign.

  He naturally did not know that all of this was secretly arranged by Liu Xuan.

  In these few months, Liu Xuan has been cultivating and tempering a handy sword blade. He has also been thinking about the events that have taken place during this time. After some thought, apart from Empress Dowager Dong being murdered, it is likely that Lu Zhi will become disheartened and resign from his official position.

  In impression, Lu Zhi is also a great Confucian scholar in the late Han Dynasty, who has a good reputation in the court and is also talented and capable. Such talent, Liu Xuan would not let go.

  What's more important is that Lu Zhi had a student, known as the Han Dynasty's closest relative, who was also Liu Xuan's uncle in terms of generation. He was none other than Liu Bei, the future ruler of Shu Han, who would eventually divide the world into three parts. If he could keep Lu Zhi for himself, wouldn't he be able to bring that cheap uncle into the imperial court?

  However, this is only a casual move, and Lu Zhi's ultimate goal is still to increase his chips for himself - having Zhu Jun, Huangfu Song, and Cao Cao alone is not enough, he needs more people in the imperial court to support him. Lu Zhi has enough prestige, and he is different from Zhu Jun and Huangfu Song, who are just famous generals of today. Lu Zhi is not only capable of leading troops and fighting battles but also a great Confucian scholar of the world.

  Nowadays, the appeal of a great Confucian scholar is much higher than that of a famous general. The main reason is that under a great Confucian scholar, there are countless students and followers (indeed, too many to count, even Lu Zhi can't remember having taken Liu Bei as a student). These people have the terrifying power to overthrow a dynasty, and this power cannot be eliminated, it can only be controlled quickly, lest more trouble arises.

  At this time, Lu Zhi did not resign from his official position and naturally had loyal soldiers guarding him. When he saw the fire in the palace, he immediately knew that something was amiss and rushed over with his men.

  After learning about the situation, he differed from the Western Garden Army who were slaughtering eunuchs everywhere. The first thing that came to his mind was the safety of the emperor, so he brought his personal guards to search for the current emperor.

  It was also a coincidence that when he brought people to search, Empress He and the Emperor were being held captive by Duan Xiao and Zhang Rang and were fleeing outside. Lu Zhi saw them immediately blocked their way and shouted angrily: "You thieves dare to hold the emperor and empress hostage? Come quickly to accept your punishment and death!"

  Duan Gui and Zhang Rang had just come out of the pavilion, not expecting to see Lu Zhi wearing armor, holding a sword and shouting angrily, with soldiers and guards behind him. They immediately knew something was wrong, so they pushed Empress He forward and took advantage of Lu Zhi's momentary distraction in helping the empress to grab Emperor Liu Bian and Chenliu Wang and run back into the pavilion, then jumped out of a window to escape.

  Zhang Rang also jumped out of the window with Duan Gui, but when he saw Lu Zhi bringing soldiers to kill them, he knew that today's situation was already hopeless. The imperial palace and the entire city of Luoyang were mobilizing troops to chase and kill them, and his two legs could only run so far?

  "Even if I run out of Luoyang, I'm afraid I'll still be caught by the soldiers and horses, and at that time, it will still be a dead end!"

  Besides, Zhang Rang is already over fifty this year, and at such an age, he is already old and weak. Even if he can still run with a mouthful of breath now, he will not be able to escape the pursuit and killing of the soldiers in the city.

  "Now or never!"

  He recalled that he had been somewhat close to Prince Liang Liu Xuan in the past, and now, given the circumstances, asking him for help would be more reliable than relying on his own two legs to escape. Without further hesitation, he immediately turned around and rushed towards Liu Xuan's palace.

  But unexpectedly, he turned around and saw Duan Yu looking back at him. He suddenly shouted loudly: "The thief Zhang Let's run south!"

  Lu Zhi rushed back to rescue Empress He, just as he was about to go and rescue the Emperor, when he heard this shout. Although he knew there was a trick involved, Zhang Rang was the main culprit and had to be eliminated. So he left some soldiers to protect the empress and called two soldiers to follow him in pursuit of Zhang Rang.

  It was precisely because of this that Zhang Rang narrowly escaped being caught up by Lu Zhi - Lu Zhi, who was also not young, was over fifty years old this year, and with armor on his body, he could only barely keep up with Zhang Rang behind him. If Zhang Rang hadn't been running fast either, he would have probably lost him long ago.

  However, at this time he also saw that Zhang Rang was alone and had no crown prince or Prince of Chenliu by his side. He knew in his heart that he might have fallen into a trap, but he thought to himself that as long as he could capture Zhang Rang, he would naturally be able to force him to reveal the Emperor's whereabouts, so he didn't give up and continued to pursue him relentlessly.

  This chase and escape, staring at Zhang Rang who was about to hold on no longer, didn't expect to meet Liu Xuan halfway, this glance made him almost cry out loud. Fortunately, he knew the lightness and heaviness of the situation, immediately shouting for help. However, unexpectedly, the general beside Liang Wang actually drew his sword, looking like he wanted to kill himself?

  His heart was chilled, and he felt that his time had come. If it weren't for the force of habit, he would have fallen to the ground with a thud. But in just an instant, Liang Wang took a step forward, reached out and pressed down on the officer's arm, then stood there looking at him, as if wanting him to approach?

  "Does Prince Liang want to save my life?"

  A surge of hope rose in his heart, and his originally weak legs suddenly burst out with a burst of energy, rushing forward for several steps, directly pouncing to Liu Xuan's side, then his legs went soft, thudding as he knelt to the ground, shouting loudly: "Your Highness save me... Your Highness save me..."

  Zhang Rang, as a regular attendant and also a marquis, didn't need to do this even when meeting the emperor - besides, the Han dynasty wasn't keen on this kind of kneeling etiquette, only during court gatherings would officials pay respects to the emperor, but that was different from certain dynasties' kneeling etiquette. Although Liu Xuan was the Prince of Liang, he couldn't be greater than the emperor, and normally when meeting a marquis like Zhang Rang, he should have followed protocol and returned the courtesy, but at this time no one cared about these things anymore. Liu Xuan simply raised his hand and said to Zhang Rang: "A dignified marquis, what kind of appearance is this? Get up and speak!"

  Zhang Rang listened to this and immediately understood that King Liang did not have the intention of killing him, and from the tone of his words, he was still somewhat angry about his current situation.

  He has been in the palace for so many years, his mind is extremely clear, and he understood various key points in an instant: "It seems that this prince is very dissatisfied with the general leading soldiers to rush into the imperial palace and kill eunuchs privately!"

  It's also reasonable to think that way, in the imperial palace, a group of officials and soldiers rushed in as soon as they said so, and the people inside the palace would be killed if they said so.

  Others may not think much of it, but what would the imperial family think? Even if the eunuchs have done something wrong, you can't just take matters into your own hands and mete out private punishments. This kind of chaos, where is the dignity of the imperial court?

  The more I think about it, the more I feel that today's life still has hope. Especially when I noticed the general beside the prince, who was clearly one of the most ruthless killers in the Western Garden Army, yet he listened to Prince Liang's words so obediently. My heart suddenly skipped a beat: "This person seems to be Cao Teng's grandson, Cao Cao, one of the eight generals of the Western Garden Army? How did the Crown Prince get to know this man?"

  In the palace affairs, Zhang Rang was all too familiar with them and immediately thought of Liu Xuan's personal eunuch Cao Jiao, who happened to be a relative of Cao Teng. Could there be some connection between them?

  With a flicker of her eyes, she was also quite surprised in her heart. This great prince had unexpectedly gained power to support himself under the radar, although it was unknown how big it was. However, this kind of skill and vision could be compared to that new emperor who didn't understand anything, yet ascended to the throne a few months ago but did nothing.

  Thinking deeply, today's chaos in the palace is probably related to this Crown Prince. After all, one of the main participants in today's chaos is the Western Garden Army, and Cao Cao is one of the eight captains of the Western Garden.

  Thinking of this, Zhang Rang only felt cold sweat on his back. Although he stood up, he didn't dare to look at Liu Xuan, but just stood silently beside him, feeling that the crown prince was more and more unpredictable.

  Although it was complicated, it was just a momentary thing. Zhang let out a loud cry and fell to his knees, then got up and stood aside without wasting much time, and even Lu Zhi hadn't rushed forward yet.

  After another two breaths, Lu Zhi rushed forward and stopped about three or four steps away from Liu Xuan. He asked, "Who are you? Are you trying to protect this evil thief?"