Chapter 14: Not an Emperor, Not a King!

  Lu Zhi stood with his sword, his eyes full of murderous intent. Cao Cao was also afraid that Lu Shangshu would be so angry that he would rush up immediately, so he took a few steps forward and said in a low voice: "This is Liang Wang Liu Xuan, the brother of the current emperor!"

  Cao Cao and Lu Zhi had a past encounter, and on that day Cao Cao took the initiative to persuade him, making Lu Zhi have some goodwill towards this person. It was precisely because of this connection that he did not directly pounce on him - Cao Cao stood beside the young man, directly showing that he was no ordinary person.

  To say that the Yi Lang or Dian Jun Xiao Wei are not top-notch officials, but in the capital city they also have their own place. Moreover, this Dian Jun Xiao Wei is a real power holder with military authority and has troops under his command. In today's situation, even if Lu Zhi is dissatisfied, he cannot deny that having troops means having the right to speak.

  It's fortunate that Lu Zhi is quick-witted, so when he heard Liu Xuan's identity, although he was shocked, he wasn't afraid - as for leading troops to attack the imperial palace, he and the Western Garden Army were different. When he arrived, the Western Garden Army had already caused chaos in the imperial palace, but he rushed in to protect the Emperor and Empress Dowager, it can be said that he came to escort them, not only was he innocent, but also meritorious, naturally he wouldn't be as timid as Yuan Shao before.

  "Grand Secretary Lu Zhi has met with Prince of Langya!"

  With hands clasped together in respect, Liu Xuan, after all, held the position of king. If one were not a marquis or did not hold a high-ranking position among the Three Dukes, they would have to pay their respects with a grand bow upon meeting Liu Xuan. After returning the courtesy, Liu Xuan spoke up: "Lu Shangshu led his troops into the palace; what is the meaning of this?"

  Lu Zhi stood up and told the whole story, including how Emperor Xian of Han and Chen Liu Wang were kidnapped. He then turned to Zhang Rang and shouted angrily: "You rebel, quickly tell me where the emperor is, or I will immediately chop you into pieces!"

  This crime is too great, if it really comes true, even Liu Xuan can't protect his life. Zhang Rang and others are treacherous, they will not admit it, hastily saying: "The emperor was not captured by me, but by Duan Xiao's intention to do so, wanting to use the emperor's life to protect his own family's life. No matter how I advised him, he wouldn't listen, and had no choice but to come seek help from King Liang!"

  "Smooth words and flattering expressions! This villainous son should be put to death!"

  Lu Zhi listened to Zhang Rang's few words and immediately became furious, his beard standing on end, his old face swollen red with rage. If Liu Xuan hadn't been by his side, he would have drawn his sword and cut Zhang Rang into seven or eight pieces.

  Zhang Rang was also startled and involuntarily dodged behind, directly hiding behind Liu Xuan. This suddenly became a confrontation between Lu Zhi and Liu Xuan face to face. Fortunately, Lu Zhi still respected Liu Xuan's identity, even in extreme anger, he didn't dare make any improper moves.

  Liu Xuan remained silent, coldly observing from the side. It was clear that Lu Zhi hated eunuchs extremely. If he had protected Zhang Rang, he would have likely offended this loyal minister. At this time, Liu Xuan suddenly remembered that during the Yellow Turban Rebellion, Lu Zhi led the army to quell the rebellion. However, when Huangfu Gui went to inspect, he asked Lu Zhi for bribes but was unsuccessful. After returning to the court, Huangfu Gui slandered Lu Zhi in every way, causing him to be dismissed from office and escorted back to the capital under guard. With such hatred, how could he have good feelings towards eunuchs?

  But Lu Zhi was loyal to the Han dynasty after all. As long as he held onto this point, even if he couldn't win him over, he could still make use of him for himself.

  Once Liu Xuan understood the key point, he knew how to handle it and said: "Even if there is anything wrong with the eunuchs, they should report to the emperor and then hand them over to the Tingwei for punishment according to law. What kind of thing is this now that you want to use private punishment?"

  Lu Zhi heard this and did not speak, still feeling indignant in his heart, but Liu Xuan's words were also reasonable, he had no way to refute them and could only remain silent.

  Liu Xuan said, "Nowadays, the situation is chaotic. If even the imperial court cannot follow the law and instead uses private punishments, who will still respect the laws of this dynasty in the future? Is Grand Secretary Lu not worried that the Han dynasty will perish?"

  The last sentence was too severe, and Lu Zhi didn't dare to accept it, so he cupped his hands and said: "The King of Liang is right, I was reckless!" However, he was unwilling to let Zhang Rang off like this, so he added another sentence: "However, the eunuch Zhang Rang has repeatedly spoken slanderously, persecuted loyal officials, and now caused such a great chaos. I hope the King of Liang will handle it impartially..."

  "When things settle down, there will naturally be a reckoning. For now, the priority is still to find the Emperor and Prince Chenliu! Lu Shangshu will temporarily follow me, and we'll round up these rebel soldiers in the imperial city!"

  It's pointless to discuss this further, so Lu Zhi considered the dignity of the imperial family and couldn't directly execute Zhang Letian. Since the Emperor's whereabouts were unknown, it was even more urgent, so he put this matter aside for now and followed Liu Xuan's actions together.

  Liu Xuan did not expect that he would directly take Lu Zhi, the great Confucian scholar of the time, as his own. He knew that things were not so simple, and Lu Zhi was very different from Cao Cao at first.

  Cao Cao would be willing to cooperate with himself, and the main reason is still for his own sake. He just put the chips on himself and gambled a bit. Even if Liu Xuan fails, Cao Cao's loss will not be too great - as today's chaotic situation has already formed, at most, Cao Cao can directly leave the capital and plan to take a local official position again, or at worst, he can raise a righteous army in his hometown, and under the name of pacifying the chaos and eliminating bandits, it is easy to re-establish an official career.

  If Liu Xuan succeeds, he will be on top of the world; such an opportunity cannot be missed!

  So to say that Cao Cao is truly loyal to Liu Xuan, even Liu Xuan himself does not believe it. To make this treacherous hero truly his own, it will take a long time. However, as long as Cao Cao stays by his side, with the passage of time, his own cultivation and means become stronger and stronger, Cao Cao will naturally understand what can be done and what cannot be done.

  For the time being, he only needs to cooperate with Cao Cao and not think about anything else. At first, he deliberately showed some means, just to tell Cao Cao that even if his own power is weak, he can still kill Cao Cao. Since they are cooperating, they should cooperate wholeheartedly and not play any tricks.

  Cao Cao naturally understood this point, so during this period of time, the two cooperated quite happily. Whether they can continue to do so in the future depends on whether Liu Xuan can give Cao Cao what he wants.

  As for Lu Zhi, as long as Liu Xuan can hold on to the fact that Lu Zhi is loyal to the Han dynasty, it's already enough - after all, Lu Zhi only has a few years left, and he's old, so there's no value in cultivating him further. As long as he can help Liu Xuan for these two or three years, that's enough; at worst, don't make an enemy of himself.

  A group of people in the palace rushed back and forth, quickly rounding up the rioting soldiers. The Imperial Guard was also mobilized to suppress some troublemakers who took advantage of the chaos, putting out fires throughout the palace.

  Hei Taifei stayed in the palace, while Hu Ben Zhonglang Jiang Yanshou led a group of soldiers to continue patrolling the imperial city.

  Liu Xuan then led the troops with Yuan Shao and others, heading towards the north of the city, because Zhang Rang said: "Duan Gui fled to the north, I think he wants to escape from the North Gate!"

  At present, there is only one clue, and we can only take it one step at a time. Before everyone has left the imperial city, someone comes to report: "Henan Zhongbu Yan MIngong found Duan Ke and beheaded him on the spot!"

  Everyone was overjoyed upon hearing this, but Liu Xuan hastily asked: "Is Emperor Chen of Luoyang and King An of Changle well?"

  That person saw a young man sitting high on horseback, walking in front of the crowd, and knew that this person was likely to be a high-ranking official or a noble, so he didn't dare to slack off and quickly replied: "I haven't seen the Emperor and Chenliu King!"

  Yuan Shao and others nearby had originally heard that Dian Wei was killed, thinking that today's matter would finally come to an end. Who would have thought that in the end, another incident arose, and the Emperor was nowhere to be seen?

  Chen Liu Wang's life or death is of little concern to them, what they care about is how the current Emperor is doing. If something really goes wrong, most of the people present will be in trouble.

  Upon hearing this, everyone's anxiety was like a burning fire on their eyebrows. Fortunately, Liu Xuan remained calm and said: "Duan Xiao has fled north, now that he is captured, the Emperor and Prince Chenliu must be nearby! The Emperor and Prince Chenliu are young, they can't have gone too far, immediately send soldiers to search the surrounding area, we will definitely find them!"

  Everyone didn't think of this point, but after being tossed around for a day, and with Liu Xuan intervening, all the generals in the Western Garden knew that today was a big disaster. What would happen next is hard to say, and suddenly hearing that the Emperor had disappeared, they panicked, if given some time, they might have thought of this point.

  At this time, only Liu Xuan was calm enough to wake up the crowd. After hearing his words, everyone suddenly became clear-headed and nodded in agreement, each ordering their soldiers to disperse and search for the Emperor's whereabouts.

  These people were running around like headless flies, but Liu Xuan took Cao Cao and headed straight to the North Mangshan Mountain. Along the way, although Cao Cao was puzzled, he knew that Liang Wang was well-versed in mysterious arts, and among those mysterious arts was divination. Perhaps Liang Wang had already calculated something out, which is why he acted this way?

  As a result, all the way to Beimang Mountain, nothing unusual was seen. It was Cao Cao who remembered that some time ago in Luoyang there was a children's rhyme circulating: The emperor is not an emperor, the king is not a king, thousands of horses and riders go to Beimang.

  "Isn't it supposed to be here?"

  After careful consideration, it is clear that the nursery rhyme means that today's emperor is not an emperor, and today's king is not a king. The "thousand chariots and ten thousand horses" probably refers to the many troops in the capital who have come to rescue the throne.

  The latter half is not important, the key lies in the first half sentence. If the emperor is not an emperor, then it means that the new ruler will not be able to sit firmly on the throne and will soon be deposed. And if a king is not a king... kings are all close relatives of the current ruler, if they do not become kings, while the imperial throne is vacant...

  Cao Cao stopped thinking about it and looked up at Liu Xuan in front of him, already having a plan in mind.

  However, this hero did not know that the so-called Luoyang nursery rhyme actually came from his own hands. Liu Xuan had been waiting in the palace, preparing for today's chaos and also paving the way for his own ascension to the throne. This nursery rhyme was spread secretly by Cao Yan at his behest, simply adding a layer of so-called 'heavenly intention' with a mysterious veil.

  After all, people today are still quite superstitious, let alone the fact that this world is not lacking in people who understand mysterious and magical arts. The Yellow Turban bandits have been causing chaos for only a few years, and whether it's the officials in the imperial court or ordinary civilians, they've become even more reverent of so-called divine will.

  It may not be noticeable, but as long as you give people a slight impression, the resistance to your ascension will be greatly reduced.

  Ran for a while, Liu Xuan also secretly wondered, until he saw a mansion, and then thought to himself: "Could it be that I came too early?"