Volume 1 I Want to Be an Emperor Chapter 19 Feathered Forest Lieutenant General

  After consulting with Cao Cao, Liu Xuan had Cao Ang escort Cao Cao out of the palace and then went straight to look for Empress He.

  Although the chaos has subsided for now, those with insight in the palace all know that this matter has only just begun. With He Jin's death, the imperial court, which was once under his control, seems to be on the verge of a redistribution of power; as for who will ultimately grasp the greatest authority, it is still uncertain.

  He Taihou, who relied on her brother's power to control the inner court, also had no intention of resting. At this moment, she sat alone in her bedroom, looking at Liu Bian who was sleeping soundly and worrying.

  "Now that both elder brothers are dead, the court is no longer under control. Bian'er has just ascended to the throne and has no foundation to speak of. What should be done from now on?"

  What made her even more worried was that the trusted people she sent out soon reported back, and most of the troops in the capital had fallen into the hands of Dong Zhuo, the governor of Lüoyang.

  "Dong Zhuo has led his troops into the capital, I'm afraid he has grand ambitions! If we let him take control of the imperial court, what will become of us mother and son?"

  Thinking of this, Empress He sighed: "I'm afraid that from now on, we won't be able to sleep so soundly again! Who knows what fate awaits us mother and son?"

  At this time, she would never have thought that Dong Zhuo had the intention of abolishing the emperor as soon as he entered the capital. If she really knew, Empress He might be even more worried.

  After all, as long as Liu Bian was still on the throne, she wouldn't have to worry about her own life. The difference was that with power, she could live a more comfortable life, but without it, she would have to endure a miserable and dark existence.

  Even so, she felt that the bitterness was limited after all. The emperor's body was there, and in the court, there were indeed old ministers who truly had a loyal heart for the Han house. The power of these people could not be ignored either. Even if Dong Zhuo really grasped most of the power, it was impossible for no one to control him.

  "Perhaps I should build a relationship with those few old ministers?"

  After some mental calculations, the names that are worth winning over emerged one by one: "Tai Fu Yuan Wei is a minister who assists in governance. If Dong Zhuo wants to fight for power, it will also harm his own interests. Moreover, the Yuan family has produced three high-ranking officials in four generations, with great prestige and influence. Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu, two young men of the younger generation, have troops at their disposal and must be won over!"

  "Taiwei Yang Bi and Situ Wang Yun have always had prestige!"

  Apart from this, the original repeatedly established merits, but because of the eunuchs' words, leading to idle at home, Huangfu Song can also be won over: "This person is a true Han house loyal minister, and has extremely high prestige in the military."

  "Zhu Jun, the Minister of Works, is in charge of all matters within the palace, and he also needs to be won over!"

  Suddenly thought of Liu Xuan for some reason while calculating in his heart.

  "Prince Liang..."

  Logically speaking, the throne has been sealed, and since Liu Xuan is not as young as the King of Chenliu, he should have gone to his own fiefdom to live a long time ago and should not continue to stay in the imperial city.

  But things have been happening non-stop over the past few months, and everyone has forgotten about it! Moreover, Liu Xuan is usually too low-key, if not for seeing this person, I'm afraid no one would remember that there is such a prince in the palace.

  Yesterday's events, Empress He also learned from her subordinates and Liu Bian, although she had long known that Liu Xuan was capable, but did not expect him to be so formidable.

  "Now Bian Er is in a precarious situation, looking at Liu Xuan who seems to be on good terms with Bian Er, perhaps he can be relied upon for help?"

  No matter what, this world is the Liu family's world. Liu Xuan and Liu Bian are brothers after all. Now that the emperor position has been decided, Liu Xuan should also try his best to ensure the stability of the Liu family's rule for his own good - especially not letting outsiders take control of the court.

  To put it bluntly, they are fighting for the emperor and everything under the sky, which is their own business. However, if outsiders want to join in, the top priority is to knock down these outsiders.

  In this regard, Liu Xuan should understand that Empress He thinks that even if Liu Xuan has some disagreements with herself, she will not make things difficult for her own brother at this time.

  But thinking back to last year, I still wanted to drive Liu Xuan out of the palace, and even coerced him with poisonous wine. However, in just one year, the situation has changed dramatically. Not only do I have to think of ways to keep Prince Liang in the capital, but also to join forces with him. The unpredictability of life is truly beyond expectation.

  Just as he was thinking about how to negotiate with Prince of Liang Liu Xuan, a palace maid rushed in to report, saying: "The Prince of Liang wants to see the Empress Dowager and is waiting outside the palace."

  When she heard this, Empress He was startled and immediately understood that Liu Xuan must have had the same idea as herself. She couldn't help but think to herself: "This Liu Xuan is clever and quick-witted, he probably also thought of those dangers, staying in the capital doesn't know whether it's good or bad..."

  For a moment, he was worried that even if Dong Zhuo were driven away, the power of the court would still be grasped by Liang Wang, and what kind of life would he and his son have then?

  Fortunately, this daze only lasted for a moment. After coming to her senses, she immediately called the palace maid to bring Liu Xuan in and herself went out of the bedroom to sit quietly in the outer room, waiting for Liu Xuan's arrival.

  Liu Xuan entered and saw the Empress Dowager sitting on her throne. After he came in and stood still, the Empress Dowager got up and waited for him to finish his salute before returning it according to etiquette. Only after all the formalities were completed did they sit down one after another - Liu Xuan had the imperial seal with him, and according to Han dynasty etiquette, no matter who it was, they could not sit while receiving a salute from him, even if it was the Emperor himself.

  It can be said that since the seal of King Liang was closed, Liu Xuan's treatment has been upgraded by several levels, and his life is now much more comfortable than before.

  But this time, it's not about showing off one's status. The main issue is pressing, and Liu Xuan doesn't like beating around the bush either. As soon as he sat down, he got straight to the point and said: "Now that the great general has died unexpectedly, the capital is in chaos, and there are tigers and wolves lurking on the side. If we don't make plans early, I'm afraid there will be a great disaster!"

  Empress He was still thinking about how Liu Xuan would bring up the topic, but she didn't expect Prince Liang to be so direct. As soon as he opened his mouth, he got straight to the point and didn't beat around the bush at all, directly saying what had happened.

  For a moment, he didn't know how to react, and as a result, when he opened his mouth, it was with a tone of seeking advice: "In your opinion, King Liang, what should be done?"

  Although Empress He had been in the palace for a long time, she was born with a poor background and had limited knowledge. Even though she learned many things in the palace over the years, what she learned was not these things, but rather how to harm people, compete for favor, and seize benefits.

  In the past, General He Jin was in charge of the imperial court, and there were no problems. Now that the situation has changed greatly, although she knew in her heart that she should win over some people, but apart from this, what else should be done, she had not a single clue.

  At this time, seeing Liu Xuan's tone seemed to have some plan, he couldn't help but ask.

  Liu Xuan did not hide or conceal, and directly said: "At present, the situation is that we must first control the soldiers and horses to protect the emperor! If there are no soldiers and horses in hand, even if the officials of the imperial court support us, it will be useless."

  Empress He strongly agreed with this point, as her own brother had relied on grasping military power to control the court situation. However, she didn't understand how to grasp the military horses, and besides, the soldiers in the capital were already in disarray, with more than half of them having been won over by Dong Zhuo. At this point, it seemed a bit late to take action.

  Liu Xuan directly explained: "Yuan Shu, the Zhonglang General of the Tiger Guards, controls the Tiger Guards, and the Western Garden Army is in the hands of the Colonel of the City Gates, Yuan Shao. These two armies do not need to be moved, nor can they be moved! However, the Zhonglang General of the Feathered Forest is in charge of the Feathered Forest Army, and the Feathered Forest Army is the Emperor's personal army, it absolutely cannot be occupied by outsiders!"

  Empress He deeply agreed with Liu Xuan's words, but when she heard this, she suddenly suspected that Liu Xuan had come to ask for the position of Youlin Middle General.

  This position is not considered high in the imperial court, but it's also not low, and with troops at hand, it's a first-class military post with real power. If Prince Liang grasps such a force, wouldn't he be able to put the emperor under his control at any time? Even wanting to ascend directly to the throne is not impossible.

  As soon as she had this idea, her expression began to look unwell, and her words couldn't help but turn cold: "King Liang thinks that the position of Youlin Zhonglang should be taken by whom?"

  If Liu Xuan said he would take the position himself, Empress He would have to find a way to send him out of the capital no matter what. But unexpectedly, Liu Xuan did not respond that way - he was not a fool and naturally understood that directly taking control of the army was too obvious and also violated the ancestral system. If he really did it, even if he could seize the throne, he would be afraid that it would be difficult to gather the officials together.

  So he directly pushed Cao Cao out: "One of the eight military officers in the Western Garden, the Colonel-in-Chief, the Counselor Cao Cao Cao Mengde is quite suitable!"

  His connection with Cao Cao was not known to outsiders, although they acted together last night, but only Lu Zhi, Yuan Shao and a few others saw some clues, and these people would never tell Empress He about these things, so bringing up Cao Cao would not arouse the empress's suspicion.

  Moreover, Cao Cao also had an identity that was very suitable.

  "Could it be that you are the grandson of Cao Teng, the former Imperial Secretary and Grand Preceptor?"

  "Exactly!"

  Empress He heard that he was actually the son of a famous eunuch, and also the grandson of Cao Teng. This inadvertently added a few points of closeness - the Grand Long Autumn was in charge of managing the emperor's rear courtyard affairs, and Empress He naturally knew Cao Teng as well.

  Although her own brother was killed by the eunuchs, all of those eunuchs except Zhang Rang had already been killed. Among the outer officials, she didn't have any acquaintances, but rather it was the eunuchs in the inner court who made her feel more at ease, so she didn't hold a grudge against all eunuchs because of her brother's death.

  However, once involved with eunuchs, they would be ostracized by the people in the court. Such people generally find it difficult to develop their own power in the imperial court. Empress He thought that if she gave Cao Cao such an opportunity, he would certainly work hard to assist her and Emperor Liu Bian.

  The more I think about it, the better this person seems, but there's still one concern - Cao Cao was from the Western Garden Eight Schools, and that Western Garden Army was the main culprit behind yesterday's chaos.

  Liu Xuan immediately saw what Empress He was worried about: the identity of Cao Cao's eunuch made her very satisfied, but the origin of the Western Garden Army made her extremely wary. The Western Garden Army had attacked the imperial palace, startling the emperor and empress, so that people in the imperial family had some dislike for those from the Western Garden Army.

  "Yesterday I saw Cao Yi Lang did not lead his troops to kill and cause chaos, instead he put out quite a few fires!"

  This sentence ultimately made Empress He determined to appoint Cao Cao as the Zhonglang General of the Feathered Forest, in order to help the Emperor control the Feathered Forest Army.