Volume 1 I Want to Be an Emperor Chapter 35 Empress He and Prince Hongnong

  Liu Xuan went forward to meet Cao Cao as soon as he arrived, because he noticed that Liu Bian, who was being held by Cao Cao, was weak and could be said to be on the verge of death, with his lips turning black, clearly poisoned.

  "When I arrived, King of Hongnong and Empress He had already been forced to drink poisoned wine. In a hurry, I could only first rescue the King of Hongnong and bring him before Your Majesty."

  Cao Cao had left the palace and ordered Cao Hong to rush to the drill ground to mobilize the Youlin Army, while he himself led a few guards directly to the side hall where Emperor Xian of Han's mother and son lived.

  After Liu Bian was demoted to the King of Hongnong, Dong Zhuo deliberately arranged for him and his mother to live in the South Palace so that when Liu Xian, who lived in the North Palace and was accustomed to discussing politics there, wanted to see them, Dong Zhuo would be informed, making it convenient for him to control these imperial family members.

  For this reason, although the news came quickly, when Cao Cao led his guards to arrive, the side hall had already been surrounded by the soldiers and horses sent by Dong Zhuo.

  Cao Cao, seeing this situation, immediately knew it was not good. Moreover, Liu Xuan had spoken before, so there was no need to say more useless words at this time. He directly shouted: "Surround the palace of King Hongnong, do you want to rebel?"

  With a loud shout, he didn't even wait for the person in front to respond, drew his long sword and killed him with one slash, letting the fresh blood splatter all over his head and face, without even taking the time to wipe it off, led fewer than ten riders to charge directly inside.

  At this time, Cao Cao's achievements over the past few months were revealed. In just a few months, he had trained these imperial guards to be similar in appearance and style. They might have been no match for Dong Zhuo's elite Flying Bear Army, but they were more than enough to deal with these ordinary soldiers who were simply taking advantage of Dong Zhuo's power to act recklessly.

  Less than ten cavalrymen were among these soldiers, but in the blink of an eye they rushed into the palace.

  Cao Cao wielded his long sword ceaselessly, and with the momentum, he flipped over and dismounted his horse, also cutting down a soldier who tried to take advantage of the situation, then charged forward directly.

  The guards under his command were ordinary, and when they saw Cao Cao rushing straight in, they did not hesitate for a moment. They formed a triangular formation behind Cao Cao, with Cao Cao as the sharp head, constantly killing their way in. As a result, along this road, except for a few guards who were slightly injured, not a single person was lost.

  Apart from Cao Cao's powerful subordinates, their opponents were also quite weak.

  At this time, the soldiers opposite were all killed and broken, and Cao Cao would occasionally shout: "The intention is to rebel, and the nine clans should be executed!" These people had long since lost their minds to continue fighting, and now they saw that the other side was so fierce, many people began to think about escaping.

  Just then, Cao Hong arrived with reinforcements. Cao Ren and Cao Hong led five hundred elite cavalrymen to blockade the palace, making it impossible for anyone to enter or leave. The palace was quite large, but its gates were narrow, allowing only a limited number of people to pass through at a time. With five hundred horsemen blocking the way, who could get out?

  Moreover, Cao Ren saw that there were corpses and bloodstains everywhere inside, and he knew that today's affair could not end well. When Cao Hong arrived, he also told him of Cao Cao's order: "No matter which troops are in front of us, kill them all, don't leave a single one!"

  With that, what's there to hesitate about? With a wave of his hand, the 500 Lin Riders drew their swords and began an asymmetrical massacre.

  Reinforcements arrived, and the enemy soldiers were killed like falling flowers and flowing water. The opposing commander was beheaded by Cao Cao with one sword as soon as he entered the hall, at a time when he was still in confusion. At that moment, his head rolled to the side, and his eyes still looked puzzled, as if he had not yet figured out what was happening.

  Cao Cao didn't even bother to ask who the person was, and rushed straight into the inner chamber. As soon as he entered, he saw Empress He and King of Hongnong lying on the ground: their faces were purple, their lips were black, and there was a wine jug thrown aside in front of them, with not a drop of wine left inside. The air still faintly smelled of wine.

  "You're late!"

  They rushed forward, stretched out their hands to check their breathing, and found that both of them still had a breath left, but it was also extremely weak. They were considering whether to just ignore them and let them die, at least they could get rid of two big troubles for Liu Xuan. However, Empress He suddenly opened her eyes wide, grasped Cao Cao's wrist with one hand.

  I don't know where she got the strength from, but she grabbed Cao Cao's wrist so hard it hurt. She turned her head and stared at him with a fierce glint in her eyes: "Are you Cao Mengde, the Lieutenant General of the Feathered Forest?"

  "Your subject Cao Cao pays his respects to Her Majesty the Empress Dowager!"

  Dong Zhuo had wanted to depose Empress He at the same time he deposed Emperor Shao, but Emperor Xian kept putting it off, so Empress He still held her title.

  The Empress Dowager did not move her gaze at all, and her hands did not relax in the slightest: "Was it the Emperor who called you here?"

  "Your Majesty has said that it's been a long time since you've seen the King of Hongnong and the Empress Dowager, and you're very concerned. I'm ordered to specially come and invite the Empress Dowager and the King of Hongnong to enter the palace for a visit."

  Empress He stared at Cao Cao's eyes until he finished speaking, then suddenly let out a mouthful of air, accompanied by a mouthful of black blood, coughed twice before recovering. Suddenly her eyes lit up: "You brought the King of Hongnong into the palace from the very beginning." She suddenly remembered that she had wanted to scare Liu Xuan away with poisoned wine, but unexpectedly Liu Xuan had drunk it casually and returned to the palace to rest as if nothing had happened.

  Shi Daoren once said that Liu Xuan had a rare treasure to protect himself, and was not afraid of poisonous wine. Now that he and Liu Bian were both poisoned, the only chance of survival was to let Liu Xuan take action to rescue them - since his treasure made Liu Xuan fearless of poisonous wine, it should also have the effect of detoxification.

  However, she knew that Liu Xuan would not save herself and did not expect Liu Xuan to save both her and her son at the same time. She only hoped that Liu Xuan would take into account his brotherly feelings for him and save her son, so she asked Cao Cao to bring the King of Hongnong into the palace, meaning nothing more than: Save her son, don't worry about her.

  Cao Cao didn't say a word, but he felt the grip on his wrist tightening, while Empress He's mouth was constantly oozing black blood, yet she seemed completely unbothered, staring fixedly at him.

  "Yes, sir!"

  As soon as the words fell, he felt all his strength gone from his wrist. The Empress He in front of him surprisingly had a smile on her face, and she fell backwards to the ground. Cao Cao checked and found that Empress He was already breathless. He sighed inwardly and immediately picked up King of Hongnong and rushed to Liu Xuan's place.

  If it were an ordinary person, they probably wouldn't be so particular about it. However, the King of Hongnong, Liu Bian, was clearly on his last breath, and even a medical saint would be helpless in this situation. Nevertheless, he knew that Liu Xuan was no ordinary person and might have some tricks up his sleeve. If he delayed due to his own reasons, it would give people an impression of being inefficient.

  Thus, the King of Hongnong was promptly brought before Liu Xuan. However, Cao Cao's appearance was somewhat frightening, with his body covered in bloodstains, and even his face was pitch black. When he entered, Lü Bu was startled to the point where he almost took action.

  Liu Xuan glanced at Cao Cao and nodded slightly in his direction, which was a sign that he was very satisfied with his performance. He had also thought about it earlier, with Cao Cao's intelligence, he would definitely be able to see the disadvantages of the King of Hongnong towards himself, and might even resolve them privately.

  Actually, if Cao Cao delayed for a moment, these two would absolutely not be able to be rescued back, and it wouldn't be Cao Cao's fault either. However, if he really did that, then although Liu Xuan would continue to use Cao Cao, he wouldn't reuse him as heavily as he had originally planned.

  It's okay, Cao Cao didn't rely too much on his own ideas this time, but instead handed over the tasks entrusted to him by Liu Xuan and did them well. From this, it can be seen that although Cao Cao had talent at this time, his ambition had not yet expanded, and as long as he was guided a little in the future, the treacherous minister Cao Cao would become the famous minister Cao Cao.

  These thoughts were just a momentary thing, and he strode to Liu Bian's side, watching as Cao Cao gently laid Liu Bian on the ground. Liu Xuan didn't take his pulse or examine him, but instead flipped out a white jade pendant that looked like sheep fat, and with a flick of his wrist, it flew directly into Liu Bian's mouth. Then, without even looking at him again, he helped Cao Cao to his feet.

  At this time, Cao Cao begged for punishment: "I was late by one step and only managed to rescue the King of Hongnong. I beg Your Majesty to punish me."

  Liu Xuan comforted him with kind words for a while, then simply called Cao Gao to come and support the King of Hongnong to one side, saying only that they would wait for him to wake up.

  This remark caused several people present to be shocked again, secretly thinking that the emperor must have gone mad. They all saw the situation of King Hongnong clearly, and anyone could see that he was deeply poisoned and was now just waiting for death. It was already a blessing that King Hongnong had managed to hold on until now; did they still expect him to wake up?

  Although they all saw Liu Xuan casually flick a white object into the mouth of Hong Nong Wang, no one took it seriously. At most, Lü Bu thought that Liu Xuan's move was very clever, with both strength and accuracy surprising him. He recalled that Liu Xuan had once defeated Hua Xiong with a single blow, and his curiosity about the emperor's martial arts skills grew.

  The matter of Hong Nong Wang was put aside by Liu Xuan in such a light tone, and instead asked Cao Cao: "Where are the troops and horses that intend to carry out the rebellious plan?"

  Cao Cao rushed away, and when he arrived, there was another fierce killing spree. However, he had carefully considered the situation beforehand and had already figured out the identity of his opponent: "It turned out to be a Zhongjun officer under the jurisdiction of Xing Yong."

  Zi Jinwu is Huangfu Song, which means that these soldiers are under Huangfu Song's command. However, Huangfu Song is basically just a figurehead in that position, and everyone knows that the real power lies with Dong Zhuo. Today, Liu Xuan allowed Cao Cao to launch this attack, which has inadvertently weakened Dong Zhuo's influence.

  If Huangfu Song had a bit of IQ, this would be his perfect opportunity to completely seize power.

  "I have already sent Cao Ziyan hastily to the Temple of the Central Guard!"

  No need to say more, these words were enough for the people in the hall to understand everything. Wang Yun heard this and was excited, if Huangfu Song could control the Central Temple, then the Emperor's side would be stronger by one point, in that case, even if they turned against Dong Zhuo, it wouldn't be so scary.

  Just glancing at Lü Bu's dark face beside him, Wang Yun was still frightened: "If this Lü Bu does not rebel against Dong Zhuo, how can today's affairs be settled?"

  He didn't know, of course, that if Lü Bu insisted on not following today, Liu Xuan wouldn't mind giving him a simple order to send him back home - since he couldn't be used for me, what's the point of keeping you?

  At this moment, a loud cough was heard, and the King of Hongnong, who had been considered dead by everyone, suddenly woke up and coughed out a black jade stone as black as ink.

  "What is this?"

  Seeing this situation, Wang Yun was frightened and at a loss for what to do, while Lü Bu stood there in a daze, staring blankly at the black jade pendant that was right before his eyes.

  He is a butcher, an executioner, Satan, the king of assassins, more Hitler than Hitler... This is how Western pacifists evaluate him.

  But in the hearts of many people, he is a hero, national fighter, outstanding military strategist, weapons manufacturing expert, inventor, father of special warfare...

  Look, Changfeng Iron Blood has returned!