My father Liu Xuande

Chapter 386 Complaining Before the Emperor
Liu Feng's face darkened instantly. He stood still, staring at Zhong Yao and Dong Zhao.

Zhong Yao and Dong Zhao were both men who had seen many storms. Zhong Yao was able to live well during Dong Zhuo's rule without any scandals, while Dong Zhao even single-handedly entered Julu and quelled the rebel army.

But this scene was something I had never seen before, because it was so unusual.

Liu Feng was a meritorious official, and he entered Luoyang with great achievements.

How could the emperor treat him with a halberd crossed around his neck?

Let alone the interlocking halberds and neck-crossing techniques, even the interlocking halberds and guiding techniques would only have the opposite effect at this time.

Most importantly, neither Zhong Yao nor Dong Zhao had heard of such a thing. Could it be that the emperor was doing it in secret without their knowledge?
The emperor is not without military power. He has recruited and commanded a palace guard of over a thousand men, nominally under the command of the Commandant of the Guards, Zhou Zhong, who is Zhou Yu's uncle. However, the actual command is in the hands of the Commandant of the Guards of the North and South Palaces.

Among them, the commander of the Nangong Guard was Yang Liang, a member of the Yang clan. Zhong Yao and Dong Zhao broke out in a cold sweat.

No way! ?

Zhong Yao and Dong Zhao exchanged a glance, both seeing shock and doubt in each other's eyes.

Fortunately, after the halberdiers clashed their halberds, they created a passage and did not make any other moves.

On the side of the passage, a middle-aged man in armor stepped forward and saluted. This man was Yang Liang, the commander of the Nangong Guards.

After bowing respectfully to Liu Feng, Zhong Yao, and Dong Zhao, Yang Liang announced loudly, "By imperial decree, we welcome General Liu Feng, the General Who Conquers the South, with the ceremony of crossed halberds."

Then, Yang Liang stepped aside and gestured with his hand, saying, "Zheng Nan, please!"

Dong Zhao glanced at Liu Feng, whose face was grim, and then stepped forward to rebuke him, "The Emperor ordered us to go out and meet the General of the South. When did such an edict come into being? As a court attendant, how could I not know about it?!"

The original function of the Attendant-in-Ordinary was to convey imperial edicts on behalf of the emperor. Although it is no longer limited to this function, Dong Zhao's use of this to question Yang Liang's alleged false transmission of imperial edicts was still very powerful.

As expected, a hint of panic flashed across Yang Liang's face, but he quickly regained his composure.

“Minister Dong, this is a new imperial edict issued by the Emperor. Since you are not by His Majesty's side, you naturally cannot know about it.”

Dong Zhao wanted to say something more, but he saw Liu Feng raise his hand: "Alright, since it is the emperor's decree, how dare I disobey?"

Liu Feng took a deep breath, endured the humiliation, lowered his head, and slowly walked through the passage between the halberds.

I walked and thought.

Judging from the current situation, Zhong Yao and Dong Zhao are completely unaware of this whole drama.

This also means that it is highly likely that when Zhong Yao and Dong Zhao went out of the city to welcome him, the emperor was persuaded by others, which led to the current scene.

Even if the person who persuaded the emperor wasn't Yang Biao, he must have been one of Yang Biao's faction. Apart from Yang's faction, Liu Fengzhen couldn't find anyone else who harbored such malice and suspicion towards him.

As for the cause of the matter, it was probably Yuan Shu and the Imperial Seal of the State.

It has been more than half a year since Liu Bei and his son captured Yuan Shu and regained the Imperial Seal of the State. During this time, the emperor has repeatedly summoned Liu Bei to bring Yuan Shu and the Imperial Seal of the State to the court.

However, due to his own family reasons, he has been slow to respond to the imperial edict.

The emperor was clearly very dissatisfied with this, and Yang Biao was even more likely to become hostile towards Liu Bei and his son, feeling that Liu Bei and his son had ulterior motives.

In fact, Yang Biao did not wrong Liu Feng. Liu Feng was indeed much more loyal than his father. However, he was not loyal to Emperor Liu Xie or the Han Dynasty. He was loyal to the tens of millions of Han compatriots in the world. What he wanted to do was to prevent the Han people from being treated worse than pigs and dogs in the future. He did not want the throne, but for the descendants of Yan and Huang to stand forever at the top of the world.

After figuring this out, Liu Feng relaxed.

Although Yang Biao was strong and resolute, he was also impulsive, lacked patience, and was incapable of strategic planning.

Historically, Emperor Liu Xie was instigated by Yang Biao to put Cao Cao in a position where he had a halberd stuck in his neck, which frightened Cao Cao so much that he completely broke with Liu Xie and never dared to enter the court again.

This behavior was utterly foolish. By the time Liu Xie truly wanted to eliminate Cao Cao, the latter was already surrounded by armored soldiers and had swords at his feet.

Yang Xiu, Yang Biao's grandson, was the same, seemingly following the same lineage.

Yang Xiu and Yang Biao were fundamentally different. If Yang Biao was a loyal subject of the Han Dynasty, then Yang Xiu was a virtuous and capable official of the Great Wei Dynasty.

The root of Yang Xiu's tragedy lies in the fact that he thought he had grasped Cao Cao's weakness, but he did not expect that he had grasped Cao Cao's testicles.

Cao Cao greatly admired intelligent people, such as Xi Zhicai and Guo Fengxiao.

Therefore, Yang Xiu mistakenly believed that as long as he appeared clever and could guess what Cao Cao was thinking, he would surely win the emperor's favor like Xi Zhong and Guo Jia.

Yang Xiu's mistake was that he guessed wrong. Cao Cao did like intelligent people, but he didn't like people who had worms in their stomachs.

Yang Xiu tried his best to show off, and often jumped around in Cao Cao's dangerous zone.

The fact that he could live to be forty-five years old, just by having one bite of pastry for each person, truly shows the prestige of the Yang family of Hongnong and Cao Cao's appreciation for talent.

As Liu Feng walked, his expression became increasingly calm.

The emperor's humiliation was inevitable, which precisely shows that the other party lacked the courage to order his death, hence the awkward and humiliating tactic.

Upon closer reflection, the emperor is truly pathetic and despicable.

If that's the case, then why should I be angry?
Furthermore, to put it another way, in the original timeline, Emperor Liu Xie performed the "crossed halberd neck salute" for Cao Cao, but the "crossed halberd guiding salute" for himself.

The former is purely a monarch's way of establishing authority by disciplining his subjects, while the latter can be interpreted as a display of honor and power.

Regardless, the emperor treated him much better than he treated Cao Cao, which proves that the emperor understood his loyalty.
When Liu Feng emerged from the passage of the crossed halberds, his expression had completely returned to calm.

Zhong Yao and Dong Zhao then circled around and caught up with them.

Yang Liang followed from the other side, watching Liu Feng walk up the steps, preparing to enter the palace.

At this moment, inside the palace, Emperor Liu Xie looked tense.

Just as Liu Feng had guessed, Yang Biao offered advice to the emperor, intending to give Liu Feng a warning. The reason for this was indeed related to Yuan Shu and the Imperial Seal.

The emperor's attitude towards Liu Bei and his son's delay in sending Yuan Shu and the Imperial Seal to Luozhong changed from initial joy to displeasure, and now to anxiety.

The emperor was an impatient man, and with the instigation of his confidants like Yang Biao, he did indeed give Liu Feng a show of force. However, contrary to what Yang Biao and his men had expected, the emperor did not truly dislike Liu Bei and his son. Liu Xie was still thinking of comforting Liu Feng with kind words and using both kindness and severity to win back Liu Feng's loyalty and filial piety.

Soon, a eunuch ran in from outside the hall, kowtowed to Liu Xie, and said, "Your Majesty, General Liu Feng, who is leading the south, has arrived outside the hall and is waiting for Your Majesty to receive him."

Liu Xie's expression flashed with excitement, and he nodded, saying, "Quickly summon Minister Liu to the palace for a meeting."

A moment later, Liu Feng followed Zhong Yao and Dong Zhao into the main hall.

As Liu Feng entered the main hall, the first thing he saw was Emperor Liu Xie, who sat high on the square platform.

When Liu Xie saw Liu Feng, he was also a little excited and seemed to want to stand up, but in the end he steadied himself.

"Your subject, General Liu Feng, who is in charge of the Southern Expedition, pays his respects to the Emperor."

Liu Feng followed suit, bowing his head and approaching the platform, where he performed a deep bow.

"Please rise, Minister Liu."

Emperor Liu Xie's voice was somewhat different from before, having completely passed puberty and become much deeper.

After Liu Feng stood up, the emperor showed an appreciative look: "It has been more than a year since you last entered Luoyang. Your trip south this time has made new contributions to the court, and I am truly pleased."

Liu Feng's face showed excitement: "This is all within my duty."

Immediately afterwards, Liu Feng took out a box from his bosom, held it high above his head, and said: "Your Majesty, this is the Imperial Seal of the State that I obtained from the Huainan Palace while traveling along the Yangtze and Huai Rivers. I hereby present it to Your Majesty. May this item bless our Great Han Dynasty to prosper again and live ten thousand years."

Upon hearing this, the emperor stared almost blankly at the box in Liu Feng's hand.

Upon seeing this, the eunuch standing nearby quickly stepped down from the platform, took the box from Liu Feng's hand, and placed it on the imperial desk.

The emperor was overjoyed and carefully opened the box, revealing the Imperial Seal of the State inside.

Immediately, the emperor carefully took out the imperial seal and examined it in his hand. In fact, the imperial seal was not large, and even Liu Xie could easily hold it in his hand and examine it.

Upon seeing the eight characters "By the mandate of Heaven, may its longevity be everlasting" and the features such as gold inlaid with jade, Liu Xie was certain that this was the genuine Imperial Seal of the State.

Even so, Liu Xie still passed it on to the Nine Ministers and the Grand Chamberlain for verification.

Fortunately, the Imperial Seal of the State had only been missing for seven or eight years, and many of the people who had seen it were still alive, including several of them in this great hall.

Therefore, the emperor quickly received a definitive reply confirming that the item was indeed genuine.

He had already been convinced in his heart, and now with the confirmation of many high-ranking officials, the thing was indeed fake, and had now become real.

Liu Xie breathed a sigh of relief, and his gaze towards Liu Feng softened.

The current Liu Xie is much more assertive than in the original timeline. Not only is his physical strength greater than in the original timeline, but powerful vassal states like Liu Feng and Yuan Shao are also more submissive in showing goodwill and support than in the original timeline.

In the original timeline, Liu Xie was now completely helpless. Apart from Liu Biao, who was still willing to offer some benefits, Yuan Shao's relationship with Xuchang was extremely hostile due to his association with Cao Cao.

As for Liu Bei, he was Cao Cao's number one general in the third year of Jian'an!

The truly deserving chief general, let alone non-family generals like Yu Jin, Yue Jin, and Zhang Liao, even Xiahou Dun, Xiahou Yuan, and Cao Ren shouldn't try to take his place.

At this time, Liu Bei was undoubtedly the most prominent figure in Cao Cao's camp, holding the official titles of Governor of Yu Province, General of the Left, and Grand Master of the Three Departments. He was only one step away from becoming one of the Three Dukes, leaving Xun Yu far behind.

In the original timeline, the emperor had to do things behind Cao Cao's back to win over Liu Bei. He was far more arrogant now, even daring to suppress Liu Feng.

"Your Majesty, the traitor Yuan Shu has been sent to the Court of Justice prison and handed over to Zhang Jian, the Court of Justice, for review and custody."

Liu Feng continued his report: "During my campaign southward, I fought more than twenty battles, large and small, and won every single one, killing and capturing more than 200,000 enemy soldiers. Fortunately, I was blessed by the Emperor and was able to fulfill the court's orders and the Emperor's expectations, thus achieving a triumphant return."

Hearing that Liu Feng had fought more than twenty battles in just one year, and had beheaded and captured more than 200,000 enemy soldiers, it was clear that these battles were not only numerous, but also large in scale.

This softened the emperor's heart and made him feel a pang of guilt.

But then Liu Xie asked, "I heard that you had already pacified Jiangbei, recovered Shouchun, and captured Yuan Shu before last autumn's harvest. Why has it taken so long to end the war and present the prisoners in Luozhong?"

Liu Feng thought to himself, "As expected," and a sense of annoyance rose in his heart.

"Your Majesty may not know this, but Yuan Shu's army spans three provinces and controls five commanderies. Although Jiangbei is where he is personally stationed, his main force is in Jiangdong."

Liu Feng had already made a contingency plan, so there was naturally no obstacle in speaking about it now. However, he really did not expect the emperor to be so impulsive and arrogant, and to fail to see the situation clearly.

"When I was pacifying Jiangbei, Liu Xun, a traitorous general under Yuan Shu and the self-proclaimed Prefect of Lujiang, turned the tide with the territory of Lujiang and surrendered to Liu Zhennan of Jingzhou. Unfortunately, Liu Zhennan could not distinguish right from wrong and was misled by Liu Xun's slander, and secretly concealed his intentions."

As he spoke, Liu Feng's eyes reddened. He looked up at the emperor and said aggrievedly, "Liu Zhennan did not hesitate to send troops to aid Liu Xun. I fear that Shouchun will be lost again after we have gained it. The troops of Jingzhou are rampaging across Jiangbei. How can I leave easily? Later, when Sun Ce of Jiangdong learned of Yuan Shu's defeat, he did not repent but instead intensified his efforts, sending troops from Wu Commandery to launch a fierce attack on Kuaiji."

"Liu Yangzhou sent a message north, requesting my assistance. I had no choice but to ask my father for help. Only after my father was stationed in Jiangbei will I lead my troops south to rescue Jiangdong."

“Sun Ce was a general under Yuan Shu, and the son of the former General Sun Ce who defeated the enemy. He was brave and resourceful. Not long after I crossed the river, Sun Ce had already defeated Wang Lang, the governor of Kuaiji, and swept through more than ten counties in northern Kuaiji. I risked my life to cross the Qiantang River myself, and that's how I defeated Sun Ce's army and reversed the situation in Kuaiji.”

Liu Feng felt increasingly aggrieved as he spoke. "I worked so hard to quell the rebellion in the south and deal with Yuan Shu, but Liu Biao not only didn't help me, he also took in Yuan Shu's remnants. What is he trying to do?"

Sun Ce, a general under Yuan Shu, is running rampant in Jiangdong and no one can stop him. I only crossed the river to provide assistance after receiving a request for help from Liu Yao, the governor of Yangzhou. Now it seems like I'm the one delaying the process.

"When I went north to do this, Jiangdong was still engulfed in flames. Local heroes and powerful figures colluded with Sun's defeated army and the Yue barbarians, stirring up trouble and plundering the people. It is not that I did not want to go north to report the victory and boast my achievements before Your Majesty, but that the people of Jiangdong are fierce and the government is corrupt, and rebels are rising one after another, making it difficult to escape."

Liu Feng poured out his grievances, half true and half false, until he himself believed it, and it did indeed move Emperor Liu Xie.

Liu Xie was, after all, a young boy, and his likes and dislikes were quite obvious.

Especially now that Liu Xie is very young, his personality is completely different from that of the old tortoise in the future.

A few years ago, when he was only fourteen or fifteen years old, he even dared to protect ministers under the command of Dong Zhuo, Li Jue, and Guo Si, which shows that he is indeed not lacking in courage now.

This is almost unrecognizable as the same Liu Xie who later had two wives killed by Cao Cao but didn't dare utter a word.

"You've worked hard, my dear minister."

(End of this chapter)