Establishing a thousand-year family from the nobles of the Western Han Dynasty

Chapter 88 Tit for tat
Relying on his prestige as a general, Huo Qubing passed through countless guards and came to the outskirts of Ganquan Palace, but then he stopped.

Because he found a group of soldiers blocking his way. These people were all wearing heavy armor and looked elite.

Among them, the leader was a middle-aged man who was also wearing armor. His temples were gray and his hair was turbid but revealed a sharpness.

He gives people the feeling that he is neither a civil official nor a military general.

The man waved his hand, and immediately thousands of soldiers surrounded them.

"Haha...the tough guy is coming." Xu Chu sneered. This person is the current right prime minister Liu Quti.

He had been prime minister before, when he was only in his thirties. However, it was under the premise of Xu Gong's recommendation, so he was always tacitly regarded as Xu's disciple, and he had enjoyed many conveniences by taking advantage of the power of Xu.

Now that he is the prime minister again, he cannot do without the accumulation of the past. In Xu Chu's opinion, this is ungrateful! At this age, he still wants to make further progress by supporting other princes.

A rare solemn look appeared on Huo Qubing's face. Now all the power of the imperial guards was in Liu Quti's hands, and he was also fully responsible for the defense of the palace. Even driving him out would be reasonable.

After all, the imperial edict meant that no one was allowed to enter or leave the palace.

Liu Quti came to the carriage surrounded by soldiers and bowed slightly.

"I am honored to be here. I would like to invite General and Prime Minister Xu to come down for a chat."

After all, these two are the leaders of the current civil and military affairs respectively, so it is better to avoid conflict if possible. If they really fall out, he is not sure whether he can stop it.

The best thing is to delay time! Keep them outside first. As long as they don't enter Ganquan Palace, there is still a chance.

The three of them did not put on airs. They calmly got off the carriage, stood in the middle, and watched coldly.

After a long stalemate, Xu Ye said coldly: "Liu Quti, do you admit your guilt?"

“Hahaha…” Liu Quti showed no fear at all and said with a smile: “What crime have I committed? Please enlighten me, Prime Minister Xu.”

"You deceived the emperor and tried to frame the crown prince. This is truly treason! Don't you know that this is a matter that will shake the foundation of the country? You also received the kindness of my father in the past. Have you forgotten his teachings?"

Xu Ye faced several cold glances, he was being honest and upright, he was now doing things that were loyal to the emperor and patriotic, he had reasons and evidence, and he didn't need to feel guilty.

As the saying goes, a general is not always subject to military orders when he is away from the battlefield. Even if he is a civilian, he can still temporarily disobey the imperial edict. Even if he dies for it, he will not regret it, because it is in line with the right way.

As expected, Liu Quti began to look unhappy: "Prime Minister Xu, please don't use Prime Minister Xu to pressure me. You have no evidence. It's nonsense to frame the prince. I was ordered by your majesty to be in charge of the palace defense. What crime have I committed?"

"On the contrary, it was you three who trespassed into the palace and disobeyed the imperial decree. This is truly treasonous!"

He was fine before, but he could no longer keep his sanity when he mentioned the old prime minister who had treated him with great kindness.

Liu Quti himself did not think that he had ever violated Xu Gong's teachings.

"Hahaha... The prince buried puppets in the palace to curse Your Majesty. I wonder if Prime Minister Liu thinks this is really possible. Even if the prince is really anxious, he would not use such a method."

A smile appeared on Xu Ye's lips. This was exactly the effect he wanted. If Liu Quti remained calm, he really didn't know what to do.

Liu Quti snorted coldly, unable to remain calm any longer: "The human heart is hard to predict, who can tell for sure? As Zhuangzi said, you are not a fish, so how can you know the joy of a fish?"

"You are right, Prime Minister Liu. You are not a fish, so how can you know the joy of a fish? The Crown Prince has never admitted it, right? May I ask how Prime Minister Liu dares to make such a judgment?"

Xu Ye smiled and raised an argument, he just wanted to irritate the other party. "Humph, ridiculous, too ridiculous! The facts are here, how can Prime Minister Xu argue?" Liu Quti was a little angry, isn't this pure specious arguments.

"Facts? What are facts? Seeing is not necessarily believing."

Liu Quti glanced at Xu Ye, who had remained calm from beginning to end, and immediately realized that the other party was deliberately provoking him, so he suppressed his displeasure and said calmly: "There is no point in saying more. His Majesty has ordered that outsiders are not allowed to set foot in the palace!"

"Please go back, Prime Minister Xu. I am also following the rules. I hope you can forgive me."

Xu Ye also glanced at him, and then said, "I have an important matter to see His Majesty about. It concerns the innocence of the Crown Prince. If I delay, Prime Minister Liu's head may not be enough to compensate. Please get out of the way quickly and don't make mistakes!"

Liu Quti still had a cold face: "Your Majesty will make the decision on the Crown Prince's matter. Besides, this is your Majesty's family affair. As ministers, we should not interfere."

"Wrong, the Crown Prince affects everyone in the world, this is definitely not a family matter, get out of the way quickly."

"Well, the three of you go to the side room and rest first. I will go and inform His Majesty. If His Majesty is willing to see me, it will not be against the rules, and I will not be held responsible at that time."

After much arguing, Liu Quti finally told his purpose. He wanted to delay time, stabilize this person first, and then put him under house arrest temporarily until the matter was over.

"Hehe...report? I'm afraid the news won't even reach His Majesty's ears." Xu Ye exposed him without hesitation. Isn't this just treating people as fools? Can't he guess it? If he really listened to everything he said, there would be no hope.

"What does this mean, Prime Minister Xu? Could it be that I will do such a treacherous thing again?"

"Isn't this obvious? How about this? Invite the prince to Ganquan Palace and we can confront each other face to face. This way, your ugly face can be truly exposed in public!"

"You ungrateful thing! I want to see how you have the face to face your father again!" Xu Ye said desperately.

"How dare you!" Liu Quti was not young anymore, and he was out of breath when his sore spot was touched. He was most sensitive to the word "ungrateful", after all, he was taught in the Imperial Academy.

"Come here, arrest these guys who trespassed into the palace!"

Liu Quti was extremely angry and planned to use force, but he seemed to have forgotten that there was another person next to him.

"Who dares to move!" Huo Qubing's cold voice suddenly rang out, and for a moment all the soldiers froze in their movements.

They really didn't dare to take action against this great military god of the Han Dynasty unless they received an imperial decree from His Majesty.

"It's bad..." Liu Quti said to himself that something was wrong. Only then did he understand that Xu Ye's purpose in provoking him was to force him to take action!
"Humph, this general will take full responsibility for this matter, get out of here."

The soldiers who were blocking the way were obviously trembling again.

"I'll say this one last time, get out of here, or you'll suffer the consequences."

The leading captains looked at each other, and finally bowed and said, "General, please."

Liu Quti was anxious when he saw this: "Quickly stop them! If His Majesty blames you and me, there will be no way to survive!"

Several captains did not intend to confront the general head-on, and whispered: "Prime Minister, this is not our fault. Even if there is blame, it is the general's responsibility."

"It's better not to be so stubborn."

　I made some changes here. Originally, Ganquan Palace was outside Chang'an and was a summer resort. I changed it into the emperor's bedroom.
　　
　
(End of this chapter)