Jinting Han people

Chapter 109 Yang Ji's desperate struggle (4k)

What exactly happened in the Taifu Mansion is a well-known fact in later generations.

After King Sima Wei of Chu entered the palace to meet the emperor, the emperor and empress issued an edict, declaring Yang Jun to be plotting a rebellion, imposing martial law in the entire city, and granting King Chu full authority to handle matters and arrest the Taifu's accomplices in Luoyang City.

After receiving the imperial edict, the King of Chu entered Sima Gate calmly, bringing only thirty of his former imperial guards with him. He suddenly launched an attack and arrested Zhang Shao, the Central Guard General, who was still having dinner. He was detained at Yunlong Gate on charges of treason, and then blew the horn at the palace gate according to the signal agreed in advance.

At the sound of the horns, the princes who had been waiting at the gates immediately launched an attack, taking over all the palace gates. The King of Chu then officially issued an edict, arresting Yang Jun's followers in the three palace ministries and sending Meng Guan and Sima Yao to attack the Grand Tutor Yang Jun.

At this time, most of Yang Jun's staff were in the Taifu Mansion. When they heard the horn, they immediately knew that something had happened in the palace, but they had different opinions on what to do and it was difficult to reach a consensus.

Zhu Zhen, the Grand Tutor's Chief Secretary, advocated leading the troops immediately to Yunlong Gate, taking control of the imperial guards and setting it ablaze to intimidate the Chu king's allies. However, Yang Jun remained undecided and hesitated to act. Seeing the Grand Tutor's indecisiveness, the other staff members realized the situation was hopeless and, under the pretext of going out to investigate the situation, dispersed. As a result, most of them were captured by the imperial guards shortly after leaving the palace.

At the same time, General Pei Hui of the Right Army led his troops to the armory, threatening General Liu Yu of the Left Army with an imperial edict. He tricked him out of the armory and sent him to the Supreme Court. He then successfully seized control of the Left Army's imperial guards and the armory, sealing them all. A quarter of an hour later, Ma Yao of the Dong'an Company also seized control of all the gates within Luoyang City.

At this point, Yang Jun was completely trapped and died in the Taifu's mansion.

According to the pre-arranged plan, Meng Guan personally led 400 fully armed palace soldiers to the armory to get 800 crossbows and 100,000 arrows. In a moment, they arrived at the Taifu Mansion and set fire to all the gates, leaving no way for people inside. Then the soldiers climbed up the high wall of the Taifu Mansion and, from a high position, exchanged fire with hundreds of guards inside. For a moment, flames shot up into the sky, arrows rained down like torrential rain, shouts, wails, and the sound of waves of iron armor colliding, breaking the original silence in Luoyang City.

Meng Guan led the charge, firing a barrage of arrows from the wall, each shot a target. Within a few moments, several men had fallen to the ground. The surrounding Grand Tutor's guards, growing increasingly frightened, retreated involuntarily. Sensing this trend, Meng Guan leaped from the high wall into the courtyard. Under cover of a hail of arrows, he tore through the flock of sheep like a bloodthirsty tiger. The soldiers who followed surged forward like an iron torrent. The balance of victory was undoubtedly shifting towards the Chu King's faction... or was it?

Logically speaking, apart from the Taifu's residence, everything should be peaceful. The martial law troops have already taken control of all the city gates, and there are seventeen guards, or five thousand people, patrolling the city in advance. They are patrolling Tongtuo Street, Jianchun Street, Guangmo Street and other streets to prevent rebels from escaping or causing chaos.

In fact, it seemed to be true. When the fire broke out in the Taifu's mansion, the lights in Luoyang City went out in large numbers. Although the citizens did not know what had happened, they at least knew that it was a matter of life and death. The more it was a matter of life and death, the more they subconsciously pretended that nothing had happened.

Dark clouds obscured the moon, and the entire Luoyang city, with the exception of the Taifu mansion where a fight was taking place and the imperial guards patrolling the streets, had fallen into complete darkness.

And in this darkness, new variables are brewing...

Just as Liu Xian and Jiang Tong were looking at the fire in the west from the high platform and guessing the battle situation, a burst of dense footsteps suddenly sounded outside the East Palace. The guards guarding the gate were quite careless and thought it was the patrolling imperial guards passing by. They subconsciously looked over and wanted to say hello, but were surprised to find that the footsteps were not accompanied by fire.

"Stop! Who is it?" the guard shouted.

The footsteps stopped, but in the dark night, the guards could not see anything. Some of them bravely threw the torches in their hands, trying to illuminate something.

The torch fell on the yellow-brown land, splashing sparks and drawing a long black light on the ground. Above the black light was a forest of black feet, and above the black feet was a piece of pitch-black armor.

The guards were horrified by the appalling silence facing the huge crowd in the dark night, but the long period of slackness made them confused and at a loss, and they just stood there in a daze.

But the enemy will not show mercy.

A dense rain of arrows came unexpectedly from the darkness, like demons born from the shadows, and the rain stifled their screams in their throats.

Immediately afterwards, these people came in like a black stream. They passed through the palace gate, stepped through the corridor, rushed past the stables, and headed straight for the main hall.

A palace maid was passing by holding a lantern. When she saw this group of ferocious-looking people, she was so frightened that she was at a loss and dropped the lantern to the ground.

When the black crowd saw her, they naturally separated one of their soldiers, grabbed her collar like a chicken, and asked in a deep voice, "Where is His Royal Highness the Crown Prince?"

"His Royal Highness the Crown Prince...His Royal Highness the Crown Prince...He is in the main hall, entertaining Her Royal Highness the Princess..."

The murderous aura that came over her made the palace maid tremble all over and almost fall down.

After receiving the answer, the soldier did not hesitate. He drew his sword easily, beheaded the man, and threw away the headless body. He then returned to the team and reported to the Prince's Grand Tutor Yang Ji: "Mingshang, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is in the back hall."

The flames from the lanterns ignited the paper, forming a small bonfire that illuminated Yang Ji's pale face. The Prince's Guardian said in a hoarse voice, "Hurry! As long as we have the Crown Prince, we still have leverage!"

The black stream continued to move forward rapidly.

They walked through an alley where the remains of the prince's butchered beef and mutton were laid out, and then crossed a high platform beneath which stood leeks planted by the prince himself. Beyond the platform lay a lake, and beyond the lake lay the main hall of the East Palace.

By this time, the East Palace had already reacted. More than 500 guards who were urgently recruited were lined up at the stairs of the main hall. There was also a big drum on the stairs for command.

The officials of the Eastern Palace stood on the stairs, wearing newly changed armor and holding torches high, as if they wanted to see the number of enemies coming in the dark night. However, the darkness disappointed them. They could only see the vague and hazy black fog. They could not see the beginning or the end, and of course they had no idea how many enemies there were.

This situation made the palace guards a little scared, but under Wang Dun's harsh rebuke, they calmed down, pointed their long spears at the enemy, and gradually suppressed the anxiety in their hearts.

The invading black forces also stopped. Their numbers were not greater than those of the palace guards. If they wanted to break in head-on, they would need to change their formation and make preparations.

So both sides stopped and made arrangements and adjustments in the dimness and darkness.

In this sudden silence, the Crown Prince's attendant Jiang Tong joined the palace guards and shouted, "Who are you? Why are you breaking into the East Palace? Don't you know this is a rebellion?"

"Stop now before too many people die! I've already asked the Crown Prince for instructions. As long as you hand over the main culprit, the rest will be spared! If you continue to be stubborn and bring trouble to your family and parents, don't blame the sword for being merciless and the law for being ruthless!"

However, in the darkness, the enemies showed no intention of retreating, and instead, sporadic mocking sounds were heard.

The Prince's Grand Tutor Yang Ji shouted back, "What treason? As the Prince's Grand Tutor, I have the power to mobilize the Eastern Palace Guards. How dare you, villains, stop me? Not only do you not allow me to see the Crown Prince, but you gather a crowd to oppose me. This is true treason!"

The one who had arrived was actually Yang Ji, the Prince's Grand Tutor? The palace guards were in an uproar, causing a commotion, but it was quickly suppressed by Jiang Tong's voice. He said, "Silence! Don't you know?! The Grand Tutor has rebelled, and His Majesty has sent troops to suppress him. The entire city is now under martial law. We just have to hold out for a while. What can Yang Ji do?!" With these words, the palace guards' commotion subsided. They knew that compared to the power of the imperial court, the Three Yangs were still too weak. They had no chance of success.

But Yang Ji sneered and shattered their fantasy with one sentence, saying: "Don't dream! Since I can rush from the west to the east of the city, what do you think will happen to those traitors?"

This remark immediately set the guards' minds racing: Right? Wasn't the entire city under martial law? How had Yang Ji been able to charge directly from the west to the East Palace? Had the attack on the Grand Tutor's residence failed? Or had someone in the Imperial Guard defected? With these thoughts, their hands gripping their halberds began to tremble.

Jiang Tong added, "We still have 4,000 guards in the East Palace, and they will be here to help us in no time!"

Yang Ji immediately replied, "I am the Prince's Guardian, in charge of the personnel of the Eastern Palace. Guess, will they obey a young boy like you, or me?"

At this point, the palace guards fell silent. The silence represented the fear of the future and the loss of courage.

However, at this time, another young voice sounded, and he laughed loudly in the crowd, as if mocking the enemy's ignorance, which also contained confidence.

Liu Xian said, "Lord Yang is trying to use this tactic to deceive people and shake their morale. He really underestimates us!"

"If the Grand Tutor truly had control of the situation, he would have come to see the Crown Prince in person. At the very least, he would have sent the Grand Guardian with some tokens to persuade the Crown Prince to side with the Grand Tutor. Why would things become so tense? And why would the Grand Guardian resort to such unbridled and blatant threats?"

"Mr. Yang is only leading a few hundred death warriors from his mansion. I don't know how, maybe someone accepted Mr. Yang's bribe, or maybe they were distracted and forced him to flee here for this last desperate fight."

"But what about calling in the guards? In this situation, the guards are not fools. They can't see the situation clearly and don't have the courage to fight to the death. Why would they put their trust in you? At most, they are just sitting on the mountain and watching the tigers fight."

"I advise Lord Yang not to do this kind of futile work! Your defeat is already certain. If you lead your men to attack Jianchun Gate now, you might be able to escape the city and survive somewhere. But if you try to use the Crown Prince to reverse the situation, it will only lead to destruction for both you and him! Why implicate so many innocent people?"

"Besides, the Crown Prince has already sent his groom Liu Qiao to request reinforcements. In less than half an hour, tens of thousands of troops will be here. Can Yang Gong defeat a hundred alone?!"

Liu Xian's words and tone held a kind of magic that gradually stabilized hearts on the verge of collapse. The palace guards came to their senses, realizing that Yang Ji was just a sick tiger in dire straits. He might still have some power, but it was definitely not what he once was.

As the bubble was burst, Yang Ji was speechless for a moment. He could not think of any other way, and was unwilling to let it end like this, so he wanted to make one last fight. Whether he lived or died, he did not want to regret it.

Therefore, he stopped shouting to the palace guards in front of the hall, and turned around, scanning the followers in front of him one by one, and said slowly:

"You are all my confidants and have followed me for over ten years. You should all know that although Yang is not without faults, he is at least diligent in his work and cares for the people."

"Who knew that the capital was full of villains, greedy for power, framing loyal officials! My brother is old and childless, how could he rebel?"

"But now that disaster has struck, no one cares about the right and wrong of it anymore... Yang is now at the end of his rope, and his brother's fate is uncertain. There is no greater tragedy in life than this."

"But, life is a hundred years long, and death is inevitable! Should we give up easily just because we're at our wit's end? Of course not! When I was young in the army, my father and grandfather told me that sometimes, people just have to face battles that are inevitable, but even then, we can't retreat!"

At some point, Yang Ji's old face turned red, and his aged tone was filled with passion. He began to shout loudly, just like a thunder circling above the dark clouds, gathering his last strength.

He said, "Because people don't fight solely for victory! Heroes and heroes have always disdained life and death!"

"I will fight to the end! I will use my martial spirit to prove the innocence of the Hongnong Yang family!"

"Gentlemen, do you dare to go to hell with Yang?!"

At this point, he drew his sword and shouted, "It is an honor to die! It is a disgrace to live!"

The Qinzhong warriors also drew their swords and shouted, "To die is an honor! To live is a disgrace!"

The loud shout was like a thunderclap, and the whole East Palace could hear it, and everyone who heard it changed color.

Liu Xian stood in the crowd, witnessing Yang Ji's final mobilization with his own eyes, and was deeply shocked. He had previously learned about many battles in books and listened to his teacher Chen Shou explain some of them, but he had never imagined that a real battlefield would be like this!
In the dark night, with unprepared soldiers, Liu Xian could see the trembling of the wrists of the palace guards beside him, which was transmitted to the torches in their hands, causing the shadows of everyone to dance wildly like dragons.

The same was true of the enemies on the opposite side. Although their shouts were deafening, they were fighting like trapped beasts. There was no rational desire to survive in their eyes, only the determination to fight to the end.

Less than a thousand people confronted each other in front of the rear hall of the East Palace. This was not worth mentioning at all in the battles of history, but when I saw it with my own eyes, I found it was so crowded.

So sloppy, so chaotic, so unbearable, yet so...heart-pounding!
Is this my first battle? Liu Xian thought to himself, his right hand subconsciously reaching for the sword at his waist, but after grasping it empty, he suddenly remembered that he had sealed up the Zhaowu Sword since breaking up with Jia Mi, and now he was empty-handed.

But soon, reality taught Liu Xian the first rule on the battlefield: at any moment, the enemy will not give you time to prepare, and once you meet them unexpectedly, you can only react immediately.

After making the final mobilization, Yang Ji finally shouted the word "kill", and the black stream of death warriors surged again under the night.

They held up their machetes and halberds, casting a silver light curtain in the firelight, just like a rainbow light crossing the earth and rushing towards Liu Xian and others.

Wang Dun was unwilling to be outdone, and ordered his guards to beat the drums to signal the march. The rumbling sound of the drums seemed to lower barriers between the crowd.

Beautiful death blooms in such a stunning scene.

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(End of this chapter)