Jinting Han people

Chapter 122: Shocking Change (4k)

On the 25th day of the sixth month of the first year of the Yuankang reign, just as Zuo Yu Fan was leaving the palace, Sima Wei was in Xuanwu Field in the north of Luoyang City, preparing to implement the next step of his plan to force the emperor to abdicate.

Sima Wei's thinking was that now that he had killed Sima Liang and Wei Guan, his reputation should have spread far and wide. He should strike while the iron was hot and send someone directly to the empress to offer a price and secure his sole position as regent. If he failed, he would make other plans.

At this time, Gongsun Hong and Qi Sheng had a more radical idea. They suggested, "With the Queen's personality, words alone are useless. Your Highness might as well arrest Jia Mo and Guo Zhang, the Queen's followers, and behead them in public. You won't be afraid that the Queen won't yield..."

Sima Wei, a prince after all, wanted to maintain his dignity, so he politely declined their suggestion. Instead, he summoned Sima Yue, the crown prince of Longxi, and instructed him, "The queen is a person who only responds to hard words. When you speak to her, be firm. Even if you insult her in public, it doesn't matter. Don't be afraid of offending others. After the matter is completed, I will confer the title of king on you!"

After Sima Yue left, Sima Wei felt quite proud and complacent. It could even be said that this moment was the proudest moment in his life.

"No one can stop me..." Within half a day, Sima Liang and Wei Guan, two founding fathers, had been killed. In addition, with 100,000 imperial troops at his disposal, which could almost overwhelm the city of Luoyang, Sima Wei no longer felt that victory was certain, but believed that his great cause had been accomplished.

Of course, Sima Wei's feeling was not gained out of thin air. He had a hundred or even a thousand reasons to prove this point:

He was the prince of the previous emperor, a recognized wise king, the leader of the royal family, and a hero in the coup... Sima Wei seemed to be born for success, or to put it more bluntly, success required Sima Wei to justify his reputation.

A sword cannot hurt people if it is not used by the King of Chu; a piece of paper cannot be written on if it is not written on by the King of Chu; an ounce of gold is as good as scrap iron if it is not approved by the King of Chu; similarly, if the throne is not occupied by the King of Chu, it will be a shame for the Jin Dynasty and a regret for the people. This is self-evident.

So after lunch, he couldn't help but drink a little wine, leaning back on the bed in the camp in a slightly tipsy state, and then took a nap. He estimated that when he woke up, he would almost get a reply from Empress Jia.

Then he began to dream.

Strangely enough, dreams during lunch break are often longer and richer than dreams at night, and it is easier to realize that you are dreaming. When Sima Wei realized this, he found that he seemed to have returned to more than ten years ago, when he was seven or eight years old.

At that time, his father Sima Yan was still alive, his mother Sima Zhong was still very young, his uncle Sima You was still alive, and his younger brothers were all children who followed him and could not speak clearly. He had not yet realized that his brother Sima Zhong was an idiot.

In his eyes at that time, his second brother was just a little straightforward, never saying anything he didn't understand, and then he would push the best pears to him with a silly smile.

Sima Liang and Yang Jun were still alive at that time. On sunny summer days, Sima Liang, King of Runan, would take himself out for a boat ride in Xiyou Garden, where, amidst a sea of lotus leaves and lilies, he would quiz himself on his latest poems.

Taifu Yang Jun was still the General of Chariots and Cavalry at that time. Sima Wei wanted to ride a horse, so Yang Jun picked out a half-year-old red horse for him. The ears of the little red horse were very cute and smooth as silk when pinched. However, Sima Wei could not ride it at that time, so Yang Jun picked it up with his rough and strong hands.

Sima Wei had originally forgotten these things, but in this dream, he inexplicably remembered them, just like when the snow melts, the green grass underneath is naturally revealed, warmth is brewing in the cold, and vitality is hidden in the desperate situation.

But after remembering it, Sima Wei felt confused. He didn't know what use these were to him.

These things of the past were already dead, long gone, and he had grown up. He felt no ripples in his heart towards these scenes. He witnessed the scenes of the past in his dreams, but he felt that they had no connection to him, and then these scenes were gone with the wind.

The wind was strong. Sima Wei looked up and saw nothing. He found himself walking in endless darkness. A voice in the darkness murmured to him, "Keep moving forward, don't look back..."

But what was ahead? Sima Wei didn't know. He was just pushed forward by the wind, unable to stop. As he walked, Sima Wei suddenly felt a little empty, as if he had lost something. Then he tripped over something and fell to the ground. At this moment, he suddenly saw and heard clearly that it was a child crying at his feet.

His crying was so familiar and annoying that Sima Wei felt a surge of anger in his chest and wanted to kick him to the ground.

But the crying suddenly stopped. The child raised his head and showed Sima Wei a similar tear-stained face: "Why did you walk so far? Can you still find your way home?"

As he sobbed, each word turned into a knife mark, engraved on the tender face of young Sima Wei, until it was covered in blood and unrecognizable. A piercing pain rushed into his body, making him scream and sit up directly from the bed. Only then did he realize with shock: it turned out to be a dream!

It was a dream, Sima Wei let out a long breath, then he touched his forehead and felt a chill, only to find that his forehead and back were covered with cold sweat beads.

All his sleepiness had disappeared, and he quickly sat up and washed his face in the basin beside him, trying to calm himself down.

But for some reason, Sima Wei felt his head buzzing. He could no longer remember what happened in his dream, he only knew that he had a nightmare. He wanted to calm down and think about it, but he couldn't calm down. After a while, he finally realized that the buzzing sound in his ears was not only occurring in his head, but also outside the tent.

There was a noise outside the tent.

After realizing this, Sima Wei became a little irritated. After taking over the Imperial Guards, he had begun to rectify military discipline precisely because the soldiers were making noise for no reason. So, he stood up, walked out of the camp with his hands behind his back, and asked the guards at the gate, "What happened? Why did this commotion start? Where is the person in charge of military discipline?"

The guard at the gate was trembling with fear and replied that he didn't know clearly. Sima Wei snorted coldly and called Wang Chang, a servant. Wang Chang was a servant from the Shiping Palace and grew up with Sima Wei. Sima Wei trusted him very much, so he asked him to go and find out the situation.

Wang Chang left with a leisurely pace, but a moment later, he hurried back with a panicked look on his face, shouting to Sima Wei, "Your Highness! Your Highness!"

Sima Wei was very dissatisfied with his panic and scolded him, "You have followed me for so long, and you are considered an old man in the Chu Palace. How can you be so disrespectful?"

"Your Highness! Something terrible has happened!"

"what's up?"

"Your Highness, someone is coming from the palace!"

Sima Wei frowned and said, "What's so strange about someone coming to the palace? Why don't you bring him to see me?"

Wang Chang swallowed his saliva, his eyes sometimes glancing at Sima Wei, sometimes dodging downwards, and stammered, "The palace sent people... but they... they... don't want to see Your Highness."

"The general who arrived held high his banner and declared at the camp gate... said... Your Highness forged an imperial edict to raise an army and slaughtered ministers without restraint, and is a criminal of the state..."

"He also said... that the soldiers... must return to the Mangshan camp immediately. The rest will be punished regardless of their crimes. Only... only... Your Highness will be arrested... and the law will be enforced..."

Having said this, Wang Chang knelt down directly, and Sima Wei was shocked. Only then did he realize what had happened.

The Zouyu is a benevolent creature in ancient Chinese mythology. Legend has it that it has the body of a tiger and the head of a lion, with white fur and black stripes, and a very long tail. It is said to be so kind that it cannot bear to trample even green grass and will not eat anything that has died of unnatural causes. Therefore, the imperial family depicted the Zouyu on flags to convey the emperor's orders to stop or withdraw troops.

Now, the palace had sent someone to raise the Zhuo Yu Banner, a blatant denial of Sima Wei's authority as the Northern Army's Lieutenant General. Furthermore, the allegation that he had forged the imperial edict was a grave accusation, practically tantamount to rebellion. This meant that Empress Jia was determined to fight Sima Wei to the death. Sima Wei had completely unexpected Empress Jia's reaction, let alone a proper response. He reflexively responded, "This is the Empress's conspiracy! I have the Empress's secret edict in my arms, how could it be a forgery!"

But no one listened to his idea. The noise in the group of armored soldiers in front was getting louder and louder. The four words "King of Chu forged the edict" spread as quickly as flying geese, from one to ten, and from ten to a hundred. After seeing the Zhuo Yu banner with black stripes on a white background in front of Xuanwu Field, the soldiers did not hesitate at all and chose to leave at the same time.

The scene was like a spring flood shattering solid ice, the once rigid military formation shattering easily and spreading throughout the entire formation. Aside from the soldiers entering the city to search for suspects and guarding the palace gates, there were still approximately eighty thousand soldiers in Xuanwu Field. Yet, at this moment, these most vital pillars of the nation were suddenly and utterly defeated, their armor and weapons falling to the ground. The clatter of chaotic footsteps stirred up dust, leaving behind a shattered mess. The flags that symbolized the military's honor lay scattered and stomped across the ground, leaving behind footprints.

During this process, Sima Wei also came to his senses. He tried to get his confidants to stop the army from collapsing, loudly proclaiming: "The Queen is rebelling! The Queen is rebelling!"

But the result was in vain. The sound was just a splash of water in the running crowd and soon disappeared. Most of the people who delivered the message, seeing that it was impossible to do anything, ran away.

Sima Wei tried to call on his brothers again, using the authority of the vassal kings to stabilize the situation:

"Where's the King of Changsha? Quickly let the King of Changsha come to see me!"

"His Highness the Fifteenth was coerced by the Imperial Censor from the very beginning and left long ago!"

"Where's my Thirteenth Brother (Sima Xia)? Didn't I tell him to come back immediately after executing Wei Guan?"

"His Highness the Thirteenth Prince hasn't come back at all. He might have been stopped!"

Even the two brothers who supported Sima Wei the most behaved this way, let alone the others. Sima Wei had arrived with such arrogance, believing that with a hundred thousand imperial guards at his command, there was nothing he couldn't do. But now he was horrified to discover that all he had was a castle made of sand, which would crumble with a single push.

As more and more soldiers left, his originally confused heart calmed down. He suddenly remembered the dream he had just had, and was able to watch people fleeing calmly.

To put it bluntly, he never truly controlled this army, and this result was completely natural. From the moment Sima Wei agreed to join forces with Empress Jia to use force to kill Sima Liang, defeat was completely doomed.

From the beginning to the end, Sima Wei never had a chance to succeed. It was just that his life was too smooth, which made him too confident and he never seriously examined this point.

And now, he has failed completely. Failure means the end and death, but also loneliness and solitude. No one wants to stand with a loser.

He had previously maintained hundreds of death warriors within the palace, but now, forget death warriors. Sima Wei swept his gaze across Xuanwu Field. Aside from a few birds perched in front of the gatehouse, observing him with curiosity, there was no one else there. It was as quiet as a beach washed by waves, with only the sound of falling leaves. Even the person sent from the palace to announce the ceasefire had returned with his banner.

Now, Empress Jia should send people to arrest her own followers, and then arrest him after everything is settled.

In other words, this is the last moment of freedom for King Sima Wei of Chu.

Sima Wei looked up at the sky and the scorching sun. In such a big world, apart from the sunlight, he could not feel any temperature.

"I've gone too far." Sima Wei murmured. He finally understood the meaning of this sentence. It turned out that he had already had a premonition of this in his dream.

"But I'm still a man of the Sima family." Sima Wei began to pace, muttering to himself, "Even if I fail, I must show the demeanor of a Sima man and must not bring disgrace upon my ancestors."

"As a wise king, I will face death with my head held high, respond to my people with a smile, and attack my enemies with taunts."

"I can be defeated, but I should never be crushed! This is my inevitable responsibility as a descendant of the Martial Emperor!"

Having said this, he made up his mind, stood still, and found that he had unknowingly walked to the gate of Xuanwu Field.

On the empty streets, everything was still full of life, with green willow leaves dancing in the wind and lilac flowers dotted around the corners. Two wild cats lay on the opposite wall, looking at him lazily, and then meowed boredly, as if they were very dissatisfied with the scene.

But there was still one person left in front of him, a fourteen-year-old boy. Sima Wei recognized him as Chen Yu, the slave who drove his ox cart.

The young man, holding a bullwhip, stood trembling in front of the magnificent oxcart. He forced a smile on his tender face, kowtowed to Sima Wei, and said, "Your Highness, be well."

In the past, Sima Wei would not have paid any attention to Chen Yu, but at this moment, he thought of his childhood self and couldn't help but smile at the young man, "It's already this hour, and you're still bowing. I'm no longer His Highness."

"But His Highness is His Highness."

"Everyone's leaving, why aren't you leaving?"

"During the eighth year of the Taikang reign, there was a great famine. My entire family starved to death. It was only because Your Highness bought me that I survived. After that year, Your Highness became my family, and the palace became my home. If Your Highness wanted me to leave, where could I go?"

It was obvious that Chen Yu wanted to straighten himself up and say something to encourage Sima Wei, but he obviously could not restrain the fear in his eyes and his panic about the future.

After hearing this, Sima Wei sighed deeply. He sat on the ox cart, looked up at the sky and said, "You don't know where to go, and I don't know where to go either."

"Your Highness, won't you go see your wife and children for the last time?"

Sima Wei was twenty-one, married, and had three children, but he waved his hand and said, "Will it make them sad? That's not what a real man does."

"Then Your Highness must have somewhere he wants to go. He can't just stay here."

Sima Wei didn't say anything for a while. He was actually thinking about whether he should go see some friends before finishing. But for a moment, he felt confused and didn't know who to visit. Even his brothers had run away, so which friends could he trust?

At this moment, Sima Wei suddenly thought of someone who was very blunt when flattering him, but very fluent when refuting him. He couldn't help but laugh, then sat up and said to Chen Yu, "Do you know how to get to Anle Mansion?"

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(End of this chapter)