Second-hand time travel: Liu Bei, the big-eared bandit

Chapter 256 The Great Han Cinderella

Baijun Residence.

While attending the court assembly, Zhang Rang found his daughter-in-law, He Shi.

"...His Majesty is on his deathbed. The Empress and Marquis Shi must come to the palace immediately, otherwise Marquis Shi may lose his throne..."

Zhang Rang said to Madam He, "The court is currently holding a meeting to discuss His Majesty's funeral arrangements. If the Empress and Marquis Shi do not enter the palace to fulfill their filial duties, then Marquis Shi's succession to the throne will certainly be opposed by the officials..."

"Didn't Old Zhang say that bandits were attacking the North Palace?"

Lady He looked worried: "Besides, His Majesty is still in Yongle Palace. If my elder sister and Marquis Shi enter the palace, there's no guarantee that Empress Dowager Dong won't harm them..."

"Those who attacked Beigong were only trying to protect Lord Dong; they did not rebel..."

Zhang Rang shook his head and sighed, "His Majesty may pass away at any time. The Empress needs to return to the palace so that His Majesty can make a new will. Otherwise, if the court makes a decision today, he will lose his legitimacy! I have already moved His Majesty to Chongde Hall in the Southern Palace. He is not in Yongle Palace, so there is no need to worry about Empress Dowager Dong."

Zhang Feng nodded and said, "Yes, Father has been in charge of the palace for many years, so he can certainly protect the Empress's safety."

Of course, Madam He didn't know what had happened in the palace. She only knew that it was impossible for the palace eunuchs to kill the Empress and the princes, no matter how much they disliked each other.

Previously, when Liu Hong was in Yongle Palace, the Empress could not go there... but now Liu Hong is already in Chongde Hall.

Lady He went to Lord Wuyang and relayed Zhang Rang's message.

Lady Wuyang was the mother of Empress He and Lady He, as well as the mother of He Miao and He Jin's stepmother.

As for stepmothers, everyone knows that the conflict between He Jin and He (Zhu) Miao has been going on for a long time. Ever since Wuyang Jun brought Zhu Miao to marry He Jin's father, the two have been at odds.

Although Empress He is currently at the Hundred Prefectures Residence, the strict etiquette means that even He Jin rarely gets to see her. Only Liu Bian and Lord Wuyang can freely enter and leave the forbidden area.

Lord Wuyang understood what Zhang Rang meant by 'establishing a separate will,' and quickly persuaded Empress He to enter the palace.

Empress He truly knew nothing. Not only Empress He, but everyone in the He family was unaware that He Jin had sent Xu Rong to kill He Miao, let alone that Liu Hong was dead.

Upon learning that the court was discussing Liu Hong's funeral arrangements, Empress He left the Baijun Residence and led Liu Bian to the Chongde Hall of the Southern Palace.

When Zhang Rang learned that Liu Bei was attacking the North Palace Gate, he moved Liu Hong from Yongle Palace to Chongde Hall in the South Palace, originally intending to help Empress He and Liu Bian.

The decision was made based on kinship at the time, and Zhang Rang believed that it would be more advantageous for him for Liu Bian to succeed to the throne.

But now that Liu Hong is dead, Liu Bei and Jian Shuo have enlightened Zhang Rang—it doesn't matter who benefits him, what matters is who benefits him.

Those who side with Empress He will most likely be silenced.

On the contrary, Empress Dowager Dong needs help right now, and so does Liu Bei. Only Zhang Rang can lure and capture the Empress, and only Zhang Rang's testimony can lead to the Empress's punishment.

When Empress He and Liu Bian arrived outside the Southern Palace, Zhang Rang and Jian Shuo, along with Zhang Yang, "led troops to meet them."

The empress was thus taken into custody and imprisoned, and Liu Bian also fell into the hands of Jian Shuo.

Zhang Rang and Jian Shuo certainly dared not kill Empress He and her son privately. Considering that Empress He had murdered Liu Xie's mother and poisoned Empress Dowager Dong, Zhang Rang and Jian Shuo discussed it and decided to deal with the Empress and Liu Bian separately.

Empress He must be convicted. Zhang Rang must send her to Deyang Palace to be handed over to Liu Bei and Empress Dowager Dong. He must be convicted quickly to avoid any complications. Having been in the palace for so many years, Zhang Rang is very clear about such matters.

Liu Bian was, after all, a prince and Liu Hong's own son. No matter what his mother or uncle did, no one would punish Liu Bian.

Jian Shuo left Liu Bian in Chongde Hall, ordering him to kneel and mourn over Liu Hong's remains.

……

At this time, He Jin was still in the Imperial Guard camp east of the Baijun Residence, which was the Tiger General's camp, Yuan Shao's territory.

At dawn, Jian Shuo planned to lure and kill He Jin. After He Jin escaped from the palace gate, he hid back in the Tiger Guard Camp to mobilize troops.

The Imperial Secretariat announced to all officials that an emergency court assembly would be held today to read out the imperial edict. He Jin did not dare to attend court, and Yuan Shao did not attend court either.

He Jin was unsure whether the court's announcement was true or false, nor was he sure who wanted to kill him.

Empress Dowager Dong? Jian Shuo? Zhang Rang? Or perhaps... Empress He?

To outsiders, He Jin's thinking seems very unreasonable... How could it be Empress He?

But in reality, every family has its own troubles. He Jin's mother died early, and his father, He Zhen, remarried to Lady Wuyang. After giving birth to Empress He and Lady He, He Zhen also died.

His father died early, and his mother was his stepmother, and only He Jin's stepmother... Zhu Miao, Empress He, and Lady Xiao He were all Wuyang Jun's biological children.

In fact, He Jin was the Cinderella of the Eastern Han Dynasty—he was the only orphan in his family.

The He family were butchers in Nanyang, and could only be considered moderately wealthy, not even local tycoons. Yet, this family managed to raise Empress He to be arrogant, domineering, and cruel. Wuyang Jun was certainly not the kind of virtuous wife and loving mother who could treat everyone equally.

Besides, these days filial piety is paramount, and even a stepmother is still a mother...

One can imagine what He Jin's situation was like at home before.

Of course, he wouldn't be on the same page as the other three, and he wouldn't tell them anything, much less let anyone know that he wanted to kill He Miao...

If Empress He had known that He Jin had framed He Miao and sent troops to kill him, it would have been very possible that she would have deposed He Jin.

After all, Empress He's father, He Zhen, died before she could remember anything. Although she and He Jin shared the same father, they had no emotional bond and were not close.

Liu Hong initially promoted He Jin, and later used He Miao to restrict He Jin, because Liu Hong knew about the He family's situation.

At noon, He Jin learned that Liu Bei had seized the palace gates and entered the palace, and confirmed that the court assembly was indeed a real court assembly. Only then did he decide to ask Empress He about the events inside the palace.

Liu Bei acted too quickly. In those days, there were no telephones. It was already quite impressive that He Jin was able to confirm the news within three hours.

However, when he entered the Baijun residence to request an audience with the Empress, he was told that the Empress had already left and entered the palace, and that Jian Shuo had sent troops to fetch her.

He Jin panicked even more now—could Empress He really have designs on him? Otherwise, why would she have been taken away by Jian Shuo?
After much thought, He Jin felt his mind was a complete mess and didn't know what to do, so he had no choice but to seek advice from his strategist, Yuan Shao.

"Since the palace wants to harm the General... then the General should strike first!"

Upon learning of the situation, Yuan Shao immediately advised He Jin.

How to make the first move?

He Jin was indeed not good at dealing with these kinds of things.

"Charge into the palace... Now that Liu Bei has already stormed the North Palace, General, you should go in to rescue the Emperor!"

Yuan Shao said, "Liu Bei's forces for seizing the palace must be few. Furthermore, with the court currently in session, the palace defenses will certainly be weak. As long as we can enter the palace to rescue the emperor and control the princes, why bother with any conspiracies or tricks?"

"Currently, the military captains Chunyu Qiong and Xia Mou are both willing to join forces with me, Cao Mengde is on his way to Luoyang, and Feng Fang is also discussing marriage with my clan... As long as the General gives the order, we can completely kill all the eunuchs and take control of the palace!"

In fact, He Jin now has a large number of troops.

He Jin himself has two thousand elite soldiers, and Xu Rong's troops also have two thousand elite soldiers, but they are all outside the city and are currently attacking He Miao's camp at Xiaopingjin.

Yuan Shao commands half of the Tiger Warriors and over a thousand elite soldiers, all of whom are currently in Luoyang City.

Yuan Shu held the other half of the Tiger Warriors and two thousand infantrymen in his hands—only the Tiger Warriors were inside the city, and they had already fled, but there were still two thousand Western Garden Army soldiers outside the city.

Chunyu Qiong, Xia Mou, Feng Fang and others are all officers of the Western Garden Commandant, and Feng Fang is in charge of the South Gate. As long as we can persuade Feng Fang, we can transfer the troops outside the city into Luoyang.

"Then we must deploy troops... Where is the highway now?"

He Jin made up his mind.

“I don’t know. He’s never been close to me… He didn’t even tell me about Liu Bei’s attack on Beigong.”

Yuan Shao truly did not know Yuan Shu's whereabouts. He only learned that Liu Bei had defeated Yuan Shu's troops and entered the palace after he arrived at He Jin's place.

"Sigh...it's true that people living in the same household aren't always close..."

He Jin sighed.

He was close to Yuan Shao because they were in similar circumstances in their respective families, both playing the role of Cinderella.

Right now, Liu Bei is ordering Yuan Wei and Yuan Ji to be imprisoned in the court.

(End of this chapter)