A son who doesn't resemble his father? Love you, old man, see you at Xuanwu Gate!

Chapter 85 Turning point
At nightfall.

Almost simultaneously, all sorts of spies near the Wei River were wiped out. Afterward, Huo Qubing led ten thousand cavalrymen galloping towards Chang'an.

This is the strongest elite cavalry of the Northern Army, and also the strongest elite cavalry of the Empire. One man and three horses gallop forward like a surging river, carrying everything in their path. If they encounter any obstacles or strange occurrences along the way, they will kill them all.

Eighty li, departing at dusk and arriving at midnight.

In addition, Gongsun Ao, Su Jian, and Zhao Shiqi led their troops to the Three Auxiliary Regions, carrying the Crown Prince's decree to control the local troops in the counties near Jingzhao Yin, Zuo Fengyi, and You Fufeng.

Act according to the most convenient circumstances.

The war drums sounded.

In the rain and snow of a spring night, tens of thousands of soldiers of the Northern Army were summoned, waiting only for the order to march on Chang'an.

Liu Ju and Wei Qing wore straw raincoats together and shared the wind and rain.

"Ju'er, has it really come to this?" Wei Qing asked, puzzled.

He didn't understand why Liu Ju, who was now very close to winning the power struggle in the imperial court, was in a much worse position than when the Prince of Zhongshan shed blood in the imperial court and His Majesty pretended to be unwell, allowing the Southern Army to take over Chang'an City in a critical situation. How could his nephew, who was able to remain calm then, be so anxious now?

It's just a rumor about Princess Pingyang and Princess Zhuyi getting married, isn't it? What does that matter? What can it change?
Even if they hadn't intended to marry the princess, would they and Huo Qubing have obeyed His Majesty? That's impossible!

Your Majesty's methods of sowing discord are a bit despicable, but the Crown Prince's nephew's reaction is also a bit too much.

"From my generation onwards, marriage between collateral relatives within three generations will be prohibited, including members of the royal family!"

Liu Ju did not explain why close relatives could not marry, but this prohibition was enough for Wei Qing to understand the meaning of the crown prince's nephew.

Ethics and morality are fundamental to humanity; otherwise, how are we different from beasts?
Wei Qing paused for a moment, then said, "There are other ways to solve this."

"I'm working on it."

Liu Ju said very seriously, "I want to see my mother."

My mother is in Chang'an.

If he were to meet his mother to explain the situation, he might not be able to persuade her to leave the city if it were done by letter. The presence of the Wei family, his maternal relatives, would be an obstacle between them.

"I believe the Empress has no ill intentions," Wei Qing said in a calm voice.

That was his third sister. He knew perfectly well and was confident that she would never stand against her nephew, the crown prince, nor would she change her mind after assuming power.

It is very likely that they were misled and bewitched by Gongsun He and Gongsun Jingsheng.

"I know."

Liu Ju was quite certain, “That’s why I want to see my mother. If she doesn’t leave Chang’an, then I have no choice but to go into Chang’an.”

No matter what, the mother and son need to meet to find out what happened, but the meeting process is a bit more complicated.

"Entering Chang'an is not so easy," Wei Qing sighed.

The defense system of the capital region can be divided into four parts from the inside out.

The innermost layer was the palace, also known as the inner palace. Its guards were managed by the eunuch commander, also known as the Yellow Gate Commander. They had little combat power and could be ignored.

The second layer consisted of the palace guards. Within the Chang Le and Wei Yang Palaces were groups of relatively independent palaces, such as the Jiao Fang Palace, where the Empress resided in the Wei Yang Palace, and the Chang Xin Palace, where the Empress Dowager resided in the Chang Le Palace.

With the elevation of Empress Wei to the rank of regent, Wei Zifu moved from the Jiaofang Palace in Weiyang Palace to the Changxin Palace in Changle Palace.

These areas, excluding the central part of the province, are collectively referred to as the central palace.

Its defense was under the jurisdiction of the Guanglu Xun, whose subordinate officials were ranked between 300 and 600 shi, and usually numbered around 1,000.

In the Han Dynasty, the "Lang" were either candidates selected by the emperor or individuals recommended by local authorities who were favored by the emperor. For example, Dongfang Shuo and Gongsun Hong were both granted the title of Lang.

Of course, there were also those who paid money to qualify, known as "Zixuan," such as Sima Xiangru.

According to the Han system, apart from the Yilang who engaged in purely clerical work, the other Langguan took turns to carry halberds and guard the gates of the palace when the emperor was in the palace, and to serve as ceremonial guards when the emperor traveled.

When His Majesty was in Ganquan Palace, most of the officials from Weiyang Palace followed him. Empress Wei moved to Changle Palace, where there were some officials, but their duties and ceremonial nature meant they were not very capable of fighting.

However, this team was not entirely without fighting power. After His Majesty ascended the throne, the imperial power was controlled by Empress Dowager Dou, so he often went hunting outside the palace. He selected military officers from among the officials, as well as good men from good families who were skilled in riding and archery from the border areas of Longxi and Beidi. They would meet at Qimen and ride together, gradually developing into a fixed guard team of up to a thousand people, which was called Qimen.

However, these gatekeepers were also taken to Ganquan Palace by His Majesty.

The third layer of guards was called the "Palace Gate Guards," who guarded both the outside and inside of the palace. These guards were from the Southern Army and were commanded by the Minister of the Imperial Guards.

After the Southern Army took over Chang'an, they could be considered to have combined their forces, totaling 50,000 men.

The fourth layer of guards consisted of the Northern Army.

Therefore, if we don't count the autumn, labor, slave and seven exiles in Chang'an, the real guards of Chang'an were those 50,000 Southern Army soldiers.

“I know we can’t afford to get bogged down in a stalemate, so I sent my elder brother to lead the army to Chang’an,” Liu Ju replied. “With an inside ally, we can take the city.”

“Fu’ang Gate is quite far from Weiyang Palace, the armory, and the Imperial Palace. Moreover, the Imperial Palace’s gold was previously taken out from there. Even if Li Guang and his son Li Gan were stupid, they would have known to deploy heavy troops at that city gate to prevent Tian Ren from surrendering the city,” Wei Qing pointed out the problem.

The commander guarding Fu'ang Gate is Tian Ren, the Capital Commandant. We've dealt with him before, but His Majesty hasn't removed Tian Ren or replaced him. Clearly, it's a trap.

With the city gate of Fu'ang Gate open, whether Huo Qubing could enter, and whether he would suffer heavy losses after entering, were all big questions.

Another point is that Fu'ang Gate is very close to Changle Palace, but far from Weiyang Palace.

The armory was located between Weiyang Palace and Changle Palace, next to the Prime Minister's residence, while the Imperial Palace was located north of Changle Palace, not far from Fu'ang Gate, but definitely not close either.

"That depends on your uncle."

Liu Ju stared at Wei Qing without blinking. "Uncle, your achievements surpass all other generals. For more than ten years, although you have served in the Northern Army, many Southern Army generals were transferred from the Northern Army. Of the twelve gates of Chang'an, besides Tian Ren at Fu'ang Gate, do you have other old acquaintances?"

Wei Qing remained silent.

“Uncle, my elder brother is leading an elite cavalry force. His orders are that they must not stop for even a moment. They will definitely reach Chang'an by midnight. It will take time to catch up from here!”

"I don't know how much affection and care Uncle has for me and my elder brother, nor how much love Uncle has for the empire's elite troops, nor how much mercy Uncle has shown in the Battle of Chang'an, the North-South conflict that shook the world and caused the suffering of countless people. Whether the upcoming war will result in rivers of blood or bloodless battles is entirely in Uncle's hands!"

"Betrayal..."

"Uncle, failure is called betrayal, but our success... is revolution!"

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(End of this chapter)