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

Chapter 86 Rainy Night
To the south of Chang'an, the capital of the Han Dynasty, there were three city gates from east to west: Fu'ang Gate, Dinglu Gate, and Xi'an Gate.

Fu'ang Gate needs no introduction, while Xi'an Gate leads directly to Weiyang Palace, and Dinglu Gate, the central city gate to the south, is located on Zhangtai Street.

Zhangtai Street divides Weiyang Palace and Changle Palace into west and east, and on this very street, the Prime Minister's Residence and the Armory stand side by side.

Huo Qubing led 10,000 elite cavalrymen, filing in through Dinglu Gate and entering Zhangtai Street.

As he passed through the city gate, Huo Qubing couldn't help but glance at the guard, Ji Ren.

If this person's name is unfamiliar, his elder brother, Ji An, the Right Inner Historian, is certainly very famous.

When Marquis Wu'an, Tian Fen, became the Chancellor of the Han Dynasty, many officials came to congratulate him. Even officials with an annual salary of two thousand shi (a unit of grain) had to kneel and bow. However, Tian Fen did not return the bow, which was quite arrogant. But not everyone was so humble. For example, when Ji An met Tian Fen, he did not kneel at all, but only cupped his hands in a perfunctory manner.

Five years after Yuanshuo, Wei Qing was respected by everyone in the court, and all the officials would kneel and bow when they met him. Only Ji An, when he saw Wei Qing, still only bowed with his hands clasped, and said: "The fact that the general bows to his guests shows the demeanor of a general. What's wrong with that?"

Ji An was a guest of Wei Qing, and more than ten members of the Ji family in the court were also guests of Wei Qing.

No one expected this, not even His Majesty. Such an important city gate guard, who was on the surface at odds with Wei Qing, actually had a relationship with him that allowed him to surrender the city.

Sensing Huo Qubing's gaze, Ji Ren bowed to Huo Qubing with a bright smile.

With so many members of the Ji family in the court, all holding high positions, if they relied solely on speaking frankly and offering advice, their heads would have been chopped off long ago. Although they were upright officials, they also had the art of serving the emperor and the method of making friends.

After entering Dinglu Gate, one arrives at the eastern part of Chang'an City, including Gaomiao and Shangguanli. There's not much to say about these places. Huo Qubing dispatched a hundred cavalrymen to take over their command.

Next came the Prime Minister's residence. Surprisingly, the gates were wide open. In this rainy and snowy night, the old Prime Minister Gongsun Hong and the Minister of Justice Zhang Tang were both awake.

"Prime Minister".

"Champion Marquis, there is no need for further words. I understand everything. Please rest assured, Your Majesty, my son will no longer be an obstacle."

With Zhang Tang's help, Gongsun Hong stood up from the stool. When talking about his only son, he showed no emotion, as if he were talking about a stranger. "I am old and unable to go to the trouble of the Marquis of Champion tonight. Let my Chief Clerk Bian Tong and the Minister of Justice Zhang Tang accompany the Marquis of Champion."

After Zhang Tang arrived, Gongsun Hong listened to everything that had happened in Chang'an recently and the reaction of the ruler. He realized that something big was about to happen in Chang'an. The old scoundrel who was not dead had vaguely foreseen the changes in Chang'an. He had dealt with his extremely foolish only son and was not sleeping. He was waiting for the big event to happen.

Now, the wait is over.

"Please go and rest, Prime Minister. The Emperor has said that you will be in charge of all state affairs from now on," Huo Qubing said, bowing.

They took Zhang Tang and Bian Tong away, leaving behind a hundred cavalrymen, both for defense and precaution. Even if the possibility of Gongsun Hong rebelling was small, they had to be cautious at this time.

Under the orders of the Crown Prince and the Prime Minister, the Taicang magistrate immediately gave up resistance and was taken over by Huo Qubing's men.

The armory has arrived.

The moment the armory gate was tricked open, Huo Qubing personally led his elite cavalry into it, ordering, "Place men at all entrances and exits; they are only allowed to enter, not leave!"

He marched straight in and met the Chief of the Armory, "The Marquis of Champion?"

"By order of the Crown Prince, I hereby formally take over the armory. From this day forward, obey my commands!"

"I obey the Crown Prince's orders." The Chief of the Armory was a man who understood the will of Heaven and answered without hesitation.

"Now, immediately gather everyone from the armory here. From this moment on, General Zhao Ponu will accompany you. No one is allowed to leave before dawn." "Yes, sir!"

The armory commander replied.

Although no weapons were used along the way, Huo Qubing still ordered his elite cavalry to take some weapons and equipment from the armory. Huo Qubing hesitated for a moment in front of the armory's connecting corridor.

One interesting feature of the Han Dynasty Imperial Palace is the interconnected corridors that link all the palaces. In short, between Weiyang Palace and Changle Palace, there is a corridor that passes through the armory.

When Xiao He, the Marquis of Zan, built the covered walkway, his original intention was to prevent problems in Chang'an and to make it easier for the palace guards to retrieve weapons from the armory for defense. However, the road had two ends, and if the enemy occupied the armory first, you could come and I could go.

Although there are gates, walls, and guards blocking the way to Weiyang Palace and Changle Palace via the connecting corridors, the red walls here are hardly enough to stop people.

Huo Qubing hesitated, wondering whether to divide his forces and capture Weiyang Palace and Changle Palace at the same time.

However, there is no Emperor in the Weiyang Palace of the Imperial Palace, but there is Empress Wei Zifu in the Changle Palace of the Inner Palace, who is his aunt. If the troops are divided, when he goes to deal with the Weiyang Palace, his aunt in the Changle Palace may make a misjudgment.

"Captain Piaoyao, leave the affairs of Changle Palace to me."

Bian Tong, the chief secretary to the prime minister, accepted the important task and said respectfully, "The prime minister said that Empress Wei would not betray her son. Sending someone to Chang Le Palace to explain will be more convincing to Empress Wei than sending a large army to attack."

"Okay, it's up to you now!"

"This humble servant requests the tokens from Your Majesty and Colonel Yao."

“Give the ‘stamp’ to the Chief Secretary.”

A bamboo pole about eight feet long, with a yak tail tassel tied to the top, was brought over.

In the Han Dynasty, envoys were required to "hold a token" when going on missions, and they also used tokens to mobilize troops and enter and leave the palace.

Regardless of who the Imperial Carriage Officer guarding the gates of Changle Palace was, he would recognize the Crown Prince's "Jie" and introduce him to Empress Wei.

Huo Qubing's keepsake was even simpler; he casually took off the brocade pouch from his waist. It was embroidered by his aunt many years ago. He had one, and Liu Ju also had one.

Bian Tong took the brocade pouch, held the imperial staff, and climbed the covered walkway eastward toward Chang Le Palace.

Huo Qubing also ascended the covered walkway and led his army westward toward Weiyang Palace.

As the Northern Army soldiers scaled the red wall and entered Weiyang Palace, killing the guards and opening the gates of the connecting corridor, they marched towards Xuan Shi Hall. Bian Tong also entered Chang Le Palace, met Chang Yu Yi Hua, and headed towards Xuan De Hall where the Empress was.

The palace guards and palace guards were completely incapable of forming a fighting force. Huo Qubing easily took over the Xuan Shi Hall and the front hall. Only when he heard the commotion did Li Guangcai, the Minister of the Imperial Guards, enter through the palace gate, arriving late.

Five thousand guards were stationed at the gates of the Weiyang Palace. Li Guang and his thousand guards encountered Huo Qubing, who was leading several thousand men.

Huo Qubing waved his hand and surrounded Li Guang and his men, saying with a smile, "Minister of the Imperial Guard, it's been a long time!"

At this moment, Li Guang recalled the scene when he was the governor of Youbeiping County that year. In order to please the emperor's favored eunuch, he encountered a Xiongnu archer and his hundred horsemen were surrounded by thousands of Xiongnu cavalry.

No, it was far more dangerous than that time. The Xiongnu might have thought it was a bait for the Han army, but the Marquis of Champion would not!
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(End of this chapter)