Shuhan

The twelve strings of pearls hanging from the gilded caisson in the Taiji Hall were still swaying slightly, and the aftershocks of the Han army's catapults hitting the palace wall last night were still flowing through the beams and pillars.

Cao Rui dug his five fingers deeply into the dragon head of the dragon throne. The sun pattern on the black crown was reflected by the morning light, and it flickered, as if shattered stars had fallen on the emperor's clothes.

There were black and red ice fragments in the cracks of Xiahou Xian's iron armor as he knelt at the steps. Every time he announced the number of casualties, the clepsydra next to the bronze turtle-shaped seal would accumulate three more points of blood.

".The arrow tower of the Xuanyang Gate city wall was completely destroyed, and less than 30% or 40% of the weapons in the armory remain." Xiahou Xian's throat suddenly choked, and the Vermillion Bird-patterned cloak on his back tore into three strands, revealing a half-broken arrow stuck in the lining.

"The Imperial Guards lost 700 men, and the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry were heavily armored."

"How about heavy armor?" Cao Rui leaned forward suddenly, and the tassels on his crown swept across the overturned bronze crane incense burner on the imperial desk.

The unburned ambergris in the furnace mixed with the smell of blood formed a suffocating web in the hall.

Xiahou Xian knocked his forehead heavily on the gold brick and said: "The fully armed cavalry was trapped in the sea of ​​fire in the Mingtang, and even the men and horses were charred and difficult to distinguish."

The belt around his waist suddenly broke, and the jade hook bounced up and smashed at Zheng Cheng's feet - the family emblem "Xiahou" on it was shattered into powder.

The old imperial teacher's gray beard suddenly moved without wind.

The elbows of his purple official uniform were rubbed shiny, but at this moment he held the emperor back with his staff, saying, "Last night, I, an old minister, observed the stars and saw a star in the northeast of the Purple Palace. Its light will wane in less than ten days."

The jade bead with dragon pattern inlaid on the top of the staff suddenly reflected the snow outside the window, and even turned the icicles on Xiahou Xian's armor into a colorful rainbow halo.

When Chen Qun stepped out of the line holding the ivory tablet, he deliberately stepped over the rainbow light.

The goldfish bag on his waist swayed with his steps, revealing a half-volume of the blood-stained "Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art" - that was the grain and fodder book that the Shangshutai had calculated overnight.

"Your Majesty, do you know how Liu Gongsi raised military funds?" His voice was like an iron weight dipped in ice water.

"The three highest officials in Henei County have a clear price tag, and even the sash of the Praetorian Guard can be exchanged for three hundred carts of millet."

Suddenly, there was a sound of porcelain breaking in the corner of the hall.

When everyone turned around, they saw the eunuch trembling as he cleaned up the spilled medicine cup. The brown medicine juice flowed along the sword marks on the Panlong Pillar, overlapping with the scorch marks left by the Han army's stray arrows three days ago.

Cao Rui suddenly chuckled, and his laughter made the beads on the crown tassel tangled in a ball: "What a Liu Adou who weaves mats and sells shoes! His grandfather sold straw sandals, and now he is reselling official hats!"

"But the Han army's food supply has been cut off." Zheng Cheng suddenly pointed the tip of his staff towards the wind and snow outside the hall.

"This morning, my old student sent a pigeon letter from Mengjin Ferry. The Shu brocade buried under the ice of the Yellow River is wrapped in moldy corn."

He shook out half a piece of silk book from his sleeve. On the paper dyed with the unique Huangbo color, the words "food exhausted" were circled in cinnabar, making them scarlet and glaring.

Xiahou Xian suddenly jumped up, his broken armor scraping against the gold bricks, making a tooth-grinding sound: "Give me five thousand light cavalry, and we can burn the Han army's food in Mangshan tonight."

"General Xiahou wants to reduce the number of soldiers defending Luoyang by another 5,000?" Chen Qun sneered and started counting.

"The cost of the armored cavalry destroyed last night is equivalent to 100,000 dan of corn."

He suddenly threw three broken sticks in front of the emperor, forming the image of the Kan hexagram.

"After defending the city for thirty days, the Han army will collapse on its own."

The cold wind blew up the snow particles and broke open the palace door, blowing Cao Zhen's urgent report to the emperor's feet.

When Cao Rui bent over to pick it up, the wide sleeves of his imperial robe swept away half a volume of "The Art of War", and when the bamboo slips were unfolded, the part that read "One bell of enemy food is equivalent to twenty bells of our own" was exactly there.

His fingertips stroked the ink marks "Zhuge Liang personally supervised the central army" in the report, and suddenly he caught a glimpse of his own face reflected in the bronze mirror - the bloodshot eyes were exactly the same as on the night when Emperor Wen passed away a few years ago.

"Report——!" Yu Linlang's roar broke the deathly silence in the hall.

The messenger, covered in ice armor, fell in front of the altar, with military intelligence reports rolling out of his arms.

"The soldiers of the three families of Biyong, Zhong, Xun and Cui, rioted." The blood foam from his throat sprayed on Zheng Cheng's official boots.

"They are coming to Sima Gate under the banner of 'clearing the court'!"

Cao Rui suddenly crushed the jade axe in his hand.

This axe engraved with "Emperor Wu's Legacy" was the one used by Cao Cao when he attacked Yecheng.

"What a great way to clear out the imperial court!" He laughed in anger and pointed at the tip of Chen Qun's nose.

"Is this what you meant by 'defending the city for thirty days'?" The turquoise inlaid on the axe handle collapsed, bounced on the imperial desk and rolled towards Zheng Cheng.

The old imperial teacher bent down and picked up the newspaper, which contained a manifesto.

Between the words “学而优则官” that were blackened by fire, traces of the newly carved word “汉” can be vaguely seen.

"Your Majesty, please look," he wiped away the dust with his dry fingers, "the blade of the Chinese character 'Han' points northwards, clearly someone is taking advantage of the chaos."

Before he finished speaking, there was a sudden noise outside the city.

"Punish the slanderers and rectify the government!" The sound was so loud that the dust in the caisson fell down.

Cao Rui suddenly smelled a familiar scent. He had always been on guard against the Yingchuan gentry, so he kept them outside the city. Unexpectedly, they actually rebelled!

He staggered back three steps. The bronze sparrow lampstand that was knocked over by the dragon throne caught fire with its tassels, and twelve strings of pearls exploded in the fire like a shower of stars.

The Yingchuan gentry rebelled, so did Chen Qun also rebel?

Chen Qun seemed to sense the emperor's gaze and said immediately: "Your Majesty, the people outside Biyong must have been bewitched by the Han army. I am willing to go and persuade them to surrender!"

Cao Rui waved his hands and said, "I don't want to lose my loyal followers. Their intention to purge the emperor is fake, but their intention to surrender to the Han is real. I wonder if the Han army will respond to them now?"

Xiahou Xian immediately said, "Your Majesty, the Han army also suffered heavy casualties in the night attack last night. Moreover, they are outside Luoyang City and are restrained by our Wei elite troops. They can't attack again."

After listening to Xiahou Xian's words, Cao Rui finally breathed a sigh of relief.

He immediately said, "General Xiahou, I will leave the task of suppressing the rebellion to you!"

At 3:30 pm, the waning moon hung obliquely over the battlements, and the frost on Xun Yi's black armor reflected a cold blue light. He looked at the closed iron gate of Xuanyang Gate, and suddenly thrust his Mo Dao into the rammed earth with his backhand. The sparks from the blade splitting the frozen earth ignited the half-buried Han army oil bag. In the blazing flames, three hundred Zhong's heavily armored infantrymen raised their shields covered with plain silk. The cinnabar characters "清君侧" on the silk were clearly written with a broken brush fished out of the blood pool in Biyong.

South of Luoyang, the sky was gray, as if covered by a thick veil, without a single ray of light. The three great families, Yingchuan Zhong, Xun, and Qinghe Cui, were usually very important in Luoyang, but now they had mobilized their private troops and marched towards Xuanyang Gate under the banner of clearing the emperor's entourage.

Zhong Hui's armor gleamed coldly in the sun. He rode on a tall and mighty warhorse, with a resolute face and eyes that revealed unquestionable determination. Next to him, Xun Yi was dressed as a scholar, holding a long sword, with a look of determination between his brows. Cui Lin was wearing heavy armor, as steady as a mountain. His eyes swept around, as if he was calculating every bit of strength.

The private soldiers marched in unison, their weapons gleaming coldly in the sun, their faces full of loyalty and determination, which was their trust in the family and their expectations for the future. Along the way, the people either hid in their homes with doors and windows closed, or stood in the distance whispering, their eyes full of fear and anxiety. However, when they arrived in front of the Xuanyang Gate, they found that the gate was closed, as if it was an insurmountable barrier, separating them from the city. Zhong Hui frowned, he knew that behind the gate, there must be heavy soldiers from the Wei State guarding it, but since they had come this far, there was no reason to retreat.

Half an hour passed quietly, and the air seemed to freeze, making it hard to breathe. Suddenly, thousands of Wei cavalry emerged from the Qingming Gate and Guangyang Gate. They were like a black torrent, encircling the three-tribe coalition. The sound of horse hooves was deafening, dust was flying, and battle flags fluttered in the wind.

At 3:30 pm, the waning moon hung obliquely over the battlements, and the frost on Xun Yi's black armor reflected a cold blue light. He looked at the closed iron gate of Xuanyang Gate, and suddenly thrust his Mo Dao into the rammed earth with his backhand. The sparks from the blade splitting the frozen earth ignited the half-buried Han army oil bag. In the blazing flames, three hundred Zhong's heavily armored infantrymen raised their shields covered with plain silk. The cinnabar characters "清君侧" on the silk were clearly written with a broken brush fished out of the blood pool in Biyong.

Faced with this sudden change, the coalition forces of the three tribes did not panic. Zhong Hui quickly issued an order, and the coalition forces immediately retreated in an orderly manner, like a well-trained army, and quickly entered the Biyong, Mingtang and various fortresses. In the Biyong, the atmosphere of books and the smoke of war intertwined, seeming incompatible but unusually harmonious.

Chen Qun, the Minister of the Chancellery, was dressed in his official uniform, with a haggard face, but his eyes were full of determination. He ignored the emperor's opposition and insisted on entering Biyong to persuade the emperor to surrender. He knew that if the war expanded, hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians in Luoyang would be plunged into dire straits.

The moment Chen Qun stepped into Biyong, Xun Yi, Zhong Hui and Cui Lin came to greet him.

When Chen Qun broke into Biyong, his purple robe and jade belt were out of place among the ruins.

The "Zheng Xuan Annotations" that he was holding between his fingertips suddenly slipped out of his hand, and the pages fluttered like butterflies in the draft, and finally spread out on the burnt sundial - the four words "rituals collapsed and music was destroyed" were facing the broken Biyong stele.

"You all know that the Han army attacked last night and a fire destroyed the books in Biyong. The library was burned down." Chen Qun suddenly stepped on the fallen pages of "Yi Zhuan".

"The only thing missing is the Zhouyi annotated by your ancestor Xun Shuang?"

Xun Yi had a faint smile on his face, but that smile revealed an unquestionable determination: "Taifu, the text of the Zhouyi written by my elders is still in my house. Even if it is burned, what will happen? But what is your purpose in coming here today? Do you think we will surrender easily?"

Zhong Hui had a stern expression on his face. He gripped the hilt of his sword tightly, as if ready to draw it at any time. "Minister, the State of Wei is already terminally ill. Why should we continue to serve this corrupt court? Why should we allow hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians in Luoyang to suffer additional casualties?"

Cui Lin spoke calmly: "Chang Wen, we are not rebelling, we are just forced to do so. If Wei can turn things around, we would be willing to serve the country. But now, Wei will surely perish, and we can only find another way out."

Chen Qun felt mixed emotions as he listened to their words.

He knew the determination of these three people and understood that what they said was not empty talk.

But as the Minister of Chancellery, he had a duty and could not give up easily: "Everyone, although Wei has problems, it is not yet irreversible. If you surrender now, wouldn't you be disregarding the country and putting the people in dire straits? You have been deeply favored by Wei, but now you are plotting rebellion. Do you know how to be loyal to the emperor and serve the country? Do you know how to be righteous and have a sense of honor and shame?"

However, Xun Xi and the other two just shook their heads. Xun Xi said softly, "Mr. Chen, you have made up your mind, and so have we. Please go back and stop trying to persuade us."

Zhong Hui sighed and said, "There have always been a thousand-year family, but no thousand-year dynasty. A dynasty can only last a few hundred years at most. Shang Shu Ling should know that righting the wrongs can still save the family. If he persists in his wrong ways, I'm afraid the Yingchuan Chen family will not prosper for eight generations."

After saying this, the three of them bowed to see the guest off. Although their gestures were polite, they revealed an unquestionable firmness.

Chen Qun had no choice but to sigh and turn away from Biyong.

At this moment, a roar suddenly came from outside Biyong. Xiahou Xian's army had already set out and began to attack Biyong, which had been raided by the Han State last night.

The sound of war drums was deafening, shouts of killing rose one after another, and the flashes of swords and sabers flashed on the walls of Biyong, as if they were going to tear this ancient institution into pieces.

Inside Biyong, the coalition forces of the three tribes were on high alert. They knew very well that this battle was a matter of life and death, and they could not slack off in the slightest.

Zhong Hui stood at the forefront, holding a long sword, his eyes revealing determination and fearlessness.

Xun Yi was commanding the coalition forces, and his voice penetrated the smoke of war and was clearly heard by every soldier.

Cui Lin personally took to the battlefield. His heavy armor stood out among the flashes of swords and sabers. Every time he swung his sword, it was accompanied by the enemy's wails.

Xiahou Xian rode on his warhorse, his eyes sharp as torches. He stared at the city wall of Biyong as if he wanted to see through it.

If Biyong can be captured in this battle, it will be able to deter other aristocratic families and consolidate the rule of the Wei State.

Therefore, he ordered the entire army to attack fiercely and capture Biyong at all costs.

The Wei army came like a tide, their weapons flashed coldly in the sun, and their faces were filled with killing and madness.

However, the coalition forces of the three tribes did not retreat. They used their flesh and blood to build an indestructible line of defense.

On the battlefield, blood dyed the ground red and corpses piled up like mountains.

The shouts and wails intertwined to form a tragic war song.

There are countless knife and sword marks on the walls of Biyong, witnessing this tragic battle.

As time went on, the fighting became more intense.

Zhong Hui's armor was already splattered with the blood of his enemies, but his eyes grew more determined.

Xun Yi's voice was a little hoarse, but his commands became more powerful.

Cui Lin's heavy armor was covered with scars, but his fighting spirit became even higher.

However, the Wei army seemed endless, coming in wave after wave.

Although the coalition forces of the three tribes fought bravely, they gradually felt overwhelmed.

Their military strength was constantly being depleted, while the Wei army seemed to be getting stronger and stronger.

Just then, a strong wind blew, blowing up the dust and fallen leaves on the ground.

The candlelight in the Biyong flickered in the wind, as if it might go out at any time.

A sense of uneasiness also arose in the hearts of the three-tribe coalition forces, and they began to worry whether they could really defend this land.

However, at this critical moment, there seemed to be shouting and killing coming from afar.

Zhong Hui's eyes lit up, and he didn't know what was going on, but he shouted at the top of his voice: "The Han army has attacked Luoyang, and the fall of Luoyang is just around the corner. Kill!"

As soon as Zhong Hui said this, the morale of the crowd was immediately boosted.

They gritted their teeth and continued to fight.

Their eyes revealed determination and fearlessness, and their movements became increasingly swift and powerful.

The battle lasted until late at night, and the moonlight shone on the battlefield, covering this bloody land with a layer of silver gauze.

Although the Wei army was extremely brave, they ultimately failed to capture Biyong and the various forts.

They could only retreat helplessly, leaving behind corpses and blood all over the ground. (End of this chapter)