Big man: I am the Champion Marquis!

Chapter 140 The Price of Choice
Huo Xian ran away so quickly and neatly that it would be difficult for ordinary people to catch him.

The fifty elite cavalrymen were all wearing helmets and armor. They didn't know the specific tasks, but that didn't stop them from carrying them out resolutely.

Because these cavalrymen came from the Qimen Army, only the good families of the six counties were eligible to be selected. Moreover, the commander of the army was the Grand Marshal, which was an opportunity that was hard to come by normally.

Huo Xian was also wearing helmet and armor, and even wore a mask, which made the cavalrymen who followed him even more excited.

The reason is very simple. This young Sima has a habit of not wearing a mask at ordinary times. He only wears a mask when he encounters a war.

Huo Xian went straight to Yangling, the mausoleum where Emperor Jing of Han Liu Qi and his queen Wang Zhi were buried together in the same tomb. His goal was self-evident, which was to see if the Yangling hero Zhu Anshi would show up.

Huo Xian was still quite concerned about this fuse that triggered the Witchcraft Disaster in history.

It was difficult for him to understand how a wanted criminal's letter from prison could reach the ears of the emperor and know who the princess was having an affair with and how a puppet was buried on Ganquan Road to curse the emperor, which should have been extremely secretive matters!
It was really unbelievable, and it even directly led to the death of the prime minister's family, two princesses, and a marquis.

Jiang Chong, Zhu Anshi and others, in Huo Xian's eyes, these people would be killed the moment they showed up, without any need for any reason at all.

As for people like Liu Quti and Shangqiu Cheng, Huo Xian didn't particularly care about them. They were mostly following orders, and there was no way to blame them more.

Huo Xian led fifty riders to Yangling, and Yangling Wei and others hurried over. The past three or four years have been relatively quiet, but I still remember the scene of this champion marquis riding his horse to capture people in Lingyi.

"Report the names of the wealthy and heroes in Lingyi." Huo Xian spoke directly, "Report all the evil young men who are chivalrous and bully the good people."

Yang Lingcheng replied cautiously, "Sir, these matters are not within your power, and it is difficult for us to obey your orders."

There is nothing wrong with saying this. Although Huo Xian was the Grand Marshal and General of the Cavalry, he did not have the responsibility of arresting thieves.

Huo Xian was not happy. "What kind of place is this? Let me ask you, how can we allow scoundrels to run rampant in the place where Emperor Xiaojing's mausoleum is buried?"

Emperor Jing of Han did not have a temple name. In the Western Han Dynasty, temple names were extremely serious and formal, and not every emperor had a temple name. Among the twelve emperors of the Western Han Dynasty in history, only four emperors had temple names.

The first one is naturally Emperor Gaozu Liu Bang. The last emperor with a temple name was Emperor Taizong Liu Heng. The next one is Emperor Shizong Liu Che, and the next one is Emperor Zhongzong Xuandi Liu Xun.

Yangling Cheng still felt embarrassed. What Guanjun Hou said made sense. But in the final analysis, without the emperor's order, he couldn't obey his orders on these matters.

Huo Xian didn't care about that and directly called the subordinate sent by Bao Shengzhi to his side. "I heard that there is a fugitive in Yangling. Who is he from?"

It is normal for fugitives to flee everywhere after committing crimes, and it is very difficult to arrest them. Some of them are capable, while others have someone helping them behind the scenes.

The embroidered robe envoy replied politely, "Reporting to the Grand Marshal, this man killed someone for revenge. The last time I heard, he was taking refuge in the Chen family."

Huo Xian was a little strange. In the Western Han Dynasty, revenge killing was not a new thing. Sometimes, people turned a blind eye to such cases.

However, since they have committed a crime, they should be arrested. Especially when some people do evil things under the banner of revenge, we naturally cannot be polite to them.

Huo Xian looked at Yang Lingcheng and asked, "So, that Chen family is harboring a fugitive?"

Yangling Cheng looked embarrassed, so Huo Xian gave an order, "Bring this man to me. I want to see how powerful this Chen family is that they dare to protect a fugitive from the imperial court!"

These things are very complicated to talk about. In this era of protecting relatives, sometimes it is not uncommon to shelter fugitives. In the eyes of many people, doing so is a righteous and heroic act.

You don't need to consider what the person has done wrong. Since he has come to you in times of trouble, you trust him and you should go all out to help him. Whether it's giving money or labor, you have to do this.

Huo Xian naturally wouldn't say much about this. Some people chose loyalty and so on, that was their choice. All he had to do was to arrest the people, and those who should be punished would definitely be punished.

Yangling Cheng and Yangling Wei complained bitterly. This Guanjun Hou did not follow the rules and was not only going to arrest people, but he was also taking his anger out on them and controlling the imperial officials.

There is no way to reason about this matter. It is even very likely that if you want to impeach him afterwards, it may backfire.

Yuanbao continued to gallop, and Huo Xian led fifty riders straight to the Chen family's mansion.

It was even better that the gate was not closed. Huo Xian rode his horse directly into the Chen family's house, looked at the panicked and surprised Chen family members and shouted loudly, "Stop, anyone who dares to walk around or escape will be killed!" The Qimen cavalry who rushed in also took out their crossbows and raised their spears. When doing things with Marquis Guanjun, one should be decisive. Whatever the military order is, it is what it is. There is no need to think, just execute it.

These are what they should do. Their identity is Qimen Army. Sometimes soldiers don't need to think too much.

Looking at the old man who was trembling with fear and approaching, Huo Xian, who was sitting on horseback, asked directly, "Where is that hero Chen now?"

Old man Chen said cautiously, "General, I really don't know! The government officials came to ask before, but we don't know!"

"I don't know?" Huo Xian sneered, "That's fine, I'll let you think about it carefully. Tie up all the people, arrest all the men and women in the mansion, and send people from Chang'an City to jail all the family members!"

Old man Chen was anxious and asked loudly, "General, what do you want to do? What is the basis for arresting me?"

Huo Xian pointed at his face and said, "You probably don't know who I am yet! You're protecting a fugitive, but now you dare to cry out for injustice? Since you dare to ignore the laws of the court, you should have thought about how everyone in your mansion would be implicated!"

The Qimen Army was not polite, and as soon as Huo Xian gave the order, they immediately started to arrest people, whether they were slaves or family heads, they were all arrested and tied up.

If anyone dared to resist, they would be severely punished. This also caused the Chen family to be in chaos, and everyone was crying and begging for mercy.

Looking at old man Chen who was shaking with fear or anger, Huo Xian said, "Remember, the one who arrested you is Grand Marshal Huo Xian, General of the Cavalry. You can seek justice and seek help from your connections. I want to see if the people behind you dare to come and ask for your release!"

Old man Chen was even more frightened. Yangling was under the emperor's feet, so he naturally knew some things. This great Sima was so polite that even the prime minister had to give way to him. The nine ministers were not worthy of respect in front of him.

Even the county governors in his hometown would have to be humble if they really met this champion marquis. Moreover, this champion marquis was a military marquis, and it was rumored that he had a violent temper and did not abide by etiquette.

Huo Xian looked at the people outside the mansion who were daring enough to watch the fun and said, "Just watch! This is what happens when you secretly hide a criminal from the imperial court! What kind of heroes and heroes are you? When you see the person who protected you in trouble, you hide and dare not come out. How can you be called a true hero?"

This is Huo Xian’s attitude, so that some people don’t need to care about the laws and regulations of the court.

The Chen family can choose loyalty and reputation, but the price they pay is the possibility that their entire family will be arrested and imprisoned. This is their choice.

If Huo Xian had chosen a tough approach, he might have been seen as a cruel official by others, and his reputation would have become even more notorious.

It doesn't matter. How can you get all the benefits? It's not that good. Once you make a choice, you must be prepared to pay a price.

In history, people like Zhu Anshi and Guo Jie were not arrested and brought to justice because there were all kinds of people willing to help them evade pursuit.

As for those man-made ones, most of them are just for reputation, and they don’t care how many lives these fugitives have taken, or what crimes these people have committed!

Huo Xian did not cause chaos in Yangling Town, but he was aggressively arresting criminals and severely punishing those who harbored fugitives. All of this made many people feel frightened.

In addition to the many people in Yangling Town who are feeling scared now, people in several other mausoleum towns are also a little scared.

As for people in Chang'an City, many people also received the news and felt that the Marquis of Guanjun was really going too far.

He is a military marquis, but now he is not in charge of military affairs, but is catching thieves and arresting robbers. This has exceeded his duties. In such a situation, he naturally needs to be impeached. It is really lawless!
Impeachment is impeachment, but whether the emperor would punish him is another matter. After all, Yangling is very close to Chang'an. The emperor did not intend to recall Huo Shan, and he did not even send anyone to stop it.

The emperor did not make any statement, which actually showed his attitude, and some people knew it well.

"This Zhu Anshi is really good at hiding!" Huo Xian couldn't help but complain, "It is said that he should have a long history of bad deeds, why hasn't he shown up yet?"

A few bandits were indeed arrested, and some people who harbored fugitives were also investigated and punished, but there was still no movement from the main target Zhu Anshi. This so-called "Yangling Hero" was still silent.

This made Huo Xian couldn't help laughing. Maybe this guy wanted to give him a surprise and was still waiting for his accumulated strength to make a breakthrough. Did he want to make a big move?

When the enemy comes, we will fight back with our generals; when the water comes, we will block it with earth. Huo Xian doesn't need to worry about Zhu Anshitai.

As long as one of him and Wei Qing was around, no one would dare to frame the prince easily.

(End of this chapter)