The Three Kingdoms: Rise to Power Starting with Intercepting Liu Bei

When Cao Cao arrived at Li Jue's residence, Cao Ren was hurrying outside. Upon seeing Cao Cao, he quickly bowed and reported:

"My lord, Li Jue died in his own bed without any signs of struggle. There must be something fishy about this. It must have been done by a well-trained assassin, and it definitely wasn't done by Duan Wei's Xiliang army insiders."

When Cao Ren led his men to Li Jue's residence, they found that the man had already been murdered. After a rough inspection, they came to this conclusion.

"Cao Ren, don't worry about that now. The most important thing is to control all the city gates of Chang'an, and then send someone to Yanzhou to have Fengxiao and the main force come over as soon as possible to strengthen the defense of Chang'an."

"Also, imprison those Xiliang soldiers who have already surrendered in jail. Once our main force arrives, we'll have them repair the city walls. Chang'an is ours now!"

After hearing Cao Ren's report, Cao Cao was completely unconcerned. What he cared about was to take control of Chang'an as soon as possible. The young emperor, such an important puppet, had already been taken away by Yuan Shao, and Chang'an could not be lost.

"promise!"

Cao Ren immediately agreed, saying that this matter was indeed very important, and that people like Li Jue and Guo Si were a thing of the past.

After giving the most important instructions, Cao Cao rode his horse to Weiyang Palace, where Qin Xuan and the others waited for him to discuss the post-war arrangements.

Upon arriving at Weiyang Palace, the three had been waiting for a long time and engaged in a heated discussion. Finally, after a long and intense debate, the four of them reached a final decision at dawn.

Cao Cao gained control of the Xiliang army under the command of the Sili Commandant, and Yuan Shu received 380,000 shi of grain from Cao Cao, which was delivered within a month. During this period, Yuan Shu's forces and Cao Cao jointly occupied Chang'an.

Qin Xuan obtained all the military equipment and supplies captured from the Xiliang army.

At first glance, Qin Xuan seemed to be at the biggest disadvantage among the four sides, but that was not the case. Qin Xuan not only achieved his original goal on this trip, but also gained two civil and military officials and tens of thousands of Xiliang soldiers.

The one who suffered the most was Yuan Shu, who only received a small reward for his campaign.

After daybreak, Qin Xuan did not stay in Chang'an for long. Instead, he led his men to Yong County to meet with the old patriarch of the Meng clan and to find out everything he wanted to know.

Yong County was located in Youfufeng Commandery, 400 li away from Chang'an. It was the political, military and cultural center of the early Qin Empire. In addition, Yong County was also the location of the Qin ancestral temple.

In 238 BC, King Ying Zheng of Qin held his coronation ceremony at the Qinian Palace in Yongcheng, officially assuming personal rule.

After two days and two nights of rapid travel, Qin Xuan arrived at the Meng Family Manor outside Yong County half the original time, eagerly anticipating his arrival.

Having received advance notice, the Meng clan chief, supported by his two sons, waited at the manor gate. When they saw Qin Xuan appear with the Great Snow Dragon Riders, all three were filled with surprise.

"Father, this is Qin Xuan!"

Upon seeing his father waiting at the manor gate, Meng Guang hurriedly dismounted and rushed to his father's side, helping him up and introducing Qin Xuan.

On the other side, Qin Xuan saw the main characters appear, dismounted, and quickly walked up to them.

The old patriarch scrutinized Qin Xuan with his cloudy yet sharp eyes, revealing an expression of admiration.

"This humble one, Qin Xuan of Xuzhou, greets the venerable clan chief!"

Qin Xuan immediately gave a deep bow. After all, more than ten years of quality education had not been for nothing. Even if he was not the person the other party was looking for, it was only right to make an acquaintance and leave a good impression.

"Hehe, let's go inside. It's not appropriate to talk here!"

The old clan chief spoke with a trembling voice, and then invited Qin Xuan into the house.

After the group sat down and got to know each other, Qin Xuan explained his purpose and took out the jade pendant he was carrying and handed it to the old clan chief.

"Elder Chief, you...?"

Qin Xuan was interrupted before he could finish speaking:

"Guang'er has already relayed your concerns. The jade pendant is indeed genuine. As for whether you are the young master we are looking for, we can only find out through a physical examination."

"A physical examination? How does it work?"

Qin Xuan was filled with questions.

Meng Qian, the old clan chief, explained calmly:

"Back then, for various reasons, to prevent the prince we were looking for from disappearing one day, every descendant of the First Empress had a Qin character tattooed on their back in the Qin state's small seal script at birth, and this custom has continued to this day!"

"To prevent impersonation, a black dragon is tattooed next to it!"

Upon hearing Meng Qian's words, Qin Xuan's heart skipped a beat. There really was a palm-sized Qin character and a dragon on his back, which Cao Yuan had discovered when they were having sex.

Fortunately, the Qin Small Seal script had been lost for many years, so Cao Yuan did not know its meaning, and Qin Xuan did not take it seriously. Now it seems that he really is a descendant of the Qin Empress.

"Clan chief... clan leader, I really do have this tattoo mark on my body!"

Qin Xuan smiled sheepishly and said.

"What?! You really have it? Guang'er, quickly take Young Master Qin to get a medical examination!"

Upon hearing that Qin Xuan had such a piece of sashimi on him, Meng Qian immediately became agitated and ordered his son to take Qin Xuan to the guest room for a physical examination. After searching for so long, the young master was finally about to be found, how could this not be surprising?

"promise!"

Meng Guang also looked excited and immediately led Qin Xuan to the guest room.

Inside the hall, the air seemed to freeze, so heavy it was almost suffocating.

Time seemed to slow down dramatically at that moment, each second stretching out infinitely. Although it was only a brief wait, for Meng Qian inside the hall, it felt like an eternity.

Just as Meng Qian's two sons were pacing anxiously in the hall, Meng Guang's joyful voice came from outside:

"Father, young master, we've found him! We've found him!"

Then Meng Guang walked into the hall with a happy expression, and Qin Xuan walked slowly behind him, his face also beaming with joy.

"Father, Qin Xuan is the young master we've been searching for. The greatest regret our Meng family has suffered in a century is finally over!"

At this point, Meng Guang couldn't help but cry out, and the other three were also infected by this emotion, and they all shed tears.

Fortunately, they didn't cry for too long and quickly composed themselves, after all, Qin Xuan was still there watching!

"Now that you, Elder Clan Chief, have verified my identity, I still have some questions. Could you please answer them for me?"

Upon learning that he was a descendant of the Qin Dynasty, Qin Xuan's joy came and went quickly, and he was not as delighted as the others present.

This identity will give him a good background when he ascends the throne in the future. After all, that beggar emperor has not yet been born. In this era, lineage is the most important thing. Liu Bang once raised an uprising by slaying a white snake as the son of the Red Emperor.

"You want to ask about the Black Ice Platform, right?" Meng Qian knew what Qin Xuan wanted to know as soon as he heard Qin Xuan's words, and Qin Xuan did not hide it and readily nodded in admission.

"The Black Ice Guard was the most mysterious institution in the Qin Dynasty. After the Qin Dynasty was destroyed, the survivors of the Black Ice Guard hid a large amount of gold and silver treasures in the mountains. When the world was at peace, our Meng family used this money to start a business and expanded its scale."

"In addition, we also take in homeless infants and toddlers from the community and raise them. When they are seven or eight years old, they begin rigorous training. Those who pass become members of the Black Ice Team, while those who fail are all eliminated! We currently have nearly 10,000 official personnel."

"The most elite and core force consists of the descendants of those Black Ice Station personnel from back then. They are responsible for core secrets such as intelligence and assassination, and their numbers are nearly two thousand."

"In addition, there is a large number of vassal personnel distributed throughout the various states of the Han Dynasty!"

"Hiss~~~~!"

Hearing this, Qin Xuan was extremely shocked. This was a huge scale, nearly 10,000 people, and that was just the official members, not to mention the peripheral vassals.

The most famous Jinyiwei (Imperial Bodyguard) in ancient times only had a peak strength of over 60,000 men. This was after the Ming Dynasty had been established for many years. In comparison, one can imagine how powerful the Black Ice Guard (Black Ice Guard) was under the control of the Meng family.

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