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Chapter 76
Chapter 76 - Tyrants
February 1st. Outskirt of Chang An City.
Li Ru, Niu Fu, Zhang Xiu, Zhang Ji, and their 10, 000 troops were marching through this territory. Their mission was to deliver half of these troops to Julu city and form an alliance with Tong.
Dong Bai and Zou Shi were also in a carriage among the logistic teams behind the troops. Dong Zhuo commanded his own granddaughter, Dong Bai, to become one of the gifts that would be sent to Tong, which she happily consented. Meanwhile, Zou Shi was forced to relocate her home to Julu along with her fiancé.
Zhang Ji and Zhang Xiu were ordered to be transferred to Julu along with their 5, 000 Qiang Cavalry Archers.
Li Ru would act as the negotiator while Niu Fu and his 5, 000 troops would take the bodyguard roles. They had to escort Li Ru back to Tian Shui on the return trip.
...
Chang An City was under control of Huangfu Song, one of the elite generals of the royal faction. He was holding the post as the governor of Chang An to keep watch of the western regions where Ma Teng, Han Sui, and Dong Zhuo were currently at.
Li Ru sent a messenger to inform Huangfu Song of their arrival, so they would not be mistaken as invaders.
Half a day later, the messenger came back with a grave expression.
"Urgent report! All officers and majority of the garrison troops in Chang An city were summoned back to Luo Yang! Only a deputy governor and a thousand garrisons were present in the city!"
Li Ru tiled his head in confusion. It was a common occurrence that they could be summoned by the emperor from times to times. Why was the messenger so panicked?
"Is that all?" Li Ru asked.
"No! There is another report! Emperor Ling has passed away half a month ago! The crown prince Liu Ping will hold his coronation ceremony after the 100-day mourning period is over!"
Li Ru turned silent from shock. Niu Fu stared at the messenger in disbelief. The other officers looked at each other in panic.
The death of the emperor was too sudden! Dong Zhuo and Li Ru had been plotting to take advantage of the imperial court if the emperor fell sick. However, they had never expected the sudden death.
Li Ru was caught off guard. He immediately yelled at his nearby officer.
"Send news to our lord immediately! Tell him to mobilize all forces to Chang An along with the baby prince or we will miss this chance! Also, tell our lord to deploy a detach force to occupy Anding City as well. We need that city for the supply relaying point."
The officer dashed out, got on his horse and galloped away as if his life was on the line.
"Niu Fu! Lead the army and take over Chang An immediately! Kill the deputy governor if you have to! Hurry!"
"On my way!"
Niu Fu also rushed out and shouted his order to his men.
Meanwhile, Zhang Ji and Zhang Xiu were looking at each other in nervousness. They could not decide what to do next.
"Um, what about us?" Zhang Xiu asked.
Li Ru gave them a meaningful stare.
"You two will still have to move to Julu. However, I cannot go together with all of you. After we occupy Chang An, I will give you further instruction. For now, help Niu Fu if he has to resort a siege!"
"As you command!"
...
The entire Li Ru Army was in frantic as they were preparing for the urgent tactic to take down Chang An without noticing the deputy governor.
At the side of Li Ru, a young muscular guard was observing them with a deep frown.
'The Yellow Turban Uprising hasn't started yet, but the emperor is already dead. That motherfudger prince ruined the timeline! If he keeps this up, I won't be able to predict what will happen in the future anymore. '
Then he thought about the mysterious flyer that he had kept when he passed Luo Yang last year.
The flyer had an unknown inscription on it that the local natives could not decipher no matter what. But to the otherworlders like this man, he could read it at glance.
In the small papyrus paper, the secret message was not written in traditional Chinese, but English!
"To all reincarnators,
I am Liu Ping, the crown prince of Han. I am sending this message to invite all of you to join me.
I promise that once I have become the new emperor, you will not have to worry about the natives in this world ever again.
You will be bestowed with noble status, lands, and gold!
But there is only one condition. You have to swear allegiance to me and accept me as your emperor!
Head to the royal palace in Luo Yang. Show this paper to any eunuch and tell them that you can understand this. They will lead you to me.
Become my subjects, and we shall conquer this ancient world together!"
The muscular guard considered his options for half an hour. Then he woke up from his deep thought when Li Ru ordered everyone to move out.
A friend of the guard tapped his shoulder and joked around.
"Let's go. We'll try the brothel in Chang An after this. I've heard there's a prostitute with gold hair in that city. I want to try her for sometimes now."
The reincarnator guard ignored his friend. He did not feel like laughing or messing around.
'Should I bet on this Liu Ping, or should I keep staying here?'
'GRR! Screw this! I still want to plunder! I want to **** someone!'
'There's no way I'm siding with that prick!'
'I'm siding with Dong Zhuo! Once I can find Diao Chan, I can taste her before Lu Bu!'
'I'll steal his wife. I'll steal his horse. I'll live the way I want!'
'Still... what a pity that the infinite yang seed skill was taken by someone. '
'I want that skill, too. '
...
...
Luo Yang, Imperial Palace, Throne Room.
Liu Ping sat on the throne with Wang Li by his side. He ignored all the reprimand by senior officials and eunuchs who tried to stop him from sitting on the throne because they had not held the coronation ceremony yet, so Liu Ping's status was still a prince.
The coronation date was set on the 15th of June because they had to hold 49 days of the emperor funeral and another 100 days of mourning period before they could start any kind of traditional celebration, including the coronation ceremony.
Ping clicked his tongue in annoyance. He did not like the traditional custom of the ancient Han Dynasty.
"Your Highness! Please refrain from your disrespectful action! Until you've officially enthroned in the coronation ceremony, you cannot sit on the throne yet!"
An elder minister cupped his hand and continued begging Liu Ping in loud voice.
Liu Ping glared at the minister, yet his hand was still groping Wang Li's round breast. He did not show any sign of the royalty upbringing, but a hoodlum.
"Guards, drag this idiot out and behead him!"
"Your Highness! I'm your loyal subject, please don't! I'm doing this for your own good! NO!!"
The palace guards dragged the minister away with a bitter expression. They knew this minister. He was a kind and honest official that they respected, but they had to kill him because it was the future emperor's order.
Several officials stepped forward and bowed to Liu Ping in frantic.
"Please, your Highness! Don't kill him, he's your loyal minister. He had served the Han Dynasty for 3 generations already. He..."
"Guards, behead these morons too. Also, I'll declare my first edict. I'm your master and you're nothing buy my slaves! None of you assholes can tell me what to do! Now all of you, scram! I want to f**k my empress here. Do you want to stay here and watch!?"
...
Behind the crowd of officials within the throne room, two men gazed at the emperor in hostile. Both of them was dissatisfied with this development and gritted their teeth in anger.
"The eunuchs are going to go on a rampage once the coronation is done. The new emperor is nothing but an incompetence tyrant. What are you going to do, Mengde?"
The tall man asked the stern-looking man next to him. Both of them had the same beard style, but the serious man had an unusual aura that could make people around him shrunk in fear. Meanwhile, the taller man had unexplainable charisma that made people wanted to approach him.
"He Jin and the empress will not take this lying down without a fight. There will be a chance for us to strike back. For now, increase our security, protect ourselves from the assassins, but keep ourselves low-profile. Benchu, contact your younger brother to make a preparation to mobilize at any moment. We'll probably have a chance to make a move before the coronation."
Mengde spoke and blended into the leaving official crowd.
Benchu followed suit. However, before he left, he turned around to glance at the throne. His eyes were flickered with the light of envy and ambition.
'Warm the seat for me, brat. I'll be the next person who will sit on that chair!'
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