[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-thirteen-years-as-king-of-the-great-song-i-learn":3,"chapter-thirteen-years-as-king-of-the-great-song-i-learn-thirteen-years-as-king-of-the-great-song-i-learn-chapter-57":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Thirteen Years as King of the Great Song, I Learned I Was the Dragon",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2271752,4437,"Chapter 57","thirteen-years-as-king-of-the-great-song-i-learn-chapter-57",57,"\u003Cp>The imperial guards swiftly surrounded the alley, lighting torches and shouting: “What’s going on inside? Such a commotion! Drop your weapons and don’t move!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhao Ti and his two companions approached, recognizing it as a unit of about a hundred men—normal night patrols consisted of ten soldiers; a hundred was extremely rare.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The squad leader drew his waist saber and bellowed: “Whichever gang you belong to, drop your weapons, or be killed on the spot!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Young master, the rider on horseback is young, and his attire doesn’t resemble an imperial guard officer,” Bai Zhan said.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhao Ti glanced at the brown stallion beside the column—it was clearly a warhorse. Warhorses were scarce in this dynasty; most were purchased abroad. In recent years, tensions with Xi Xia had made Qingtang horses hard to obtain, and the court had banned officials from keeping them and civilians from possessing them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The rider on horseback was young, dressed in brocade, pointing into the alley: “How brazen! Utterly brazen! They all deserve to die!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhao Ti’s lips curled slightly as the soldiers ahead spotted them and shouted: “Who are you? Stop right there!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Bai Zhan pulled out his official token and flashed it: “Imperial City Office—patrolling the capital region, no restrictions!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The soldiers froze. The squad leader rushed over and said: “So you’re from the Office? Why are you here so late?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Bai Zhan said: “Night patrols are ten men per unit. Why are so many of you gathered here?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The squad leader replied: “Sir, we’re capturing gang outlaws—we can’t do it with too few men!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Bai Zhan said: “That’s odd. Why not catch them by day, but only at night?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The squad leader chuckled nervously: “Sir, you don’t understand—during the day, nothing happens, so how can we catch them? Only when trouble breaks out at night can we move in.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Trouble breaks out at night…” Bai Zhan said. “Just now, I watched from the bridge. The commotion inside the alley lasted no more than half an hour. Yet you received word instantly and assembled ten squads swiftly. Are you specially guarding this alley? Acting as a shield for those inside, providing them protection?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The squad leader shook his head frantically: “Sir, that’s nonsense! Absolutely not! Not at all!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At that moment, the young man on the brown stallion turned his horse and cried urgently: “Qu the squad leader, get inside and arrest them! If you delay, those scoundrels will all climb the walls and escape. The Imperial City Office has no authority over the imperial guards’ arrests—don’t waste time with him!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The squad leader’s lips twitched—he knew the Imperial City Office couldn’t interfere with the guards’ routine duties, but he dared not offend them either; they all moved in the same city, and they might cross paths again anytime.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Bai Zhan said: “Who are you, to command imperial guards?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The young man on horseback didn’t even look at him, impatiently snapping: “Don’t think your Imperial City Office can control everyone! Do you even know who I am? Get out of here!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Bai Zhan said: “How audacious! The Imperial City Office acts on the Emperor’s orders, independent of court bureaus, and has authority to supervise anyone—even imperial guards. Who are you to order us to retreat?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The young man snapped: “Who am I? My father is the Right Chancellor. My uncle is the Grand Coordinator of Dingzhou Road. Does your Imperial City Office dare investigate my family? Even if you want to, you must first seek permission from Empress Dowager Gao!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Bai Zhan frowned—he was Su Zhe’s son, Su Shi’s nephew. Su Zhe was currently Minister of the Right and Vice Minister of the Menxia Bureau, among the highest ministers, and a trusted confidant of Empress Dowager Gao Taotao.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“As the son of Chancellor Su, you dare command imperial guards?” Bai Zhan’s tone turned cold.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hmph, your Imperial City Office should mind your own business. I didn’t command them—I merely reported criminals!” The young man’s eyes darted. “You’re monitoring the guards’ arrest? Are you in league with the criminals? I’ll tell my father, and he’ll petition Empress Dowager Gao to impeach you!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“How arrogant!” Bai Zhan’s face turned icy. “Do you hold any official rank to be acting alongside imperial guards?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The young man said: “Whether I hold rank or not is none of your business. If you want to know, go ask my father!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hu’er…” A voice drifted from behind Bai Zhan.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Who called me by my childhood name?” The young man on horseback shouted angrily. His given name was Su Yuan, his childhood name Hu’er—Su Zhe’s youngest son. No one outside his family dared use it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hu’er!” the voice came again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You—dare say it again?” Su Yuan’s face flushed red. He squinted carefully. The voice came from behind the Imperial City Office officer ahead.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hu’er! Get off that horse!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I… you dare say it again!” Su Yuan raged, but dared not speak out. Only elders or close friends knew his childhood name.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hu’er…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Su Yuan trembled with rage, staring hard. The moon was half-obscured by dark clouds, casting a hazy glow; everything relied on torchlight.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Behind Bai Zhan, Zhao Ti had already recognized Su Yuan. This youngest son of Su Zhe had once studied in the palace alongside Zhao Ji, and they were close.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhao Ti knew him well enough, but not fondly—he had beaten Su Yuan several times.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Su Yuan would sway his head, spouting Confucian phrases, composing flowery poems with Zhao Ji and others, and tried to drag Zhao Ti into it. Zhao Ti had no patience for their nonsense, so he beat him up.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Su Yuan never learned. Later, he brought poems to mock Zhao Ti—so Zhao Ti beat him again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After that, Su Yuan stopped coming to the palace. Word was he’d taken up weapons at home. Su Zhe scolded him, but he wouldn’t listen—he seemed determined to train hard and seek revenge.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhao Ti stepped forward slowly and said calmly: “Hu’er, I heard you’ve been training at home these past few years. Are you preparing to challenge me?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Huh?!” Su Yuan froze on his horse, then turned pale: “You—you’re Prince Yan…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Get off!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He tumbled off the horse with a thud, then seemed to want to flee—but hesitated, standing there helplessly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Did you organize the Three Parts Society? Training at home, yet forming a gang—what are you trying to do?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhao Ti snorted. The imperial guards recognized him and saluted. The squad leader stood by, inwardly cursing, too afraid to speak, head bowed, wishing he could sink into the ground.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I—I…” Su Yuan turned ashen.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Three Parts Hall? Do you want to divide Dongjing City into three? Or divide the empire?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Your Highness, I was just playing! I…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I’ll ask Chancellor Su tomorrow what you intend to do. A minister’s household produces a son like you, corrupting the family name!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Ah?” Su Yuan collapsed to his knees: “Your Highness, please don’t tell my father! He’ll kill me!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Don’t?” Zhao Ti stared at him. “Then tell me—who’s behind this?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“No one pushed me,” Su Yuan shook his head. “I heard stories outside. A new storyteller named Huo Sijiu opened a tea house at the front of the Guanyin Temple. He wrote a tale called ‘Three Parts,’ about the late Eastern Han and the rival states of Cao Wei and Shu Han. I thought the name sounded good, so I borrowed it.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Using a warhorse, forming a gang, commanding imperial guards—these aren’t crimes solved by a beating from Chancellor Su. If this reaches court, Chancellor Su will be impeached!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Ah?” Su Yuan blinked, then burst into tears: “Your Highness, please don’t let my father find out!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Then tell me—how did you form this Three Parts Society? Where did you meet those gang members?” Zhao Ti’s lips curved slightly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Your Highness, I—I… someone from Prince Duan’s retinue knew I wanted to be a martial lord. He helped arrange connections. I only provided money and backing!”\u003C\u002Fp>",1325,"2026-06-19T22:30:31.989Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","49949ac7887c83a3198ad5297da1bc585bccccbc9d075d8ae2b27e44c8445940","thirteen-years-as-king-of-the-great-song-i-learn-chapter-58","thirteen-years-as-king-of-the-great-song-i-learn-chapter-56",270,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthirteen-years-as-king-of-the-great-song-i-learn-cover.jpg"]