Chapter 22: Chang'an Amidst the Chaos

Compared with the historic great battle between Li Jue and Guo Si, this chaos in Chang'an started much earlier, and although Tao Qian is now old and gravely ill, he still clings to life. At this moment Lu Bu is still battling Cao Mengde in Yanzhou; Lu Bu fights six of Cao's generals at Puyang, and for a time the Cao army spreads rumors that Lu Bu is a celestial being.

The Cao army and Lu Bu's troops gathered beneath Dingtao City; Lu Bu's senior general Cheng Lian was killed by a single arrow from Le Jin, and Lu Bu's cavalry suffered heavy losses. Chen Gong and Gao Shun protected Lu Bu's family and fled the encirclement, Zhang Chao, seeing his forces collapse like a mountain, slit his own throat, and Zhang Miao went to join Yuan Shu.

From then on the whole of Shandong fell to Cao Cao, while Lu Bu and Chen Gong escaped to a secluded forest to camp, discussing how to turn defeat into victory.

In Chang'an City, Li Jue sent his nephew Li Xian to seize Emperor Xian of Han and the palace concubines, and at that moment Liu Xie, upon hearing the news, was terrified; the young Emperor Xian trembled in Empress Fu's arms.

The beautiful Empress Fu wept and comforted the young emperor.

"Your Majesty need not worry excessively; the uncle is in the city now, so he will not let the two thieves Li Jue and Guo Si bully us."

Even so, Empress Fu still felt uneasy. In an instant, the palace erupted with chaotic shouts as Li Xian rode in with his men, laughing loudly on his horse, and ordered his troops to assault the palace gates.

Li Xian intended to seize the emperor and take him back to the Western Liang, for who wouldn't want to become a power‑holder like Dong Zhuo? As for the uncle—if he pleases later, we can keep him as Grand Marshal.

Just as Li Xian's forces were about to smash the gate with a battering ram, Yang Feng rode his warhorse leading his elite Feathered Forest Guards to charge.

"Traitor, how dare you besiege the palace gates? Does your uncle know how treasonous you are!"

Li Xian shouted arrogantly, pointing his spear at Yang Feng.

"Yang Feng, get out of my way; my uncle sent me to protect Your Majesty. The rogue Guo Si's troops are charging—are your ten thousand Feathered Guards enough to fight them?"

"Then come and try it yourself!"

Yang Feng, whose combat power was 60, let out a shout, lifted his long spear and spurred his horse toward Li Xian, whose combat power was 63; Li Xian raised his spear to meet him, and the two clashed back and forth.

After a dozen or so rounds, the chubby Yang Feng was panting, while the young, strong Li Xian seemed far more at ease.

"What are you watching for? Attack!"

Yang Feng shouted, and his Feathered Guards rushed forward to clash with the Western Liang troops under Li Xian, but his poorly trained guards could not match the tiger‑like Western Liang soldiers.

Nevertheless, the Feathered Guards numbered over ten thousand, and their numerical advantage prevented an immediate collapse. Meanwhile, Guo Si's side thought alike: the Western Liang Army had roamed the Central Plains in recent years, a fact inseparable from their political advantage—namely, the presence of Emperor Xian.

Thus, whenever chaos erupted, they immediately aimed to seize Emperor Xian as a political banner; after Guo Si's forces stormed the palace gate and found a fight already underway, the muscle‑bound Western Liang troops joined in without hesitation.

When the troops asked whom they were fighting, a leading general under Guo Si bellowed

"Attack everyone! Kill them all!"

Thus the three sides' forces launched a massive battle, and at the palace entrance blood flowed like a river amid endless wails.

Liu Bei deployed over ten thousand of his troops to occupy the twelve gates of Chang'an, stationing about a thousand loyal soldiers at each gate. Guo Si, wishing to move the garrison outside the city into the inner city, sent more than thirty thousand men to attack the gates in rotation.

Guo Si himself led over twenty thousand men toward Li Jue's mansion, where Liu Bei and the Western Liang generals under Li Jue met. Guo Si shouted

"Liu Da'er, what are your ulterior motives in meddling with my Western Liang troops?"

Liu Bei sneered

"Guo A Duo, you poisoned the Grand Marshal yourself, and now you still dare to bite people here! Troops, avenge the Grand Marshal—kill!"

Li Jue's men were filled with righteous indignation, shouting that Guo A Duo, that dog, was trying to steal their livelihood!

Thus the beard‑bearded Western Liang troops under Li Jue surged forward to clash with Guo Si's forces; Li Jue's men held the advantage, while Liu Bei and Zhang Fei seized the chance to make reckless follow‑up attacks.

San Ye, seeing the sneaky Guo Si directing troops from behind the crowd, spat on the ground and said to Liu Bei

"Brother, I'll go capture that little mouse Guo Si, you watch your own safety."

With that, San Ye brandished his eight‑foot snake spear, slashing away many of Guo Si's junior officers as he charged straight at Guo Si.

Guo Si, startled, drew a bow from his horse and fired a cold arrow at San Ye.

San Ye was pinning a soldier with his spear when an arrow whizzed toward him; he quickly scooped up a Western Liang foot soldier from the ground to shield himself.

"Swoosh!"

Accompanied by the soldier's scream, the arrow lodged deep in his rear; Zhang Fei snorted and tossed the soldier to the ground.

Although San Ye evaded the arrow, his black‑mane horse's momentum was halted, and Guo Si, seeing the demonic‑like Zhang Fei nearby, was shaken with fear.

Guo Si then discarded his bow, ordered his close troops to cover his retreat, and his army fell into chaos, fleeing in a rout behind his horse's rear.

Liu Bei seized the moment, brandishing his double‑edged sword, and shouted at the troops behind him

"Soldiers, charge! Capture the rebel Guo Si! Whoever decapitates him, I, Liu Bei, will recommend him as a ten‑thousand‑household marquis!"

Almost every man under Li Jue's command had shining eyes, howling as they rushed toward Guo Si, whom they saw as a moving official's hat atop a horse.

San Ye surged ahead on his prized black‑mane horse, leading the charge; Guo Si's trailing troops, seeing this formation, were instantly demoralized, and Guo Si's forces suffered heavy casualties, with only a little over ten thousand survivors fleeing to the camp.

In Chang'an, fear gripped the populace; residents shut their doors, while the once‑bustling streets ran red with blood and littered with corpses.