Chapter 26

Li Jue lay on the bed looking half-dead, while a group of concubines outside the door kept sobbing; hearing Li Jue's wife vexed, she drove them all away.

Suddenly someone outside the door announced that Jia Xu had arrived; Li Jue struggled to sit up from the bed and ordered someone to summon Jia Xu in.

Jia Xu entered with a concerned expression.

"Has the Grand Marshal felt any better?"

Li Jue coughed and waved his hand.

"I won't die yet; how's it going, is Guo Aduo still fighting with us?"

Jia Xu laughed and said.

"Congratulations, Grand Marshal; Guo Si has already been defeated and fled, now he has fewer than a dozen followers and cannot leave Chang'an. From now on, the Grand Marshal has no rival in the court."

Li Jue shook his head and said.

"How is the young emperor? I have already sent Li Xian over."

Jia Xu shook his head and said.

"I don't know that; matters concerning His Majesty are of great importance; the Grand Marshal should now go out to pacify the people; my Western Liang Army must not be placed under Liu Bei's control."

"Ah, forget it, we just have this toilsome fate! Liu Bei has made great contributions this time; he should be given some rewards."

Li Jue got up, dressed himself, and ordered Jia Xu to dispatch a detachment of troops to escort him into the palace; Jia Xu then summoned several hundred soldiers to provide the escort.

While on the carriage, Li Jue saw a general outside wielding a flower-patterned great axe, his bearing imposing, and he curiously asked.

"Whose subordinate are you? I've never seen you before."

Xu Huang glanced straight ahead and casually replied.

"I am a newcomer to the court; previously I was just a rough-and-tumble martial artist from the jianghu, not worth mentioning."

Li Jue felt delighted, thinking he could now claim dominance; even such a formidable general had come to rely on him—what great undertaking could fail?

"Work hard; promotion and titles will surely come your way!"

While Li Jue was feeling pleased, unbeknownst to him, people had already set their sights on him in the alleys surrounding the street—several pairs of eyes.

After Guo Si's defeat, the more he thought about it, the angrier he became; at this point two of his subordinates suggested assassinating Li Jue, and these two soldiers asserted that Li Jue would certainly go out to pacify the people, so all they needed to do was intercept and kill him.

Guo Si was naturally slow-witted, and now his mind was in turmoil, so he failed to grasp the twists and turns of the situation.

These two were members of Jia Xu's Dark Net; earlier Jia Xu had already planted them beside Guo Si, and Jia Xu had long prepared to let Guo Si go in order to assassinate Li Jue. Now, faced with a dilemma, Guo Si simply made up his mind and followed this plan.

Just as Li Jue lowered the curtain, several cold arrows suddenly struck, piercing the Grand Marshal like a sieve; Li Jue died on the spot without even uttering a cry.

"Hahaha, Li Jue, you villain, you dared to fight me—I'll kill you!"

Guo Si burst out laughing, while not far away Xu Huang and Jia Xu exchanged a knowing smile. Immediately Xu Huang shouted toward the source of the cold arrows.

"Guo Si, you villain, actually sneak-attacked the Grand Marshal—come, follow me to capture Guo Aduo and avenge the Grand Marshal!"

Guo Si was startled; just as he prepared to climb over the wall and flee, the two personal guards blocked his path.

Guo Si flew into a rage, about to curse, when Xu Huang had already galloped up before him; in Guo Si's eyes of shock and despair, Xu Huang swung his axe at his head.

Guo Si's terrified expression was forever frozen at that moment; his weasel-headed, mouse-eyed head traced an arc in the air before crashing heavily to the ground.

Thus the era of the Western Liang Army drew to a close, and with its history of sweeping across the Central Plains vanished, these chaotic-age villains, Li Jue and Guo Si.

The next day, Emperor Xian of Han lavishly praised and rewarded Liu Bei at court, while all the civil and military officials congratulated each other, every face wreathed in smiles.

Yang Biao took Liu Bei's hand before the court and laughed.

"Xuan De, I have long believed you could save our Han dynasty from fire and water; now is the time for you to soar to great heights, and you can well repay the emperor's favor. Figures like Dong Zhuo and Li Jue will ultimately be condemned by the common people for ten thousand generations."

Liu Bei's face was full of smiles, yet in his heart he felt a hint of dissatisfaction toward the old fox—this old fox must be afraid he'd become a second Dong Zhuo!

"Senior Grand Commandant, you are a mainstay of the court; from now on I hope you will continue to support me."

Yang Biao stroked his beard in satisfaction; the young man is neither arrogant nor impatient, and though he assists the state he does not boast of his merits—excellent, excellent!

The civil and military officials in the court formed two lines; at this moment Liu Bei stood proudly at the forefront of the military ranks.

In Chang'an, aside from Liu Bei's 30,000 submitted troops and 5,000 Snow Dragon Cavalry, Yang Feng had already completely succumbed to Liu Bei's monetary offensive; Li Jue's 40,000 Western Liang troops were entirely purged by Jia Xu and his men, while Guo Si's forces numbered about 20,000 and all surrendered, whereupon Liu Bei fully grasped command of Chang'an's entire military.

Meanwhile, the former General of the Valiant Cavalry Zhang Ju now felt anxious and uneasy, and his nephew Zhang Tou said.

"Uncle, why are you like this? We were never close to Li Jue and Guo Si, which is why we were posted outside; their wicked deeds we have hardly ever participated in, and I've heard Liu Bei is a benevolent and righteous ruler, so you need not worry too much."

Not long after, indeed that short, plump middle-aged strategist with a perpetually smiling face appeared in their camp, conveying Liu Bei's intention to accept surrender and also giving Zhang Ju a generous amount of money and grain.

Zhang Ju's Western Liang troops had long been marginalized by other Western Liang factions, and moreover had always been caught between the forces of Cao Cao and Ma Teng, constantly lacking provisions and weapons.

Liu Bei's goodwill toward him at this time was undoubtedly a timely relief, so Zhang Ju readily led his 20,000 Western Liang troops to surrender to Liu Bei.

Now Chang'an, as the capital, could no longer satisfy the political needs of this weakened court; just as Liu Bei and Jia Xu were discussing whether to relocate the capital, a letter from Mi Zhu upset Liu Bei's plans.

The letter contained only fourteen characters, yet it was of great importance.

"Tao Gong is gravely ill; Lu Bu intends to seize Xuzhou; you must return swiftly."

Upon reading it, Liu Bei inwardly cursed, "Holy shit!" He had almost forgotten that Lu Bu, that three-surnamed lackey, was a threat; Xuzhou could now be said to be his foundation, and he absolutely could not lose it!

Thus Liu Bei arranged in court for Yang Feng to lead the Feathered Forest Guard to remain behind, and at the same time transferred Zhang Ju and Zhang Tou to Chang'an to serve as a check.

After Liu Bei had settled everything, he set out to take his leave of the young emperor; the young emperor, though reluctant to part, also felt a faint excitement, for after all this was the first time he had ever been completely let go by someone.

"Can I finally be independent?"