Chapter 134

“Can a strategist not ascend to the throne?”

Chapter 134: The Fate of the Imperial Seal

Li Ru just got thrown off his horse and landed with a thud, feeling like his legs had shattered along with his pride. Staring at Qiao Yan, he saw her raise a hand, telling the troops chasing behind not to worry about her and to keep pushing forward. She held her spear with more steadiness, making it clear he had no chance to escape.

Of course, when Li Ru fell, Dong Zhuo’s cronies turned around to save him, but they were no match for the fierce soldiers under Qiao Yan’s command, who promptly knocked them off their horses.

After taking a beating in this chaotic rush, it dawned on them—if they had any sense, staying to sacrifice themselves for a strategical mastermind already doomed was ridiculous; they should just run.

Li Ru was crying out internally.

What was this Marquis of Leping thinking, anyway? Why was she fixated on him?

From the words “Where’s Mr. Wenyou going?”, Li Ru could tell Qiao Yan’s intentions were anything but accidental.

“Why does the Marquis ask so many questions?” he replied, knowing he was heading towards Chang’an with Dong Zhuo’s fleeing group.

“Dong the Thief has plenty of subordinates. Capturing him, one by one, is no short order for me. But if you slip away, with that brain of yours, who knows what trouble you might stir up in Chang’an?” Qiao Yan grinned. “While Dong’s in a poor spot, he still listens to advice. Don’t let you get away!”

Anyone could leave, but Li Ru couldn’t!

Qiao Yan wanted both eastern and western courts, not for Dong Zhuo, after this disaster, to regain control with Li Ru’s help and whip Chang’an into shape.

That would totally undermine her vision.

Successfully stopping Li Ru lifted Qiao Yan’s spirits a bit. Just then, Sun Ce caught up, and she nodded at him. “You’re the son of Sun Wentai?”

Sun Ce was a year younger than her, still not yet a full-grown adult, but in a time like this, someone with his skills and leadership wouldn’t waste time but should be out in the field.

The sight of the young man on his horse was impressive—the name “Eastern Sun” totally fit him.

But right now, Sun Jian was still with Yuan Shu, the Prefect of Changsha; so he couldn’t be called the Eastern Sun—maybe just “Changsha Sun.”

Seeing that Zu Mao, who had just clashed with Qiao Yan’s Zhang Liao, had separated their forces, Sun Ce didn’t insist on pursuing and halted to glance at Li Ru.

What special talent did this strategist have that made Qiao Yan value him so highly?

Sun Ce would never admit he was still a little prickly after that insult of “fool” earlier.

But noticing Qiao Yan seemed unfazed by the blunder, he figured it wasn’t worth dwelling on. He replied, “Indeed, I’m Sun Ce, my father is Sun Changsha.”

When they charged towards Luoyang, given their speed breaking through the Tai Pass, Sun Ce assumed they’d be the first there.

But upon arrival, they found Dong Min was already gathering the troops at the South Gate, preparing to retreat.

Sun Ce, still inexperienced in battles, took a leaf from his father Sun Jian’s intuitive playbook.

He quickly deduced that Dong Zhuo’s forces must have suffered a defeat and were now retreating.

Whether it was Lu Zhi and Yuan Shao’s group or the Bingzhou lord from the north didn’t matter—all that counted was striking while the iron was hot!

Of course, when encountering Qiao Yan’s Bingzhou troops, Sun Ce couldn’t help but wonder how she crossed that mighty Yellow River.

But Qiao Yan clearly wasn’t in the mood to explain anything right now.

Seeing Sun Jian carving a bloody path through Dong Zhuo’s rear guard towards them, Qiao Yan promptly ordered guards to keep an eye on Li Ru and send him to where Lü Bu and Xu Rong were, ensuring he wasn’t mistreated. Then, she joined forces with Sun Jian to chase westward with unyielding speed.

Five years ago in Changshe, Sun Jian knew Qiao Yan was brilliant, but seeing her lead troops today, he finally understood how she earned her reputation as a talented governor.

This striking Marquis of Leping left a strong impression on him, and he couldn’t help but cheer in his heart.

Since he’d arrived later than Qiao Yan, as they sped forward, he asked, “May I ask, Marquis, what’s the situation in Luoyang now?”

On the wind came Qiao Yan’s response: “Dong Zhuo’s Middle General Niu Fu has been killed by my troops. Xu Rong has surrendered to me. During our pursuit, we engaged with a rogue unit from Dong Zhuo and our chances look good. The North Palace is on fire, and Dong Zhuo has fled with your Majesty. His remaining direct subordinates are few. We must pursue and save the Emperor from this villain!”

“But be careful, the Prince of Hongnong isn’t with Dong Zhuo’s group, and he could very well have fallen into enemy hands! We must ensure nothing happens to His Majesty!”

She needed to be explicit at this moment.

Both Sun Jian and Sun Ce were fierce tigers, and within their ranks were many capable warriors. If she didn’t warn these two, and Dong Zhuo by chance ended up with too few soldiers, they could easily get ambushed from behind; this once-in-a-lifetime situation could slip away from them.

Qiao Yan’s caution was understandable given she hadn’t directly entered the North Palace in Luoyang to conclude that the Prince of Hongnong had met a misfortune at Dong Zhuo’s hands!

No fault there!

Sun Jian replied, “Rest assured, Marquis, I have everything under control.”

In reality, even without Qiao Yan limiting the pursuit forces, catching up to Dong Zhuo wouldn’t be a cakewalk.

Duan Wei was already en route to Chang’an under Dong Zhuo’s orders, cultivating the land around Huayin while connecting with family members supposed to head to Luoyang, but the men left behind to guard Hangu Pass were still available to back up Dong Zhuo.

When Qiao Yan arrived at Hangu Pass, she noticed Zhang Liao had regained control but could now only catch a glimpse of the last rider from Dong Zhuo’s party fading into the distance.

She realized catching up to Dong Zhuo was almost impossible now.

Many of Dong Zhuo’s elite troops rode the swift Xiliang steeds, which outpaced her Bingzhou mounts and were considerably faster than the ones used by Sun Jian’s group. The distance was widening quickly.

Zhang Liao bowed in apology, “It was my inadequacy that allowed the Thief to escape…”

“No need for such words,” Qiao Yan interrupted, gazing towards Hangu Pass. As a critical boundary between the Central Plains and the East, it wasn’t surprising Dong Zhuo had a backup plan left there. “As long as you’re safe, it’s all that matters. You bear no blame.”

Dong Zhuo’s retreat to Chang’an was inevitable, but the responsibility shouldn’t fall on the front-line pursuer like Zhang Liao.

If the troops from Xuanmen Pass had arrived on time as Sun Jian did, Dong Zhuo would never have had such opportunities to barge through Luoyang, twirling around alleys to shake off his pursuers.

After all, they sprinted back and forth from Hangu Pass, and even on the official road, they didn’t return to Luoyang until the next day—

But the troops from Xuanmen Pass still hadn’t arrived!

If not them, then who should take the blame?

It certainly wasn’t Qiao Yan, the first to arrive, who caused the problem!

She and Sun Jian, Sun Ce directly marched into the palace gates.

The fire that had erupted in the North Palace had long been extinguished. Although it hadn’t burned down as much as the great fire in the Southern Palace, for Sun Ce, being the first to step into Luoyang’s North Palace, it couldn’t help but evoke a sense of sighing.

If this place hadn’t been scorched by fire, who knows what kind of glorious scene it would have been.

It was now the morning of the second day of the siege on Luoyang, with the sun rising from the southeast, casting a golden glow upon the palace rooftops. If you overlooked the parts that had been burned and those damaged by the soldiers’ fighting, you could still vaguely see the remnants of the Han dynasty’s grandeur.

Unfortunately, the Han emperor, residing in these northern and southern palaces, had already tasted the hardships of this declining dynasty.

Qiao Yan retrieved her gaze from the surroundings and saw Empress Dong walking towards them.

Dong Zhuo’s actions of tracing back to his family made him fearless when entering the court, but respected Empress Dong. This lady, who should actually be addressed as the Grand Empress Dowager, had already shown some signs of weariness following yesterday’s shock.

She was merely holding herself together as someone helped her walk out. Hearing that Qiao Yan and the others had pursued Dong Zhuo back, she hurried to greet them.

But when she looked in Qiao Yan’s direction, not seeing Liu Xie, she realized her one-day wait had apparently come to nothing.

Still clinging to a flicker of hope, she asked, “May I inquire where Your Majesty is?”

Qiao Yan bowed in reply, “Your Majesty was taken by the bandit Dong and has gone straight to Chang’an, but please rest assured, Empress Dowager, once we gather our forces, we will definitely head to Chang’an to retrieve Your Majesty.”

Empress Dong shuddered at these words and weakly waved her hand, “Lord Qiao, you’ve worked hard; please go rest for now.”

She had endured the passing of her husband and son, and had faced many storms.

In the first year of Xiping, with the death of Emperor Huan’s wife, Empress Dou, she finally became the rightful Empress Dowager as Liu Hong’s mother, raising her son Liu Xie at her knee, thinking it would be the end of her sufferings. But who would have thought…

Chang’an? Attacking Chang’an wasn’t going to be that easy!

The distance between Luoyang and Chang’an was a whopping eight hundred li!

Even if she didn’t understand military matters, she knew that such a distance couldn’t be traversed in a day or two. By the time Dong Zhuo solidified his footing in Chang’an, he could dispatch troops from Liangzhou, effectively establishing an impenetrable barrier.

At this moment, she deeply regretted her past actions for Liu Hong, selling offices and accepting bribes to curry favor with those aiming to twist networks of influence.

Now, this money was barely enough to sustain the march, yet it might have even diminished Liu Xie’s fate!

Seeing the Empress Dowager wandering off towards Yongle Palace in a daze after hearing that, Qiao Yan couldn’t help but shake her head.

The power struggle with Empress He back in the day had likely drained this Empress Dowager’s strength; she should have passed away by now, and it seemed she was nearing her limit.

Qiao Yan felt little sympathy for her, especially considering the many questionable actions she had taken while in the position of Empress Dowager. She then turned to Zhao Yun and asked, “What’s the situation in Luoyang?”

There had been so many sudden changes in Luoyang yesterday that it was overwhelming.

Zhao Yun could only hit the highlights, starting with the North Palace fire that Qiao Yan was most interested in. “That fire was set by members of the Yuan clan, with the goal of rescuing Prince Hongnong.”