On September 23, the defenders in Luoyang City fulfilled their agreement and opened three city gates on the east side of Luoyang in the morning to lure the troops of Jiangdu into the city.

Jiangdu's troops are in great momentum. Although it is known to have a large army of 100,000, there are only 6,000 or 7,000 soldiers and horses. Many rebels are mixed together, wanting to take advantage of the troubled waters when entering Luoyang City.

The first batch of Jiangdu soldiers entered Luoyang City before noon. After the troops entered the city, they immediately controlled the gates and palaces of Luoyang, summoned the military generals garrisoned in the city to talk and take over the defense.

At the same time, Luoyang City's streets were martial law, and the people were not allowed to go out privately. Even the city gates were closed first. The rebels who wanted to take advantage of the troubled waters to enter Luoyang City to burn, kill and loot could only stare outside Luoyang City.

Luoyang City was originally almost in a state of unpreparedness. After the Jiangdu soldiers entered the city, the defense of each city gate was strengthened, and the Martial Defense Department was temporarily established to coordinate the soldiers and horses in the city. In fact, the Jiangdu soldiers were also waiting for the arrival of more important generals. As the highest commander sent by Han Jian to meet Luoyang, the cavalry led by Zhang Xing had already arrived at the Luoyang City. With Zhang Xing's 10,000 soldiers as a backing, Luoyang City could be stable in a short period of time.

From September 23 to the end of September, people in the city were panicked. First, Yang Yu plotted rebellion, and then rebels plotted chaos. In the past few months, the outer city of Luoyang was upside down by the rebels. At this time, there were still ruins everywhere. As the center of northern politics, Luoyang was no longer prosperous in the past in this year. When the troops entered Jiangdu, even if martial law was not required, the streets were still desolate.

At this time, the people who were most worried about their destiny in the city were not the people in the city. After all, the people just wanted to live a stable life. Who would come to rule? As long as they were not plundering, burning and killing, it had nothing to do with them. At this time, the city did not flee with Yang Yu. Those who participated in Yang Yu's rebellion or who were later accused of rebellion felt that the deadline was approaching, and before the troops of Jiangdu entered the city, the city guards had searched the residences of some important officials in the city in exchange. Some officials of the Yang Yu faction were also imprisoned, waiting for the ruling of Jiangdu's ruling.

Although Luoyang City had been "restored" between September 23 and September, the actual person in power was only a general in the Eastern Palace, named Han Qi. In the huge Luoyang City, Han Qi was like an emperor, and could issue orders at will. His series of orders also made him feel his arbitrary behavior, including blocking the rebels who were waiting for a share of the pie in Luoyang City, including sending troops to occupy the palace, including not caring about political affairs, allowing refugees in the city to be displaced and only caring about martial law.

In Luoyang City, everyone knew that no one could make the decision yet, and everyone was afraid that Han Qi would become the second Yang Yu, so they would make themselves emperor while they were not in charge of Luoyang City. By then, Luoyang City would be completely in a doomed place.

But on September 27, after Zhang Xing, an important general of the Eastern Prince's Mansion, arrived in Luoyang City, people's worries gradually lifted.

When Zhang Xing led his troops to Luoyang City, the troops of the Northern King's Mansion were only 200 miles away from Luoyang and would reach Luoyang City at any time.

After Zhang Xing arrived in Luoyang, the first thing he did was to send troops to take over the counties and counties around Luoyang, and use this as a basis to prepare to compete with the murderous Northern King Army.

Subsequently, Zhang Xing made a series of measures to calm the people, which were released in the name of the Dongwang Mansion, announcing that Luoyang City was still loyal to the empress, and the country's name was still Yuanfeng, which was the sixth year of Yuanfeng. Originally, Yang Yu's Longning reign did not exist, and everything would restore the old system of the empress when she was in power. For officials who participated in Yang Yu's rebellion, those who were detained were temporarily sent back to the mansion to be under house arrest. Those who were not detained would not blame him.

Zhang Xing posted a list of officials in the city that those who were ruthless but woke up in time were not guilty. But they should think about their own mistakes. For a time, many officials submitted their "repentance" to the Military Defense Department's yamen in order to obtain mercy.

After Zhang Xing arrived, the martial law in the city was lifted immediately, but the gates of Luoyang were closed and the list was posted to inform the war was about to come. A series of "mobs" who responded to the royal army were temporarily placed in several counties around Luoyang. According to Han Jian's intention, these soldiers and horses were always a disaster around Luoyang and had to gradually divide and disintegrate. These "100,000 troops" had to be gradually disbanded. They could not damage the stability of Luoyang City when the Northern King's Army and the Western King's Army arrived at Luoyang City.

The measures implemented by Zhang Xing also included relief to the people displaced due to war in the city and helping the people in the outer city to rebuild their homes. However, this part of the matter was just to say it on paper, but the progress in resettlement was slow. The main reason was that Luoyang City was insufficient supplies and Yang Yu fled north, not because he did not want to preserve the throne, but because Luoyang City was full of holes and was already in turmoil. Luoyang City was already a mess, and Yang Yu threw it to the Dongwang Mansion, and wanted to withdraw himself earlier and protect himself.

The city was extremely scarce, and relying solely on military food and supplies was not enough to appease refugees. At this time, the war was approaching, and Luoyang City had to block the city gate and isolate it from the outside world. At this time, the materials were allocated from Jiangdu to the mountains and rivers, and it was beyond reach. The original wealthy merchants in the city were either plundered by the rebels or forcibly recruited by Yang Yu's party, and everyone in the city was waiting for the response. Now the soldiers of the Eastern Prince's Mansion came over and wanted to support hundreds of thousands of people in Luoyang at once, and they were unable to support them.

On September 28, the vanguard of the Northern King's Mansion was less than fifty miles away from Luoyang. Luoyang City became nervous immediately. Many people seemed to have to face new wars before they had forgotten the shadow of the rebels' rampage.

At this time, the troops sent by the Dongwang Mansion had already begun to approach Luoyang. Judging from all the signs, the Dongwang Mansion was determined to protect Luoyang City.

...

...

On September 26, in the Xiwang Mansion of the Xidu, the Western King Yang Pingju had just received a notice from Jiangdu. This coincided with the information he had obtained before, that is, the troops of Jiangdu had entered Luoyang City and restored the imperial capital.

Yang Pingju was very angry. The mantis stalked the cicada and the oriole was behind him. He thought that the Eastern Palace was seriously injured after the Battle of Jiangdu, and was no longer enough to compete with the Western Palace. Therefore, in terms of arrangement strategy, he chose to eliminate the Southern Palace first and then occupy Luoyang. Who knew that before Yuzhou was captured, Jiangdu sent troops on both sides, and on the same side, he sent troops to Yuzhou, and actually sent troops to attack Luoyang behind his back, and it was even successful.

"Yang Yu'er, is he so cowardly. He has abandoned the imperial city for thousands of years?"

Yang Pingju was still angry. The Western Prince's Mansion also sent troops to fight Luoyang before, but Yang Yu had no intention of fleeing north to surrender Luoyang City. However, as soon as the Eastern Prince's Mansion left, less than 10,000 troops. Cooperating with a group of miscellaneous soldiers, Yang Yu was scared away.

Originally, Luoyang City was in the hands of whom. It didn't matter much, so Yang Pingju made preparations for gradual erosion. After pacifying Xiliang, the Xiwangfu had been preparing for this battle for more than ten years, with sufficient food, supplies and troops. Before, the Xiwangfu occupied the land of Guanzhong in one fell swoop. Guanzhong's granary was in hand, and he could attack and retreat or defend. Even if Luoyang City was fighting for blood, it would not affect Guanzhong at all.

Originally, Yang Pingju felt that even if the Eastern Palace occupied Luoyang, as long as the Yuzhou was conquered first, all problems would be solved. At that time, the Western Palace's troops took the opportunity to enter Jiangdu east, and the Eastern Palace's troops had to withdraw from Luoyang, and the Luoyang problem would be solved. Who knew that at this time, the Northern Palace could not help but think that the potato he got could not be given to others, so he actually withdrew his troops to Luoyang first. This made the Western Palace's front very embarrassed in the Yuzhou front. It might be possible to attack Yuzhou, but the Eastern Palace's troops were eyeing the south of Yuzhou. Could it be that the Eastern Palace would still be able to get the advantage again?

After receiving the announcement from Jiangdu, Yang Pingju immediately summoned some generals from the Western Prince's Mansion to discuss countermeasures with his advisers.

Yang Ping raised his commands and had many talented people. He asked himself that his troops were powerful and had the ability to conquer the world. These people were also his loyal ministers who were ready to conquer the north and the north, and he could be said to have won him all his heart.

When the generals and strategists entered the Western Prince's Mansion, they saw Yang Ping's face full of evil spirits. They knew that the rumors that Jiangdu sent troops to attack Luoyang had already settled. The thousand-year-old capital Luoyang fell into the hands of the Eastern Prince's Mansion, and the Eastern Prince's Mansion occupied the right time, place and people. After all, Jiang had an empress. The empress was the orthodox royal family of the Wei Dynasty and the people were now in the eyes of the people.

"This is an edict drawn by the Eastern Prince's Mansion on behalf of Tian. Look!" Yang Pingju threw the proclamation from Jiangdu directly on the table.

When the generals and counselors next to him saw it, they knew how disdainful Yang Pingju was about the edict. Even if he gave the edict, he had just drawn up an edict on behalf of the heavens of the East Prince's Mansion. It was clearly stated that Jiangdu used the emperor to respect himself and was preparing to use it to threaten the Western Prince's Mansion.

The generals and counselors read the remarks from Jiangdu. In the remarks, the Eastern Palace, in the name of the Queen, ordered the Western Palace to serve the king and seek rebellion. The rebellion was Yang Yu, who fled to the Northern Palace, and also characterized the Northern Palace as a rebellion to assist the evildoer. Before this change, Jiangdu and the Northern Palace signed a ceasefire agreement. Everyone felt that this was a bit "overestimating one's ability" after occupying Luoyang City.

"How do you... see?" Yang Ping raised his eyes to everyone and asked coldly.

"Return to the lord, according to the ministers, this is the best time for our soldiers in Xidu to capture Luoyang. The Eastern Palace had just sent troops to Luoyang. Even if the new emperor fled north and left an empty city, the Eastern Palace would be occupied by the Eastern Palace, the Eastern Palace would be unstable. After all, the Eastern Palace's main troops were in Yuzhou. At this time, our army withdrew, and the Eastern Palace would inevitably withdraw from Luoyang and capture Yuzhou with all its strength. Luoyang is within reach."

The spoken strategist named Li Yu, who is considered to be a person Yang Pingju is not very popular on weekdays. But Li Yu is his in-laws and has a good prestige in the army.

"Nonsense." Yang Ping raised his voice and said coldly, "The child surnamed Han sent 60,000 troops to Yuzhou, thinking that he was going to attack Yuzhou? Turning his face, he would help Yang Luochuan attack our camp. If he withdraws troops at this time, it will not fulfill his wish. At that time, the Southern Palace and the Eastern Palace will send troops north at the same time. Not only will Luoyang City not be able to take over, but even the land in Guandong will be under his control.

Even if the Eastern Prince's Mansion and the Southern Prince's Mansion are fighting in Yuzhou, isn't there any other son of Yang Ke? Do you think he would let go of this fat bite in Luoyang City?"

Li Yu stopped talking. Although he was not welcomed, he always wanted to prove himself. But at this time he also heard the meaning of Yang Pingju's words, that is, the troops in Yuzhou could not retreat first, and as for Luoyang, they could not fight, but had to solve the Yuzhou problem first.

"Lord, what are your assignments? Why not just send us to do it directly. Whether it is to attack Yuzhou or Luoyang, it is just a main attack."

The speaker was very young, named Li Dai, who also had the surname Li, and was also Yang Pingju's in-laws. Li Dai was appreciated by Yang Pingju on weekdays, believing that Li Dai was brave and resourceful, able to lead troops to the front line, and obeyed his orders very well, and was the best young talented person. He was also planning to marry his young daughter to Li Dai and win over him.

"That's it. That king... sent Li Duwei to lead 50,000 troops to Yuzhou and conquer Yuzhou in one fell swoop!" Yang Ping raised his hand and slapped the table, saying as if he was showing his mighty power.

The generals under his command first took the order, but they were also wondering in their hearts. Since the Western King had a conclusion, why should we summon his subordinates to discuss it? Instead, let Li Dai "show his face" in front of Yang Pingju. It was just a timely manner to flatter him. At this moment, Li Dai changed from a commander-in-chief to the level of the commander-in-chief, and brought 50,000 troops out for the conquest. Once Yuzhou City was taken, wouldn't Li Dai become a general in one step?

Yuzhou is already in danger. If the Eastern Palace does not help but fight with more than 100,000 troops, the Western Palace will be fully equipped with food, grass and supplies, and it will be conquered in less than a month. Everyone can't help but have some "eye" towards Li Dai. Isn't this just for others to pick it up for nothing? Just because he is "can speak"?

Some people couldn't help but think in their hearts that it would be better for Jiangdu soldiers and horse Li Dai to take the initiative and make him come back in a mess, and see who can still protect him!

...

...

On September 28, in the palace of the Nanwangfu of Yuzhou, Yang Luochuan found Huang Shilang, the Marquis of Zhennan, and said that there was an urgent matter to discuss.

"My father-in-law, this is a secret letter sent by Mr. Dou from Jiangdu. Let's take a look first." Yang Luochuan directly handed a secret letter to Huang Shilang.

Huang Shilang took the secret letter and sighed: "The King of the East is so resolute. It seems that the rumors in Luoyang are ten. How is the Southern King ready to deal with it? Do you really want to go to Jiangdu in person?"

Yang Luochuan sighed, "This is exactly what I worry about the most. I don't believe that the East King dares to do anything to me, but as soon as I leave, the West King's Mansion will attack the city at any time, and the Jiangdu will be eyeing it. If the East King's Mansion just wants to transfer the tiger away from the mountain, then Yuzhou will be in danger."

Huang Shilang nodded and said, "But the troops of the Northern King's Mansion have retreated. There has been no movement in the Xidu military camp these days. It seems that they are waiting for news from Luoyang. If the Southern King wants to go, they will take advantage of these days. If I have an old man in Yuzhou, the Southern King can rest assured."

Yang Luochuan thought about it and nodded at last, but seemed to sigh a little, "Now the royal family is in vain. The Yang family's lineage is insignificant. Whether it is the Western King or the Northern King, it is considered to have an explanation for the ancestors of the Yang family. Only the Han family cannot be allowed to steal the country and become independent. I don't know if I can come back when I go."

Huang Shilang naturally heard that Yang Luochuan didn’t want to go, but in this situation, Yang Luochuan would not go, and the difficulties in Yuzhou could not be resolved.

"The King of Southern is safe. The King of Eastern is young and energetic after all. Now the King of Eastern Palace is booming. However, there are staff members behind the scenes to help, and several princesses from the Prince of Eastern Palace are responsible for the situation. When he is 100% wings in the future, he will definitely be stubborn and self-righteous. Why worry about his independence?"

Yang Luochuan smiled helplessly, and Huang Shilang's words seemed to be comforting himself. Now the Eastern Palace has taken the lead everywhere. Even if the Eastern Palace has the weakest reserves of troops, it can be prosperous in such a chaotic world.

"This can only be said that the Eastern Palace has its own unique features." Yang Luochuan sighed last and said, "The news just came from Guanzhong that the Western King was preparing to send troops to continue to attack our Yuzhou. This time, Li Dai was sent, with 40,000 to 50,000 troops, and they were all elite soldiers and generals."

Huang Shilang sneered: "The King of Westernization is so angry that he is angry. On the one hand, he is beating my Yuzhou, but he handed over Luoyang to the Eastern Prince's Mansion. He is naturally unwilling to accept it and sent troops to fight. I guess, Yuzhou is the next one, he is not going to take Luoyang, but to take Jiangdu straight."

"Jiangdu?" Yang Luochuan laughed and said as if he was self-deprecating, "In this way, Yuzhou and Jiangdu are all sick."

...

...

On September 29th, Xiao Ling and Zhu Tongjing entered the teahouse one after another.

At this time, the Southern Opera was being performed in the big teahouse. The first and second floors of the teahouse were crowded with guests, and the actors on the stage were performing with all their hearts. No one would notice the "big figure" coming from the door.

Xiao Ling was just wearing an ordinary Confucian shirt and holding a fan, like a literary and elegant young man. When he entered the teahouse, he carefully identified the person in front of him until he was sure that it was Zhu Tongjing, who had just confronted him in the court.

"Why did he come?" Xiao Ling muttered, and the man turned to the stairs and went up the stairs. He was in front of the elegant seat close to the railing on the second floor. Sima Yi was knocking melon seeds while watching the southern opera below.

"King Hui is back?" Sima Yi patted the melon seeds on his hand and said hello.

"It's so tiring. Really, I still like the happy and carefree days before." Xiao Ling said casually, sat down on the chair in front of the table, poured a cup of tea, and started drinking it by himself. After he finished drinking the tea, his eyes couldn't help but search everywhere on the second floor, and he was about two feet away from them. He found that Zhu Tongjing had also sat down, and he didn't seem to have noticed him.

"It's Master Zhu." Sima Yi followed Xiao Ling's gaze and whispered.

Xiao Ling sighed, "I am not a master anymore. Now I am very arrogant in the court. When I meet, I don't even say hello. I also look angry when I speak."

Sima Ya smiled and said, "King Hui is not an idle person now. There is a small conflict in the court, which is inevitable."

"Hmph! Zhu Tongjing, the last time I asked him about the Prince of the Northern Dynasty, did he actually say something? He said it seemed like I wanted someone from him! Zhu Tongjing, now I look down on him the most. He used to be very flattering to my prince's sister-in-law, but now he is also cold to the prince's sister-in-law, and I don't know why the prince's sister-in-law still valued him."

Sima Yi smiled. How could Zhu Tongjing be "respected" by Empress Dowager He like before? Empress Dowager He gave Zhu Tongjing a good look, but she just showed her appearance for Xie Rumo to show her, making Xie Rumo think that he and Zhu Tongjing were in the same group. But Xie Rumo is not a fool, and everyone can understand the current situation. After Zhu Tongjing secretly signed an agreement with Xie Rumo and the military power was not returned, Zhu Tongjing had become the second Xie Rumo.

Sima Yi thought. Perhaps Zhu Tongjing didn't want to support himself and became a thorn in the empress dowager's side. It was just because the current situation was forced to go on. He had no way out, so he had to make mistakes.

"Huh? Who is that? Not my emperor's niece? Why is the emperor's niece still with the surname Zhu?" Xiao Ling looked at the person sitting next to Zhu Tongjing and couldn't help but mutter.

Sima Yi looked carefully and found that it was indeed Princess Yongdan Xiao Zhan. At this time, Xiao Zhan was wearing men's clothes. Xiao Zhan was so handsome that he was wearing men's clothes. His heroic posture was no worse than that of Zhu Tongjing, who was a "little white-faced" background.

Sima Yi looked at it, then turned around and asked seriously: "Today's Empress Dowager summoned me. But did you ask about your troops?"

"It's the same as Brother Sima said, I didn't ask. It should be because the emperor's sister-in-law was trying to cover up her eyes and didn't want people to know that there was a military transfer. It's strange that I'm a slanderous disobedience this time. I didn't even transfer the troops. Didn't the emperor's sister-in-law notice it?"

"Maybe your princess has discovered it, and she has to pretend to be ignorant. After all, you are still the most trustworthy person she is. It will be of no benefit to her when she turns against you."

Xiao Ling sighed: "The things in the court are complicated. When you talk about it, what you think and what you say are different. On the one hand, you are so angry that you have to greet them with a smile. This world is really hypocritical."

Sima smiled and said that Xiao Ling had such a great feeling in the court in just over a month. This also shows that Xiao Ling was developing in the direction of a politician, but she had not adapted to her new identity.

"By the way, Brother Sima, this time the emperor's sister-in-law came to us to talk about the matter in the north. Your good friend, King Dong, has sent troops to take Luoyang. In the past few days, the court has been busy with this matter..." Xiao Ling picked up the teacup. At this time, the southern opera downstairs happened to be a small one, and the cheers were constantly coming, which made Xiao Ling's words behind him drowned in the cheers.

After the cheers subsided for a while, Sima Yi sighed: "I think it won't be too smooth in the future when I come to Jiangdu."

"That's right. Xie Rumo asked the Emperor's sister-in-law about the military affairs. This time, the surname Zhu, but he stood on Xie Rumo's side. You said, how unimaginable would it be before? If it weren't for my struggle with the King of Linjiang, and the Emperor's sister-in-law was discussing the matter after she said this, maybe the matter of sending troops to Jiangdu had been decided."

"King of Linjiang?"

Sima Yi hesitated for a moment and said, "Don't he stand on Xie Rumo's side?"

"Who knows this? Anyway, he advised the emperor's sister-in-law, saying that it is not suitable to send troops at this time, and said that he would wait for the north to become more chaotic and send troops. Brother Sima, don't worry, I made some promises to you at the beginning. As long as I am here for one day, I will never go to war with Jiangdu, but sometimes... you also know that what I said is not good in the court, so... you still have to understand."

Sima Yi nodded and said, "Your Majesty is fine if you have the will."

At this moment, Zhu Tongjing, who had finished talking about the matter with Xiao Zhan, suddenly stood up and went downstairs. At this time, Xiao Zhan looked at this side and walked towards Sima Jie and Xiao Ling's table.

Xiao Ling muttered again: "The emperor's niece actually came over. Is she going to say hello?" (To be continued)

...
Chapter completed!