If Ye Feng, who was currently heading to Chang'an, knew the Emperor Ling's thoughts, he would still laugh at how naive he was!
Watching the excitement?
Previously, Ye Feng had indeed been watching with an attitude of enjoying the show, wishing the imperial court and the Yellow Turban rebels would fight more fiercely.
However,
After seeing the weakness of the Han court in this battle, Ye Feng changed his mind.
Wouldn't it be too bad to eliminate one of them prematurely?
Whether the Yellow Turban rebels or the court were destroyed, the remaining one would set their sights on him.
This was not what he wanted!
What Ye Feng wanted now was time to develop, time to stockpile grain and prepare for war.
And the current Han dynasty clearly did not have these conditions.
This meant,
If he wanted to achieve this goal, he needed a relatively peaceful Han dynasty.
So,
The question arose!
How could he achieve a relatively peaceful Han dynasty?
Regarding this, Chen Gong had given him a very good suggestion.
A three-way balance!
Or,
To use his own massive military might to force the Han dynasty and the Yellow Turban rebels to calm down.
Refuse?
Simple!
Whoever refused, he would ally with the other to eliminate them first.
Of course!
This also involved a problem, a rather serious problem.
That was the division of territory!
The Yellow Turban rebels were already close to taking Luoyang, and they were clearly not going to give it up.
The key point was that Ye Feng did not intend to make them give it up.
Otherwise,
Emperor Ling Liu Hong, who had stabilized the situation, might directly destroy them.
So,
In order to maintain a relative balance between the Yellow Turban rebels and the Han court, Ye Feng directly bothered Emperor Ling to the point of fleeing to Chang'an.
As for the fate of other prefectures and counties?
It would be up to each to fend for themselves!
But one thing was certain,
That in any situation, no further armed conflict was allowed.
Otherwise,
Whoever initiated the war first, Ye Feng would support their opponent.
Ye Feng believed.
Both the Yellow Turban rebels and the Han court would accept his proposal.
Unless the two of them decided to join forces and destroy him first.
But this was impossible.
Not to mention that the Yellow Turban rebels and the Han court were mortal enemies.
Even if they really joined forces, so what?
Was he, Ye Feng, a pushover?
Youzhou alone had nearly 300,000 open troops, alright!
Not to mention that he could deploy troops at any time!
If the Yellow Turban rebels and Emperor Ling Liu Hong were truly blind, he wouldn't mind the trouble of working a bit harder in advance.
At worst, he could slowly suppress the bandits later!
Although this process might be a bit long, it was the only way.
However,
Ye Feng felt that the probability of the Yellow Turban rebels and the Han court forming an alliance was infinitely close to zero.
Simply put, it was impossible!
Having lost their own capital, how could Emperor Ling have the face to ally with the Yellow Turban rebels?
And the Yellow Turban rebels had seen through the facade of strength of the Han dynasty, so why would they bring along a burden?
Therefore,
Ye Feng was very satisfied with Chen Gong's suggestion.
In this way,
He not only gained ample time for development but also got a royal title for free.
Wasn't this a good deal?
...
In the city of Luoyang,
The lights were bright.
Even though it was past midnight, the commotion in the imperial palace continued unabated.
The concubines were one thing, but who would have thought that the eldest prince would also be weeping and wailing?
This made Yu Huatian a bit troubled.
This young man was specifically requested by his master, and he really didn't dare to be too harsh with him.
But the problem was,
They were trying to sneak out of Luoyang, so how could this constant crying be acceptable?
Fortunately!
Just as Yu Huatian was at a loss, Emperor Ling Liu Hong, who was already somewhat irritable, could not hold back any longer.
"Enough!"
With a dark expression, Emperor Ling glared at the crying eldest prince Liu Bian.
"I'm not dead yet, why are you crying?! Cry again and get out!"
"Your Majesty..."
Hearing the Emperor scolding his son, Empress He, who was standing beside him, couldn't help but interject,
"Bian'er is still young, and these servants are rough. They've scared him... *Slap*!"
Before Empress He could finish her sentence, Emperor Ling Liu Hong's large palm had already struck.
"Insolent!"
Gazing angrily at Empress He, Emperor Ling Liu Hong nervously corrected himself,
"These are righteous men who have come to save me, how can you insult them?"
"Apologize quickly!"
"Ap-apologize?"
Empress He clutched her slightly throbbing forehead, unable to recover for a long time.
Since entering the palace, when had she ever suffered such a grievance?
Let alone apologize!
Apart from Emperor Ling Liu Hong, who else dared to contradict her even half a word?
But now... *Slap, slap*!
Seeing that the woman still couldn't grasp the situation, Emperor Ling Liu Hong couldn't help but slap her twice more.
"I'll say it one last time, apologize, or take your son and get out!"
"This, this..."
Empress He, who had finally come to her senses, felt her legs go weak.
It didn't matter what happened to her.
But her son, the Crown Prince of Han, absolutely could not be in any danger!
Her and her family's future prosperity depended entirely on him.
Thinking of this,
Empress He disregarded her pride and, with a 'thump', knelt before Yu Huatian.
"This, this eunuch, it was my fault for speaking carelessly. Please forgive me..."
"???"
Empress He's sudden kneeling stunned not only the Emperor but also Yu Huatian.
Damn... are you really not giving His Majesty any face?
You are the Empress!
Even if you are a little down on your luck now, you shouldn't perform such a grand gesture!
Although Yu Huatian was not on Emperor Ling's side, he still felt embarrassed to accept such a bow.
Turning away,
Successfully evading Empress He's gesture, Yu Huatian smiled with a dignified air.
"Your Majesty is too kind!"
"You should look after the eldest prince first, or it might be difficult to leave later!"
"Right, right..."
The Emperor, who had also recovered, helped Empress He up with a flushed face.
This foolish woman!
Damn it!
She was beautiful, but her mind was a bit slow!
If he hadn't wanted to avoid marrying daughters of aristocratic families, would she have gotten the position?
Fortunately,
Yu Huatian didn't dwell on this matter and beckoned to his subordinate.
"Go see if everyone is ready?"
"Yes!"
After the subordinate acknowledged and left, Yu Huatian turned to Emperor Ling.
"Your Majesty, please have them prepare. We might be leaving soon!"
"No problem!"
Nodding affirmatively, the Emperor beckoned Zhang Rang over.
"Father, I'll leave this to you. Anyone who disobeys can be simply abandoned!"
"Yes~!"
Zhang Rang respectfully agreed, but as he looked at the crowd of women, his forehead also began to ache.
However,
This was no longer Yu Huatian's concern; he was currently leading his men on patrol.
The commotion in the palace was significant and naturally could not escape the notice of the aristocratic families.
But they were all bewildered!
Those without imagination could not guess Ye Feng's next plan.
Therefore,
They could only increase their efforts to send spies, wanting to see what Emperor Ling was preparing to do.
Unfortunately,
The Brocade-Clad Guards were killers in the night, how could they not guard against this?
For every spy who came, one died; for two who came, two died. There were no exceptions.
It wasn't until more than a dozen spies failed to send back any news that the aristocratic families began to feel something was amiss.
"Someone!"
"Quick!"
Yuan Wei, who had been dragged out of bed in the middle of the night, ordered with drowsy eyes,
"Go invite the Yang family and the people from other families. There must be something suspicious about this!"
"Yes!"
The butler agreed and hurried away, but on the way, he bumped into the heads of several other families.
Clearly,
These people were already heading towards the Yuan family after discovering that something was wrong.
No choice!
Because within Luoyang, only the Yuan and Yang families were considered top-tier families.
But the Yang family was not currently holding official positions, so when discussing matters, the Yuan family was the first choice.
"Brother Yang, Brother Li... you're here~!"
"Mm~!"
The heads of families who rushed in did not stand on ceremony and directly found a place to kneel and sit.
"Brother Yuan, I heard there's a lot of activity in the palace. Is there some operation underway?"
"No!"
Yuan Wei, who had just washed his face with the help of his servant, sat at the table with a look of exhaustion.
"I only heard about it a moment ago. Who can tell me what's going on first?"
"This..."
The few people exchanged glances, and finally, Yang Ci stepped forward to explain the situation.
"Hmm..."
After hearing the explanation, Yuan Wei's spirit improved slightly. He nodded thoughtfully and said,
"I also sent a few house servants over, and they haven't returned yet either!"
"It seems something has indeed happened in the palace!"
"How about this!"
Saying this, Yuan Wei looked at the others and tentatively suggested,
"Bring all the troops that can be mobilized now, and let's go to the palace to see?"
"Go to the palace?"
Hearing Yuan Wei's suggestion, the few people exchanged glances and fell silent simultaneously.
No choice!
Although because of the Yellow Turban rebels, they had to stand with the Emperor.
But deep down, they still hoped for a change of emperor.
Why?
He was difficult to control!
Look at how many troubles Emperor Ling caused during his reign?
It was either selling official posts or building the Imperial Academy, step by step trying to seize power from the aristocratic families.
How could this be allowed?
If it weren't for the disunity within the aristocratic families at the time, they would have overthrown Emperor Ling long ago.
Now, it was good!
Although they didn't know who made the move, changing the emperor was the wish of all of them.
Because only when the emperor was controlled by them could the aristocratic families rise again.
After all,
The Yellow Turban rebellion had raged for so long, and their aristocratic families had suffered heavy losses!
"Sigh~!"
Seeing that everyone had fallen silent at the same time, Yuan Wei naturally guessed their thoughts.
But he had no good solution!
Or rather,
He, who had just become one of the Three Excellencies, was more eager for Emperor Ling's demise than these people.
He would then be an elder statesman of two dynasties!
Given the current social status of the Yuan family, who would they fear in terms of control?
However,
When he thought that disaster was imminent, and these people were still infighting, Yuan Wei felt a faint sense of unease in his heart.
He always felt that something bad might happen!
But unfortunately,
No matter how he racked his brains, he couldn't imagine how outlandish Ye Feng's plan was.
After all,
Abandoning all the civil and military officials and fleeing on their own was a test for the emperor!
Of course!
In order to help Emperor Ling grasp the court's affairs more quickly, Ye Feng was also making preparations at this time.