Chang'an City.
Compared with the flourishing imperial capital of Luoyang, the century-old capital of Chang'an is more primitive and desolate. Perhaps because it has experienced too many baptisms of war, it no longer has the brightness and splendor of a large city in the Central Plains, nor is it as graceful and green as a city in the gentle countryside of the South. On the contrary, all it has is loneliness and desolation. And the majestic desolation incomparable to the capitals in the Central Plains and Jiangnan.
This is probably what is called Qin Feng in the Book of Songs.
The only similarity between the Chang'an City in front of us and Luoyang is that at the foot of its city wall, like Luoyang, it is covered with weeds that have been watered with blood.
That's the sign of troubled times.
Thirty miles east of Chang'an City, there is a small post office.
After the Zhengxi Mansion and his party arrived here, Xia Houxuan decided not to rush into Chang'an City. He ordered the party to rest here for two hours before entering the city calmly.
Chang'an City, the most prosperous Western capital in the northwest, is just around the corner. Once they enter Chang'an, they will definitely have the most generous reception and the most comfortable residence waiting for them. However, Xia Houxuan chose to stop at this time and stay in this simple hall to receive messengers. Rest. Yu Huan and Xia Houfeng expressed their incomprehension.
After hearing the two people's incomprehensible complaints, before Xia Houxuan could explain, the thoughtful Li Sheng had already explained with a smile:
"Two worthy brothers, our entry into Chang'an this time may not be as smooth as you imagined."
Yu Huan was impatient and asked first:
"Brother Gongzhao, how do you say this?"
Li Sheng first looked around and confirmed that Sima Zhao was not nearby, then he explained with a smile:
"Tiger, do you think who did Guo Huai, the governor of Yongzhou, and the generals of both Yongzhou and Liangzhou follow to resist Zhuge Liang in the early years?"
After hearing this, Yu Huan and Xia Houfeng suddenly understood. Li Sheng continued to explain:
"If a group of us rushes into Chang'an City after a long journey, we may not be able to deal with the difficulties of Guo Huai, an old fox. Rather than doing so, it is better for us to rest here and recuperate before going to this Hongmen Banquet. At least we can improve our momentum. I won’t lose to them.”
After hearing these words, Yu Huan and Xia Houfeng were relieved of their doubts. They turned to look at Xia Houxuan, who was wearing official uniforms, and the admiration in their hearts couldn't help but increase a little more.
Xia Houxuan, who had changed out of his regular clothes, wore a majestic lacquered gauze wubian crown decorated with double eagle tail feathers, an ocher red flat top on his forehead, a close-fitting middle coat with a curved collar and soap-colored edges, and an outer cover. Wearing a crimson official robe and a pair of black square-toed shoes, in addition to a jade belt hook, a high-quality sword, and a pouch for collecting the official seal, he is also equipped with a purple ribbon symbolizing the status of a second-rank official. He is really majestic and makes him look very majestic. People dare not look directly.
Xia Houxuan already had an extraordinary bearing, and at this moment, the official robes he wore added to his aura of unyielding awe and righteousness. This made the group about to enter Chang'an even more courageous.
When Zhengxi Mansion and his party were about to enter the city, Xiahou Xuan specially arranged for Sima Zhao to go to the city to report first. Just in case, he then arranged for Xiahou Feng to enter the city to find his uncle, Xiahou Ba, the guardian of the expedition to Shu.
The three east gates of Chang'an City are still the Xuanping, Qingming and Bacheng gates of the previous dynasty.
Ba City Gate, because the gate is blue, is also called Qingmen by the people.
Xia Houxuan stood on the chariot and looked from a distance. He saw many melon sheds erected on both sides of the avenue outside Qingmen. In the large melon fields, melon farmers were working hard.
I heard that after the fall of the Qin Dynasty, a prince named Shaoping became a commoner, so he planted melons outside Qingmen. To this day, this sweet aventurine is still a beautiful sight in Chang'an City.
Xia Houxuan couldn't help but admired:
"Ruan Sizong once said that he heard Dongling melons were near Qingmen in the past. It seems that this statement is indeed true."
As soon as Xia Houxuan and his party entered Qingmen, they noticed something was wrong in the atmosphere. Different from the peaceful atmosphere of melon farmers planting melons outside the city, under the tall East Tower on the right side of the city gate was the former Changle Palace that had been burned to a white ground. old site. The old site was replaced by a temporary market. What makes Xia Houxuan feel strange is that at this moment, in front of various stalls, there are many scoundrel refugees with sticks in their hands, making trouble for a melon stall vendor.
Yu Huan has a warm heart and wants to take action directly when he sees injustice. However, Li Sheng, who is quick-thinking, immediately stops Yu Huan:
"No, Marquis Yishou Ting. We have just entered Chang'an City. If we rashly injure passers-by, I'm afraid we will leave a bad name and a clue."
Qianjia also nodded and said:
"Yes, for no reason, so many gangsters suddenly came at the gate of Xidu City. How did you know that those melon dealers were really bullied? This may be the trap set by Guo Huai and Yongzhou officials. They are waiting for us. Let’s dig in!”
After hearing the two people's thoughts, Yu Huan didn't know what to do for a moment. Without any idea, he could only look at Xia Houxuan for help.
At this time, Xia Houxuan was worried about what Li Sheng and Qian Jia had said. While paying attention to the disputes among the vendors over there, he was thinking about countermeasures. Xia Houxuan understood what happened today. If he took action to subdue the gangsters, he might end up using officials to bully the people; if he didn't take action, his image of being cold and indifferent to the people's sentiments would be seen by the people coming and going. inside. Although it seems like a small matter, this matter is really difficult to deal with.
After a while, the gangsters at the melon stall actually picked up sweet and crisp aventurine melons one after another and threw them to the ground. The old man guarding the melon stall and his four or five-year-old granddaughter He burst into tears instantly.
At this moment, the hesitation in Xia Houxuan's heart suddenly disappeared. At the same time, he also thought of a proper way, so he loudly ordered:
"Tiger, please be careful and don't hurt anyone's life!"
After hearing Xia Houxuan's instructions, Yu Huan became energetic. He immediately drew his sword and rushed towards the ruffian:
"The bold thief dared to commit murder in the street in broad daylight!"
The ruffian seemed to have noticed the guard of honor not far away. When he saw Yu Huan rushing towards him, he was not too panicked. He didn't even answer. He picked up the big wooden stick in his hand and swung it towards Yu Huan.
Although Yu Huan's swordsmanship was strong, he still underestimated the enemy. He did not expect that the local ruffian showed no fear when he saw him wearing the military uniform of the Governor of the Zhengxi Mansion. What he didn't even expect was that the ruffian actually used a wooden stick to use the long sword technique that was only taught in the army as soon as he got started. The unprepared Yu Huan was almost hit in the head by the "rogue"'s sweeping move. Only then did Yu Huan realize that the gangster's martial arts skills were not even inferior to his own. The opponent had the upper hand and used his strong points to attack his weak points. Therefore, the four Within five moves, Yu Huan was beaten to a somewhat embarrassing state. At this moment, fellow gangsters from other stalls in the distance also picked up wooden sticks and attacked Yu Huan fiercely. Yu Huan was shocked. He thought that he might not be able to deal with one of them, let alone someone coming from the other side. After killing several of them, Yu Huan acted cruelly in a hurry, using the move "Dragon Overturning the Sea", and with one stroke of his sword, the "gangster"'s right hand was bleeding.
But before Yu Huan had time to be happy, those "ruffians" threw away their long sticks and rolled to the ground one by one, groaning loudly. Seeing this, Xia Houxuan in the distance frowned and said something bad in his heart. It seems he was right to worry.
At this time, those "ruffians" were lying on the ground, and their shouts were getting louder and louder. When Xia Houxuan and his party listened carefully, they could hear their voices clearly:
"The officials of Zhengxi Mansion are beating people!"
"Ouch, the dog officer hit someone, my arm..."
The cries of these "hooligans" disguised as abused people became louder and louder, so that people entering, leaving, and passing by the city were attracted. As soon as they came over, they saw Yu Huan, who was majestic and holding a sword and wearing official uniform, as well as injured refugees lying on the ground with ribbons hanging on them, and a large melon that had fallen to the ground nearby.
The people who didn't know the truth had naturally figured out a hundred "truths" about dog officials abusing the people. They pointed at Xia Houxuan's honor guard and the sword-wielding Yu Huan and cursed:
"His grandma's is really nothing!"
"I heard that the new General Zhengxi will be arriving in the next few days. Could it be these people? They are really nothing!"
"Alas, it seems that Chang'an is going to suffer another disaster..."
In the distance, behind the ruins of the Han Palace and a street vendor, Guo Zhan and Guo Taishu, the nephew of Guo Huai, the governor of Yongzhou, were looking at the masterpiece he arranged with satisfaction and secretly laughed.
After hearing these words, the people behind Xia Houxuan felt their teeth itching with hatred. At this moment, everyone realized how terrifying it was for everyone to speak out. Xia Houxuan had no choice but to jump off the cart and walk towards the old man's stall in the distance.
The old man was currently protecting his little granddaughter in his arms, hiding in the corner, watching the farce with fear.
Xia Houxuan came to the old man and looked at the old man with his bright, clear and upright eyes. He did not say a word, but this look alone made the old man look guilty. But the old man looked at the young granddaughter in his arms, and then looked down at the "hooligans" who were rolling on the ground but did not forget to threaten him with their eyes. He closed his eyes in pain for a moment, and two lines of thick tears burst out. It flowed down like this.
Although the two of them didn't say a word, Xia Houxuan, who had a delicate mind, understood it instantly. The old man was afraid of retaliation from these ruffians, so he did not dare to speak up. Xia Houxuan knelt down and said sincerely to the old man and the little girl:
"I understand that you are afraid of the revenge of these people, right? You might as well trust me and just do what I say and I will keep you safe, okay?"
The old man was still hesitant, but the kind-hearted little girl was instantly full of trust in Xia Houxuan, a fairy-like figure. She blinked her clear and innocent eyes and answered Xiahou Xuandao word for word:
"Uncle, I believe you, just tell me what to do."
Xia Houxuan smiled warmly, leaned into the ears of the old man and the little girl, and whispered a few words. After hearing Xia Houxuan's method, the old man's eyes suddenly filled with light.
So, when the people on the roadside were scolding Zhengxi Mansion and his party, a clear and loud child's voice interrupted everyone's condemnation:
"not like this!"
The crowd in the audience suddenly became quiet when they saw someone coming forward, but there were still some people pointing fingers at Xia Houxuan. With tears in her eyes, the little girl pointed at the gangsters lying on the ground performing a show and loudly defended Xia Houxuan:
"These are the people who overturned my grandfather's melon shed! This uncle in red is the newly appointed general of Zhengxi Mansion, and he is here to help us!"
In this way, the onlookers gradually understood the whole story and stopped swearing.
Xia Houxuan helped the old man get into the car, and then picked up the little girl. Immediately afterwards, at Xia Houxuan's signal, Yu Huan, Qian Jia, Qian Hong, Li Sheng and others commanded ten Xuanjia guards under Xia Houxuan's command to capture the fake hooligans, hold them in front of the horse, and slowly He walked slowly towards the Zhengxi Mansion's official office.
In this way, the group of people walked slowly, while the old man and the little girl shouted loudly: "Xia Houxuan, General of the Western Conquest, please order for the people and arrest the evil servants of the Guo Mansion!"
The farce just now was finally resolved by Xia Houxuan's appeal and the absolute force of Yu Huan, Qian Hong and Xuan Jiawei.
The old man and his granddaughter at the melon stall reported their names and stalls while calling for return, and even revealed the identities of the gangsters Guo's servants. In less than two days, more than 200,000 people in Chang'an City would know about this. If the grandfather and grandson are retaliated by then, I am afraid that the Guo family's reputation and popularity will be severely damaged.
When Guo Zhan saw this in the distance, he spat angrily in the direction of Xia Houxuan's honor guard and retreated helplessly.
When Xia Houxuan and his party arrived near Zhengxi Mansion, the former site of Weiyang Palace, they saw Guo Tong, Guo Huai's eldest son, and Guo Huai's nephew Guo Zhang, who came to greet them. Xia Houxuan did not relax. He understood that the real test might have just begun.
