This was also Huyan Ping’s first time entering the palace. Though his face showed nothing, his heart was actually very nervous, so he squeezed forcefully between Zhong Yao and his eldest son, wishing he could stick himself to Zhong Yao’s body.
Especially when going to the memorial hall required walking up a long flight of steps, with guards holding long spears or large sabers standing on both sides of the stairway. Their gazes were even sharper and more intense than those of the guards on the imperial city’s main road. Huyan Ping followed Zhong Yao step by step, almost prostrating himself on Zhong Yao’s body.
Zhong Yao thought: Being so fierce on the outside but timid within, can he really pull off the task of stirring up trouble?
At this moment, Zhong Yao began to doubt his own judgment.
In contrast, the Huyan brothers, Huyan Wen and Huyan Wu, walked with heads held high and serious expressions on their faces.
Before they even approached the great hall, they could hear crying from inside.
Zhao Hanzhang had no intention of continuing to use the Pingyang Imperial Palace, nor was she superstitious about such matters, so she directly set up Liu Yuan’s memorial hall in the main hall.
Those who came to pay their respects all knelt on the ground, wailing toward the coffin in the center. Among Liu Yuan’s sons, only Liu Yi was present. He wore mourning clothes and knelt before the spirit, and because he had been crying for six consecutive days, by now his tears had dried up, though his face still showed grief.
As soon as Huyan Ping saw the coffin, his courage returned. He let out a loud “Wah” and cried out, rushing forward to fall to his knees and pound the ground while wailing, “Your Majesty, you protected your subjects like an eagle, how could you just leave us like this? What are we to do…”
Huyan Wen and Huyan Wu’s eyes also reddened as they knelt behind their father and kowtowed.
Zhong Yao stepped forward to kneel beside Huyan Ping, tears also streaming down his face. He didn’t say much, just respectfully kowtowed several times, then crawled forward on his knees, touching the coffin’s base while crying, almost fainting from grief.
Seeing him so grief-stricken, Liu Yi felt both moved and gratified. Although he didn’t recognize him, he must be a hero who revered his father emperor.
Those who dared to enter the palace to pay respects to his father emperor at this time were all brave warriors.
Zhong Yao’s crying brought both himself and Huyan Ping before Liu Yi. Taking advantage of when people weren’t paying attention, he slipped Liu Yi a note, and borrowing Huyan Ping’s indignation and dissatisfaction, he hinted to Liu Yi that they could help him escape.
Escaping was impossible. Zhong Yao’s purpose was to infiltrate the Xiongnu from within. Liu Yi had been captured, and so many Han officials had been captured at the same time—not all of them could possibly be willing to submit to Zhao Hanzhang.
Zhong Yao’s mission was to dig them out, thwart their conspiracies, have Zhao’s army continuously suppress their pride, and make them submit.
In the end, if they still refused to submit, except for those who could be used to exchange for hostages, those who deserved to be killed would be killed.
Zhong Yao was fake, but there were always people who were real, and among the real ones, there were two types.
One type, like Zhong Yao, wanted to rescue Liu Yi and then go together to Jizhou to find Liu Cong, join forces with the main army, and revive the Xiongnu.
The other type wanted to stage a military revolt, revolutionize from inside Pingyang City, kill Zhao Hanzhang, retake Pingyang City, and return to their peak.
Liu Yi believed the second idea was simply courting death. With Zhao Hanzhang’s capabilities, could they successfully raise an army?
They would probably be completely wiped out before they even began.
Liu Qin thought Liu Yi feared their thunder-shakers, so he explained in a low voice: “Great King, I’ve sent people to investigate. Zhao Hanzhang doesn’t have many of those divine weapons either. When attacking the city, they used stones afterward, so those things must have been used up.”
Liu Qin felt they had lost very unfairly. If not for those thunder-shakers, they definitely wouldn’t have lost, so now that Zhao Hanzhang no longer had those things, their uprising would surely succeed.
Seeing Liu Yi remain silent, Liu Qin hurriedly urged: “Great King, now the Crown Prince’s life and whereabouts are unknown, and the foundation of our Xiongnu is all in the Fourth Prince’s hands. But we all know that besides the Crown Prince, the imperial prince Your Majesty doted on most was you. He even said privately that you are more suitable than the Crown Prince to be our Xiongnu’s khan.”
“Shut up,” Liu Yi’s face darkened as he said, “Father Emperor never said such things.”
Liu Qin knelt on the ground and said: “Great King, our people have always been oppressed by the Han people. It wasn’t until His Majesty emerged that our people had breathing room, but from the founding of the nation until now has only been four years. Now the capital has been taken by Zhao Hanzhang. If even you don’t resist, then the Xiongnu people will never have a chance to rise again.”
Hearing this, Liu Yi suddenly felt like a mountain was pressing on his shoulders. He said: “Rather than the General placing hope in me, place it in Fourth Brother. The foundation of the Xiongnu is now in his hands.”
He continued: “I believe Crown Prince Brother will surely turn danger into fortune. As long as they join forces with the main army, they can re-establish the court to oppose the Jin state.”
Liu Yi wasn’t stupid, just simple-minded. He said: “The Jin state currently only has Zhao Hanzhang’s faction still stable, but their emperor is in our hands, and most of the Jin officials are in our hands too. She may be fierce now, but the Jin state is crisis-ridden. Having lost their emperor, they will surely fight for power, and that will be our opportunity.”
He warned Liu Qin, “The advantage our Han state has over them is that Crown Prince Brother is still alive, and most of our Han officials are still alive. As long as the Crown Prince ascends the throne, we’ll have a leader and can unite to strike.”
“As for me, my life or death doesn’t matter. General Liu, don’t let me hear such words again in the future.”
Liu Qin’s expression wasn’t very good. His relationship with the Crown Prince was very poor. If the Crown Prince ascended the throne, with his prior fault of losing the city, he would probably have difficulty surviving.
Seeing Liu Yi’s indifferent appearance, Liu Qin secretly gritted his teeth. It was a pity the Fourth Prince wasn’t here. If it were him, he would definitely accept his pledge of allegiance.
Liu Yi wouldn’t cooperate, but this didn’t prevent Liu Qin from acting in his name.
Unlike him, Xuan Yuxiu wanted to rescue Liu Yi from Pingyang City, so borrowing the funeral, he contacted a group of Han officials. But he didn’t expect that once the funeral ended, their thoughts would change. Some individuals felt that leaving wasn’t as good as staying.
Zhao Hanzhang had a good relationship with Liu Yi and was willing to treat them well, so why not stay?
After all, Liu Yi had no intention of returning to become emperor. They would all be subjects either way, so wasn’t being a subject the same anywhere?
But more people were persuaded by Liu Qin and decided to make a desperate effort. The foundation of their Xiongnu was still intact, and they could completely make a comeback. It was just that the emperor had died, and with a new emperor replacing the old, new officials replacing old ones, they weren’t by the Crown Prince’s side at this moment, so they could only compete for favor before the new emperor with merit.
Was there any greater merit than recovering Pingyang City?
If they could push Liu Yi to ascend the throne, that would be even better. Then they would have the merit of supporting the dragon. Moreover, Liu Yi had a gentle personality—serving as his subject would be much safer than serving the Crown Prince.
Thus, Liu Qin directly spoke on Liu Yi’s behalf, inciting everyone to become active and secretly unite.
On the matter of confidence, Gou Xi and Liu Qin shared common ground. He began his operations even earlier. Almost at the same time news of Pingyang City arrived, he had already set the time for the uprising, deciding to act while hope was burning in everyone’s hearts, to seize back control of Yanzhou.
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