Chapter 302 The breath of fireworks
Many houses in Xudu and its suburbs were set on fire when Liu's descendants resisted.

Some people even set fire on their own initiative to create chaos for the Liu brothers to break out.

However, the weather was dull and windless, and the fire spread rapidly but slowly.

In the residence area of ​​the city's nobles and important officials, Shizhong Geng Ji stood on the roof and watched the fires everywhere. Cao's soldiers went forward with shields, followed by bows and crossbows, encircling and suppressing the Liu family members who dared to resist.

Geng Ji couldn't help but burst into tears and shouted to the people around him: "Look! The sky is bleeding!"

Gazing at the Emperor's Palace from afar, Geng Ji drew his sword and wanted to rush out to fight.

But he looked at his wives and concubines holding their children in the courtyard, and then at the servants kneeling on the ground begging him.

Look again at the disciples and friends who have come with their sleeves tied tightly and dressed like warriors, while outside the door on the street is Cao's army blocking the intersection.

Brandishing the sword, Geng Ji threw it towards his neighbor Xun Yu's house, and the sword was nailed into Xun Yu's courtyard vegetable garden.

Xun Yu went out and looked up to meet Geng Ji on the rooftop across the wall.

Geng Ji wiped his tears with his sleeve, smiled at Xun Yu, and shouted: "Life is only one death, what's the big deal! I can't protect the emperor, and I can't save the common people, so why should I cherish my life~!"

Xun Yu didn't say anything, and saw Geng Ji coming down the ladder.

Soon, black smoke rose from the house next door, and flames and heat waves approached.

Now Xun Yu could no longer sit still, so he went out and ran far away, with his servants and disciples protecting him from the flames.

"Stay alive and bring my body back to Guanzhong!"

"This hatred will eventually be exposed!"

After saying this, Geng Ji turned around and walked towards the house in flames with his eyes closed. His half-grown son tried to grab his belt, but was held tightly by his mother.

The sound of the burning flames drowned out the crying and shouting.

There were nearly a hundred disciples and fellow villagers who had fled here for refuge. At this moment, he knelt on the ground, drew his sword and wiped it across his cheek, and blood flowed along the smooth sword body to the hilt.

Seeing this, Jin Xuan also drew his sword and cut a scar on his face.

The sons who followed Jin Xuan here also followed suit. The pain and sadness made them cry.

Geng Ji was the Shizhong. After he threw himself into the fire, the investigation and execution of the "traitors" could only stop at Geng Ji.

Inside the palace, the usurper Ji Ping was shot in the shoulder and ran for a dozen steps before his legs went weak and he fell to the ground.

Then he used his hands and feet to crawl under the shade of the tree, leaned against the trunk to catch his breath, and saw the armored soldiers and the tiger guards who had entered the palace fighting desperately for the second palace gate.

The Huben soldiers are generally in their thirties or forties. There have been no new recruits in recent years. Their equipment is also outdated, and they have no decent armor.

Under the attack of bows and crossbows, the Huben soldiers died one after another in front of the palace gate.

Jiping took two deep breaths, looked at the sky that was gradually covered by clouds, and blinked his eyes.

How come there are thick clouds after more than 40 days of sunny weather?

"Is it worth it?"

Ji Ping asked himself, tears streaming down his face. Since the Later Han Dynasty, the emperor moved the capital and the people of Xizhou lost their power in the court.

After giving up Shuofang, some people want to give up Liangzhou. Will they have to give up Guanzhong in the end?
As a result, in the end, the people whom the emperor trusted most to protect him were actually people from Guanzhong.

At this time, a group of knights passed by, and Jiping recognized that the leader was Cao Chun.

Cao Chun looked around and saw his former colleague Ji Ping. Cao Chun had no expression on his face. Several knights followed the direction of Cao Chun's gaze and drove their horses closer to the tree.

One man dismounted and stabbed Ji Ping with a spear, hitting him in the chest.

Ji Ping held the spear tightly with both hands, stared at Cao Chun, and spat out a mouthful of blood foam with all his strength.

Then another knight dismounted, drew his ring-handled sword and stabbed it into Jiping's neck.

Jiping fell down with his head tilted and his eyes wide open. The spear-wielding knight then drew out his spear, and, not feeling satisfied, stabbed Jiping in the face with his spear.

Cao Chun withdrew his gaze and continued to observe the fight for the palace gate.

Now we are worried that the emperor will be taken hostage by the rebels and killed on the streets, which would be difficult to deal with.

It would be best to eliminate all the Huben before they rebel, so that the emperor will be safe.

In front of the palace, Liu Xie sat upright on the couch, quietly watching the battle in front of the palace gate.

The Tiger Guards suffered heavy casualties and had to abandon the palace gate and retreat to the steps.

The Cao army that had charged in through the palace gate saw the emperor carrying a sedan chair and did not dare to shoot arrows for a moment. More than a hundred Tiger Guards rushed down the steps, killing more than twenty Cao soldiers, and immediately stripped them of their armor, picked up arrows, bows and crossbows and other weapons.

Liu Xie did not move at all and just sat on the sedan chair.

A blood-soaked Tiger Guard stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty! The traitor Cao Cao has shown his rebelliousness! If I die today to serve my country, I can still leave my name in history and not bring disgrace to my ancestors! But if I live, won't I cause trouble to the Grand Marshal, the Left General, and the royal family from other states!"

A lame eunuch leaning on a broken spear also spoke up: "Your Majesty! The national crisis is just around the corner. If you die for the country today, you will surely be reborn in it tomorrow! Your Majesty, what are you hesitating about!"

After saying this, the Yellow Gate Minister, leaning on his broken spear, walked down the steps and headed towards the palace gate.

Liu Xie remained silent. He heard some noise behind him and saw Empress Fu Shou approaching with her son. "Your Majesty, since Cao Cao killed Zhao Yan, the counselor, except for the Tiger Guards, all the palace guards who did not obey his will were either killed or demoted. Today, Cao Cao has revealed his evil side. I beg Your Majesty to die for the country."

Seeing Liu Xie's expressionless face, Fu Shou turned her head to look at her female official. The female official showed reluctance, but still drew her sword, and the dozen or so palace maids accompanying her immediately raised their swords to stab the other concubines and children.

Even Fu Shou's son could not escape and was stabbed to death by a female official.

Fu Shou suddenly felt that the whole world had turned pale, and said to the eunuchs holding swords around him: "If Your Majesty is unwilling to fight hand-to-hand, then retreat into the palace."

The leading eunuch had a pale face and said, "Empress, does Cao Cao dare to kill the emperor?"

"He dared not regicide."

Fu Shou watched the female official carrying her son into the palace, and said with a dull expression: "Since I married Your Majesty, I have not had the dignity of an emperor or empress in life, and I should die like an emperor or empress."

She knew very well that her father and brother were already involved.

Given the precedent of Dong Cheng and Concubine Dong, how could she possibly believe that Cao Cao would let her and her son go?

Whenever there was a fire in one place in the city, there must be smoke from it, which was her father and brother warning her.

Cao Cao didn't dare to kill the king, but she did.

As he spoke, Fu Shou moved close to Liu Xie's sedan chair, took out a dagger for self-defense and suddenly stabbed it into Liu Xie's chest.

When the eunuchs and female officials around saw it, they just turned their heads and looked a few more times.

They were slightly shocked and shaken, but just looked at each other without any other objections.

Fu Shou stepped back, Liu Xie looked incredulous, covering his wound with both hands: "I am the Son of Heaven!"

"The emperor should die the way the emperor should."

Fu Shou held the bloodstained dagger against his heart with both hands and said to the eunuchs, "Please escort the emperor and preserve the dignity of the imperial family."

After saying this, he closed his eyes, pushed the dagger into his heart, and staggered into the arms of the female official.

Liu Xie covered his not-so-deep wound, grinned bitterly, and looked at the eunuch who was close to him, and said weakly: "Get up."

"Let's go~!"

The eunuch shouted loudly and sharply, and sixteen strong eunuchs lifted the sedan chair, and more than twenty armed eunuchs went ahead and walked along the earthen platform towards the palace gate.

The injured Hu Ben, Yuzhe and Shilang on the steps also followed. Those who managed to run here alive were basically injured.

The female officials carried Fu Shou towards the palace. Soon, thick smoke and flames rose from all over the palace.

At the palace gate, Cao's soldiers did not dare to move forward and retreated one after another.

Outside the palace gate, Cao Chun caught a glimpse of the sedan chair being lifted by the eunuchs inside, and his eyelids twitched rapidly.

Seeing the officers on both sides wavering, Cao Chun looked at the military commander Lü Zhao, who had a blank expression on his face: "This is an urgent matter. What should we do?"

Cao Chun saw that other military officers were also listening, while the soldiers on the front line could not stop retreating, and no one dared to approach the emperor's sedan chair.

Without thinking, Cao Chun said: "The emperor is being held hostage by the thieves, why don't you step forward to rescue him!"

Lu Zhao did not move, and neither did the other military officers.

They can see clearly and have the ability to distinguish whether the Hu Ben and armed eunuchs are holding the emperor hostage or protecting him.

In the blink of an eye, the emperor's sedan chair left the palace and continued to approach Cao Chun.

Some soldiers on both wings turned around and ran, trying to escape from this huge vortex.

If I really witnessed Cao Chun killing the king, would I be silenced?

No matter who did it, according to the records of the historians, it was Cao Chun, who had the highest status at the scene, who was responsible.

Cao Chun must not let the emperor rush out from here. If the emperor broke through the last door and appeared on the street, there was a high possibility that melee would break out in Xu Du.

You can do it yourself...

It was difficult for Cao Chun to take action emotionally, as he saw that Cao Chun's attitude was not firm, while the guards who were guarding the emperor's sedan chair had already become bloodthirsty.

With almost no suspense, Cao Chun was swept away by the fleeing soldiers.

Liu Xie looked at the nearly a thousand fleeing officials and soldiers and smiled slightly.

At first, he was able to provide relief to the victims.

Many people dared to offer him various suggestions, but Cao Cao kept killing people. He couldn't even contact the people outside the palace, let alone listen to news and discuss things from outside.

Intellectually, he also understood the Queen's intention, which was to let him die with his back straight and with dignity, and to take the three clans of the Cao family with him before his death.

His death will free the emperor and his clan from the last shackles.

No matter who he is in the future, he will be given a beautiful posthumous title.

In the history books, he will also have a unique reputation for bravery.

Covering the not-so-deep wound, Liu Xie smiled unpleasantly: "Leave the palace!"

If I have to die, I’d rather die in front of the palace gate!

(End of this chapter)