Volume One, Chapter 18: Return to Chang'an City

At dusk, Li Heng and his entourage finally arrived outside the city of Chang’an.

From Xingping to Chang’an was nearly a hundred miles, and Li Heng led everyone in a swift ride without a single pause.

The blazing sun hung high, the heatwaves scorched, and the group galloped onward, drenched in sweat, clothes soaked through, nearly exhausted to the point of collapse.

Fortunately, none wore armor, which made the journey somewhat easier; otherwise, heatstroke and fainting would have been inevitable.

Entering Chang’an through the Golden Light Gate, they found the once firmly closed gates now wide open, with no guards in sight.

Because the Emperor had suddenly “personally led the army,” the entire city of Chang’an instantly descended into chaos.

Along the road, nobles fled in panic while ordinary citizens scattered helplessly like a tide flowing outward from the city; there were only those leaving, and no one entering.

When they were still ten miles from the city, they met a large group of refugees — not the first such group they’d encountered that day.

This crowd numbered nearly a thousand, men, women, old and young huddled together, completely blocking the main road.

At that moment, an elderly man holding a young child recognized Li Heng.

“Your Highness the Crown Prince, the Crown Prince has returned!” the old man knelt with the child and shouted loudly.

Upon hearing this, everyone around knelt as well. Seeing this, Li Heng quickly dismounted, and the guards stood alert with drawn swords nearby.

“Your Highness, the rebel forces are coming. Why have you returned?” the old man asked with concern.

“I have orders from His Majesty to return and defend Chang’an,” Li Heng replied, bowing respectfully.

“But Your Highness, you have only a handful of men with you. How can you possibly defend the city?” the old man questioned.

“Old sir, as long as we stand united, how can we fear being outnumbered?” Li Heng helped the old man to his feet and gestured for everyone to rise.

“Your Highness, my family has lived in Chang’an for generations. Now, amidst this turmoil, we have nowhere to turn. The fate of the Great Tang rests entirely on you!” The old man’s voice trembled with grief and hope.

The young grandson looked at Li Heng naively, his eyes full of fear.

“My fellow countrymen, rest assured, I will hold Chang’an and restore peace to our land!” Li Heng clasped his hands and gazed around, speaking with a loud and clear voice.

“Good! Then what is there to flee from? Everyone, rise and follow the Crown Prince back to Chang’an!” the old man stood and called out to the crowd.

“We are willing to follow the Crown Prince back to Chang’an!” the people shouted in unison.

Moved deeply by these common folk before him, Li Heng said, “I thank you all. I must hurry back to the city; I will go ahead. Old sir, you lead the people back to Chang’an. I will await you there.

If you meet others willing to return, bring them along.

As long as we have faith, Chang’an will not fall, and the Great Tang will not perish!”

With that, Li Heng mounted his horse, the guards following suit, and the crowd immediately cleared a path.

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After entering Chang’an through the Golden Light Gate, Li Heng and his guards wove through the streets and alleys, the scene before them one of utter devastation: rubble and debris piled high on both sides, left uncollected.

Passing through the West and East Markets, the once prosperous shops were mostly shattered, goods looted to the bone, leaving only broken walls and ruins.

Walls bore the scars of smoke and fire, and in many spots, smoldering still lingered.

The Xingqing Palace had not been spared either. On the main hall’s floor were even donkey hoof prints, while countless rare treasures had been plundered.

This showed just how brazen the rioters were and how lawless Chang’an had become.

Seeing this devastation stirred a shock deep within Li Heng’s heart. He had only been away three days, yet the once flourishing Chang’an was now a sight of ruin.

The guards were even more distressed, some shedding tears involuntarily.

Li Heng did not linger, instead leading everyone back to the Ten Princes’ Residence.

The Ten Princes’ Residence was Li Heng’s home, but conditions were no better there.

After Li Ying was deposed, Emperor Xuanzong deliberately did not establish a Crown Prince palace. As Crown Prince, Li Heng still lived in the former Loyal Prince’s mansion.

The Loyal Prince’s mansion was within the Ten Princes’ Residence, located north of Xingqing Palace and southeast of Daming Palace.

Besides the Loyal Prince, the adult princes Qing, Di, E, and Rong also lived there.

The coups at Xuanwu Gate, the Li Chengqian rebellion, the Shensheng coup, the Jinglong coup, the Tanglong coup, and the Xiantian coup were all bloody struggles within the royal family.

Along with the later Li Ying incident, Emperor Xuanzong had witnessed five or six coups firsthand.

To prevent further upheaval, he confined the adult princes together, believing this would prevent repeated coups.

Yet, unexpectedly, he could not escape the curse of rebellion himself.

Entering the Loyal Prince’s mansion, Li Heng wasted no time resting but ordered his guards to split up and gather the remaining nobles and ministers who had not fled to convene a meeting.

With just the few of them, stabilizing Chang’an was impossible.

Moreover, now that he had returned, a clear signal had to be sent: no matter what, Chang’an must be held—this was the bottom line.

Hearing the news of the Crown Prince’s return, nobles and officials were at first stunned, then joyous, hurrying to the Crown Prince’s residence.

While waiting, Yu Chaoyun brought food to Li Heng, who had not eaten a grain since morning and was ravenous.

“Have the others been arranged?” Li Heng asked between mouthfuls.

“Your Highness, rest assured, I have taken care of everything,” Yu Chaoyun replied.

After the meal, more people arrived.

The first to come was the eunuch Bian Lingcheng from the Imperial Attendants’ Department.

This man was notoriously infamous in history; Li Ruoyu was quite familiar with him.

Originally a eunuch close to Emperor Xuanzong, Bian Lingcheng had been sent to oversee the military.

After the crushing defeat at Luoyang, he pinned all the blame on Feng Changqing.

At Tong Pass, Bian Lingcheng tried to bribe General Gao Xianzhi. When Gao refused, Bian falsely accused him of rebellion, leading to the execution of both Feng Changqing and Gao Xianzhi and the destruction of the Great Wall defenses.

Goeshu Han, defending Tong Pass, was also coerced by Bian Lingcheng, brandishing the imperial sword, into engaging the enemy, resulting in the annihilation of his two hundred thousand troops.

Had Goeshu Han refused battle, the An Lushan rebels could never have taken Tong Pass. With generals like Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi holding Yunzhong, Changshan, and Fanyang, An Lushan’s forces would have been trapped.

When Emperor Xuanzong fled, he entrusted the palace keys to Bian Lingcheng.

Seeing Bian, Li Heng’s eyes blazed with fury, almost losing control and wanting to strike him down.

But he suppressed his anger, thinking that not all had arrived yet; he would wait for everyone to gather before acting and keep Bian for now.

Soon after, Left Prime Minister Chen Xilie, Censor-in-Chief Pei Mian, Minister of Revenue Deputy Fifth Qi, Minister of Rites Deputy Fang Guan, Minister of Justice Deputy Yan Zhenqing, Minister of Ceremonies Zhang Yao, Deputy Censor-in-Chief Lai Zhen, Chang’an Commander Cui Guangyuan, Left Jinwu General Li Cangyong, Duke of E Yuchi Tianhao, Duke of Wei Li Jun, Duke of Liang Di Ruoxi, Director of Personnel Department Pei Zunqing, and more than thirty other accomplished officials gradually arrived.

“At the first watch, we have all arrived,” Li Heng began the meeting.

“Gentlemen, His Majesty has left on a western tour and appointed me Grand Commander of the Imperial Armies to hold Chang’an,” Li Heng swept a glance over them and said, “You are all the pillars and backbone of our Great Tang, the bulwark against the rebels.

From now on, I will rely upon each of you to live and die with me, to fight side by side!”

“We pledge our allegiance to the Crown Prince, willing to brave fire and water, even to spill our blood and guts!” they all clasped their fists, bowed deeply, and saluted in unison.

Before the Yuan dynasty, officials rarely knelt, much less replied while kneeling.

Before the Song dynasty, chancellors discussed affairs seated with the emperor.

During the Yuan and Qing dynasties, foreign rulers introduced kneeling replies to suppress the Han people.

Seeing this scene, Li Heng smiled faintly. After eighteen years as Crown Prince, tonight he finally looked the part.

His past life had been miserable, bullied every day. Now, he was the Great Tang’s acting deputy emperor, second only to the emperor himself.

Moreover, in the near future, he would reign over all under heaven!

However, now was not the time to be complacent.

There were hundreds of loyal officials and generals; apart from a few who followed the emperor westward, most remained in Chang’an.

Yet the group before him numbered fewer than fifty. Clearly, many had fled or stayed home to watch from afar.

The situation was grim; stabilizing it quickly and restoring order was imperative.

How to stabilize the situation? First, by killing!

Only by killing could one quell the populace!

He had already decided this on the road. Without shedding some blood to warn officials and soldiers, there was no way to hold such a vast city.

“Bian Lingcheng, are you aware of your crimes?” Li Heng suddenly demanded coldly.