"Guan Yu was fighting in Nanyang, Zhang Fei was fighting in Tianshui, and Liu Bei was attacking Chencang. Where had this army in Chang'an come from? Could it be some sorcery from Shu?" Xiahou Ru refused to believe it.
Yang Qiu narrowed his eyes. "General Junlin brought twenty thousand troops. Why not lead the army there and see for yourself? Wei Yan and his men have pushed deep in alone. If Liu Bei cannot take Chencang quickly, we can gather troops from every region and seize Chang'an back—or even trap Liu Bei and all his men to death in Guanzhong."
Xiahou Ru nodded. "The Marquis of Linjing speaks reasonably. Wei Yan's lone force has come from afar and has yet to gain a firm foothold. If His Majesty sends reinforcements from Luoyang and they attack General Zidan from both sides, what follows will truly be hard to predict. Let us depart for Chang'an at once. I would like to see whether they truly have a hundred thousand men."
At this point, Yang Qiu began to feel uneasy. After all, what he had seen west of the city really could have been the enemy putting on a show. He followed silently at Xiahou Ru's side, but soon put it out of his mind. He was merely a general who had laid down his armor; Xiahou Mao was Chang'an's commander-in-chief.
Xiahou Ru led his army toward Chang'an. Since Yang Qiu had told him that Liu Bei had "a hundred thousand men" there, and fearing an enemy ambush on the march, he deliberately kept their pace slow and dispatched several dozen scouts to reconnoiter ahead.
Not long after Wei Yan entered Chang'an, he knew that taking control of so vast a city could not be handled carelessly. While assuming command of the city