Dagu frowned secretly. He had also encountered the situation of flattering someone and sending him away, and he was not discouraged.
He glanced around and immediately set his next target on Xue Yujin opposite.
He was an intelligence officer, so he naturally knew that the woman was the daughter of Xue Rengui, a general of the Tang Dynasty.
If she can be used to indirectly influence Xue Rengui, it will be extremely helpful for future wars.
Dagu immediately changed seats with the Turkic envoy next to Xue Yujin, then toasted to Xue Yujin and said: "Hello, distinguished Lord Xue County."
"Hello." Xue Yujin smiled.
Dagu said: "You have a saying in the Tang Dynasty that women should not give way to men. I have heard it a long time ago. I never believed it before, because in Tubo, women cannot be compared with men."
Xue Yujin said: "What about now?"
Dagu said sincerely: "After meeting Lord Xue, I finally believe that most men can't compare to a woman like you."
Xue Yujin said lightly: "Really?"
Dagu felt a shiver in his heart, and he knew from the other person's expression that the flattery just now was not very effective.
Just as he was preparing a new flattery, Princess Taiping, who was sitting at the top, suddenly stood up, clapped her hands and said, "Everyone."
Everyone's eyes immediately focused on her.
"It's a bit boring to stay in the main hall all the time. Why don't you come with me to the water pavilion at the back and drink while enjoying the scenery? What do you think?"
All the envoys applauded in unison, but Dagu frowned because his good deeds were ruined.
Following Princess Taiping, the envoys came to the backyard. A small artificially dug lake soon appeared in view, with a water pavilion standing on it.
Not only was there a water pavilion, Dagu also saw Wu Chengsi and Li Fan on the water pavilion. The two were standing on the water corridor, seeming to be arguing about something.
When the envoys approached, Li Fan said loudly: "What did that woman say to my elder brother? You can ask him yourself, I don't know!"
After saying that, he quickly left from the other side of the water pavilion. Wu Chengsi glanced at everyone and walked over with a gloomy expression.
"Second cousin, what happened between you and Duke Huainan?" Princess Taiping asked.
Wu Chengsi ignored her, glanced at the envoys with his razor-sharp gaze, and said in a deep voice: "I hope that none of you will tell anyone about what happened in the Water Pavilion just now."
The envoys from Korea, Shiwei, and Uighurs immediately responded loudly, and other envoys also said: "Your Majesty, please don't worry, we haven't seen anything."
Dagu also said the same thing, but he was thinking in his heart: "Humph, if you don't let me tell you, it must be bad for you. I want everyone to know."
Wu Chengsi was the biggest enemy of the Tubo people. Judging from what Dagu just said, Wu Chengsi and Huainan Gong's brother should be fighting for a woman.
As long as these things are spread, Wu Chengsi's status in the Tang Dynasty can be reduced. This is related to the rise and fall of the Tubo Kingdom. Dagu decided to spread it at all costs!
There were many envoys present who had the same idea as him. They were willing to do anything that could weaken the Tang Dynasty.
Not long after, the banquet ended and the envoys dispersed.
By the early morning of the next day, rumors about Wu Chengsi and Li Fan had already spread.
Life in the palace was boring, and this topic was very popular. Many people thought that Wu Chengsi had an affair with the Prince of Huainan because of a woman, and some people regarded it as a rumor.
However, for King Pei, this news was like a thorn in his throat.
In the study room of Yuyang Palace, King Pei sat at the top of the table, his face as gloomy as the sky before a storm, as if water was about to drip.
He could almost conclude that the woman in Wu Chengsi's question to Li Fan was referring to Zi Niang.
Ziniang must have told King Huainan the news she overheard. Wu Chengsi must have known that the news was very detrimental to King Pei and the others, so he was eager to know.
The King of Yue was looking at his hands. Like his face, his hands were full of wrinkles.
King Han slapped the table and said angrily: "That bitch actually told Li Mao our plan. I'm afraid Li Mao has already told King Zheng about it!"
The King of Yue sighed: "Since Wu Chengsi asked Li Fan, it means that Li Fan probably knew that this plan must not be used again."
King Pei's eyes flashed sharply and he said: "Even if we give up this plan, we will never let it reach the ears of our father."
The King of Yue looked at him fiercely and said in shock: "You don't want to silence King Zheng too, do you?"
King Pei touched his nose and sighed: "Uncle Wang, don't worry, my nephew is not that unwise. I want to test King Zheng first to see if he knows."
"What if he knew?" King Yue still stared at him.
"Then I have no choice but to beg him not to tell my father. Although he refuses to stand on my side, we are all of the same race and I believe he will not be so heartless."
The King of Yue exhaled and said: "This is the best. It's a pity that King Lu is ill and did not come this time. Otherwise, with his friendship with King Zheng, he should be able to convince King Zheng."
King Han hummed: "Even if King Lu is not here, there is still me. Although my relationship with Li Yuanli is not very good, we are brothers after all. Why don't I accompany King Pei there?"
"Okay, then you must remember to speak well and don't quarrel with King Zheng." King Yue asked.
"I know." King Han waved his hand impatiently.
In less than an hour, King Han and King Pei came back. Both of them looked good. King Yue asked hurriedly: "How is it? Did he agree?"
King Pei smiled and said: "Uncle Wang, we are worrying too much. King Zheng doesn't know."
King Han smiled and said, "When we mentioned the matter about that woman, he still asked us with a confused look on his face."
The King of Yue breathed a sigh of relief. King Zheng was an upright and upright man. If he knew about it, he would not pretend not to know.
"Li Mao definitely knows, but I don't know if Li Fan knows." The King of Yue said solemnly.
King Han suddenly said: "How are you sure Li Mao knows?"
The King of Yue was stunned and said: "Don't you suspect that Wu Chengsi is responsible for this matter?"
King Han snorted: "That boy is cunning and cunning. Haven't we been deceived by him enough times?"
The King of Yue thought for a while: "It is possible that Princess Taiping is also Wu Chengsi's person. She will definitely be willing to help Wu Chengsi perform such a drama."
King Pei was silent for a long time, and said with a deep look: "It is also possible that the woman really told Li Mao our plan."
The King of Yue pondered for a long time and said: "Now that the matter has come to an end, the only way is to send someone to capture Li Mao and ask him about the matter, especially to find out who else he told the matter to."
"What if he denies it? You are not a fool. You must know that you will die if you admit it." Li Yuanjia snorted.
King Pei nodded and said: "Whether Li Maocheng admits it or not, he must die, otherwise I will not be able to feel at ease."
The King of Yue shook his head secretly. He did not support killing Li Mao, because that would probably break with King Zheng.
But he also understood the character of King Pei, and even if he persuaded him, he would not listen.
At this moment, Yang Xuan, who was standing behind King Han, suddenly said: "I have a way to get rid of Li Mao without arousing anyone's suspicion."
…
In the Qianlong Hall, Li Zhi was lying on the dragon couch, his face full of exhaustion.
As the most powerful man in the world, he has been tortured by illness for many years. Now that his illness has not recovered, he is faced with the situation of his sons killing each other.
He began to regret it. If he had known it would turn out like this, he really shouldn't have let King Pei stay in Chang'an.
But then I thought about it, can the prince really inherit the throne if he is so cowardly?
And the queen has also begun to show her desire for power recently.
All kinds of annoying things confused his mind.
At this moment, Wei Dongfu suddenly came over with an exquisite wooden box and said softly: "Your Majesty, if you have a severe headache, please light a burner of incense."
Looking at the wooden box, Li Zhi suddenly felt a surge of anger welling up from the bottom of his heart.
He climbed up from the dragon bed, threw the wooden box on the ground, and roared: "Why do you all have to deceive me? What do you want me to do before I am satisfied!"
Wei Dongfu had never seen Li Zhi like this before, and said tremblingly: "Your Majesty, you... you must take care of the dragon body!"
Li Zhi said angrily: "What's there to take care of? What's the point of what the emperor is doing? It's better to die and let them torment themselves."
Wei Dongfu was so frightened that he knelt down and kowtowed: "Your Majesty, don't scare me...don't scare me..."
I don't know how long it took, but Li Zhi finally regained his composure, looked at the old eunuch who was still kowtowing, waved his hand and said: "Dong Fu, please go down and leave me alone."
Soon, Li Zhi was the only one left in the dormitory, pacing back and forth. Suddenly, a guard in black clothes and armor entered the room and said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, Commander Li wants to see you."
Li Zhi nodded, left the dormitory, and led the guards to a remote room in the east courtyard. He asked all the guards to guard the door and entered the house alone.
I saw a man in black robes with a white cloth covering his head waiting in the house. After seeing Li Zhi, the man in black robes cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty."
Li Zhi came to the window with his hands behind his back, turned his back to the man in black robe, and said calmly: "What's the matter?"
The man in black robe said in a hollow voice: "The bad guy under my command may have leaked the news."
Li Zhi turned around fiercely and said, "Are you talking about King Pei's plan to frame the prince?"
"Yes."
"Leaked to whom?"
"From the current point of view, it is very likely that it will be leaked to Huainan Wang Limao."
"Li Mao? Is that the son of King Zheng with bad conduct?"
"it's him."
"That bad guy won't leak other information, right?" Li Zhi said with a livid face.
Although he has a kind personality, sitting in this position has to deal with some secret matters, and usually the people who do this for him are bad people.
The bad handsome man hesitated for a while and said: "This possibility cannot be ruled out."
Li Zhi said coldly: "Check it out immediately!"
"I accept the decree." The man in black robe hesitated for a moment and then said: "Your Majesty, what should we do with the insider?"
Li Zhi was silent for a long time and said: "You go and investigate first. I need to think about it carefully."
"yes."
…
After Wu Chengsi performed a play with the help of Princess Taiping, he immediately came to the foot of the palace mountain, found Zhuge Sanyuan, and ordered him to keep an eye on Li Mao.
According to Li Zhiying's judgment, the person behind Ziniang will most likely go to Li Mao after learning that Ziniang told Li Mao the news.
Because since Ziniang can reveal this secret, she is likely to reveal other secrets, and the people behind the scenes cannot help but worry.
After receiving the order, Zhuge Sanyuan immediately changed his clothes and squatted outside the palace of King Zheng.
There are few buildings in the palace and there are many trees and rocks, so it is convenient to hide it.
Half an hour later, the sun rose to its highest point. Under the watchful eye of Zhuge Sanyuan, King Zheng welcomed a visitor to his palace.
King Li Xun of Yingchuan strode into the palace and, led by servants, came all the way to Li Mao's house.
After entering the room, he saw Li Mao lying on the lap of a beautiful maid, holding a book on Fangzhongshu in his hand, reading with gusto.
After King Yingchuan entered, Li Mao just glanced at him and said coldly: "What are you doing here?"
Li Xun showed a strange expression and said, "Cousin, are you still in the mood to read here?"
Li Mao raised his eyebrows and said, "Are you mocking me?"
King Yingchuan hummed: "Brother, I came here with good intentions to remind you of the whereabouts of that woman, but you don't appreciate it. Well, since you don't want to know, just think that my trip was in vain."
After saying that, he turned around and left.
Li Mao glared and said, "Wait a minute, is that woman you are talking about, that bitch Ziniang?"
"Who else could it be but her?"
Li Mao stood up fiercely, grabbed King Yingchuan's arm, and said, "Do you know the whereabouts of that bitch?"
King Yingchuan nodded and said: "I heard what others said. I heard that when someone went hunting, he met a beautiful woman at the entrance of a village near a hill in the north."
"She still dares to come back, you bitch, let's see if I don't kill her!"
Li Mao got dressed under the service of his maid, summoned a group of guards, and went straight to Sanjing Village.
As soon as he left, Zhuge Sanyuan followed him.
After following him all the way out of the palace, Zhuge Sanyuan did not follow very closely. With his superb tracking skills, he stayed far away. It didn't take long before he arrived at Sanjing Village.
Sneaking into the village, he quickly discovered King Huainan. He was leading people to search and arrest people in the village. Any villager who dared to resist was beaten severely.
After searching seven or eight houses in a row, suddenly, a woman came out of one of the houses, wearing clothes exactly like Ziniang.
King Huainan who was riding on his horse also saw it and said with great joy: "Hurry, catch that bitch!"
All the guards of King Huainan chased the woman.
King Huainan also followed him until he reached the intersection at the end of the village and up the mountain. Since he didn't want to go immediately, he stopped.
However, after waiting for a long time, none of the guards who went up the mountain came back.
Li Mao was extremely angry and said to the guards around him: "What a bunch of trash. If you go up too, if you can't catch that bitch, I will break your legs!"
In the blink of an eye, only two guards were left around Li Mao.
After a while, Zhuge Sanyuan, who was lurking in the tree, seemed to wake up and looked toward the head of the village.
I saw several black shadows suddenly rushing over from the roof. After a few leaps, five men in black surrounded Li Mao and the three of them, four of whom were wearing fox-face masks and one was wearing a wolf-face mask.
It is the bad people led by Yang Xuan.
At this moment, Zhuge Sanyuan heard another very slight abnormal sound. He turned around and saw a dark shadow crouching on a tree diagonally opposite.
If you look closely, you will see that the black figure is also wearing a mask, and his attire is quite similar to that of Yang Xuan and others, except that he is wearing a leopard head mask.
Zhuge Sanyuan's heart moved slightly, and he thought: "This person seems to be a bad person, and he doesn't seem to be in the same group as Yang Xuan. Could it be that he was sent here by the person behind Ziniang?"
Of course, there is another possibility. This person was sent by King Zheng Li Yuanjia to protect Li Mao. After all, King Zheng also had a group of bad guys.
There are only four people who control bad people. If they are not from King Zheng, then only King Lu and...
Thinking of this, cold sweat broke out on Zhuge Sanyuan's back.
"Who are you? What do you want to do?" Li Mao asked loudly while looking at the five people who suddenly appeared on the village road.
None of the five people spoke. Two of them jumped forward and killed Li Mao's last two guards with a flash of sword light.
Then the two men carried the body and ran up the mountain. Yang Xuan came to Li Mao and pulled the horse to the ground with a strong pull. Li Mao also fell down.
Yang Xuan hugged the horse's head and broke it hard, breaking the horse's neck.
Li Mao, who rolled to the ground, was stunned, his whole body trembling slightly with fear.
"I, I am the King of Huainan, please don't mess around."
Yang Xuan said coldly: "I ask a question and you answer a question. If you don't answer, I will wring your neck like a horse's neck. Do you understand?"
"Who are you? If you want money, I can give it to you!" There was a cry in Li Mao's voice.
Yang Xuan said coldly: "First question, has Ziniang told you about the prince?"
Li Mao was stunned and said: "Ziniang? She, does she have anything to do with the prince?"
Yang Xuan swung around, came behind him, and hugged his neck with two arms. Li Mao immediately let out a scream like a slaughtered pig.
"Don't kill me! Don't kill me! Concubine, please save me!"
Yang Xuan said coldly: "If you don't want to die, just answer the question."
"I said, I'll tell you everything, what do you want to know?" Li Mao hissed, holding his arms tightly around his neck.
Yang Xuan frowned and repeated: "Did Ziniang tell you about the prince?"
"No, no, she ignored me at first, but then I threatened her with that clay leg, and she agreed to go with me. She never mentioned anything related to the prince!"
Yang Xuan suddenly put his face against Li Mao's face, looked directly into Li Mao's eyes, and said: "She really didn't mention the prince's matter to you?"
This was the first time in Li Mao's life that he had his forehead and nose pressed against a man's. Looking at the other man's cold eyes, he felt extremely frightened in his heart and said in a trembling voice: "No, absolutely not!"
Yang Xuan didn't say a word, just stared at Li Mao's eyes quietly. After a long while, he suddenly said: "Have you heard of Baitaixiang?"
Li Mao swallowed and said, "No, no."
Yang Xuan raised his head and said softly: "His Royal Highness the King of Huainan, although I can't see that you are lying, this matter is too important, so I can only forgive you."
After saying everything with his palm on Li Mao's neck, Li Mao immediately passed out.
At this time, Yang Xuan put his index finger to his mouth and blew a strange whistle. Two men in black came from the direction of the village with a villager in his thirties.
The villager held a shovel in his hand and trembled as he walked, obviously filled with fear.
After he approached, Yang Xuan said coldly: "Shitou, do it quickly. Your whole family will have no worries about food and clothing for the rest of their lives."
The villagers' thin shoulders trembled slightly, and the shovel was raised high, but they could never drop it.
"Do it now! Otherwise you will die, your family will die, and everyone in your village will die too!" Yang Xuan said solemnly.
Shitou roared and hit Li Mao on the head with a shovel. Li Mao's head was immediately bruised and bleeding, and his body trembled a few times before becoming motionless again.
Yang Xuan said coldly: "Do you know what to say later?"
Shitou's eyes were red and he said loudly: "I killed the man, and I wanted to avenge Dashan!"
Yang Xuan nodded and said coldly: "Remember, if you fall into their hands alive, your wife and children will have to die. I will watch you from the side."
As soon as he finished speaking, he waved his hand, and he and several men in black jumped to the roof one after another. After another jump, they all disappeared.
Shi Shi's body went limp and he sat down on the ground, staring blankly at the ground without saying a word.
Half an hour later, he suddenly heard the sound of horse hooves. Shitou hurriedly stood up with a shovel and saw a group of cavalry coming from the direction of the village. Among the cavalry, there was a luxurious carriage.
Stone gritted his teeth, raised his shovel and threw it at Li Mao who was on the ground. Someone from the cavalry team shouted: "The man on the ground seems to be His Royal Highness the King of Huainan."
When Princess Zheng heard the news about her son, she hurriedly poked her head out of the car window.
After seeing that the person on the ground was indeed his son, he roared: "Quick, save Wang'er, and kill that madman for me!"