Lai's 30,000-strong army suddenly retreated without warning. Yu Zhide, the leader of the Shence Army who was confronting Lai's army, immediately spread the news to Luoyang.
The eunuchs were all jubilant, and Li Fuguo ordered notices to be posted throughout the city, informing them that the three rebel armies had been completely wiped out.
In order to celebrate the victory and whitewash peace, Li Fuguo ordered the lifting of martial law and allowed people to enter and leave the city normally. Li Fuguo also ordered all shops to operate normally, creating a prosperous scene under the power of the eunuch party.
Contrary to the joy of the eunuchs, the officials in both the government and the public were in gloom and silence. Everyone was in a heavy mood. The failure of the three kings meant that the eunuchs had won.
In the Wei Mansion, dozens of disciples and former officials filled the hall with weeping faces. They could not see the future and were extremely anxious.
Now is the period when the eunuchs have just come to power. Most officials have experienced the prosperous days of Kaiyuan Tianbao. They cannot accept this kind of political darkness. The eunuchs have actually taken control of the government and the monarch. Their resistance is very intense.
But in the late Tang Dynasty, the eunuch party had been in power for more than a hundred years. The officials in the court were accustomed to the eunuch party being in charge. They no longer knew what the normal government policy was like. They basically accepted it and were strange to the eunuch party who held the power.
No wonder, there is almost no bottom line, let alone any emotions.
Nowadays, all the officials extremely hate the eunuch group headed by Li Fuguo. The failure of the three kings has plunged most of the officials into despair.
At this time, Wei Jiansu walked in with a smile. He sat down at his seat, glanced at everyone, and asked with a smile: "How come everyone seems to have cried and is in such a bad mood?"
Wei Jiansu's old subordinate, Shen Qi, a doctor in the Ministry of Civil Affairs, clasped his fists and said: "I am reporting to the old Prime Minister that the three kings were defeated miserably and the eunuch army was victorious in three battles. We are extremely sad. Is it possible that the imperial court has just sunk and there is no hope?"
"What are you talking about?"
Wei Jiansu glanced at them dissatisfiedly, "Is His Royal Highness King Qi just a speck of dust that you can't see?"
"But the King of Qi did not send troops! Has he recognized the imperial court or reached an agreement with the eunuchs?"
"When the three kings send troops, will the king of Qi follow suit? I can't calm down at all. The king of Qi is different from the three kings. Of course, he doesn't have to be as impatient as the three kings to send troops, but he will definitely send troops to rectify the court and eradicate the
Eunuch!"
Lao Xiangguo's words gave everyone a glimmer of hope, and the depressed look gradually disappeared from everyone's face. They had no information, but what should Lao Xiangguo know?
Wei Jiansu smiled slightly again and said: "Actually, it is very simple to deduce some things. In the morning, I sent people to the Qi Prince's Mansion to enter the memorial hall. I found that the entrance hall has been closed. There is a sign on it saying that it will be suspended for seven days for internal repairs. Everyone really
I believe it’s an internal repair? What does this mean? Can’t you think of it?”
Everyone was in an uproar, and there was a lot of discussion in the lobby. An official asked: "Does the old prime minister mean that they have all retreated?"
Wei Jiansu laughed and said, "I didn't say any conclusions, I just stated a fact. You can think about it yourself!"
Meaningful smiles appeared on everyone's faces, and Shen Qi, a doctor from the Ministry of Civil Affairs, asked again: "Does the old prime minister invite us to do something?"
Wei Jiansu nodded, "I see that all the officials in the imperial court are like leaves beaten by frost. I feel anxious when I look at them. I want you to run around more, cheer up the officials, and tell everyone what I have discovered, so that Everyone, cheer up and have hope!"
Everyone stood up and saluted, "Follow the old Prime Minister's instructions!"
Li Dai's mansion was surrounded by more than a thousand soldiers, and Li Dai was put under house arrest in the inner house. There was no one else in the inner house but Li Dai. The entire inner courtyard was transformed into a prison, with flower windows blocked, iron gates installed on the main door, and a thousand soldiers. The Plum Blossom Guards soldiers marched three steps to one post and five steps to one sentry, guarding everything.
Every morning, a plum blossom guard who monitors Li Dai will go in to check, confirm Li Dai's condition, and then report to the police. At noon, an old man will go in to deliver food to him, and in the evening, another plum blossom guard will go in to check on the situation.
At noon, the soldiers opened the iron gate of the courtyard, and the hunchbacked old man walked in slowly as usual, carrying a food box.
The old man with a hunchback, whose surname was Wang, was a mute gardener in Li Dai's house. Li Dai asked him to deliver food, otherwise he would go on a hunger strike. This request was not too much, so the general agreed.
At this time, 'Li Dai' was standing in the yard with his hands behind his hands, squinting and listening to the sound of firecrackers coming in the distance. It was the sound of crackling firecrackers made by burning bamboo tubes. It usually only happened during the Chinese New Year, but suddenly it happened today. He could hear it. It was clear that there were nine bursts in total, which was the signal Dugu Ming had agreed upon in advance.
At this time, the hunchbacked old man slowly put the food box on the table and went to pack yesterday's food box. Li Dai suddenly appeared behind him, raised his hand and dropped his palm, hitting the back of his neck. The hunchbacked old man fell to the ground softly. .
Not long after, the old man with a hunchback walked out slowly carrying a food box. The soldiers quickly opened the door. The old man with a hunchback walked to the kitchen step by step, put down the food box, turned around and slowly left the house to go home.
In the evening, a guard entered the inner house to check as usual. This person was the guard assigned to Li Dai by the court after the assassination of Du Hongjian. He was also a plum blossom guard and was very familiar with Li Dai.
Although Li Fuguo had Li Dai under house arrest, he was afraid that something might happen to Li Dai and wanted to prevent him from escaping, so he arranged for people to go in and check Li Dai's condition morning and night.
Suddenly, the soldiers shouted in the inner courtyard, "Someone is coming, someone is coming!"
Something had happened. The leader, General Zhang Xian, immediately rushed in with his soldiers.
After rushing into the inner hall, Zhang Xian was stunned. He saw the hunchbacked old man who delivered the meal was tied to the ground, his eyes widened in horror, his mouth was gagged and he was screaming. He was only wearing a white shirt. Not only the coat, but also the scarf and boots were gone.
"Where is Li Xiangguo?"
"I don't know, he's missing."
Zhang Xian was anxious, "Search for me!"
At this time, a soldier said tremblingly: "General, this old man who delivers food has clearly gone out at noon, why is he back again?"
"What?"
Zhang Xian felt that the world was spinning for a while, and he suddenly understood that the old man delivering the meal who left at noon was Li Dai, and Li Dai had already run away.
After a while, the soldiers came back to report, "The inner house has been searched, and there is no one there."
"You continue to search, and I will report it."
Zhang Xian felt his legs trembling. Li Dai ran away. He didn't know what would happen to him.
Half an hour later, the city gate suddenly closed, and a large group of Plum Blossom Guard soldiers rushed to the streets and began to search the whole city of Luoyang. Everyone who had anything to do with Li Dai broke into the Plum Blossom Guard, causing a lot of noise and complaints.
But Li Dai was still nowhere to be found, his shadow was nowhere to be seen, as if he had disappeared out of thin air.
Although the eunuchs wanted to suppress the news of Li Dai's disappearance, the search by the Plum Blossom Guard soldiers clearly told everyone that Li Dai, the former prime minister, was missing.
Who is Li Dai? He is the father of King Qi. His disappearance reminded everyone that King Qi was about to send troops, otherwise Li Dai would not have disappeared at this time.
This made the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty full of expectations again. In the eyes of the civil servants, as long as the eunuchs could be eliminated and freed from the shackles of eunuch power, they would rather let the King of Qi be in power.
But the disappearance of Li Dai was undoubtedly a bolt from the blue for the eunuchs.
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[I feel a little unwell, so I only coded two chapters, sorry!]