Lishan also built the Ten Princes' Residence and the Baisun Courtyard, which made it convenient for the princes, princes, and grandsons to accompany the saints to stay in Lishan.
When Li Heng checked into the Ten King's House last night, he couldn't help but sneered and whispered to Li Fuguo, "You can see the saint's uneasiness."
When he woke up the next day, he deeply regretted it, thinking that he should not have been so quick in case others heard him.
When Li Fuguo came in, he was seen sitting on the couch rubbing his forehead, his face dark and gloomy.
"Your Highness is still mourning for King Jieshuai. Please express your condolences." Li Fuguo wisely did not mention what he heard last night and reminded: "The saint summoned Your Highness."
"So early?"
Li Heng was a little surprised. Since Li Longji rarely held court meetings, he rarely summoned his ministers in the early morning unless something big happened.
He neither changed his clothes nor washed his face, and walked into Huaqing Palace covered in dust and with tears on his face.
At the Kaiyang Gate, Yu Chaoen came up to greet him and said, "This servant will lead the way for the prince. The saint is in the Nine Dragons Hall."
This eunuch was very close to Li Heng. Although he did not give any warning, he deliberately quickened his pace. Therefore, when they passed through the inner palace gate, they happened to meet Xue Bai and Yuan Zai who had just withdrawn from the audience.
Only then did Li Heng understand why the sage wanted to see him so early in the morning. It turned out that he had first heard Xue Bai and Yuan Zai report important events.
What's the big deal? It's not difficult to speculate that Li Heng knew Xue Bai wanted to get rid of An Lushan, and Yuan Zai also hoped to avenge Wang Zhongsi.
This time, they are on the same side.
With this thought, Li Heng paused for a moment and gave them a sad and sincere look. Yuan Zai responded quickly and silently bowed, giving the prince enough respect.
Xue Bai began to become more tactful recently. Although his expression was still calm, he nodded slightly, indicating that this time everyone should deal with An Lushan together and avenge Wang Zhongsi.
They passed each other, and Li Heng had almost achieved his goal before meeting the saint. He expressed his stance and established a reputation. This was not only a reputation in the eyes of Xue Bai and Yuan Zai, but also a knowledgeable person in the court.
Everyone knows that the prince is the banner to resist An Lushan. As for the result, it is not that important.
~~
Yutang Kowloon Hall.
Yutang Jiulong Hall is also called "Lotus Soup". It is a bathing place exclusively for saints. The temple is divided into an inner hall and an outer hall.
After taking a bath in the inner hall, Li Longji, wearing a simple silk robe and with long wet hair, went directly to the outer hall to receive the ministers.
Regardless of whether he was willing to meet Li Heng or not, due to Wang Zhongsi's death, the meeting between their father and son was inevitable.
"Father! My sworn brother..."
When Li Heng arrived at the palace gate, he quickened his pace and almost jogged to reach His Highness. He threw himself to the ground and knelt there sobbing.
"My child can't believe this news is true. My sworn brother is in his prime. My child is too sad and it's rude."
Where Li Longji looked, Li Heng's robe was covered with mud, and he looked extremely embarrassed, which was in sharp contrast to his clean and elegant appearance just after taking a bath.
As he spoke at this time, Li Heng's eyes were red, tears kept flowing, and his shoulders were twitching uncontrollably. He was genuinely sad, and it didn't look like he was acting. However, what Li Longji was thinking about was what Yuan Zai had just said.
The sentence "My father-in-law is not dead".
"I can still vividly remember the scene when my sworn brother and I played in the palace. He finally disarmed and returned to the capital. He had some time to relax. I was looking forward to seeing him again, but here he is!"
Li Heng continued to talk, trying to describe what happened to Wang Zhongsi when he was a child, hoping to arouse Li Longji's affection for his adopted son. Li Longji also continued to think about what Yuan Zai said, "The prince must know about it."
Therefore, in his eyes, every expression Li Heng made was like a performance, which looked extremely ridiculous.
It was under such circumstances that he had the patience to deal with his son to see how rebellious his son was.
"Don't cry." Li Longji comforted him warmly and sighed meaningfully: "I have lost another son."
Li Heng didn't know what he meant. He just thought that he finally remembered Wang Zhongsi. He gritted his teeth and said, "Father, I thought that my sworn brother did not die of illness, but that he must have been killed by someone!"
"who?"
"My sworn brother has made great achievements in Nanzhao and will inevitably be hated by others. I think this matter should be investigated in detail."
Li Longji closed his eyes and pondered, and said slowly: "Okay, I'll leave it to you to investigate. Can you give me a real result?"
Hearing these words, Li Heng was stunned for a moment. He didn't expect to be able to convince Li Longji so easily. But no matter what the reason was, the matter was very important to him, and he immediately responded: "My child will definitely live up to his mission."
"Find the murderer and avenge Ah Xun?"
"Yes. Find the murderer and avenge your sworn brother." Li Heng said loudly.
A relieved smile appeared on Li Longji's face, and he murmured: "I understand your mood very well."
Not long ago, he sat here and asked Xue Bai, "Why did they do this?"
Xue Bai replied, "According to my speculation, Wang Zhongsi was forced to panic, and others had been trying to kill him. He simply faked his death, so that the target of the attack would be directed at Yang Guozhong and An Lushan, and the prince could take this opportunity to go to Li
After a trip to the mountain, they also wanted to...admonish the saint."
Any words of advice, to Li Longji's ears, were simply military advice.
This matter was not something he had just guessed out of thin air, but something Li Linfu had reported a long time ago. It was finally time to implement Wang Zhongsi's words "I want to respect the prince". He faked his death and made the palace and the court lower their guard. The prince took advantage of the opportunity.
He went to Lishan Mountain to meet the Holy Spirit, and in the name of a thorough investigation, he mobilized troops and horses to carry out palace coup.
He hoped that this speculation was false, but judging from his rich experience in palace changes, it was not impossible. When he was young, the blood and fire in the palace had deeply engraved a truth in his mind - he could not believe anything.
people, especially his own son.
But it was difficult to confirm the prince's alien intentions and even find evidence. In this regard, Xue Bai gave a suggestion.
"Sage, please calm down. This matter is just a random guess by me. If you want to confirm it, why not try the method of Duan Yu Yan from Zheng Bo?"
Li Longji decided to give Li Heng the power and pretended to investigate Wang Zhongsi's death to see what his son was thinking.
~~
Chang'an, Chongrenfang, Fan Yangjin Memorial Hall.
Sun Xiaozhe was very caring. He went to bed very early last night and slept deeply.
As soon as it dawned, Ji Wen came to meet him. He was so anxious that he even forgot to chew the cloves and said, "Wang Zhongsi is fine."
"Are you really not dead?"
Sun Xiaozhe didn't believe it. After all, his men had already said that the head cut off was not Wang Zhongsi's. He was just a little upset that he had not succeeded in killing a person for so long.
He rubbed his nose, but he didn't mind the stench in Ji Wen's mouth. There was a lot of cow and sheep excrement on the grassland, so this bad breath was nothing.
"Where to hide?"
"I really came out of the torture." Ji Wen's eyes were bright and he said: "It's at the villa in Zhaoying County. I have sent people to secretly inquire about it. I wanted to confirm it before telling you. But this matter should be Almost as good as ten."
Sun Xiaozhe said: "I sent people to chop him up."
He was very murderous, not only because Wang Zhongsi's prestige made An Lushan very afraid, but also because he had a deep relationship with Wang Zhongsi. In the first year of Tianbao, Wang Zhongsi went to the north to conquer the Turks, and Sun Xiaozhe's father died there. Later in that battle, Anlushan wanted to intercept Wang Zhongsi's soldiers in Xiongwu City, and Sun Xiaozhe stayed in Anlushan's army at that time.
This time, An Lushan sent Sun Xiaozhe to Chang'an to offer prisoners, which was also related to this.
Ji Wen said: "Don't worry, General Sun, think about it, even if Wang Zhongsi is still alive, he is dead in the eyes of the world. As a general and official, he has been killed by you."
"No, he faked his death because he sensed the danger." Sun Xiaozhe said: "He is the most terrifying beast. If he escapes our attack, he will definitely retaliate against us. We must not hesitate. If we want to be cruel, we have to bite his neck. Bite it off in one bite.”
"Zhaoying County is very close to Huaqing Palace, so it would be very dangerous to use force again."
Sun Xiaozhe had an intuition that he was being watched, so he called someone and said, "Go tell Arado and hide it somewhere else. The dummy head is buried..."
Arado was the leader of the team he sent to assassinate Wang Zhongsi, and he had been preparing for a long time to pretend to be a Nanzhao man.
When Ji Wen heard about the beheading, he thought of it and said, "I have a way. Why don't I hang the head and write the head of Wang Zhongsi on it to make it look like the Nanzhao barbarians are showing off their power. But when others look at it, that's it. If the head is fake, then we know that Wang Zhongsi faked his death, which is a serious crime of deceiving the emperor."
"Is it useful?"
"It's useful." Ji Wen was good at punishing people, and he didn't agree with Sun Xiaozhe's habit of killing people at every turn, and said: "Deceiving the emperor is a sharper knife. This time, Wang Zhongsi is dead without General Sun taking action. "
After the two discussed it, they immediately sent people to kill him, and then sent more people to Zhaoying County to investigate.
Sun Xiaozhe did not forget to ask his men to observe the terrain and make preparations. If Wang Zhongsi had other means, he would kill him directly. Ji Wen was watching and still said "no need".
However, in the afternoon, bad news came back one after another.
"General, Arado and the others have been found."
"What's the meaning?"
"There was no one in their hiding place, and there were blood stains on the ground. They must have been discovered by officers and soldiers."
"Wang Zhongsi!" Sun Xiaozhe suddenly changed his expression and said angrily: "It must be Wang Zhongsi, we have fallen into his trap!"
He was actually very afraid of Wang Zhongsi, that is, he dared to kill Wang Zhongsi while Wang Zhongsi was seriously ill, but if he failed to kill him, he was also very afraid of the consequences.
Ji Wen quickly comforted such a fierce-looking Turk and said: "It doesn't matter, we have made complete preparations. The general's men are all hard-core and will not confess easily."
Sun Xiaozhe said: "You told me not long ago that no matter how hard a bone is, it will become soft in your hands."
"But... people who are as good at torture as me are not common."
Just as Ji Wen finished speaking, a soldier hurried to the courtyard and said: "General, there is something important. The prince was ordered to investigate the important case and sent someone to invite the general and Dr. Ji to Lishan for questioning."
"To Lishan? How could this happen?" Ji Wen was greatly surprised, "How could the saint change his attitude and suddenly believe in Donggong so much?"
"Because what he told is the truth." Sun Xiaozhe said: "It is Wang Zhongsi who I sent people to kill. He was caught by someone. Of course the saint will believe it."
Ji Wen was so anxious that he paced around and murmured: "In this case, we are passive. The prince and Wang Zhongsi are afraid that they will attack us this time."
"Why are you panicking?" Sun Xiaozhe was more open-minded and said, "Fight them!"
~~
The next day, the morning light spread little by little on the beautiful Lishan Mountain, and the light and shadow in Yutang Jiulong Hall were hazy.
At dawn, when no one was paying attention, the white marble statue that Li Linfu had worshiped at the beginning of the year was brought out again, put on a light yellow silk robe, and placed on the imperial couch.
It is completely carved in the image of a saint. Looking through the screen, it seems that the saint is still sitting there.
Yang Yuhuan was rehearsing a play on the other side of the screen, and the sound of silk and bamboo could be heard far away.
In this way, most people in the Huaqing Palace thought that the saint was listening to music with the imperial concubine in the Yutang Jiulong Hall.
In the morning, Li Longji, escorted by Chen Xuanli, Gao Lishi and others, quietly boarded the Jiangsheng Temple on Xixiuling.
Looking from here, you can see Huaqing Palace at the foot of the mountain and Zhaoying County further away. But they are too far apart, and the people are as small as ants.
"Your Majesty, I have something to offer."
Xue Bai took two steps forward and held up a tube-shaped object with both hands.
Li Longji glanced back and said, "I know what this is. It's called the 'Thousand Mile Mirror'. It played a great role in the Battle of Nanzhao."
"I am scared. I should have presented my loyalty to Your Majesty long ago. But because of the urgency of the war and fear of leaking it in advance, I had to hide my weakness first. Now that I have made improvements, I dare to offer my loyalty to Your Majesty."
"Stop talking nonsense and bring it."
Li Longji casually took the telescope. Chen Xuanli, Gao Lishi and others also had one. When they put it in front of their eyes, they were surprised.
In this way, they could roughly see what was happening across Wangxian Bridge.
It is a pity that the saint may see his son enter the palace again today.
Not long after, I saw Li Heng coming out of the Ten Princes' Residence under the protection of more than ten guards and walking towards the Jianwu Hall outside Huaqing Palace. The Jianwu Hall was the place where business was discussed. When the saint was stationed at Lishan Mountain, many things happened to the courtiers.
They should discuss it there first, and then report it to the palace.
Li Heng's expression could not be seen in the telescope, but he could see that he was excited after leaving the ten kings' house, and he had the majestic air of a prince, which was completely different from the timid and respectful posture in front of Li Longji in the past.
This made Li Longji feel that this kind of peeping was very novel. Therefore, when Gao Lishi asked him if he would go to Jiangsheng Temple to rest for a while first, he shook his head and insisted on continuing to watch. It was like a man who had just got a new toy.
Old kid.
After a while, someone escorted a group of prisoners and came from a distance.
"Sage, those are the Nanzhao barbarians that Guo Qianli and Xian Yuhao captured yesterday." Gao Lishi reported in a low voice.
Li Longji asked: "Shang said that he lost his trace two days ago, how did he catch it again?"
Faced with this problem, no one else knows.
Seeing that no one could answer, Xue Bai said, "I thought it was Wang Zhongsi who faked his death and secretly sent scouts to keep an eye on them and found the whereabouts of these murderers. After all, the border army scouts are different from the forbidden army."
His words raised another question. If Wang Zhongsi faked his death in order to respect Li Heng, then he should have sent someone to assassinate him and put on a show. And if according to what Xue Bai said at this time, then
Who sent people to assassinate Wang Zhongsi?
Li Longji vaguely realized that Xue Bai was just making a roundabout statement.
But at this time, everyone had already climbed up to Xixiuling to watch, and it was too late to reject this suggestion.
The telescope in his hand moved slightly and fell on a person in the distance. The man was walking in the team escorting the prisoners. He was tall and wore a jacket in the summer, covering half of his face.
Judging from his body shape, he looks like Wang Zhongsi.
Li Longji had a sullen face, deeply disgusted with the prince's secret meeting with Wang Zhongsi.
"How many people are there?" he asked.
Faced with this sudden question, Chen Xuanli immediately understood what the saint was asking and replied: "The prince has twelve guards, and the prisoners plus the escorts forty-five, there are fifty-seven people."
"When I was young, it would have been more than enough."
After continuing to watch for a while, the prisoners were taken to the Jiangwu Hall and were tied up in the courtyard under the summer sun. They were interrogated one by one. And the man who looked like Wang Zhongsi had been sitting by the corridor. At least from here.
Go and meet the prince unselfishly.
The expected picture did not appear, but instead seemed boring.
"Sage." Gao Lishi asked again: "Would you like to rest in the Holy Temple first and wait until there is any movement?"
Li Longji didn't know exactly when Li Heng and Wang Zhongsi would take action. He put down his telescope, turned around, and descended to the holy temple to eat and drink.
After a long time, Xue Bai suddenly said: "Here we come."
It turned out that a group of people came from Zhaoying County, drove to Wangxian Bridge, and entered the Jiangwu Hall.
~~
In a side room in the side hall of Jiangwu Hall, Li Heng did not mind the smell and personally watched the interrogation process.
He did not ask any questions, but stood behind the interrogating officials, pacing and looking at the expressions of the criminals.
"What's your name?"
"Arado."
"Who asked you to assassinate Wang Jieshuai?"
"Duan Jianwei."
Li Heng became impatient and ordered: "Torture."
But Arado grinned and said: "I'll attack, I'll attack... We didn't kill Wang Zhongsi, the head we brought back belongs to someone else..."
Li Heng frowned.
This was not the first time he heard this answer today, and he wondered in his heart whether his sworn brother was not dead yet, but how could it be possible?
There is another strange thing. He just received an errand to investigate the death of Wang Zhongsi yesterday, and today Guo Qianli got the murderer sent to him. It was a coincidence. However, Guo Qianli did not come to explain what happened, claiming that he had suffered
The injury is still being healed on the road.
"First confess honestly, who sent you to assassinate me."
"Duan Jianwei."
"Torture."
Li Heng knew that Arado wouldn't be able to stand it any longer, so he walked out of the veranda for the time being and stood in the corridor for a while.
Li Fuguo walked over softly and whispered: "Your Highness, Sun Xiaozhe and Ji Wen are here."
"Take them to wait for me in the palace."
Li Heng was already very sure that it was Sun Xiaozhe who sent someone to assassinate Wang Zhongsi. He then had a simple but effective plan. He would detain Sun Xiaozhe and Ji Wen and deceive Arado, making these murderers think that the matter was complete.
Once it was exposed, it was natural to take action.
However, Li Fuguo looked troubled and said: "Your Highness, I'm afraid this is inappropriate. Sun Xiaozhe came with Fan Yangjun."
"What do you mean?"
"He said yes and was ready to return to Fanyang. The team passed Zhaoying County and was summoned by His Highness. He also heard that something happened to Wang Jieshuai, so he ordered the large team to station in the west of Zhaoying City. He brought more than a hundred people with him.
Wearing armor and carrying weapons."
As Li Fuguo spoke, he became increasingly unsure and reminded: "Your Highness, we're afraid we won't be able to put him to trial."
"Will I be frightened by him?" Li Heng scolded, "Across the palace city is the emperor's residence. Beiya imperial guards are gathered here, and it's not yet time for Fan Yang's army to rebel!"
"Yes, that slave..."
"You go to the palace and report the situation to Aweng. Sun Xiaozhe is unruly and unruly. After assassinating his sworn brother, he tried to rely on his military strength to refuse trial. I am worried about trouble, so I asked Aweng to mobilize the imperial army to kill his majesty."
Li Fuguo asked: "Is this feasible?"
He has been following the prince for several years, and he has never seen the prince have such great energy.
"It works, go and come back quickly." Li Heng knew that this was the opportunity created for him by Wang Zhongsi's death.
Under An Lushan's flattering face, there is a rebellious heart. He must peel off An Lushan's thick face!
Suddenly, someone greeted him through the courtyard gate.
"But where is His Highness? Ji Wen wishes His Highness to be well. It's been a long time since I last saw you."
When Li Heng took a look, he saw Ji Wen giving him a cross-hand salute from a distance. Although he looked respectful and respectful, his expression was mocking.
Ji Wen was not afraid of him as the prince at all. It was Ji Wen who handled Wei Jian's case and forced him to divorce his wife.
When the old enemies met, they were extremely jealous. Li Heng was speechless in front of this low-ranking official for a moment, closing his mouth tightly and not speaking.
"I wonder what your highness is calling your officials to do?"
"My sworn brother was assassinated. I was ordered to investigate the matter thoroughly and summoned you to ask a few questions."
Ji Wen was greatly surprised and said: "What? I heard that Wang Jieshuai died of illness, why did your highness say this?"
Things have developed to this point, which is actually a bit troublesome for him and Sun Xiaozhe. The people sent to carry out the assassination have been caught, and they will be exposed sooner or later. However, Wang Zhongsi is not dead yet, which means that the matter has not been completed, but he has been left.
handle.
After discussing with Sun Xiaozhe, Ji Wen and Sun Xiaozhe reached a consensus. Now there is only one way, and that is to falsely accuse Wang Zhongsi and Li Heng of conspiring to rebel. They must first find Wang Zhongsi to prove to the saint that he deceived the emperor, and then concoct evidence.
, Ji Wen is still very good at this aspect.
Just now, Sun Xiaozhe had sent people to look for the Wang family's villa in Zhaoying County, and found out that Wang Zhongsi left this morning and must have come to the martial arts hall. Therefore, Ji Wen dealt with Li Heng and gave Sun
Hyo-cheol buys time.
As he was talking, Ji Wen noticed that Li Heng's eyes were straightened.
He turned his head and followed Li Heng's gaze, and saw a man standing up from the team of guards, raising his crotch on his head, and standing there looking at Li Heng.
"Sworn brother?"
That was none other than Wang Zhongsi.
He is still tall, but it is actually supported by his frame. Because he has been ill for several months, he has lost a lot of weight. His face is full of illness and his cheeks are sunken.
"What a sworn brother!" Li Heng was overjoyed and said, "We have caught your assassin and will be tried soon."
"good."
Wang Zhongsi smiled and said: "Please Sanlang explain it clearly to the saint."
He didn't do anything more, just turned around and walked out.
Li Heng was stunned for a moment, then quickly turned to his guard and shouted: "Quick, protect my sworn brother."
Ji Wen didn't even react, and didn't understand what Wang Zhongsi was doing.
He quickly rushed back to the front hall and shouted to Sun Xiaozhe: "Found him, he went out from the side door, chase him quickly!"
Sun Xiaozhe immediately drew his sword and rushed in the direction pointed by Ji Wen. When Li Heng's guards dared to stop him, he shouted: "Is the prince going to rebel?!"
In this way, with a fierce energy, he rushed out of the side door, looked around, but was stunned for a moment.
I saw Wang Zhongsi walking alone outside the Lecture Hall. His broad robes were fluttering in the wind, making the former strong and famous general look so skinny. He just stopped there, raising his head and looking at the west in the distance.
Xiuling seems to want to prove something to the sky.
Sun Xiaozhe looked around and shouted to himself: "Wang Zhongsi and the prince are rebelling!"
Having said that, he rushed towards me with a knife...