In the autumn of Fanyang City, the wind was already biting, and a blazing bonfire was burning in the courtyard of the Jiedushi Mansion, making the hall as warm as spring.
There was a mountain of meat piled on the huge bed. It was An Lushan lying on his back, the meat on his belly was soft and flowing down like grease.
A middle-aged woman climbed onto his belly. She was the Xiwandan clan of the Khitan tribe. Although she was over forty years old, she was still very charming.
She has chestnut curly hair, wheat-colored skin, and plump lips. At this time, she is fidgeting with her hands to gently lift An Lushan's breasts, which are even plumper than hers.
This action had been going on for a while, and she was so hot that she was sweating profusely. When she heard the comfortable snoring coming from An Lushan, she lowered her head and looked for something under the huge belly.
After lifting a layer of fat, she squinted her eyes, changed her posture, put her head against her belly that was always leaking, and stretched out her tongue to explore...
"Dong dong dong dong."
The sound of drums could be heard in the distance, and it lasted for a long time. The sound of drums was still sounding until the Siwandan family had stopped moving.
"Help me up," An Lushan said.
Seeing that Wandan could not help him alone, he quickly put on his clothes, walked around the screen, and called the servants headed by Li Zhu'er, who were either propping up their stomachs or putting on clothes. After a lot of work, An Lushan
He was helped to the outer hall.
"Master Fu, Sun Xiaozhe is back."
"Hahahaha." An Lushan laughed and looked at Siwandan, "You have made me very comfortable in your service. I will reward your son heavily."
If he hadn't said it, others might not have been able to tell that this charming woman had a son as old as Sun Xiaozhe.
The general who came to report the news hesitated for a while and said: "Master Fu, General Sun committed a crime in Chang'an and was escorted back. The saint asked Master Fu to watch and deal with it."
"Haha, but because he is too rude and ignorant of etiquette, he offended the saint?" An Lushan was still laughing.
"It seems to be a serious crime of treason...Well, the imperial court sent someone, it is the eunuch Feng Shenwei next to the saint, do you want him to tell the prince?"
The honest and smiling expression on An Lushan's face froze, and gradually showed a bit of coldness. This is Fan Yang, this is his territory, he does not need to pretend to be funny, his whole body exudes a frightening aura.
.
After a long time, Feng Shenwei was brought over.
But at the same time, An Lushan's subordinates were also brought. Gao Shang, whose face was burned, was wearing a mask and stood on the right, followed by Yan Zhuang, Gao Miao, Zhang Tongru, Ping Lie, Dugu Wensu, Li Shiyu,
Li Tingjian and other staff, on the left are the generals, An Qingxu, An Shouzhong, Ashina Chengqing, Li Guiren, Cai Xide, Niu Tingjie, Xiang Runke, Cui Qianyu, Yin Ziqi, He Qianqian, Wu Lingxun
, Neng Yuanhao, Tian Chengsi, and Tian Qianzhen stood densely packed in the huge hall.
There are not so many people for a saint to hold a small court meeting in Chang'an City. In other words, Fan Yang Jiedushi's momentum is not inferior to that of a saint.
Feng Shenwei had already thought about how he should face An Lushan with an attitude of calling for punishment so that he could convey the saint's question. However, when he entered the hall and looked up and saw so many people, he was startled and felt inexplicably.
A chill ran down my spine.
When he was uneasy, An Lushan once again showed his honest smile, holding his belly in his hands and hurriedly went down the steps to greet him.
Recently, An Lushan's legs and feet were not good and he was walking with a limp. His movement caused many servants around him to rush to help him. When Feng Shenwei saw him, he did not dare to wait for him to greet him. He quickly stepped forward and spoke first.
Although the tone was still the same as in the past, Feng Shenwei heard it, but his feelings were completely different. He turned his head, asked someone to bring Sun Xiaozhe up, and started talking about the Lishan incident.
At the end, Feng Shenwei said: "Please don't blame me Lord Anfu. The saint saw what General Sun did in Lishan with his own eyes..."
"Son!"
Before he could finish his words, a woman rushed out from behind An Lushan and rushed towards Sun Xiaozhe, crying something in Khitan.
Sun Xiaozhe then shouted at his mother that he was wronged, and what he said was also in Khitan. Although Feng Shenwei could not understand, he could feel his anger and ferocity, so he had no choice but to bite the bullet and speak again, but his voice lost the tone of the eunuch in the palace.
style.
"Mr. Anfu, the saint ordered me to bring Sun Xiaozhe back and leave it to you to deal with."
After hearing this, An Lushan stopped limping, stood there holding his big belly, his eyes rolled around, still pretending to be dumbfounded, and asked loudly: "How should I deal with it?"
"This... is at Lord Anfu's disposal."
Feng Shenwei was about to say in a bossy tone, "It's up to you, the saint just wants to see how you handle it," but at this time he didn't dare to say anything else.
An Lushan was defeated by the Khitan at that time, and he was able to escape thanks to Sun Xiaozhe's full protection. It was impossible for him to kill his favorite general in front of so many confidants. He simply pointed at Sun Xiaozhe and cursed: "You are a reckless barbarian.
, even if you have any grudges with Wang Zhongsi, you shouldn’t take action, it will make me angry!”
He screamed, furious, and then said: "Drag him down and give him a hundred lashes, a hundred lashes!"
Feng Shenwei's lips trembled and he wanted to speak, but the generals around him started shouting.
"Master Fu, please spare General Sun's life!"
They said they were begging for mercy, but their fierce looks made it seem like they wanted Feng Shenwei's life. Gao Shang even winked at Tian Qianzhen, and Tian Qianzhen put his hand on the handle of the knife and drew it.
The action of slashing Feng Shenwei was blocked by others.
Two soldiers entered the hall, took away Sun Xiaozhe from Feng Shenwei's men, and pulled him out. After a while, screams were heard in the distance.
It was Sun Xiaozhe who was being whipped. He screamed loudly and miserably, but his voice was full of vigor and contempt for the imperial court.
~~
It was night, Gao Shang and Yan Zhuang arrived at An Lushan's residence together. The two of them did not speak during the whole journey. They only looked at each other when they crossed the threshold, with the same enthusiasm and madness in their eyes.
An Lushan was sitting leaning against him, with a unhappy look on his face. When he saw them, he shouted, "What's wrong with this? I've finally managed to please the saint, but I'm going to become suspicious."
Gao Shang disagreed with this and responded: "If you want to do big things, why should you care about such trivial details?"
"If the saint is suspicious of me, how can I do anything important?"
Today's saint has been wise and martial for decades, and he still has a very high prestige in the hearts of the world, including An Lushan, who is also afraid of him from the bottom of his heart. He hopes to wait until Li Longji's death before raising troops. From Li Heng's
The wastes are fighting for the world, or they are separatist.
However, the noble and solemn people were even bolder and said almost in unison: "Then let's make the Hunjun too."
"No, no, no." An Lushan shook his head repeatedly.
He was not at the end of his rope and had to revolt. As long as he did not rebel, he would still be the king of Dongping County and enjoy endless glory and wealth. Before Li Heng ascended the throne, rebellion was not for him. He took huge risks and reaped rewards.
The changes are not big.
However, this is just An Lushan's personal opinion. Hebei scholars like Gao Shang and Yan Zhuang had much deeper resentment towards the imperial court.
They have very similar experiences. They suffered a lot when they were young, their talents were ignored when they grew up, and they were often looked down upon. There are many people like them in the east of Mount Laoshan. Tonight, it is only up to them to convey their dissatisfaction.
"Do you think there is a way out now?" Gao Shang said: "Hunjun is surrounded by Yang Guozhong and Xue Bai. These two people have always been at odds with Fujun, and they will often report his evil deeds. This time about Sun Xiaozhe's incident
This is proof that the current monarch is unwilling to kill Sun Xiaozhe, which has made the emperor afraid, and he has no choice but to rebel!"
"That's right." Yan Zhuang said: "If you continue to cut off, you will suffer chaos. Rather than wait until the emperor has murderous intentions towards the prince, it is better to take action first."
"Do it?" An Lushan was shocked and scolded: "Why do you do it? Everything is not ready yet."
The two of them had no intention of persuading An Lushan to raise his troops now. They were just trying to convince An Lushan to make preparations in advance.
Yan Zhuang said: "Don't worry, Mr. Fu. The imperial court now uses a fool like Yang Guozhong as prime minister. He is like a tree that looks tall and dense, but has been hollowed out by insects and will fall down with just one push."
Gao Shang also said: "The foolish king ignored the government and only cared about enjoying himself. The king of the government went to Chang'an and took the throne, which was easy."
An Lushan did not want to be fooled by these two people, but he had no choice but to rely on their talents in everything. Just like after the defeat in the battle against Khitan, it was he who made the plans and even trekked to the grassland to meet with Li Huaixiu.
He negotiated and concluded an alliance, and then used the Khitan to sneak attack on the Xi tribe, turning defeat into victory, which made his strength not decrease but increase.
It's just that these conspirators have always been ambitious and always encourage him to rebel.
As for whether he wanted to rebel? Although he was dissatisfied with Prince Li Heng, other than that, he was put in that position and had to rebel.
"Two gentlemen, don't be anxious." An Lushan still used the excuse he had always used to delay, saying: "Hedong Jiedushi has not yet been obtained. Without the terrain of Hedong, how can we enter Chang'an."
This is true. To enter Guanzhong from the territory he occupied, one had to pass through the Taihang Mountains or conquer Tongguan, which was far from the condescending location of Hedong.
Gao Shang, Yan Zhuang saw him expressing his attitude, looked at each other, and Yan Zhuang said: "Then please make preparations in advance, we will try to let the Fu Jun also serve as the governor of Hedong."
"Got an idea?"
"Wang Zhongsi is dead, so this matter is not difficult."
"Really dead?"
"Sun Xiaozhe chopped him twice and said he must be dead, so the court would say he died of illness."
"That's good." An Lushan clapped his hands and laughed: "It seems that Sun Xiaozhe has made a great contribution this time."
"Yes, compared to killing Wang Zhongsi, making Hunjun suspicious is nothing."
After the three people discussed their plans, Gao Shang and Yan Zhuang left the main room.
Gao Shang took off his mask, revealing his horribly burned face. Bathed in the bright moonlight, he asked leisurely: "How do you plan to help the master of the government take the east of the river?"
"If that doesn't work, we can seize Yanmen Pass by force first and then counterattack. We can also take the lead."
"I'm afraid that Mr. Fu still has concerns."
"Soon." Yan Zhuang said, "I have a hunch that these worries will be eliminated soon."
Gao Shang stroked his scarred cheek with his fingers and murmured: "Tell me, if we kill Feng Shenwei, will the Lord of the Palace have to rebel?"
"Don't rush for a while, what Mr. Fu said makes sense."
As Yan Zhuang spoke, he caught a glimpse of the mysterious smile on Gao Shang's face. He reacted and asked in surprise: "You have already sent someone to kill?!"
"hehe."
"You're crazier than me!"
Yan Zhuang cursed and quickly ran to where Feng Shenwei was staying to stop this.
Gao Shang stood there and let him go, with a mocking look on his face, and murmured to himself: "Why are you nervous? All of you have overestimated the court and underestimated the power of the prince."
~~
Since the burn, Gao Shang has become a womanizer and has never let a woman serve him again.
He would never let anyone else get close to him when sleeping, except Tian Qianzhen. Because he was rescued by Tian Qianzhen from the fire, he could even feel through the smell in his sleep whether the person approaching him was Tian Qianzhen. If not,
He will wake up with a start.
The next day, Gao Shang woke up and saw Tian Qianzhen sitting beside his couch.
"Ah Hao is here, have you killed Feng Shenwei?"
"No. Yan Zhuang came and stopped him. Yan Zhuang coerced and lured Feng Shenwei back to the court and said good things to the prince, but I think it's hard."
"It doesn't matter, a person's life is considered as the Fujun's statement." Gao Shang said, "As long as the Fujun doesn't openly rebel, the imperial court will not dare to force him first."
"Then why let me kill?"
"This way, others will be afraid of you." Gao Shang said, "Even if you rebel, you are still the most ferocious one among the rebels."
Tian Qianzhen nodded and said, "I understand."
"Let's have a meal together."
"Okay, by the way, there is one more thing." Tian Qianzhen said: "There is a very famous poet in Fan Yang. You often read his poems."
"Li Bai, Li Taibai?"
"yes."
Gao Shang's eyes lit up and he said, "Where is he? How did you know he was in Fan Yang?"
Tian Qianzhen reached into his arms and took it out. First he took out two ears. The blood at the cut area had dried. Then he took out a piece of paper, which was still stained with blood.
"I went to kill Feng Shenwei last night. The guards outside the gate of the posthouse were talking, saying, 'The man just now is Li Bai, who is waiting for the imperial edict.' So I went up to ask them and took this."
Gao Shang took it and took a look, and what he saw was a poem titled "Traveling to the North Wind". Below it was the sentence "It hurts the north wind, rain and snow, and travelers do not return. I imitate the ancient style and give it to the missing woman in Youzhou."
"The candle dragon lives in a poor house, and the rays of light are still open."
"Why can't the sun and moon shine like this? Only the north wind roars up from the sky."
"The snowflakes from Yanshan Mountain are as big as mats, and they blow down from Xuanyuan Terrace."
"..."
Gao Shang's eyes were full of admiration at first, because although he was rebellious, he also liked poetry. He liked Li Bai's free and unrestrained poetic style, using "as big as a mat" to represent snowflakes, which was so exciting, wonderful and unexpected.
However, gradually, a trace of suspicion flashed in Gao Shang's eyes, and he looked back and re-examined the poem.
The whole poem only describes the grief and indignation of a missing woman in Youzhou over the death of her husband in the war, but it seems to be a subtle allusion to An Lushan's defeat at the hands of the Khitans.
Gao Shang didn't know if he was too concerned. He felt that the first line of the poem had another meaning - even the candle dragon, which rarely opened its eyes, would occasionally shine on the world, but why the supreme sun and moon refused to illuminate the thistle. The deep earth, let it be dark and dark?
It seems to be satirizing that Li Longji is a treacherous person who is completely ignorant and unwilling to understand Fan Yang's true condition.
But what truth does Li Bai know?
Looking at the next few sentences, "Only the north wind roars up from the sky" seems to describe that Anlu Mountain has become the sole ruler of Hebei, and the snowflakes "as big as a mat" are blowing towards Xuanyuan Terrace, which symbolizes the dignity of the emperor. , implying that An Lushan already covets the artifact?
Gao Shang shook his head and asked, "Where is Li Bai?"
Tian Qianzhen said: "I have sent someone to look for him."
Gao Shang was so concerned about this matter that he even forgot to eat breakfast and kept chewing the poem.
At noon, Tian Qianzhen's subordinates came to report that they had found the wife of a general who had died in Fan Yang's army. She must be the "Missing Woman from Youzhou" who had taken Li Bai in.
"How to be sure?"
"Sir, please look at this."
It was a stack of poem manuscripts. Gao Shang took them and looked at them one by one. He saw that there were not many problems with these poem manuscripts. Among them were "Wandering and Hunting", which wrote "The heroic wind shakes the sand moraine"; "The Song of Huma Ke in Youzhou" writes about the knights who "will die to serve the country". It seems that when Li Bai first traveled to Yan and Zhao, the people he met were all generous people who "raised swords to save the border".
However, when compared with "North Wind Journey", it can be seen that these martyrs became the victims of Anlu Mountain.
In this way, Gao Shang finally confirmed Li Bai's spying on Fan Yang.
This is not a big deal. In comparison, Feng Shenwei, the eunuch sent from the palace, and the others dare to threaten him, so why should they be afraid of a literati who can only write poetry?
But because Li Bai was a poet that Gao Shang liked very much, he was willing to spend some energy to deal with this matter.
"Where's Li Baibai?"
"We interrogated the woman, and Li Bai left, but not long ago, just last night."
Gao Shang sneered and said: "Ah Hao, send Qingqi to chase him. Your Majesty needs some world-famous people to build more momentum for him."
"Here."
Soon, dozens of Qingqi rushed out of Fanyang City, searching for the figure in white with a sword...
~~
Chang'an.
After the Mid-Autumn Festival, in September, the turmoil caused by Yi Chu began to subside.
Those who were originally angry and disbelieving about this matter gradually became too lazy to speak out about it. After all, life had to go on, and the matters in the court were discussed and discussed, and they could not be used as food.
Many people noticed Xue Bai's role in this matter and paid attention to him. But to their surprise, Xue Bai was not active in the East Palace. Instead, he changed his past pushy style and acted restrained.
many.
Like a pebble whose edges have been smoothed by Chang'an officialdom.
That morning, he and Yan Yan practiced Tai Chi together, showing off his calm and calm temperament. But when he stopped his fists, Yan Yan immediately cheered and said, "Okay? I made an appointment with Miss Xiaoxian.
When they play dominoes, do they play dominoes together?"
"No fighting."
Although Xue Bai brought dominoes to the Tang Dynasty, he himself did not like playing dominoes at all. No one except Li Longji could ask him to play dominoes again, not even Yan Yan and Li Tengkong.
But today, Li Tengkong actually came to invite him.
He had just changed his clothes, walked through the corridor, and was about to go out, when he saw the lotus-like woman. She had become plumper recently, and although she was still thin, her complexion was still plump.
"Well, do you want to play cards? Yan Yan, Qing Lan and I are missing someone."
"Isn't Ji Lanzi here?"
"She is going to meet a friend and will come back later."
Xue Bai said: "Does she have any friends besides you?"
"After I met her and I met you, she certainly had other friends."
Xue Bai is a man with great ambitions and is not satisfied with the small fun of playing cards... Seeing the affection flashing in Li Tengkong's eyes, he couldn't help but hold her hand and whispered: "We are here
Talk over there.”
The two then entered a veranda, embraced each other, and tasted each other's lips.
When Xue Bai wanted to take another step, Li Tengkong gave a "shu", pushed him, and said in a voice as thin as a mosquito's moan: "No, I'm two generations senior to you."
"Sooner or later, these two generations will be overthrown."
"Bear with it a little longer."
Li Tengkong was indeed a Taoist and was very tolerant. After quietly coming to tease Xue Bai, he ran away in a hurry when he saw that he was too determined.
But today she gave Xue Bai a thought, and added something in a low voice before turning around.
"At least wait until we get out of Chang'an."
So much so that he even forgot about asking him to play dominoes. They actually had no shortage of people. Like Jiaonu and Mian'er, they were looking at the card table eagerly. Unfortunately, Yang Yuyao would not give up her position easily.
Xue Bai sighed in distress, planning when to take Li Tengkong out of Chang'an.
After that, he calmed down and left the house.
Today he wanted to see Yang Guozhong and discuss his attitude and strategy towards An Lushan again. On this matter, the two had differences, and even Ji Wen could not reach an agreement on how to deal with it.
Outside the door was Xuanyangfang Street, and a carriage had just stopped. The wind blew the curtains, and Xue Baiqia saw Li Jilan turning her head to talk to two women in the carriage. She only showed one side of her face, and her cheeks were slightly red.
Xue Bai was secretly communicating with Li Tengkong recently and was reluctant to offend Li Jilan. Seeing that her carriage blocked the door, he simply went around to the side door and put on a piece of ragged clothes.
Outside the side door is an alley, where a middle-aged man is walking with a suitcase on his back, looking around.
"This young man, may I ask if this is Xue's house?"
"no."
Xue Bai said: "Xue Zhai has to go around to Xuanyangfang Street, where there is a gate."
"That's it, thank you."
The middle-aged man agreed and looked Xue Bai up and down. Seeing that he had a good temperament, he followed his footsteps and said, "A certain Yin Fan is from Danyang and likes poetry."
"Mr. Yin, you are so polite. Whose poems do you like?"
Yin Fan stroked his beard and said: "In a few years, I compiled 234 poems by Chang Jian, Li Bai, Wang Wei, Gao Shi, Cen Shen, Meng Haoran, Wang Changling and other 24 people. I just compiled it into "
"Collection of Heroic Spirits of Heyue" three volumes..."
Hearing this, Xue Bai stopped and asked, "Sir, are you here to see Xue Bai from Zhongshushe?"
Yin Fan was a little confused and muttered: "I heard that he is still young, so I wonder if he has been appointed to such a high position as a scholar in Zhongshe. I want to find Xue Bai, who wrote poems against Li Bai."
This person is probably a bit nerdy.
Xue Bai said: "We are talking about the same person. Why are you looking for him?"
"I heard that he was good at making paper and invented the technology of movable type printing. I would like to ask him to help me publish "The Collection of Heroes of Heyue" to the world. In addition, I want to include his poems in this fourth volume."
"Sir, why don't you include Du Fu's poems?"
Yin Fan knew about Du Fu, so he mused: "Du Zimei hasn't spread to Danyang a few years ago, so it can be included in this fourth volume in the future."
As they talked, the two of them walked to Xuanyangfang Street.
Xue Bai turned around and took a look, and saw Li Jilan and two middle-aged women standing at the door looking around, as if waiting for someone, so he pretended to go to the other side.
When Yin Fan saw him, he said, "My wife and sister are both over there. We're passing now. Thank you, young man, for leading the way."
"You're welcome."
The two of them said goodbye, and Yin Fan walked towards the gate of Xue's house. When he was almost in front of his wife, he said, "I just met a kind-hearted young man who invited me here."
"Alang, this is Ji Lanzi, a disciple of Princess Yuzhen."
"You're polite. I often hear Li Bai mention Princess Yuzhen."
"Sir, do you also know Li Taibai?"
"That's natural. I received a letter from him ten months ago..."