A post horse galloped towards us and arrived before the horse's strength was exhausted.
"Urgent report from Chang'an, I want to see Your Majesty!"
The imperial soldiers guarding the gate of the camp looked at the envoy coldly, and after informing him, they took him to see King Zhong.
That night, Li Hengzheng and his ministers were discussing important matters. When they left, some officials held official letters and discussed, saying: "Shuofang has such military resources, which is very inspiring."
It was under such circumstances that the post envoy was brought into the big tent. Some people asked in low voices what news was coming, but they received a rather taboo answer.
"Don't worry, King Qing sent someone here."
In the big tent, sitting at the head were not only Li Heng, but also Princess Zhong Zhang Ting, all wearing linen and wearing mourning clothes. Zhang Ting was still sewing and mending mourning clothes.
The post envoy was stunned for a moment, then hurriedly saluted and said: "I have seen the loyal king, and I am bold enough to ask to see your majesty."
"Your Majesty passed away." Li Heng sobbed.
The post envoy was completely stunned by the news. After a while, he came to his senses and hurriedly said: "Chang'an is in danger. His Highness the Crown Prince kindly requests... to return to Beijing for support."
"Li Cong is unfaithful and unfilial. He forced His Majesty to leave with palace changes. Killing them all is not enough. Why should I send you to test him?!" Zhang Ting suddenly pointed at the messenger and cried loudly.
"Stop talking." Li Heng stopped.
"You are protecting your brother, and I insist on telling you!" Zhang Ting said, "It was Li Cong who sent Xue Bai to kill the king, and then ordered this person to find out the truth."
"Not the villain!"
The messenger was so frightened that he knelt down in a hurry and looked around the tent.
Li Hengsui asked: "What are you looking at?"
"Young man... His Highness asked Prefect Xue to persuade His Majesty to return. This has never happened before..."
"It's true that he is a traitor. Come here and take him to prison to be dealt with according to the national law!"
"Spare your life, I am wronged. Chang'an is in danger, and I was ordered to ask for help. The loyal king Mingjian, I am just a postman in Guanzhong, not a person of the prince!"
No matter how loud the postman shouted, he was still dragged to the school grounds. With a "pop" sound, a broadsword was cut off, and his head was chopped off to the ground.
As for the official letter he had worked so hard to deliver, which said "Chang'an is in danger", it was thrown into the fire.
~~
The candlelight illuminated a corner of the map, and a finger tapped hard on the word "Lingwu".
"Du Hongjian advised King Zhong to go to Shuofang."
There was helplessness in Wei Jiansu's tone, and he closed his eyes after speaking.
Chen Xuanli couldn't help but ask: "What's wrong with Shuofang?"
"Okay." Wei Jiansu said: "If you want to quell the chaos, you must recruit people from the border villages. Shuofang is far better than Sichuan and Shu. According to what Du Hongjian said, 'If you serve your highness, in ten days, we will collect the river and Long in the west.
It is indeed true that Huihe will be strong and have good relations with the country. He will march with strong cavalry in the north and gather the cities in the south. With a single move, the two capitals can be restored."
He took out a memorial from his sleeve and placed it on the table.
"Wei Shaoyou, the water transport envoy of the Six Cities, Cui Yi, the judge of Shuofang's Jiedu, Lu Jianjin, the judge of Shuofang's branch, and Li Han, the judge of Yanchi in the Pass, have written in detail the number of Shuofang's military supplies, equipment, storage, and storehouses, the Zhongwang's edict to the soldiers, and the morale of the army.
It has been greatly shaken up.”
Of course, the morale of the army was greatly boosted. The soldiers had been starving for a long time. As soon as the news was announced, they all looked forward to going to Lingwu to fill their stomachs.
"Although Shuofang is good, the most dangerous thing is Li Hengzhi's intentions." Li Wan was still unwilling to accept it and said: "Are you just going to ignore His Majesty like this? General Chen, do you really not doubt it?"
Chen Xuanli's face was gloomy. He had interviewed many soldiers, and they all saw with his own eyes the fact that Xue Bai killed the saint. However, the saint was hacked beyond recognition, but he had the intention to identify it carefully. However, the soldiers were not interested in him, and the soldiers were anxious.
Following King Zhong to the west, he hastily put the saint into a coffin.
Now that the soldiers were packed up and about to set off, the only thing he could do was to wait for Li Chu to bring back Xue Bai and Yang Yuhuan for final confirmation.
But before Li Chu came back, the sky was bright, and with the sound of the three-tone drum, Li Heng ordered the camp to break out.
"Let's go." Wei Jiansu sighed.
Chen Xuanli got on his horse, turned around again, and finally saw a sentry horse returning in a hurry. He drove the horse over and asked, "Where is the noble concubine?"
"Back to the general, King Guangping chased Xue Ni to Qingshi Cliff and shot them dead."
"What do you mean? Where is the noble concubine?"
"The arrow fell off the cliff."
Chen Xuanli was confused and asked: "Didn't I say that Xue Bai abandoned the imperial concubine and fled first? What is going on?"
"Yes, King Guangping's men had captured the imperial concubine. After chasing Xue Ni to Qingshi Cliff, the imperial concubine suddenly broke away and ran towards Xue Ni. King Guangping then ordered the arrows to be fired."
"Did you recognize them with your own eyes?"
"Yes, these things were witnessed by the villain with his own eyes."
"I'm asking you to confirm that it's them who died?!"
"It should be that the general saw them from a distance when he was guarding the palace city, and it looked like they were the figures."
Although Chen Xuanli felt something was wrong, he had nothing to say and said, "Let's go."
He pulled the reins and headed west. Behind his team, Li Chu's men also left the Qinling Mountain Road and came here.
"General!"
At this moment of setting off, another soldier riding a dragon warrior came up from behind and said: "General, we have found Xue Bai!"
Chen Xuanli looked at Li Chu's team and asked, "Have King Guangping's men captured him?"
"No, Xue Bai is at Randeng Temple."
"Where is the Randen Temple?"
"At the foot of Chencang Mountain."
Chen Xuanli was stunned for a moment and murmured: "Did you run so far in one night?"
Then, he heard the soldier whisper a report.
"General, it was Zhang Xiaojing who asked me to come back... He has fulfilled his mission and has found the saint."
Chen Xuanli's eyes widened and he was completely surprised.
~~
But it was said that after Yang Yuyao escaped from the bamboo forest that night, she quickly met up with hundreds of Jiang Hai's riders, and also saw Chen Xilie and his family among them.
Chen Xilie's ugly granddaughter is indeed Nian Nu pretending to be in order to lure her out to contact her.
Only now did Yang Yuyao understand Xue Bai's plan. If it went well, Xue Bai would only have to wait in Sanguan and kidnap the saint; if it didn't go well, Jiang Hai would have to wait until Xue Bai used the fireworks as a sign to raid the imperial army, cooperate inside and outside, and forcibly rob him.
Walk the saint.
However, the situation went worse than expected, and a wildfire disrupted all their plans.
After losing contact, Jiang Hai wanted to stay in Zhouyuan outside Chencang City to look for Xue Bai, but his troops were too small and he was attacked by Li Chu and had to retreat eastward. So, when Li Chu stopped chasing, he turned back.
.
After three or four days of entanglement in this "enemy retreats, we advance" situation, they finally got news about Xue Bai.
After the fire was extinguished, bright fireworks suddenly lit up over the Qinling Mountains, which was the signal for Xue Bai to contact him.
"I found Mr. Lang! He's at Randeng Temple!"
"Walk!"
Jiang Hai was overjoyed and quickly led his troops to the south.
His horse was very fast, but Yang Yuyao was not slow at all. He did not hesitate to use his horse power and rushed to the front several times. Seeing that the pampered Mrs. Guo was acting like this, the soldiers also kept increasing their speed, and hundreds of horses galloped across the plains.
However, they had to cross the Wei River after all. When they finally crossed the river and arrived at the bottom of the Qinling Mountains, the sentry horse had already blown the horn.
"Li Heng's rebels are coming!"
On the other side, the approaching Imperial Army also saw the dust and smoke they raised, and they also sounded the trumpets.
"Xue Ni's remnants are here!"
Because he was going to meet Xue Bai, Jiang Hai had no choice but to avoid him, so he ordered the army to march at full speed and charged forward straight ahead.
The Qinling Mountains are towering, with huge rocks like walls.
There is only a narrow road between the two mountains that goes up diagonally, leading to Randen Temple, and then around Chencang Mountain.
Gradually, both armies approached the stone wall and set up their positions.
~~
Under a big flag, Li Chu rode his horse with a solemn expression.
He had been sending sentry horses to keep an eye on Jiang Hai's hundreds of cavalry. As soon as he discovered that they had turned around, he had a premonition that something bad was going to happen, and knew that Xue Bai might have survived the mountain fire...
A group of cavalry came up from behind. He turned his head and saw that it was Li Tan. His frown became even more serious.
"Brother."
"Why are you here?"
"Such a big thing happened, I can't sit still." Li Tan said: "Why did Xue Bai reach the Randen Temple to the east so quickly without dying after falling on the bluestone cliff?"
"Yes." Li Chu did not answer, but murmured to himself: "How can I not die?"
At this time, the sound of horse hoofbeats was heard from behind again, but Chen Xuanli also led his troops to catch up. However, he did not join forces with Li Chu, but instead tried to bypass Li Chu's formation.
Li Chu naturally did not allow Chen Xuanli to lead his troops in front of him, and ordered the sentry horse: "Go and ask General Chen what he means?"
After a long time, the sentry horse came over and reported back: "General Chen said that he would kill Xue Ni with his own hands to avenge His Majesty."
Li Chu's face became increasingly gloomy, as if he was mourning the death of the saint.
"The order goes down! Xue Ni killed the king and will die. Anyone who can decapitate him will be granted the title of Marquis of Ten Thousand Households!"
Following this order, everyone in the imperial army was excited and drew their swords in their hands, eager to try.
Li Tan, however, rode his horse forward and said, "Since I said it was Li Cong who ordered Xue Ni, why not capture him and find out the matter?"
"Xue Ni is dangerous, we must not let him escape." Li Chu said coldly: "I would rather have a dead body than a living mouth."
He originally wanted to hunt Xue Bai directly, but when he arrived near Chencang Mountain, hundreds of Xue Ni's remnants appeared in front of him, so he decisively ordered: "Kill them!"
This forbidden army was full of murderous intent and charged straight towards the rebels.
The two armies gradually approached, formed their positions, and began to throw arrows at each other.
Li Chu was a little anxious and wanted to break through the enemy formation immediately. However, for some reason, the fierce battle quickly calmed down and the arrows became sparse.
"What's going on?!"
"Brother, listen," Li Tan said, "Someone is shouting."
Li Chu quickly drove his horse to the front of the formation, and heard the shouts in the process.
"Stop preaching the holy edict..."
At first, only a few people shouted, and their voices were faint.
After that, more and more people among the hundreds of rebels on the opposite side started shouting, and finally those words came clearly.
"The saint is alive!"
Li Chu's hands holding the reins were clenched tightly, and sweat flowed from his helmet and across the high bridge of his nose.
He shouted angrily: "Kill the enemy! Don't be deceived by the lies of the regicide traitor!"
After giving the order, he whipped a soldier on the back who put down his bow and arrow, and cursed: "Are you a fool who just follows what others say? Can you tell what is true and what is false?!"
"King Guangping, look!"
Li Chu had already rushed to the front of the formation. Looking around, he could see a person standing on the mountain peak not far away. He looked like Gao Lishi.
In front of Gao Lishi was a soldier wearing a Forbidden Army uniform. He had a loud voice and raised his hands while shouting.
"Brothers, the saint is still alive. I saw it with my own eyes..."
Li Tan rushed over and said, "I recognize that man, Zhang Xiaojing, a knight of the Longwu Army. He is very brave."
As he spoke, he narrowed his eyes, trying to identify the authenticity of Gao Lishi, and involuntarily drove his horse forward, but was pulled back by Li Chu.
"Brother, let me see if that is Gao Aweng."
"Don't go there, it's dangerous." Li Chu said: "Xue Ni is cunning, this must be his trick."
Li Tan turned to look at Li Chu, his eyes becoming confused.
Li Chu ignored this doubt and looked resolute. He gave the order again, emphasizing the indisputable fact that Xue Bai had committed regicide. He jumped on the carriage carrying the big drum and beat the drum himself to let the soldiers attack.
"Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!"
The war drums covered up the demagogic shouts, and the soldiers started firing arrows again and approached.
Li Chu dropped his drumsticks, picked up a bow, and ran towards the mountain where the so-called Gao Lishi was standing, intending to shoot him.
However, Chen Xuanli had already arrived, and with a desperate attitude, he rode his horse straight into the formation of the two armies.
"Stop!"
He was over sixty years old and was currently holding his flag in person. Due to some difficulty, his helmet fell to the ground, revealing a full head of white hair.
Recently, the soldiers of the Forbidden Army were hungry and resentful, and they were incited to mutiny. They were not controlled by Chen Xuanli, but he still served as the general of the Longwu Army for forty years.
"Stop, wait until I confirm that His Majesty is safe, then I will kill you again!"
Li Chu immediately shouted: "General Chen has lost his head, take him back!"
A few cavalrymen beside him were about to go up, but hundreds of Chen Xuanli's trusted cavalrymen had already arrived to protect Chen Xuanli and shouted: "King Guangping, are you going to rebel?!"
Zhang Xiaojing saw this and poked his head out from behind the rocks again, shouting: "It was King Guangping who created the illusion of Xue Bai's regicide. The saint is still alive!"
"Punish the regicide rebels. Anyone who dares to stop him will be killed without mercy!" Li Chu's momentum was not weak at all. He once again exerted pressure and urged the soldiers to kill him.
In the distance, a figure wearing an imperial robe appeared on a higher mountain peak.
Although Chen Xuanli couldn't see his face clearly, he clearly remembered that the saint was wearing exactly this robe before he was kidnapped, and his judgment on the matter immediately became biased.
It is obviously impossible for Xue Bai to kill the king in such a short period of time, flee to Qingshi Cliff, then turn to Chencang Mountain in the east, and temporarily find an imperial robe for someone to pretend to be a saint.
"King Guangping! You have stopped me repeatedly, are you planning to rebel?!" Chen Xuanli looked at Li Chu, his eyes were completely different.
The two sides were at war with each other. Not long after, Li Wan, Wei Jiansu and others also arrived with the princes and important ministers.
Li Chu's order could no longer make the soldiers kill all these people, so he fell into deep thinking.
"Brother?" Li Tan asked.
"Do you believe me? Xue Ni is lying." Li Chu said: "Li Wan was the mastermind behind what happened today, and Chen Xuanli was deceived by him."
Li Tan said: "It is also possible that Xue Bai sent someone to fake the assassination of the saint, but don't forget that the saint was still kidnapped by him."
Li Chu felt more at ease and sent someone to communicate with Chen Xuanli and others.
~~
"Your Majesty is indeed alive."
Li Wan was the most surprised by today's situation.
He had never thought about fighting for the reserve in the past, but when the chaos came, his brothers seemed so incompetent, and he was forced to take on the important task, so he inevitably became eager.
"Is that General Gao?" Wei Jiansu looked towards the top of the mountain and murmured.
"yes!"
Li Wan actually couldn't see clearly, but he answered firmly.
As the big shots like them arrived, Gao Lishi also stood up and said loudly: "Why don't you come to greet the Holy Driver?!"
The only person who could convey a bossy attitude in a friendly tone when speaking was Gao Lishi.
Li Wan was overjoyed and said: "I will tell you that it is General Gao. His Majesty is protected by heaven and will be fine."
At this time, some soldiers came over, recounted Li Tan's judgment just now, and reminded them that the saint was still being kidnapped by Xue Bai.
"I'll meet the saint first and then we'll talk... Let's welcome him."
Chen Xuanli said, stepping forward towards the narrow mountain road.
Wei Jiansu followed them, but Li Wan was a little hesitant. After thinking about it, he realized that Xue Bai didn't have many men to set up an ambush in the mountains, so he followed their pace.
Jiang Hai allowed these ministers to go over, but when he saw some soldiers trying to enter the mountain, he ordered his men to shout, draw their bows and set arrows to stop them.
Therefore, the soldiers of both sides still faced each other, arrayed at the foot of the mountain, waiting for the big men to come up with the outcome of the discussion.
The Randen Temple was built during the Northern and Southern Dynasties. It was named after the founder of Buddhism, the Randen Buddha, passed away here. Today, the temple is not large and is located on a rugged mountain road.
Gao Lishi, who had been guarded by Zhang Xiaojing, came down from the high place and stood on the roadside. When he saw Chen Xuanli, he nodded tacitly.
Turning his eyes to Wei Jiansu, Gao Lishi sighed: "Back then, the saint once dreamed that he fell down in the palace, and a filial son helped him get up. He asked me about this the next day, and I said, 'The filial son is wearing plain clothes, this is Wei Jiansu'. Now
This dream has come true."
"Thank you very much, General Gao, for your support." Wei Jiansu breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that he was serious.
"I only hope that Wei Gong can support the saint."
"Is the saint okay?"
Gao Lishi nodded, raised his hand to guide the Randen Temple, and said: "Please."
When everyone entered the temple, they saw ruined earthen walls and towering ancient trees.
In the main hall, Yang Yuhuan was sitting on a futon making medicine, while the saint was leaning under the Buddha statue.
But when I stepped over the threshold and took a closer look, I saw that although the saint was wearing royal robes, the royal robes were burned to tatters, and the saint's face was still wrapped in a wrapper.
Upon seeing this situation, Chen Xuanli's heart sank. He turned to Gao Lishi and asked, "What's going on?"
"The saint was burned by fire."
"Could it be that General Gao is..."
Chen Xuanli stopped mid-question, and Gao Lishi said for him: "Have I betrayed the saint?"
"That's not what I meant."
Gao Lishi said: "After being taken out of the ruined temple by Xue Bai, there was a mountain fire, so we ran to Chencang Mountain to avoid the fire. But the saint did not trust Xue Bai, so he went ahead alone when he went up the mountain. It was too dark at that time, and we could not
We caught up. We waited for dawn to search, but failed to find the saint on the top of the mountain. After a day and night, the fire was extinguished. We went down the mountain to search, and then we met the saint at the foot of the mountain. Unexpectedly... the saint had fallen down accidentally and was wrapped in the mountain fire.
I survived, but luckily God blessed me, and I fell into the pool, alas."
Chen Xuanli still had doubts, but at least the facts before him were much more real than Xue Bai's regicide.
He then looked at Yang Yuhuan who was making medicine and asked: "Your concubine, is what General Gao said true?"
"Of course it's true."
"Why is it that only the saint got burned?"
Yang Yuhuan sighed slightly, as if complaining, "Who makes the saint refuse to believe in us?"
She didn't say anything, but just lowered her head and said: "General Chen wants to kill me, and I will die. I just ask the general to let me take care of Sanlang until he is out of danger."
Chen Xuanli didn't know what to say, so he looked at the saint lying there and called in a low voice: "Your Majesty?"
Li Longji didn't speak. He raised his hand with difficulty and pointed at Chen Xuanli. This action was something he liked to do every day. It was dignified and domineering with a bit of coolness. It seemed like he was saying, "Chen Xuanli, your rescue is too late."
Already."
The feeling this gesture brought to Chen Xuanli was correct.
Ordinary people will never be able to imitate the posture of this ninety-five-year-old man.
"I came late to save you, please ask the saint to forgive you." Chen Xuanli said.
He is the most familiar with the saint among everyone. Only when everyone sees him like this can they believe in the saint's identity.
The reason why these people were willing to risk going into the mountains at this time of year, which was turning into Heshuo, was because they were reluctant to follow Li Heng, and they hoped that the saint was still alive.
Although the saint who appeared at this time was disfigured, he was not kidnapped by Xue Bai. For them, the result was better than expected. Therefore, no one has the gall to question this matter for the time being.
Everyone then saluted one after another.
Li Wan had already begun to think about how to invite the saint to continue to Shu County and expose Li Heng's conspiracy.
After a fire, their vigilance towards Xue Bai and Li Heng had changed.
At this time, Xue Bai just came out from behind with four of his men.
Chen Xuanli was immediately alert, drew his sword in his hand, and shouted: "Traitor!"
"I have contributed to the rescue." Xue Bai's attitude was very calm and he said: "General Chen should be grateful to me. Otherwise, if the saint was burned to death by the rebels, you will be unable to escape the blame."
"Rebel?"
Chen Xuanli had heard this term often recently and it was very familiar to him, but he said, "I don't know who the traitor you are referring to is."
"Whoever sets fire to a mountain in order to trap a saint is a traitor."
"Isn't the wildfire caused by your explosives?"
"Can General Chen be deceived by such nonsense?"
Xue Bai asked back, turning his head to look outside the Randen Temple, as if he could feel the movement at the foot of the mountain.
He pondered for a moment and then said: "Li Heng and his son will not give up. They will take action soon. I will keep the story short."
Chen Xuanli asked knowingly: "Are you saying that the loyal king is the traitor?"
"good."
"You kidnapped the saint first."
"If Li Heng hadn't instigated the imperial army to mutiny, why would I have taken the risk to save the saint?" Xue Bai said, "I haven't asked General Chen why he forced the saint to kill his concubine?"
Chen Xuanli stopped answering.
He knew in his heart that Li Heng indeed planned the mutiny. And he had to force Yang Yuhuan to death in order to protect the saint.
"It seems that General Chen clearly knows who the traitor is." Xue Bai said: "I regained Luoyang and was determined to serve the country. I didn't expect that Li Heng wrongfully accused the crown prince of a uterus, kidnapped the saint and left the capital, and even mutiny broke out in Chencang. I then
After risking his life to save the saint, Li Heng sent someone to set fire to him. So, I took the saint to take shelter from the fire in Chencang Mountain. Before the fire was extinguished, we could only stay at the top of the mountain. How could we go to Sanguan to kill the king? "
"Many soldiers saw with their own eyes that you committed regicide."
"Have you seen my face and that of the saint?"
In this way, when he ascends the throne, the saint appears again and becomes a false saint. Maybe he has already calculated that in the fire, even if we are lucky enough to escape, we will be burned beyond recognition."
Chen Xuanli had already guessed this and kept silent.
Li Wan nodded repeatedly.
"The only thing Li Heng didn't expect was that I would know his conspiracy so quickly." Xue Bai pointed at Zhang Xiaojing and said, "Before he had time to inform the world, a righteous man had informed me of the matter. I know you all regard me as a
Treason has shown up now and narrowly escaped death. But in order to stop this traitor's conspiracy, I still invited you here."
He looked at Chen Xuanli and said, "I gave you the news. If I were rebellious, would I do this?"
Until this point, this group of people showed no sign of taking action against Xue Bai, so Xue Bai said the last sentence calmly.
"Who is the loyal minister and who is the traitor? Today the truth should be revealed."
Chen Xuanli closed his eyes and thought about the various forces involved in these things. For a moment, he really couldn't tell who was loyal.