Chapter 466 Playing with fire and burning yourself
Chapter 468 Playing with fire and burning yourself
Yang Yuyao said these two things in succession. Xue Baiyin was staring outside the city. At first glance, he mistakenly thought that Yang Yuhuan was going to remarry.
Soon, the messenger outside the city broke through and rushed to the city gate. He rushed down to the city to meet him without caring about anyone else. Yang Yuyao originally wanted to use this matter to show off to him, but now she could only watch from the top of the city.
His busy back.
"My enemy, you won't even say a word to me."
She was cursing softly to herself, but she felt that Xue Bai's figure was extremely attractive. For him, even her brother-in-law had died, and she had sacrificed so much. She was reluctant to ruin the friendship, and there was nothing she could do.
Here Yang Yuyao was worried, but Xue Bai was so busy that he didn't go to her house to rest until the third watch.
I don’t know what news he got, and he was in a very excited mood. He still did not coax Yang Yuyao, but said enthusiastically: "I know that there are many people who hate me in Chang'an City, but as long as the rebels are defeated, no matter how much they hate me, they can only obey me."
.”
"Well, I surrender to you..."
In March in Chang'an, the cry of warblers rang out in the distance. I don't know which lucky bird was not caught and eaten by the hungry people.
Xue Bai was extremely tired and fell into a deep sleep. In his ears, he heard Yang Yuyao muttering resentfully: "Huh, you know how to pick a weak persimmon."
He then thought that she actually knew what he was thinking. If he could win this battle, he would use Wang Hong as an example to establish his prestige. This was indeed a soft persimmon.
After that, he had a very urgent dream, as if he had forgotten something. When Xue Bai woke up again, he heard a woman's conversation outside the door. It was Xie Aman's voice. Then he
I remembered that I should have gone to see Yang Yuhuan.
Xue Bai entered the Taiji Palace in the name of meeting the saint, but upon arrival, he was led directly to the Wanchun Palace and did not see Li Longji.
This is a hall with the word "work", which is divided into a front hall and a back hall. There is a passage in the middle with a screen. The dim candlelight and the diffused incense give it a mysterious temperament.
Xie Aman stepped forward and said: "Your Majesty, Xue Lang is here."
There was no sound from the other side of the screen. After waiting for a while, Xue Bai became impatient and simply walked around the screen.
Yang Yuhuan is lying on her side on a chair, with the colored gauze hanging from her shoulders hanging on the ground. The first impression she gives people is that her skin is as white as snow. The so-called peerless beauty means that even though she has not seen her for just a few days, she is still the same when she sees her again.
You will be amazed. You will be surprised that there is such a beautiful face in the world.
Peugeot is not a very powerful word, but it is extremely beautiful, and naturally it is extremely pleasing to the eye.
She seemed to have fallen asleep just now. When she heard the noise, she raised her eyes and glanced at Xue Bai lazily. Because of those eyes, everything around her seemed to be quiet, and everyone was patiently waiting for her eyelashes to complete their movements.
At a glance, Yang Yuhuan closed his eyes again, propped up his head, and asked Zhang Yunrong behind him in a confused voice: "I fell asleep, how long have I been waiting?"
"The imperial concubine slept all night."
"So long?"
Yang Yuhuan kicked off the quilt and said, "Everyone, go down. I will explain a few things to Abai on behalf of the saint."
"Here."
When Zhang Yunrong and Xie Aman led the maids away, Yang Yuhuan raised her fingers and asked, "Do you know why I called you here?"
"You must have heard about Cui Xun's death?"
"You have grown up, so the Yang family is useless to you?" Yang Yuhuan did not make a resentful expression, he just lowered his head and dimmed his eyes, which made people feel pity.
Xue Bai did not accept this trick and said calmly: "I have warned the noble concubine a long time ago that the Yang family will be in great trouble, and finally it was due to the Chencang Incident. If I had not promised to protect the Yang family, why should I take the risk to save her?"
"Yes, you are kind to the Yang family. My sister's husband died and she immediately remarried for fear of offending you."
"The Korean lady has recently lost her husband, and she is remarrying now at such a dangerous time of war. If she has not had an adulterer for a long time, she is going to marry another family to fight against me? Maybe... I can think of this as
threaten?"
This sentence was a bit serious, so Yang Yuhuan hurriedly denied it and said: "Are you trying to fight against you? My sister and Cui Xun have already broken up their friendship."
Xue Bai said: "Then please ask the noble concubine to tell her and clearly discern the other party's purpose, but don't let me kill another husband of hers."
Yang Yuhuan actually laughed, as if she thought it was a joke. After that, she calmed down her expression and said accusingly: "Since you know that this act of killing people and seizing food is unpopular, you still insist on doing it. Do you think it doesn't embarrass me?"
"If the city is destroyed, it will still be the Yang family that suffers. Why should you be used as a weapon for the benefit of the family?"
"How come I was used as a gun? You killed my brother-in-law, why can't I try to squeeze some benefits out of you?" Yang Yuhuan scolded and dismissed the matter lightly.
She dared to offend Xue Bai more than Yang Yuyao, and tried to hit him with words, but she only dared to test him slightly, and did not dare to say serious words for fear of breaking her face. She knew her situation very well. If she didn't have him now,
There are many people who can tear her and the family behind her into pieces.
In other words, with just a few words of anger, Yang Yuhuan chose her stance on this matter. This was not easy. After all, her relationship with Xue Bai was not like that of Yang Yuyao.
"What benefits does the imperial concubine want that she cannot tell me directly?"
"How many times have I told you, call me sister, can you only be close to the third sister?" Yang Yuhuan hooked his fingers again, lowered his voice and said: "The saint looks like this now, I can't stay in this palace any longer.
How about letting me go?"
Xue Bai remained calm and said, "Chang'an is surrounded by rebels. Where can I go?"
Yang Yuhuan asked: "Then if the siege of Chang'an is solved, will you let me go?"
Xue Bai was silent, not giving an answer immediately, but thinking.
"Do you know how peonies wither?" Yang Yuhuan said slowly, "It's not like other flowers that wither little by little. Instead, when they bloom most beautifully and brilliantly, they fall with their petals.
"
As she spoke, her expression gradually became sad, and she felt more regret for the fading peonies than for her brother-in-law's death.
"No matter how many people want to appreciate it, the peony only follows its own flowering period. The world says it is rich, but I think it is noble. But I can't do it. I have two opportunities in my life to wither like that. A cup of poison, a flower
Bai Ling, I even flinched, and in the end I was trapped in this deep palace and withered little by little... Do you feel my withering?"
She stared straight at Xue Bai with a pair of bright eyes, waiting for his answer.
He raised his fingers, as if he wanted to touch her watery cheeks to see if she was wilted, and then stopped.
"All right."
Xue Bai finally nodded and said: "This matter is based on your wishes, I can't stop it."
Yang Yuhuan smiled and was sincerely happy. She had figured out his temperament, and just now she wanted to hit him on the basis of the reason, but she hit him hard; but if she really wanted to ask for it, he would still agree even if it was difficult.
So, her voice became softer and she asked: "Then, who will keep an eye on the saint for you? Can you rest assured that you only rely on Gao Lishi?"
"I'll find someone to choose." Xue Bai said, "Before that, just be patient for now, okay?"
"Okay, let me tell you some more news." Yang Yuhuan only talked about some serious matters at this time, "King Qing came to see you twice yesterday, but Gao Lishi and I blocked him; King Rong and King Yong also came to see you one after another.
All after you pay the food."
"I know."
"But I'm afraid Gao Lishi didn't tell you, right? The saint was not at ease and tried to talk to Chen Xuanli yesterday. I happened to find out and stopped the matter. Chen Xuanli went to find Gao Lishi."
Xue Bai's eyes narrowed slightly. He had indeed never heard Gao Lishi say anything about this matter.
With his status, it was gradually difficult to control the emperor outside the palace. After all, he was not Cao Cao, and the saint in the palace was not Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty.
"so……"
Yang Yuhuan spoke again, but Xue Bai couldn't hear clearly. He leaned over and felt a hair falling into his ear, which made it itchy.
"Am I the most trustworthy?" she asked.
"Um."
"Really let me go?"
"I know you don't like doing these things." Xue Bai was still thinking, and said casually: "In these years, you have not been involved in politics."
"That's because I don't have children." Yang Yuhuan whispered, slightly regretful.
"Um."
"What about you? Can't you give birth?"
Xue Bai was stunned for a moment, and turned to look at Yang Yuhuan in astonishment.
She seemed to find pleasure in suppressing him. She half-covered her mouth with her hand and asked quietly: "I admit that I can't give birth, what about you?"
"Still young and in control."
"Yes." Yang Yuhuan obviously didn't believe it and deliberately offended him with a narrow smile.
Judging from the current cooperative relationship between the two, she is not a good partner and does not surrender to Xue Bai. This can be seen from her playful and innocent temperament. She is lively,
He always likes to interact emotionally. He may be a very interesting lover, but he is definitely not a good subordinate.
Xue Baisui glanced at her lightly and did not answer.
He has authority.
"What do you think I'm going to do?" Yang Yuhuan wanted to challenge his authority and muttered in a low voice, "What a great saint."
"Stop making trouble. In two days, I need to kill Bian Lingcheng and shock the inside. Please ask for an imperial edict for me..."
~~
After leaving the Tai Chi Palace, Xue Bai got on his horse and could feel that many pairs of eyes were secretly spying on him.
He knew that his current situation was a bit dangerous. He wanted to use the saint to command the world, but gradually he couldn't hold it anymore; Li Cong was jealous of him; and the matter of accepting food offended the wealthy family, in short, people's hearts were shaken.
Sure enough, bad news came again.
"Bian Lingcheng is going to deliver a letter outside the city again."
"Give me."
Xue Bai opened the letter and saw that Bian Lingcheng reported all the recent events in Chang'an City to the rebels and gave them an idea.
Bian Lingcheng asked the rebels to pretend to surrender to the Emperor of Tang Dynasty. The only condition was to kill Xue Bai. There was also a very suitable reason for this, that is, An Lushan raised his army in the first place because Xue Bai deliberately forced him.
Inciting civil strife to achieve ulterior motives.
In this way, the families in Chang'an City who were originally dissatisfied with Xue Bai will definitely agree. These people occupy most of the official positions in the court. Then public sentiment will inevitably surge and Li Cong will be forced...
After reading it, even Xue Bai thought Bian Lingcheng's suggestion might be successful.
Although this matter sounds absurd, in the original history, the Tang Dynasty never "pacified" the Anshi Rebellion, but only "appeased" the Anshi Rebellion. To put it simply, it recruited surrender and appeased the rebels.
To put it harshly, the Tang court did not even achieve complete appeasement. The rebels rebelled and surrendered, surrendered and rebelled again, until the vassal towns were established and the Tang Dynasty was destroyed.
It's like a fire. At first everyone saw sparks, and then small flames broke out, which were still at the stage where it was not difficult to extinguish. Even now, the fire is still controllable... But no one in the world knows it.
In fact, it is very likely that it cannot be destroyed in everyone's lifetime. If so, the weakness of those in power must be an important reason.
Li Longji played with fire and burned himself, and his weakness was undoubtedly exposed the moment he escaped from Chang'an. The weakness of Li Heng, Li Chu and his son was also foreseeable. As for Li Cong, he was obviously not determined either.
Xue Bai went to the top of the city and handed the letter to Wang Nan for review.
This time, even the always bold Wang Rao felt the danger and asked, "Should this letter be withheld?"
"Why?" Xue Bai asked knowingly.
Wang Nannan asked: "Have you ever heard of a word called 'playing with fire and self-immolation'?"
"I think of that word a lot when I look at this rebellion."
Wang rarely smiled knowingly, but it did not prevent him from considering the worst case scenario and said: "Once the rebels follow the plan of commanding the city, at least half of the aristocratic families and senior officials in the city will no longer support you.
Do you expect me to suppress them?"
Xue Bai asked: "Can't you suppress it?"
"certainly."
"You have indeed analyzed the strengths and weaknesses of each other's combat capabilities. Are you sure that if there is chaos in the city, you will not be able to suppress it?"
Wang rarely fell silent, took a deep look at Xue Bai, and asked: "At this critical moment, are you sure you want to condone civil strife? Let Bian Lingcheng encourage these people to oppose you?"
"Bian Lingcheng is an eunuch. He has never been a caller. The reason why he mentioned this is just because these people are going to oppose me. The prince is jealous of me. The internal strife has already happened. It is just hidden and has not broken out. Come out. What we have to do is to trigger it, clear people's hearts as early as possible, and face the real key battle."
"Let me think about it."
Wang Ruolan had never thought carefully about whether chaos in the city could be suppressed before. At this time, he took a few steps and thought about what if someone wanted to open the city gate to lead in the rebels.
He had rich experience in battles, and he quickly came up with an idea. He punched the palm of his hand hard and became a little excited.
"Let's deduce that if Cui Qianyou gets this letter and is unwilling to surrender, he will definitely agree and take the opportunity to invade Chang'an. He will send a horse to ask An Qingxu for a 'letter of credence' and secretly hand it to Bian Lingcheng. Incite the officials in the city. At this time, we will kill the border officials and get rid of those who dare to cause trouble. Then, we will open the city gate and let the rebels enter the city."
Having said this, Wang Rao pointed to the city.
There is also a city wall there, which was specially built by Li Longji. There is an imperial road between the two walls for the saints to walk between Daming Palace, Xingqing Palace and Qujiang Pool.
"As soon as the rebels entered the city, we blocked the wall, caught turtles in the jar, and ambushed the rebels."
"If everything goes well," Xue Bai said, "But what's the most difficult part of this plan?"
Wang Nan asked, "Wouldn't the saint or the prince agree?"
"No, I have already made preparations in this regard." Xue Bai said: "The difficulty is that if all the officials in the court want to kill me, I'm afraid you won't be able to kill them."
Wang Rao looked at him deeply, his eyes extremely sharp.
The two of them looked at each other, and their eyes seemed to have already seen the scene of mass murder in the imperial city.
"What if I can do it?" Wang Rao finally asked in a deep voice.
"It's difficult to control the speed." Xue Bai said: "If we kill too much, the court will not be able to function, and the country will be destroyed; if we kill not enough, we will not be able to scare the courtiers, and we will be the ones who die."
"I'm just going to be ruthless, and it's up to you to tell me to stop."
"I didn't tell Wang Sili, Li Chengguang, Chen Xuanli, Guo Qianli and other generals about this matter. Even my father-in-law didn't know about it."
"Okay, this is easy." Wang Nan said, "We just use our own soldiers and horses to kill them all."
Xue Bai took Bian Lingcheng's letter from his hand, folded it, took out an arrow, and tied it to the arrow shaft.
During the process, he moved very slowly, giving Wang Rao enough time to regret.
"There is another question." Wang Nan paced and said: "The rebels have 70,000 elite soldiers. Even if they design to lure some of the rebels into the city to kill, it is still not enough to repel their main force. At this time, is it possible to kill Bian Lingcheng? Will it affect our original plan?"
"Informing the rebels about our reinforcements and the food and grass route is enough. Getting rid of Bian Lingcheng will avoid exposing more flaws. Let the rebels have a hard time under Chang'an City, and then they will turn to attack our reinforcements.
Extend the front line."
"That's it. Don't be afraid that I will be soft."
After Wang Nan said this, he took Xue Bai's letter arrow and shot it outside the city where the rebels took the arrow.
"There is no turning back when you shoot a bow."
~~
There is also a Menxia Province in the Daming Palace, which is located east of the central axis of the palace, not far from the Xuanzheng Hall and the East Palace.
Recently, Li Cong often likes to conduct state affairs here. First, because the saint has returned to Chang'an, he has to show some humility and cannot often hold court meetings in the main hall. Second, because he can get closer to officials in the lower provinces and accumulate his reputation.
.
This is also a sign that Li Cong has made great progress in the way of power. He began to care less about the name and turned to the pursuit of substance. In fact, his talent was not bad, but he was imprisoned in the ten kings' house since he was a child and lived until he was forty or fifty years old.
Starting to participate in politics... can only be said to be a preemptive move.
"Your Highness, Xue Bai has robbed all the food stored in the minister's house."
The person who came to see Li Cong that day was Li Jue, King of Rongyang, and he was a cousin to Li Cong.
As we all know, the saint brothers have deep feelings, so they are also very kind to their nephews. Li Jue's family is rich, so it is obvious that he will not only have "a little food."
In fact, Li Cong had sent someone to find out clearly. Li Jue was given thousands of stones of grain, and there were countless hiding places in the wine cellar. After receiving the grain, Li Jue personally went to meet with Xue Bai.
After an argument, he said angrily, "Half the untouchables in Chang'an are not dead yet, how many more days can you hold on to my food after you robbed me?!"
The impact of such remarks was extremely bad, and Li Cong was dissatisfied, thinking that it had damaged the clan's face, so he always responded calmly to Li Jian's complaints.
"Okay, let's talk after the rebels are defeated. The saint's illness will be cured by then. If I can't handle it to your satisfaction, you can go to the saint and ask for the removal of me as the prince."
In the end, Li Cong drove away Li Jian with a final word, which seemed very authoritative.
He thought clearly. The most important thing at the moment was to stay calm and let Xue Bai offend others in front and defend the city. After Chang'an was defended, he would push Xue Bai out to make the people angry. At that time, the things he was afraid of could be solved.
Once solved, Xue Bai’s life experience can’t be settled.
It's not that he doesn't care about friendship and burns bridges, but he has deeply felt the threat from Xue Bai. I want to ask, which descendant of the Li family sitting in the position of prince dares to give an ambitious person like Xue Bai a chance to participate in the seizure.
The identity of the bit?
Every time he thinks about this, Li Cong feels like a light is hanging on his back...
"Your Highness!"
Suddenly, an official rushed over, went straight to the door and went to the province, and shouted to Li Cong ecstatically: "Your Highness, great blessing, God bless the Tang Dynasty, the rebels have sent envoys to surrender! The rebellion will be put down soon! Your Highness has put down the rebellion.
ah!"
"What?"
This incident was so sudden that Li Cong was inexplicably surprised. He stood up and wanted to ask, "Why did the rebels suddenly surrender?" But he quickly held back.
He is no longer what he used to be. He is no longer the idle king who did not have many palaces in the ten kings' houses. He knew that all the officials now thought that he was the one who planned the strategy. Once asked, he would break this impression. Therefore, he quickly adjusted to happy With an expression of anger, he stood with his hands behind his hands, waiting for more news.
"The rebel general Cui Qianyou sent an envoy to meet with him and attached a letter asking for surrender, explaining the cause of the rebellion..."
The letter asking for surrender was very long. Li Cong read it carefully and was doubtful about the letter.
Cui Qianyou still took his dignity into consideration and did not say that Xue Bai forced An Lushan to rebel in order to help him succeed to the throne. Instead, he attributed all this to Xue Bai's personal ambition. Li Cong used to listen to the positions of Li Longji and Yang Guozhong Talking about this matter, every time I feel that I am wronged, this is the first time that Xue Bai's conspiracy is explained from the perspective of the rebels, and I can't help but feel chills running down my spine.
Therefore, this letter of surrender gave him the most intuitive feeling that Xue Bai was more terrifying than the rebels.
After all, even the condition for the rebels' surrender was to kill Xue Bai, and then retain their general positions and let them go back to guard Fan Yang and Pinglu.
The news had just come, and many of the distinguished officials who had just heard about it were very eager to persuade Li Cong to accept the rebels' conditions.
"Your Highness, why are you hesitating?!"
"This matter cannot be made public and will be discussed later."
Li Cong's attitude was very ambiguous. Not only did he not agree, but he also ordered everyone not to talk about it. He did not summon Xue Bai immediately, but returned to the East Palace alone to think about it.
Bian Lingcheng had been following him, secretly observing, and after finding an opportunity, he finally asked in a low voice: "What are your concerns, Your Highness?"
Li Cong answered this question simply and quickly spit out two words.
"Li Heng."
Bian Lingcheng was stunned and realized that he was only focused on saving his life and had ignored this point.
"If I kill Xue Bai, what if, firstly, the rebels repent? Secondly, Li Heng rushes to Shuofang, recruits troops, and looks at Dandan. If I cut off one of my arms, how can I fight against him?"
"Your Highness is overly worried." Bian Lingcheng said: "I destroyed the Xiaobolu Kingdom and conquered Hebei. I know a little about the military affairs. There must be a reason why the rebels surrendered now. My guess is that the first is that Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi's army is coming. , Secondly, most of the rebels are Hu generals who are not accustomed to life in the Central Plains. They want to return to the north of the Great Wall, and their hearts are divided. If His Highness is kind and appeases them, they will definitely return to His Highness."
These words were nice to hear, and Li Cong couldn't help but feel more relaxed.
What Bian Lingcheng was best at was soothing people's hearts. He kept trying again and said: "In this way, Your Highness is guarding Chang'an alone and turning the tide. It is the Optimus Pillar of the Tang Dynasty. It is the center of the world and the admiration of all people. At that time, Your Highness not only commands a hundred thousand border troops, but also has the support of the people. How can Li Heng fight with Your Highness because he has no virtue?"
"Yeah?"
Li Cong finally began to hesitate, pacing and thinking, and murmured: "But all the soldiers and horses in the world are loyal to Your Majesty, only Xue Bai is loyal to me."
What he was referring to was that between him and Li Longji, Xue Bai was one of the very few people who had clearly expressed support for him and had the strength. So far, he has not seen anyone who can replace Xue Bai.
Bian Lingcheng said quickly: "I am willing to persuade Wang Sili and Li Chengguang for your highness. They lost Tongguan and the two hundred thousand troops were wiped out in one day. I am afraid that the saint will blame me, so I will be loyal to your highness."
"Is it possible?" Li Cong asked: "They are very close to Xue Bai."
"Don't worry, Your Highness, now Xue Bai has aroused public anger. When the news spreads, all the officials in the city will kill Xue Bai to appease the rebels. These generals in Chang'an City will definitely know what choice to make..."
Bian Lingcheng's words almost convinced him. He thought that the rebels were really persuaded to surrender by him. But it didn't matter. Regardless of whether the rebels surrendered for real or fake, this time he was trying to please both sides and was in an invincible position.