Dugu Wensu waited in the flower hall for a while, and then Li Shiyu arrived.
"Why didn't you capture the girl who asked for cockfighting?"
"Brothers Diao are here, so it's hard to do anything." Dugu Wensu's tone was flat, and he seemed to have no interest in doing these things.
Li Shiyu soon noticed that something was wrong with him, and stepped forward and asked in a low voice: "What? At the end of the day, do you still hesitate? Your Majesty has ascended the throne. There are no two days in the sky and no two kings in the earth."
"It's not that I have any hesitation about being loyal to Your Majesty." Dugu asked Susu, "But since the rebellion, you and I have seen Xue Bai's achievements with our own eyes. How can we turn against him so eagerly when the rebellion is not yet decided?"
"Because if it is too late, it will be too late. If Chang'an is defended, will King Qing surrender to His Majesty?!"
While they were talking, a subordinate rushed over and reported the news that Yang Qixuan had escaped with Li Tengkong and others.
When Dugu Wensu learned this, he couldn't help but smile bitterly and said: "It seems that they have realized that you and I are in the same group."
"Don't let them rush to Li Sheng's camp!"
Li Shiyu immediately went to Cui Zhong and asked him to send people to chase him.
Although Yuan Jie was the magistrate of Jiexian County, Jiexian County was under the rule of Wang Chengye. Cui Zhong entered the city with Wang Chengye's order and was able to mobilize some officers and soldiers.
However, half a day later, new news came. The escape direction of Yang Qixuan and others was not to Li Sheng's camp by the Yellow River, but to the Yanchi.
"What are they doing in the salt pond?"
"The Xue Party has been working on salt for several years, and they must have a lot of influence in the salt pool. It would be troublesome if they were allowed to gather manpower."
Cui Zhong became anxious when he heard this.
He had many purposes for coming this time, one of which was to control the salt pond for His Majesty to raise future military expenses. Capturing Li Linfu's daughter was only a trivial matter, but if it caused turmoil in the salt pond and made it difficult for him to take over, it would be too much of a loss.
So, he quickly sent more people to the salt pond to comfort him, and threatened him with force if necessary.
There was a lot of commotion in the city, and the news spread quickly, and a salt official came to see him.
"He's one of Yuan Jie's men?"
"He claims to be an old official of Hu Cao. He has two boxes of account books that he wants to submit to Cui Yushi. This is one of them."
Cui Zhong took it and looked at it, his expression immediately became serious, he even came up with an abacus, calculated for a while, and murmured: "The salt production is wrong, unless the salt field produces illegal salt... It is indeed early
There is a plan!"
He angrily threw the booklet to Li Shiyu and shouted: "Send that old official here, I will ask him personally."
"Here."
After a while, an old official came tremblingly, followed by four men, each carrying two boxes of account books.
When Cui Zhong saw this, he raised his hand and said, "These are all evidence that King Qing has misappropriated the salt tax a long time ago and planned to overstep his bounds."
When the old official heard this, he was so frightened that he fell to the ground. However, the big man carrying the box behind him suddenly took out his pole and swept it across the knee of the officer in the hall, breaking his leg with a bang. The officer fell to the ground.
At the same time, the saber on his body was also pulled out.
"Do it!"
Li Shiyu was still looking carefully at the account books handed over by Cui Zhong. He looked up and suddenly found that two of the men carrying the box were brothers Diao Bing and Diao Geng. Although he was surprised, he had seen many people in Fan Yang for a long time.
The ruthless bandit is calm.
Cui Zhong was a capital official. He was so frightened that he turned around and wanted to run away.
"Where to go?!"
Diao Geng threw the knife in his hand and stabbed into Cui Zhong's thigh. At the same time, someone quickly pounced on him, picked up the knife and put it on Cui Zhong's neck, shouting: "Everyone stop it!"
At the same time, Diao Bing lost no time in shouting: "The saint is investigating the major case of Prince Zhong's rebellion, who dares to get involved?!"
These were the words taught by Li Tengkong. As soon as these words came out, many soldiers in the government office who wanted to step forward were shocked to stop.
"Nonsense!" Cui Zhong said: "The saint has passed away..."
Before he could finish his words, Diao Geng gave him a slap with his backhand without any politeness.
Another thing that is very unfavorable to Cui Zhong is that although Li Heng's rhetoric is very effective for high-ranking officials, ordinary people do not understand the details and cannot see the various reasons why Xue Bai welcomes the emperor back to guard Chang'an.
The strangeness made it difficult for him to explain Li Heng's legitimacy in just one or two sentences.
Of course, Cui Zhong also brought troops, but some of them had been transferred outside the city. The Diao brothers also brought a lot of troops, and most of them were wounded soldiers who had stayed in Hebei to recuperate. They arrived at this time and soon
He quickly calmed the opponent down.
The rest are the original officers and soldiers in the city, just stabilize them.
Outside the government office, at a considerable distance, Yang Qixuan looked around for a while, and was surprised to find that the officers and soldiers were holding knives, but they did not dare to rush in to save Cui Zhong.
"Go in."
"Me?" Yang Qixuan shrank his neck.
Li Tengkong didn't look at him and walked straight into the government office, turning a blind eye to the officers and soldiers guarding the door. When someone looked at her, she didn't care about the ulcers on her face. She raised her head slightly and said with authority: "
I am the daughter of the prime minister of the Tang Dynasty clan, the great-great-grandson of King Changping, and the disciple of Princess Yuzhen."
Entering the lobby, she slowly sat down on the main seat and looked at Li Shiyu, but did not speak.
Li Shiyu was squeezed out by Li Linfu and lost his great future. Naturally, he hated her very much. A look of contempt flashed in his eyes and he said: "It seems that she is exactly the same as Tianbao for five years."
"What do you mean by this?"
"In the five years of Tianbao, the treacherous prime minister persecuted the prince, and Xue Bai assisted Zhou in persecuting him. Today, the treacherous prime minister's daughter is still complicit in his conspiracy. Everyone's position has not changed."
Li Tengkong said: "I think you are members of the rebels. Seeing that the rebels are about to die, you instigated internal fighting in the Tang Dynasty."
"That's absolutely not the case!" Li Shiyu said seriously.
But Li Tengkong's words were obviously meant for the officials outside. Following these words, many people lowered their knives in their hands.
Only then did Yang Qixuan regain his breath and began to put on airs to intimidate the officers and soldiers in the city. To put it simply, scaring people was one of the few things he could do well.
"Don't act rashly! Once the rebellion is suppressed, the court will deal with it on its own, otherwise Li Jieshuai returns from killing the enemy and will deal with you under military law..."
A few old foxes did not expect that a carefully planned power grab would be easily broken by a prostitute.
Soon, the county magistrates and staff left behind by Yuan Jie were released from prison and took charge of the situation. After the situation recovered, Li Tengkong stopped interfering in the affairs of the government office and asked the Diao brothers to ask Dugu Wensu and Li Shiyu.
, Cui Zhong and the other three were taken to prison separately for interrogation.
~~
"In addition to controlling Jie County, what other plans does Wang Chengye have?"
Among the three, only Dugu had the best attitude towards asking questions. He looked ashamed, but did not answer Li Tengkong's question. He sighed and asked: "What do you think of Xue Bai's return to the Holy Master?"
"You always call him 'Xue Bai', he is Li Qian, the King of Peking."
"At that time, when he came to incite rebellion against me, he said, 'If you want to follow the dragon, it is better to follow me than follow An Lushan.'" Dugu asked Su Su, "He thought it was this sentence that moved me, but it was
But he doesn’t know that we are loyal ministers of the Tang Dynasty and former members of the East Palace.”
"He knows." Li Tengkong said, "He has read your files in the Prime Minister's Mansion in the early years. When he said that you 'want to achieve the merit of following the dragon,' he also meant that you would rather follow him than follow Li Heng."
Dugu Wensu said: "It's not that I haven't considered this matter, but he lost the opportunity."
Li Tengkong didn't like these tactics, but he still asked Xue Bai: "How do you say this?"
"How long has King Zhong been the crown prince? How many years has Prince Qing been the crown prince? How many years has it been since the King of Peking has been conferred a title?" Dugu asked Su Su: "What's more, since the saint is a fake and the saint has never really awarded him, he has
Is he the King of Peking? In the eyes of those who know the truth, he is still Xue Bai, not Li Qian."
"How do you know that Shengjia is fake?"
"I know Prince Zhong. He dare not and will not lie about this matter." Dugu Wensu said slowly: "There is no day in the sky. The Tang Dynasty now only needs one saint."
Li Tengkong stood up and was about to walk out, but stopped and said, "In your eyes, what kind of person is Li Heng?"
"He is the most suitable prince of the Tang Dynasty. He is filial, tolerant, wise, worried about the country, and open-minded to accept advice." Dugu Wensu recalled the years in Chang'an when he first became an official, and still missed Li Heng's demeanor at that time.
"Maybe he is a good prince, but he is not good enough to be a king."
Li Tengkong suddenly spoke, interrupting Dugu Wensu's words with a somewhat cold voice.
"His forbearance has never been because of filial piety, but because of his cowardice and selfishness. He hides in the darkness all day long, plotting with eunuchs and women, and working hard just to keep his poor position. He is short-sighted and cannot see
Anything other than that.”
These words were very familiar to Li Tengkong, because her grandfather often commented on Li Heng like this at home. At that time, she was very disgusted with this, thinking that her grandfather was entirely motivated by personal grudges, but now she discovered that her grandfather actually looked at people like this.
Accurate.
"If he is really worried about the country, what he should do is not to rush to proclaim himself emperor, but to lead the army to relieve the siege of Chang'an and ascend the throne in a dignified manner. He humbly accepts advice? What he accepts are the eunuchs around him who advise him to safeguard his own interests.
Advice that disrupts the overall situation of the world..."
She thought of Li Linfu's powerful words again in her mind -
"Can such a person be allowed to ascend to the throne of God?!"
After many years, father and daughter finally reached a consensus on matters that they once did not understand.
Dugu Wensu was stunned for a moment and murmured: "You... are indeed Li Linfu's daughter."
In his opinion, this was a curse word.
~~
In another cell, Cui Zhong quickly recruited.
"If I tell you, can you promise to spare my life?"
"Can."
"The next step is not what Wang Chengye will do." Cui Zhong whispered: "Li Guangbi will enter Chang'an, detain King Qing, Xue Bai, and the fake saints, and welcome the new king back to Chang'an."
"You mean...Li Guangbi?"
"Yes." Although Cui Zhong was tied to the torture rack, there was a smile in his eyes and said, "You didn't expect it, right? Li Guangbi had already made his choice. Otherwise, how could Wang Chengye agree to let him lead troops to support Chang'an."
Li Tengkong said: "I don't believe it. Li Guangbi was recommended to Hedong by Xue Bai."
"What's that? He had received favor from King Zhong when he was serving in the army in Longyou. Don't forget that he was promoted by Wang Zhongsi, and at that time, Wang Zhongsi was still King Zhong's sworn brother." Cui Zhong said: "This time,
Li Guangbi was determined to save Chang'an and had the overall interests of the country in mind. He and Wang Chengye promised that they would get rid of the traitors and restore peace to the world as soon as possible. These traitors also include King Qing's family."
"Is there any evidence for what you said?"
"The reason why Li Guangbi made this decision was that he received a letter from Li Mi, the counselor next to King Zhong. He knew that the world was righteous, so he went to Lingwu and wrote a letter of submission. Wang Chengye then allowed him to provide food, grass and baggage and let him send troops."
After Cui Zhong finished speaking, he finally couldn't help but smile and asked: "What? Didn't you expect it? Do you really think Li Guangbi is on your side?"
Diao Bing then stepped forward and gave Cui Zhong another slap in the ear.
"Just say whatever I ask you to say, don't say anything useless!"
Cui Zhong was in pain and lowered his head. Perhaps he was cursing in his heart that people like them would be doomed sooner or later, but he did not dare to say any more nonsense.
"It is true that Li Guangbi recovered Yan Jiming, but it was not against the loyal king, but because he thought that we could wait until the rebels in Guanzhong were defeated before talking. He transferred Li Sheng, not because of lack of troops, but to prevent Li Sheng from letting him go again.
Occupying Tumen Pass, in other words, all places in Hedong have accepted King Zhong as the new king...except Xiezhou."
~~
In the last cell, when he heard the name "Li Guangbi", Li Shiyu sighed and said, "It seems that everyone in Cui has been recruited?"
"Yes, whether you recruit or not, the result will be the same."
Li Shiyu was silent for a long time. Finally, he nodded with a smile and said, "Yes, the result is the same. The day Li Guangbi enters Chang'an City will be the day when the rebels will be executed, and the day when the world will be at peace!"
~~
Chang'an.
After the siege was resolved, Chang'an City regained its vitality, and even the originally dull Tai Chi Palace became filled with more laughter and laughter.
There was music in the opera garden again, but the style changed from the previous elegance and gracefulness to vigorous formation-breaking music. On the stage, a group of women in red warrior robes were dancing swords.
They are all disciples of Gongsun Auntie. The leader, Li Twelve Niang, has now grown into a big girl. She looks very heroic, with her hair tied up and wearing a crown, without any trace of the squeamishness of a woman. Before she defended the city, she really went to the battlefield and killed
Killed many enemy soldiers.
However, Aunt Gongsun was already old and was sitting under the stage, talking to Yang Yuhuan.
"The celebration banquet will definitely be held, but the King of Peking doesn't seem to want to add another performance."
"Why? You took all the trouble to arrange this sword dance. It's just that it was inconvenient to perform before. Is there anything wrong with it at the celebration banquet?"
"I must not be able to take care of it. There is not enough food in the city now, and I heard that the King of Peking is worried." Aunt Gongsun said, "I also heard that the rebels have not really retreated. They are joining forces to the west to prepare for a decisive battle with the king's division."
At this point, Xie Aman, who was standing behind Yang Yuhuan, interjected: "This celebration banquet is also a welcome banquet to welcome Li Guangbi into the city. The King of Peking only cares about General Li, so he must be too lazy to pay attention to this place."
"Did you ask him?"
"Disciple...no."
Yang Yuhuan muttered in a voice that could only be heard by himself.
"He also said that he would give me back a prosperous singing and dancing age."
She was wearing a dance skirt today, and she had originally planned to perform a sword dance herself, but hearing them say this made her feel quite bored.
At this moment, a small yellow gate came over and said in a low voice: "Noble concubine, the saint is hosting a banquet in Wanchun Hall."
Hearing this, Yang Yuhuan's expression changed, and he guessed that saints would not hold banquets now, and it must be Xue Bai who came.
"There's no rush, just go back and change your clothes." She was determined to give him a hard time, then called Zhang Yunrong and said, "Go and ask the dining room to add a few more jugs of wine for the imperial banquet."
When Yang Yuhuan arrived at the front hall, he saw it was Xue Bai.
There is an imperial table and a small table in the hall. There are wine bottles and wine glasses on the imperial table, but they are empty. Xue Bai is sitting alone behind the small table, holding a piece of Hu cake and chewing it.
Swallow slowly.
Obviously, he had just talked with the saint, Gao Lishi.
"There's no place for me?"
"Chang'an has just been relieved from the siege, and supplies are not yet sufficient. Please be patient for a while longer, noble concubine."
"You guys go down first."
"Here."
"You are so brave, inviting me to meet in private."
Xue Bai said: "For the time being, I can still have the final say in Chang'an City, but I may not be able to do so in a while."
"Yes, yes, the King of Peking has an unparalleled reputation and has power over the entire government."
Yang Yuhuan walked a few steps with his hands behind his back and arrived in front of his case. He picked up the wine bottle and shook it gently. When he saw that the wine inside was full, he said, "It seems that Xue Beifan still hasn't drank one glass today?"
"Tomorrow, Li Guangbi will arrive in Chang'an."
"Then what?"
Yang Yuhuan took a sip of wine, a slight blush appeared on her fair and delicate face, and her mood suddenly improved a lot, and she asked: "What next?"
"If we can prevent him from seeing the clues, everything will be easy to explain." Xue Bai said, "But if something goes wrong, I'm afraid it will be very troublesome."
"Need me to help you?"
"You're also helping yourself."
Yang Yuhuan held the wine flask, poured a glass of wine into the cup, and said: "You guarded Chang'an, I admire you so much, I want to toast you."
"This is a treasure from the palace. Do you have enough to drink?"
"The city has been under siege for such a long time, and we finally got out of it. Have a drink, and I will give you an idea after drinking it. It will definitely be more useful than what Gao Lishi said... What? Are you afraid of poison?"
After experiencing the pressure of guarding Chang'an, her words were inexplicably convincing. Xue Bai still picked up the wine and drank it. For the first time, he felt the feeling of opening his pores after the wine entered his throat.
He is not good at rewarding himself, so he rewarded himself once today.
Yang Yuhuan kept an eye on him, and when he saw that he really drank, he subconsciously lowered his eyes slightly. The hall was not well ventilated, so the air became slightly thicker.
They all seemed to have ignored that the wine in the jug had been drunk by her, so it was naturally not poisonous.
"If you don't want anything to go wrong, you have to do this to Li Guangbi first tomorrow."
"What kind of thing?"
Yang Yuhuan suddenly leaned down and looked at Xue Bai, pointed her alluring face at him, and then smiled.
"In this way, you have to laugh and feel proud. If you are worried, of course he will know that you are hiding something fishy."
Xue Bai glanced down from the corner of his eye. He was drunk, his cheeks were hot, and he soon turned red. He turned his head and said, "I never show my worries on my face. He can't tell."
"I can tell that you have something on your mind." Yang Yuhuan said, "Laugh first, then dance."
"dance?"
"How have you ever seen an imperial banquet without dancing and music? Tomorrow, Li Guangbi will arrive. You will hold him here to watch the singing, dancing and drinking, and slowly wait for the Holy Driver."
"That's not necessary. I just want you to say a few words when I accompany you to the banquet."
Yang Yuhuan had already poured him another glass and said, "You have another drink."
"I'm drunk."
"It's better to be drunk. You haven't finished the poem you wrote last time when you were drunk. You will continue it today."
"Which poem?"
Yang Yuhuan walked two steps in the palace with a wine pot and chanted: "There is a daughter in the Yang family who has just grown up, and she was raised in a boudoir and no one knows her."
After chanting, she turned back to look at him and said, "There has been no poetry in Chang'an for too long."
Xue Bai rubbed his forehead and said, "I can't remember where I read it last time."
Yang Yuhuan said: "Then let's read it again?"
Xue Bai didn't want to recite poems anymore. He was different now. He was no longer an official accompanying the emperor's concubine on a tour. He was the King of Peiping who guarded Chang'an and had many other things to worry about.
"Okay, I know you are playful and have made enough trouble. Let's get down to business." Xue Bai said: "I may not be able to hide it tomorrow, but when the time comes, it will be up to you to come back..."
~~
Xue Bai didn't drink the second cup in the end. He said it was business and left the palace city.
But the scene just now appeared inexplicably in her mind. Yang Yuhuan raised his head slightly and lifted the pot to drink. The red rouge was left on the mouth of the pot, and then poured the wine for herself to drink... What did she mean?
He shook his head and speeded up his horse. The wind blew and made him sober.
After that, he went to Daming Palace to meet Li Cong.
Nowadays, Xue Bai and Li Cong must have been wary of each other in their previous relationship. Fortunately, although the siege of Chang'an has been temporarily resolved, the problems they both have to face are huge, and they will have to take advantage of each other in the next period of time.
"Tomorrow, Li Guangbi will enter the city. If His Highness can obtain his support, the situation will be very different..."
Xue Bai still looked like he was planning for Li Cong, talking eloquently.
Li Cong listened and observed Xue Bai.
The distance between the two was not close, but he still saw something strange.
"Sanlang, have you drank?"
Xue Bai was still not used to being called "Sanlang" by Li Cong in this tone. He nodded and said, "Have a drink."
"Oh? I wonder who can make you drink?" Li Cong said: "Even I can't do this."
"He is a saint."
Li Cong touched the scars on his face with his fingers and said, "That's it."
"Yes, your Highness, don't worry. The entire Chang'an City is on your Highness's side. Li Guangbi doesn't dare to mess around easily."
"I hope it's as you said."
When he left Daming Palace, Xue Bai recalled Li Cong's attitude just now and realized that Li Cong had noticed that he went to see Yang Yuhuan. Although it was nothing, Li Cong would not expose it for the time being, but Xue Bai thought that he
Too careless.
Why? You have always been cautious, so why did you indulge in this matter today?
He re-examined himself, and the scene of Yang Yuhuan leaning in front of him and smiling slightly appeared in his mind...
Xue Bai raised his head.
After taking a look at the sky, it was almost dusk, so he drove his horse to Yang Yuyao's residence.
On the way, he thought about it and thought that Yang Yuhuan seemed to be interested in "testing" himself. He probably wanted to test whether he was the true grandson of the emperor.
~~
"Mother Yao, have you ever thought about it? Now that I have recovered my identity, I am two generations behind you."
"With the situation in Chang'an City a while ago, I really didn't have time to think about this matter."
Yang Yuyao deliberately put her fingers on her chin and thought about it, with a look of worry in her eyes.
Then, he whispered in Xue Bai's ear, "I just thought... it's even more interesting."
Xue Bai also smiled bitterly after hearing such a trend of the Tang Dynasty.
Unfortunately, although Yang Yuyao was also very interested, she pushed him and whispered: "It's not convenient today, I'll call Mingzhu over."
"No, there will be big things tomorrow, so keep your spirits up and deal with it."
"The fire is very strong."
"Because the danger has not passed yet, go to sleep."
Xue Bai said, lying down on the couch, closing his eyes, thinking about meeting Li Guangbi tomorrow.
Then I couldn't help but think, which line did I read in the song "Song of Everlasting Sorrow" that I sang to Yang Yuhuan last time?
"The spring cold brings bathing in Huaqing Pool, and the hot spring water washes away the fat."
"When the servant lifts up the weakling, it is the beginning of new grace."
It seems to be here, Bai Letian's writing power.
In a daze, Xue Bai actually recalled the scene where Yang Yuhuan spun around on the carpet in the Wanchun Palace, her skirt rising slightly. She was wearing a dignified and luxurious skirt, but she had a pair of dancing shoes under her feet.
, the red silk made the instep as white as jade... Maybe because I was in a hurry to meet, I forgot to change it in a hurry?
Later, he realized that the woman was dangerous and she liked to test herself on the edge of danger, so he put these thoughts away.
"What I want is authority." He reminded himself in his sleep, "If you make more progress, you can do it."
He slept heavily that night, and Xue Bai woke up before dawn.
He went to the city head and waited alone for half an hour. The sentry horse came to report that Li Guangbi had broken camp and set off. He would be able to enter Chang'an City today...