Yang Qixuan was a noble son of Chang'an, and he was willing to spend money. It was very easy for him to make casual marriages during the war. He had recently become friendly with the daughter of a salt household and stayed at her house every day.
That day, while playing dominoes, one of his servants came to report that the Diao brothers were leaving. He quickly put down the cards and rushed to the post house, where he saw brothers Diao Geng and Diao Bing arranging for people to move things to the carriage.
Ready to set off.
"You're leaving now? How come you didn't know you wanted to meet me?"
"You know nothing." Diao Bing spat. During the period of working with Yang Qixuan, he finally understood that the princes and nobles were not great, they were just like wine bags and rice bags.
After being scolded like this, Yang Qixuan did not dare to say anything. He shrunk his head and went to the lobby. He was shocked by the scars on Li Tengkong and Li Jilan's faces. He felt that after not seeing each other for a few days, they became even uglier.
"Where are you going?"
"Go back to Chang'an."
"Will you go back after the war has been calmed down?" Yang Qi declared: "Guanzhong is so dangerous."
He persuaded them profusely, but when they didn't listen, he became anxious and couldn't help but say a few harsh words.
"Don't be anxious. King Peking will be disgusted when you look like this. Why don't you go back after you get cured? I heard that there is pearl powder in Dongshi..."
No one paid attention to him. After that, Diao Geng strode into the house and said in a hurry: "Ms. Li, Wang Chengye is about to enter the city."
"What?!" Yang Qixuan exclaimed, "Why is he here?"
Diao Geng picked up his collar, glared at him fiercely, and shouted: "Stop making noise! If you follow the arrangements of a fool like you, your head will fall off and you will still be playing dominoes."
Yang Qixuan wanted to say, "Lang Jun also made the dominoes", but when he saw Diao Geng's eyes, he was so frightened that he did not dare to speak.
He didn't even have time to take the foreign minister he met in Jie County, so he was taken straight to Pujin Ferry.
After leaving the city gate, you will soon be able to see the salt lake at the foot of Zhongtiao Mountain in the south. The lake surface is as clear as a mirror from a distance. Only the white, snow-like salt on the edge of the lake makes it different from other places.
On the official road, there was an endless stream of salt households carrying sacks, most of them heading east. There were also cavalry marching west, whizzing past, and it was hard to tell whose horses and men they belonged to.
"stop!"
Suddenly, a shout came from behind them.
Diao Geng glanced behind him and said, "We're catching up."
"Go to Guandi Temple." Li Tengkong said.
She had learned that Yuan Jie had arranged for a troop of troops to be stationed at the Guandi Temple outside Jie County to guard the salt pond.
This Guandi Temple was built during the Kaihuang period of the Sui Dynasty and covers a large area. There is a high pavilion named "Chunqiu Tower". From the pavilion, you can see the scene of the salt pond.
The soldiers upstairs saw a group of people being chased, and immediately asked someone to check. They found that they had county warrant tokens, and let them in.
For a moment, people outside the temple gate raised their heads and neighed. A general rode forward on a tall horse and shouted arrogantly: "Hedong soldiers Cao Shenjun was ordered by the commander of the festival to go to public affairs, but you still haven't opened the door?!"
The temple door opened, and several salt soldiers from Jie County came out and said, "May I ask what business you have on duty?"
"Whose people are you from?"
"The county has ordered us to wait..."
"Yuan Jie has rebelled. Are you going to rebel? Jiedushi has personally arrived to put down the rebellion. Anyone who dares to resist will be killed without mercy... Search!"
~~
Solution County.
Wang Chengye's face was as dark as water. Looking at Cui Zhong who was brought before him, he shook his head with hatred and said: "How did you get taken away?"
"I didn't expect them to be so bold and complicit in conspiracy."
Cui Zhong has been locked up in the county government office recently and has been tortured. He looks haggard and dejected, saying: "The manpower I brought is indeed too few."
Wang Chengye frowned, showing deep concern, and said, "Do you know what happened recently? Li Guangbi arrived in Chang'an and defected to Prince Qing."
Cui Zhong thought to himself that he might have confessed, which led to this situation. He suddenly felt guilty and asked: "What should I do?"
Wang Chengye dismissed the others, walked to Cui Zhong, and lowered his voice: "I also got news that the saint has arrived in Shu County?"
"How come?"
Cui Zhong was greatly surprised and said: "How could a saint travel from Lingwu to Shu County in such a short time? Is the road accessible?"
Before he could turn around, he thought that the saint Wang Chengye mentioned was Li Heng.
It wasn't until Wang Chengye showed a look that looked like he was looking at a fool that he suddenly realized what he was doing and was suddenly horrified.
"The late Emperor? But if the late Emperor had not died, wouldn't we have become traitors?"
Wang Chengye nodded helplessly.
Since he came to Hedong, he obviously felt that every choice he made was very cautious. But in the end, every choice was wrong. At first, he was afraid of sending troops to support Changshan and made Xue Bai an enemy. When Li Heng became emperor, it was logical for him to do so.
So I took refuge there, but I didn't expect that this ridiculous situation would happen.
"There is only one way for now."
"What?"
"Be ruthless and Hu Ni, put down the rebellion of King Qing as soon as possible." Wang Chengye said: "Without King Qing, the Supreme Emperor will have no choice but to recognize the saint's accession to the throne, so that we can avoid being punished."
Cui Zhong had not yet recovered from his surprise and murmured: "How to be gentle and gentle to Hu Ni?"
"As far as I know, Cui Qianyou and Tian Chengsi's 70,000 troops have been cut off by Li Guangbi and trapped in the pass. I want to send someone to talk to them."
"Who to send?"
Cui Zhong asked and soon understood that he was the person Wang Chengye wanted to send to Cui Qianyou's camp.
Otherwise, why would Wang Chengye rescue him?
"I...I'm just afraid that I won't be able to take on a big responsibility."
Wang Chengye ignored it and turned his head to look at the messenger who happened to be rushing in.
"Commander Jie, Yuanjie and his people are back on the road. We still have twenty miles to go before we reach the outside of the city."
"Can't come soon enough."
Although Wang Chengye was surprised, he was not worried. After all, he was the governor of Hedong, and he had the new emperor's will. He immediately arranged his troops and prepared for the enemy to win.
However, Yuan Jie may have been frightened by his arrangement. After a while, another messenger reported: "Yuan Jie's team went to the Guandi Temple outside the city."
"He wants to occupy the salt pond first and gather people to cause trouble." Wang Chengye sneered and said, "Send my order to surround Guandi Temple."
Guandi Temple is not too far away.
When Wang Chengye arrived, his troops had already frightened most of the Jie County Salt Soldiers. Only Xue Bai's men were still holding on to the Chunqiu Tower and resisting.
After waiting for a while, before Chunqiu Tower was captured, Yuan Jie had already arrived, bringing dozens of riders with him.
It is simply ridiculous for a county magistrate to make trouble in front of the dignified Hedong Jiedushi with such a small manpower.
What's even more ridiculous is that when Yuan Jie arrived at a stone's throw, he abandoned dozens of guards and only rode forward with three horses. Among them, a young armored general stepped forward and shouted: "Who dares to let go?"
arrow?!"
Seeing that the soldiers from Hedong actually stopped firing arrows, Wang Chengye immediately urged them.
"Fire the arrow!"
However, the archers still hesitated.
Wang Chengye wanted to ask what was going on, but his staff reported in a low voice: "Commander Jie, that is Li Yizhong, the son of Li Guangbi, and he is the envoy of the heavenly army."
"How did he get here?"
Immediately, Cui Zhong also stepped forward and reminded: "Commander Jie, the other person beside Yuan Jie is Yan Jiming."
Wang Chengye took a closer look and found that it was indeed the ghost. He couldn't help but murmured: "The ghost is still here."
There are still many generals in the Hedong Army who were recruited by Yan Jiming when he was in the Hedong Shogunate.
Immediately afterwards, Yuan Jie unfolded an imperial edict and read it out in public.
When the phrase "Li Guangbi replaced Hedong Jiedushi" came into his ears, Wang Chengye became furious, raised his hand and pointed at Yuan Jie, and shouted: "You are falsely preaching the imperial edict, you saints from Chang'an are false!"
~~
Li Tengkong stood on the Chunqiu Tower, looking at the conflict below, and suddenly noticed something.
She saw more than ten riders driving away the soldiers who were surrounding the Chunqiu Tower and heading here, and among these ten riders, there was a figure that she was very familiar with.
"Xue Bai?"
She just murmured this, and everyone around her couldn't help but get excited and looked in the direction of Yuan Jie.
"Where is Mr. Lang? I didn't see him."
Li Tengkong came to the railing and leaned forward to look. Gradually, the figure that haunted her became increasingly clear.
Finally, he arrived downstairs at Chunqiu.
"Is it really Xue Lang?"
"Mr. Lang is really here."
Not long ago, Yang Qixuan was still thinking about what to do if things were not harmonious? He did not expect Xue Bai to appear at this time. This situation even made him feel that Li Tengkong was the safest place in troubled times, because Xue Bai would come to rescue him in time.
she.
He turned around and saw Li Tengkong and Li Jilan's face after suffering from scabies again. He was curious about how Xue Bai would react when he saw them.
At this time, Xue Bai had already climbed the stairs.
"Take space!"
Li Jilan was about to follow Li Tengkong to greet him, but suddenly he thought of something and called out quickly.
Li Tengkong then remembered, turned around quickly, and asked, "Have you brought the potion?"
"Um."
Li Jilan hurriedly took out a porcelain bottle from his sleeve, shook it, poured the potion into Li Tengkong's palm, and Li Tengkong wiped it on his face.
What is quite surprising is that with just one application of it, the dark yellow spots, spots, and scars on the face were all erased, revealing the white and translucent skin underneath.
Yang Qixuan was stunned.
It wasn't like he hadn't thought that they were pretending to be ugly on purpose, but in the past few days, they had never taken off their disguise, so he had no choice but to believe it.
According to his opinion, they should not immediately restore their appearance at this time. They should use that ugly look to test Xue Bai's sincerity.
However, Li Tengkong and Li Jilan had no such thoughts at all. They wiped their faces in a hurry and looked at each other.
"Any more?"
"A little bit, but it's already beautiful."
"what to do?"
"Hair, hair..."
"Come over here and take care of it."
The two held hands and walked around to the other side of the verandah.
Over there, Mian'er secretly pulled Jiao Nu's hand, raised her head, and gave her a helpless and aggrieved expression. Because the two of them were also dressed up as scabies patients, but Shi Qi Niang didn't care about them at all.
.
Seeing that Li Tengkong's hair was difficult to fix, Jiaonu simply turned around and went downstairs. Then he turned around and saw Xue Bai coming towards him.
"Long time no see."
"You recognize me?"
"Isn't it a shameful servant? What's wrong with your face?"
Jiaonu said proudly: "If you have scabies, it will be contagious."
She stood there with her legs spread, blocking the stairs.
"oh."
Xue Bai was not afraid of her. He squeezed forward from her, looked back and said, "I need to put on some makeup on my neck."
"frivolous."
Xue Bai ignored her and climbed up to the height of Chunqiu Tower. He turned around and first saw Mian'er with her head shrunk and her back to the wall, as if she was thinking about something. He pretended not to see it and patted Diao first.
Brothers' shoulders.
"Are the injuries healed?"
"I'm worried about you, I'll be fine soon. It's just that there are wars everywhere, so I couldn't go to find you earlier."
"As long as everything is fine, I feel at ease when I see you."
Yang Qixuan stood aside waiting to please Xue Bai, but he didn't have a chance to interject, so he rubbed his hands anxiously.
After a while, Li Tengkong and Li Jilan turned around.
"Xue Lang?"
Li Jilan's tone was surprised, the blush on her cheeks bloomed like peach blossoms, she said a blessing, smiled sweetly and said: "Oh, now I should be called the King of Peking."
"You can call me by my name among friends."
On the contrary, Li Tengkong seemed to have a calm attitude and just nodded slightly.
Xue Bai took a deep look at her and nodded slightly.
Yang Qixuan was surprised when he saw this scene. Thinking back to Li Tengkong's "female appearance that pleases her" just now, he couldn't help but murmured in his heart: "You can really pretend."
Of course, Xue Bai climbed up the tall building not just to meet his sweetheart.
He first watched the confrontation between Yuan Jie and Wang Chengye over there for a while, and finally saw Li Yizhong driving his horse forward and killing Wang Chengye with a single blow.
There is not much suspense about this matter. Xue Bai didn't even bother to deal with Wang Chengye personally this time. Looking back at the beginning of the Anlu Mountain Rebellion, he was just the prefect of Changshan and his status was much inferior to the other party. But after this incident, the power of both parties was far away.
Same thing.
"Are you here to pick me up?"
Li Tengkong stood behind Xue Bai, looked up at the clouds in the sky, and asked casually.
"Some official business." Xue Bai said, "I happened to be passing by."
"What business?"
"For example, dealing with Wang Chengye."
"But before you even said a word to him, he died."
Xue Bai said: "Also arrange some salt officials to implement the salt law. In the future, it will cost a lot to suppress the rebellion. The court cannot make ends meet and must have new financial resources."
As he spoke, he walked around to the east side of the high platform and looked towards the Salt Lake.
Under the sun, the salt fields glow with different colors, which is so beautiful.
~~
It was night, and Cui Zhong, who had just been rescued from the prison, was brought to Xue Bai again.
Continuous tossing has completely worn away Cui Zhong's will. When Xue Bai asked, he confessed Wang Chengye's next intention.
"There is Yan Wu in Fufeng County, but Gao Shi is blocking it, so it is not very convenient. Therefore, King Zhong asked Wang Chengye to make arrangements, and promised to appoint Cui Qianyou and Tian Chengsi as the military envoy, and still lead his troops. As long as they are willing to surrender, Wang Chengye will transport them
The army supplies are ferried to Pujin."
Xue Bai asked: "Is Li Heng colluding with the rebels?"
"Wang Chengye said that if the rebels are surrendered, they are not the rebels, but the Tang army. As for King Qing..."
Cui Zhong stopped mid-sentence and did not dare to say any more.
He also recognized the current situation and knelt down to beg for mercy, only asking Xue Bai to spare his life.
"Can."
"Thank you, King Beiping."
Xue Bai said: "You go as an envoy to the rebel camp and do what I say, and I will spare your life."
Cui Zhong was stunned.
He did not expect that after all the hardships he had gone through, he would inevitably make the trip to the rebel camp. He must have been destined to avoid it, so he had to take the trip anxiously.
~~
Posthouse.
Li Tengkong took a shower and changed clothes, finally washed off the concoction on his face, put a Taoist bun in front of the mirror, thought about it, and then broke it up after a moment.
"Shall I comb it for you?"
Just in time, Li Jilan opened the door and came in, walked behind her, picked up the comb, thought about it, and said, "I'll give you an inverted bun. It will look good."
Li Tengkong shook his head and said, "I'll go to sleep soon and won't comb my hair."
"Did you really sleep?"
"Well, I'm a little sleepy."
"I have to comb it for you so that it won't affect your sleep." Li Jilan said, "Maybe I haven't seen your real face for a long time. You are so beautiful like this."
Black and smooth hair flowed over Li Jilan's fingertips. She smelled the fragrance of Li Tengkong's hair, and felt a long-lost throbbing in her heart. Until she heard movement in the yard, she yawned and said:
"I'm going to sleep."
Li Tengkong whispered: "I want to read the Taoist Scriptures again."
"Okay." Li Jilan continued to yawn and walked towards the inner room.
Li Tengkong glanced back, then took out the lipstick hidden in his sleeve, sipped it gently, looked at the bronze mirror, and felt very unfamiliar with the beautiful face inside.
But when I hugged Xue Bai, that long-lost familiar feeling came back.
It is said that a short separation is better than a new marriage. After a long separation, especially after the separation of life and death in troubled times, both of them felt a little selfless.
When we first met today, Li Tengkong was still suppressing her emotions, but under the cover of night, those long-simmered emotions still poured out like a dam bursting. The calmer she became, the more turbulent she became.
When Xue Bai was about to pull away as before, Li Tengkong tried his best to hug him.
"I want... to have a child."
She originally thought he would not agree.
However, this time, although she was exhausted, she still held Xue Bai down.
An accident changed many of their previous ideas.
~~
Under the soft moonlight, the tide rises and falls by the salt lake, moistening the somewhat dry tidal flats, leaving behind white salt particles.
In another room of the post house, Li Jilan covered her head with a quilt and covered her ears. After enduring it for too long, she turned sideways tiredly and ruffled her hair in distress.
~~
"Now that the world is in chaos, it is actually not a good time to have a child."
"We're going to put down the rebellion soon, right?"
"If everything goes well, it will be soon." Xue Bai said: "There are only one or two steps left to put down the rebellion."
Li Tengkong whispered: "If the rebellion is suppressed, I don't want to stay in Chang'an, I want to go back to my Taoist temple."
"One day, I will take you back to Chang'an in a dignified manner."
"No, it's your identity."
"Identity is just a stepping stone." Xue Bai realized recently that he was still used to being called "Xue Lang", and the coveted status of the emperor's grandson was still a bit uncomfortable.
"Don't worry." Li Tengkong whispered: "I don't want a child because of your hope of becoming a king or even seizing the throne. It's just that we have been separated for too long, and I'm afraid we will be separated again one day."
"I know."
"Are you worried?" Li Tengkong asked.
Xue Bai shook his head and said casually: "I just thought that some people said that I can't give birth."
"How can others understand..."
~~
After arriving in Hedong, looking back at the rebels' actions, it felt like watching a fire from across the bank. Presumably Li Heng viewed Guanzhong the same way in Shuofang.
Although Xue Bai was still a little worried about Chang'an, he believed in Li Guangbi's ability.
He was unwilling to go too far from the Yellow River defense line, so he sent people to invite Wang Jin to meet him in Jie County, and at the same time he arranged some salt officials here.
On the other hand, after Cui Zhong crossed the Yellow River and sent an envoy to the rebel camp, he quickly sent back a message.
"Cui Qianyou and Tian Chengsi agreed to Li Heng's surrender and asked Wang Chengye to immediately arrange a batch of grain and grass to be ferried to Pujin."
Xue Bai immediately sent someone to inform Li Guangbi of the incident, and ambushed the rebel soldiers and horses at Pujin Ferry to collect food.
Although it was previously believed that ambushing the rebels would be in danger of being entangled, it was different in the Yellow River. The Tang army set up an ambush and had ships that could quickly evacuate the battlefield. After the rebels were ambushed, they could not pursue them across the Yellow River even if they wanted to fight decisively.
In this battle, Xue Bai and Li Guangbi did not seek a big victory, but rather to undermine the confidence of the rebels, causing them to lose confidence in obtaining food and grass or breaking out of the encirclement. Given time, this powerful force would be on its last legs.
On April 17, when news came back that the Tang army had narrowly defeated the rebels at Pujin Crossing, Xue Bai was talking to Wang Jin by the Salt Lake.
"Chang'an City can be defended because of Mr. Mojie's great contribution. Now he is taken captive to Luoyang. After the rebellion is put down, he will be rewarded based on his merits. As for the matter of collecting the remaining grain of the Wang family..."
"The King of Peiping doesn't need to say much. When Du Ji is in danger, the Wang family should do what they should do."
Wang Jin was not obsessed with Xue Bai's food conscription. After all, if Chang'an fell, those family assets would not be retained.
But when it came to appointing him as the deputy envoy of Hedong Jiedu, he still had concerns.
"Your Highness and the King of Peking have great love. I am ashamed, but I am a little puzzled. When Guo Ziyi regained Yanmen Pass and sent generals to garrison it. Earlier, Guo Ziyi responded to the call of King Zhong and went to Lingwu. If I guard Taiyuan on my behalf, what about Yanmen Pass?"
Xue Bai said: "Don't worry, Shuofang's army will definitely make the right choice."
Wang Jin asked: "How can we see it?"
Xue Bai picked up a branch and drew a map on the ground.
"Previously, the sage sent You Jinwu General Cheng Ang to sit in the town, firstly to help defend Taiyuan, and secondly to wait for the opportunity to send troops out of Fukouxing and capture Wei County, which would cut off the rebels' return. Now, the time has come. I have sent people to ask Cheng Ang to send troops. If this happens, An Qingxu will abandon Luoyang and flee."
"How did the King of Peiping persuade Cheng Ang? As far as I know, he is quite close to King Zhong."
Xue Bai said: "I am sure of this matter, and you will know it when the time comes."
Wang Jin asked again: "Even if Cheng Ang is willing to send troops, he may not be able to force An Qingxu to give up Luoyang."
At this point, the messenger rushed to him. He did not mention how Xue Bai set up a plan to lure the enemy, but only mentioned that the king's division had a great victory at Pujindu and beheaded more than 500 rebels.
To others, it sounded like the rebels broke out from Pujin Ferry, were blocked by the king's army, and many of them were beheaded.
"Congratulations to King Beiping for another great achievement."
After hearing the battle report, Wang Jin had no choice but to congratulate him.
Xue Bai said: "Look at Cui Qianyou's repeated defeats. With An Qingxu's character, how can he not escape when Cheng Ang attacks him?"
Wang Jin nodded and said: "If An Qingxu escapes, it will in turn cause Cui Qianyou's army to become morally chaotic. In this way, the rebellion will be put down soon."
"Guo Ziyi is a smart man. Once he learns that His Highness has put down the rebellion, will he not order Shuofang's army to put down Li Heng's rebellion?"
Wang Jin then understood, bowed deeply and said, "If this is the case, please rest assured, King Beiping, I will ensure that Taiyuan is safe and sound."
At this point, according to Xue Baiping's plan to rebel and take over Hedong, the situation has become clear, and he has once again seen the dawn of a stable world.