Li Chu's words sounded like he was reaffirming the heroism of Pugu Wan's death in battle. But when it fell into the ears of Li Heng and Zhang Ting, they heard that he concluded that Xue Bai was not in Jiucheng Palace. In other words, Li Chu thought that Xue Bai was not in Jiucheng Palace.
Li Tan might be lying about military information.
An imperceptible smile appeared in Zhang Ting's eyes.
Li Heng believed that it was not possible to rule out the possibility that Xue Bai had arranged for 3,000 suspected troops and he led a small group of troops to take a detour, so he decided to send people to support.
The more important thing about this trip was to find out the authenticity of Li Tan's news. The candidate must be a confidant he could trust. After much thought, he finally decided on Yu Chaoen.
Yu Chaoen had been friendly with Donggong for a long time. After the Chencang Incident, he first followed Li Heng, and later went on a mission to Shu County for him, and got back the national treasure and Li Longji's recognition. He was loyal and worthy of belief.
"When you arrive at Jiucheng Palace, if you encounter Xue Ni, send your horse to report him quickly. If you don't encounter the enemy, find out the reason for the incident."
"Your servant accepts the order." Yu Chaoen knew as soon as he heard this that his master had doubts, otherwise there would be no need to add the second half of the sentence.
When he was about to leave the palace, a palace man came to stop him and quietly took him to see Zhang Ting.
Zhang Ting had previously intended to cooperate with Li Tan to deal with Li Chu. She asked Li Fuguo to go and test his words. When Li Fuguo came back, he said, "Not only did King Jianning reprimand us, he also complained in front of His Majesty."
In this way, she thought that she would have to get rid of Li Chu and Li Tanquan sooner or later. Taking advantage of the opportunity to get rid of one by one now, she ordered Yu Chao'en to say: "If Xue Ni doesn't attack Jiucheng Palace, King Jianning will pretend to do so."
The news is suspicious; if Xue Ni really went, how did King Jianning predict it in advance? You must find out about this."
Yu Chaoen understood and responded quickly.
Unexpectedly, someone stopped him that day. They were Li Chu and Li Mi. The two of them seemed to have expected it and were waiting at the north gate of the city. When Li Chu saw Yu Chaoen, he asked: "See you before leaving the palace."
Who?"
"This slave has met Your Majesty."
Li Chu looked serious and said: "Don't pretend that I don't know. If you dare to help the tyrants and harm my brothers, don't blame me for not sparing you."
Yu Chaoen had no choice but to respond: "Your Highness has misunderstood. I have no such intention. I will tell your Majesty the truth about what I saw in Jiucheng Palace."
After he swore and swore, he was finally able to escape and went to the barracks outside the city to lead the troops. Looking at his back, Li Chu looked at Li Mi and said with emotion: "Fortunately, sir, he is so savvy that he saw through that poisonous woman's scheme."
.”
Li Bi said: "You can guard against it for a while, but you can't guard against it forever."
"The overall situation is the most important thing." Li Chu said, "It won't be too late to deal with the poisonous woman after the two capitals are recovered."
~~
Two days later, Yu Chaoen and his men rushed to Jiucheng Palace on Pegasus. They climbed to a high place and took a look. Indeed, there were traces of a fierce battle in the east of the city and there were enemy camps outside the city.
The camp was not big, and we could see flags erected in front of the camp, but no people or horses were seen leaving the camp.
"Xue Bai did not attack the city for three days." Li Tan said: "I guess he took a detour."
Yu Chaoen asked: "Has King Jianning sent troops to investigate?"
Li Tan said: "Before, the troops in Jiucheng Palace were sparse. I was afraid of falling into a trap and did not dare to leave the city. Now that the reinforcements are coming, I should go and find out more."
From this, they sent out sentry horses to go to the small camp.
Looking from the top of the city, one can see the sentry horses first spying on the camp from a distance, then gradually getting closer, shooting arrows into the camp, and even leaping over Haogou and bypassing Juma Corner. Not long after, there were two
More than ten Xue Ni's cavalrymen ran away from the east with flags.
"It seems like it's a false camp." Yu Chaoen said with emotion.
Li Tan frowned and said, "Xue Bai took a detour. We should inform our father about this as soon as possible so that Feng Xiang can make preparations in advance."
Yu Chaoen looked thoughtful and asked: "The saint has sent a future to guard Jiucheng Palace. How about I ask King Jianning to go back and report to the saint in person?"
Ninety percent of the palace walls are dangerous and solid. As long as the troops are sufficient, Li Tan can rest assured. In comparison, he was more worried about Feng Xiang, so he agreed. Moreover, he acted vigorously and resolutely. He actually ordered all the people and horses that day and galloped all the way. That night
He rushed to Fengxiang City.
The defenders in the city would not open the door to let them in, so Yu Chaoen had no choice but to spend the night sleeping in the open with Li Tan, suffering the pain of being bitten by mosquitoes.
After finally waiting until dawn, they met with Li Heng and told them what happened in Jiucheng Palace.
"It seems it was a false alarm." Li Heng had not slept well in the past few days because he was thinking about this matter. He looked a little tired, and he breathed a sigh of relief after hearing this.
Li Tan reminded: "Xue Bai is still determined to attack Fengxiang secretly, and there is a possibility of taking a detour to attack."
"Since I already know in advance, how can he make a sneak attack?" Li Heng said in a calm tone: "Thank you for being alert this time, go and recuperate."
Li Tan was indeed seriously injured, so his father showed concern and thanked him for resigning.
After he left, Li Heng asked: "What happened to Jiucheng Palace?"
Yu Chaoen quickly knelt on the ground, kowtowed and said, "I have the courage to speak out, and I beg your Majesty to forgive me."
"Say, I don't blame you."
"What I have seen, King Jianning seemed to be lying about the military situation. Xue Shun's military camp outside the city was actually a lie. He probably wanted His Majesty to send more soldiers and horses under his command. Unexpectedly, the saint sent an old slave.
, you can’t listen to his orders.”
Li Heng stood up suddenly, took two steps, and asked, "Are the injuries on Sanlang's body fake?"
Yu Chaoen said: "If King Jianning was injured, how could he run back with a jolting horse without changing his expression?"
This was not the first time that Li Heng had heard about Li Tan's ambition. There was suspicion in his eyes immediately. He turned to Li Fuguo and asked, "What do you think?"
Li Fuguo bowed and reported: "I suddenly remembered that the Supreme Emperor mistakenly trusted the traitor and appointed Prince Qing as his heir, so Prince Jianning defected to Prince Qing's family."
With one sentence, Li Heng's face instantly darkened, feeling that Li Tan didn't even care about the relationship between father and son, so there was nothing he couldn't do.
"The two capitals have not been restored, the country is not at peace, and I am very worried. At this time, he is still only focused on fighting for power, regardless of the overall situation."
Li Fuguo sensed the atmosphere, and quickly pretended to be frightened, and said: "Sage, please calm down. King Jianning is both civil and military. He is extremely talented and wants to contribute more to the country."
"You don't have to hide it for him." Li Heng said, "I know that he has always been arrogant and wants to compete for the crown prince."
Yu Chaoen heard this and responded: "I have an idea."
"explain."
"Why didn't the saint establish the foundation of the country early to calm people's hearts? King Guangping became the prince, and King Jianning's thoughts became less."
Li Heng shook his head and said: "I have discussed this matter with Mr. Li a long time ago. He asked me to recover the two capitals and welcome the Supreme Emperor back to him. After that, I will ask the Supreme Emperor to make a decision. This is the duty of the Son of Man."
Yu Chaoen said: "The situation has changed. Why don't the saint ask Mr. Li again?"
When Li Fuguo heard this, he glanced at Yu Chaoen but said nothing.
Li Heng thought it made sense, so he summoned Li Mi for questioning.
After Lingwu became emperor, Li Mi had already answered this question once for Li Heng. When he heard it again, Li Mi immediately realized that someone was trying to harm him, and he quickly saluted: "I still think that this matter is not possible for the time being, but your Majesty has repeatedly asked me
Inquiring, there must be someone who wants to alienate me from King Guangping. I ask your majesty to send someone to ask King Guangping. He will put the recovery of the two capitals first, put your majesty's reputation first, and resolutely resign."
Li Heng had no choice but to send people out of the city to ask Li Chu, who was leading the army to fight against the enemy. As Li Mi said, Li Chu was determined not to accept the position of prince at this time.
Comparing the two, the eldest son is indeed much more steady and filial, while the actions of the third son, Li Tan, are really worrying.
Li Heng then asked Li Fuguo and Yu Chaoen to ask the soldiers Li Tan brought back from Jiucheng Palace about what happened in the battle at Jiucheng Palace...
After this incident, Li Mi had a premonition that a storm was coming and did not dare to interfere too much in Li Heng's family affairs.
In the next two days, he was busy with practical work. Li Tan came to see him twice, but he avoided seeing him because he knew that if they met, they would bring trouble to each other.
Waiting for the second time, Li Mi had to remind the visitor in a low voice: "King Jianning should not come now. I advise him to take good care of his injuries and not move around too much."
"King Jianning really has something important to discuss with you sir..."
While he was talking, the sentry horse came and reported quickly: "News from Chencang, the Uighur cavalry has driven back Tian Chengsi's tribe and will return to the army soon. King Guangping invites Sir for military discussion."
Li Mi nodded and immediately returned to the Marshal's Mansion to discuss with Li Chu, Pugu Huai'en and other generals about retreating from the enemy.
After everyone discussed it, they set the time to take the initiative in two days, and sent fast horses to contact Prince Ye Hu, asking him to directly attack Xue Ni's rear formation after returning to the army. By then, they had repulsed three thousand fine cavalry outside the city.
How long will it take, Guo Ziyi will surely make progress in Hedong and Henan, but Chang'an will not be able to support it, and the overall situation will be decided.
As for the rebel army that Li Tan said was attacking Jiucheng Palace, Li Chu sent out sentry horses to explore, but no trace was found. If Li Tan was not lying, it means that a small group of soldiers and horses went to test the attack and then attacked again.
Retreat. In short, we are well prepared here, so we should not be attacked by surprise.
At nightfall, Li Bicai walked out of the Marshal's Mansion and looked at the handsome Li Chu getting on his horse and leaving with his troops, his eyes showing relief.
"Mr. Li!"
But someone ran over panting, prostrated and said: "Sir, please save King Jianning!"
"What happened?"
"The saint...the saint wants to kill King Jianning."
Li Mi was greatly surprised and hurried to the palace. He had always been an immortal and calm person. Today he ran too fast and fell twice. However, he didn't care about the dust on his body. He hurried to the palace and took out the letter.
Ling rushed inside. Only he could have the privilege of coming to see Li Heng at any time.
Ahead, I finally saw Li Tan's handsome figure kneeling in front of the hall, holding a wine flask in his hand, surrounded by a group of guards.
"King Jianning!"
Li Mi shouted to stop him, and a group of imperial guards rushed forward to stop him.
Li Tan didn't look back, he raised his head high, lifted the jug, and poured the Jiu wine into his throat. In the light of the fire, you could see his throat rolling up and down, and he was drinking so much.
"King Jianning!"
Li Mi stared at the scene with his eyes wide open. As smart as he was, he never expected that even though he had more power than the prime minister, there would be a scene of royal father and son fighting each other.
"Let go! I want to see His Majesty!"
He struggled to break away from the guards, but they didn't dare to really hurt him, so they let him rush to Li Tan's side.
Li Mi learned medical skills, picked up the jug, smelled it, and dipped his fingers into some residual wine to taste what kind of poison it was. But Li Tan, who was about to die, pulled him and said: "Don't resist the order..."
"What happened? We will persuade His Majesty to change his mind."
??????55.??????
"This is the fate of our Li family. We cannot escape it." Li Tan's face gradually turned blue, but a relieved smile appeared on the corner of his mouth, and he murmured: "Sir, please advise your majesty not to rely on eunuchs.
If you trust women falsely, you should not despise Huihe and Tubo..."
He couldn't remember clearly. His originally strong body twitched due to pain, and he struggled on the ground twice.
The violent twisting in his stomach made him sweat all over his head, and he looked up to the sky and screamed in pain. Then he felt sad and cried loudly: "Heaven can teach me! Heaven can teach me..."
The crying stopped suddenly.
Li Mi slowly stretched out his trembling hand and probed under Li Tan's mouth and nose, and found that he was no longer breathing.
He couldn't imagine that Li Tan would die so suddenly, and he stayed there in a daze. After a long time, he stood up and took two staggering steps to ask for Li Heng.
~~
"Aren't I sad?"
Li Heng's hair was not combed and his back was slumped. He sat there very decadently and murmured: "Even though tiger poison does not eat its own children, I have to kill my own son. Don't I feel pain in my heart?"
Li Bi said: "Since ancient times, father and son have been suspicious of each other, and the country and family have often been destroyed. Why doesn't your majesty call your ministers to discuss it?"
Halfway through his words, he realized that he had made a mistake, so he stopped and said, "I don't know what King Jianning has committed. Maybe he was wrongly accused."
Li Heng shook his hand and said: "He has made a lot of contributions to me, but he was not able to command the army. He feels aggrieved. Let's see for yourself, sir... The facts are conclusive. For the sake of the country's great plan, no matter how heartbroken I am, I can only kill him."
Got him."
That was the confession of the imperial guard who followed Li Tan to guard Jiucheng Palace. Li Bi only glanced at it a few times, but his expression changed.
According to the confession, after escaping from Chang'an, Li Tan commanded the Imperial Guard. He took the lead in every battle and had a high reputation in the army. He believed that as long as he lied about the military situation, he could recruit troops. As for the gunpowder used to bring down the city wall, it was
Li Tan had obtained it when he took refuge with King Qing, and he often sent his confidant Gao Xiaoyi to deliver messages to the so-called "enemy camp". Finally, he said that Li Tan planned to raise a private army, pretend to be rebels, and go around the back to kill Li Chu.
"Someone must be harming King Jianning in this matter." Li Mi said firmly, "The brothers King Guangping and King Jianning have always been in harmony with each other. What this confession says is absolutely impossible."
He recalled that when he realized that someone was slandering him, he was concerned about protecting himself, but did not expect that Li Tan would be harmed in the end, and he couldn't help feeling regretful.
"Sir, there is no need to say any more. He has always had an extreme temperament. He has beaten me in front of me not once or twice. It was my neglect of discipline that caused the disaster." Li Heng was already sad and said with tears: "This matter is over, let's worry about it.
It’s about the overall situation right now.”
"When I was a child, I heard a song called "Huangtai Melon Song", has your Majesty ever heard it?" Li Bi muttered in a low voice: "Grow melons under the yellow platform, and the ripe seeds will separate. Once you pick the melons, they will be good, and then you will pick them again.
Make the melons sparse, pick them three times and still be able to do it, pick them four times and return them with their vines."
This is a poem by Li Xian, Prince Zhanghuai. Li Xian was the second son of Emperor Gaozong and Wu Zetian, who was finally forced to commit suicide. This poem uses melon picking as a metaphor for fratricide, which ironically refers to Wu Zetian.
The meaning behind Li Bi's words was very clear, he was worried that another Wu Zetian would appear next to Li Heng.
~~
"I am sworn in with that poisonous woman!"
When Li Chu learned that his brother had been killed, he felt as if he had been struck by lightning. After being absent-minded for a long time, he became extremely sad and even lost his composure, saying that he wanted to kill Zhang Ting.
"Be careful what you say." Li Mi advised: "At this time, the war is still the priority. If we act rashly, Concubine Zhang Shu will find an opportunity to slander His Majesty. Recover the two capitals first and welcome back the Emperor."
Li Chu was so sad that he only agreed with tears in his eyes.
What made him even more sad was that despite losing his closest relatives, he was still busy with the war and could not personally go to reverse Li Tan's case.
"Sir, it's all my fault." Li Chu said guiltily, "Sir, he clearly reminded me that Yu Chaoen might be exploited by a vicious woman, but I didn't pay attention to it, thinking that just a few words to threaten him would be enough."
"The deceased is gone." Li Mi said: "The more important thing now is to protect you from being harmed by Concubine Zhang Shu."
~~
When Zhang Ting heard that Li Tan was dead, he felt a little regretful and sighed.
"Ignorant of current affairs." She commented, "I wanted to join forces with him."
From the perspective of her interests, Li Tan's death means little to her. At present, she is most afraid of Li Chu and Li Bi.
Li Mi seemed to be fair, not only preventing her from becoming the queen, but also preventing Li Chu from becoming the prince. But when he returned to Chang'an, Li Chu's crown prince was stable, but her position as queen was not. And if she was established now, her son would be
Even his legitimate son, Li Chu, might die in battle.
Li Fuguo came to tell Zhang Ting the news on Li Heng's order, but he ended up discussing it with her and whispered: "King Jianning was destined to die, but because of his death, Li Bi read "Huangtaigua Ci" in front of his majesty.
.”
"This is coming for me." Zhang Ting said with cruel eyes, "Sooner or later we have to get rid of him."
Afterwards, she glanced at Li Fuguo with some doubts and asked, "Why do you say Li Tan is destined to die? I obviously decided to deal with him temporarily."
Li Fuguo was stunned for a moment and replied: "Before, he took refuge with King Qing, and the saint had already had a grudge in his heart."
Zhang Ting nodded, frowned again, and continued to think about how to deal with the really important enemy, but found that it would be even harder after this incident.
~~
The next day, when Li Fuguo went to hold the funeral for Li Tan, he met Yu Chaoen again. The two looked at each other and nodded.
"I'll leave you to do everything for me here."
"Mr. Li, you're welcome."
Li Fuguo nodded, his demeanor more majestic than before. He walked into the mourning hall and saw the little moth kneeling behind the coffin in sackcloth and crying, so he stepped forward and took her hand, saying: "Let me go."
"Brother Gou'er...wuwuwu...husband is gone..."
"Yes." Li Fuguo said: "But I am different from before. Now I can protect you and take care of you."
He tried hard to look sad, but he couldn't hide the smile and longing in his eyes.
"The saint said that he would give me the entire Heyang as a fiefdom, and of course our small Magang Village is included in it. If I take you back in the future, everyone will envy you. Do you know how big my official position is?
"
The little moth just cried.
Li Fuguo was a little unhappy. He was pressed for time, and there were still many important things related to the Tang Dynasty waiting for him to do for the saint. But she would only waste time by crying for others.
Sure enough, it didn't take long for someone to rush over and ask him to return to the palace as soon as possible.
"What happened?"
"A general from the Anxi Army sent people, saying that a bandit army had arrived at the foot of Anding City and wanted to cut off Fengxiang's grain road. A group of baggage that was about to enter the city was almost robbed."
Li Fuguo was surprised when he heard this. When he regained Chang'an this time, Li Heng did not appoint Feng Changqing as the chief general, but ordered him to ensure the grain and grass transportation lines in the rear. Now, if Feng Changqing's people come, doesn't it mean that Xue Bai may bypass
Arriving at the back of Fengxiang Mansion.
So is it true that the military situation Li Tan mentioned is not true?
He was in a hurry to return to the palace, so he quickly picked up the little moth and said, "Stop crying, just follow me."
"I want to accompany you!" The little moth refused to leave, struggling and crying: "Brother Gou'er... you are hurting me..."
Hearing the name "dog", everyone including the messenger who delivered the message was stunned for a moment and looked at Li Fuguo.
"Don't call me Brother Gou'er." Li Fuguo whispered.
The little moth didn't care and pounced on Li Tan's coffin again.
At this time, the sound of a horn came from far outside the city. It was Li Chu Zhengtong leading the troops and horses to take the initiative to attack the rebels. This shows that Fengxiang of Xijing is very busy.
Li Fuguo finally ignored the little moth and ordered his two confidants to take her to a safe place, while he went to discuss something with Yu Chaoen in a low voice.
Behind him, the little moth was crying and fussing, refusing to follow his confidant. He frowned when he heard this, and led Yu towards Engeng to take a few steps forward and said, "I said it was a lie, but now it's gone around.
How will I explain to the saint later?"
"They may not be the same soldiers and horses." Yu Chao'en said, "Can I still talk nonsense about military and national affairs?"
Li Fuguo said: "Since you have sent sentries to explore, then..."
"Bang!"
Suddenly there was a sound and the little moth's crying stopped abruptly.
Li Fuguo turned around and was stunned. Where he looked, the little moth had already crashed to death in front of Li Tan's coffin.
For a moment, he felt that everything he did was meaningless.
Many years ago, he entered the palace because of her. At first, he didn't know what the cut meant, and when he understood it, he didn't even have time to feel sad. It was also because of her that he betrayed the eunuch and completely fell in love with Li Heng.
, if there was an accident at that time, it would be death; it was because of her that he hated Li Tan, so he slandered and got rid of this heroic and wise king...
Li Fuguo walked to Xiao Mozi's body in despair, knelt there, trembling lips, and murmured: "How could you? How could you? You haven't felt that I am better than him."
He really thought that he could bring her more than Li Tan. In a very confident tone, he leaned into her ear and whispered: "I am much stronger than Li Tan, and I am much more powerful than him. Yes
I took his life, I took his life with just one sentence, and I can protect you better."
As he spoke, Li Fuguo's palms opened unconsciously, as if he wanted to grasp something, maybe power, maybe destiny.
"It's not very pretty either." Yu Chaoen walked over and said in a sharp voice: "It's not worth it."
"You don't understand."
"Ha." Yu Chaoen chuckled and walked away.
Li Fuguo squinted his eyes and stared at his back. He thought for a moment that getting rid of Li Tan was not in vain...
"Boom!"
Suddenly there was a loud noise in the distance. Li Fuguo was so frightened that he fell to the ground and turned his head to look blankly.
In an instant, he thought of many things, such as Xue Bai, and the team delivering supplies from the Anxi Army... Xijing Fengxiang should not have made such a mistake and was taken advantage of, but recently, no one's mind was on the war.
Li Fuguo suddenly got up and rushed to the palace.
In times of crisis, he must rush to the saint's side as soon as possible.
Behind him, the little moth's body was still lying there, and the blood gradually gathered under her body, like a red flower blooming.