The heavy snow in the middle of winter covered the Daming Palace with a thick layer of silver. When the weather got cold, Yan Yan, who always liked to stay in bed, was even more reluctant to get up early. She always felt very heavy.
But this day, she actually opened her eyes before Xue Bai got up.
"Did it wake you up?" Xue Bai asked.
"Make some time and come here today."
They also set up a Taoist temple in the Shaoyang courtyard, and invited several Taoist nuns to stay there permanently in the name of praying for the princess and treating her illness. It happened that the officials were off for the past few days and were busy celebrating the New Year. They moved into the palace today so that it would not be too big.
Too eye-catching.
Of course, seeing a doctor is really seeing a doctor. It is rare that Yan Yan has no grudges about this matter. Instead, she is happy to have someone to talk to to relieve her boredom. For her, living in this palace is really boring.
It's a pity that Xue Bai didn't have time to accompany her to pick up people. Today is the last day of the first year of Shangyuan, and he has to go to Li Longji and Li Cong to say hello.
All the people in the world pay attention to this etiquette, and even if they are just showing off, they will never let anyone find fault with it.
But when the couple lay in the warm bed for a while, Xue Bai didn't move. And he used to be the most diligent in going to the morning court, and he was never late all year round.
Yan Yan held his arm and enjoyed the time they were alone together, and finally asked: "Husband?"
"Um."
"Don't you want to go?"
Xue Bai then said "Hmm" again. He really didn't want to ask this question.
It's not because of guilt or fear, nor because he thinks it's undignified to pretend to be someone else's descendant. Careerists never care about these little details. Besides, it's not like he never fawned over Li Longji when he was in a low status.
Every time he could see Tianyan back then, his enthusiasm was actually no less than that of Yang Guozhong and other sycophants.
Nowadays, it is very realistic that the political benefits that Li Longji and Li Cong can bring to him have become smaller and smaller, and they have gradually become a burden to him.
He was lying there just now, thinking in his mind whether one day he would be unable to help but kill them?
From a rational point of view, this is of course unnecessary. He is still very young and has little qualifications. It is the best way to wait peacefully for Li Cong to die naturally so that no one can find anything wrong.
But lately, there are often some constraints or some trivial things that touch Xue Bai's nerves, causing him to always have murderous thoughts, which requires him to restrain them with great perseverance.
Yan Yan seemed to have guessed what he was thinking and asked in a low voice: "It will be the second year of the Yuan Dynasty soon. Do you want to have your own reign name?"
"Don't worry, it will happen sooner or later."
Xue Bai finally felt the smooth and tender skin on his body for a while, and finally got out of the bed.
As soon as the cold wind blew, his mind became much clearer, and those distracting thoughts immediately dissipated.
In fact, as long as his family and country are prosperous, there is no need for him to rush to the throne.
Xue Bai finished packing, walked around the corridor, and heard two maids talking through the courtyard wall.
"They say she's a Taoist nun. I'm afraid the person you invited in is not His Highness's confidante? They say His Highness is a romantic person, but there are so few concubines in Shaoyang Courtyard."
"You don't understand this. Although there are many women around His Highness, there are very few who may be openly included in the palace."
"Why?"
"It's because of the incompatibility with etiquette. Those who have sex with His Highness are either of the same clan or surname, or they are from another generation..."
"Ahem!"
"I have met Huangfu Liangdi."
The two gossiping palace ladies were so frightened that they hurriedly saluted.
Qing Lan happened to come over from the other side and scolded them. She showed a stern demeanor, but habitually used the words Lu Fengniang used to scare her when she was at Du's house.
"Next time, I will drag you to Dongshi and sell you!"
"My slave, I don't dare to do that anymore."
"Go ahead."
Qing Lan finished teaching everyone with a straight face. When she turned around and saw Xue Bai coming over, her original serious expression suddenly turned a little embarrassed and she lowered her head in annoyance.
"Your Highness, are you going to Tai Chi Palace?"
"Here we go, please take more care of us and get the people settled."
"Well, today is the Chinese New Year. Will His Highness come back early?"
"Yes."
Although he was in the Daming Palace, Xue Bai still wanted to have a simple New Year and did not arrange any banquet today.
Just as he was about to leave, Qing Lan caught up two steps and whispered: "Your Highness, there is one more thing. Would you like to spare some time today and let her take the pulse of the Crown Princess?"
"Is she feeling unwell?" Xue Bai asked, but he already had a hunch in his heart.
Qinglan came close to him, tiptoed and leaned into his ear, saying: "My period has been late for a long time..."
Hearing this, Xue Bai was a little worried about Yan Yan's health, but also a little relieved.
He had determined to seek the throne very early, and in view of the bloody turmoil every time the Tang Dynasty changed dynasties, he never wanted to have a son too early and give birth to a lot of bastards. Therefore, he has always been quite cautious in some things.
This "cautiousness" is not nonsense. He prides himself on not being good at women. Even stunning beauties like Nian Nu and Xie Aman can't resist provoking him. The women he associates with all have status and know how to deal with women. In addition,
He has strong self-control and is quite restrained. In short, he often walks by the river and luckily his shoes did not get wet.
But the situation is different now. Living in the East Palace, if he has no heirs, it will become a fatal weakness for him in the future.
Therefore, during this period of time, he and Yan Yan have actually made a lot of efforts in this matter at night.
There are a lot of worries. In addition to whether Yan Yan can handle being sick since childhood, Xue Bai also doubts whether his restraint is really effective. Now that his wish has come true, he is very scared.
Looking back, it was not easy to be cautious before, and it will not be easy to take care of my family in the future.
Xue Bai thought about this and seemed to have matured a lot at this moment.
~~
On that day, Xue Bai first went to greet Li Cong, and then accompanied Li Cong to Tai Chi Palace to pay homage to Li Longji.
Li Cong lived in the Dafu Hall in the northwest corner of the Daming Palace. He didn't like music like Li Longji and didn't have many hobbies, but he had been living in seclusion in the Ten Kings' House for a long time, so there was nothing unusual about him.
Logically speaking, Xue Bai abolished Li Cong's reform, which was a seizure of power and a denial of Li Cong. He should be resentful. But the strange thing is that when he met Xue Bai, not only did he not feel disgusted, he was actually interested
Quite high.
"It's rare for the prince to come, I'm really happy."
As soon as they met, Li Cong asked Xue Bai to sit down, then stepped back and started a long conversation in a heart-to-heart tone.
"In these days, I have thought a lot and realized that I owe you a lot, and you have never owed me anything, only help. Back then, the throne belonged to Grandpa You, and you were Concubine Xue's first
My son is the legitimate eldest son, and now you have just obtained the position of prince that you deserve."
Xue Bai's reaction was very dull. His current power comes from the prestige of his meritorious service in countering rebellions, the trust and expectation of his subjects brought by Dinggu's innovation, and of course, it also has a huge relationship with his assumed identity. As for Li Cong's recognition
It won't have much effect.
Li Cong lamented: "I have lost my appearance and have no heirs. More importantly, I have a weak character and mediocre talents. I should not have inherited the inheritance of my ancestors. My only virtue is to adopt several lonely children left by Erlang."
, this may be the reason why you try your best to assist me, but I have never treated you with any kindness. Now that I think about it, why don’t you shame others? Fortunately, God favored the Tang Dynasty, and after going round and round, the inheritance of our ancestors still fell into the right place.
on the shoulders of those who bear him.”
After talking about it, Li Cong became even more touched. He looked at Xue Bai with his slightly red, sincere eyes, with a look of relief on his face.
Unexpectedly, Xue Bai actually said: "In that case, how about your Majesty passing it on to me?"
Such a blunt, rebellious and bold statement still left Li Cong stunned for a moment.
Afterwards, he came to his senses, smiled bitterly, and sighed: "I really figured it out, but you still don't believe me. I don't have a biological son, and you are my biological nephew. I will pass on to you, so what can't I do? Today you
If you want an edict, I can write it now. But for you, ascending the throne now is definitely not a good thing."
This answer was so clever that Xue Bai was a little surprised.
If Li Cong had been able to keep his composure from the beginning, with such a powerful city and the means to win over people's hearts, he would never have been held hostage by Xue Bai.
Sure enough, Xue Bai had no intention of ascending the throne now, and said casually: "Your Majesty said something serious, I was just joking."
"I really mean it."
There is intrigue in the power arena, so Xue Bai does not have to believe Li Cong's sincerity, but thinks that Li Cong is deliberately paralyzing himself.
But since Li Cong made such a statement, it was impossible for him to refuse.
Not long after, Li Cong's sons and daughters also came to the palace to pay homage. Among them, Li Yan, Li Shen, Li Qiu, and Li Qiu were quite afraid of this brother Xue Bai, so they greeted him politely and called "Sanlang".
Standing aside and saying nothing.
Only Princess Li Yiniang of Boping was the closest to Xue Bai. She rarely saw him and always liked to talk to him.
In her heart, she and Xue Bai were twins, and unlike the other brothers and sisters, they had not been adopted by Li Cong. They should have been closer, they should have been the closest to each other in the world.
No matter how much others were afraid of Xue Bai, Li Yiniang didn't care at all. She didn't care that Xue Bai's attitude was a bit dull and she talked about everything to him.
"Sanlang, I heard that you met my grandfather's guard at Lantianyi, but is it true?"
"We met."
Xue Bai has not forgotten Guo Suo.
He has always been curious, who arranged Guo Suo? What is the purpose?
It seems to be to help him confirm his identity as the emperor's grandson, but is there any conspiracy hidden in it?
Out of this idea, during this period of time, he did not deliberately use Guo Suo to increase the credibility of his identity and handled the matter coldly.
However, at that time in Lantian, so many officials and soldiers saw Guo Suo, and the matter spread more or less. Even if it was just a pretense, Xue Bai still ordered people to take care of Guo Suo's food, clothing, and daily life, and he personally
I went to see him several times, trying to get some clues, but Guo Suo always looked crazy.
However, a small number of people in Chang'an City who originally doubted Xue Bai's life experience became convinced that he was indeed Li Ying's son after seeing Xue Bai's attitude.
If it was a fake, he would have taken Li Ying's bodyguard to prove it with great fanfare. On the contrary, Xue Bai's reaction of dealing with it calmly and without self-verification really seemed to be true.
"Can I meet him?" Li Yiniang said, "I want to meet the old man next to me."
"He's crazy, if he hurts you."
"If you don't know how to do it, Saburo, just let me see him, right?"
"Okay." Xue Bai thought for a moment and said, "Then I'll let you go see Guo Suo tomorrow."
Li Yiniang was very happy because of this, but she didn't notice that several times when she got close to Xue Bai, Xue Bai would stay away from her, not wanting to get too close to her.
In short, after the rare reunion of the Emperor's family, they went to Tai Chi Palace to visit Li Longji.
This is an inevitable etiquette.
In the past, Li Longji was under very strict supervision, with even more surveillance around him than Li Cong. Because Xue Bai knew very well that Li Longji was far more threatening than Li Cong in terms of reputation, methods, and ambitions.
But today is the New Year's Day, and all members of the clan can come to visit the Supreme Emperor, and Xue Bai has no reason to stop him.
When they arrived, all the kings including Li Heng, Li Chu and his son had already arrived.
Li Zhi, who is now Zong Zhengqing, is also there.
When Xue Bai followed Li Cong into the palace, everyone's eyes fell on Xue Bai.
Xue Bai looked at Li Longji calmly, and unexpectedly discovered that after Li Longji abdicated, not only did he not become old and haggard, but his energy and complexion became better and his complexion became more rosy.
With a burst of laughter, Li Longji expressed his love for Xue Bai, and all the grudges disappeared, as if he had returned to the days when Xue Bai presented dominoes, poems, and operas during the Tianbao period.
He praised Xue Bai's contribution to the Tang Dynasty, and even said that the reason why he gave up the throne to Li Cong was to allow Xue Bai to supervise the country as the prince.
"At that time, I was worried that the person who would inherit the ancestral temple must be a virtuous person. I had already known Li Qian's status and temperament, her virtues, her filial piety, her talents, and her merits. Therefore, I ordered to defeat King Xuan's strategy and revive Hongye, but he did not give in.
I am disappointed."
Those who knew the details at that time should have been shocked to hear these words, but Li Heng and Li Chu who were present all showed expressions of deep understanding, and Li Longji was not shy at all and continued to talk, completely.
He looked like he was deeply in love with Xue Bai's ancestors and grandchildren.
It was as if he knew Xue Bai's identity as early as the Tianbao period, protected and paved the way for Xue Bai step by step, and personally brought about the current situation. Everything was arranged by him.
This also means that he has a share of all Xue Bai's achievements, regaining a little of his lost prestige.
People are forgetful, and there must be some people in the world who have long forgotten Li Longji's neglect of government, extravagance, and the disasters he caused to the people by conniving An Lushan. There will always be people who believe Li Longji's words of claiming credit;
Some people would feel his shamelessness because of these words, but he didn't care.
And when he said this, Xue Bai could not refute it, otherwise it would be equivalent to refuting his own orthodoxy of supervising the country.
Last time, Li Longji failed to make such a statement in front of all the officials on the stone steps of Xuanzheng Hall, but this time he did it during the Chinese New Year.
Although it was half a year late, even though what he lacked most in his life was time.
In this way, the atmosphere seems very harmonious, and there is a sense of unity and friendship in which father and son of the Tang Dynasty family work together to overcome all difficulties.
Although there was no banquet today, Li Longji was in high spirits. Taking advantage of the harmonious atmosphere, he insisted on allowing everyone to have lunch and gave them wine. It can be imagined that in order to increase his influence today, he must have been secretly planning for a long time.
.
Xue Bai did not displease Li Longji in person, but still asked Shangshanfang to bring some simple wine and food, which was nothing more than some biscuits and snacks. The wine was no longer the fine wine before, it was quite ordinary.
He didn't drink anyway. Every time someone else said a congratulatory message, he would just symbolically pick up the cup and put it to his mouth and pretend to take a sip.
It wasn't until Gao Lishi came over with a wine pot to pour wine for Xue Bai that he realized that the wine in his bowl had not been touched at all.
Gao Lishi did not expose it and whispered: "Your Highness is free, can I have a few words with Your Highness?"
"General Gao, please speak."
"Your Majesty, please don't take the words that your Majesty is boasting about today seriously. He has such a good face. At this age, he doesn't want his subjects to think that he is confused. That's all. He has absolutely no other intentions."
Xue Baisui also asked in a low voice: "What's on your mind? What is it?"
"Your Highness knows what the old slave means." Gao Lishi said frankly: "At this age, the Supreme Emperor still wants to compete with His Highness for power? His only wish is to enjoy his old age."
Xue Bai said: "The Supreme Emperor may pay more attention to King Yu."
Gao Lishi glanced at Li Chu who was sitting on the desk opposite him, shook his head, and said: "As things stand, Your Highness is more suitable than Prince Yu."
He seemed to know the fear in Xue Bai's heart. After finishing speaking, he added a few words.
"Your Highness still has doubts. Could it be that the Emperor still doubts your identity? The old slave and His Highness have known about this matter for a long time, and they have testified for His Highness in front of the Emperor. How can the Emperor abandon the wise and choose the foolish if he is also his own grandson?
?Since he is his biological grandson, what is the threshold that cannot be passed?"
Obviously, the Li Tang royal family has generally changed their minds and is eager to get back together with Xue Bai. This is true for Li Cong and so is Li Longji.
Thinking of this, Xue Bai suddenly realized a problem——
Even if they knew that he was pretending to be Li Qian, when things got to this point, the Li Tang royal family was actually more unwilling to admit that he was fake than he was.
He has gained real power, and whether it is true or not, he will inevitably usurp the throne. Once he breaks out, although he will definitely be unpopular with the people in the world, and the road to seizing the throne will be much more difficult, he may also do many uncontrollable things regardless of it.
, such as killing all the clan members.
Then, recognizing his identity and creating a harmonious atmosphere can not only appease him, but also allow the clan to regain its prestige and slowly gain real power.
As for what happens if the throne goes to Xue Bai in the future? After all, it is still early, and Xue Bai has no heirs yet. Compared with breaking up, this risk will be smaller.
In this case, is it possible that Guo Suo was arranged by the clan?
After meeting Guo Suo in Lantianyi, Xue Bai first suspected that it was Du Jin's handiwork, but he asked her and checked, and she did not make such an arrangement secretly.
Afterwards, Xue Bai suspected that it was Yan Zhuang's arrangement, but quickly ruled out this possibility.
This was one of the things he had not thought about recently, but now he had a new idea.
Xue Bai then said to Li Yiniang: "You just said that you wanted to see the guard who was with me back then. How about I send someone to bring him here?"
"Here?"
"good."
Xue Bai thought about it, if Guo Suozhen was arranged by someone in the clan, some clues would inevitably be revealed when he went to the palace today.
~~
An hour later, a general of the Forbidden Army hurried into the palace, rushed to Xue Bai's side, and whispered: "Your Highness, people are here."
Xue Bai thought for a while and said: "Tell him, this is the Daming Palace."
"Here."
The Forbidden Army general left in a hurry, and soon brought a tall figure into the palace.
Li Longji was sitting high in the main seat. Suddenly he saw someone entering the palace. He looked around and was shocked for a moment. Then he analyzed whether Xue Bai was trying to force him into the palace. If not, what was the meaning of this?
After several months of conditioning, Guo Suo was no longer as thin as before, and his complexion was much better. His hair was neatly combed, but his eyes were still straight, showing his confusion.
When he was brought here, he had always heard that this was the Daming Palace. The one he had just passed was the Zuoyintai Gate, and the one he was entering now was the Qingsi Hall.
Hearing this, he seemed even more confused.
Then he looked up again and saw Li Longji.
"saint?"
Guo Suo murmured and suddenly rushed towards Li Longji with long strides.
This scene frightened all the officials, thinking that he was going to assassinate him, so they all stepped forward to stop him. However, the imperial guards had quick eyesight and were used to Guo Suo's madness, so they quickly held him down.
"Saint... Your Highness is wronged!"
However, Guo Suo became more and more excited. While struggling, he shouted out, "Your Highness is wronged. King Ying wronged him for having two thousand pieces of armor! He knew this was a serious crime and he wanted to go to the palace to defend himself!"
As soon as this statement came out, everyone in the palace was greatly surprised and stood up one after another.
Li Zhen couldn't hold back the most. She pointed at Guo Suo and said, "You...don't you know the details of the three common people's case?"
After finishing speaking, he suddenly realized that he had made a mistake, so he kept silent and deliberately burped to show that he was drunk.
His Highness and the others all looked at Xue Bai unconsciously. Some people thought that this was deliberately arranged by Xue Bai, while others wanted to observe Xue Bai's reaction.
Xue Bai's eyes were fixed on Li Longji.
He suspected that it was Li Longji who arranged for a figure like Guo Suo, which could be used to prove his identity now and to overturn his identity in the future. By doing this, Li Longji could also take the initiative in his own hands.
It happened that Li Longji had been the emperor for decades, and he could express his emotions and anger. After listening to Guo Suo's words, he sighed after a moment of silence.
"I have indeed wronged Li Ying."
At this moment, a figure blocked Xue Bai's sight. It was Gao Lishi who stepped forward to observe Guo Suo carefully.
"Do you know who I am?" Gao Lishi asked.
Guo Suo's eyes widened for a while, then he said, "Mr. Gao?"
"I remember you too," Gao Lishi said. "Back then, you often followed His Highness to protect him. I didn't expect that after so many years, I could still see my old friend."
Guo Suo became confused again, turning his head, not knowing what to say, and seemed to be looking for something.
Gao Lishi seemed to have noticed his hysteria. He waved his hand in front of his eyes and asked, "What year is it this year?"
"Kaiyuan...twenty-five years?"
"Where is Your Highness?"
"Your Highness..."
Guo Suo seemed to be even more confused. He raised his head stupidly and said nothing.
Li Longji suddenly said: "I gave Li Ying death, but you were able to survive. At that time, you went to contact the private soldiers raised by Xue Xiu?!"
Guo Suo's pupils widened, as if he was frightened.
"Why don't you recruit them from the ground up?!" Li Longji asked again.
The next moment, Guo Suo struggled hard, but he didn't know where he got the strength. He struggled out of the guard's hands and fled out of the palace quickly.
Xue Bai only stared at Guo Suo's figure for a moment, and quickly observed the reactions of everyone in the palace.
He has yet to find out who arranged Guo Suo, but he probably knows that Li Ying was not entirely unjust when he was accused of treason. At least, Xue Xiu, the consort, did raise a private army.
At that time, Guo Suo probably contacted private soldiers and planned to go to Lantian Station to rob Li Ying.
Suddenly, another thought flashed through his mind. If this was the case, then just saying that Li Ying sent private soldiers to rescue his wife and children might explain why Li Qian faked her death and appeared in Xue Xiu's private house.
In this way, his counterfeit plan can be made more complete, but he doesn't want to make it right now.