A member of the imperial army returned to Jianfumen after reporting inside, and his attitude toward Du Wulang became much colder.
"Please go back, Wulang. Your Majesty doesn't want to see you."
"Can you..."
"cannot."
Du Wulang wanted to try again, but was directly rejected.
He turned around and was about to leave, but thinking that he hadn't seen Xue Bai for a long time, he couldn't help but feel more worried, so he stopped and said, "Then I'll just wait outside the palace gate until His Majesty sees me."
The imperial guard ignored him and muttered to himself in a low voice, "If you still don't submit to me now, you really think you are a nobody."
Although Du Wulang didn't hear clearly, he realized that since Yang Yuhuan's death, Xue Bai seemed to be angry and alienated from him.
In the past, he was a popular figure in Chang'an City, and anyone who saw him would flatter him. But today, the officials came and went from the palace gate, but they seemed not to have seen him.
When the dusk drums started to sound and the sky gradually darkened, a bright moon quietly climbed up the high palace wall. The guards guarding the palace gate changed groups, and Du Wulang's stomach rumbled with hunger.
He was originally a person who did not have much perseverance in doing anything, and would have given up on other things. But this time he was getting more and more miserable but was still not summoned. He became more and more frightened and did not dare to leave.
After a hard night's sleep, at the fourth watch, officials gradually arrived and began to line up outside the palace gate to go to court.
Seeing this, Du Wulang simply walked over and tried to line up behind them, but was naturally stopped.
"I am also an official and am preparing to go to court. This is my fish charm."
According to the Tang Dynasty system, only officials of fifth rank and above had fish talismans, but Du Wulang did not have fifth rank. His fish talisman was given separately by Xue Bai.
Therefore, he was kicked out of the queue, and he rarely experienced the pain of having a low official position.
"If I had known this, I should have made more progress on weekdays."
He was actually very anxious, and he was still muttering some boring words to tease himself while he was standing aside. At this moment, someone patted him on the back.
I turned around and saw that it was a little Taoist boy.
"Is it you?" Du Wulang recognized that this was the person next to Li Mi, "Xianyun, right? Can Li Mi still come to court?"
"Wu Lang, please follow me."
Du Wulang knew that Li Mi wanted to see him, so he was very reluctant.
Xianyun walked a few steps, but when he saw that he didn't follow, he had to stop and asked, "What's wrong?"
Du Wulang whispered in his ear: "The situation is sensitive now. Isn't it appropriate for Li Mi and I to talk alone?"
"Wu Lang seems to think too highly of himself. It doesn't matter. Please come with me."
Although Xianyun is young, he has a completely childish nature in private, but sometimes he can show the calm temperament of an outsider.
Du Wulang quickly followed him, and soon he saw Li Mi resting in a carriage.
"Hey, I haven't seen you for a while. You look a lot haggard."
Li Mi no longer had his original indifferent temperament, and his face, which was originally full of vitality, was also filled with deep worries.
His brows were furrowed, and the wrinkles were filled with worldly trivial matters.
It's like a piece of pure white jade falling into the mud and rolling around, like a distant white cloud being compressed by water vapor into a heavy dark cloud.
Also as a prime minister, Yuan Zai seemed very proud and full of brilliance when he took office.
"There are a few things I want to ask Goro."
"Okay." Du Wulang said, "But will you be able to go to court in time?"
"Soon." Li Bi said, "Have you ever seen Wu Lang come back from His Majesty's city?"
"No, your Majesty has not seen me since noon yesterday."
"Why do you think this is?"
Du Wulang said: "Ms. Yang, I helped your majesty settle down. If something like this happens, your majesty blames me."
Li Bi said: "Since your Majesty has entrusted this matter to you, you must have known that you could not hide it from Du Erniang, so the fault must not be yours. Your Majesty is a sensible person, how can you be angry because of this?"
"Although you don't understand and object to it, Your Majesty and Madam Yang are deeply in love. Have you heard the story of "White Snake"? I thought about it for a long time outside the palace today before I understood this story. Why is Bai Suzhen a snake demon?"
What it refers to is her past status as a noble concubine. As for Fahai, it refers to the secular etiquette that prevents them from being together. He had long expected that someone would break them up. It was written about a monk, but he did not expect that it was a Taoist priest. Alas, it was fate.
People... In short, His Majesty's deep feelings for Madam Yang are buried in these subtleties, making it difficult for others to understand."
Li Bi didn't expect Du Wulang to be so sentimental and quite capable of emotion, which made him a little late to go to court.
He had to interrupt Du Wulang and said: "Listening to Wulang's words, do you think Yang is really dead?"
"You ask me? Can I know better than you?"
"Just speak your gut."
"Dead." Du Wulang thought for a while, sighed and came to a conclusion, and then said: "Your Majesty is not angry, but sad in his heart, so he doesn't want to see me."
Li Bi murmured: "Then there is no room for redemption."
"Didn't you think about it when you assassinated me?"
"I was not the one who assassinated Du Erniang." Li Bi said, "But I was wrong. I didn't expect that Your Majesty would execute the assassin to establish evidence of Princess Hezheng's crime."
"You are saying that your calculations were too clever, and you lost your life." Du Wulang didn't know where he learned the lyrics. After a while, he asked again: "That means that your majesty knows and...
Princess Zheng was wronged?"
"Yes." Li Bi said, "If he doesn't kill Princess Hezheng, he will have to kill Du Erniang."
Du Wulang was stunned.
He only thought about this now. In this case, he was the last person who could plead for Li Yuituo.
After thinking about it, his mind became a mess, and he couldn't help but said: "I really don't understand you people, why don't you live a good life? You have to scheming and scheming, just let others do it. Aren't you a worldly expert? Why?
I can’t see through it.”
"Have you ever seen a cockfight? There is no fighting cock after the game."
"Taoist priests also fight cocks?"
The palace drums were ringing and the morning court was about to begin. Li Mi was too lazy to talk to Du Wulang anymore and asked: "Before, His Majesty returned to Luoyang from Zhengzhou incognito. Did he meet you first?"
"Yes, why are you asking this? This happened a long time ago."
"I ask, you answer." Li Bi said, "Please tell me in detail the circumstances of your Majesty's meeting with you."
Du Wulang said: "If you don't tell me the reason, why should I tell you? You are the prime minister, and I am not your official."
Li Mi glanced at the morning procession at the palace gate, and in desperation, he had no choice but to whisper: "I need to find out how much your Majesty knows about Du Erniang's fake assassination."
"Why do we need to find out?"
"In this way, it is possible to save Du Erniang."
"I think you want to harm my second sister."
Du Wulang was easy to talk to, but not stupid. When he heard what Li Mi said, he was unwilling to tell the truth.
At this time, the palace gate had opened and the morning court had begun. Li Bi had to go to court first, saying that he would talk to Du Wulang in detail later.
Du Wulang thought for a while and concluded that Li Mi's questions must be to find more evidence to frame Du Jin.
He watched the officials entering the Daming Palace, looked around, and rushed to Dali Temple.
When we arrived at Dali Temple, the sky was already bright.
Du Wulang did not go in directly, but covered his face with a piece of cloth and looked outside the yamen.
He had been imprisoned several times in Dali Temple Prison, so he was quite familiar with him. After a while, he waved to a clerk and said, "Liu Dian Prison, come here."
"Hey, is it Goro?"
These little people were not as powerful as those officials, or maybe they were not well informed and did not know that Du Wulang had lost his holy family, so they were very happy to meet them.
"Liu Dianjiu, let me ask you, has Dali Temple appointed a new Si Zhi? He was originally the former Wu County Lieutenant, named Liu Jie."
"Yes, he and I have the same surname. We were in the same family three hundred years ago. Liu Sizhi is a talkative person."
"Help me call him out to see me."
"Please come in, Wulang. You haven't been to our prison for a long time."
"If you don't want to sit down, I'll meet him outside."
Soon, Liu Jie came out. He looked quite old, but he was in good spirits and full of energy. Although he was not of high rank and was not qualified to go to court, he had served as county captain for decades and was suddenly promoted to the rank of county captain.
The official in Beijing was still very excited.
Others did not know where Liu Jie came from, but Du Wulang knew that he had returned to Luoyang from Zhengzhou with His Majesty, and he could be considered to have had a friendship with His Majesty.
"Liu Sizhi, I have something to ask you."
"Wu Lang is too polite, just give me instructions."
Du Wulang took a breath and asked: "After you returned to Luoyang with His Majesty, did you come to me directly?"
Liu Jie immediately became wary and asked with an apologetic smile: "Why did Wu Lang ask about this?"
Du Wulang was used to dealing with these low-ranking officials, and he was somewhat quick-witted at critical moments.
"To tell you the truth, some confidential information was leaked at that time, but I know that it was definitely not me who leaked it. After thinking about it, I wonder if His Majesty was seeing someone else at that time."
Liu Jie's eyes flashed, and he stroked his sparse beard with his hand. He didn't know what he was thinking, but he just didn't answer this sentence.
Du Wulang's eyes immediately showed sincerity, and he said: "This matter is related to my life. If you can tell me, it will be a great help to me."
Liu Jie thought about it, stealing glances at him from time to time, as if he was considering the rewards and risks of helping him.
Finally, he finally spoke.
"I told Wu Lang about this, but I risked my life."
"I will never forget Mr. Liu's kindness."
"Actually, after His Majesty entered Luoyang City, he met another person first. That person is now the most frightening person in the government and the public..."
~~
After a court meeting, more than ten people from Zongqing were condemned to death and exiled.
There were charges on the surface, and the evidence was conclusive, but there was no point in trying to incriminate him. The officials knew in their hearts that the emperor did this simply because he and the leaders of the group sent people to kill Concubine Yang.
It is said that the affair between Concubine Yang and the emperor has become a shame to the Li family temple. Princess Hezheng has the courage and ability to erase this stain. She can be said to be a husband among women and deserves admiration.
I heard that she has been arrested and brought to justice, but I don't know what the emperor will do with her.
And some people privately believed that even Princess Hezheng's assassination of Concubine Yang was an excuse, and the emperor just wanted to overthrow the Tang Dynasty.
The reason is that the Three Common People case caused Li Qian to grow up among lowly servants. Although she is now in a distinguished position, she has actually been reduced to a lowly body.
We parted in a depressing atmosphere.
Li Mi has not been to the political hall recently, but has taken all the documents and seals home.
The last prime minister to do this was Li Linfu.
Therefore, there are not a few people who point fingers at Li Mi and make sarcastic remarks as much as they want to poke his heart.
"It seems that the Tang ancestral temple will be ruined by Li Mi's clever plan."
Faced with these rumors, Li Mi always ignored them.
He returned home and went straight into the study.
Soon someone came in and said: "Found it."
"explain."
"The official who returned to the Eastern Capital with the saint is called Liu Jie. The saint used his seal to act in those days."
Li Mi murmured: "No wonder I can't find it."
"We are already talking to Liu Jie, and we will have results soon."
"Don't let the saint notice you."
"Here."
The man retreated, and then Xianyun came over and said, "Taoist Master, the person you want to see is here."
"Invite him in."
A strong man wearing a bamboo hat entered the study, but it was Guo Xi, the son of Guo Ziyi.
Li Mi looked up at Guo Xi and exchanged a few words.
"Is Mr. Guo okay?"
"I am at home, very comfortable."
"It makes people envious."
Guo Xi squeaked slightly, thinking that Li Mi was making sarcastic remarks.
But before he came this time, Guo Ziyi told him with endless warnings, "You can't blame Li Mi. He took on the things that I couldn't do."
Guo Xi also heard about what happened recently, and he didn't want to talk nonsense and said straight to the point: "If you want to encourage us to raise another army, give up as soon as possible."
Speaking of which, when Li Mi helped Li Heng fight for the throne, Guo Ziyi turned to Xue Bai; before, when Guo Ziyi raised an army, Li Mi suppressed it. They had never been in sync with each other.
These loyal ministers of Li Tang were divided by being sometimes drawn in and sometimes suppressed, making it difficult for them to work together.
"Don't worry." Li Bi said: "The world has finally stabilized, and I will never let it cause another war."
Guo Xi said: "Your Majesty spared the Guo family. I am only grateful for your great kindness and will never betray your Majesty."
These words may not be sincere, and it may be that he does not trust Li Mi, but he said them very firmly and did not give any hope of convincing him.
What's more, Guo Ziyi has been dismissed from office and is idle at home, with no military power in his hands.
Li Bisui simply said what he wanted to say directly, "Does Mr. Guo have any contact with Princess Hezheng?"
This was the reason why he invited Guo Xi to come. Since Li Yuitu had visited Pugu Huai'en privately, then Guo Ziyi might have been instigated by her to raise an army against Xue Bai.
Sure enough, Guo Xi's expression changed and he was no longer as arrogant as before.
"Will this matter involve the Guo family?"
"Tell me," Li Bi said, "How many times have you communicated with the princess? What were the discussions?"
"At that time, my grandpa did not raise the army because of the princess, but because his majesty refused to recognize the identity of the descendants of the Li family... Also, in order to prove this to my grandpa, the leader of the Hezheng group told him that she and his majesty
There is a personal relationship."
"What do you mean?"
"That's what it means literally."
Li Bi said: "Instead of letting Your Majesty find out that the Guo family is involved in Princess Hezheng's case, it would be better for Princess Guo to explain to Your Majesty. After you go back, how about asking Duke Guo to write a letter detailing the reasons?"
"What do you want to explain? My grandfather no longer has any power or position, and all the price he has to pay has been paid."
"Do you know how many people were executed and exiled today?!" Li Mi shouted with the power of a prime minister, "Does the Guo family also want to end up like this?!"
Guo Xi didn't want to listen to Li Mi, but he was not as smart as Li Mi, so he was quickly frightened. After a few words, he still promised to send a message to Guo Ziyi.
But he didn't know that Li Mi did this to get Guo Ziyi to step in and calm the situation.
Previously, Guo Ziyi was involved in a major rebellion case, but Xue Bai didn't kill him. Why?
It was not Xue Bai who was tolerant, but because Guo Ziyi's prestige in Shuofang's army was too great. Xue Bai was also afraid of causing a huge change in the frontier army, so he settled the matter and only imprisoned Guo Ziyi in Chang'an.
In other words, Guo Ziyi is still a very important bargaining chip in Li Mi's hand. Asking Guo Ziyi to plead for mercy can make Xue Bai carefully consider whether to expand the case.
Li Mi's arrangement is far more than that.
He also wrote to Li Guangbi, Feng Changqing, Yan Gaoqing and other officials in the border areas, as well as Yan Zhenqing who was living in his hometown, asking them to submit a memorial to the emperor.
The purpose is to let Xue Bai know that the forces supporting Li Tang are still very strong.
He made arrangements one after another, and soon, Xue Bai also responded one by one.
First up is Guo Xi.
The day after Guo Ziyi went on the watch, two people visited Guo Xi and handed him a letter.
"Lecture on martial arts hall? What is this?"
"The Military Academy of the Tang Dynasty. If General Guo wants to return to the battlefield and inherit the honors of his father, he only needs to study at the Military Academy for two years. If he passes all the examinations, he can be reinstated and command the army again."
The person who spoke was Cen Shen, who was wearing a military robe and looked majestic and heroic, which made Guo Xi feel envious.
But he still didn't believe it and said: "Really? People like me who have made big mistakes..."
"This is an imperial edict. How can the emperor's words be false?"
The other person who came with Cen Shen was named Wu Jiu. He had a beard on his face and looked like a fierce man, but he had calm and wise eyes.
Guo Xi didn't know what this meant and didn't dare to agree immediately.
While hesitating, Cen Shen asked, "Do you know where I am working here?"
"where?"
"I have been in the Western Regions for several years. After returning to the capital, I was responsible for inquiring into the intelligence of various countries at Honglu Temple." Cen Shen said, "Did you know that our Tang Dynasty has been growing in strength in recent years, and Tubo is in internal strife. Just two days ago, His Majesty released the Tubo Praise
Puchisong Detsen has returned to his country."
Guo Xi's eyes changed.
He understood the significance of this matter. In fact, he also knew that the Tubo Princess gave birth to a son and a daughter in Chang'an. Although he never said who the biological father of the child was, he had some guesses.
"With Chisong Detsen's departure, there will be changes in the situation in the west," Wu said.
"I might as well tell you one more thing." Cen Shen said, "In the first year of Zhengxing, a caravan set out to the west, and at the same time brought the news of the saint's enthronement to the countries in the Western Regions. Unfortunately, the trade routes in the Western Regions have been controlled. They
After he became a prisoner and was taken to the Tigris River, he found that a large city comparable to Chang'an had been built there, called Baghdad. Do you know who it belongs to?"
"who?"
"The great cannibal who once defeated Gao Xianzhi." Wu Jiu said, "The Anxi Protector's Office has already announced that the army will be reorganized. Sooner or later, we will avenge our previous humiliation!"
Cen Shen patted Guo Xi on the shoulder and said in an excited voice, "Come to the martial arts hall. When you return to the battlefield, there will be many opportunities for men to make contributions!"
"But……"
"There is nothing to be proud of. You can only get fame from horses. You are a hero and a husband!"
"Yes, we have seen no one in ancient history, but today we see that our achievements are better than those of the ancients. Didn't General Guo ever think that one day his achievements would be better than those of Nai's father?!"
Cen Shen and Wu were not good at rhetoric, but impassioned words moved Guo Xi the most.
After experiencing a major upheaval, Datang seemed to have begun to emerge from its slump and gradually regained its original heroic spirit.
"Okay!" Guo Xi finally responded loudly: "I'll go!"
Soon, he was isolated in the martial arts hall, which also isolated the Guo family from the disputes in the court.
~~
When Li Mi learned that Xue Bai had returned Trisong Dezan to Tubo, he knew that Li Guangbi's idea of intimidating Xue Bai had failed.
Sure enough, on the day Guo Xi entered the martial arts hall, Xue Bai issued an edict to divide the Jiedushi of Jiannan Dao into four, and separate the military, civilian, financial, and legal powers just like other Dao, and strengthen the
the control of the imperial court.
Immediately afterwards, an important town was set up in Yaozhou and a person was appointed as Yaozhou's pacifier. After reducing Li Guangbi's civil, financial and legal power, he also reduced part of his military power.
The newly appointed Yaozhou pacification envoy was named Wang Tianyun, and he was the general who accompanied Xue Bai in the attack on Nanzhao.
Faced with this series of changes, Li Guangbi showed no dissatisfaction.
Li Mi guessed that on the one hand, the reason may be due to Xue Bai's influence on Tubo and Nanzhao. On the other hand, Xue Bai had already communicated with Li Guangbi in private and promised great achievements, such as conquering Tubo in the future.
The office of marshal.
In short, Li Mi had to admit that it was difficult for him to compete with today's emperor.
Immediately afterwards, he felt Xue Bai's counterattack.
The case of Princess Hezheng has not yet been concluded, and while it continues to involve officials and nobles, a memorial was sent to Li Mi during the court meeting that day, catching Li Mi off guard.
"Dali Si Zhi Liu Jie reported that it has been found that the identity of Zhang Guangsheng, the deputy governor of Anxi, is not true. It is suspected that he is actually Gao Xianzhi, the criminal minister who was ordered to die by Emperor Xuanzong. I implore your Majesty to investigate clearly!"
"..."
When Li Mi heard this, he immediately understood that this was not to incriminate Zhang Guangsheng, but to clear Gao Xianzhi's name.
What does this mean?
This means that today the emperor will deny the edict of Emperor Xuanzong to accuse Gao Xianzhi.
That would inevitably deny Emperor Xuanzong's strategic decisions in the battles of Luoyang and Tongguan, and then deny Xuanzong's performance in the Anshi Rebellion... and deny Xuanzong's achievements.
If it is not handled well, this may be the beginning of Xue Bai's generation as Tang Dynasty.
But Li Mi didn't know how to object.
By blocking this matter, he was blocking Gao Xianzhi's rehabilitation. How could he protect the Li family's ancestral temple after offending such a general from the Western Regions?
The most frightening thing is that Li Mi realized that Xue Bai had already planned it, making it difficult for him to resist.
~~
"Is it true that the Li family temple was destroyed because of me, as those people ridiculed me?"
For several days, he could not think of a way to solve it, and Li Mi's eyes gradually lost their luster.
It was night, he was sitting in his study, exhausted, when someone came in quietly.
"Alang, we found it."
"What did you find?"
Li Mi stood up and asked him that he had been investigating so many things recently that he couldn't remember which one it was.
"I found out who the saint met first when he returned to Dongdu. It was Da Xi Yingying..."
"Yeah?"
Li Mi slowly sat down thoughtfully and murmured: "So, he really knows everything."
For this reason, he was a little absent-minded and seemed to feel despair.