Seeing the mess in the backyard, both Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji were livid. Especially the deaths of Feng Li and Wei Ting made Li Jiancheng feel heartbroken. These two people were both loyal to him, but now they It was an untimely death. Li Jiancheng simply wanted to catch the two assassins and cut them into pieces.
Li Yuanji's face didn't look very good either. He pulled out his sword from Feng Li, but without even looking at Feng Li's body, he went straight to Li Jiancheng and said to Li Jiancheng: "Brother, We can't just let this matter go, people are coming to your palace to kill us, we must make countermeasures,"
Li Jiancheng's face was ugly originally, but now he heard Li Yuanji's provocation, and it became even more gloomy. However, Li Jiancheng was able to restrain himself, took a deep breath, and said in a deep voice: "Third brother, don't talk nonsense. Now the assassin has not been caught, and we don’t know who is behind the assassin. Everything must be based on evidence."
"The evidence is already here, what more evidence do you want?" Hearing Li Jiancheng's words, Li Yuanji almost jumped up and immediately shouted to Li Jiancheng: "Brother, I know you are kind-hearted, but others are not. It must be like this. You treat others as brothers, but they may not have you as their big brother in their hearts. Look, look around here. If we weren't lucky, we two brothers would end up like them. We have reached this point, brother, do you still have any concerns?"
The corner of Li Jiancheng's mouth twitched. Li Yuanji's words hit him in the heart. His face was gloomy, his upper and lower teeth kept grinding hard, and his hands were clenched into fists, and there were veins on the back of his hands. It was revealed that at this time, a guard quickly ran to Li Jiancheng and said to Li Jiancheng: "Your Highness, General Yuan was found in the garden. General Yuan is still alive and was not harmed by the assassins."
"Oh," after hearing the guard's words, Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji were startled for a moment, and then their faces showed surprise. They had not paid attention to Yuan Hongshan when they escaped before, but when they returned to the backyard, they thought Yuan Hongshan was dead. , I didn’t pay much attention to it. I didn’t expect that Yuan Hongshan was still alive. Unlike other subordinates, Yuan Hongshan represented the Yuan family, the leading one among the Guanlong nobles. A skinny camel was bigger than a horse. Even the Yuan family now He suffered a lot of blows, but still has a lot of strength. As long as Yuan Hongshan is still alive, Li Jiancheng can still have the Yuan family as his supporters. Li Jiancheng immediately pulled Li Yuanji and rushed in the direction pointed by the guard. go.
As soon as they arrived in the garden, they saw Yuan Hongshan sitting on the ground covered in blood among a pile of corpses, breathing heavily. It turned out that after Yuan Hongshan stopped the eldest son Anye and Liu Deyu from going to die, he took advantage of the situation. Others didn't pay attention, but he sneaked away. After Yuan Hongshan saw the corpses outside, he learned a good lesson and didn't call for help in a big way. Instead, he directly wiped some blood on himself, and then By lying among the corpses and pretending to be dead, he actually escaped death.
Seeing Li Jiancheng and others arriving, Yuan Hongshan pretended to have just gone through a big battle. He stood up, panted and saluted Li Jiancheng, and said: "Your Highness, I am not able to protect you well. Please help me." Your Highness punishes the crime,"
Li Jiancheng was not stupid enough to investigate how Yuan Hongshan escaped death. Even regardless of the Yuan family's factors, today's battle killed all of Li Jiancheng's men, leaving only Yuan Hongshan. Li Jiancheng didn't want to force Yuan Hongshan away because of his ability. Li Jiancheng stepped forward with a face of surprise, supported Yuan Hongshan with his own hands, and then sighed: "General Yuan was able to repel the assassin and save me and him." The life of King Qi is indeed my loyal minister of the Tang Dynasty. General Yuan's life-saving grace today will be remembered in my heart. Li Jiancheng will definitely be rewarded generously in the future."
He obviously escaped by pretending to be dead, but he was said to be so great by Li Jiancheng. No matter how thick-skinned Yuan Hongshan was, he couldn't help but blush at this moment. At the same time, he was grateful to Li Jiancheng for giving him face, and he immediately He shouted to Li Jiancheng: "Your Highness has given you too much praise. If I am able to serve Your Highness, even if I lose my life, I will not hesitate to do so."
"Brother," Li Yuanji shouted again at this moment: "It's gratifying that General Yuan escaped, but brother, do you still want to let the person behind the scenes go? General Yuan, please tell me , We all know who instigated this assassination, and the other party has already done this. If we don’t respond, are we waiting to die?"
As Li Yuanji spoke, he quietly winked at Yuan Hongshan, and Yuan Hongshan seemed to understand Li Yuanji's intention. After hesitating for a moment, he clasped his fists at Li Jiancheng and said, "Your Highness, I also think that what King Qi said is true." , as the art of war goes, strike first and be controlled by others. Now that the opponent has achieved this, if His Highness continues to restrain his hands like this, he will have to sit back and wait for death. Your Highness, the general and the Yuan family are all willing to support His Highness. Please be decisive. Order to help His Highness clear out the evildoers and restore the Tang Dynasty to a bright and prosperous future."
There was Li Yuanji before, and now there is Yuan Hongshan. Li Jiancheng was a little moved at first, but now he was completely shaken. Li Jiancheng immediately gritted his teeth and shouted: "Okay, since he is unkind, don't blame me for being unjust. Yuan General, please return to the Yuan family now and explain what I mean to the head of the Yuan family. If you have done a good job in following the dragon today, you will definitely live up to the Yuan family in the future."
Hearing what Li Jiancheng said, the corner of Yuan Hongshan's mouth curled up slightly. Apparently Li Jiancheng also had his mind set on breaking the last layer of disguise with the man from Tiance Mansion. The Yuan family had been hit hard before, and now if they could use the help of The opportunity of supporting Li Jiancheng to ascend to the throne did not mean that there was no possibility of a comeback. Yuan Hongshan immediately gave Li Jiancheng a fist and shouted, then turned around and left the East Palace. He wanted to return to the Yuan family immediately and let the family leader Yuan Baohe mobilize all the remaining strength of the Yuan family in the Tang army.
Immediately afterwards, Li Jiancheng turned to Li Yuanji and said: "Fifth brother, you should go find Li Xiaochang immediately. Although he only has the name of Prince Ngee'an, he also has many connections in the army. At critical moments, , he can also play a certain role, you ask him to do everything possible to mobilize as many soldiers and horses in Chang'an City as possible for me in a short period of time, come to the East Palace, and escort me into the palace,"
"No problem." After hearing Li Jiancheng's instructions, Li Yuanji immediately shouted, his face even more excited, but soon Li Yuanji asked with doubts on his face: "Enter the palace, brother, you Why are you entering the palace at this time?"
"Of course I have to enter the palace." Putting aside his hesitation, Li Jiancheng also showed his calmness and fortitude, and said in a deep voice: "As the prince of the East Palace, I was assassinated in the East Palace under the blue sky and broad daylight. I I want to see what my father thinks about this matter."
Although Li Yuanji was impulsive and reckless, he was definitely not a fool. Li Jiancheng made it so obvious. Naturally, he understood it immediately and said with a smile: "I understand, I understand. This is called a teacher with a reputation. As long as If we can make my father nod, then it is justifiable for us to deal with Li Shimin. Okay, brother, just wait, I will do it right away."
Seeing Li Yuanji running out in high spirits, Li Jiancheng also smiled coldly, but looking at the corpses on the ground at his feet, he said to himself: "Second brother, second brother, since you are so cruel to me "Brother, don't blame me for being unkind. Today, with you and without me, I will completely cut off your thoughts."
Li Yuanji's work efficiency was still very fast, or it could be said that Li Xiaochang's reputation was great. In less than an hour, Li Yuanji and Li Xiaochang led more than two thousand Tang troops to form an array at the gate of the East Palace. Together with the guards of the East Palace, There happened to be nearly 3,000 troops. Li Jiancheng was dressed in military uniform and stood majestically in front of the generals. Seeing so many soldiers standing in front of him, Li Jiancheng was extremely ambitious for a while. At this time, Li Yuanji and Li Xiaochang also separated. They stepped forward to salute, and behind them the four generals also lined up in a row, then stepped forward to salute Li Jiancheng.
Among these four generals, one is Yang Wenqian, the commander of the guards of Li Jiancheng's East Palace, and the other is Yu Wenbao, the commander of the guards of Li Yuanji. The remaining two are the general of the Tang Army's garrison, Da Zhi, who is He was a Turk, and the other was Sinongqing Yu Wenying. Of these two, one was a good friend of Li Xiaochang, and the other was a close friend of Li Yuanji. Both of them came with soldiers and horses to assist Li Jiancheng.
At the beginning, so many subordinates were killed by the assassins, and now there were four more subordinates in the blink of an eye. Li Jiancheng was also relieved. At least in this court, there were no fewer people supporting him than Li Shimin. Now Li Jiancheng was very worried about what would happen next. Li Jiancheng became more confident in his actions. Immediately, Li Jiancheng put the cloak behind him and got on his horse. Li Xiaochang asked Li Jiancheng: "Your Highness, there are three gates from the East Palace to the palace, but I don't know which gate your Highness is going to enter from." palace,"
Li Jiancheng hesitated for a moment, but as if he suddenly remembered something, his eyes lit up and he said: "If I remember correctly, the guard of Xuanwu Gate today is Chang He, the general of the army, and this Chang He is me. We will enter the palace through Xuanwu Gate,"
"Xuanwu Gate," after hearing what Li Jiancheng said, the resourceful Li Xiaochang also lowered his head and thought for a moment, nodding his head again and again to express his agreement. After all, Li Jiancheng's prestige in the army is not as good as that of Li Shimin. If he wants to win by surprise, he must ensure that no news comes. Since Chang He, the general guarding the Xuanwu Gate, is Li Jiancheng’s confidant, it’s the best thing to do.