Deep inside the extremely majestic palace, the place where the most powerful person in the world lives is far less powerful than the territory she governs.

Incense from the tripod permeates the palace, and the luxurious palace is gleaming with jewels. This is the Zihuan Hall, the emperor's residence.

Zihuan Palace is not far from the back garden, and the fragrance of plants and flowers from the back garden can even reach Zihuan Palace.

The saint of the empire wore an extremely light and soft aqua silk casual clothes. There was no dragon belt around her waist, and her whole body looked very light. However, her already highly bulging abdomen could no longer be covered up. The only people serving her were the palace officials.

The eldest grandson Meier.

"That old dog has been gone for a long time." Sitting on the soft couch, the saint sighed quietly: "Meier, do you think he is dead?"

Changsun Meier was still very beautiful, but her cheeks were obviously much thinner. She gently tapped the saint's leg and said softly: "The boss is very smart and has great martial arts skills. The saint doesn't need to worry."

"I know you are trying to comfort me." The saint sighed softly: "Since the tiger is being lured away from the mountain, and the tiger comes out of the mountain, there is no hope of coming back."

Changsun Meier bit her lip lightly but said nothing.

"Mei'er, do you think I am the most foolish king in history?" the saint suddenly asked.

Changsun Meier's delicate body trembled and she said hurriedly: "Sage, you...!"

"When I ascended the throne, I was also very ambitious." The saint smiled bitterly and said: "I thought that I must make great achievements. Even if I am not as good as Emperor Taizu Taizong, I can't be inferior to Emperor Wuzong. But now...

In the eyes of the world, I may not even be able to compare to the late Emperor."

Changsun Meier hesitated for a moment and then said: "If the saint works hard to govern, he will definitely be able to make the Tang Dynasty prosperous again."

"Do you believe this?" The saint stared at Changsun Meier's beautiful eyes like autumn water, and chuckled: "Work hard to cure it? I also want to work hard to cure it, but in the end, I am afraid that I will become the king of the country."

Changsun Meier advised: "Sage, please don't think like this. Everything is not without improvement...!" Before he could finish speaking, he heard the sound of footsteps. He immediately shut up and turned around to look over, only to see the bead curtain opened.

, a figure walked in slowly.

Changsun Meier stood up in a hurry and stepped aside. When the saint saw the person coming, he stared at him with a pair of phoenix eyes.

This person has been wearing black armor all his life, without wearing a helmet, and he is full of heroic spirit. He is the leader of the Dragon Scale Imperial Guards in Tantai Xuanye.

Tantai Xuanye came forward, knelt down on one knee, and said respectfully: "I, Tantai Xuanye, meet the saint!"

"Tantai Xuanye, your hypocrisy makes me very uncomfortable." The saint said lightly: "Who are you paying homage to? Mei'er? Now the entire palace is in your hands, and my life and death are also controlled by you.

, why do you need to do this?"

Tantai Xuanye raised his head and stared at the saint with his dark eyes. He hesitated, stood up, and sighed: "The saint misunderstood me too deeply."

"misunderstanding?"

"Official eldest grandson, you go down and rest first. I will serve the saint." Tantai Xuanye waved to eldest grandson Mei'er and signaled eldest grandson Mei'er to step back.

Changsun Meier looked at the saint, who hesitated for a moment and finally nodded.

After Mei'er retreated, Tantai Xuanye walked to the soft couch, sat down, and reached out to hold the saint's hand. However, the saint avoided it and said lightly: "You have found the jade seal, I will tell you

Is it still useful now?"

Tantai Xuanye lowered his head and remained silent,

After a long time, he said: "Lu Junzhong is dead."

"Lu Junzhong?" The saint frowned slightly and sneered: "Don't you want to use him as a sword to eliminate dissidents in the court?"

Tantai Xuanye shook his head and said: "I didn't want to kill him, he was killed by an assassin."

The saint was a little surprised and said: "Lu Junzhong has always been cautious. The defense of the Criminal Department is extremely tight. Many assassins wanted to take his life, but he has always lived well."

"But he is still dead." Tantai Xuanye said: "The fold was brought up...!" He took the fold from the Ministry of Punishment and brought it over, "I heard that the death was very ugly, and he was strangled to death."

The saint said "Oh", but did not answer the question. He said calmly: "He is dead. It seems that you are not in a good mood. There are still many officials loyal to the Tang Dynasty alive in the court. Lu Junzhong is dead. If you want to find him again,

It’s not easy for such a mad dog.”

Tantai Xuanye smiled faintly and said: "He has been loyal to you for more than ten years and is as loyal as a dog. If he knew that the saint had no mercy for him after his tragic death, I'm afraid he would be very sad."

"I have compassion for you." The saint said coldly: "Years ago, I pitied thousands of troops in Tantai for their loyalty and sacrifice for the country, so I transferred you from the front line back to Kyoto, and even gave you the imperial guard to command, but in the end I

What did you get?"

Tantai Xuanye stared at the saint, raised his hand, and put it on the saint's cheek.

Although she is over fifty, she takes good care of herself. Although her skin is not delicate and smooth, it has no wrinkles and is still fair.

The saint did not dodge, and allowed Tantai Xuanye to caress his cheek. He stared at Tantai Xuanye's clear eyes, slowly closed his eyes, and gently twisted his head, actually catering to Tantai Xuanye's gentle caress.

.

Tantai Xuanye said softly: "You have obtained the real bloodline, the bloodline that only belongs to you. There is no Li family, no Xiahou family, only you."

"Do you know that I am addicted to you and can't stop myself." The saint murmured: "From the first time I saw you, I knew that I would never be able to leave you in this life."

Tantai Xuanye gently picked up the saint, held her in his arms, and whispered: "We will be together forever, and this world... will always be yours."

"I know you are lying to me, but...I am always deceived by your words." The saint sighed: "Do you always hate me in your heart?"

Tantai Xuanye chuckled and said: "I only have admiration for the saint, how can I hate him?"

The saint gently pushed Tantai Xuanye away, slowly stood up from the soft couch, and walked lightly to the window. Tantai Xuanye followed her, came to the window, and looked out the window.

Outside the window, there are green grass and beautiful scenery.

"Not long after I ascended the throne, three states and seven counties rebelled, which also led to the invasion of surrounding bandits." The saint sighed: "One hundred thousand Tusun troops went south and attacked Wuchuan Town in an attempt to tear the town apart. You and

Your Majesty led 20,000 town troops to defend, thinking that Tai Shihong would definitely mobilize soldiers and horses from other towns to support him." He glanced at Tantai Xuanye and said with a bitter smile: "But in the end, instead of waiting for reinforcements, he learned that Tai Shihong had ordered

The soldiers and horses from all towns retreated to Yanmen, leaving only the soldiers and horses of Wuchuan fighting alone."

Tantai Xuanye said calmly: "Fighting for the country is a matter of course, and the soldiers of Wuchuan will have no hesitation."

"Your Majesty learned that when the entire army retreated to Yanmen, nearly half of the Wuchuan Army had been killed. He ordered you to lead eight thousand soldiers and horses to retreat to Yanmen, while he led five thousand Tang Dynasty disciples to resist the enemy."

The saint's eyes were deep and his expression was calm, and he said slowly: "In the end, your father and his five thousand disciples were completely wiped out. There were more than 20,000 soldiers and horses in Wuchuan. In the end, only the 8,000 people you withdrew were left."

Tantai Xuanye said with a smile: "If my father knew that Baqianerlang and I escaped from death, and later defeated the Tusun people, Jiuquanxia would be able to rest in peace."

"Both you and your father are unparalleled in loyalty and courage." The saint turned slightly, placed one hand gently on his raised abdomen, stared at Tantai Xuanye, and asked: "Tell me, do you always hate me because of this?"

Tantai Xuanye also looked at the saint, with a happy and gentle look on his face, and asked: "Sage, do you think I have always hated you because of this?"

"Of course you will know later that Tai Shihong ordered soldiers and horses from various towns to withdraw to Yanmen and refuse to defend, but he did not send an order to Wuchuan. Instead, he hoped to buy time for the Tang army to deploy with the lives of Wuchuan soldiers. Tai Shihong reported this to the court.

"The sage said: "And for the sake of the overall situation, I also agreed to Tai Shihong's strategic plan and sacrificed the Wuchuan soldiers to preserve the overall situation. Although it was Tai Shihong's proposed strategy, it was approved by me, so you will naturally hate me and the Taishi family for this.

.”

Tantai Xuanye looked out the window, pondered for a long time, and then finally said: "Sage, do you know that in the past ten years, my brothers who died tragically on the battlefield have often appeared in my mind. Do you know what their expressions are like? Despair, deep in the bone marrow.

despair."

The saint said nothing.

"The soldiers of Wuchuan are loyal to the emperor and serve the country, and they have no shirking duty." Tantai Xuanye said: "Before Tusun's army came to Wuchuan, we had already received intelligence reports and knew that their main force would use Wuchuan Town as a breakthrough point. My father and the 20,000 soldiers did not hesitate at all.

We were afraid. At that time, my father even felt that as long as we defended Wuchuan, Taishi Hong could mobilize other towns to form a siege on the periphery, thus surrounding the Tusun people and attacking them from both inside and outside. There were also people at that time who suspected that Taishi Hong would

They will not withdraw their troops and retreat to Yanmen to garrison, but my father believes that if all the soldiers and horses from all towns are withdrawn to Yanmen, then countless people will be abandoned and allowed to be killed by the Tusun people. The Tang army is so powerful that it is impossible to abandon the people.

regardless of."

The saint just sighed and still did not speak.

"We built defenses in Wuchuan Town and resisted several times the Tusun cavalry. We fought bloody battles for more than ten days. At that time, we all thought that reinforcements would arrive soon." Tantai Xuanye murmured: "So we resisted with all our strength, without thinking about it.

Abandoning Wuchuan, many brothers bravely fought the enemy and died on the battlefield. They were all the most heroic sons of the Tang Dynasty. Until...until that day, we learned that only Wuchuan among the four northern towns was still holding on, becoming an army without any

Only then did the brothers realize that we had been betrayed by our own people."

The sage said: "You can't blame Tai Shihong for doing that. If the four towns in the north make a desperate attempt to engage in a decisive battle with the Tusun people, once they fail, there will be no more troops to defend the enemy in the north, and the consequences will be disastrous. The only way is to retreat to them, conserve their strength, and build a defense line.

Only in this way can we defeat the Tusun people, and in fact this is what happened in the end.”

"Does the saint know why my father had to stay?" Tantai Xuanye said with a smile: "Because he felt sorry for the brothers who died. He kept telling them that reinforcements would arrive soon, but it was not until the end that the soldiers

Knowing that there were no reinforcements at all. Although the brothers did not blame my father for this, my father felt that he had deceived the soldiers. Saints, foreign enemies invaded, and the Wuchuan soldiers never thought of living in an ignoble way. If Tai Shihong had told my father at that time, let my father

Lead the troops to defend and buy time for other towns to deploy defenses. My father and the Wuchuan soldiers will never have a second thought. For the sake of the Tang Dynasty, we can fight to the last soldier." After a pause, he smiled slightly and said: "

But none of you did this. You were worried that Wuchuan would not defend, and even sent people to pretend that reinforcements would be mobilized for support. Countless soldiers in Wuchuan never thought that they would be deceived by the court they were loyal to, and the reason for deceiving them was that they did not dare to fight to the death.
Chapter completed!