Chapter 341 Aftershocks of the Imperial Capital
The spring breeze is suspected to be far away from the end of the world, and there are no flowers in the mountain city in February.
There are still oranges pressing on the branches with the remaining snow, and frozen thunder shocks the bamboo shoots to sprout.
I heard the return geese grow homesick at night, and I feel the beauty of the New Year.
I was once a visitor to the flower in Luoyang, but I don’t need to sigh even though I was late.
——"The Drama Answer to Yuanzhen" Ouyang Xiu
...
After Li Bai left, everyone stared at Bai Fu with strange eyes.
Bai Fu thought to himself: "I will not really become a Vajra body, and I will be invulnerable from now on, right?"
Bai Fu looked at his body and saw no abnormality. Bai Fu borrowed a dagger from Persian princess Boniati, and gently stroked his fingers with the blade, and saw blood seeping out of his fingertips.
Bai Fu showed his finger to everyone, laughed at himself, and said, "Of course, there is no dragon scale armor, nor is it invulnerable to swords and guns. I am still an ordinary person." Everyone was amused and laughed.
Just as everyone was joking and amusing, no one noticed that the blood in Bai Fu's fingertips dripped on the ground, condensed into blood beads like mercury, and quietly slid down the grass...
Persian princess Boniatti pointed to the copper box and said to Bai Fu: "These rolls were found in your mansion. According to the laws of Persian, the ownership of these rolls is yours.
For the sake of our assistance in discovering the secret room, please allow me to copy these parchment rolls and bring their copies back to Persia.”
Bai Fu was stunned and thought to himself: "I don't know the Persian on the rolls. I originally planned to give you all these rolls. But Boniati's solemn instructions must have a deep meaning."
Bai Fu adapted to the situation and smiled and said, "Of course. Your Highness, you are polite, just do what you want."
When the crisis was resolved, everyone relaxed and realized that they were extremely tired. After a brief discussion, they went home to rest.
Bai Fu and Persian princess Boniatti stepped on the stirrup and walked side by side. At this time, the earthquake had just subsided, and aftershocks continued. The streets of Chang'an were in chaos. Some of the people had lost their relatives, some of their houses were destroyed, and cries were heard one after another. The streets and alleys were full of devastation, like ghost prisons on earth.
...
In the Daming Palace, Xuanzong also did not sleep for a night. Many palaces such as Chengtianmen, Temple of Heaven, and Ditan collapsed. Early in the morning, the Imperial Heaven Supervision came to report that Taibai Venus appeared in the Wu position in the south of the sky during the day, which should be an ominous sign.
Xuanzong was depressed and was about to stop the court, so he asked Li Linfu to take charge of government affairs. Gao Lishi hurriedly came to report, and Li Xiang suffered another stroke and was completely paralyzed. This time the condition was in full swing, and he was afraid that there would be more or less good luck.
Xuanzong passed the order and urgently recruited Yang Guozhong to the court and promoted him to the Minister of Shangshu Zuo Pushe.
...
King Qing Li Cong was sick recently and had not improved after taking a few medications. He felt that his health was getting worse day by day. He hurriedly asked Li Yan to invite the prince. Prince Li Heng obtained the approval of Emperor Xuanzong on the grounds of visiting the disease and came to Prince Qing's mansion.
After the imperial doctor finished his consultation, he left the bedroom of King Qing Li Cong and shook his head to the prince waiting at the door.
The imperial doctor sighed and said softly: "Report to the Crown Prince, the prince looks back today and looks good. If there is anything important, please say it as soon as possible. Alas..."
Li Heng waved his hand, the imperial doctor bowed and bowed and then left.
Li Heng quickly walked to King Qing's sickbed and saw Li Cong's skinny bones and a haggard face. He was shocked and said, "Brother, Yuan Xi is still charming when he sees you. How could this be done in just a few days?"
Li Congqiang was energetic and forced a smile to his heart and said, "Third brother, don't be sad. Since I was diagnosed with this disease two years ago, I have known that there will be such a day. I didn't expect that this body would be able to be delayed for so long. I am already very grateful to God.
I know my own body. I may not be able to get through this time. The deadline is approaching and there is not much time left. Today is probably the last time for us brothers. I have a few words to explain."
When Li Heng heard this, he burst into tears. He sat in front of the sickbed, served a bowl of ginseng soup and fed it to his own hands.
Li Cong drank the ginseng soup and became a little energetic. He sat up and asked the maids on both sides to retreat from the distance.
Recalling the past, Li Cong looked melancholy and said quietly: "At that time, the father launched the Shenlong coup and deposed Emperor Zetian. After years, he killed the Wei Hou's party and wiped out Princess Taiping.
The second brother and you, the three brothers, leaning against each other in the sword light and sword shadows every day, and they will be different from each other. It is precisely because of this experience that among the princes, the three brothers have the deepest feelings.
I finally managed to survive until my father ascends the throne and unify the country. I thought I could enjoy peace. Unexpectedly, our three brothers became each other's competitors, and the person who wanted to kill us the most was our biological father!"
Speaking of this, Li Cong sighed and said, "You can guess the truth about your second brother being killed. It's really not easy for you to endure humiliation over the years."
When Li Heng heard this, tears streamed down his eyes and held his brother's hand tightly, saying, "If it weren't for the support from my elder brother, I wouldn't have died many times."
Li Cong patted Li Heng's hand and said, "My children are all second disciples. If I don't need to say anything, you will treat them kindly. I'm not worried.
Before my death, I will tell them what happened in the past two years so that they will not misunderstand you. It is really not easy for us brothers to act on the double act for many years and have not been noticed by our father."
It turned out that since the Imperial Heavenly Prison observed the celestial phenomena at night and discovered that the pattern of "Shapolang" appeared, Li Cong felt that something was wrong. He bribed the eunuchs to figure out the holy intentions.
"Seven Killings, Pojun, and Greedy Wolf" three stars. Xuanzong suspected that the person who held military power was General Wang Zhongsi, the direct descendant of the crown prince, so he removed Wang Zhongsi from his position as the governor of the three towns and was secretly imprisoned in the Heavenly Prison.
Xuanzong was even more worried that one of the "Sha Polang" was a prince. After thinking about it, he felt that the prince was the most suspicious, and he had the idea of deposing and establishing a new title several times.
At this time, King Qing Li Cong found that he was suffering from a terminal illness. In order to protect Li Heng, he fought for the throne with a high profile and transferred the suspicion of "Killing Polang" to him.
Li Cong sighed and said, "Like my father, I never doubt the saying "Kill the Wolf". However, in terms of candidates, I think An Lushan, Li Linfu and Wang Hui are the most suspicious. So I designed to eliminate them one by one:
Among the three, Li Linfu was the most powerful. However, he had too many enemies and had very strict protection. I had never had the opportunity to take action, so I could only use the help of my father to get rid of him.
In the past two years, Li Linfu and I have been close and separated. The more we deliberately avoid it, the more suspicious my father was, and doubting that we had colluded secretly. From then on, Li Linfu gradually lost his favor.
In order to win the honor and favor of his father again, Li Linfu worked day and night, and was more diligent than when he was young. However, he was old and devoted so much effort, and over time, he would inevitably be exhausted and his life would not last long. Therefore, there is no need to worry too much.
As the governor of the Three Towns, An Lushan had five or sixty-sixteen of the military power in the world, which was actually the root cause of the country's chaos.
My father was able to tolerate An Lushan's frequent entry and exit in the palace for some reason, which made me shame the Li Tang royal family and was privately ridiculed by the aristocratic family.
I have arranged for my confidant to wait for an opportunity to poison An Lushan when he entered the palace. Even if he had the intention of rebellion, he would not be able to live long.
You have to keep him in Chang'an as much as possible. After a long time, you will be poisoned and killed before he returns to Fanyang. At that time, you can take back the military power of the three major military governors in one fell swoop.
Wang Hui was killed because of his brother's plot to rebel, and his father handed over all his power to Yang Zhao. Only then did I realize that one of the three stars of "Sha Polang" was not Wang Hui, but Yang Guozhong.
Li Linfu was paralyzed this time. I heard that his father issued an order to summon Yang Guozhong back to Beijing to serve as the Minister of Shangshu Zuo Pushe. The Yang family is now extremely honorable and favored. Since ancient times, the relatives of the foreigners were too powerful, and they were all the root causes of chaos.
I have no time to deal with Yang Guozhong. I also ask my third brother to ascend the throne and make sure to remove the Yang family and eliminate the roots!
Chapter completed!