Chapter 185: Cutting off the firewood from the bottom of the pot

Prince Li Heng has been unable to close his eyes for two consecutive nights. In the past month, rumors of the deposed prince have become more and more intense. He is obviously thinner in the center of the storm, and his body, which is weak, looks even thinner.

At this moment, the lights in Mingde Hall were dark, and the night fog outside had already spread to the hall. Li Heng sat alone in the hall. The only one who accompanied him was the loyal clerk who recorded his words and actions and actions in their original form and handed them to Li Longji. But today the clerk's record was only one line of words, "No one, the prince sat for a long time and was speechless."

Li Heng sat alone for a day without an official visiting him, and everyone avoided him, for fear of being implicated.

Li Heng sighed. He had never seen his father and son since his father was appointed as the concubine. He only heard that he had moved to Xingqing Palace, and even Gao Lishi avoided him. If all officials avoided him, it was believed in rumors, but Gao Lishi avoided him, which meant that rumors might be true. At this time, he was full of resentment. For ten years, he had been living carefully under the eyes of his father and carefully pondering his face and eyes. Although there was a princeling, it was only his tacit approval. Moreover, the princeling was just a loose alliance, with only the name of the party, which was incomparable to Li Linfu's private party.

Despite this, his father still wanted to abolish him, but there was no reason. Since that was the case, why did he establish him at the beginning?

He is unwilling to give up! Unwilling to give up!

He stood up suddenly, shook off the resentment all over the floor, and walked towards the harem with gloomy eyes. The secretary's pen moved again, and quickly added: "The prince sat for a long time, and was anxious, and he walked away."

As soon as Li Heng arrived at the bedroom, he saw his confidant eunuch Li Jingzhong jogging in from outside. He was delighted and walked quickly towards the inner palace. Li Jingzhong followed closely behind, and walked into a secret room with no one in the room. Li Heng immediately turned around and stared at him and asked, "Is there any news over Huangfu Weiming?"

Li Jingzhong took out a letter from his arms and said, "This is what Huangfu Weiming sent."

Li Heng opened the letter a few times, his hands were trembling slightly. He hurriedly browsed the letter. The content was very simple, saying that he escorted the Tubo prisoners of war in Xianyang, and he had already set out to Chang'an to report his duties. Li Heng looked at the letter twice again, as if he wanted to find the words hidden behind it from the lines, nothing! There was nothing.

However, Li Heng was not depressed. Huangfu Weiming was right to do this. He could not put anything on paper, otherwise it would be evidence of rebellion. However, the implication was very clear. He led his troops and he was not going to directly enter Chang'an.

‘It’s good if you’re not reckless!’

Li Heng's heart was slightly relieved. He thought about it and whispered to Li Jingzhong: "Take on the night fog, hurry up and make him wait for me in the Hanyue Hall of Taibai Building in an hour."

Li Jingzhong nodded and turned around, but Li Heng did not notice. The moment Li Jingzhong turned around, a very subtle light flashed in his eyes.

Half an hour later, a record of the Prince's Inner Palace's daily life without drying ink was quietly sent to Xingqing Palace. There was only one sentence on it, "The prince made a private appointment with Li Shizhi to meet at Taibailou."

The handwriting and content were exactly the same as the daily record of the Prince's Inner Palace where Li Heng made a private appointment with Li Qing to meet with Taibailou, but he replaced Li Qing with Li Shizhi.

The first update was already. More than a hundred horses were escorting three fast horses out of the capital, galloping on the official road, heading straight towards Xianyang. The fog on the official road was not as thick as in Chang'an City. You could vaguely see the face of the person in front of him. He was about forty years, with a dark and thin face, serious expression, biting his lips, and staring at the front with bright eyes. He was Bian Lingcheng, the eunuch who was secretly appointed by Li Longji. This was the first time he had handled such a major event for Li Longji, and even Li Longji's gold medal was given to him.

Chang'an and Xianyang had only one or two feet, and it was just a moment later. Huangfu Weiming's camp escorted Tubo prisoners of war outside Xianyang City. When he arrived near the camp, two more horses joined. They reported the situation to Bian Lingcheng. Huangfu Weiming had already left the camp to Chang'an in the afternoon to report his duties. The side general Wang was rarely responsible in the camp. Bian Lingcheng nodded, waved his hand, and the group rushed towards the camp quickly.

In front of the wooden fence gate of the military camp, hundreds of soldiers held torches and looked vigilantly at a group of cavalry approaching through the gaps of the fence. The fire was fierce, illuminating the front of the camp like daytime. Bian Lingcheng urged his horse to slowly approach the camp. The king rarely heard the news and checked it out. Half a year ago, Bian Lingcheng went to the Western Regions to reward the armies. The king rarely saw him, so he recognized it.

The king rarely shouted softly, and the wooden fence gate creaked open. He walked out and bowed to Bian Lingcheng in a deep voice: "Eunuch Bian is visiting late at night, I wonder what you can do to teach me?"

Bian Lingcheng sneered slightly, and he held the gold medal high, "You are rare, can you recognize this thing?"

The king was rarely shocked. With the red light of fire, the gold medal in Bian Lingcheng's hand seemed to be drawn by the military graphics, which could mobilize the world's military horses. In addition, the emperor also said in his secret decree to himself that he would not recognize the cards in the future.

"Please follow me to the account to talk."

"No need, our family has important things, come here."

The king rarely took two steps forward and walked over with his ear. Bian Lingcheng whispered in his ear: "The emperor ordered you to be appointed as the deputy envoy of Hexi Jiedu and General Zhongwu after the matter was completed."

After giving instructions, Bian Lingcheng smiled and said, "General Wang is loyal to the emperor and can inform the news in time. The emperor is very satisfied. It seems that General Wang has a bright future!"

The king was rarely flattered. He hurriedly took out a short sword covered with jewelry from his arms and Bian Lingcheng, and said respectfully: "Since Eunuch Bian is going to walk at night, this short sword is given to Eunuch Bian for self-defense. I hope you can accept it with a smile."

Bian Lingcheng took it, used his thumb to pluck a huge ruby ​​on the hilt of the sword, and put the dagger into his arms, laughed, "To be honest, it's quite unsafe all the way. I need a sword to protect Ichigo. General Wang should do it himself!"

After saying that, he turned his horse's head and rushed towards Fengxiang, gradually disappearing into the night. It was not until he walked away that Wang Yande wiped the sweat from his forehead and let out a long sigh. 'Deputy Envoy of Hexi Jiedu,' Wang Yande's eyes flashed with a smug smile, and then he murmured to himself: "Mr. Huangfu, don't blame me for being ruthless, I only blame you for not even giving me a minimum promise!"

Huangfu Weiming left for nearly five days, and Li Qing lived a leisurely life. Although he was in charge of military affairs, the Jiedu Prefecture had six Caos and soldiers who performed their own responsibilities. There were governors and county magistrates in the local area, so he didn't need to worry about the specific errands. His role was only to find a responsible head when an emergency occurred.

Of course, he also has to review some documents that require the signature of the governor to implement them every day. His staff member Gao Shi has sorted out and attached his own suggestions. He only needs to choose one or two of them.

As the New Year approaches, the atmosphere of the New Year in Shanzhou City is becoming stronger. Every household is decorated with lights and cleans the houses. The streets are filled with people who purchase New Year’s goods. Li Qing missed his wife and daughter, so he planned to take the time to go to Shazhou.

On that day, he packed his luggage in the house, and the gatekeeper suddenly came to report that there was a man named Gao outside the door who claimed to be his old friend.

"High-spreading knife?"

Li Qing immediately guessed that it was him. Gao Zhandao was originally a Han from Kuz. At the age of sixteen, he was appointed as a military officer for killing people. Later, he was attracted by Gao Xianzhi and accepted as his adopted son. In the early years of Tianbao, he went to Chang'an to travel and joined Li Longji's spy agency. He was sent to Chengdu to monitor Zhang Qiu Jianqiong. In Chengdu, when Li Qing and the Hai family broke out in a business war, he was assigned to be Li Qing's bodyguard by Zhang Qiu Jianqiong. The two met.

After returning from Anxi, he disappeared. According to Wang Changling, he might have returned to Chang'an, but why is he coming to Shanzhou again? Could it be that Li Longji wants to restore the system of reporting every three days?

Li Qing ordered someone to bring him in with confusion. It turned out that Gao Zhandao hadn't seen him for several months. There was a trace of blood on his originally pale face, but his eyes were worried and he looked worried.

Li Qing pressed him into the chair, poured him a cup of tea and handed it to him, and said with a smile: "Sit down and drink a sip of water first, and say something slowly."

Maybe he was anxious all the way and was so thirsty that Gao Zhandao drank three cups in a row before stopping.

"Tell me! What's wrong with coming to Shanzhou this time?"

Gao Zhandao didn't say anything, but glanced at the outside. Li Qing followed his eyes and saw another person who sorted out documents for him, the secretary sent by the prince, a middle-aged man about forty years old, named Yu, who was standing there slowly binding expired documents with threads. Although his eyes were not raised, his ears seemed to be a little straight.

Li Qing knew it and took a document from the table. He quickly signed his name below and walked out to the outside to hand it to the secretary. "Mr. Yu, please go to the state office and give this document to the governor Zhang, and tell him that the New Year is approaching. He asked him to send the 1,000 sheep to the army tomorrow. He would give him as much as he has to give it to him first, so he doesn't have to wait until he gets it all."

Secretary Yu had no choice but to put down his work, took the documents and went to the state yard. Li Qing waited for him to leave, and immediately closed the door, and instructed the personal soldiers at the door not to let anyone in.

Walking back to the room, Li Qing glanced at Gao Zhandao with a serious look and smiled, "Tell me! What's the matter? It's so mysterious."

"The emperor may want to depose the prince." Gao Zhandao took a lot of effort to express this sentence.

"The news of the deposed prince has spread throughout Chang'an City. What a strange thing? Why do you have to work so hard?"

Li Qing looked at him, smiled and said, "Is your news different from others?"

“That’s right!”

Gao Zhandao affirmed: "Don't ask me where the news comes from, but I can tell you frankly that this matter is indeed serious, and Chang'an is about to be in bloody storm."

"If this is true, there are more than one princelings involved, two."

After saying that, Li Qing restrained his smile, got up and walked slowly to the window. He stared at the slender icicles hanging under the eaves for a long time, and after a long time, he slowly said: "Where was Huangfu Weiming when you came?"

"His troops were in Xianyang, but I don't know where others are."

After a while, Li Qing suddenly turned around, reached out to Gaozhan's knife, and said without hesitation: "Give it!"

"Can you guess this?"

Gao Zhandao was very surprised. He took out a golden box from his arms and handed it to Li Qing, but sighed and whispered in shame: "I can't help but behave, don't blame me!"

Li Qing walked up to him, gently pressed his shoulder, and chuckled softly: "You have violated the rules and told me that the prince will be deposed. I naturally understand in my heart, don't worry! I won't blame you."

Gao Zhandao's eyes showed a touch, and he also smiled bitterly: "I am a slutty person and don't like being restrained the most. I am really not suitable for this trip. After the Chinese New Year, I plan to go out to travel around. This is what the emperor has promised me a long time ago. Maybe I will not go back to Chang'an within a few years. In the end, I just want to remind you that you should try to stay away from this matter and never be implicated."

Li Qing shook his head, fiddled with the gold box in his hand, and smiled faintly: "Don't I want to go back to Shazhou to stay quiet for a few years, but the forest wants to be quiet and the wind does not stop. From the time I stepped into Chang'an on the first day, I can never escape the prince's affairs."

Gao Zhandao was silent. After a while, he saw that everything he should say and did was finished, so he stood up and bowed to Li Qinggong and said, "Well! With your talent and cleverness, I can't help you. Take good care of yourself. If you are destined in the future, we may meet again. If we are not destined, we will forget each other in the world."

Li Qing nodded slowly, patted his hands again, and smiled sadly: "You must take good care of yourself, I hope we will meet again!"

After seeing Gao Zhandao off, Li Qing returned to the room and sat silently for a while. Suddenly, he patted his forehead and cheered up his spirits. He took out the gold box from his arms and held it in his hand to check it carefully. The gold box was almost the same as the one given by Li Longji when he got married, but the fusion of the interface was a little more delicate. It was obvious that it was not done in a hurry, but it should have been prepared long ago.

Although Li Qing was the authorities, he was not confused. Since the rumors that the prince was deposed were true, Huangfu Weiming's motive for leading troops into the capital was obvious, and it must be to compete for the throne for the prince. Li Qing couldn't help but feel a little sympathetic to the persistent military governor of the two towns. He was too naive and thought that if he had some soldiers in his hands, he could compete with the king of a country? Not to mention that he was far from Li Longji's opponent, even if he succeeded by luck, would Li Heng keep him in the world after he ascended the throne?

Without opening the gold box, Li Qing guessed what was inside. It should be a secret decree, ordering himself to cleanse Huangfu Weiming's confidant, and thus completely remove the prince's forces in Longyou and Hexi. He sent himself to Shazhou as the governor, wasn't it just for this day?

After thinking about it, Li Qing slowly cut the gold box with a knife along the dissolving wire. The gold box was quickly cut in half. With a "click!", the lid flipped aside. A roll of light yellow silk book lay in the gold box. This was Li Longji's secret decree. Li Qing slowly pulled it open, and the content was similar to what he guessed. He first ordered him to clean Huangfu Weiming's confidant, and then handed over the military power to Dong Yanguang who came afterwards. However, there was another sentence that was beyond Li Qing's expectations, that was, he would go to Beijing to report his work after the New Year.

At this moment, a slight movement suddenly came from outside the window, as if someone had touched a branch. Li Qing sneered in his heart, and strode forward and opened the window. Outside the window, there was indeed the document named Yu. He held a pigeon tube in his hand. He must have just received some instructions. Seeing that his eavesdropping was broken by Li Qing, he was panicked and quickly presented the pigeon tube in his hand and stuttered: "This is a hundred thousand urgent letter from His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to the Governor. My subordinates have just received it and have not read it yet."

"How can I know it was for me if I didn't look?"
Chapter completed!