In the stormy sky, several fast horses galloped towards Chang'an along the road guided by red cloth.
The men who were originally standing under the tree, nominally to guard the red cloth, were watching silently as the galloping horses passed by. It wasn't until they completely disappeared into the darkness that they shook off their raincoats and reached out to untie the clothes already hanging on the tree.
The red cloth was wetted, revealing the trip horse rope hidden inside that had not yet been arranged.
The future is unpredictable!
So Xiao Han never hesitates to prepare for the worst for tomorrow!
Forcing a woman to conceive was never as easy as he and Xue Pan said. No one knew how many people they mobilized and how much they paid for this day!
Originally, Xiao Han was supposed to be Li Shimin's last line of defense outside Chang'an. His purpose was to protect the women and children and retreat in case of failure!
However, when looking at Xue Pan with a determined look on his face tonight, Xiao Han suddenly realized: There is no way out for this matter! There is no way out!
Therefore, after a long silence, he said goodbye to Xue Pan, who was smiling with tears in his eyes, and resolutely went to Li Shimin's place, just like a veteran who left the team and returned to his comrades.
In the heavy rain, no one asked him why he came, no one asked him who would look after his retreat, and no one told him how dangerous it would be this time!
The few people just looked at each other and smiled, then plunged into the dark night.
————
It rained heavily all night and finally started to light up in the early morning.
On the old houses on the streets of Chang'an, the collected water droplets fell along the eaves, like a silver thread, constantly dripping on the bluestone on the ground, day after day, leaving tiny pits on the hard bluestone.
The rooster crowed three times, and the yawning gate guard struggled to open the gate of Chang'an City.
At Tonghua Gate, there was a young soldier who kept complaining about how it rained so heavily last night and why there were so many messengers coming to Beijing. He opened the door and got soaked all over.
However, the soldier only chattered a few words before his superior officer glared back, so he had to run aside and work honestly.
The drizzle dispersed the heat between heaven and earth, and also dispersed the pedestrians on the road.
The originally bustling streets of Chang'an and the glorious imperial city seemed a little lonely today.
Stop paying court today.
This is not because of Xiao Han's wedding yesterday. In fact, Xiao Han doesn't have that much face. The only reason for quitting the court this time is that Li Yuan wants to thoroughly investigate the prince's filth in the harem.
As a loving father, he can tolerate a lot, but this is the only thing he cannot accept! Li Shimin's punch can be said to have hit his weak spot firmly, making him want to do it at any cost.
Find out about this!
In the East Palace adjacent to the imperial palace, Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji had just returned after traveling all night.
After returning to their residence, the two people with haggard faces did not bother to rest. They hurriedly changed into clean clothes, then mounted their horses again and ran straight to the gates of the East Palace and the Imperial Palace.
As mentioned before, the East Palace of the Tang Dynasty is located on the east side of the palace. As long as you pass through a door, you can enter the square outside the Daxing Hall of the palace. To the north of the square, past the Xuanwu Gate, is where Li Yuan worked and rested.
The harem was also the place where they were summoned today.
With their thoughts in mind, the two rode horses one after another and quickly passed the gate between the East Palace and the Imperial City.
After arriving at the palace, Li Yuanji wanted to continue walking, but Li Jiancheng suddenly stopped.
Reining his horse, Li Jiancheng looked at the towering Daxing Palace in the distance through the fine rain and mist, frowning slightly: "Has anyone entered the palace today?"
The guard was originally from the East Palace. Hearing this, he immediately raised his hands respectfully and replied: "In reply to the prince's words, I heard that Pei Ji, Chen Shuda, Feng Deyi, Pei Ju and other adults have been ordered to enter the palace."
"What? Them? Why did my father recruit them into the palace? Could it be..."
After hearing these names, Li Yuanji, who was a little impatient, was suddenly startled and almost jumped off his horse!
He knows the names of these people very well. These are Li Yuan's closest confidants!
Now, these people don't enter the palace early or late, but they enter the palace at this juncture! Apart from that, what else can happen?!
Li Yuanji panicked, and Li Jiancheng's heart suddenly sank!
Like Li Yuanji, he never thought that his father, who had always been somewhat pedantic, would be so decisive this time! Even those ministers were recruited, not only because they were not prepared to worry about his face, but even his own face.
No more!
"Brother, what should we do now?" Li Yuanji looked at Li Jiancheng with bright and dark expressions and asked anxiously!
At this time, he already regretted agreeing to accompany Li Jiancheng to the palace today.
"Don't panic, let's go to the palace first! Let's talk about other things later!"
Li Jiancheng heard the panic in Li Yuanji's words, but years of cultivation of his character allowed him to suppress his inner anxiety and grit his teeth and move forward.
"This...hey, brother, wait for me!"
Seeing this, Li Yuanji felt helpless, and finally had no choice but to grit his teeth and follow Li Jiancheng.
As princes, Li Jiancheng and the others can ride horses in the imperial city.
After all, this palace is too big. It would be fine if you just go to court in the Daxing Hall in front. If you want to enter the harem, just walking will probably break a few of your legs.
Riding a horse through the imperial city and heading straight to the Xuanwu Gate, looking at the brightly armored Imperial Guards on both sides, Li Jiancheng felt more and more uneasy for some reason, always feeling like something was about to happen.
"Relax! As long as you insist on insisting, there is no way those concubines will confess on their own! As long as this matter persists to the end, it will definitely end in nothing, and the most I can do is be punished!"
Secretly comforting himself in his heart, Li Jiancheng took a few long breaths again to suppress the throbbing in his heart.
The uneasiness he felt just now was regarded by him as the fear that the dirty things he had done would be discovered by Li Yuan.
Xuanwu Gate.
This is the most important portal in the palace, even three points more important than the Suzaku Gate outside, so those who can guard it have always been the emperor's confidants.
At this time, Chang He, the guard of the Xuanwu Gate, was the personal guard who had been with Li Yuan when he was a guard in Taiyuan. He was also one of the people Li Yuan trusted most.
However, Li Yuan may not have thought that such a deeply trusted person would have been won over by Li Jiancheng a long time ago and became his son.
The horse quickly arrived in front of Xuanwu Gate, and the rain in the sky miraculously stopped.
Li Jiancheng shook his hair that was wet from the rain and smiled at Chang He who was covered in armor by the door.
Chang He had no expression on his face, he just slightly arched his hand towards him and asked someone to open the Xuanwu Gate.
