With Yang Yuhuan's body and the sealed edict, Cheng Yuanzhen and Li Jingzhong happily went back to resume their lives. Prince Li Hengzheng was anxious about waiting. When he saw the shadows of the two men from a distance, he immediately rode his horse to greet them and couldn't wait to ask questions.
He said: "How is the matter going? Father, has he agreed to my conditions? Who are you carrying? Is it the body of the imperial concubine?"
"Thank you for honoring your orders!" Cheng Yuanzhen and Li Jingzhong rolled off their horses and stood solemnly, holding their hands. Hearing this, Li Heng's haggard face was immediately filled with joy. He swung his stirrup off his saddle and prepared to check on the two eunuchs.
The edict came back. Before he could stand upright on the ground, a low cough came from behind, "Uh-huh! Your Highness, please slide carefully!"
"Well!" Li Heng was startled by the cough, and his brows quickly knitted into a ball. He quickly returned to normal, pushed away the edict that Cheng Yuanzhen held in his hands, and said with a sad face: "Remember when I was young?
At that time, my father would always put me in front of his desk and teach me step by step how to handle government affairs. I didn’t expect, I didn’t expect that today, between father and son, we would actually want to... Hi!"
A long sigh seemed to contain endless helplessness and desolation. The staff around him heard this and quickly bowed in unison, "Your Highness also had to do this in order to save some vitality for the Tang Dynasty. Besides, the Holy Master is old.
He is already too old and unable to cope with the chaotic current situation. In order to regain the two capitals as soon as possible and to save the common people in the world, His Highness can only put aside the family ties for the time being!"
"Alas!" Li Heng shook his head and sighed again: "I hope my father can understand Gu's painstaking efforts. When the two countries are restored one day and the world is at peace, I will go into the palace to apologize to my father and return all my powers.
It's enough to be a free prince with him!"
"Your Highness is kind!" All the civil and military staff praised in unison. Their eyes never left Cheng Yuanzhen's hands, although everyone had already memorized the content inside.
Amid everyone's expectant gazes, Li Heng slowly picked up the edict and read it "at will". The marshal of the world's soldiers and horses, the prince who oversees the country, has the power to appoint and remove all officials in the three provinces of Zhongshu, Men, and Shangshu.
In the name of the Crown Prince, government orders and military orders are issued to all parts of the country, and there is no need to submit them to the Emperor for approval and seal. You can...
It can be said that except for the Emperor's Seal, which has only symbolic meaning, he has successfully taken everything away from his father Li Longji. He no longer has to worry about his decree being rejected by his father with excuses, and he no longer has to worry about the prince.
His position was not guaranteed and he could not sleep at night.
He has been waiting for this day for eighteen years. He has grown from a young man in his prime to an old man with gray hair on his temples. Who can appreciate the ups and downs and anxiety?!
For eighteen years, he did not dare to say a word or take an extra step. He was afraid that if he was not careful, he would be pulled down by his other brothers and trampled into a pile of mud. In order to prevent his father from being suspicious of him, he once
He took the initiative to draw a clear line with the general Wang Siye and refused to save him. He took the initiative to "humbly ask for advice" from Li Linfu, took the initiative to congratulate Yang Guozhong on his birthday, and took the initiative to entertain the bride with colorful clothes, just to compete with the imperial concubine Yang Yuhuan, who was nearly 20 years younger than him.
A smile...
Now, all these forbearance and grievances have been richly rewarded. How could he not be overjoyed? But for the sake of a good reputation as a "kindhearted", he couldn't put happiness on his face, so he continued to pretend.
He pretended to be miserable, pretending that everything in the imperial edict was not what he wanted, but that he had to do it reluctantly for the sake of the common people and the Tang Empire.
Now that he has decided to continue pretending, he might as well pretend to be more thorough. After hastily scanning the imperial edict, Li Heng looked back, with an expression on his face full of compassion: "Since the imperial concubine has committed suicide according to the decree, the death of
Ye Xiao. Jingzhong, please lead someone to carry her body around the entire army, and then find a suitable place to bury her!"
"No!" Eunuch Li Jingzhong bowed to accept the order, led several followers, and hurriedly left carrying Yang Yuhuan's body.
"Cheng Jianmen, your kindness in helping me today will be unforgettable by me. I will write down the merits for now and will reward you together in the future. But there is something right now that requires you to make another trip for me!" Li Heng turned his gaze to me.
Cheng Yuanzhen, who was eager to perform, arranged with a smile.
"I am willing to do my best for Your Highness!" Cheng Yuanzhen saw that the prince called his name for the second time, and his bones were so happy that he felt a few taels lighter. He immediately bowed down and responded loudly. But there was no place to put the edict in his hand, and he almost lost it.
All fell to the ground.
"Give the edict to Chief Fish first!" Li Heng smiled tolerantly, not resenting the other party's impoliteness at all, "Take a few people and go to the hill opposite to meet Chen Xuanli. We were afraid of causing misunderstanding just now, so the Gu Faction
He was trapped in a small pavilion on the top of the mountain. Now that Yang Ni has been executed, it is also time for him to explain. I know that you have some old friendship with him, so please go and tell him that the Holy Emperor has decreed that all state affairs have been entrusted to
Gu. Please stop making unnecessary resistance. As long as he is willing to let the Longwu Army lay down their weapons and go down the mountain to surrender, Gu will definitely forgive everyone. And in the future, he will treat him like a confidant and will never add guilt easily!"
"My lord, I obey the order!" Cheng Yuanzhen saluted, handed the imperial edict to Li Heng's confidant eunuch commander Yu Chaoen, and turned around to leave.
Watching his back disappear in the crowd, Prince Li Heng felt relieved. If the prison gate general Cheng Yuanzhen had not revealed to him in advance the news that his father and Gao Lishi were preparing to depose Yang Guozhong, he would never have been able to seize today's opportunity. If the prison gate general had not informed him in advance that his father and Gao Lishi were preparing to depose Yang Guozhong.
General Cheng Yuanzhen refused to agree to himself and quietly removed all the flying dragon guards around his father. It was impossible for him to control the situation so smoothly. But the greater the contribution this person made, the harder it would be for him to reuse him. What if?
One day he repeats what he did today, and he will follow in his father's footsteps.
The only way is to let this person die in confusion. For example, when he went to persuade the general of the Longwu Army led by Chen Xuanli, he was killed in a rage by the other party. Based on the intensity of the battle between Donggong Liuliu and the Longwu Army just now,
To judge, this possibility is very high. Donggong Sixth Army suddenly attacked when the opponent came to collect military rations. With the right time, location, and people, they were unable to kill the hungry Longwu Army in one fell swoop.
.Instead, Chen Xuanli gathered two thousand remaining soldiers, broke out of the siege, and fled to the hill opposite to defend themselves.
"Your Highness is ready to surrender Chen Xuanli?" Seeing Li Heng looking at the lone army on the hillside in the distance, the old eunuch Yu Chaoen asked with a smile.
"Well, enough people have died today. I don't want to commit another murderous crime!" Li Heng did not look back, and continued to stare at the hillside in the distance. Up and down the slope, the bodies of the six soldiers of the East Palace and the Longwu Army were lying.
, there were probably thousands of people in total, and all of them died with their eyes open.
"The old slave must congratulate Your Majesty in advance!" Yu Chao Enpi smiled and lowered his voice and said, "General Chen Xuanli has always known how to judge the situation, and Cheng Yuanzhen also has some quick wit and eloquence. This time,
Maybe it can really make the remnants of the Longwu Army lay down their weapons, and earn His Highness thousands more elites and a veteran of many battles!"
"Are you serious?" Li Heng turned his head suddenly, dumbfounded. In front of so many people, he naturally couldn't say clearly that he sent Cheng Yuanzhen to persuade him to surrender. In fact, he had the intention of killing someone with a borrowed knife. He never thought that it might happen.
Self-defeating!
After assisting Li Heng for nearly thirty years, Yu Chaoen had already understood the prince's temperament. He smiled and comforted in a low voice: "It's good, Chen Xuanli has been in charge of the Emperor's Imperial Guard for more than forty years.
He is quite popular in the army. If Cheng Yuanzhen can convince him that he will sincerely come to serve, His Highness will be even more powerful!"
"Exactly, exactly like this, such a truth!" The more Prince Li Heng heard this, the more he regretted it. He really wished he could send someone to chase him and take back the order given to Cheng Yuanzhen. Chen Xuanli has been in charge of the Forbidden Army for more than 40 years, so he naturally won the favor of his father. And among others
The greater his reputation in the army, the greater the risk he will bring to himself in the future. If this person secretly contacts the forces loyal to his father in the army and strikes back at a critical moment, he and the people around him will die.
place!
"How are Your Highness going to arrange the situation for His Majesty?" Yu Chaoen was a man who didn't care about Li Heng's mood at this time.
"I haven't had time to think about it yet!" Li Heng glared at him fiercely and replied angrily. Seeing the other person's weird smile, his eyes suddenly lit up again, "Mr. Yu, does he have a good idea to teach the orphan? Please tell me quickly.
, Gu has almost gone crazy with anxiety!"
"Your Highness, why don't you ask Chen Xuanli to lead the remnants of the Longwu Army to protect His Majesty and continue his journey to Shu?" Yu Chaoen smiled, his eyes looking a little mysterious.
"Enter Shu?" Hearing this, Li Heng was stunned again. According to his original plan, even if Li Longji was not put under house arrest, he would still force the Holy Master to act with him, so as not to give other brothers the opportunity to take advantage of him.
, and also completely stopped the other party's attempt to regain power.
"His Royal Highness will lead an army to fight bloody battles with the rebels in the future. If he stays with the Holy Master, although the relationship between father and son will be taken care of, the Emperor may be exposed to the risk of encountering the enemy. It is better to ask General Chen Xuanli to protect the Emperor and take refuge in Shu.
, Firstly, it can make His Highness no longer have any worries, and secondly? Haha..." Yu Chaoen shrugged and smiled, "The other princes were more polite when they went to see the Holy Emperor, at least they no longer had to be suspicious of His Highness.
"
"This..." It took a lot of effort for Li Heng to barely understand Yu Chaoen's arrangement. He nodded and gave the other party a deep salute: "Thanks to Mr., who was beside me to give advice, I was able to leave safely.
To this day, sir, please do not refuse, please accept my respects from the king!"
"Your Highness is serious!" Yu Chaoen quickly jumped aside and returned the favor with a smile, "Your Highness himself is so blessed, and the soldiers are working diligently. Yu is just using his strength, and he really does not deserve such high praise from Your Highness.
!”
"You deserve it, you deserve it!" Li Heng repeated repeatedly, his smile full of sincerity.
The monarch and his ministers looked at each other and smiled with great satisfaction. After smiling enough, Yu Chaoen bowed his hand to Li Heng again and continued to remind: "Today's success, there is one person who takes the greatest credit. Your Highness must reward him heavily."
!”
"Are you talking about Xue Qing Jingxian?" Li Heng immediately responded correctly and replied with a smile, "If Xue Qing hadn't sent the fifty carts of food and grass in time, I wouldn't have been able to lure Long Wujun so easily.
Enter the hub, you should be rewarded, you should be rewarded. Where is Xue Qing, come up and talk. Xue Qing, where is Xue Qing? Who are you waiting for to see Xue Qing?"
Yu Chaoen just wanted to be a favor and didn't notice where Xue Jingxian went at this moment. Hearing Li Heng's question, he quickly glanced around. All the civil and military staff looked at each other, and no one could give a definite answer. They whispered to each other.
After a while, a military general dressed as a lieutenant came forward, bowed and responded: "Just now, when the last general and his brothers attacked, attacked and killed Yang Ni, he accidentally allowed Mrs. Guo Guo's carriage to escape the siege.
. Magistrate Xue was afraid of delaying His Highness’ important event, so he led dozens of people to pursue him in the direction of Chencang!”
"She's just an Israeli prostitute, how can she stir up trouble?!" When the captain mentioned Mrs. Guo Guo, Li Heng's face was filled with contempt. He suddenly noticed that Yu Chaoen was winking at him, and he was startled.
Immediately, he remembered a certain legend that was widely circulated among the royal family. He hesitated for a moment and quickly changed his words: "But Xue Qing has considered it so carefully, and he has his heart. Come, hurry up and chase Xue Jingxian with the lonely command arrow. Order
After he captured Mrs. Guo, he treated her well. You must bring Mrs. Guo to me alive!"
"Promise!" Immediately, a famous Qianniu Zhonglang general responded loudly, took the command arrow, lit up fifty East Palace guards, and chased Xue Jingxian along the official road.
The army was in turmoil, and it was not easy to find a few people. The guards chased towards Chencang until the sky turned dark. Finally, they saw Xue Jingxian's figure outside a certain forest. His official robe was in tatters, and there were holes at the base of his thighs.
There was a long bloody gash, obviously the injury was serious.
"Master Xue, the crown prince ordered that Mrs. Guo must be captured alive and not harmed!" General Qianniu Zhonglang was afraid of causing trouble, so he held his command arrow high in his hand and shouted loudly to stop.
"Is it General Zhao?"
She was captured alive, but in the end, several brothers got in without even touching her sleeves!"
"Leave it to me. How many servants does she have with her? What weapons does she hold?" Often accompanying the prince Li Heng, General Zhao Lang would inevitably look down upon Xue Jingxian, a later defector, so he jumped off his mount and walked,
Taking over the command of Minzhuang, "You guys, just block the intersection over there. You guys, the one in the brown hat, I want you to go around behind the woods and block the small bridge. Don't let the monsters."
The woman ran away from the bridge. The others are waiting here with Mr. Xue, and let’s see how Zhao brings his brothers in to get her!”
While they were talking, the guards of the East Palace had already surrounded a small forest on horseback, leaving no trace behind. Xue Jingxian did not dare to compete with the other party, so he stepped forward and whispered: "There are no servants, just Yang Guozhong's wife and
The youngest son is inside. There are only three of them in total, and two of them are injured! The official was afraid of being pushed too hard, so she took it upon herself to commit suicide, so she didn’t dare to push too hard!"
"Trash!" The lieutenant general scolded him disdainfully, jumped off his horse, and walked inside with a horizontal sword in his hand, shouting loudly: "The lady of Guo State is inside, and His Highness the Crown Prince has ordered that no one can harm you. Please."
Put down your weapons and go back with the general to apologize to His Highness. The general can guarantee that no one will dare to be disrespectful to the lady on the road!"
What answered him were two feathered arrows. Although they missed, they scared him into a cold sweat. The enemy was hidden and we were clear. General Zhao Zhonglang did not dare to go any further. He stopped and exposed half of his body behind the tree.
Zhang Mian said: "Madam, it's better not to struggle pointlessly. No matter how many arrows you have in your hand, can you kill everyone outside? Besides, the overall situation has been decided at this moment. As a prostitute, where else can you go?'"
"Don't come over, otherwise, if I shoot one to death, I'll earn one more. If I shoot two, I'll earn one more!" Yang Yuyao's eyes were red and she gritted her teeth. "You are not worthy of killing us two weak women because you have no ability to resist the rebels.
Called a man?! Don’t come over here. If you come over again, I will shoot!”
Even though he had been in the officialdom for a long time, General Zhao's face was a little red. He sighed and continued: "Zhao also acted under orders and could not help himself. Besides, my wife made great changes in Chang'an City in the past, and I don't know how many people were harmed.
If an innocent person is killed, how can you say that you are a weak woman? Come out on your own, and Zhao will promise not to let his brothers despise you. If the stalemate continues, I am afraid that even if the prince intends to be lenient to you, the brothers will
I won’t let you go easily!”
"His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, is he going to be open to me? He is so kind to me alone?" I don't know which sentence had the effect. The bow and arrow in Yang Yuyao's hand drooped slightly, but he quickly raised it. "Guozhong has been killed by you.
No, Yuhuan must not be able to escape this disaster. Your Highness the Prince only wants to let me go. What is your purpose?"
"The general really doesn't know!" General Zhao responded truthfully. "The general only knows that His Royal Highness heard that Mr. Xue was chasing you, and immediately sent the general over to save your life!"
"So, I would like to thank Your Highness!" Yang Yuyao slowly put down her horn bow and arranged her makeup at will. She was extremely beautiful. Even though her face was covered with dust and her clothes were in tatters, she could not hide her beauty. General Zhao was deeply moved by this sight.
Yang Yuyao suddenly had the intention of protecting the flowers. Before she could come out from behind the tree, Yang Yuyao had already picked up a horizontal knife from the ground and shouted loudly: "Wait a minute, let me say a few words to my sister-in-law!"
"Just do it, madam, just do it, madam!" Zhao Langjiang was awakened by the sound of shouting. He immediately remembered his mission and agreed repeatedly.
Yang Yuyao sighed softly, turned her eyes to Pei Rou, who was holding the trembling child at her feet, and whispered: "We can't escape, sister-in-law! They have already surrounded us outside, and our journey has come to an end!
"
"Yes. I know." Pei Rou is very timid, but has an extremely tough character. While trembling, she raised her head and said with a smile: "I, I have long, long ago wanted to go back to Shu, Shu. You
, your brother, your brother is reluctant to part with the glory in the capital. Now that he has left, the eggs have not been completed under the nest. I, we orphans, orphans and widows, there is no need to be insulted again...
..."
"Mrs. Guo Guo, wait a minute!" Hearing that something was wrong with Pei Rou's words, General Zhao hurriedly stepped forward. However, he saw Mrs. Guo Guo shaking her wrist and stabbed Yang Guozhong's youngest son Yang Xi to death with a sword first.
He stabbed Yang Guozhong's wife Pei Rou to death with another sword. Then he turned the sword sideways, put it on his neck, and sneered loudly: "Thank you for your kindness, Your Highness. After Yang Yuyao's death, if his soul is still alive, he will go to help Your Highness every night."
"".Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha......"
In an instant, red light splashed, like thousands of Luoyang peonies in bloom.
