Kong Ji followed Ma Fang into the palace in a hurry, walked into the main hall, and saw Shi Le sitting on the throne with a dark face, his eyes were red and bloodshot, and his hands were tightly grasping the armrests of the throne, as if he wanted to choose someone to devour.
.
Standing in the hall were the crown prince Shi Haoran, the second prince Shi Yuncheng, the privy envoy Lu Qichang, the general Fu Yong of the Cavalry, the commander-in-chief of the Tongjun Army Li Chenglie, the Minister of Household Affairs Wen Qining, and the Duzhi Secretary Leyu.
Everyone stood respectfully, with their heads slightly lowered, not daring to look at Shi Le.
The atmosphere was very depressing, and he even breathed slowly, for fear that his breathing would offend Shi Le.
Monk Kongji walked to the first seat on the left and stood. He looked at the people standing and asked, "Your Majesty, what happened?"
Kong Ji asked, breaking the silence in the hall, and everyone dared to raise their heads and look at Shi Le on the throne.
Shi Le's eyes fell on Kong Ji, with anger and accusation on his face, and he said coldly: "Zhenguo Temple was lost, and your junior brother Deshan was killed by Long Chengen on the battlefield, resulting in a loss of 200,000 troops!"
hiss...
Kong Ji was stunned, and everyone else in the hall was also shocked.
They only received an imperial edict to go to the main hall to discuss matters, but they did not know what was being discussed.
After entering the main hall, they saw Shi Le's face was dark and they did not dare to ask.
They didn't know what happened until Shi Le opened his mouth.
"How...how could this happen?"
Kong Ji couldn't help but say.
Shi Le's teeth were chattering. He was holding back, trying not to curse Kong Ji.
Deshan was good at making suggestions and attacked Jade Buddha Pass, but in the end he lost his troops and was attacked by Long Chen.
Deshan came from Zhaoti Temple and was the junior disciple of monk Kongji, but this matter had nothing to do with Kongji, and it was not Kongji's fault.
However, Shi Le just wanted to find someone to vent to and scold someone!
"I also want to know why this is the case. When I left Zhenguo Temple, I made it very clear, just let him hold on and don't act rashly."
"I have said over and over again that Long Chengen has many tricks and tricks. Once we make any move, he will take advantage of our loopholes and take advantage of us."
"I have said so much, but in the end, Deshan still made his own decisions and actually sent out an entire army to attack Jade Buddha Pass."
"Long Chengen made another sneak attack on Zhenguo Temple and succeeded again!"
"Two hundred thousand, two hundred thousand soldiers and horses are gone!"
Shi Le stood up suddenly, pointed at Kongji and yelled.
Monk Kongji looked at Shi Le who was furious and had an indescribable feeling in his heart.
He didn't feel aggrieved, nor did he defend himself. He just looked at Shi Le's accusations coldly.
Deshan is dead? Zhenguo Temple is gone? Two hundred thousand soldiers were lost?
At this moment, Kong Ji had an image of Deshan being killed in his mind...
The others didn't speak, and looked at Shi Le blankly.
"Say, you're all mute!"
Shi Le turned around and cursed at the others.
Everyone moved, took a few quick breaths, and then became quiet again, with no one speaking.
The hall fell into silence again...
Eunuch Ma Fang stood quietly next to the throne, like a clay sculpture, motionless, neither talking nor looking.
Finally, the eldest son Shi Haoran said: "Father, Zhenguo Temple has been lost, and the gate to the east of our Daxia is wide open. If Long Chengen takes the opportunity to attack, our hinterland of Daxia will not be protected."
"Moreover, Long Chengen can attack Panhe Palace from Zhenguo Temple to the south. Father..."
Shi Le liked his Panhe Palace very much. Hearing this, Shi Le became slightly more rational.
Sitting back on the throne, Shi Le took a deep breath with his eyes closed, and exhaled in a long breath.
"Give the Imperial Master a seat."
Shi Le sighed slightly, and Ma Fang immediately moved a chair and asked Monk Kongji to sit down.
Kong Ji slowly sat down.
After being scolded by Shi Le, Kong Ji was not angry. He slowly came back to his senses and began to think about how to deal with it.
Everyone said that Long Chen's words about destroying Xixia were deceptive, but now it seems that he is not.
Long Chen really planned to destroy Xixia, and he had already taken action.
Zhenguo Temple suddenly disappeared, the east door was wide open, and there was no danger to defend the east side of Xixia.
what to do...
"Tell me how to deal with it."
Shi Le felt a headache.
The others said nothing and looked at Monk Kongji.
Kong Ji said: "Your Majesty, Zhenguo Temple has been lost. What is the current situation?"
Everyone only knows that Zhenguo Temple was lost, Deshan died, and the loss was great.
No other information is known.
How did Long Chen attack Zhenguo Temple, how many soldiers and horses he brought, how many generals came, have Di Luoxi and Di Lingyi arrived?
After Long Chen attacked Zhenguo Temple, did he occupy Zhenguo Temple?
Where are the defeated soldiers now?
None of these things are clear.
Shi Le turned to Ma Fang and said, "Where is the messenger?"
Ma Fang bowed and said, "Waiting outside the palace."
After Ma Fang learned from the messenger that Zhenguo Temple was defeated, he asked the messenger to wait at the door.
He knew that Shi Le might want to ask about the situation.
"Let him in."
Shi Le ordered, and Ma Fang trotted out immediately.
After a while, a messenger came in, knelt on the ground and kowtowed to Shi Le and said: "Li Liu, the captain of the iron kite, pays his respects to the king."
Shi Le said coldly: "Tell us about the situation of Zhenguo Temple."
This messenger is Ma Xing's lieutenant.
Li Liu, the captain of Tieyaozi, explained the situation in detail, and everyone listened carefully...
"That's just the way it is."
After Li Liu finished speaking, he prostrated on the ground again and did not dare to raise his head.
Shi Le looked at Monk Kongji.
Kongji sighed slightly: "Junior brother..."
Privy Councilor Lu Qichang scolded: "Long Chengen is too cunning. I always thought he was playing with the princess in the capital, but I didn't expect that he suddenly appeared at Jade Buddha Pass."
Fu Yong, the cavalry general behind him, stroked his long beard and said: "I'm afraid this guy has been lurking in Jade Buddha Pass for a long time, just waiting for Master Deshan to send troops."
Fu Yong, the general of the Hussars, had a long beard that reached down to his abdomen. He looked a bit like Guan Yu, but he had fair skin and a tall figure. He was a handsome man from Xixia.
The prince Shi Haoran felt strange after hearing this, and asked Captain Li Liu: "Liu Lieutenant, you said that there are 50,000 defenders in Zhenguo Temple, so why did Long Chengen suddenly appear on the top of the mountain?"
"Is it possible that the Long family's army has wings and can fly up?"
Shi Le and Kong Ji didn't understand either. They had seen Zhenguo Temple before and it was built like an iron barrel.
With 50,000 troops guarding the mountain, it is almost impossible to forcefully attack Zhenguo Temple.
Not to mention appearing on the top of the mountain without anyone noticing.
Captain Li Liu said in embarrassment: "My lords, even the younger ones don't know. We are all wondering why Long Chengen can go up there."
Everyone looked at each other and couldn't understand why.
At this time, Kongji spoke.
"Long Cheng'en has been well prepared. He dug a secret tunnel under the mountain of Zhenguo Temple and sneaked into Zhenguo Temple through the secret tunnel."
Monk Kongji finally figured it out.
Shi Le frowned and said, "It's impossible. If he dug a secret tunnel, we would definitely find it when we were building fortifications."
Monk Kongji smiled bitterly and said: "Long Chengen is very thoughtful. He must have expected that we would build a fortress. His secret passage must be very deep and secret."
"Last year, he captured Zhenguo Temple and built some houses and temples on the mountain."
"We had no money at the time, so we left them without demolishing them. If the poor monk had predicted correctly, he would have sneaked into the top of the mountain through those houses."
"This guy is sure that we have no money. He is sure that we will keep those houses."
"He was ready last year and was just waiting for the time to come."
"We've fallen into a trap!"
After hearing this, Shi Le felt very regretful.
At that time, we should not have been greedy for cheap, we should have demolished the houses and rebuilt them.
At that time, he was thinking of using money to build the Panhe Palace, and Zhenguo Temple could save a little bit.
It was because of this that I fell into Long Chen's trap.
"Hi!"
Shi Le suddenly raised his hand and slapped it on the armrest, filled with regret.
Everyone shook their heads and cursed Long Chen for being too cunning.
"Father, the deal is done. It's useless to talk more. We have to think about how to take back Zhenguo Temple."
The second prince Shi Yuncheng saw that everyone was scolding Long Chen, and it was of no use at all.
The most important thing to consider at this time is how to recapture Zhenguo Temple.
Shi Le asked: "What is the plan of the national master?"
