Li Zhigao was so shocked that he sat on the spot, speechless for a long time.
Deng Tai, the commander of Li Zhigao's bodyguard, looked at Yao Xishui and Li Zhigao's face. After careful inspection, he confirmed that there were some similarities, but it was hard for him to believe that Li Zhigao and Yao Xishui were related by blood, and it was even harder to believe.
They were actually descendants of the clan left over from the previous dynasty.
If Li Zhigao was a descendant of the former clan and was a general under Li Pu during his lifetime, who was Li Zhigao's biological father, Deng Shiru?
Besides, Deng Shiru died in battle and Li Zhigao was already fifteen years old when he passed to Li Pu. The previous dynasty had not yet been destroyed. If Li Zhigao was really a descendant of the clan, was it necessary to go to such great lengths to remain anonymous at that time? Madam Bu said this
How deep does the chess piece have to be?
Besides, Li Zhigao had no memory of these past events or his own life experience. He should have been sent to Deng Shiru's home to be raised as his biological son before he was three years old, which was almost thirty years ago.
Thirty years ago, Zhaozong of the previous dynasty had just died of illness, and Xizong had just succeeded to the throne, right?
What kind of secret is hidden behind this?
"Madam said that just based on the birthmarks, the eldest brother would probably have doubts in his heart." Yao Xishui could see the huge shock and doubts in Li Zhigao and Deng Tai's hearts. His beautiful cheeks locked the inner turmoil and continued, "Deng Gong was really
He was a leader of the Shenling Division lurking in the Jianghuai Army. This was a handwritten letter he left with his wife during his lifetime. It contained the reason why the Shenling Division hid his eldest brother in his house before the previous dynasty was destroyed. When Deng Gong died in battle, the eldest brother
He is also fifteen years old, and I believe I still have Mr. Deng’s family letters in my hand. I can take them out to check the handwriting..."
Yao Xishui took a sandalwood box next to the piano table, opened it, took out an old handwritten letter with stains and yellowing pages, and handed it to Li Zhigao.
At the end of the previous dynasty, the two emperors Zhaozong and Xizong died, which lasted for more than forty years. When Zhaozong was young, he made new plans and there were signs of reviving the previous dynasty. The Shenling Division was secretly established by Zhaozong in the name of repairing the mausoleum.
Historical records record that Zhaozong died of illness in the palace, but in fact Zhaozong died at the hands of Taizu of the Liang Kingdom.
Although after the death of Zhaozong, Xizong succeeded to the throne and continued the reign of the previous dynasty for more than twelve years, Xizong had almost completely become a puppet controlled by Liang Taizu, who was granted the title of King of Liang at that time, and a tool in the hands of King Liang to order the princes of the world.
That's all; at that time, all the clans became livestock raised by Liang Taizu, and almost all of them were under the supervision of Liang Taizu.
At that time, the Guanzhong and Heluo areas, which were the early foundations, had already been beaten to pieces by various groups competing for victory.
The Shence Army, which was once regarded as a barrier by the former clan, was forced to retreat into Sichuan and Shu by Liang Jun but did not want to make progress. No generals thought of retaking Guanzhong and saving the imperial family. Instead, they fell into a chaotic situation of fighting for power and endless fighting in Sichuan and Shu.
Among them, when Wang Jian won in the end and occupied Sichuan and Shu, he didn't even know what the previous dynasty was.
When Zhaozong was killed by poison, Shenlingsi had already realized that the previous dynasty's destruction was irreversible. As Zhaozong's direct grandson and the youngest son of Princess Lu who was only two years old, Li Zhigao was immediately sent to lurk in the Jianghuai army.
The battalion commander sent Deng Shiru to foster him at home.
In order to deceive others, Deng Shiru's son Deng Tai, who was only three years old at the time, was sent to the secret base of Shenlingsi, where he and other orphans adopted by Shenlingsi underwent hard and cruel training from an early age...
After reading the handwriting left by Deng Shiru during his lifetime, not to mention Li Zhigao, Deng Tai, his close confidant behind him, also stood stunned on the spot, as if he had been struck by lightning. It was hard to believe that Li Zhigao's "biological father" Deng Shiru was actually
His biological father, and he is not an orphan without a father and mother?
Isn't this too ridiculous?
Li Zhigao looked back at Deng Tai with difficulty. In fact, some old people in Xinchanghou Mansion and Wanhonglou often said that Deng Tai and his "biological father" were quite similar during his lifetime. Some people joked that Deng Tai was his biological father who was looking for flowers and Liuliu outside.
I didn't expect that the truth would be so cruel and ridiculous.
"Deng Gong made such a big sacrifice. Both father and son are closely guarding the elder brother. I believe that the elder brother can understand what Deng Gong's last wish is." Yao Xishui said.
Li Zhigao felt like he was carrying a mountain, which was weighing him down. After a while, he asked with difficulty: "You said you are also a descendant of the early clan. I wonder which lineage you are from?"
"Eighteen years ago, Liang Taizu imprisoned King Lu. Cui Hao and other princes and ministers from the previous dynasty killed him at Baima Post, and then launched an army to plunder the city. There was a fire in King Lu's palace that night. Princess Lu died in humiliation. Her children, heirs, and slaves were all over 300 people.
Burned in a fire, history records call it the 'Baima Post Disaster'. What is not recorded in the history books is that a five-year-old baby girl hid in the latrine for five days and five nights that night, and finally escaped the disaster when his wife arrived," Yao
Xi Shui said expressionlessly, "My eldest brother's mother is Princess Rong of Lu, and my mother is Princess Yao, the concubine of Prince Lu..."
At this moment, Li Zhigao's heart seemed to be stabbed hard by something. Is Yao Xishui his half-sister?
It's hard to imagine how painful life memories a five-year-old girl must have experienced back then. It's no wonder that when she was brought back by Madam, she spent several years silently practicing her sword skills.
"Husband, do you think that Xi Shui has been calling you big brother all these years because of hypocrisy?" Su Hongyu also asked softly with tears in her eyes.
Li Zhigao raised his head to prevent the tears in his eyes from overflowing. How could he have imagined that there were such twists and turns behind all this? How could he have known that Xi Shui, who was ten years younger than him, was carrying such a heavy burden, yet he still kept it secret.
How many years has he had?
"Brother, are you willing to tell Xishui now that Deng Tai heard what Han Qian said when he went to Xuzhou this time?" Yao Xishui asked.
Li Zhigao saw that Yao Xishui didn't believe what he said before was the truth and thought that he had concealed something before. At this time, he further told the truth: "I asked Deng Tai to go to Xuzhou in the hope that Xuzhou would insist on my use of troops against Yongzhou to solve the problem."
The Secretary of State tried to save the trouble in the south so that he could completely free up his troops and clean up the situation on the northern front, but Deng Tai was blocked by Tian Cheng in Qianyang and was driven back, and indeed he did not see Han Qian."
"This doesn't make sense?" Yao Xishui asked hesitantly.
When Li Zhigao saw what Yao Xishui said, he knew that before Yao Xishui came over, his wife had already anticipated his reaction, and seemed to believe that Xuzhou would definitely respond to his request.
After all, everyone had always thought that he was the adopted son of Xinchang Marquis Li Pu, and an irreparable rift had formed between the two parties during the Xiangzhou military remonstrance jointly initiated by him and Han Qian; this also resulted in the conflict between him and Han when faced with the suppression of the Shenling Division.
Qian's position must be consistent.
Li Zhigao was puzzled as to why Han Qian refused to see him!
"That's true." Deng Tai said at this time.
"Are there any other abnormalities over there in Qianyang?" Yao Xishui asked.
"No." Deng Tai shook his head and said.
"Brother, what do you think Han Qian means?" Yao Xishui looked at Li Zhigao and asked.
Li Zhigao shook his head and said: "You also know that I think very highly of myself, but Han Qian is one of the top three or five people in this world. I can't see through him - I guessed before that he might just sit back and watch. The situation is in chaos, and we are selling it at a price, which is just a theory and cannot be taken seriously."
"Yes, even if he does not support the use of troops against Yongzhou at this time, there is no need not to see the people sent by his elder brother." Yao Xishui thought hard and puzzled.
Deng Tai looked at Yao Xishui and asked: "Since the Governor and you are brothers and sisters, and also orphans of the previous dynasty, why doesn't Madam support the Governor against Yongzhou and share the military power with the Governor at this time?"
"Madam said that Zheng Yu, Zheng Chang, and Shen Yang are not that easy to fool, let alone Han Qian." Yao Xishui said.
In fact, Shen Yang and Yang Yuanpu were too unstable this time and directly chose to compromise. In addition, Xuzhou also remained silent. It can be said that the plan to use troops in Yongzhou was completely bankrupt.
Li Zhigao remained silent and did not say a word.
At this time, a military academy came over to report something. When they saw Li Zhigao and Deng Tai standing in the backyard pavilion with strange expressions, they were slightly startled before they came forward to report: "Several people in the army deserted and fled. At this time, Cao Cao was caught. At the Junjun's place, Cao Senjun sent his last general over to ask the commander how to deal with it. Cao Senjun said that if we don't deal with these soldiers severely, the morale of the army may not be stable!"
"Why, did the Shaozhou Army also have Longque Army generals who absconded and returned to Jinling?" Yao Xishui asked.
"Yes." Li Zhigao nodded helplessly.
Although during the Jinling Incident, the family members of the main generals of the Longque Army in Jinling basically escaped successfully, and were sent back to Yueyang in batches without any danger afterwards. The generals were relatively mentally stable, but the family members of ordinary soldiers There are still more than 40,000 people staying in Jinling.
In the situation where Jinling, Chizhou, and Jiangzhou were controlled by the soldiers and horses of Anning Palace, it was impossible for so many women, children, and children to evacuate across thousands of miles to the west of Ezhou.
This group of women, children, and children represents almost a quarter of the elite soldiers of the Dragon Bird Army.
After Xinchang Hou Li Pu was used as bait by King Xin, and the seven thousand elites gathered in Jinling and Runzhou were severely damaged, the minds of the elite generals and soldiers involved in the armies became extremely unstable.
This is also the fundamental reason why Emperor Tianyou combined the government military system and the ministry military system to implement the military government in various places, which is to weaken the general's control over the soldiers.
In the past ten days or so, nearly a hundred people from the garrison in Jiufeng City, Wuzhi Ridge, and Shizi Ridge have fled out with their armor, but many of them were caught by the patrolling generals; he believed that the right troops stationed in Yueyang and Tanzhou The Dragon Bird Army and the Five Tooth Army probably also had some generals who deserted and left the camp.
However, Li Zhigao never had the heart to deal with these people severely.
This time, Li Zhigao also couldn't bear to be harsh on those family members who had deserted and left the camp because they were worried about their family's safety. He ordered the primary school commander who came to report the news: "Tell Cao Canjun to imprison these people for the time being. Don't embarrass them first. Wait. We’ll deal with it after some time.”
Yao Xishui knew that Li Zhigao was sometimes soft-minded, but she would not point fingers or say anything on such matters. After all, Li Zhigao's abilities were better than hers, Li Chong, Chai Jian, Zhou Yuan and others. There was too much force. It was because Li Zhigao decisively chose to cooperate with Han Qian when he was in Xiangzhou to prevent the fatal mistakes they made at that time, so that they did not lose everything.
Today, he learned that his life experience contained such a shocking secret. When he left the primary school, Li Zhigao was mentally exhausted and extremely tired. He stood up and asked Hongyu to arrange for Xi Shui to rest in the side hospital first. He would wait until tomorrow to talk about anything else, but
He stood up, a thought flashed through his mind, and asked Deng Tai: "Has anyone in Xuzhou recently passed through Xuefeng Mountain and Shaozhou to sneak into Hengzhou?"
"It hasn't been found yet. What's wrong?" Deng Tai asked doubtfully.
"It's not that Han Qian didn't see you, it's that he wasn't in Xuzhou!" Li Zhigao said, patting his thigh.
"How is it possible? He is not in Xuzhou. Where has he gone?" Yao Xishui asked in shock.
"He went to Jinling!" Li Zhigao said.
"How is that possible?" Yao Xishui still couldn't wrap his mind around it. He didn't know how Li Zhigao's thoughts suddenly jumped to this point.
"There are nearly a hundred generals in our army who are missing their families and have fled on missions. There are also a group of Zuosi scouts and sons in Xuzhou. Their parents and children stayed in Jinling. How is it possible that none of them fled back to Jinling?" Li Zhigao asked rhetorically.
Yao Xishui now understood why Li Zhigao had such a guess.
If someone from Xuzhou deserts and returns to Jinling and disperses, it is definitely impossible to take a boat via the Yuanshui River and the Yangtze River to Jinling - for an individual, it is difficult to get a boat, and it is difficult to hide his whereabouts after getting on the boat.
The road will get more twisty.
It is a shortcut to cross Xuefeng Mountain, go to Hengzhou via Shaozhou, then pass through Yuanzhou and Hongzhou and take the overland road back to Jinling.
Under the training of Han Qian, Zuo Si scout, the disciples were very familiar with the mountains and geography, and knew how to disperse back to Jinling.
Shaozhou didn't notice anyone dispersed across the border, which was an abnormal phenomenon in itself.
Either Han Qian controlled all the people who were prone to desertion, or Han Qian concentrated on arranging for these people to sneak back to Jinling by waterway and boat; in this case, there would be no need to go by land.
Combined with the fact that Han Qian refused to see the people sent by Li Zhigao at this time, it is indeed possible that Han Qian would personally lead these people to Jinling at this time.
"What can he do if he goes to Jinling at this time?" Su Hongyu asked in confusion.
Yao Xishui was also convinced by Li Zhigao's speculation, but deep down he was even more shocked and confused. As Su Hongyu asked, why was Han Qian going to Jinling at this time?
Yao Xishui then thought of a possibility, looked at Li Zhigao hesitantly, and asked: "Is Han Qian going to Jinling here to win over the military morale of the Longque Army generals who have young family members staying in Jinling?"
"It is indeed possible that he was excluded from Yueyang by the concubine and his wife, and his influence on His Highness Prince Tan was increasingly weakened. He was unwilling to do so. If the marquis, he would not dare to lead the remaining troops to stay in Runzhou for shelter.
There are more than 40,000 generals with small families. Han Qian appears in Runzhou at this time. Even if he can only bring out 800 people, all the generals who have small families staying in Runzhou will be grateful to him.
At that time, the generals of the Longque Army were dissatisfied with the Marquis and called on Han Qian to come out. This would naturally become his biggest basis for returning to the core of Yueyang!" As a core disciple trained by Shenling Division, Deng Tai could be used by Li Zhigao as a direct henchman.
Naturally, his knowledge is not any worse than that of Yao Xishui, and the impression that Han Qian is deep in the city, good at swordsmanship and using dangerous tactics has long been deeply imprinted in his mind.
Li Zhigao said nothing, but in his heart he may not agree with Yao Xishui and Deng Tai's judgment.
Although his intuition told him that Han Qian must have gone to Jinling, and although Yao Xishui and Deng Tai's guesses seemed very reasonable, he always felt that he had underestimated Han Qian's situation.
After all, based on the foundation of Xuzhou, if Han Qian really wants to return to the core of Yueyang, there are many other ways. There is no need to take such risks, but he also can't understand why Han Qian must go to Jinling in person, and what can Han Qian do in Jinling?
"Mr. Han serves the country and the people, and he is sincere. However, at this time, the Anning Palace is publicizing things like Mr. Han's admonitions to drive away hungry people, etc., in order to slander his name. Even in the Longque Army, there are many low-level generals who have misunderstandings. Han Qian is leaving.
Jinling, maybe it was his father's intention to rectify his name?" Although Su Hongyu also felt that Han Qian went to Jinling to help the young Longquejun family who was stranded in Runzhou, her speculation on Han Qian's motives was different from that of Yao Xishui and Deng Tai.
.
"Epidemic Water Shu" was written by Han Daoxun. At this time, only a very limited number of people knew about it, but most of the people who knew about it would not publicize it, and even kept a tacit understanding of it; in fact, from the time when the feudal clan was reduced
After the victory of the war, many people worried that the political reputation of Han Daoxun and Han Qian, the father and son, was too high.
"I won't spend the night here anymore. I'll rush back to Yueyang." Yao Xishui said.
"Xishui, you must not reveal Han Qian's whereabouts. Just pretend that this never happened; we don't need to be Han Qian's enemies!" Li Zhigao saw that Yao Xishui didn't want to stay overnight in Jiufeng City so late, so he left at night.
Man, raised his head and said in surprise.
"Although you and I are orphans of the clan, my wife still has the final say in everything at this time, and everything should be decided by her," Yao Xishui pointed at the suicide note left by Deng Shiru in Li Zhigao's hand and said, "And this letter is in addition to
Madam, only the four of us have seen it. Even if we must be enemies with Han Qian, it is Madam and I, and it has nothing to do with eldest brother - eldest brother wouldn’t think of detaining me, would he?”
Li Zhigao frowned in pain. Too many things tonight made him so confused that he could not understand the changes and direction of the future situation.
Yao Xishui stood in the pavilion for a while. Seeing that Li Zhigao remained silent for a long time, she turned around and walked out of the pavilion.
She didn't know Han Qian's power and cunningness, but she was different from Li Zhigao. She saw hundreds of people in Prince Lu's palace perished in the sea of fire with her own eyes.
The scene from that year was engraved into the depths of her soul like a brand.
