Li Pu seemed to have been hit hard in the chest. He sat down on the Taishi chair, his mouth was trembling, he pointed at Li Zhigao and asked, "Did you know anything a long time ago?"
Li Pu is mediocre, but he is not a complete idiot.
Yang En's intention of crossing the river was unclear at this time. Li Zhigao coaxed him to come to Liyang City to meet Yang En, but Wen Ruilin was frightened and ran away at this time. How could it be a coincidence?
Even when he rushed to Chaozhou City to supervise the battle before noon, Li Zhigao found an excuse to separate him from Wen Ruilin.
At Deng Tai's signal, several attendants in the hall walked out of the small hall, stood in the corridor and closed the door.
The oil lamp was beeping and burning, and the light in the hall was dim.
Seeing that besides himself, only Yang En, Deng Tai, and Li Zhigao were left in the small hall, Li Pu asked with trembling lips, "What are you going to do?"
"The Queen Mother has a secret edict here. Please ask Duke Chang to accept the edict!" Yao Xishui walked out of the back room and stared at Li Pu with his beautiful eyes.
"The Queen Mother is just..." Li Pu said sternly. How could he not know that the Queen Mother Wang Chan'er was just a puppet under the control of Lu Qingxia? How could he be willing to be controlled by the Queen Mother's decree?
"Father,"
Li Zhigao suddenly shouted, cut off Li Pu's words, pressed the handle of the knife with his exposed hand, took a few steps forward, stared at Li Pu sternly, and said in a gloomy voice,
"Wen Ruilin was an enemy, and he lured his father into giving advice, which led to the tragic destruction of the navy. This fact has become clear, and it also proves that the child's previous suspicions about him were correct. Liang Jun and Shouzhou Army are likely to have a bigger conspiracy waiting.
We, if the matter is urgent, the child cannot consult with his father and then persuade His Majesty to change his mind. He can only rely on his power to ask the Queen Mother to give him an edict and use it cheaply. If the father feels that the child has done something wrong, please kill the child with a knife!"
Li Zhigao immediately took off the sword from his waist, handed it to the case, and then knelt down in front of the case, his eyes still staring at Li Pu eagerly.
Seeing the murderous look in Li Zhigao's eyes, Li Pu was horrified and looked at Li Zhigao blankly.
Li Pu slumped back into the Grand Master's chair. At this moment, he finally realized that Li Zhigao had long been won over by Lu Qingxia.
Not only him, the funny thing is that Yang Yuanpu has always regarded him as a confidant and trusted him, and also handed over the military power of the Huaixi Forbidden Army into his hands.
"The Empress Dowager issued an edict: Your Majesty was young and energetic, but was deceived by traitors and acted rashly. As a result, the Five Tooth Army on the left and right suffered catastrophe and suffered heavy casualties. All the vehicles and ships were destroyed. The capital had no shield. One hundred thousand forbidden troops hung alone in the north of the Yangtze River. It has been cast.
Big mistake. However, at this time, I ignored the safety of the Chu State, did not consider the plans of Liang Jun and the rebels, and forced the Huaixi Forbidden Army to attack Chaozhou City. This is not a far-sighted decision. Li Zhigao saw this edict..."
As the female official of the Changchun Palace, Yao Xishui's Qingyue voice revealed a bit of sharpness as she read out the Queen Mother's edict.
No matter how stupid Li Pu is, he still understands what kind of premeditation he is facing.
As for whether Wen Ruilin really escaped, or whether he was quietly killed by Deng Tai, it is irrelevant at this time.
In short, as a traitor who deceived His Majesty, he must bear all the blame for the heavy damage to the Dachu Navy.
"With the destruction of the Da Chu Navy, even if we capture Chaozhou City, when the Liang Army and the Shouzhou Army march southward, we will still be surrounded by the enemy on the north bank because the Yangtze River waterway will be cut off by the remnants of the Lou Chuan Army.
," Li Zhigao leaned forward, stared at Li Pu, and said, "In addition to the Queen Mother's orders for me to use things for my own convenience, she also ordered the Marquis of Qianyang to transfer Xuzhou Shuiying to the east. How can my father still not see it at this time?
Can you reveal the enemy’s plot?”
"You are willing to seek skin from a tiger, whether I can see through it or not, what difference does it make?" Li Pu said dejectedly.
He still did not believe that Wen Ruilin was an enemy. He was more inclined to believe that what he saw before him was more likely that Lu Qingxia, Li Zhigao, Yao Xishui and others conspired with Han Qian to take advantage of the collapse of the navy to carry out military rebellion.
Since Yang Yuanpu took office, in addition to being suspicious of Han Qian in every possible way, he also tried his best to restrict Lu Qingxia and others from using the hands of the Queen Mother Wang Chan'er to interfere in politics.
Lu Qingxia and Yao Xishui finally colluded with Han Qian. Li Pu was not particularly surprised, but he never expected that Li Zhigao had been won over by Lu Qingxia.
What else could he say at this time?
He didn't even have any room to struggle at this time.
When he left Zhuyu Bay in Yangzhou in a hurry, he handed over all his bodyguards to Li Xiu, and Li Qi led him to Zhongli to support him. He took ten bodyguards and followed Zheng Chang back to Jinling.
This time when he crossed the river to deliver the message, he was still accompanied by only a dozen guards, Wen Ruilin and others.
At this time, in Liyang City, in addition to the two thousand elite imperial troops who obeyed Li Zhigao's orders, Li Zhigao was also surrounded by more than two hundred elite cavalry at all times.
Not to mention that Deng Tai in this hall is a rare brave general in the army. Yao Xishui is even better at assassination. He can struggle. What can he resist?
Yao Xishui looked at Li Zhigao with her beautiful eyes.
If possible, she still hoped to persuade Li Pu to act according to the Queen Mother's secret edict.
It's not that she misses her old relationship, the main thing is that Li Pu's cooperation can reduce some unnecessary but potentially fatal chaos.
She hoped that the true story behind Han Qian's surrender in Wuling City would be revealed right now in front of Li Pu and Yang En.
Li Zhigao ignored Yao Xishui and said to Li Pu in a deep voice:
"My father may still suspect that I sent someone to kill Wen Ruilin and frame him as an enemy. However, Wen Ruilin fled north. Once he reunites with Xu Mingzhen's 20,000 elite cavalry in Longji Mountain in the southwest of Haozhou, he will inevitably die.
They will immediately insert themselves into the Yandun Mountain and Bieziding areas to cut off the right Shenwu Army's retreat route to the south. At the same time, Wen Ruilin is between the enemy, and Gao Long was persuaded by Wen Ruilin to surrender in Tanzhou.
Miao Yong and other Tanzhou generals are also very likely to have problems. If my father is still stubborn, then Yang Houye and I will go back to the Chaozhou camp first. Tomorrow afternoon, my father may be able to verify whether what Zhigao said today is true or false!
"
Li Pu raised his head in shock.
In addition to the soldiers and horses led by Chai Jian in Shaozhou, the Youshenwu Army stranded in Zhongli County at this time can be said to be the foundation for the merger of the Duke of Changguo and the Prince of East Zhejiang after the separation of Wanhonglou.
Leaving aside Chen Mingsheng, Xu Jing and others, Li Chong, Li Qi are his direct sons, Li Xiu is his direct nephew, and there are three to four hundred descendants of the Li family, almost all of whom are in Zhongli at this time.
If Li Zhigao and the others did not lie about Wen Ruilin, once the Youshenwu Army was really cut off from their retreat by the Shouzhou Army cavalry, the consequences would be unimaginable.
"The Duke of Guo was only deceived by his enemies, but he is loyal to Chu and His Majesty, which is known to both the government and the public..." Yang En also knew the importance of persuading Li Pu and persuaded him.
Li Pu is not stupid. He is following Li Zhigao and acting under the Queen Mother's secret order. Yang Yuanpu will not spare him. Shen Yang, Yang Zhitang and others will resent him. In addition, he will be responsible for the destruction of the navy. What will happen afterwards?
What good results will there be?
Of course, he also knew in his heart that if Li Zhigao, Yang En and Han Qian succeeded in conspiring to change the palace, he would not end well if he did not obey the imperial edict.
It didn't matter to him whether to obey the imperial edict or not, but whether Wen Ruilin would be an enemy was a matter of life and death for Li Chong, Li Qi, Li Xiu and hundreds of other Li family members. Li Pu couldn't help but think about it.
.
Taking a step back, even if Wen Ruilin is not an enemy, he still needs to consider whether Lu Qingxia, with his ruthlessness, will directly withdraw the main force of the Huaixi Forbidden Army from outside Chaozhou City and then use the excuse of rebellion if he does not surrender.
Get rid of the right Shenwu army with the help of the army...
Thinking of this, Li Pu sighed softly and said: "It was indeed Wen Ruilin who suggested that the main force of the navy attack the remnants of the Lou Fleet Army to seize Haozhou. I did not distinguish between loyalty and disloyalty. Perhaps this was the reason why the navy was defeated in Hongzepu...
…”
Seeing that Li Pu's tone relaxed, Li Zhigao said: "At this time, my father and Zhigao jointly signed an order and rushed to Zhongli to report the news. There may be a chance of detaining Gao Long and asking the You Shenwu Army to withdraw south in time."
Not to mention Li Xiu, Li Chong, Li Qi and other children of the Li family. As the commander of the Youshenwu Army, Chen Mingsheng also believed that Li Pu was obedient. Li Zhigao needed a letter signed by him and Li Pu in order to ask Chen Mingsheng and the others to ignore the previous orders.
According to the imperial edict, Gao Long was detained as ordered, and then he directly led the right Shenwu army to retreat southward.
Of course, the more important thing is that doing this is equivalent to Li Pu and Li Zhigao standing together, directly ignoring Yang Yuanpu's imperial edict, giving up the plan to storm Chaozhou City, and instead acting in accordance with the Queen Mother's secret edict.
"Maybe this is all I have left, right?" Li Pu couldn't help but feel a little depressed at sunset. He took off the seal from his waist and said to Li Zhigao, "You can draft a military order and I will sign it and use the seal."
Li Zhigao immediately drafted an order letter. In order to prevent a small group of enemy troops from sneaking in, he specially drafted two order letters. After signing the security seal with Li Pu, he divided the people into two groups and prepared their horses as quickly as possible.
He rushed through the night to Zhongli, two hundred and thirty to forty miles away, to deliver the message.
As soon as things happened here, Li Zhigao rushed to the Chaozhou camp with Li Pu, Yang En, Yao Xishui and others without stopping, surrounded by many guards. He was worried that after tonight, the situation would completely change.
…………
…………
Although there are official roads connecting Liyang, passing through Chuzhou City, and rushing from the southeast side of the Wujian Mountains to Zhongli, it was extremely overcast and dark at night, with seven or eight messengers holding torches high and galloping on their horses.
adventure.
If you are not careful, if the horse's hoof steps into a pothole, the horse's hoof may be broken directly. If a person falls off the horse, at least the nose will be bruised, the face will be swollen, and even the bones and limbs may be broken.
However, the military orders were overwhelming. Li Zhigao ordered both groups of people to rush to deliver the secret letter to the right Shenwu Army Chen Mingsheng before dawn. No one dared to slack off at all.
Even though the horses under their legs were timid in the dark night, they frequently whipped them to urge the horses to move faster.
"Whoosh whoosh!"
The dense arrows suddenly shot towards me like sharp wind.
When they were caught off guard, three people were shot down immediately. The remaining four people saw ten figures galloping out of the dark wilderness on the left and right, all riding fast horses to the official road to surround them. They expected that there must be an ambush on the road ahead. In a hurry,
He could only turn back and run back the way he came.
But before they could gallop thirty or forty steps, a dozen more black shadows galloped out from the woods behind them, blocking their retreat, and arrows were shot from all directions like locusts...
Wen Ruilin and Lei Jiuyuan walked out of the woods. The sudden fight was coming to an end, and less than a cup of tea had passed.
Of the seven messenger cavalry who galloped out of Liyang City, no one escaped and they were all killed ruthlessly.
"As Mr. Wen expected, these people are the messengers sent by Li Zhigao to Liyang." A knight wearing a black cloak handed a secret letter found from the deceased to Lei Jiuyuan, Wen
Ruilin looks at it.
"How could I have leaked the flaw?"
Although Su Hongyu crossed the river to visit Li Zhigao at the Chaozhou camp yesterday, Wen Ruilin, who had arranged for people to keep an eye on Li Zhigao's movements from beginning to end, became suspicious; and today, after Li Zhigao found an excuse to separate him from Li Pu, he was too brave and
Deng Tai, who was not delicate enough, came over to trick him into going to Liyang. He decisively escaped from the Chaozhou camp, but he still didn't understand when he showed his weakness.
If Li Pu, Li Zhigao and others had already guessed his true identity, then how could the Chu navy navy step into their carefully designed death trap without hesitation?
If he had not noticed it before, and even under his instigation, Li Pu rushed back to Jinling City to admonish Yang Yuanpu for attacking Chaozhou City, he would have been sure that he had not exposed any flaws in front of Li Pu at this time. Why did he follow Li Pu across the river?
After that, in just three days, someone saw through his trap?
However, no matter how confused he was, he still expected that Li Zhigao and Duke Li Pu of Chang Kingdom would see through him for whatever reason, or someone else would remind him, but after seeing him "fleeing in fear of crime", they would probably do it for the first time.
Immediately, someone was sent from Liyang to notify the You Shenwu Army stationed at Zhongli to be on alert.
So after he met up with Lei Jiuyuan who led a small group of elite scouts to lurk in the barren mountains north of Chaozhou City, in addition to sending people to see Xu Mingzhen to report the news, they directly divided into two groups and rushed to the two routes from Liyang to Zhongli.
Stay on the road that must be passed.
Although from Liyang to the north, even if there are hills and mountains, they are all very low, but if you ride a fast horse to deliver messages at night, you can only take the post road or the official road.
If a horse is traveling through potholes, fields and woods that have been abandoned for a long time, firstly, the speed cannot be fast, and secondly, if the speed is slightly faster, everyone will inevitably get bruises and bruises or broken bones and limbs, and the purpose of urgent communication cannot be achieved at all.
At this time, he found the secret letter signed by Li Zhigao and Li Pu from the courier's arms. It only said that he and Gao Long might be enemies and had fled in fear of crime. He asked Chen Mingsheng to discuss secretly with Li Xiu and Li Chong, and immediately detained Gao Long.
Lead the Shenwu Army on the right and the remnants of the Navy to retreat southward, be careful that the Shouzhou Army will march eastward to intercept them.
The problem Wen Ruilin was confused about was still not solved by this secret letter.
