At the end of the Sui Dynasty

Chapter 673 Luoyang Twelve Hours

It didn't snow on New Year's Eve, but it was very cold. In this day of family reunion, Wang Shiyun, the internal historian, rarely left the palace and returned home to reunite with his relatives. It was also rare for Empress Dowager Liu Liangdi to be at ease for one night. She ordered After making a sumptuous table of food and wine and sending it to the emperor's bedroom, he couldn't wait to have a reunion dinner with his son Yang Tong before dark.

It has been a long time since Liu Liangdi had dinner with her son, one reason is that both mother and son have been restricted in their personal freedom, and the other reason is that she feels ashamed and dare not face her son Yang Tong.

"Your Majesty, these are your favorite foods, eat more!" Liu Liangdi kept adding vegetables to her son Yang Tong's bowl, with a flattering smile on his face, but the latter didn't appreciate it, his expression was indifferent, and he didn't have the slightest thought. It means to move the chopsticks.

"Dong'er, what's the matter, are you uncomfortable?" Liu Liangdi asked with concern, while reaching out to touch Yang Tong's forehead, the latter pushed her hand away and said coldly, "Don't use your dirty hands." touch me."

Liu Liangti withdrew his hand in embarrassment, his face turned slightly pale, his nose was sore, and he took out his handkerchief and silently wiped away his tears.Yang Tong frowned, and said disgustedly: "It's bad luck to cry during Chinese New Year. I want to cry back to your palace and stop pretending to be pitiful here."

Hearing her son's unfeeling words, Liu Liangdi felt even more sad from it, and burst into tears and said: "Dong'er, I don't want to be a mother, but my arms can't beat my thighs, now we are orphans and widowed, we have no one to rely on, and we are destined to die." Hanging in the hands of others is at stake. If my mother does not make sacrifices, how can we save our lives? My mother just wants us to have a better life, to have food and clothing, not to go hungry, not to be cold That’s all, is this wrong? Others don’t understand it as a mother, so why don’t you pay attention to your mother’s painstaking efforts? Since you think your mother is dirty, then just leave her. Dong’er eat slowly, don’t starve body."

After Liu Liangdi finished speaking, she stood up, wiped her tears, and was about to leave, but Yang Yu slammed his head on the table, making a loud bang, his forehead, which hadn't healed from hitting the wall a few days ago, was broken again, and blood flowed.

Liu Liangdi was shocked, and hugged her son desperately. Mother Zheng and several court ladies also rushed forward to help, bandaging Yang Tong's wound with all their might.

Liu Liangdi cried anxiously: "Dong'er, if you blame your mother, you will blame your mother, why should you demean your own body."

Yang Tong's eyes were red, tears streaming down his face: "Dong'er didn't blame mother, Dong'er just blamed himself for being incompetent, not only couldn't protect mother, but also made mother humiliated, if Dong'er dies, mother doesn't have to do it again." I am sorry for my grievances, and I don’t need to be humiliated by that old thief anymore.”

Liu Liangdi was greatly mourned, hugged her son and cried bitterly: "My son, if you are dead, mother will not live."

The mother and son cried in each other's arms, and Madam Zheng and all the court ladies couldn't help weeping silently. In the end, Yang Tong didn't cry himself, but comforted his mother and said, "Mother, don't cry anymore. As the saying goes, keep the green hills. Don't be afraid that there will be no firewood. From now on, our mother and I will not seek death or life, and live well. Wang Shichong and Wang Shiyun will kill themselves if they do many unrighteous actions. I want to live to see their fate."

Liu Liangdi was slightly taken aback when she heard the words, obviously a little dazed by her son's rapid transformation, but who would want to die if they could live?She was originally a weak woman who was well-fed and greedy for enjoyment. As long as she can eat well and live comfortably, her chastity and reputation are not important, so she nodded happily and said: "Dong Er, you can just open it up if you want to, actually. ... Although Wang Shiyun is hateful, he is still good to my mother, and he also promised that even if Dong'er takes the Zen position in the future, he will protect our mother."

Yang Tong frowned secretly. He originally wanted to tell his mother Gao Bufan's plan so that she would be mentally prepared. Hearing this, he immediately dispelled the idea, so as not to miss a major event. The mother's character is too weak, and she is too greedy for enjoyment. , if let her know in advance, even if she is not frightened to tell the truth, she will be frightened to death.

Seeing that Yang Yu was silent, Liu Liangdi thought that her son was upset again, so she hurriedly accompanied her and said cautiously: "Okay, let's not talk about it for mother, let's eat, the dishes are cold."

Yang Tong nodded, picked up the chopsticks and ate in silence, Liu Liangdi saw that her son was finally willing to eat, she couldn't help but was very pleased, and served her son with dishes graciously.

"Mother, eat more, too!" Yang Tong gave his mother a piece of food, and the latter couldn't help smiling, "Thank you, Tong!"

Yang Tong secretly sighed, mother is actually very easy to be satisfied, just give her a stable and comfortable life, presumably she won't care about the identity of the Queen Mother, just like she doesn't care about the throne, I hope Gao Changqing will treat our mother and son kindly after this is done .

"What is Tong'er thinking?" Seeing her son in a daze, Liu Liangdi asked subconsciously.

Yang Tong put down his chopsticks, and said sadly: "My son misses the emperor, I don't know how he is doing now, at least my son is accompanied by his mother, and the emperor is alone in the capital (Chang'an), alone and helpless. , I didn’t even want to talk to anyone.”

When Liu Liangdi heard the words, her nose became sore and her eye circles turned red again. She has two sons in total, the eldest son Yang You, the acting king, and the second son Yang Yu, the king of Yue. As a result, both sons were crowned emperors respectively. He was established as the emperor, but he was forced to abdicate after less than a year, and now he is imprisoned in Chang'an and still does not know his life or death.And whether it is Li Yuan or Wang Shichong, they are all big rebels coveting the throne. Since Li Yuan did not let Yu'er go, can Wang Shichong let Dong'er go?Although Wang Shiyun promised himself that he would protect his mother and child, Wang Shiyun is not Wang Shichong after all!

When Liu Liangdi thought about this, she couldn't help being confused, she no longer had the appetite to eat, she put down her job and sighed.

Seeing this, Yang Tong knew that his mother was touched, so he took the opportunity to say: "Mother, after dinner, I want to take a stroll in Jiuzhou Pool."

Liu Liangdi was stunned for a moment, her face showed embarrassment, she was able to come to accompany Yang Tong for the reunion dinner, it was because Wang Shiyun acquiesced, so those guards who guarded the palace gate would let her go, and now she was going to Jiuzhou Lake for a night tour, I was afraid that those palace guards would will be blocked.

Seeing this, Yang Tong sighed and said: "When Grandpa Huang was alive, every New Year's Eve would go to Jiuzhou Pond to row boats, set off lanterns, and listen to operas. Maybe this is the last time for Dong to spend New Year's Eve. I really want to go to Kyushu again. Chi take a look."

Liu Liangdi was slightly startled, and quickly said: "Don't talk nonsense, Donger, how unlucky it is, if you want to go to Jiuzhou Lake for a night tour, mother will accompany you, and you can go with you every New Year's Eve in the future."

Yang Tong said happily, "Really?"

Liu Liangdi nodded and smiled and said: "It's true, but Dong'er has to eat enough first, wear more clothes, it's windy in the garden."

Yang Tong nodded happily. After eating, the mother and son put on warm clothes and left the emperor's bedroom, ready to go to Jiuzhou Lake for a night tour.

It is necessary to mention here that the layout of Luoyang is a bit special, because the imperial city is not in the center, but is located in the northwest corner, the highest place in the whole city, where you can almost overlook the whole city from a commanding height. If there is any trouble, the imperial city can find it in time.

However, Luoyang City is too big. The length and width of the outer city wall alone are six to seven kilometers. If there is a little trouble, it will take a certain amount of time for the defenders in the city to mobilize their troops and horses to deal with it, so a certain amount of troops will be arranged near the gates of the city. Long-term garrison, and the imperial city is the top priority, so the troops deployed here are naturally the most. Currently there are [-] imperial troops, except for some scattered around the palace gates, most of them are stationed in the north of the imperial city In addition, Wang Shichong's direct troops are stationed in Hanjiacang City, currently led by his eldest son Wang Xuanying, with a strength of [-].

In other words, there are now [-] troops around the imperial city, which is undoubtedly a very powerful guarding force.

Besides, the imperial city itself is also divided into inside and outside. The outer city is called Taiwei City, which is where the major government offices of the imperial court are located. The inner city is called Ziwei City, also called the Imperial Palace, where the emperor usually lives.

There are Jiacheng and Gecheng on the left and right of Ziwei City, and Jiuzhou Pond is located in the West Gecheng, so from the emperor's bedroom to Jiuzhou Pond, you have to pass through several palace gates, and the gates of each palace are guarded by palace guards. The palace guards are not subordinate to each other, so it can largely prevent collusion and rebellion.

Let’s say that Liu Liangdi and Yang Tong’s mother and son had just walked out of the emperor’s bedroom when they were stopped by guards outside the door. The guard headed by him was named Lang Jiang, surnamed Wang Mingwan, who was the nephew of Shiyun Wang, the internal historian, and was specially sent here to guard Yang Tong.

"Where are the Queen Mother and the Emperor going?" Wang Wan asked warily.

Yang Tong's face was slightly grave and he said: "I am the emperor, where do I need to report to you?"

Wang Wan sneered and said: "Of course not, but it is the responsibility of the subordinates to protect the emperor. It is freezing cold today, so it is better for the emperor to stay in the house. Don't run around at night, so as not to Surprise!"

Yang Tong was about to have a fit, Liu Liangdi hurriedly smiled and said: "General Wang Lang, tonight is New Year's Eve, Ai's family wants to take the emperor to Jiuzhou Lake for a stroll, I hope you can accommodate me."

Wang Wan stretched his waist in a leisurely manner and said: "There are no lanterns in Jiuzhou Lake this year, the black lanterns are blind, and the weather is freezing. What is there to go shopping? The queen mother and the emperor might as well warm up indoors and chat."

Su Dingtai and Wei Dazhong looked at each other, secretly anxious, if the emperor can't reach Jiuzhou Lake, then King Qi's plan may be hindered, what should we do.

Yang Tong was also extremely anxious, and couldn't help saying angrily: "I don't need you to teach me how to do things, go away."

Wang Wan sneered: "Your Majesty, it's better not to go your own way, lest you hurt the dragon's body!"

Yang Tong's face changed suddenly, and he said sharply, "Bold, don't you dare to use a knife against me?"

Wang Wan's eyes turned cold, and he said calmly: "I dare not, I am just worried that the emperor will accidentally hurt himself."

Liu Liangdi quickly grabbed Yang Tong's trembling hand, and said with a smile: "General Wang Lang, can you take a chance to talk?"

(End of this chapter)