Chang'an is good

Qiao Yang doesn't think he is a fool.

He had had some vague guesses long ago, and had written to Chang Kuo again and again to test the waters, but Chang Kuo's replies always said that he was "crazy", and each time he cursed him more harshly than the last.

Although Chang Kuo denied it to the death, Qiao Yang gradually confirmed it.

Handwriting, painting style, and a completely changed temperament...

Those unimaginable military exploits and ways to govern the world and save the people...

Meng Lie who never came back...

The old lady's overt and covert dislike for him...

And this time they used the secret passage of Dengtai Tower to escort them out of Beijing...

Under all these circumstances, Qiao Yang felt that if he couldn't guess it, he would be unworthy of being the number one strategist in the past.

They kept it secret from him, probably because they thought that he had a family and lived in the capital, leading a comfortable and peaceful life with a strong sense of retirement, so they tried their best not to let him get involved in that vortex... He could naturally understand this care and protection.

But how can people live just for themselves?

He was also a man who studied hard for ten years, and he also had the ambition to bring peace to the people. These students in the Imperial College today are his former self. Who can ignore his past self?

What's more, the person who can truly bring peace to the people has returned—

These students should live well. As long as they survive, their ambitions will soon be realized.

The world is filled with despair, and what he needs to do is to keep the spark of hope alive in this despair.

This is what a teacher should do, and it is also the duty of your Highness's counselor.

Qiao Yang didn't look back and walked away in the drizzle.

When the sky brightened, Bian Chunliang, covered in blood, stepped into the Hanyuan Hall.

He leaned the blood-stained sword in his hand on the shiny gold brick and looked at the dragon throne high above.

Behind him, from inside the palace to outside the palace, countless palace ladies either fell to the ground or prostrated themselves before him, trembling.

This spring rain covered the capital city with a layer of bloody dampness.

Not only did he fail to kill the emperor and the crown prince, but the Cui family members in prison were also kidnapped by Prince Rong's men during the chaos, which made Bian Chunliang vent more of his anger on the officials and dignitaries in the city.

When Bian Chunliang's "cleansing" of the capital was far from over, he had already announced to the outside world that he would abolish the name of the Great Sheng country, and announced it to all places that he had established a new dynasty, the Great Qi, with the reign title of Jinwu. He would choose a day to ascend the throne and proclaim himself emperor, and ordered all parties to come to the capital to pay homage.

The whole world was shocked.

After fleeing in a panic under the pursuit of Bian's army all the way, he finally arrived in the eastern capital Luoyang. The officials who had just settled down were all furious when they heard that Bian Chunliang wanted to ascend the throne and become emperor.

Among the officials who arrived in Luoyang with the emperor, and the dignitaries or royal family members who fled in panic, there is now a clear division into factions. One group of officials headed by Ma Xingzhou is guarding the empress, while the other group of officials openly supports Crown Prince Li Zhi.

A riot in the capital, the loss of the political center, and the reshuffle of power caused the emperor's control over the crown prince to disappear overnight, and the officials' positions and selfish desires also turned from hidden to overt.

The empress had been in a coma for several days. After waking up, she was still extremely weak and conscious for very few hours. She was temporarily unable to manage affairs, so all matters were handled by Ma Xingzhou.

On the side of Crown Prince Li Zhi, a group of four or five officials were advising: "The most urgent task is to order Chang Suining to send troops to drive out the Bian army, defeat the rebels, and take back the capital!"

Seeing the young crown prince looking hesitant and uneasy, an old minister said angrily: "This is the Eastern Capital of Dasheng, what is there to be afraid of, Your Highness?"

"The Saint is seriously ill, even the doctors say the situation is not good..." An official lowered his voice and said, "If there is a change, Your Highness can immediately ascend the throne in Dongdu... If you want to suppress Chang Suining, Your Highness must show the dignity of a monarch as soon as possible!"

An imperial censor said generously: "That's right, the Eastern Capital Luoyang is still surnamed Li, and it is still the Luoyang of the Li family and your highness!"

The prince finally couldn't help but speak, and asked weakly: "These words... do you dare to say them outside?"

The faces of several officials changed. The censor said, "Why not?"

Seeing that he seemed to be about to go out and do this immediately, two officials stopped him.

The prince sighed upon seeing this and said, "I understand your intentions, but the envoy Chang Jie is not in Luoyang right now, and the sage is still here... it is better to wait and see what happens."

If you think deeply about this sentence "wait and see what happens", which has laid a lot of foundation, you will find that its essence is nothing more than a literary and decent way of saying "do nothing", "let's leave it this way for now", and let things take their course.

One official looked disappointed and wanted to say something else but was interrupted by his colleagues.

The crown prince has been manipulated by the Ming family for many years. He has no independent opinion and is not presentable. He needs to be educated slowly. Don't be impatient and have enough patience.

The leading official then bowed and said, "Your Highness has been traveling a long way. Please take a rest. We will first go and see the legendary Mr. Qian Shen."

It is said that this person is Chang Suining's confidant, and all affairs in Luoyang City are decided by him. They might as well go and meet this person first to find out his attitude.

Li Zhi nodded, watched the officials leave, and slowly breathed a sigh of relief.

Wei Miaoqing came out from the inner room and said, "Your Highness, don't listen to them."

"Now that the situation has come to this, we should do whatever Envoy Chang says." Wei Miaoqing said, "If it weren't for Envoy Chang, Your Highness would probably be dead by now. How can you accept someone's kindness and still think of using him as a weapon?"

He added: "What's more, Your Highness can't even lift this knife used by Chang Jie."

"Yes." Li Zhi nodded like a chick pecking at rice: "I understand."

Wei Miaoqing nodded with a look of satisfaction, saying, "I'm going to go see my father and mother and will be back later."

Li Zhi nodded first, then suddenly stood up from his chair, took a few quick steps to catch up with Wei Miaoqing, and tried to ask: "Can I...can I go with you?"

Wei Miaoqing looked back at him, only to see the handsome young man who was a full head taller than her. He looked at her sincerely and asked, "I'm not used to being here... I'm a little scared to be alone."

So, Wei Miaoqing had no choice but to take this burden with him and quietly slipped out of the palace.

The Wei family has a separate courtyard in Luoyang City, which is used by Duke Zheng to grow peonies. There are many people in the Duke Zheng's mansion, so it is impossible for all of them to leave Beijing. Some of them got lost on the way out of Beijing. Duke Zheng and his wife only settled here this morning.

Duke Zheng had already instructed his servants to gather information and build connections everywhere. At this moment, he was worried about his clansmen and sighed as he watered the flowers.

Duan was directing the servants to clean up the yard and prepare lunch.

Seeing Wei Miaoqing bringing the prince over, Duan's first reaction was to ask people to prepare more food, and also to tell people not to make it public and to keep everything as usual.

There was still some chaos everywhere, but Li Zhi was here, walking all the way inside, and he felt like a corpse was warming up again.

Over the years, he felt like a puppet with long needles piercing all over its acupuncture points, but at this moment he felt like a ball of cotton tribute from the Western Regions, soft and comfortable.

After Li Zhi sat down in the hall, Duan pulled her daughter aside and asked in a low voice, "Qing'er, why did you bring him here?"

Wei Miaoqing raised her eyebrows and said in a scheming and far-sighted tone, "Mother, my brother is now recuperating in Taiyuan, so he is considered to be Envoy Chang's man, right? In this case, how can we not make plans for Envoy Chang? This prince is still useful. If we keep a close eye on him and use him well, won't he be able to help Envoy Chang?"

Duan thought her daughter's words made some sense, but: "...why are you talking so loudly?"

It was difficult for the prince to pretend not to hear. Does this girl even know what a whisper is?
"Oh, what are you afraid of, mother?" Wei Miaoqing turned around and looked at Li Zhi: "Your Highness can't bear to hear these words, right?"

Seeing Duan looking at him, Li Zhi smiled shyly and nodded obediently.

Duan forced a smile in return, her mood was very complicated. She really didn't expect that her daughter, who was so shallow-minded, could go to the palace and bring back a living person. It was really weird.

The big man had a rather pleasing personality and was afraid that he would not be able to make full use of his resources. After the meal, he privately assured the Duan mother and daughter that he would obey the arrangements of Envoy Chang in everything and volunteered to act as Envoy Chang's eyes and ears and pass on messages to her.

Wei Miaoqing thought this method was very clever. Later, the ministers would never have thought that the spy was the crown prince himself.

Li Zhi had no doubt about his choice. If those ministers were really reliable, Da Sheng would not have become Da Qi so soon... He still felt that the Crown Princess had good vision, and that only by clinging to Chang Jieshi's thigh could they have a better chance of survival.

What's more, he didn't want to ascend the throne at all. Being a useless prince was already so dangerous, and becoming a useless emperor would make him a living target worthy of death, wouldn't he?
He does this for the good of everyone, including the officials who support him. After all, supporting him will not lead to any good outcome.

Those officials who were busy with their own business were completely unaware of the prince's "good intentions". They went to see "Qian Shen" today, but came up empty-handed. The officials just thought that Mr. Qian had gone out.

Everyone suspected that Qian was deliberately avoiding them, so they suppressed their anger and left.

Little did they know that Mr. Qian was indeed out.

Of course, it is also true that I am not happy to see those officials.

Luo Guanlin went to visit Master Chu in person.

After a long and arduous journey to Luoyang, as well as heavy rain, Master Chu, who had not traveled far for many years, fell ill.

Like other officials, Taifu Chu had settled down in Luoyang City. His residence was a house that the court had previously seized from the Luoyang gentry and was temporarily borrowing.

When they first settled down, they had no servants to serve them anywhere. Fortunately, the Taifu's family had plenty of hard-working descendants, so there was really a case of more people and less work, and they quickly got everything ready.

Luo Guanlin, who came to visit with supplements, knew the temperament of the Tutor very well. He would not give face to anyone easily. He was prepared to be turned away, but unexpectedly he was directly invited to Tutor Chu's room to talk alone, which made him feel flattered.

Luo Guanlin was of a stubborn character and seldom convinced by anyone, but he always respected Master Chu, who single-handedly dominated the entire officialdom.

Luo Guanlin had such supreme respect for the Taifu for two reasons. One was because of the Taifu's knowledge and character, and the other was because the Taifu had once taught a crown prince like the late Crown Prince Xiao.

Master Chu, who looked a little weak, sat back on the bed, wearing a coat, and looked at the person who raised his hand to salute, and said with understanding: "It is you, young man."

Luo Guanlin, whose face was still half covered by a mask, looked up in surprise: "How did Master know..."

Master Chu waved his hand and said, "The pungent and sour taste between the lines of those poems by Qian Shen of Jiangdu made me sneeze! If you think about it carefully, who else could it be?"

If someone else had said this, Luo Guanlin would have been angry, but when it came from the old tutor, he could only feel ashamed and embarrassed. He bowed again and said, "I think I have deliberately abandoned my old habits, but I didn't expect that I couldn't hide it from your eyes."

Master Chu did not comment, and said: "She always picks people to use..."

Luo Guanlin could naturally tell that the "she" here referred to his own lord, but this word "Guan Hui"... why did it sound so familiar, even intimate?

As far as he knew, his lord and the Grand Tutor did not have a very close relationship, and they had only met a few times through Qiao Jijiu.

As for the inside story that Chang Suining secretly sent someone to escort Master Chu to Luoyang, the court officials did not know, but Luo Guanlin knew. However, he only thought that this was a one-sided courtesy of his master - after all, his master really liked to "make good friends", not to mention that Master Chu's status in the court and among the literati was unmatched, so it was normal for her to be a bit flattering and fawning to her master, which was in line with her usual style.

But the feeling that Taifu gave him at this moment was somewhat unexpected...

As Luo Guanlin was thinking quietly, he heard the old master say to him with rare admiration: "You are really hardworking. After hitting the wall and going through the gates of hell, you have been reborn and made great progress."

Luo Guanlin came back to his senses and felt a little terrified: "Thank you for your praise, Master. I am ashamed to accept it."

After saying this, he organized his words and said, "I heard that the Master was not feeling well, so I came to visit him. I wonder if the Master is still okay now..."

"Alright, forget the polite words." Master Chu interrupted Luo Guanlin and said directly, "Tell me, what do you need me to do?"

Luo Guanlin was rarely stunned. After a moment, he asked, "Grandmaster, are you willing to help the envoy?"

He was prepared to visit the thatched cottage three times, nine times, or even a hundred times, to learn the spirit of his own envoy who was persistent and forcing the melon...

But the biggest melon in the literary world seemed to have suddenly... jumped into the sack by himself?

There were not many ups and downs in the voice of Master Chu, but it was full of special seriousness: "As long as she can use it, as long as I can do it, just tell me."

Luo Guanlin was stunned again.

He had no other answer for the moment and could only attribute this to the fact that he was walking on an extremely correct path, which was so correct to the extreme that even a figure like the Grand Tutor gave his affirmation without hesitation.

He knew that he would not make the wrong choice this time, and his lord was the one who deserved the world!
Luo Guanlin's heart was filled with emotion, his eyes silently turned red, he raised his hand and bowed deeply to the Grand Tutor: "Grand Tutor has a brilliant vision and cares for the world! Please accept my student's bow!"

After saying this, he knelt down and bowed with a sincere and reassured heart. (End of this chapter)