Man Tang Huacai

Chapter 459 Hijacking
Yang Yuyao knew that the world had a lot of criticism about her relationship with Xue Bai, saying that he was clinging to nepotism, that she was raising a pretty boy, and some even made fun of their sworn relationship, saying that they were "brothers and sisters."

But at this moment, she was in deep danger, and only Xue Bai was rushing towards her. She then stood there staring blankly, forgetting to even take off the knife on her neck.

It wasn't until Xue Jingxian fled with the officers and soldiers that Xue Bai finally arrived in front of her and reached out to take the knife in her hand.

"Put it down, aren't your hands sore?" he asked with a smile.

"Why did you come just now?"

Yang Yuyao said angrily, put her arms around Xue Bai, and pressed her soft body against him, feeling the hug she hadn't had in a long time.

But in fact, she didn't really blame Xue Bai for coming late, and then said: "Everyone is clamoring to kill the Yang family. You come to save me and let Li Heng say that you colluded with the Yang family, which is not good for you."

"It's ok."

"You could have subdued the Chencang County Magistrate just now, but because of me, he was going to go against you."

"It's ok."

"I miss you so much."

Xue Bai looked around and saw many people watching around him, but Yang Yuyao ignored the eyes of others, so he had to tolerate her.

But not long after, Yang Yuyao looked up and saw more firelight outside the forest, surrounding them, and shouts came from a distance.

"The traitor Xue Bai colluded with the Yang family and is in the bamboo forest!"

"Surround them..."

Yang Yuyao seemed to enjoy the feeling that Xue Bai was taking risks because of her. She lay on his shoulder and said, "I even caused you to be surrounded."

"It doesn't matter." Xue Bai patted her waist and said, "Let's go."

This bamboo forest is located to the east of Shennong Town. The two of them could vaguely hear the imperial guards to the west still shouting "Kill the Yang family and eradicate the disaster", so they stopped moving.

"They are forcing the saint to kill Yuhuan." Yang Yuyao listened for a while. When she understood what happened, she couldn't help but became very anxious and said, "What should I do? What should I do?"

Xue Bai doesn't think this is a bad thing.

He wanted to take Li Longji hostage, so he could take advantage of the angry situation.

Xue Bai then helped Yang Yuyao mount her horse, ordered a group of knights under his command to escort her, and said, "You go over there to break out of the encirclement."

"What about you?"

"I'm going to save the imperial concubine."

Xue Bai didn't give Yang Yuyao a chance to speak anymore. He slapped the horse she was riding on hard, and a group of knights quickly rushed out.

Soon, there was a "bang" explosion outside the bamboo forest. It was his soldiers who detonated the explosives they brought and took advantage of the chaos of the imperial army to break out.

Suddenly someone shouted: "Xue Bai fled eastward!"

In the bamboo forest, there were only eighteen people left following Xue Bai. They all wore the armor of the Longwu Army under Guo Qianli and carried the badges of the captains under Guo Qianli.

After a little reorganization, they rushed towards Li Longji's location.

"Kill the Yang family and eradicate the evil!"

Nearly 10,000 Imperial Guardsmen were surrounding them, waving their arms. Most of them couldn't actually see Li Longji, and could only see the backs of their comrades' heads or helmets in front of them, but this did not prevent them from expressing their emotions.

Xue Baisui also shouted and squeezed into the crowd. No one checked his talisman.

The generals of the Imperial Guard were so consumed by the chaos that they had completely neglected their precautions. Xue Baisui gradually squeezed to the front and saw a ruined temple and a guard team of more than a hundred people.

The officials, headed by Wei Jiansu, Zhang Bian, Li Qiwu and others, and the princes headed by King Yong, stood in front of the ruined temple.

Xue Bai shouted "Kill the Yang family", walked around the temple wall, observed, and went around to the backyard of the ruined temple.

After a while, the crowd cheered.

"Death! Death!"

Where Xue Bai looked, he could see a piece of white silk being hung on the branches above the temple wall.

He took a few steps and vaguely saw Yang Yuhuan's figure through the crack in the back door. She was standing under the tree, looking up at the moon. Standing next to her was Gao Lishi.

At this time when "the world is in turmoil and rebels are in trouble", thousands of men and men did not stay in the capital, but stood here shouting that the situation was critical, waiting to see an old eunuch hang a woman.

They seemed to hope that once she hanged herself, there would be peace in the world.

Xue Bai didn't find it poignant, nor did he see any touching love.

He felt useless.

The man of the Tang Dynasty, who was famous for his heroic spirit, was led on the run by a fatuous, selfish, and cowardly king, and he was all tainted with that cowardly attitude. It was as if the whole world was filled with a rotten smell that old people would carry into their coffins.

Tonight, Xue Bai has two ways to achieve his goal. One is to kill Yang Guozhong in public, win the support of the Forbidden Army, and force Li Longji to return to Chang'an; the other is to do the opposite, first kidnap Li Longji, and then order the Forbidden Army to return to Chang'an.

Things started to happen in a hurry, and he immediately made a choice, so he strode forward.

The guard team guarding the front and rear doors of the ruined temple was very thin, but the mutinous imperial soldiers did not rush over. What stood in front of them was the last majesty of the emperor and the clear-cut class concept.

Xue Bai ignored these obstructions and rushed straight to the courtyard gate, and the Eighteen Heroes he brought with him also rushed forward.

"Don't come over!" the guard in front shouted.

"Dare you stop us?!"

The Forbidden Soldiers regarded this conflict as being directed at them, and they all shouted in support, frightening the guards at the door to retreat.

In the chaos, Xue Bai walked to the door regardless, only to find a big rusty lock hanging on the door. Without saying a word, he pulled out his knife and chopped it.

~~
Yang Yuhuan looked up and saw a bright moon, hazy and not yet full.

It was almost the Lantern Festival. Not long ago, she heard the palace maids talking about what they would do during the Lantern Festival this year after the rebellion was put down. She did not expect that she would die in the blink of an eye.

She has always felt insecure. When she made a wish at the Palace of Eternal Life on Chinese Valentine's Day that year, she knew that the harmonious years would not last forever. She asked God to give her a good result, but it seemed that praying for blessings was useless.

As for the favor of saints? The first sentence was still a promise, but the next moment he gave her death.

It's better to die before you grow old so as not to offend others.

Thinking like this, Yang Yuhuan stepped on the rickety low stool, put Bai Ling around his neck, and closed his eyes.

At this moment, she heard the shouting behind her becoming more intense, and someone was chopping the wood door. I feel a little sad in my heart, they are going to die, but they can't wait so hard.

She stood on tiptoe and kicked down the stool under her feet.

The hem of her skirt fell down and moved with the wind, and Bai Ling tightened her neck.

Her body was also swaying in the wind, as if she was dancing the last dance in her life, but it was accompanied by severe pain.

"Oh!"

Suddenly, someone kicked in the door and said loudly: "General Gao, you must take the saint away immediately, otherwise the saint's life will be in danger."

"you……"

Gao Lishi exclaimed.

Immediately afterwards, Yang Yuhuan felt his body fall into a pair of strong arms.

She was picked up by someone, and the suffocating feeling instantly disappeared. Fresh air poured into her lungs, giving her body a strong sense of happiness.

Her hand first touched the cold wrist armor, and then the warm back of her hand, and she held it tightly.

Turning around, she saw that it was Xue Bai. She had just recognized his voice.

This hug actually lasted only a short moment, but for Yang Yuhuan, it was like going from death to life, as if it was a lifetime ago.

Xue Bai quickly put her down, glanced at the marks on her neck, and unconsciously raised his hand, as if he wanted to touch her. After a moment, he turned around and faced Gao Lishi.

"General Gao, please take the saint and follow me quickly."

Gao Lishi's expression was extremely complicated. He stared at Xue Bai closely and said, "If you want to live, you shouldn't come."

"I defended Hebei and restored Luoyang. How did I ever betray the Tang Dynasty?!"

The imperial edict has been issued to denounce Xue Bai as a traitor, but if Xue Bai is not a traitor, who is?

Gao Lishi knew the answer very well, so he was speechless for a moment.

At this time, the soldiers of the imperial army who had gathered at the temple gate felt as if they were going crazy when they saw Concubine Yang being rescued.

"Kill the Yang family! Kill the Yang family!"

"Walk."

Xue Bai gave the order decisively and rushed towards the ruined temple first. The eighteen warriors followed quickly and surrounded Gao Lishi. Yang Yuhuan narrowly escaped death and was still in shock. He held Xue Bai's hand tightly and tried to keep up with him.

A group of people crashed into the ruined temple.

Li Long basically thought that the imperial army was no longer under control and dared to collide with the holy driver. But when he looked back, he saw Xue Bai. His pupils shrank, showing a look of horror as if he had seen a ghost.

"you!"

"Please give an order from the saint. The situation in Chang'an has been decided. Return immediately!"

Xue Bai strode quickly and without giving others a chance to react, he rushed directly in front of Li Longji, took action and grabbed his arm.

At this time, in addition to the concubines and palace attendants, there were also Chen Xuanli, Yuan Siyi and others in the temple. Wei Jiansu, Zhang Bian and Li Qiwu at the gate also came here one after another.

With a "bang" sound, Chen Xuanli pulled out his saber for the first time and shouted: "Let go, Your Majesty!"

"Prepare the decree!"

Xue Bai's momentum was not weak at all, and the dagger in his hand had reached Li Longji's waist.

The two sides faced each other like two stones standing in the waves.

~~
"Your Highness, some soldiers saw Xue Bai in Guo Qianli's army."

"Summon."

Li Heng was personally meeting Zhang Xiaojing, a soldier of the Forbidden Army, and asked in detail about the situation on the official road in Qinling.

Not long after, someone came to report: "Your Highness, Xue Bai appeared in the bamboo forest, rescued the three Yang sisters, and fled eastward."

"Chase!"

"Your Highness, we found hundreds of cavalry in the east and responded to the Yang family."

Li Heng was greatly alarmed upon hearing this, and quickly met with Xue Jingxian, the magistrate of Chencang County.

After listening to Xue Jingxian's account of how he met Xue Bai in the bamboo forest, he muttered: "Your judgment is good. Xue Bai must be colluding with the Yang family and preparing to work together to deal with me."

Spreading a map on the stone, they discussed how to deal with these hundreds of people.

"Don't worry, Your Highness, his small force alone cannot change the overall situation..."

Just as he was talking, Li Chu strode in and said in a shocked tone: "Master, Xue Bai kidnapped the saint?!"

"What did you say?" Li Heng thought he heard wrongly.

"It's true." Li Chu said.

"Go and have a look."

Li Heng put on a worried and sad expression and hurried outside the ruined temple.

Du Hongjian greeted him and exchanged a look with him.

"What's going on?" "Didn't notice him." Du Hongjian said, "I originally planned to wait for the saint to confer death on the imperial concubine, and then ask the imperial concubine to come to Heshuo. Unexpectedly, he suddenly jumped out."

"There's only one last step left."

At this time of turmoil, inviting the Emperor to the northwest was a good way to save the country, but a little rebel jumped out to cause trouble again, which naturally made people irritated.

Li Heng pushed aside the crowd and looked at the ruined temple. He saw Xue Bai standing proudly in the middle, with Li Longji on the left and Yang Yuhuan on the right. That heroic figure fell into his eyes and made him feel very dazzling.

At this moment, he couldn't help but think of many things in the past. Xue Bai repeatedly forced him to lose his position as prince. He even saw Xue Bai and Yang Yuhuan standing together, and he also thought of Xue Bai and Du Jin's quarrel.

Li Heng originally thought that he did not hate Xue Bai. He prided himself on being able to restrain his personal emotions in power struggles. But when they met tonight, he found that his hatred for Xue Bai could not be increased.

"Xue Bai, let go of my father!" Li Heng stepped forward and shouted, "My father is old and frail. He asked me to take his place. You can hold me hostage!"

Xue Bai ignored it and shouted: "The situation in Chang'an has been decided. I have come to welcome the emperor under the order of the prince. If you wait to obstruct it, are you going to rebel?!"

"Xue Bai! You colluded with Yang Guozhong to rescue the Yang family, that's all. You dare to assassinate His Majesty, which is treason!"

Tonight, the biggest flaw was that Xue Bai saved the Yang sisters in public. Li Heng clung to this point and let his people continue to publicize it, for fear that the imperial army would be appeased by Xue Bai.

He had won the battle for the support of the Imperial Guard.

If he hadn't been afraid of hurting the saint, he might have fired arrows to kill Xue Bai, the traitor who had colluded with Yang Guozhong.

After that, Li Heng changed his mind and thought, was he really afraid of hurting the saint?

At present, the only use of the saint to him is to canonize him as the prince again, and Xue Bai supports Li Cong. If the saint dies in Xue Bai's hands tonight, Li Cong's already precarious position as prince will definitely be unsafe.

Then, he is the only one who can take on the responsibility of the Tang Dynasty.

At this thought, Li Heng turned around and took a deep look at Li Fuguo. Li Fuguo was stunned for a while, then he realized what he was doing and turned around to make arrangements.

He called over a team of imperial guards and whispered, "General Chen Xuanli ordered that Xue Bai dare not hurt the saint. You rush over to save the saint and perform a great deed."

Those soldiers were Zhang Xiaojing and others who had just met Li Heng and came with Li Heng.

Zhang Xiaojing is also a very brave person. After receiving such an order, he nodded and agreed.

He held the crossbow in his hand again, squeezed past the others, turned to the dark place aside, observed Xue Bai, and moved slowly over. He noticed that Xue Bai was very alert and half-hiding behind the saint. If he shot the crossbow rashly, it would be difficult not to hurt the saint.

Gradually, Zhang Xiaojing walked less than ten steps away from Xue Bai. At this time, Xue Bai had discovered him.

"Don't come over!"

Not only did Zhang Xiaojing not retreat, he suddenly quickened his pace and pounced forward like an eagle seizing a rabbit.

As expected, Xue Bai did not dare to hurt Li Longji, so he pulled him hard and escaped into the ranks of the Eighteen Warriors.

Seeing that the time had come, Li Heng took a few steps back and gave another look. Immediately, a dead soldier shot an arrow at Xue Bai. The arrow shot out with a "swish", killing one of Xue Bai's warriors on the spot. .

Seeing the blood, the scene suddenly became chaotic, and a warrior slashed at Zhang Xiaojing who rushed up with his sword.

At the same time, Chen Xuanli shouted in surprise: "Zhang Xiaojing, how dare you?!"

"not me!"

Zhang Xiaojing raised his crossbow and pointed it at Chen Xuanli, showing him that his crossbow arrows were still there.

Chen Xuanli was so frightened that he bowed and slashed with the knife in his hand.

"Protect the Saint!"

At this point, Li Heng knew that the matter was settled. As long as he killed Xue Bai, he would be the biggest winner tonight, no matter whether the saint was dead or alive.

At this moment, something was suddenly thrown out of the temple, drawing an arc in the air and falling towards the bonfire.

"Mr. Go!"

"It's dynamite!"

Everyone was in chaos, pushing and running away.

"Oh!"

With this loud noise, the bonfire burst into bloom instantly, sparks flying everywhere. At the same time, there was a "boo" sound and fireworks exploded in the sky.

Soon, a firework burst out in the sky east of Shennong Town.

"call out--"

Li Hengzheng, like everyone else, covered his head to avoid the sparks splashed by the explosives, and his back was painful and hot.

After waiting for a while, he dared to raise his head. When he saw the two fireworks, he knew that Xue Bai's hundreds of cavalrymen in the east were coming to meet them.

"stop!"

Li Heng couldn't help but order the imperial army to go to the east to intercept them.

The surroundings were chaotic and dark. He glanced back and forth twice before discovering the saint's conspicuous dragon robe among the imperial troops wearing the same armor everywhere.

"Rescue His Majesty!"

All of a sudden, the princes, officials, and generals rushed towards the saint. However, suddenly there was another "whoosh" arrow, hitting the saint's back.

"puff."

The saint fell down.

Seeing this scene, everyone was horrified to death. They rushed up and saw that it was not Li Longji, but a eunuch wearing a dragon robe.

Only Li Heng, who thought the overall situation was settled, was now greatly disappointed.

"What about people?!"

Li Heng would never allow Xue Bai to abduct the saint, but when he looked around, he saw that the soldiers of the Imperial Army had turned into a mess. Where could Xue Bai be seen?
~~
"do not move!"

Li Longji wanted to struggle out, but Xue Bai pressed the dagger and cut the skin on his shoulder mercilessly, making him dare not move rashly.

Taking advantage of the explosion, his cloak was taken off, someone put a helmet on him, and led him into the crowd, avoiding the light of the bonfire, and hurried into the forest not far away.

Li Longji wanted to shout, then he spoke, and there was another "bang" behind him. After that, he was escorted by Xue Bai's people and quickly shuttled through the dark mountains and forests of the Qinling Mountains.

I don’t know how long it took, but the shouts became farther and farther away, and gradually I couldn’t hear them clearly.

"I can't run anymore." Li Longji didn't want to run anymore and sat down directly.

This is a steep slope, and tall ancient trees block the moonlight, making it difficult to see even the fingers of one's hand.

After breathing for a while, surprisingly, Li Longji actually smiled and said: "You are so stupid, you saved me from the mutinous army."

Listening to his tone, it didn't feel like he was being held hostage, but rather like he was back at the royal banquet in the past.

Xue Bai did not answer, but gave a few instructions in a low voice, and then someone climbed up the big tree to keep watch.

"You plan to take me back to Chang'an?" Li Longji asked again.

"Not bad." Xue Bai finally responded.

"You did something wrong. You should have cooperated with Li Heng and killed the Yang family. Only in this way could the imperial army be appeased. But you did the opposite, which is a big mistake."

If Li Longji was said to be fatuous, he could see tonight's plot at a glance, and he hit the nail on the head.

Xue Bai rescued Yang Yuyao and Yang Yuhuan in full view of the public, and also kidnapped the emperor, which was a conspiracy, and Li Cong's prestige as the prince was also reduced a lot. Although the emperor was captured, the situation turned even more favorable to Li Heng. It was said that the gains outweighed the losses.

At this time, Xue Bai's situation was not good, it could be said to be very bad. He failed to join Jiang Hai's cavalry at the first opportunity, and could not last long hiding in the Qinling Mountains. It won't take long for him to be found after dawn, and Li Heng can already let go of his hands and feet to win over the imperial army.

At this point, Li Longji was worried that Xue Bai would break the pot.

"It's okay." Xue Bai said: "Li Heng can use these excuses to win over only a few people, only a few thousand or ten thousand at most. If His Majesty can return to Chang'an, it will inspire the hearts of the world."

Li Longji did not ask whether it was possible for the rebels to capture Chang'an, but said slowly: "When I return to Chang'an, it will be time for me to abdicate. At that time, I will issue an edict to the world that Li Cong will succeed me."

"Your Majesty, it's time to serve your time."

In the darkness, Li Longji's face was as cold as iron.

The most taboo thing in his life is that someone wants to seek his throne, but now he has to fight with Xue Baixu to save his life.

"Are you doing all this because you hate me?"

"No." Xue Bai said, "Because I don't want to see the Tang Dynasty fail to recover."

Li Longji sighed slightly, and said in a rare melancholy tone: "I made a mistake."

Not to mention Xue Bai, this was also the first time Gao Lishi and Yang Yuhuan heard the emperor admit his mistakes.

"In the case of the three common people, I knew that I had wronged Li Ying, and I should not have issued an order to kill him... As for you, I didn't know that you were still alive."

At this time, if it were in the palace of Chang'an City, such a warm and affectionate exchange would establish Xue Bai's identity as the grandson of Emperor Xue Bai and give him the qualifications to compete for the throne. It's a pity that this is in the wilderness, and only a few people are listening.

Li Longji knew very well what Xue Bai wanted, and continued to sigh in a regretful tone: "In recent years, I have been mistrustful of others, amassing money with Li Linfu, Yang Guozhong, Wang Zhen, Yang Shenjin and others, extravagant and extravagant, and mistakenly believed in An Lushan , and finally there is chaos, I am old and confused, so I should pass the throne to the prince."

The sound of birds flapping their wings could be heard in the forest, indicating that pursuers were approaching.

Li Longji paused briefly, thinking about what would happen if he fell into the hands of Li Heng, and then continued: "I am very pleased that there is a talent like you among the hundreds of grandchildren. In the future, you need to assist Li Cong to recreate the prosperous age of the Tang Dynasty. "

Just a ray of morning sun shone through the whirling branches and leaves. Xue Bai looked back and vaguely saw the terrible hostility in Li Longji's eyes, which formed a huge sense of separation from the warm words.

He had no doubt that as long as there was a chance, Li Longji would cut him into pieces.

But it didn't matter, he had him in his hands now.

After a while, the sound of birds flapping their wings became denser and closer.

The strange thing is that not many forbidden troops have come here.

What frightened the bird?

Gao Lishi suddenly sniffed and said, "Your Majesty, I seem to smell smoke."

"Lang Jun!"

Following this shout, the man on guard in the tree climbed down from the trunk and said in a panic: "The forest is on fire!"

The sound of "rustling rustling" dead leaves being trampled came. Everyone turned their heads and felt that wild beasts were running around in groups.

~~
"In my opinion, Xue Bai kidnapping the saint is not a bad thing."

When Li Heng told Zhang Ting what happened, Zhang Ting raised the corners of her mouth slightly, showing a relaxed expression.

"After his troubles, King Qing lost the support of the imperial army. Although His Highness did not have the title of prince, he was the only candidate for the throne. All he had to do was lead the imperial army north, recruit border troops, regain the two capitals, and rebuild the Tang Dynasty. Who can compete with His Highness?"

Li Heng nodded, deeply convinced, and said with some worry: "There is only one thing to worry about."

"Afraid that Xue Bai will bring the saint back to Chang'an?"

"Yes."

Zhang Ting frowned slightly, nodded and said, "What if the saint returns to Chang'an and issues an edict to the world, it will be troublesome."

Li Heng said: "I have ordered the imperial army to search the mountain, lest I have long nights and many dreams. Firstly, I am afraid that the soldiers will go up the mountain in batches and be instigated by Xue Bai to rebel; secondly, I am afraid that Chen Xuanli and others will find the saint first; thirdly, I am worried that none of my brothers will be safe." A portion of it.”

"I have a way to solve it all at once."

"what?"

Zhang Ting waved her hand and asked Li Heng to put his ear close to her mouth, and she uttered a word softly.

"burn."

(End of this chapter)