Man Tang Huacai

Chapter 462 Loyalty and Rebellion

Before dawn, everyone in the camp was still busy.

A post horse galloped towards us and arrived before the horse's strength was exhausted.

"Urgent report from Chang'an, I want to see His Majesty!"

The imperial soldiers guarding the gate of the camp looked at the emissary coldly, and after notifying him, they took him to see King Zhong.

That night, Li Hengzheng was discussing important matters with his ministers. When they left, some officials held official letters and discussed, saying: "Shuofang has such military resources, which is very inspiring."

It was under such circumstances that the post envoy was brought into the big tent. Some people asked in a low voice what news was coming, but they got a rather taboo answer.

"Don't worry, King Qing has sent someone."

In the big tent, sitting at the head were not only Li Heng, but also Princess Zhong Zhang Ting, all wearing linen and mourning. Zhang Ting was still sewing on her mourning clothes.

The post envoy was stunned for a moment, then he hurriedly saluted and said: "I have seen the loyal king, and the villain is bold enough to ask to see your majesty."

"Yes, King Guangping's men had captured the imperial concubine. After chasing Xue Ni to Qingshi Cliff, the imperial concubine suddenly broke away and ran towards Xue Ni. King Guangping then ordered the arrows to be fired."

But before Li Chu came back, the sky was bright, and with the sound of the three-tone drum, Li Heng ordered the camp to break out.

Li Hengsui asked: "What are you looking at?"

"Okay." Wei Jiansu said: "If you want to quell the chaos, you must recruit people from the border villages. Shuofang is far better than Sichuan and Shu. According to what Du Hongjian said, 'If you serve your highness, in ten days, we can collect He and Long from the west. It is true that if Huihe is strong and has good relations with the country, he can march with strong cavalry in the north and gather all the cities in the south. With a single move, he can restore the two capitals."

"You protect your brother, I insist on telling you!" Zhang Ting said, "It was Li Cong who sent Xue Bai to kill the king, and then ordered this person to find out the truth."

"What do you mean? Where is the imperial concubine?"

Chen Xuanli couldn't help but ask: "What's wrong with Shuofang?"

"Li Cong is unfaithful and unfilial. He forced His Majesty to leave with palace changes. It's not enough to kill them all. Why should I send you to test him?!" Zhang Ting suddenly pointed at the messenger and cried loudly.

"Stop talking." Li Heng stopped.

As for the official letter he had worked so hard to deliver, which read "Chang'an is in danger", it was thrown into the fire.

"Young man... His Highness asked Prefect Xue to persuade His Majesty to return. This has never happened before..."

"Spare your life, I'm wronged. Chang'an is in danger, and I'm ordered to ask for help. The loyal king Mingjian, I'm just a postman in Guanzhong, not the prince's person!"

"It should be that the general saw them from a distance when he was guarding the palace city, and the figures looked like them."

"No, villain!"

The post envoy was completely stunned by the news. After a while, he came to his senses and hurriedly said: "Chang'an is in danger. His Highness the Crown Prince kindly requests... to return to Beijing for support."

At this moment of departure, another knight riding a dragon warrior came up from behind and said: "General, we have found Xue Bai!"

"Although Shuofang is good, the most dangerous thing is Li Hengzhi's intentions." Li Wan was still unwilling to accept it and said: "Are you going to ignore your Majesty like this? General Chen, do you really not doubt it?"

"I'm asking you to confirm that it's them who died?!"

Chen Xuanli got on his horse, turned his head and looked again, and finally saw a sentry horse returning in a hurry. He drove the horse over and asked, "Where is the noble concubine?"

There was helplessness in Wei Jiansu's tone, and he closed his eyes after speaking.

Chen Xuanli's face was gloomy. He had questioned many soldiers and all of them had witnessed Xue Bai killing the saint with his own eyes. However, the saint was chopped beyond recognition, but he had the intention to identify it carefully, but the soldiers were not interested in him. The soldiers were eager to follow the loyal king westward and hurriedly put the saint in a coffin.

"General!"

"Your Majesty passed away." Li Heng sobbed.

He took the reins and headed west. Behind his team, Li Chu's men also left the Qinling Mountain Road and came here.

"Back to the general, King Guangping chased Xue Ni to Qingshi Cliff and shot them dead."

Now that the soldiers were packed up and about to set off, the only thing he could do was to wait for Li Chu to bring back Xue Bai and Yang Yuhuan for final confirmation.

"Du Hongjian advised King Zhong to go to Shuofang."

"Yes, these things were witnessed by the villain with his own eyes."

Chen Xuanli looked at Li Chu's team and asked, "Have King Guangping's men captured him?"

He took out a memorial from his sleeve and placed it on the table.

~~
The candlelight illuminated a corner of the map, and a finger tapped hard on the word "Lingwu".

No matter how loudly the post envoy shouted, he was still dragged to the school grounds. With a "pop" sound, the broadsword cut down and his head was chopped to the ground.

"Did you recognize them with your own eyes?"

Of course, the morale of the army was greatly boosted. The soldiers had been starving for a long time. As soon as the news was announced, they all looked forward to going to Lingwu to fill their stomachs.

Chen Xuanli was puzzled and asked in surprise: "Didn't I say before that Xue Bai abandoned the imperial concubine and fled first? What is going on?"

"Wei Shaoyou, the water transport envoy of the Six Cities, Cui Yi, the judge of Shuofang's Jiedu, Lu Jianjin, the judge of Shuofang's branch, and Li Han, the judge of Yanchi in the Pass, have written in writing to describe the number of Shuofang's military supplies, equipment, warehouses, and storehouses. King Zhong's edict to inform the soldiers, the morale of the army It’s been great.”

The messenger was so frightened that he hurriedly knelt down and looked around the tent.

"He is indeed a traitor. Come here and take him to prison to be dealt with according to the national law!"

"Let's go." Wei Jiansu sighed.

Although Chen Xuanli felt something was wrong, he had nothing to say and said, "Let's go."

"The arrow fell off the cliff."

"No, Xue Bai is at Randeng Temple."

"Where is the Randen Temple?"

"At the foot of Chencang Mountain."

Chen Xuanli was stunned for a moment and murmured: "Did you run so far in one night?"

Then, he heard the soldier whisper a report.

"General, it was Zhang Xiaojing who asked me to come back... He has fulfilled his mission and has found the saint."

Chen Xuanli's eyes widened and he was completely surprised.

~~
But it was said that after Yang Yuyao escaped from the bamboo forest that night, she quickly met up with hundreds of Jiang Hai's riders, and also saw Chen Xilie and his family among them.

Chen Xilie's ugly granddaughter is indeed Nian Nu pretending to be in order to lure her out to contact her.

Only now did Yang Yuyao understand Xue Bai's plan. If it went well, Xue Bai would only have to wait in Sanguan and kidnap the saint. If it didn't go well, Jiang Hai would have to wait until Xue Bai used fireworks as a sign to raid the imperial army, cooperate inside and outside, and forcibly rob him. Walk sage.

However, the situation progressed even more unsatisfactory than expected, and a wildfire disrupted all their arrangements.

After losing contact, Jiang Hai wanted to stay in Zhouyuan outside Chencang City to look for Xue Bai, but his troops were too small and he was attacked by Li Chu and had to evacuate eastward. So, when Li Chu stopped chasing, he turned around and came back.

After three or four days of entanglement with "the enemy retreats and we advance", they finally got news about Xue Bai.

After the fire was extinguished, bright fireworks suddenly lit up over the Qinling Mountains, which was the signal for Xue Bai to contact him.

"I found Mr. Lang! He's at Randeng Temple!"

"go!"

Jiang Hai was overjoyed and quickly led his troops to the south.

His horse was very fast, but Yang Yuyao was not slow at all. He spared no effort and rushed to the front several times. Seeing that the pampered Mrs. Guo was acting like this, the soldiers kept speeding up, and hundreds of riders galloped across the plains.

However, they have to cross the Wei River after all. When they finally crossed the river and arrived at the bottom of the Qinling Mountains, the sentry horse had already sounded the horn.

"Li Heng's rebels are coming!"

On the other side, the imperial troops who came over also saw the dust and smoke they raised, and they also sounded the trumpets.

"Xue Ni's remnants are here!"

Because he wanted to meet Xue Bai, Jiang Hai could not avoid it, so he ordered to march at full speed and rushed over.

The Qinling Mountains are towering, with huge boulders like walls.

There is only a narrow road between the two mountains that leads diagonally upward to Randen Temple and then around Chencang Mountain.

Gradually, both armies approached the stone wall and took up positions.

~~
Under a big flag, Li Chu rode his horse with a solemn expression.

He had been sending sentry horses to keep an eye on Jiang Hai's hundreds of cavalry. As soon as he discovered that they had turned around, he had a premonition that something bad was going to happen, knowing that Xue Bai might have survived the mountain fire...

A group of cavalry caught up from behind. He turned his head and saw that it was Li Tan, and his already frowning frown deepened.

"Brother."

"Why are you here?"

"Such a big thing happened, I can't sit still." Li Tan said: "Why did Xue Bai reach the Randen Temple to the east so quickly without dying after falling on the bluestone cliff?"

"Yes." Li Chu did not answer, but murmured to himself: "How can I not die?"

At this time, the sound of horse hooves sounded again from behind, but Chen Xuanli also led his troops to catch up. However, he did not join forces with Li Chu, but instead tried to bypass Li Chu's array.

Li Chu naturally did not allow Chen Xuanli to lead his troops in front of him, and ordered the sentry horse: "Go and ask General Chen what he means?"

After a long time, the sentry horse came over and reported back: "General Chen said that he would kill Xue Ni with his own hands to avenge His Majesty."

Li Chu's face became increasingly gloomy, as if he was mourning the death of the saint.

"The order goes down! Xue Ni killed the king and will die. Anyone who can decapitate him will be granted the title of Marquis of Ten Thousand Households!"

Following this order, everyone in the Forbidden Army was excited and drew their swords in their hands, eager to try.

Li Tan, however, rode his horse forward and said, "Since I said it was Li Cong who ordered Xue Ni, why not capture him and find out the matter?"

"Xue Ni is dangerous, we must not let him escape." Li Chu said coldly: "I would rather have a dead body than a living mouth."

He originally wanted to hunt Xue Bai directly, but when he arrived near Chencang Mountain, hundreds of Xue Ni's remnants appeared in front of him, so he decisively ordered: "Kill them!"

This forbidden army was full of murderous intent and charged straight towards the rebels.

The two armies gradually approached, formed their positions, and began to throw arrows at each other.

Li Chu was a little anxious and wanted to break through the enemy formation immediately. However, for some reason, the fierce battle quickly calmed down and the arrows became sparse.

"what happened?!"

"Brother, listen," Li Tan said, "Someone is shouting."

Li Chu quickly drove his horse to the front of the formation, and heard the shouting in the process.

"Stop preaching the Holy Edict..."

At first, only a few people were shouting, and their voices were faint.

After that, more and more people among the hundreds of rebels on the opposite side shouted, and finally the words came clearly.

"The saint is alive!"

Li Chu's hands holding the reins were clenched tightly, and sweat flowed from his helmet and across the high bridge of his nose.

He shouted angrily: "Kill the enemy! Don't be deceived by the lies of the regicide traitor!"

After giving the order, he whipped a soldier on the back who put down his bow and arrow, and cursed: "Are you a fool who just follows what others say? Can you tell what is true and what is false?!"

"King Guangping, look!"

Li Chu had already rushed to the front of the formation, and when he looked around, he could see a person standing on the mountain peak not far away. He looked like Gao Lishi. In front of Gao Lishi was a soldier wearing a Forbidden Army uniform. He had a loud voice and raised his hands while shouting.

"Brothers, the saint is still alive. I saw it with my own eyes..."

Li Tan rushed over and said, "I recognize that man, Zhang Xiaojing, a knight of the Longwu Army. He is very brave."

As he spoke, he narrowed his eyes, trying to identify the authenticity of Gao Lishi, and involuntarily rode forward, but was pulled back by Li Chu.

"Brother, let me see if that is Gao Aweng."

"Don't go there, it's dangerous." Li Chu said: "Xue Ni is cunning, this must be his trick."

Li Tan turned to look at Li Chu, his eyes becoming confused.

Li Chu ignored this doubt, looked resolute, and gave orders again, emphasizing the indisputable fact that Xue Bai had committed regicide, jumped on the carriage carrying the drum, beat the drum himself, and asked the soldiers to attack.

"Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!"

The war drums covered up the demagogic shouts, and the soldiers began to fire arrows again and approached.

Li Chu dropped his drumsticks, picked up a bow, and ran to the mountain where the so-called Gao Lishi was standing, intending to shoot him.

However, Chen Xuanli had already arrived, and with a desperate attitude, he rode his horse straight into the formation of the two armies.

"Stop!"

He was over sixty years old and was currently holding his flag in person. Due to some difficulty, his helmet fell to the ground, revealing a full head of white hair.

Recently, the soldiers of the Forbidden Army were hungry, resentful, and were instigated to mutiny. They were not controlled by Chen Xuanli, but he still served as the general of the Longwu Army for forty years.

"Stop, wait until I confirm that His Majesty is safe, then I will kill you again!"

Li Chu immediately shouted: "General Chen has lost his head, take him back!"

A few cavalrymen beside him were about to go up, but hundreds of Chen Xuanli's trusted cavalrymen had already arrived, protecting Chen Xuanli, and shouted: "King Guangping, are you going to rebel?!"

When Zhang Xiaojing saw it, he poked his head out from behind the rock again and shouted: "It was King Guangping who created the illusion of Xue Bai's regicide. The saint is still alive!"

"Punish the regicide rebels. Anyone who dares to stop him will be killed without mercy!" Li Chu's momentum was not weak at all. He once again exerted pressure and urged the soldiers to kill him.

In the distance, a figure wearing an imperial robe appeared on a higher mountain peak.

Although Chen Xuanli couldn't see his face clearly, he clearly remembered that the saint was wearing this robe before he was kidnapped, and his judgment on the matter suddenly became biased.

It is obviously impossible for Xue Bai to kill the king in such a short period of time, flee to Qingshi Cliff, then turn to Chencang Mountain in the east, and temporarily find an imperial robe for someone to pretend to be a saint.

"King Guangping! You have stopped me repeatedly, are you planning to rebel?!" Chen Xuanli looked at Li Chu, his eyes completely different.

The two sides were at war with each other. Not long after, Li Wan, Wei Jiansu and others also arrived with the princes and important ministers.

Li Chu's order could no longer make the soldiers kill all these people, so he fell into deep thinking.

"Brother?" Li Tan asked.

"Do you believe me? Xue Ni is lying." Li Chu said: "Li Wan was the mastermind behind what happened today, and Chen Xuanli was deceived by him."

Li Tan said: "It is also possible that Xue Bai sent someone to fake the assassination of the saint, but don't forget that the saint was still kidnapped by him."

Li Chu felt more at ease and sent someone to communicate with Chen Xuanli and others.

~~
"Your Majesty is indeed alive."

Li Wan was the most surprised by today's situation.

He had never thought about competing for the reserve in the past, but when the chaos came, his brothers seemed so incompetent, and he, the sixth child, was forced to take on the important responsibility, so his thoughts inevitably became eager.

"Is that General Gao?" Wei Jiansu looked towards the top of the mountain and murmured.

"Yes!"

Li Wan actually couldn't see clearly, but he answered firmly.

As the big shots like them arrived, Gao Lishi also stood up and said loudly: "Why don't you come to greet the Holy Driver?!"

The only person who can express a bossy attitude in a friendly tone when speaking is Gao Lishi.

Li Wan was overjoyed and said: "I will tell you that it is General Gao. His Majesty is protected by heaven and will be fine."

At this time, some soldiers came over, recounted Li Tan's judgment just now, and reminded them that the saint was still being kidnapped by Xue Bai.

"I'll meet the saint first and then we'll talk... Let's welcome him."

Chen Xuanli said, stepping forward towards the narrow mountain road.

Wei Jiansu followed them, but Li Wan hesitated. After thinking about it, he realized that Xue Bai didn't have many men to set up an ambush in the mountains, so he followed their pace.

Jiang Hai let these ministers go over, but when he saw some soldiers trying to enter the mountain, he ordered his men to shout and draw their bows and arrows to stop them.

As a result, the soldiers of both sides still faced each other, arrayed at the foot of the mountain, waiting for the big shots to come up with the outcome.

Randen Temple was built during the Northern and Southern Dynasties. It was named after the founder of Buddhism, Randen Buddha, passed away here. Today, the temple is not large and is located on a rugged mountain road.

Gao Lishi had been guarded by Zhang Xiaojing and came down from the height. He stood on the roadside and nodded tacitly when he saw Chen Xuanli.

Turning his eyes to Wei Jiansu, Gao Lishi sighed: "Back then, the saint once dreamed that he fell down in the palace and a filial son helped him get up. He asked me about this the next day, and I said, 'The filial son is wearing plain clothes, this is Wei Jiansu'. Now, This dream has come true.”

"Thank you very much, General Gao, for your support." Wei Jiansu breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that he was serious.

"I only hope that Wei Gong can support the saint."

"Is the saint okay?"

Gao Lishi nodded, raised his hand to guide the Randen Temple, and said: "Please."

When everyone entered the temple, they saw ruined earthen walls and towering ancient trees.

In the main hall, Yang Yuhuan was sitting on a futon making medicine, while the saint was leaning under the Buddha statue.

But when I stepped over the threshold and took a closer look, I saw that although the saint was wearing royal robes, the royal robes were burned to tatters, and the saint's face was still wrapped in a wrapper.

Upon seeing this situation, Chen Xuanli's heart sank. He turned to Gao Lishi and asked, "What's going on?"

"The saint was burned by fire."

"Could it be that General Gao is..."

Chen Xuanli stopped mid-question, and Gao Lishi said on his behalf: "Am I betraying the saint?"

"That's not what I meant."

Gao Lishi said: "After being taken out of the ruined temple by Xue Bai, there was a mountain fire, so we ran to Chencang Mountain to avoid the fire. But the saint did not trust Xue Bai, so he went ahead alone when he went up the mountain. It was too dark at that time, and we could not We caught up. We waited for dawn to search, but failed to find the saint on the top of the mountain. After a day and night, the fire was extinguished. We went down the mountain to search, and then we met the saint at the foot of the mountain. Unexpectedly... the saint had fallen down accidentally and was wrapped in the mountain fire. Fortunately, God blessed me and fell into the pool, alas.”

Chen Xuanli still had doubts, but at least the facts before him were much more real than Xue Bai's regicide.

He then looked at Yang Yuhuan who was making medicine and asked, "Your concubine, is everything General Gao said true?"

"Of course it's true."

"Why is it that only the saint got burned?"

Yang Yuhuan sighed slightly, as if complaining, "Who makes the saint refuse to believe in us?"

She didn't say anything, she just lowered her head and said: "General Chen wants to kill me, so I will die. I just ask the general to allow me to take care of Saburo until he is out of danger."

Chen Xuanli didn't know what to say, so he looked at the saint lying there and called in a low voice: "Your Majesty?"

Li Longji did not speak, but raised his hand with difficulty and pointed at Chen Xuanli. This action was something he liked to do every day, with a hint of coolness in his majesty and domineering attitude. It's like saying, "Chen Xuanli, your rescue is too late."

The feeling this gesture brought to Chen Xuanli was correct.

Ordinary people will never be able to imitate the posture of this ninety-five-year-old man.

"I came late to save you, please ask the saint to forgive me." Chen Xuanli said.

He is the most familiar with the saint among everyone. Only when everyone sees him like this can they believe in the saint's identity.

The reason why these people were willing to risk going into the mountains at this time of the year into Heshuo was that they were reluctant to follow Li Heng, and they hoped that the saint was still alive.

Although the saint who appeared at this time was disfigured, he was not held hostage by Xue Bai. For them, the result was better than expected. Therefore, no one has ventured to question this matter for the time being.

Everyone then saluted one after another.

Li Wan had already begun to think about how to invite the saint to continue to Shu County and expose Li Heng's conspiracy.

After a big fire, their level of vigilance towards Xue Bai and Li Heng has changed.

At this time, Xue Bai just came out from behind with four of his men.

Chen Xuanli was immediately alert, drew his sword in his hand, and shouted: "Traitor!"

"I have contributed to the rescue." Xue Bai said with a very calm attitude: "General Chen should be grateful to me, otherwise, if the saint is burned to death by the rebels, you will be responsible for it."

"Rebel?"

Chen Xuanli had heard this term often recently and it was very familiar to him, but he said, "I don't know who the traitor you are referring to is."

“Whoever sets a mountain on fire in order to trap a saint is a traitor.”

"Isn't the wildfire caused by your explosives?"

"Can such nonsense deceive General Chen?"

Xue Bai asked back, turning his head to look outside the Randen Temple, as if he could feel the movement at the foot of the mountain.

He pondered for a moment and then said: "Li Heng and his son will not give up. They will take action soon. I'll keep it short."

Chen Xuanli asked knowingly: "Are you saying that the loyal king is the traitor?"

"good."

"You kidnapped the saint first."

"If Li Heng hadn't instigated the mutiny of the Imperial Army, why would I have risked my life to save the saint?" Xue Bai said, "I haven't asked General Chen why he forced the saint to kill his concubine?"

Chen Xuanli stopped answering.

He knew in his heart that Li Heng indeed planned the mutiny. And he had to force Yang Yuhuan to death in order to protect the saint.

"It seems that General Chen knows who the traitor is." Xue Bai said: "I regained Luoyang and was determined to serve the country. Unexpectedly, Li Heng wrongfully accused the crown prince of a uterine coup, kidnapped the saint out of the capital, and even mutiny broke out in Chencang. I then Risking his own life to rescue the saint, Li Heng sent someone to set fire to him. So, I took the saint to avoid the fire. Naturally, we could only stay at the top of the mountain before the fire was extinguished. How could we go to Sanguan to kill the king? "

"Many soldiers saw with their own eyes that you committed regicide."

"Have you seen the faces of me and the saint?" Xue Bai asked back, "It's just that Li Heng was eager to usurp the throne. First, he was afraid of searching here and having long nights and dreams; second, he was afraid that I might rescue the saint, so he planned my regicide. So, when he ascends the throne, the saint will turn out to be a false saint. Maybe he has already calculated that even if we escape by chance, we will be burned beyond recognition. "

Chen Xuanli had already guessed this and kept silent.

Li Wan nodded repeatedly.

"Li Heng only didn't expect that I would know his conspiracy so quickly." Xue Bai pointed at Zhang Xiaojing and said: "Before he had time to inform the world, a righteous man had informed me of this matter. I know that you all regard me as a Rebellion, now that you have shown up, you have a narrow escape. But in order to stop this traitor’s conspiracy, I still invite you here.”

He looked at Chen Xuanli and said, "I gave you the news. If I were rebellious, would I do this?"

Until this point, this group of people showed no sign of taking action against Xue Bai, so Xue Bai said the last sentence calmly.

"Who is the loyal minister and who is the traitor? The truth should be revealed today."

Chen Xuanli closed his eyes and thought about the various forces involved in these things. For a moment, he really couldn't tell who was loyal.

(End of this chapter)