Man Tang Huacai

Chapter 482 Qinian
Remove the county government office.

Dugu Wensu waited in the flower hall for a while, and Li Shiyu arrived.

"Why didn't you capture the girl who asked for cockfighting?"

"Brothers Diao are here, so it's hard to do anything." Dugu Wensu said in a calm tone, seeming to have no interest in doing these things.

Li Shiyu soon noticed that something was wrong with him, and stepped forward and asked in a low voice: "What? At the end of the day, do you still hesitate? Your Majesty has ascended the throne. There are no two days in the sky and no two kings in the earth."

"It's not that I have any hesitation about being loyal to Your Majesty." Dugu asked, "But since the rebellion, you and I have seen Xue Bai's achievements with our own eyes. How can we turn against him immediately when the rebellion is not yet decided?"

"Because if it is too late, it will be too late. If Chang'an is defended, will King Qing surrender to His Majesty?!"

While they were talking, a subordinate rushed over and reported the news that Yang Qixuan had escaped with Li Tengkong and others.

When Dugu Wensu learned this, he couldn't help but smile bitterly and said: "It seems that they have realized that you and I are in the same group."

"Don't let them rush to Li Sheng's camp!"

Li Shiyu immediately went to Cui Zhong and asked him to send people to chase him.

Although Yuan Jie was the magistrate of Jiexian County, Jiexian County was under the rule of Wang Chengye. Cui Zhong entered the city with Wang Chengye's order and was able to mobilize some officers and soldiers.

However, half a day later, new news came. The escape direction of Yang Qixuan and others was not to Li Sheng's camp by the Yellow River, but to the Yanchi.

"What are they doing in the salt pond?"

"The Xue Party has been working on salt for several years, and they must have a lot of influence in the salt pool. It would be troublesome if they were allowed to gather manpower."

Cui Zhong became anxious when he heard this.

He had many purposes for coming here, one of which was to control the salt pond for His Majesty to raise the next military expenses. Capturing Li Linfu's daughter is only a trivial matter, but if it causes turmoil in Yanchi and makes it difficult for him to take over, it will be too much of a loss.

So, he quickly sent more people to the salt pond to comfort him, and threatened him with force if necessary.

There was a lot of commotion in the city, and the news spread quickly, and a salt official came to see him.

"He's one of Yuan Jie's men?"

"He claims to be an old official of Hu Cao. He has two boxes of account books that he wants to present to Cui Yushi. This is one of them."

Cui Zhong took it and looked at it, his expression immediately became serious, and he even came up with an abacus. After calculating for a while, he murmured: "The salt production is wrong, unless the salt field produces illegal salt... It is indeed early." There is a plan!”

He angrily threw the booklet to Li Shiyu and shouted: "Send that old official here, I will ask him personally."

"Here."

After a while, an old official came tremblingly, followed by four men, each carrying two boxes of account books.

When Cui Zhong saw this, he raised his hand and said, "These are all evidence that King Qing has embezzled the salt tax a long time ago and planned to overstep his bounds."

When the old official heard this, he was so frightened that he fell to the ground. However, the big man carrying the box behind him suddenly took out his pole and swept it across the knee of the officer in the hall, breaking his leg with a bang. The officer fell to the ground. At the same time, the saber on his body was also pulled out.

"Do it!"

Li Shiyu was still looking carefully at the account books handed over by Cui Zhong. He looked up and suddenly found that two of the men carrying the box were brothers Diao Bing and Diao Geng. Although he was surprised, he was calm because he had seen many tough bandits in Fan Yang for a long time.

Cui Zhong was a capital official. He was so frightened that he turned around and wanted to run away.

"Where to go?!"

Diao Geng threw a single knife in his hand and stabbed into Cui Zhong's thigh. At the same time, someone quickly pounced on him, picked up the knife and put it on Cui Zhong's neck, shouting: "Everyone stop it!"

At the same time, Diao Bing lost no time and shouted: "The saint is investigating the major case of the loyal king's rebellion, who dares to get involved?!"

These were the words taught by Li Tengkong. As soon as these words came out, many soldiers in the government office who wanted to step forward were shocked to stop.

"Nonsense!" Cui Zhong said: "The saint has passed away..."

Before he could finish his words, Diao Geng gave him a slap with his backhand without any politeness.

Another thing that is very unfavorable to Cui Zhong is that although Li Heng's rhetoric is very effective for high-ranking officials, ordinary people do not understand the details and cannot see the various reasons why Xue Bai returns to guard Chang'an. The strangeness made it difficult for him to explain Li Heng's legitimacy in one or two sentences.

Of course Cui Zhong also brought troops, but some of them had been transferred outside the city. The Diao brothers also brought a lot of men, and most of them were wounded soldiers who had stayed in Hebei to recuperate. They arrived at this time and quickly suppressed the opponent.

The rest are the original officers and soldiers in the city, just stabilize them.

Outside the government office, at a considerable distance, Yang Qixuan looked around for a while, and was surprised to find that the officers and soldiers were holding knives, but they did not dare to rush in to save Cui Zhong.

"go in."

"Me?" Yang Qixuan shrank his neck.

Li Tengkong didn't look at him and walked straight into the government office, turning a blind eye to the officers and soldiers guarding the door. When someone looked at her, she didn't care about the ulcers on her face. She raised her head slightly and said with authority: " I am the daughter of the Prime Minister of the Tang Dynasty, the great-great-grandson of Prince Changping, and the disciple of Princess Yuzhen.”

Entering the lobby, she slowly sat down on the main seat and looked at Li Shiyu, but did not speak.

Li Shiyu was squeezed out by Li Linfu and lost his great future. He naturally hated her very much. A look of contempt flashed in his eyes and he said: "It seems that she is exactly the same as Tianbao for five years."

"What do you mean by that?"

"In the five years of Tianbao, the treacherous prime minister persecuted the prince, and Xue Bai assisted Zhou in persecuting him. Now the treacherous prime minister's daughter is still complicit in his conspiracy. Everyone's position has not changed."

Li Tengkong said: "I think you are members of the rebels. Seeing that the rebels are about to die, you are instigating internal strife in the Tang Dynasty."

"That's absolutely not the case!" Li Shiyu said seriously.

But Li Tengkong's words were obviously meant for the officials outside. Following these words, many people lowered their knives in their hands.

Only then did Yang Qixuan regain his breath and began to put on airs to intimidate the officers and soldiers in the city. To put it simply, scaring people was one of the few things he could do well.

"Don't act rashly! Once the rebellion is suppressed, the court will deal with it on its own. Otherwise, when Li Jieshuai returns from killing the enemy, you will be dealt with by military law..."

A few old foxes did not expect that a carefully planned power grab would be easily broken by a prostitute.

Soon, the county magistrates and staff left behind by Yuan Jie were released from prison and took charge of the situation. After the situation was restored, Li Tengkong stopped interfering in the affairs of the government office and asked the Diao brothers to take Dugu Wensu, Li Shiyu, and Cui Zhong into prison separately for interrogation.

~~
"In addition to controlling Jie County, what other plans does Wang Chengye have?"

Among the three, only Dugu had the best attitude towards asking questions. He looked ashamed, but did not answer Li Tengkong's question. He sighed and asked, "What do you think of Xue Bai's return to the Holy Master?"

"You always call him 'Xue Bai', he is Li Qian, the King of Peking."

"When he came to incite rebellion against me, he said, 'If you want to follow the dragon, it is better to follow me than follow An Lushan.'" Dugu asked Su Su, "He thought it was this sentence that moved me, but But he doesn’t know that we are loyal ministers of the Tang Dynasty and former members of the East Palace.”

"He knows." Li Tengkong said, "He has read your files in the Prime Minister's Mansion in the early years. When he said that you 'want to achieve the merit of following the dragon,' he also meant that you would rather follow him than follow Li Heng."

Dugu Wensu said: "It's not that I haven't considered this matter, but he lost the opportunity."

Li Tengkong didn't like these tactics, but he still asked Xue Bai: "How do you say this?"

"How long has Prince Zhong been the crown prince? How long has Prince Qing been the crown prince? How many years has it been since the King of Peking has been ennobled?" Dugu asked Su Su: "What's more, since the saint is a fake and the saint has never really awarded him, he has Is he the King of Peking? In the eyes of those who know, he is still Xue Bai, not Li Qian."

"How do you know the Holy Chariot is fake?"

"I know Prince Zhong. He dare not and will not lie about this matter." Dugu Wensu said slowly: "There is no day in the sky. The Tang Dynasty now only needs one saint."

Li Tengkong stood up and was about to walk out, but stopped and said, "In your eyes, what kind of person is Li Heng?"

"He is the most suitable prince of the Tang Dynasty. He is filial, tolerant, wise, worried about the country, and open-minded to accept advice." Dugu Wensu recalled the years in Chang'an when he first became an official, and still missed Li Heng's demeanor at that time.

"Maybe he is a good prince, but he is not good enough to be a king."

Li Tengkong suddenly spoke, interrupting Dugu Wensu's words in a somewhat cold voice.

"His forbearance was never because of filial piety, but because of his cowardice and selfishness. He hid in the darkness all day long, plotting with eunuchs and women, working hard just to keep his poor position. He was short-sighted and couldn't see Anything other than that.”

These words were very familiar to Li Tengkong, because her grandfather often commented on Li Heng like this at home. At that time, she was very disgusted by this and thought that her grandfather was purely motivated by personal grudges, but now she discovered that her grandfather was actually accurate in judging people.

"If he is really worried about the country, what he should do is not to rush to proclaim himself emperor, but to lead the army to relieve the siege of Chang'an and ascend the throne in a dignified manner. Does he humbly accept advice? What he accepts are the eunuchs around him who advise him to protect his own interests and protect his own interests. Advice that disrupts the overall situation of the world..."

She thought of Li Linfu's powerful words again in her mind -

"Can such a person be allowed to ascend to the throne of God?!"

After many years, father and daughter finally reached a consensus on things that they once did not understand each other.

Dugu Wensu was stunned for a moment and murmured: "You... are indeed Li Linfu's daughter."

To him, this was a curse word.

~~
In another cell, Cui Zhong quickly recruited.

"If I tell you, can you promise to spare my life?"

"can."

"The next step is not what Wang Chengye will do." Cui Zhong whispered: "Li Guangbi will enter Chang'an, detain King Qing, Xue Bai, and the fake saints, and welcome the new king back to Chang'an."

"You mean...Li Guangbi?"

"Yes." Although Cui Zhong was tied to the torture rack, there was a smile in his eyes and said: "You didn't expect it, right? Li Guangbi had already made his choice. Otherwise, how could Wang Chengye agree to let him lead troops to support Chang'an."

Li Tengkong said: "I don't believe it. Li Guangbi was recommended to Hedong by Xue Bai."

"What's that? He had received favors from King Zhong when he was in the army in Longyou in his early years. Don't forget that he was promoted by Wang Zhongsi, and at that time, Wang Zhongsi was still King Zhong's sworn brother." Cui Zhong said: "This time, Li Guangbi is determined to save Chang'an and has the overall interests of the country in mind. He and Wang Chengye promise to get rid of the traitors and restore peace to the world as soon as possible. "

"Is there any evidence for what you said?"

"The reason why Li Guangbi made this decision was that he received a letter from Li Mi, the counselor next to King Zhong. He knew that the world was righteous, so he went to Lingwu and wrote a letter of submission. Wang Chengye only allowed him to provide food, grass and baggage and let him send troops."

After Cui Zhong finished speaking, he finally couldn't help but smile and asked: "What? Didn't you expect it? Do you really think Li Guangbi is on your side?"

Diao Bing then stepped forward and gave Cui Zhong another slap in the ear.

"Just say whatever I ask you to say, don't say useless things!"

Cui Zhong lowered his head in pain, perhaps cursing in his mind that people like them would be doomed sooner or later, but he did not dare to say any more nonsense.

"It's true that Li Guangbi took back Yan Jiming, but it was not because he was against the loyal king, but because he thought that we could wait until the rebels in Guanzhong were defeated before talking. He transferred Li Sheng, not because of insufficient troops, but to prevent Li Sheng from letting him go again. Occupying Tumen Pass, in other words, everyone in Hedong has accepted King Zhong as the new king...except Xiezhou."

~~
In the last cell, when he heard the name "Li Guangbi", Li Shiyu sighed and said, "It seems that everyone in Cui has been recruited?"

"Yes, whether you recruit or not, the result will be the same."

Li Shiyu was silent for a long time. Finally, he nodded with a smile and said, "Yes, the result is the same. The day Li Guangbi enters Chang'an City will be the day when the rebels will be executed, and the day when the world will be at peace!"

~~
Changan.

After the siege was resolved, Chang'an City regained its vitality, and even the originally dull Tai Chi Palace had more laughter.

There is music in the Liyuan again, but the style has changed from the previous elegance and gracefulness to the majestic formation-breaking music. On the stage, a group of women wearing red warrior robes were dancing with swords.

They are all disciples of Gongsun Auntie. The leader, Li Twelve Niang, has now grown into a big girl. She looks very heroic, with her hair tied up and wearing a crown, without any trace of the squeamishness of a woman. Before defending the city, she actually went to the battlefield and killed many enemy soldiers.

Aunt Gongsun is already old and is sitting under the stage, talking to Yang Yuhuan. "The celebration banquet will definitely be held, but the King of Peking doesn't seem to want to perform another performance."

"Why? You took all the trouble to arrange this sword dance. It's just not convenient to perform it before. Is there anything wrong with it at the celebration banquet?"

"I must not be able to take care of it. There is insufficient food in the city now, and I heard that the King of Peking is worried." Aunt Gongsun said, "I also heard that the rebels have not really retreated. They are joining forces to the west to prepare for a decisive battle with the king's division."

At this point, Xie Aman, who was standing behind Yang Yuhuan, interjected: "This celebration banquet is also a welcome banquet to welcome Li Guangbi into the city. The King of Peking only cares about General Li, so he must be too lazy to pay attention to this place."

"Did you ask him?"

"Disciple...no."

Yang Yuhuan muttered in a voice that could only be heard by himself.

"He also said that he would give me back a prosperous singing and dancing age."

She was wearing a dance skirt today, and she had originally planned to perform the sword dance herself, but hearing them say this made her feel quite bored.

At this time, Xiao Huangmen came over and said in a low voice: "Noble Concubine, the saint is hosting a banquet in Wanchun Hall."

Hearing this, Yang Yuhuan's expression changed, and he guessed that saints would not hold banquets now, and it must be Xue Bai who came.

"There's no rush, let's go back and change clothes." She was determined to put him through trouble, and then called Zhang Yunrong and said, "Go and ask the dining room to add a few more bottles of wine for the imperial banquet."

When Yang Yuhuan arrived at the front hall, he saw Xue Bai.

There is an imperial table and a small table in the hall. There are wine bottles and wine glasses on the imperial table, but they are empty. Xue Bai is sitting alone behind the small table, holding a piece of Hu cake and chewing it. Swallow slowly.

Obviously, he had just talked with the saint and Gao Lishi.

"No place for me?"

"Chang'an has just been relieved from the siege and supplies are not yet sufficient. Please be patient a little longer, noble concubine."

"You guys go down first."

"Here."

"How brave of you to invite me to meet in private."

Xue Bai said: "For the time being, I can still have the final say in Chang'an City, but I may not be able to do so in a while."

"Yes, yes, the King of Peiping is unparalleled and has great power."

Yang Yuhuan walked a few steps with his hands behind his back, and arrived in front of his case. He picked up the wine bottle and shook it gently. Seeing that the wine inside was full, he said, "It seems that Xue Beifan still hasn't drank one glass today?"

"Tomorrow, Li Guangbi will arrive in Chang'an."

"and then?"

Yang Yuhuan took a sip of wine, a slight blush appeared on her fair and delicate face, and her mood suddenly improved a lot, and she asked: "What next?"

"If we can prevent him from seeing the clues, everything will be easy to explain." Xue Bai said: "But if something goes wrong, I'm afraid it will be very troublesome."

"Need me to help you?"

"You're also helping yourself."

Yang Yuhuan held the wine flask, poured a glass of wine into the cup, and said, "You guarded Chang'an. I admire you so much that I give you a toast."

"This is a treasure from the palace. Do you have enough to drink?"

"The city has been under siege for such a long time, and we finally got out of it. Have a drink, and I will give you an idea after drinking it. It will definitely be more useful than what Gao Lishi said... What? Are you afraid of poison?"

After experiencing the pressure of guarding Chang'an, her words were inexplicably convincing. Xue Bai still picked up the wine and drank it. For the first time, he felt the feeling of opening his pores after the wine entered his throat.

He is not good at rewarding himself, so he rewarded himself once today.

Yang Yuhuan kept an eye on him, and when he saw that he really drank, he subconsciously lowered his eyes slightly. There was not much ventilation in the hall, so the air became slightly thicker.

They all seemed to have ignored that the wine in the jug had been drunk by her, so it was naturally not poisonous.

"If you don't want anything to go wrong, you have to do this to Li Guangbi first tomorrow."

"What kind of thing?"

Yang Yuhuan suddenly leaned down to look at Xue Bai, pointed her alluring face at him, and then smiled.

"In this way, you have to laugh and feel proud. If you are worried, of course he will know that you are hiding something fishy."

Xue Bai glanced down from the corner of his eye. He was drunk, his cheeks were hot, and he soon turned red. He turned his head and said, "I never show my worries on my face. He can't tell."

"I can tell you have something on your mind." Yang Yuhuan said, "Laugh first, then dance."

"dance?"

"How have you ever seen an imperial banquet without dancing and music? Tomorrow, Li Guangbi will arrive. You will hold him here to watch the singing, dancing and drinking, and slowly wait for the Holy Driver."

"That's not necessary. I just want you to say a few words while I accompany you to the banquet."

Yang Yuhuan had already poured him another glass and said, "You have another drink."

"I am drunk."

"It's better to be drunk. You haven't finished the poem you wrote last time when you were drunk. You will continue it today."

"Which poem?"

Yang Yuhuan walked two steps in the palace with a wine pot and chanted: "There is a daughter in the Yang family who has just grown up and was raised in a boudoir. No one knows her."

After chanting, she turned back to look at him and said, "There have been no poems in Chang'an for too long."

Xue Bai rubbed his forehead and said, "I can't remember where I read it last time."

Yang Yuhuan said: "Then let's read it again?"

Xue Bai didn't want to recite poems anymore. He was different now. He was no longer an official accompanying the emperor's concubine on a tour. He was the King of Peking who guarded Chang'an and had many other things to worry about.

"Okay, I know you are playful and have made enough trouble. Let's get down to business." Xue Bai said: "I may not be able to hide it tomorrow, but when the time comes, it will be up to you to come back..."

~~
Xue Bai didn't drink the second cup in the end. He said it was business and left the palace.

But the scene just now appeared inexplicably in her mind. Yang Yuhuan raised his head slightly and lifted the pot to drink. The red rouge was left on the mouth of the pot, and then poured the wine for herself to drink... What did she mean?

He shook his head and speeded up his horse. The wind blew and made him sober.

After that, he went to Daming Palace to meet Li Cong.

Now Xue Bai and Li Cong's previous relationship must have been wary of each other. Fortunately, although the siege of Chang'an has been temporarily resolved, the problems they have to face together are still huge, and they will have to use each other for some time to come.

"Tomorrow, Li Guangbi will enter the city. If His Highness can obtain his support, the situation will be very different..."

Xue Bai still looked like he was planning for Li Cong, talking eloquently.

Li Cong listened and observed Xue Bai.

The distance between the two was not close, but he still saw something strange.

"Sanlang, have you drank?"

Xue Bai was still not used to being called "Sanlang" by Li Cong in this tone. He nodded and said, "Have a drink."

"Oh? I wonder who can make you drink?" Li Cong said, "Even I can't do this."

"He is a saint."

Li Cong touched the scars on his face with his fingers and said, "That's it."

"Yes, your Highness, don't worry. The entire Chang'an City is on your Highness's side. Li Guangbi doesn't dare to mess around easily."

"I hope it's as you said."

When he left Daming Palace, Xue Bai recalled Li Cong's attitude just now and realized that Li Cong had noticed that he went to see Yang Yuhuan. Although this matter is nothing and Li Cong will not expose it for the time being, Xue Bai thinks that he is too careless.

Why? You have always been cautious, so why did you indulge in this matter today?

He looked at himself again, and the scene of Yang Yuhuan leaning in front of him and smiling slightly appeared in his mind...

Xue Bai raised his head.

After taking a look at the sky, it was almost dusk, so he drove his horse to Yang Yuyao's residence.

On the way, he thought about it and thought that Yang Yuhuan seemed to be interested in "testing" himself. He probably wanted to test whether he was the true grandson of the emperor.

~~
"Mother Yao, have you ever thought about it? Now that I have recovered my identity, I am two generations behind you."

"With the situation in Chang'an City a while ago, I really didn't have time to think about this matter."

Yang Yuyao deliberately put her fingers on her chin and thought about it, with a look of worry in her eyes.

Then, he whispered in Xue Bai's ear, "I just thought... it's even more interesting."

Xue Bai also smiled bitterly after hearing such a trend of the Tang Dynasty.

Unfortunately, although Yang Yuyao was also very interested, she pushed him and whispered: "It's not convenient today. I'll call Mingzhu over."

"No, there will be big things tomorrow, so keep your spirits up and deal with it."

"The fire is very strong."

"Because the danger has not passed yet, go to sleep."

Xue Bai said, lying down on the couch, closing his eyes, thinking about meeting Li Guangbi tomorrow.

Then I couldn't help but think, which line did I read in the "Song of Everlasting Sorrow" that I sang to Yang Yuhuan last time?

"The cold spring brings a bath in Huaqing Pool, and the hot spring water washes away the fat."

"When the servant lifts up the weakling, it is the beginning of new grace."

It seems to be here, Bai Letian's writing power.

In a daze, Xue Bai recalled the scene in Wanchun Palace where Yang Yuhuan spun around on the carpet and raised her skirt slightly. She wore a dignified and luxurious underskirt, but under her feet were a pair of dancing shoes. The red silk lining made the insteps as white as jade... Maybe she forgot to change in a hurry because she was eager to meet?
Afterwards, he realized that the woman was dangerous and she liked to test herself on the edge of danger, so he put these thoughts away.

"What I want is authority." He reminded himself in his sleep, "If you make progress, you can do it."

He slept heavily that night, and Xue Bai woke up before dawn.

He went to the city head and waited alone for half an hour. The sentry horse came to report that Li Guangbi had broken camp and set off. He would be able to enter Chang'an City today...

(End of this chapter)