Man Tang Huacai

Chapter 502 Beloved
At dawn, Li Mi was meditating when he heard footsteps behind him. He knew who was coming, but did not open his eyes.

Sure enough, Xue Bai's voice was heard.

"I heard that you don't eat meat, so I asked someone to make you some light vegetarian food."

Li Mi did not respond, as if he was in a trance.

Xue Bai sat down beside him and said to himself, "The wheat harvest is coming soon. This year has been difficult, and I don't know how much of the people's fields have been ruined. Now Li Heng has retreated to Jingzhou, but the Huihe soldiers have not retreated and are looting everywhere in Guanzhong. I must fight them."

He paused for a moment, giving Li Mi time to speak, but still failed to get the Taoist to speak.

"Many people have advised me that the timing is not right and that it would be wiser to form an alliance with the Huihe temporarily. I guess you would think the same if you were planning for me. I know that the Huihe cavalry is very strong, but I think that we must intimidate them while the prestige of the Heavenly Khan is not completely lost. Once they see that the Tang Dynasty is getting weaker and weaker, it will be out of control. If we fight now, a small victory will have a far-reaching impact."

Li Mi finally opened his eyes and said, "If you really care about the Tang Dynasty, you should have a good talk with His Majesty."

Xue Bai immediately put on an attitude of accepting advice and said, "Okay, I'll listen to you."

Li Mi glanced at him sideways and remained silent.

"Really." Xue Bai said, "I plan to send an envoy to talk to Li Heng and his son. If they are willing to surrender and persuade the Huihe soldiers to leave, the past can be forgiven. When they return to Chang'an, Li Heng will still be the Prince of Zhong, and Li Chu will still be the Prince of Guangping. Your Majesty will still regard them as brothers and nephews."

"it's useless."

"You and I both know this is useless, but this is my sincerity. When the time comes, as long as the officials and generals are loyal to the people, they will naturally be able to tell who is the wise leader."

Li Mi shook his head and said, "Just having the courage to fight rashly is not enough. Officials will also see who can accomplish things."

"Is it not enough for me to take your 'Xijing'?" Xue Bai asked in return, "In addition, I will let Gao Xianzhi meet Feng Changqing and persuade him to submit to the court and fight against the Huihe cavalry. Feng Changqing will also see my sincerity in sending an envoy to Li Heng, and he should know what is right and what is wrong."

"Gao Xianzhi?" Li Mi's expression finally changed, with surprise in his eyes.

"Yes, Gao Xianzhi is not dead. I saved him. You see, I have been trying to make up for the mistakes made by the emperor over the years."

Li Mi was unwilling to give Xue Bai advice, but after hearing his plans, he still reminded him: "Although Feng Changqing and Gao Xianzhi are loyal, they may not be convinced. He is deeply indebted to the emperor, and the emperor does not recognize you."

"I understand, sir. Do you want me to obtain the recognition of the Supreme Emperor first?" Xue Bai smiled.

Li Mi was too lazy to pay attention to his joke and did not respond seriously.

Xue Bai then asked seriously: "From the perspective of repelling the Huihe and protecting the people of Guanzhong, is there anything you want to teach me, sir?"

Li Mi didn't want to say it, but this question forced him to say it, so he had to say: "Prince Yehu of the Huihe has a younger brother named Yidijian. It is said that the two brothers are not on good terms. You can use this to put pressure on him and increase your chances of winning..."

~~
Gao Can pushed open the door, walked into a small courtyard, and saw Shen Zhenzhu again.

"Please, Madam Shen. I will escort you to see Prince Guangping."

"Last time you escorted me to Pingliang, you took the opportunity to contact the insider and get information." Shen Zhenzhu asked, "Is it the same this time?"

Gao Can did not answer. He thought that these were matters for men and there was no need to talk to a weak woman. She just needed to return to Li Chu and live a good life in the future.

He asked her to step on his palm to climb onto the horse's back. She didn't dare to do so at first. He said that he was just a rough warrior and would not be harmed by a noble like her. She then said that she was not a noble and that his hands holding the knife should be used to protect the people of the Tang Dynasty.

This sentence touched the pride in Gao Can's heart, and he couldn't help but ask: "Didn't Madam Shen say that I was a traitor?"

Shen Zhenzhu lowered her head and said, "I have always known that you are guarding Chang'an and Guanzhong. But I am a woman, and I must obey my husband after I get married."

After saying this, she looked gloomy, and Gao Can followed her in gloom. The two of them didn't say anything more. She stepped on his palm and climbed onto the horse. He shook the sand in his palm and took the reins.

The general leading the team this time was Pugu Yin.

"Has General Pugu surrendered?" Shen Zhenzhu asked.

"Yes." Gao Can also admired Pugu Yin, because he was indeed brave. "We serve the legitimate emperor and protect the country. General Pugu saw it clearly and naturally abandoned the dark and joined the light."

Shen Zhenzhu said: "It's great to be a man."

"What good can a worthless life do?" Gao Can didn't understand why she said that. "People in Chang'an say that if you give birth to a girl, you can decorate the door lintel."

"You say your life is worthless, but it is ultimately in your own hands. There is no need to float like duckweed." Shen Zhenzhu whispered.

Gao Can wanted to say that he could protect her, but hesitated and didn't say it out loud.

In fact, his soldiers all laughed at him for being cowardly. Someone asked him, "If the general likes that young lady, why don't you ask the King of Yong for her?"

His army's marching officer once advised him, "General, kill Li Chu and take Shen as your wife. That's what a real man should do!"

In response to these words, Gao Can simply said, "You don't understand."

"You don't understand." During the break that day, Pugu Yin glanced at where Shen Zhenzhu was and said, "Prince Guangping has no Shen in his heart at all."

"How does General Pugu know?"

"How could I not know?" Pugu Yin said, "Whenever the Prince of Guangping held a banquet for his generals, Lady Dugu was by his side."

He patted Gao Can's shoulder carelessly and said, "Think about it, if a man loses his concubine twice, can he still have her in his heart?"

Gao Can said: "But she gave birth to a son."

"You don't understand this. The more Prince Guangping values ​​his eldest son, the less he wants to give his eldest son's birth mother a title. You forget that the Tang Dynasty had Empress Wu Zetian. Prince Guangping is cunning and not as easy to get along with as he seems."

Puguyin was a fierce general, but sometimes he was also very clear-headed.

The next day, they arrived in Jingzhou. Before entering the city, Pugu Yin said, "I will go see my grandfather first and discuss things with him. If he is willing to submit to Chang'an, I will lead the troops south. If he is not willing, I will present the letter from Prince Yong."

"Okay." Gao Can handed over the letter from Xue Bai to Li Chu.

When they sent Li Chu's concubines over, the first thing they said was, "Prince Yong couldn't bear to see Prince Guangping lose his wives and concubines, but Prince Guangping couldn't bear to see the wives and children of the people in Guanzhong being taken away by the Huihe?"

As long as they said this publicly, they would have a righteous reputation. And if they sent Shen Zhenzhu back, Li Chu would have no way to kill them, otherwise it would be repaying kindness with enmity, which would be despised by the world.

However, at this time, both of them thought that meeting Pugu Huai'en first was a safer approach.

Pugu Yin then went forward alone, watching in the woods for a while, and when he saw a familiar Shuofang soldier, he went up to him and introduced his name. After a while, he followed him to Pugu Huai'en's camp.

~~
On that day, Pugu Huai'en was discussing military affairs with Li Chu.

"At present, Deputy Marshal Guo Ziyi has blocked Chang'an and Hedong, and will soon march into Hebei; the emperor has issued an order to send troops to Shannan East Road to fight against the bandits; all parts of the country have also submitted petitions, and the overall situation of the world is more favorable to us."

"Although we suffered the defeat in Fengxiang, our troops in Guanzhong have not suffered too much loss. The Huihe cavalry alone is twice as many as Xue Ni, not to mention the troops in Lingwu, Pingliang, Longzhou and other places."

"As long as we keep the morale high, we will be able to defeat Xue Ni and recapture Fengxiang. By then, we can take Chang'an City without a fight."

"That's right." Li Chu opened his mouth and immediately said something that could boost morale. "Just before I came to the camp, I met with the envoy sent by the Huihe Yehu, and agreed to fight against Xue Ni together. With the support of the Huihe strong soldiers, why worry about not winning?!"

"it is good!"

There was a lively conversation going on in the tent when a soldier came over to report the news. He stood behind Pugu Huai'en but did not speak immediately. Instead, he waited for Pugu Huai'en and Li Chu to finish their conversation.

But Pugu Huai'en didn't know whether he didn't understand what the soldier meant or he was very frank with Li Chu, so he asked directly: "What's the matter?"

The soldier hesitated for a moment, and then whispered, "General, Erlang is back."

"Great!"

Before Pugu Huai'en could speak, Li Chu was already overjoyed. He stood up and said, "Pugu Yin was trapped by the rebels. I have been worried for days. Now he can return. It is really God's blessing."

As he spoke, Li Chu strode out to meet Pugu Yin.

Although he did not show any expression on his face, he was actually thinking in his heart that Pugu Yin had clearly been captured by Xue Ni, and it was highly unlikely that he had escaped. He must have been sent by Xue Bai to be a lobbyist or spy on military intelligence, or even to persuade Pugu Huai'en to surrender.

No matter what Xue Bai's purpose was, Li Chu was in a difficult situation. He knew that Pugu Yin's visit would have a great impact on his army's morale, but he could not refuse him and discourage Pugu from being grateful. The only way was to treat Pugu Yin as well as possible and make him return to his side.

Therefore, when he arrived at the small tent, a smile immediately appeared on his face, and he even went forward to hug Pu Guyin warmly, saying: "Good, good! The general has finally returned. It is worth my praying for the general day and night."

The reason why he said "praying for blessings" is because Li Chu actually believed in Buddhism.

Pugu was a little confused. He didn't expect that he would meet Li Chu first when he secretly came back to see his grandfather. After being hugged like this, his heart was actually shaken. But Fengxiang City fell, and he didn't have time to bring his family out, and now they are still in Xue Bai's hands.

"Prince Guangping, I was released."

Pugu Yin took another look and saw that Pugu Huai'en had entered the tent. He felt more confident and decided to tell Xue Bai what he wanted. Let Li Chu respond, which was also a matter of fulfilling his trust.

"Prince Yong asked me to bring a message to Your Majesty and Prince Guangping. The implication is that we are all descendants of the Li family, so there is no need to fight each other, and there is no need to invite the Huihe troops to harm the people of Guanzhong. Now Prince Yong has sent Prince Guangping's wives and concubines to me. I want to ask Prince Guangping why he could bear to see the wives and children of the people of Guanzhong become captives of the Huihe."

Hearing this, Li Chu's face changed, and he subconsciously glanced outside the tent. He knew that once the soldiers heard it, some of them who cared about the people or those who were opportunists would definitely side with Xue Ni, and then the morale that had been stabilized with great difficulty would be disrupted again.

"Descendants of the Li family? Xue Ni was never a descendant of the Li family. He attempted to usurp the throne. He is shameless and brazen."

Li Chu has always been a very well-mannered person, but in this matter he was so angry with Xue Bai that he could hardly control himself and even called him despicable.

Pugu Yin lowered his head and remained silent, thinking that Li Chu would respond harshly and scold Xue Bai. However, Li Chu remained silent.

Even if Xue Bai was rejected, as long as the news got out, the impact on people's hearts would have already been made. The current situation was indeed a bit difficult for Li Chu, and it was not easy for him to deal with it.

Seeing this, Pugu Yin couldn't help but look at Pugu Huai'en, thinking that when the time was convenient, he would have to persuade his grandfather to return to Chang'an.

suddenly.

"Rebellious son!" Pugu Huai'en shouted, "You were defeated in battle, but you dared not die for your country and accepted capture instead. You are a disgrace to the Pugu clan! How dare you come back to deliver a message for the traitor?!"

His voice was so loud that the soldiers outside the tent heard it and rushed over here.

"Someone come!" Pugu Huai'en immediately lifted the curtain and said, "Catch this traitor!"

"No, General, why do you have to do this?" Li Chu tried to dissuade him, and then turned to Pugu and said, "Quickly confess your guilt to General Pugu, and tell him that you know you were wrong, and that this incident should be as if it never happened."

"Your Highness, there is no need to plead for him...why don't you take him down?!"

Pugu Huai'en was always strict in his military discipline, and his personal soldiers had no choice but to step forward and arrest Pugu Yin. "Master, I know I was wrong." Pugu Yin only remembered to beg for mercy at this time.

However, Pugu Huai'en had a stern face and said, "Behead him!"

Not only was Pugu Yin stunned, but Li Chu was also surprised. However, this was the camp of the Shuofang Army, and the soldiers listened to Pugu Huai'en more. No matter how Li Chu tried to persuade him kindly or comfort him softly, Pugu Yin was still dragged away under Pugu Huai'en's angry and stern orders.

The noise alarmed Pugu Yan, who rushed over upon hearing the news and knelt before Pugu Huai'en, begging, "Grandpa, Silang has died in the battle, please let Erlang go!"

"Get out of here! There are no cowards in the Pugu clan!"

Pugu Huai'en kicked Pugu Yan away, pointed at him, and said in a resolute tone: "This is not my son, he is a traitor, behead him!"

"cut!"

At a command, the big knife fell, and Puguyin's head fell to the ground.

The big problem that Xue Bai posed to Li Chu could only be resolved by Pugu Huai'en's move.

Li Chu and Pugu Yan were still begging for mercy, but the next moment they could only see the neck spurting blood, and they were so frightened that they froze on the spot.

"Erlang?"

Pugu Yan couldn't believe it. He staggered forward, held up Pugu Yin's head, and burst into tears.

"Why are you crying? You have seen it all. This is the fate of surrendering to the enemy!"

Pugu Huai'en cursed Pugu Yan, turned to Li Chu, clasped his fists and said: "I have failed to teach my son well, please punish me, Prince Guangping!"

Li Chu's lips trembled twice, and he held Pugu Huai'en's shoulders with both hands, and said with great emotion: "The Tang Dynasty has such a loyal and loyal general, how can we worry that it can't be restored?!"

"Your Highness has been very kind to me. It is not a pity that my whole family will die in battle."

This scene had different opinions among others. Cheng Yuanzhen curled his lips and thought that Pugu Huai'en had gone too far. How could the eunuchs show their loyalty in the future when a military general acted like this?

The military supervisor eunuch Luo Fengxian also thought so, and suspected that Pugu Huai'en was so eager to behead his son that he might have some connection with Xue Ni and was afraid of being exposed, so he killed him to silence him.

Another general, Xin Yunjing, believed that something must be wrong when things are out of the ordinary, and that a traitor may look loyal. Pugu Huai'en was not even close to his own son, disregarding the laws of nature and human ethics, so how could he be close to the Tang Dynasty? Could he be harboring rebellious intentions?

Only Li Chu and Pugu Huai'en, the emperor and his minister, were still holding hands and looking at each other, with red eyes and tears streaming down their cheeks.

~~
Gao Can waited for a long time in the dilapidated temple outside Jingzhou City, but he never saw Pu Gu Yin come back. He gradually had a bad feeling in his heart. After thinking for a long time, he said to his subordinates: "Let's go."

The group hurriedly left the ruined temple and entered the woods. Gao Can found the tallest tree, climbed to the top of the tree, and observed the ruined temple with a telescope.

After more than half an hour, a cavalry unit came from the north, armed with bows and swords, shouting and surrounding the ruined temple, and rushed in without saying hello.

"What about people?"

"You can't go far, chase!"

Seeing this, Gao Can secretly thought that it was not good, and immediately said after getting down from the tree: "Let's go!"

Shen Zhenzhu was still looking forward to returning to Li Chu as soon as possible, and couldn't help asking, "What's wrong?"

"Perhaps Puguyin has betrayed us. It is dangerous for us to stay here any longer. Let's go back."

"what?"

Shen Zhenzhu was extremely disappointed and her face darkened.

Gao Can first put the leather armor hanging on his horse's back on her, helped her onto the horse, and then got on the horse and led the team south.

After traveling a long distance, they had to stop to rest. Shen Zhenzhu asked immediately, "Aren't we going to see Prince Guangping?"

After experiencing the extreme speed run, Gao Can was sweating profusely, and his blood was boiling. He didn't know where he got the courage from, but he said: "Madam Shen, don't you understand? Li Chu doesn't care about you at all!"

He was afraid that she would be sad and didn't want to say it before, but now he didn't care and said, "Why do you have to suffer so much for someone who doesn't care about you? Come with me? I will protect you for the rest of my life and won't let you get hurt."

Shen Zhenzhu took several steps back, stared at him with a vigilant look, and said, "Don't you claim to be the king's teacher and have strict military law? What do you want to do?"

"What do I want to do?" Gao Can suddenly raised his voice and shouted, "I feel sorry for you! I see your sincerity always being betrayed, and I feel so miserable!"

Behind him, several soldiers looked at each other. Although some of them wanted to make a fuss, seeing that their general was really anxious, they did not dare to act rashly. At the signal from the military officer, they all turned their backs and laughed secretly.

Shen Zhenzhu's tears kept falling. She shook her head and said, "Stop talking nonsense. I'm a wife and a mother. You have a bright future and will have a family. I only ask you to let me go to see Prince Guangping... Prince Yong promised to let me go back, didn't he?"

"As long as you nod, I will go and ask King Yong for help." Gao Can patted his shoulder hard and said, "Follow me, I will protect you!"

Shen Zhenzhu still shook her head.

At this time, the sound of horse hooves was heard again in the distance.

"Coming after me!"

"Let's go. She gave birth to the eldest son for the emperor's grandson. How could she be interested in a rough guy like us? Forget it. It's like a toad wanting to eat swan meat."

Gao Can's marching officer had tolerated his antics before, but when he encountered danger, he immediately cut off Gao Can's thoughts with cold words and shouted, "Go!"

Shen Zhenzhu didn't want to go back to Xue Bai's army, so she turned around and fled.

"Catch it back."

"Let her go!" Gao Can shouted.

"You are being partial..."

"King Yong promised to return her. If there is any punishment, I will bear it alone. It has nothing to do with you!" Gao Can said, standing in front of his subordinates to prevent them from chasing Shen Zhenzhu.

He looked at her back, feeling a little worried, but the saying "a toad desires swan flesh" pierced his heart, making him unqualified to care for her and protect her. After all, she was running towards the pursuers sent by her husband, so what was he?
After watching for a while, Gao Can never saw Shen Zhenzhu turn around. As the pursuers were approaching, he finally got on his horse and rushed to Qizhou.

"drive!"

Shen Zhenzhu stopped. For so many years, she had only felt cared for and valued by him. How could she not want to be loved and cherished? She looked back at his figure running away, then she wiped her tears and continued to rush towards Li Chu.

The sound of horse hooves is getting farther and farther away, and then getting closer and closer.

A knight appeared in front of her. Shen Zhenzhu tidied her hair, wiped the tears from her face with a handkerchief, calmed herself down, and showed a peaceful smile that was indifferent to the world.

She knew that Li Chu didn't like women who were too strong. He wanted her to be gentle and interfere in his affairs as little as possible.

"I am the concubine of Prince Guangping and the mother of Prince Fengjie."

When the knights came closer, Shen Zhenzhu opened her mouth and shouted over and over again.

However, she was suddenly startled and her eyes widened. She realized that the people coming were not Li Chu's men, but a group of Uighur cavalry. They had obviously seen her, and they rushed towards her, whistling non-stop.

Shen Zhenzhu was so scared that she turned around and ran away, but how could a woman like her escape the cavalry? She was quickly picked up and thrown on the saddle.

"Ah!" She turned pale and screamed, "Let me go, I am the woman of Prince Guangping, you can't touch me!"

"Ha ha ha ha."

The only response she got was the triumphant laughter of the Uighur cavalry and words she could not understand at all.

~~
At night, Gao Can led his men to camp in the mountains. He couldn't fall asleep all night, and was still thinking about Shen Zhenzhu. Suddenly, he felt the faint sound of horse hooves and quickly put his ear to the ground.

"The enemy is still chasing!"

The soldiers all quickly stood up, cursing.

"Why are you still chasing us? Is any of us a great figure?"

"I have already told General Gao that Li Chu's women should not be offended..."

Fortunately, they did not set up camp, and hurriedly pulled their horses into the forest beside the mountain road, crouched down and looked at the mountain road. Unexpectedly, under the moonlight, they saw that it was the Uighur cavalry galloping from Jingzhou to Qizhou.

"Why are the Huihe people coming from this direction?"

"It can only be that they arrived in Jingzhou before us."

"They arrived before us, but left after us. They must have made an agreement with the rebels of Prince Zhong to attack us."

"We must hurry back and tell King Yong the news."

After discussion, they heard the screams of women in the Uighur army.

"You are such a jerk! You are still robbing us of our wealth and children at this time."

Gao Can narrowed his eyes and could vaguely see dozens of Huihe knights, each with three horses. There were about ten or so horses with women tied to them. It must be that these Huihe people did not deliberately go to rob, but just captured beautiful women on the road.

Thinking of this, an idea suddenly flashed through his mind, and he became worried.

He called over the marching officer and whispered, "I'm going to go check out the Huihe people's movements."

"I will go with the general."

So they let their deputy general lead the team, while they themselves pulled the war horses and caught up with the Uighur knights.

Heading south, they arrived at the border of Jingzhou and Qizhou at dawn. A camp appeared in front of them, and judging from the formation from a distance, there were probably thousands of Uighur soldiers stationed there.

At this point, Gao Can's bad premonition became stronger and stronger. The more anxious he became, the drier his throat became, almost smoking. He ran up a hill and looked at the camp with a telescope. He saw the Huihe cavalry dragging the captured women off their horses and bringing them in.

When the telescope turned, he saw a familiar dress. He cursed fiercely, stood up and was about to rush over there, but was held down by someone the next moment.

"It's useless to be impulsive. Can just a few of us defeat thousands of Huihe soldiers? Let's go back to find King Yong."

(End of this chapter)