Man Tang Huacai

Chapter 524 Caution
The second year of Yingshun, the Year of the Sheep.

If not for a series of disturbances, this should have been the fourteenth year of Tianbao, when the Tang Dynasty was at its most prosperous.

Luoyang, January 15th, Lantern Festival.

During the New Year, the fighting on the banks of the Yellow River stopped temporarily. Ordinary people said that Shi Siming must have many relatives to visit and had no time to attack Luoyang.

In order to reassure the people, the governor of Dongdu spent a small amount of money to prepare for the Lantern Festival. The banks of Luo River were hung with lanterns, which was very lively, and the towering Mingtang was also brightly lit.

Seen from the sky, if the lanterns in Luo River are as bright as a dragon, then Mingtang is a shining bead of fire.

"Let's go see the lanterns."

In a house in Daodefang, Du Wulang walked out with Xue Yunniang, shaking his head and saying, "The lanterns in Luoyang are definitely not as good as those in Chang'an, and there are dangers, but Wujiu wanted me to come here."

He couldn't figure out whether Xue Bai was Li Qian, and he was too lazy to figure it out, so he just addressed her by her name.

"I didn't see the Diao brothers tonight." Xue Yunniang looked back and said, "There are not many guards in the mansion. Shouldn't we leave more people to protect my brother?"

"It's time for everyone to take a break." Du Wulang said casually, "It's New Year's Day, so we need to take a break."

"What if there is an assassin..."

"Where are there so many assassins?"

Du Wulang didn't take it seriously, and took Xue Yunniang's hand to go see the lanterns. This made Xue Yunniang feel that her husband was a little too careless and confused.

They quickly passed through the gate and arrived at the bank of Luo River. They saw the shimmering water surface, reflecting the lights on both sides, which was particularly beautiful.

"A new theater has opened near Jingshanfang, south of Xingjin Bridge. Do you know who opened it?"

Du Wulang had a lot of gossip and when he talked about new things, he quickly attracted Xue Yunniang's attention.

"Who's driving it? Do I recognize it?"

"You must have heard of them. They are very famous." Du Wulang said, "They used to be the figures in the opera house of the Emperor Emeritus. They were Li Henian, the brother of Li Guinian."

"It's him!" Xue Yunniang had only heard of Li Guinian, but she still couldn't help but exclaimed.

The musicians who played for the emperor in the past would open theaters in the Eastern Capital now, and generally they would be very expensive and do a booming business. Unfortunately, because Shi Siming's rebels were heading south, the people of Luoyang were in a panic, so who would still want to watch a play?
It is said that Li Henian was planning to go south to Yangzhou to seek another way to make a living. At this time, Xue Bai went to Luoyang to stabilize the people's hearts.

People were saying, "Now that Prince Yong has arrived, Luoyang City will definitely be defended." Li Henian decided to take a gamble. Now that he had a good year, if he could put down the rebellion at the beginning of the year, his way of making a living would be successful.

No matter what, the theater was very lively during the Lantern Festival. A seat on the outermost stand was sold for one tael of silver, not to mention the private rooms inside.

Du Wulang had already reserved a seat, and he walked in impatiently, boasting to his wife, "Do you know who I have arranged to watch the show with?"

"who?"

"Written by Wang."

Of course Xue Yunniang knew who this was talking about. It was Wang Changling, the number one figure in the current newspaper industry, who was in charge of Chang'an Daily and Tianbao Wencui.

In recent years, Wang Changling's fame has greatly increased because of newspapers. In the past, people called him "Wang Jiangning" to indicate that he had not been promoted in Jiangning for many years. Now everyone respectfully calls him "Wang Editor".

Just as she was feeling happy, she seemed to see a few familiar figures in the crowd out of the corner of her eye. She turned her head to take a closer look, but she didn't see those people anymore.

"what happened?"

"I think I saw someone I know."

"Normal." Du Wulang said, "Don't pay any attention to it."

"Let's go."

They quickly walked into the lobby.

On the high platform to their side, in a luxurious private room on the second floor, a middle-aged female Taoist priest was standing outside the window looking out and couldn’t help but exclaimed “Eh!”

"That man and woman look so familiar."

A middle-aged man said in a low, calm voice, neither happy nor sad, "It's common to meet acquaintances at such a happy occasion."

"If I hadn't made a mistake, this couple would have been in big trouble." The female Taoist priest looked dignified without being angry, with a hint of sarcasm at the corner of her mouth, "It's a disgrace to morality."

The middle-aged man was dressed in simple clothes, holding a string of Buddhist beads in his hand, counting them one by one, and sighed, "If someone were to see this couple in this room, it would be a disgrace to morality."

"What are you afraid of? People say that you and I are in love. Isn't that enough?"

"When you are old, you should not be greedy for the pleasures of the past."

"Wang Mojie, are you still thinking about your capture? I've already said that it won't affect your future. Your brother is now the governor of Taiyuan. It can be seen that the court has no intention of pursuing blame."

Wang Wei sighed, "I just can't get over the hurdle in my heart."

Princess Yuzhen looked out the window again, trying to find the couple she had just seen.

Afterwards, a burst of drum and music sounded, and the play began. The play sung on the stage today was the famous song "The West Chamber", and many disciples of the Pear Garden participated. It was said that some of them had seen the acting competition between Prince Yong and the retired emperor in those days. They could be said to be famous artists of the time.

Wang Wei also opened his eyes and looked towards the stage.

He unexpectedly saw an old friend in the lobby, that was Wang Changling. Wang Changling turned his head and scanned the stands behind, as if he was looking for something.

~~
On the same night, in a remote corner of Luoyang City, several people were gathered together to discuss something.

"If you are willing to return to Dayan, the saint will reward you handsomely."

"it is good!"

The person who answered was a young man, about 20 years old, with a strong body, thin cheeks, prominent brow bones, and a high nose bridge. Judging from his appearance, he should be a Khitan. However, he was wearing a long robe and had a scholarly manner.

This man's name is Wang Wujun, and his experience is very legendary.

He was a member of the Nujie tribe of Khitan, and his father led his tribe to submit to the Tang Dynasty during the Kaiyuan period. He was good at riding and shooting since he was a child, and his archery skills were extremely superb, so he was presented to Li Longji as an archery expert by An Lushan. As a result, he stayed in Chang'an at the age of fifteen and became a member of the imperial guards.

At that time, Wang Wujun's team of archers had a chief general, Zhang Zhongzhi, now a general of the Yan army. When An Lushan started the rebellion, Zhang Zhongzhi led the 18 of them and rushed back to Fanyang from Chang'an, and followed An Lushan to Luoyang.

Later, Zhang Zhongzhi was ordered to lead troops back to Hebei to provide support, and Wang Wujun stayed in Luoyang due to injury. He stayed there until An Qingxu fled and the emperor of Dayan changed.

Now that Shi Siming had been unable to capture Heyang after a long siege, he secretly sent people to Luoyang to contact his old subordinates. When Wang Wujun heard about this from his companions, he felt obliged to return to Dayan.

"One more thing. If you can accomplish meritorious service and then return to Dayan, wouldn't that be more appropriate?"

"How to make meritorious service?" Wang Wujun asked.

"Li Guangbi is now defending Heyang, and is cowardly and unwilling to fight. If we can repeat the Tang court's attempt to force Geshu Han to leave Tongguan, and force Li Guangbi to fight, then the sage can conquer the world. Therefore, Prime Minister Zhou ordered us to go to Chang'an and Luoyang to spread the rumor that 'Li Guangbi intends to support Prince Yong to rebel.'"

"understood."

Wang Wujun thought again, he was very skilled, why should he stay in Luoyang to do these little things of spreading rumors, he asked: "If I assassinate Xue Bai, will it be considered a great achievement?"

"Of course! This man is the greatest enemy of Dayan. If you can kill him, it will be the first achievement in the founding of Dayan."

Wang Wujun made the decision without hesitation: he was going to carry out the assassination.

Opportunities like the Lantern Festival are rare.

Two years ago, when Zhang Zhongzhi heard that An Lushan was rebelling and was about to flee back to Fan Yang, Wang Wujun asked him, "We have the imperial guards' badge, why don't we assassinate the emperor and make a great contribution?" Zhang Zhongzhi slapped him in the face, saying that such a thing would not succeed and would cost his life, and he would not be able to escape then.

Wang Wujun has always kept this matter in mind. He has weighed the pros and cons today. Luoyang is different from Chang'an, and Xue Bai's residence is also different from the imperial palace.

Moreover, he had lived in Chang'an and Luoyang for many years and had served in the imperial guards. He was very familiar with the terrain and the guarding habits of the residences of high-ranking officials, so he dared to give it a try.

"kill."

"How to do it?"

"I've noticed that Xue Bai lives in a private house in Daodefang. The house is not big. We can kill them one room at a time."

"Where are the guards?"

"They are all trash. How could I not know that these decorations around the nobles of Tang Ting would be so frightened that they would freeze in fear when they see blood."

Wang Wujun had a deep memory of Wang Han's rebellion, and knew that a sudden charge often had unexpected results...

~~
It's late at night, and there is no curfew in Luoyang tonight.

Daodefang, Prince Yong's Palace.

This is actually the Du family's property in Luoyang, and it has always been vacant. Xue Bai thought it was convenient to live here, so he has been living here recently.

The lanterns under the eaves were swaying, and there were only two guards standing at the door.

In the darkness of the night, six people came over with lanterns and asked, "Has Prince Yong gone to bed?"

"What's the matter?"

"Emergency military information, this is the command token. King Yong once said that if there is any emergency military information, he should be awakened."

"Come in with me."

The door creaked open, and the guard was looser than anyone expected.

Of the two guards, only one was left standing at the door. He yawned out of boredom, and soon heard a woman's cry for help from the other side of the street. He hurried over...

"Help, ah, help!"

The one who was shouting at the top of his lungs was a companion of Wang Wujun who was skilled in ventriloquism, using this method to attract the guards away.

Wang Wujun looked towards the gate and was somewhat surprised at the weak defense. It seemed that even Xue Bai had let down his guard during the Lantern Festival. Without saying anything, he led his men and rushed in with swords drawn.

"Search separately and provide support at any time."

The house was indeed not big. He rushed in, but didn't see anyone along the way. He thought it must be the Lantern Festival, and people might have gone to rest or to watch the lanterns. This situation made him worry that Xue Bai would not be there tonight.

Suddenly, he heard shouting from the front.

"Xue Bai is there!"

Wang Wujun heard the noise and strode over there. He passed through a small door and saw six men wearing Tang army robes. They were pulling out soft knives from their waists and slashing at him. However, he didn't know where his brother who shouted that he had found Xue Bai was.

As soon as the two sides met, they started fighting without saying a word.

Although there were only two people on Wang Wujun's side, they killed the six people as easily as cutting melons and vegetables, and soon reduced only three of them were left.

"Xue Bai is inside, kill him first."

The other party suddenly said this. Wang Wujun was just about to chop down with his knife. He was surprised and wanted to retract the knife but it was too late. He killed the other party with a "puff".

Of the remaining two people, one rushed into the house, while the other turned around and ran.

"You chase that one!"

Wang Wujun chased into the house and saw the man rushing to the couch and slashing fiercely. He put down his knife and asked, "Brother, where are you from? Dayan..."

"what!"

The other party hacked Xue Bai to death while he was sleeping, and without caring anything, turned around and killed him.

"puff."

Wang Wujun knocked him down with a knife and spat. He felt that something was wrong tonight. It felt like he had fallen into a trap, and he had fallen into the trap by accident.

He walked to the couch and lifted up the torn bedding with the tip of his knife.

There was no Xue Bai under the quilt, only a scarecrow.

"Eating dog intestines."

suddenly.

"There are assassins!"

With this shout, the outside of the house suddenly became lively.

Wang Wujun knew that he had fallen into a trap, so he blew the whistle loudly, ordered his men to retreat, and immediately rushed out with a knife in hand.

He rushed out of the door and saw the unknown assassin who had escaped earlier rushing in front of him.

"Fire arrows!"

A shrill voice sounded, and arrows flew in, killing the assassin on the spot. "Kill them all! Kill them all!"

The shrill voice was still shouting.

Wang Wujun hid by the door and saw in the firelight a white-faced, beardless eunuch leading archers to shoot his brothers everywhere.

"A dog castrated."

Wang Wujun was furious. He took the bow from his back and drew the arrow.

He was an archer presented by Fan Yang. The arrow was shot out with a "whoosh" and hit the eunuch's left eye in the dim light.

"what!"

The screams were earth-shattering. Wang Wujun wanted to shoot the eunuch again, but he saw that the eunuch had been surrounded and was crying out to the sky.

He then shot three arrows in succession, knocking down three enemy archers, then drew his sword and rushed forward, escaping with the last two of his men.

Behind them, the sound of dense footsteps could be heard, and teams of officers and soldiers had quickly arrived.

After finally rushing to a safe place, Wang Wujun waited for half an hour but saw no one else coming to join him. It seemed that they were all killed.

"Chapi, what's going on?"

"We've fallen into a trap." Wang Wujun cursed, "That bastard set a trap and deliberately lured us in to assassinate him."

"But didn't we do it on impulse? How could they have predicted it?"

"We were in the city and were discovered by them long ago." Wang Wujun gritted his teeth, pulled out an arrow from his body, and cursed angrily: "I will make him live a life worse than death!"

~~
“It hurts…it hurts!”

Bai Zhongzhen's legs were twisted tightly together and he lost control of his bladder due to the severe pain.

When the doctor took the arrow out of his eye socket, he finally fainted from the pain.

After a long time, when he woke up again, he felt like he had died again. The pain was still there, and everything in front of his eyes was blood red.

"Chinese envoy."

Hearing this voice, Bai Zhongzhen murmured weakly: "It's you, Xue Bai... is he dead?"

"It's troublesome. Prince Yong is not at home. There is a dummy lying in the house."

"What? Then I'm going to die?!"

"Don't worry, envoy. No one is alive. Prince Yong didn't know that it was the envoy who sent people to kill him. In addition, Prince Yong's personal guards have checked and found that most of the murderers are Khitans. They must be assassins of the rebels."

Bai Zhongzhen was relieved now and whispered, "Did they collide? There are so many people who hope he dies."

He couldn't help but wonder how he had run into the assassins sent by the rebels?

Then, he couldn't help but feel a chill in his heart. The reason why he took action tonight was because he knew that Xue Bai's mansion was lax in defense. Now it seems that it was clearly a trick.

"He knows I want to kill him. What should I do? I'm dead!" Bai Zhongzhen was filled with grief and anger. His wound was moved and he fainted from the pain.

~~
Theater.

A play was at its most lively moment.

Wang Wei finally noticed a couple sitting downstairs and said, "Is that Du Wulang? The couple you just mentioned is him? But he came with his wife."

"I'm not talking about him." Princess Yuzhen shook her head and sneered, "I don't take this stupid boy seriously."

"What is that?" Wang Wei asked again.

Princess Yuzhen did not answer, but said, "Watch the show."

"Now that you've said that, I can guess who it is." Wang Wei asked, "Prince Yong?"

He had recently been hesitating whether to go and see Xue Bai to discuss his capture, but he also felt that he should wait until the New Year was over. In any case, knowing that Xue Bai was also there, he could not help but look around for him.

After a while, Wang Wei still couldn't find Xue Bai, so he asked, "Is he with your disciple?"

"Ah."

Princess Yuzhen responded indifferently and looked at the stage, not knowing what she was thinking.

"Let's watch the show."

~~
"One hundred years of cultivation to cross the river together, one thousand lifetimes of cultivation to sleep on the same pillow—"

On the Luo River, from a small black-sailed boat, a very beautiful song was heard, which soon faded away.

Because there was another fishing boat coming this way.

On the fishing boat, Diao Bing stretched his neck and said, "I dare not disturb you, sir, but the fish is caught in the net."

Xue Bai stood up from the small black-sailed boat, holding a small lantern in his hand, and asked, "Have you left behind all the witnesses and evidence?"

To him, Bai Zhongzhen was not important. What was important was to get the evidence that Li Cong wanted to assassinate him so that he could use it for other purposes in the future.

Ever since he captured Deng Jingshan in Bianzhou, Bai Zhongzhen has been in a state of panic day and night, fearing that he would be murdered by Xue Bai. He has been unable to sleep or eat, and even in front of others, he feels very uncomfortable. So Xue Bai simply gave him a push.

He threatened to get rid of Bai Zhongzhen, and deliberately let his guard down in order to force Bai Zhongzhen to assassinate him.

It's just a small matter.

However, Diao Bing said, "But tonight two fish were caught in the net, they bit each other and escaped from the net."

"what?"

After listening to the detailed report, Xue Bai shook his head and said, "It can be seen that Shi Siming has run out of tricks and has to resort to such a small trick."

Diao Bing didn't understand, he just knew that he had suffered a loss tonight, so he asked, "My dear, do you want to take revenge?"

"What? Can you still assassinate Shi Siming?" Xue Bai smiled and waved his hand.

Afterwards, he thought of Yan Zhuang's letter and the relationship between Shi Siming and his son.

Previously, Xue Bai only wanted to completely quell the An-Shi Rebellion through grand strategies, and had not yet considered using some small means to achieve a tactical victory. Now it seems that revenge may not be impossible.

"Search the city and make sure to capture the man."

"Yes."

The fishing boat rowed away and Xue Bai sat down on the sloop again.

But soon, Du Wulang's noisy voice was heard again from afar.

"Hey."

I saw Du Wulang sitting in a small boat, holding a small lantern in his hand, and swaying towards me.

"Why are you here? The show isn't over yet, is it?"

Du Wulang asked, "Didn't you say you wanted to watch a play? Why are you here? Can you not hold back?"

A clear and beautiful voice came from the black-sailed boat: "If he keeps talking nonsense, I'll tear his mouth to pieces."

Xue Bai said: "There are too many acquaintances in the theater."

"Yeah, I didn't expect it to be so lively in Dongdu. I wonder what it will be like if the rebellion is quelled. Will there be fireworks later?"

"You didn't come here just to ask about fireworks, what's the matter?"

"I almost forgot. Wang Changling heard that you were assassinated and went to visit you."

……

Wang Changling walked past the bloody courtyard and pushed the door open, only to see Xue Bai wrapped in cloth, half leaning on the couch.

"King Yong."

"Brother Wang, have you forgotten?" Xue Bai said, "We have agreed that we should be friends regardless of age and call each other brothers. Just call me by my given name."

"Okay." Wang Changling was open-minded and didn't hesitate to ask, "Is Wujiu seriously injured?"

"It's okay." Xue Bai said, "We just drove away the rebel assassins, and Bai Zhongzhen brought people over and shot arrows without explanation. I was hit by an arrow by mistake."

Wang Changling said: "You are responsible for the safety of the world, so you should be cautious."

"Yes, I will remember what Brother Wang said."

The two used to be close friends regardless of age difference, but now that one has become more powerful and the other more famous, they have become more secretive about many things.

Wang Changling hesitated for a while, then asked, "I seemed to see you in the theater tonight?"

"Theater?" Xue Bai was surprised. "Li Henian's theater?"

"Isn't it you?"

Xue Bai raised his injured arm with difficulty and said, "If I were in the theater, how could I be injured?"

Wang Changling said, "Then I must have seen it wrong. I won't disturb you to rest."

He stood up and prepared to go out, but stopped after thinking for a moment and said, "I have heard some rumors since a while ago. It is said that they came from Shu County. Someone even wrote an article and sent it to me."

"What's the matter?"

"Don't pay attention to some gossip." Wang Changling didn't say anything. He believed Xue Bai would understand, so he reminded him in the end, "With your current status, you shouldn't get yourself into trouble."

Xue Bai said: "I will remember what Brother Wang said just now. I will be cautious."

"That's good."

Wang Changling walked out of Prince Yong's Mansion and headed back to the theater. Just as he reached the door, a Taoist nun came to invite him to sit in a private room upstairs.

As soon as he entered the private room, he saw Princess Yuzhen.

"I heard that Prince Yong was assassinated, and Editor Wang went to visit him."

"Yes." Wang Changling said worriedly, "He is still injured."

Princess Yuzhen said, "But I seemed to have seen Prince Yong in this theater just now."

Wang Changling shook his head and said, "Then I don't know where I saw it."

"Over there in the stands, that's..."

Princess Yuzhen raised her hand and pointed, but was stunned halfway through her words.

When she looked down, she saw a man and a woman sitting there. The man was handsome and the woman was plump and beautiful. They looked quite like Xue Bai and Yang Yuhuan, but when she looked closely, it was clearly not them.

"I made a mistake."

~~
"My dear, everything has been handled."

"Well, we have to be more cautious in the future."

Xue Bai pondered, thinking that if he was any more careless, the two things that happened tonight might damage his position, which in turn would affect the war situation and lead to the failure of the rebellion suppression.

I used to always think about advancing myself, but now that I’ve climbed higher and more people are watching me, it’s easier for me to make mistakes.

But on second thought, this was not a bad thing. He was worried that he had no way to tie Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi to the same boat with him.

He then spread out paper and pen and wrote a letter to Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi respectively.

"Now Shi Ni wants to harm me and spread rumors that we are colluding with each other. What's worse, there are false rumors spreading in Chang'an that are unbearable to hear..."

Xue Bai knew very well that all strategies had come to a critical moment. Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi could not sit idly by and watch the little troubles he encountered, so they could only write letters to defend him.

If Li Cong thought that Xue Bai was colluding with Li Guangbi, he might try to win over Guo Ziyi to check and balance them. But if Guo Ziyi also spoke for Xue Bai, Li Cong would be shocked.

Shi Siming wanted to recreate the scene where Li Longji forced Geshu Han to go into battle, but unfortunately, Xue Bai was not Geshu Han.

(End of this chapter)