Man Tang Huacai

Chapter 526 Father and Son
As soon as Xue Bai arrived, the attack faced by Heyang City was immediately alleviated a lot.

The generals in the army did not know that it was Shi Siming's change of strategy. They all thought that he had frightened Shi Siming, and they could not help but respect him more.

"Prince Yong can defeat tens of thousands of reinforcements alone." During the meal, Yong Xihao sighed and asked curiously, "What do you think Prince Yong is doing here? Can he fight better than the commander-in-chief?"

Li Riyue was not interested in this and said calmly: "Why are you asking about military intelligence? Are you a rebellious spy?"

"I...you, a surrendered general, said I was a spy?"

The generals were chatting casually on the parade ground. On the top of the city wall, Xue Bai and Li Guangbi were discussing matters while walking.

Li Guangbi was not enthusiastic about Xue Bai's arrival. As the deputy marshal of the army, he hoped that Xue Bai, the nominal marshal, would only be responsible for the name.

"It's fine if Prince Yong is stationed in Luoyang, but now you're coming to Heyang, aren't you afraid that others will say you're overreaching?"

"Suppressing the rebellion is a big deal, who cares what others say?"

Li Guangbi said: "The arrangements have already been made, unless you are worried about me."

Xue Bai stopped and looked at the rebel camp in the north. He bluntly put forward his plan and said, "I am trying to alienate Shi Siming and his son and instigate Shi Chaoyi to kill his father and seize the throne."

"Ok?"

Li Guangbi was surprised to hear such an abrupt plan and asked, "Why do you have such an idea?"

Xue Bai didn't know what he was thinking. After a while, he replied, "I think it can be done."

"Because of An Qingxu?" Li Guangbi asked, "After you captured An Lushan, was it really An Qingxu who killed him?"

"Yes."

Li Guangbi said: "I thought Shi Siming framed him."

Xue Bai thought back to this incident. At the time, he thought he had changed a lot of things, but he later realized that the struggle for power had not changed. In an era when fathers and sons killing each other was common, if someone took the lead, others would follow suit, and betrayers would often die from betrayal.

"There were conflicts between Shi Siming and his son. I had people exacerbate their conflicts and encourage Shi Chaoyi to kill Shi Siming."

"It sounds too mysterious." Li Guangbi still didn't believe it could succeed.

Xue Bai said: "How about a bet?"

"What are you gambling?"

"If I accomplish this, you and I will become sworn brothers?" Xue Bai turned his head and looked at Li Guangbi's beard which was already a little gray under his chin.

"Prince Yong is the emperor's nephew. How dare I marry him?"

"I know you will refuse, so I have to make a bet. You can accept the loss if you are willing to do so." Xue Bai said, "If the matter is done, the rebellion will be suppressed smoothly, and you will gain a new brother, what's wrong with that?"

Li Guangbi asked hesitantly, "What if Prince Yong's plan fails?"

"Then I recognize you as my sworn brother."

Li Guangbi laughed in silence and shook his head. After thinking for a while, he said, "If I win the bet by chance, Prince Yong will promise me that he will never cause chaos in the Tang Dynasty, okay?"

"it is good."

"It's a word."

The two men shook hands on the top of the city wall and swore an oath. Li Guangbi then began to send scouts to harass the rebel camp, in fact, to facilitate the transmission of messages to Yan Zhuang.

Soon, the news came back, and a route map of Shi Siming's dispersed forces heading south to Jianghuai to plunder was drawn and hung in the Heyang camp.

"I'm afraid it will be difficult to stop more than ten armies."

"Then don't stop us. We will attack and wait for the defense. If we attack, we will surely rescue them."

Li Guangbi then pointed at Shangdang County on the map and said, "Let Guo Ziyi defeat Cai Xide as soon as possible and send troops to Xiangzhou, then Shi Siming will have no choice but to return to support."

Xue Bai didn't want to repeat the past incident of Li Longji forcing An Lushan to fight, so he asked, "Is there a chance of fighting?"

Li Guangbi smiled for the first time and asked, "All the generals under Shi Siming are preparing to go to Jianghuai to plunder gold, silk, and children. How can Cai Xide be so calm as to guard against Guo Ziyi?"

After he said this, Xue Bai felt relieved and said, "Brother is really thoughtful."

"The bet has not yet come to a conclusion, so you don't deserve to be called King Yong."

Li Guangbi did not dare to get involved with Xue Bai, lest he be regarded as a member of Prince Yong's party, so he quickly distanced himself from him and wrote a letter to Guo Ziyi.

~~
Yan army camp.

Shi Siming was busy with military affairs that day, but Zhou Zhi came over and reported a few words to him in a low voice.

"Your Majesty, there are some rumors in the army that Your Majesty wants to withdraw from Fanyang..."

After hearing this, Shi Siming immediately looked unhappy and asked, "Where did these words come from?"

Zhou Zhi was very embarrassed and dared not answer.

"I let you say it!"

"I am guilty." Zhou Zhi knelt on the ground. "It is not that I have any grudge against King Huai. I am following your Majesty's wishes and want to be friendly with King Huai. I am just reporting the truth."

At this point, Shi Siming knew who had spread the rumor. He was furious and shouted, "Bring that rebellious son here!"

Soon, Shi Chaoyi was brought into the big tent and made to kneel on the ground.

"I'm asking you, but you told your generals that I would retreat back to Fanyang?"

"My son..."

Shi Chaoyi suddenly broke out in a sweat.

He didn't understand how the news could have reached Shi Siming's ears so quickly when he had only told it to a few of his most trusted people.

When he secretly glanced at Zhou Zhi again, he knew that Zhou Zhi must have placed spies around him. This villain was truly hateful.

"You still dare to look?!" Shi Siming saw his sneaky look and knew that he was resentful, so he scolded him: "You did something wrong, and you blame others?!"

Shi Chaoyi was still trying to argue, but his back was already in severe pain from being whipped.

New wounds appeared on top of the wounds that had just healed.

But he was not convinced in his heart. It was obvious that Shi Siming wanted to retreat back to Fan Yang, and he had kept this secret from him alone. Now that he was exposed, he was just angry and ashamed, and was just taking advantage of the situation to make a fuss.

"Snapped!"

"Snapped!"

Whip marks crawled all over Shi Chaoyi's back like centipedes.

In the evening, Yan Zhuang held the golden medicine in his hand and rubbed it carefully, saying with emotion: "How could His Majesty be willing to do such a fatal thing? Your Highness, you are his own son!"

"Since I was a child, he has thought I was a burden."

Shi Chaoyi was already an old man, but when he talked about these old things, he actually looked sad.

Yan Zhuang was a very good listener. He applied the medicine while listening and sighed from time to time, which made Shi Chaoyi's emotions even more fluctuating. At the end of the story, he even shed tears.

"My father was a slave who sold prisoners of war to high-ranking officials. My mother was a Xiren slave sold by him. He took her for himself and wanted to sell her for a good price. But before he could sell my mother, he got into trouble and had to flee for his life."

Yan Zhuang had heard about Shi Siming's refuge, so he tricked the Xi King and captured a Xi general, and presented him to Zhang Shougui, who then became a general of the Tang Dynasty.

Shi Chaoyi continued, "Later, he returned after having made great achievements. My mother had already given birth to me. Calculating the time, he was very sure that I was his son, but he always felt that I was not like him. I was too kind, good at reading, gentle and elegant. A few years after I was born, my mother died from the torture. Two days later, my father married the daughter of Xin, a wealthy family in Youzhou."

At this point, he sneered and continued, "My father often told people that when he had nothing, Xin accidentally met him and begged his parents to marry him, bringing a generous dowry. In fact, it was my father who was attracted to Xin the moment he saw her, and he went to her house for many days. The Xin family had no choice but to marry their daughter off because they saw his talent. After they got married, they had a son and a daughter. My father loved them more than me."

"Ugh."

"The reason why my father only appointed me as King Huai is because he loves his youngest son Shi Chaoqing more." Shi Chaoyi's eyes were filled with tears. "As soon as you said that you wanted to return to Fanyang and kept it from me, I knew that he was determined to appoint Shi Chaoqing as the king."

Yan Zhuang's eyes gleamed, and he reached into the medicine box with his fingers and scooped up the ointment. He said, "Your Majesty doesn't know how to cherish a good son like your Highness. If it was An Qingxu, he would have killed his father and established himself as the emperor after being treated like this."

"An Qingxu?"

As Shi Chaoyi repeated the name, the image of An Qingxu before his death emerged in his mind.

Originally, he thought they had become two completely different people, but at this moment, he suddenly admired An Qingxu's courage and determination.

"My words are out of place. Your Highness, please take a rest."

Yan Zhuang stood up and left the tent.

He looked into the distance and heard that the stables were quieter than usual tonight. The troops that Shi Siming had sent to various places in Jianghuai to plunder had already set out today.

It is not too late.

Yan Zhuang thought about it and did not go to his own tent, but went to the camp of Shi Chaoyi's trusted generals.

Luo Yue, Cai Wenjing and others were drinking dejectedly. When they were ordered to attack Bianzhou, they followed Shi Chaoyi to attack Luoyang without authorization and were defeated. They have been severely punished and are now at their most frustrated.

As soon as they saw Yan Zhuang coming, they immediately rushed over and asked, "How is King Huai?"

"He's seriously injured." Yan Zhuang sighed, looked around, and sat down by the fire.

Luo Yue understood and drove away the outsiders, leaving only a few trustworthy people.

"Lord Yan, King Huai has always been lenient to us. What mistake did he make that Your Majesty has punished him so severely so many times?!"

"The King's only mistake was that he disliked Your Majesty."

"What does Lord Yan mean?"

Yan Zhuang looked embarrassed and said, "I shouldn't have said this."

Luo Yue came closer and said, "Don't worry, Mr. Yan, no one else will know."

"Well, well, today after His Majesty whipped King Huai, he whispered a few words to me and Zhou Zhi."

Yan Zhuang hesitated before speaking, but did not finish his words in one breath, which made the generals scratch their heads in anxiety.

He tested their patience and stirred their emotions before continuing, "Your Majesty said, 'The more I look at him, the less he looks like my son.'"

When these words came out, all the generals were shocked. Luo Yue said indignantly: "How can your majesty say such a thing?"

Yan Zhuang was silent for a while, looking at them, with pity gradually appearing in his eyes.

"Mr. Yan? What's wrong?"

"I don't want to say anything, but... Generals, please run for your lives."

Luo Yue was shocked and asked, "Your Majesty really wants to kill Prince Huai?!"

He was very smart and had anticipated this. He also knew that once Shi Chaoyi died, his people would not be able to escape.

Cai Wenjing said: "How could he...even a tiger won't eat its own cubs."

Luo Yue looked unhappy and said, "As I just said, Your Majesty never considered Prince Huai as his own son."

Yan Zhuang sighed and said, "It seems that the general also knows your majesty's intention. You are determined to make the legitimate son of Queen Xin the crown prince."

"What should I do? Please, Lord Yan, save us."

"What can I do?" Yan Zhuang said, "Xue E, who used to be on duty for Your Majesty, is not here. Take advantage of the weak defenses in the camp and escape."

He patted his knees, stood up calmly, said no more, and returned to his tent.

Inside the tent, there was a man waiting there. When he saw Yan Zhuang coming back, he quickly bowed and whispered, "Sir, King Huai asked me to invite you over."

Yan Zhuang frowned, thinking that it had only been a short time since he left and Shi Chaoyi wanted to meet him again. It seemed that he had thought it through.

~~
At this time, in Shi Chaoyi's tent, several trusted generals were surrounding him and advising him.

"Your Highness, if you don't take action now, you and I will all be dead!"

"How could I do this?" Shi Chaoyi lay on the couch, buried his face, and cried bitterly.

Luo Yue had no choice but to say, "The matter of deposing and enthroning a king has existed since ancient times. We just want His Majesty to abdicate and let you succeed him. This is what the army wants."

Shi Chaoyi still didn't dare to agree. He turned his head and glanced outside, waiting for Yan Zhuang to come.

Luo Yue knew that the matter could not be delayed, and said: "If Your Highness really cannot bear it, we can only surrender to the Tang Dynasty to save our lives."

He immediately knelt on the ground, bid farewell to Shi Chaoyi, and cried loudly: "After we leave, we can no longer serve Your Highness. If we meet again in the future, we will be your rivals."

Shi Chaoyi was both frightened and moved. He quickly struggled to get up and helped Luo Yue up, saying, "I have lost my grandfather's love, how can I fail your loyalty again?!"

"Your Highness agreed?"

"Please handle it properly, General, and don't scare Grandpa."

Luo Yue was overjoyed when he got the promise, and he kowtowed and said, "I will definitely get it done!"

He immediately returned to the camp and quietly selected three hundred elite soldiers.

Over there, Cai Wenjing had already sent people to inquire, and found out that Shi Siming's personal soldier general Cao Huai was on duty tonight.

They sent someone to summon Cao Huai in the name of Shi Chaoyi.

As soon as Cao Huai arrived, Luo Yue and his men put their knives on his neck and said, "General Cao, your majesty is suspicious and cruel, and kills innocent people indiscriminately. We would kill people at any time if we are not satisfied with him. But King Huai is kind and generous, and loves his soldiers. Now we want to support King Huai, and ask the general to work with us to achieve great things. What do you think?"

"I guessed what you were going to do before I came here." Cao Huai said, "But I came anyway."

Luo Yue was overjoyed when he heard this. He put down his knife and asked, "General, are you willing to join us in this great cause?"

Cao Huai said, "Your Majesty had a nightmare at night and woke up. He asked me, 'I dreamed of a group of deer crossing a river. The deer died and the water dried up. What does this mean?' I dared not answer, but I knew that this was a sign from heaven that your Majesty's royal spirit has ended."

"Okay, let's go!"

Several people immediately rushed to Shi Siming's tent.

When they arrived outside the tent, the guards on duty immediately stopped them. Cao Huai shouted, "You dare to stop me too?!"

The guards became frightened and stopped trying to stop them.

Luo Yue acted decisively, without saying anything, and immediately led his troops into the tent. An attendant stood up in surprise and shouted, "Who dares to break in..."

"puff."

Blood splattered everywhere, and Luo Yue chopped several times with his sword and rushed to Shi Siming's bed. He took a closer look and was surprised to find that Shi Siming was not in the tent.

"what happened?!"

"Hey!"

Suddenly there was a horse neighing. Luo Yue turned around and saw a figure riding on Shi Siming's horse, whipping it and trying to escape.

"Stop him!"

Luo Yue knew that if he failed to succeed tonight, he would surely die. Therefore, he drew his bow and shot the figure on the horse with one arrow.

Then he drew his knife, strode forward and tried to capture Shi Siming.

"Your Majesty, I am sorry."

The next moment, Luo Yue was shocked, because when he looked in the moonlight, he saw that the person who was shot by the arrow on the ground was not Shi Siming at all.

"puff."

He felt a chill on his arm, and the arm holding the knife was cut off by someone.

He fell to the ground in severe pain. Turning his head, he saw Cao Hui walking towards him with a strange knife in his hand and a smug look on his face, and put the knife to his neck.

"I guessed what you were going to do before I went over there." Cao Huai shouted, "How dare you cause trouble?!"

"puff."

The sound of dense footsteps was heard, and soon, the sound of knives and axes entering flesh and screams were heard.

Shi Siming personally led the guards to surround them, ruthlessly killing the three hundred elite soldiers brought by Luo Yue.

The area around the big tent suddenly became a hell on earth, with blood and flesh flying everywhere.

Finally, with his horse's hooves stepping on a pool of blood, Shi Siming drove his horse to Luo Yue and asked, "Who ordered you to cause chaos?"

"No one... no one is instructing..."

Shi Siming then swung his knife lightly and cut off Luo Yue's other arm.

Amid the screams, he did not ask Luo Yue again, but turned to Cai Wenjing and asked, "Who ordered you to cause chaos?"

"Huai...King Huai."

"puff."

After getting the answer, Shi Siming cut off Luo Yue's neck with a single stroke.

"Bring that beast here!"

~~
There was a thud.

Shi Chaoyi was held down, his knees slamming heavily on the blood-soaked ground.

He was terrified and could not wait to explain: "Father, this was definitely not my idea! I never agreed to it..."

"Snapped!"

Shi Siming stepped forward and slapped Shi Chaoyi so hard that he fell to the ground.

"If you dare to do it and take responsibility, I will admire you for your courage, and perhaps I will make you the crown prince."

Shi Chaoyi didn't know whether he should believe this or not, and he was speechless.

Shi Siming had already picked him up, his eyes showing anger, and asked: "Do you know what made me most angry tonight?"

"It really wasn't me who ordered this!" Shi Chaoyi was already crying with fear.

"You are stupid, dumb, weak and incompetent. I have long been accustomed to these. What annoys me most is that you are unfilial! You are not like my son at all. You have no ambition at all. If you had any ambition, you should use that little bit of thought to conquer the world. If you wait until you and I take Chang'an and then kill my father, I will still treat you as Li Shimin and die with my eyes closed!"

"My son doesn't dare. My son doesn't have it!"

"waste!"

Shi Siming threw away the rubbish in his hand and said contemptuously: "You will never be able to help me achieve my great cause."

He stood up, took the long knife, and wanted to kill his son himself.

Zhou Zhi hurried forward, knelt in front of Shi Chaoyi, and advised: "No, no! Your Majesty must not follow the example of a tyrant and be known for killing his son. I ask that you place Prince Huai under house arrest and give him another chance to mend his ways."

At this moment, it seemed that he was the only one who still remembered that Shi Siming asked him to live in harmony with King Huai.

"Killed my son?" Shi Siming said, "It was not me who killed him, it was he who killed him! Bring him up."

After a while, Geng Renzhi led a team and brought several people up, but those who were escorted were Yan Zhuang, Wu Chengen, and their followers.

Yan Zhuang thought he was going to see Shi Chaoyi tonight, but he was taken away after walking a few steps. He didn't understand how he had been exposed, but when he saw Geng Renzhi and Wu Chengen, he realized something.

These two people played an important role when Li Heng was trying to pacify Shi Siming, and the purpose of Yan Zhuang's mission was to announce the emperor's order to assassinate Shi Siming. Shi Siming must have discovered something from them.

But Yan Zhuang was very cautious and thought the time was not right, so he never contacted the two people and even burned the edict. So what was going on?

"Your Majesty, this is the imperial edict from the Tang court to Wu Chengen." Geng Renzhi picked up a secret decree and handed it to Shi Siming.

Yan Zhuang was greatly surprised when he heard this, and stared at the edict, wondering why such a thing existed. Since King Yong had secretly ordered him to sow discord, why bother with this extra effort?
After reading the secret decree, Shi Siming threw it in Wu Chengen's face.

"What a great Jiedushi of Fanyang and Pinglu! How have I ever done anything wrong to you that you would betray me like this?!"

"I am guilty and I deserve to die." Wu Chengen kowtowed and said, "Your Majesty, please calm down. This is a conspiracy of the Tang court."

Shi Siming glared at Shi Chaoyi and said, "Listen to me...you speak!"

He pointed to a follower behind Wu Chengen.

The follower's knees immediately weakened, and he knelt on the ground, saying, "I am here on the orders of the Holy... the Tang Lord to convey the order to Wu Chengen. The Tang Lord hopes to recruit Wu Chengen to surrender."

Geng Renzhi sighed and said to Shi Chaoyi with great sorrow: "Prince Huai, you have fallen into the trap. Wu Chengen and I both received the secret decree from the Tang court. After further questioning, we learned that there was a similar decree from the Tang court before. It must have been brought by Yan Zhuang. After checking his whereabouts, we knew that he wanted to alienate you, but you... Alas!"

Only then did Yan Zhuang realize how he had been exposed.

It must be that the Tang ruler took advantage of the absence of Prince Yong to start intervening in government affairs. At this time, it seemed stupid to choose Wu Chengen to govern Fanyang and Pinglu without consulting Prince Yong, Guo Ziyi, and Li Guangbi, but there was actually a deep meaning behind it.

For the Tang ruler, firstly, it would allow the war to be quelled as soon as possible and the Prince of Yong to be relieved of his military power; secondly, it would allow Wu Chengen to lead Hebei to compete with the Prince of Yong in the future; thirdly, it would establish the Tang ruler's own prestige and prevent the generals who suppressed the rebellion from overshadowing him.

It's just a pity that when I was about to accomplish great things, I encountered such a tyrant who was holding me back.

"Dark Lord!"

Yan Zhuang was furious and cursed: "The Tang court has such a tyrant, and its luck has come to an end. I should really help Dayan capture Chang'an in one fell swoop and kill all the Li family!"

Shi Chaoyi's eyes widened, surprised at Yan Zhuang's quick reaction, and he cursed, "Traitor, you are using sweet words to alienate me and my grandfather."

"Your Majesty." Yan Zhuang knelt and moved forward, saying, "I confess everything. I was ordered by Xue Bai and had no choice but to do this. I am useful and can confess many secrets of the Tang army!"

"You've done me so much harm, and I still want to live? Traitor!" Shi Chaoyi said sadly: "Grandpa, this is all his fault, it has nothing to do with me!"

"You still don't understand even now." Shi Siming said coldly, "I want to conquer the world, I just care who can help me conquer the world."

After saying that, he picked up the knife and walked forward without hesitation, stabbing Shi Chaoyi to death with one blow.

"Uh."

Shi Chaoyi's eyes widened, unable to believe that his grandfather would actually kill him with his own hands.

The father and son looked at each other.

There was no reluctance in Shi Siming's eyes, only relief.

He finally got rid of the fear of dying at the hands of his son. He had actually realized long ago that this eldest son would one day kill him and seize power.

When did he have this idea? Maybe it was on the day when Shi Chaoyi pleaded for An Qingxu, or maybe it was earlier, or maybe it was on the day when he strangled Shi Chaoyi's biological mother to death, or maybe it was because he had heard that Li Longji had killed three sons in one day...

In short, no one could take away his throne as the emperor of Dayan.

"It was not me who killed my son, it was Xue Bai who killed my son." Shi Siming then revealed a look of grief and shouted, "Anyone who violates military law must be executed!"

The generals were in awe.

Shi Siming pointed at Yan Zhuang and said, "Torture him severely, break his brain into pieces, and write down everything he knows."

"Here!"

The wind blew, bringing with it the smell of blood, but tonight's events were not over yet. There were still more of Shi Chaoyi's followers in the army who had not been purged, and they had to be killed.

However, in addition to the smell of blood, there seemed to be the sound of horse hooves in the wind.

Shi Siming was about to walk towards the big tent when he suddenly turned his head back. Out of his beast-like instinct, he felt the trembling of battle.

"Enemy attack!"

As if in response to his prophecy, the long trumpets of the Tang army suddenly sounded, like weeping and complaining.

"Woo——"

Shi Siming had always longed for a decisive battle with Li Guangbi. On the night when his son died, the decisive battle he longed for came, and Xue Bai, the enemy who killed his son, also came.

(End of this chapter)