Man Tang Huacai

Chapter 548 Your Highness
With the last evening drum, the city of Chang'an was shrouded in darkness, and the lights in the three parts of Pingkangfang were all lit.

The musicians on the stage plucked strings and sang new songs. Offstage, the high-spirited patrons embraced the beautiful prostitutes, drank heartily, and spent money lavishly.

The atmosphere was tense when a man with a gloomy face walked in, pushed away the servant who wanted to stop him, and patted several people on the back as he walked.

The people he photographed were originally tasting rouge. They were inevitably annoyed by being suddenly interrupted, but when they turned around, they all showed fear.

"General Ji."

The one with the gloomy face was Ji Guangchen, a general under Prince Yong. He glanced at all the generals calmly and said, "Follow me."

"Here."

Everyone nodded, but someone burped, and the sound was very abrupt. Ji Guangchen heard it when he turned around, and wanted to say something, but said nothing.

At the door, the madam known as "Baotan" saw someone coming and taking away most of her customers. She cursed this "dead ghost who was in a hurry to reincarnate" in her heart and wished him a bad death.

Ji Guangchen walked out of the door and breathed a sigh of relief when he could no longer smell the strong smell of alcohol and rouge.

Although Chang'an is beautiful, this gentle place makes him feel extremely dangerous.

Danger came before we even left Pingkangfang.

With the clanging of armor and the sound of rapid horse hooves and footsteps, a team of Jinwu Guards holding torches quickly surrounded them.

"Who violated the ban?!"

"We are the soldiers of Prince Yong!"

Ji Guangchen looked in the light of the torch and saw that they were fully armed Jinwu Guards, and immediately became alert.

After Li Lin entered Chang'an, he certainly tried to control the defenses of Chang'an. Unfortunately, he did not dare to go to war with the imperial guards. Instead, under the mediation of Wei Jiansu, the two sides reached an agreement that Li Lin's troops would guard the outer city and the imperial city, and the imperial guards would only be responsible for the palace city. This was also the reason why Ji Guangchen and his subordinates dared to walk freely in Chang'an City.

But in fact, Li Lin's army had neither experience nor good command, and could not fully deploy its defenses. The reason why nothing had happened in the past few days was entirely due to the self-awareness of the imperial guards.

It is not known whether these Jinwu Guards who appeared tonight were arranged here because they defected to Li Lin, or whether they crossed into their territory.

If we take action now, we will be able to surround and kill Ji Guangchen.

"Pingkangfang should be guarded by Prince Yong's troops." Ji Guangchen asked, "Why are you here?"

"With no one on night watch, what should we do if there are thieves or a fire? Bring us the night watchmen!"

While the Jinwu Guard general was speaking, his soldiers quickly ran around Ji Guangchen and others and surrounded them.

Seeing that the other party had murderous intent, Ji Guangchen put his hand on the hilt of the knife, ready to fight to the death at any time. At the same time, he asked his subordinates to take out the documents and pretend to deal with it.

However, after checking the documents, the other party nodded and said, "There really are documents walking at night."

After saying this, he gave an order and led his soldiers away like a stream of water.

Ji Guangchen was a little confused, and then he was very grateful. He knew that if a fight broke out in a situation like that, his chances of survival would be extremely slim.

Fortunately, there is still order in Chang'an City.

As a rebel, it was only when he was suddenly in the position of a weak person this time that he deeply felt the value of order.

After returning to the temporary residence, Ji Guangchen closed the door, turned his head to look at the generals with unsteady steps, and thought, Prince Yong asked him to lead these people to assassinate Prince Yong, what's the difference between this and committing suicide?

In terms of military performance, Prince Yong was far inferior to Prince Yong. He originally thought that Prince Yong was stationed in Fanyang and had the intention of separatism, which would be Prince Yong's opportunity. Unexpectedly, as soon as Prince Yong rebelled, Prince Yong immediately represented the court to fight against him, and also captured Jiangling, cutting off their retreat.

In this case, is there any need to resist stubbornly?

"You and I followed Prince Yong in order to eliminate corrupt officials and support the country. If we had followed the order of the retired emperor, we would have accomplished great things. However, Prince Yong was determined to ascend the throne, which attracted troops from all over the country to attack us, making us traitors. Do you think we can live up to our promise to our descendants?"

As Ji Guangchen spoke, he put his hand on the knife again, waiting for someone to object so that he could get rid of him. He looked around and found that everyone was looking at each other, and no one had any intention of objecting.

He then continued, "I plan to seek refuge with King Yong to seek a better future. What do you think?"

The reason why he chose Xue Bai instead of Guo Ziyi was because he was seeking greater benefits.

Although it is safe to go to Guo Ziyi now, one will miss a great opportunity to become a successful servant of the emperor.

"General." Someone immediately spoke up and raised an opinion, "Since ancient times, surrendering requires some statement. If we surrender with nothing in our hands, how can we talk about our future?"

"What do you think?"

"General, why don't you kill Prince Yong? Take Prince Yong's head and surrender to Prince Yong. That would be considered a great achievement, and you can share the wealth with us."

Ji Guangchen hesitated a little, stroking his chin with one hand, walking back and forth, thinking, then walked behind the person who had just spoken and patted him on the shoulder.

"What you said makes sense."

Suddenly, Ji Guangchen grabbed the general's neck with one hand, pulled out a dagger with the other, and stabbed him several times.

"Puff puff."

As blood splattered, Ji Guangchen said the second half of his sentence.

"I have planned a way out for you, but I dare not forget the great kindness that Prince Yong has shown me. If you repay kindness with hatred, today I can kill Prince Yong, but tomorrow you must kill me!"

As he spoke, Ji Guangchen threw away the corpse in his hand, his face covered in blood.

He said to the crowd: "Since ancient times, it has been difficult to be both loyal and righteous. I want to surrender to Prince Yong to protect the lives of my brothers and to maintain my loyalty to the country. I really can't bear to kill Prince Yong, and I hope not to destroy the kindness and righteousness we had in the past. Do you think this is okay?"

"We will follow the general!"

"it is good!"

Ji Guangchen then swore an oath of blood with everyone else, and then each of them contacted their own tribes and prepared to welcome King Yong into the city.

~~
That night, Li Lin tossed and turned in bed.

He didn't understand why, as soon as the news of Xue Bai's conquest of Jiangling and his arrival in Chang'an reached him, both his generals and the officials in the court immediately changed their attitudes. Was he much worse than Xue Bai? Was it the difference in personal charm, governing ability, or command level?

Li Lin did not think that he was much worse than Xue Bai. He believed that the main reason was that his momentum had not yet been built up. Once he took Xue Bai's head to intimidate the court and the public, the situation would be very different.

"My king, it's urgent!"

Suddenly there was a cry of surprise outside the door, and Li Lin couldn't help but wonder whether Ji Guangchen had already done it.

He got up and opened the door, and as expected, he heard the news from Ji Guangchen.

"General Ji has led his troops in rebellion, and has sent people to welcome Prince Yong into the city!"

"What? This damned dog killer!"

Li Lin was stunned for a moment, then flew into a rage.
He didn't have time to think about it. If Ji Guangchen didn't want to protect him, the first thing he would do was not to welcome Xue Bai into the city, but to capture him, or let the imperial guards arrest him.

The reason why he was able to get the news in advance was that Ji Guangchen remembered the old favor and couldn't bear to harm him.

Li Lin was furious, and the first thing he did was to send his trusted men to kill Ji Guangchen and appoint General Feng Jikang to replace him in the military.

However, new news came soon.

"Your Majesty, this is bad! Feng Jikang has left the city to seek refuge with Guo Ziyi!"

Li Lin did not answer, but was hurriedly putting on his clothes and packing his belongings.

As danger approached, the resentment and arrogance in his heart were quickly dispelled. He knew that he would not be a match for Xue Bai and Guo Ziyi in Chang'an. Now that Jiangling was also lost, he could only go to Shu or Tubo.

Then we must flee westward immediately before Guo Ziyi crosses the Wei River.

Although Ji Guangchen was protecting Li Lin, he could not suppress the many people in Chang'an City who wanted to capture Li Lin. After a while, people began to rush over here, and the light of torches illuminated half of the area.

Li Lin, who had not yet finished packing, was shocked when he saw this. In a hurry, he only managed to take his wife and eldest son and escape.

He led hundreds of his personal soldiers out of the gate and took advantage of the cover of night to run to the Jinguan Gate in the west.

Fortunately, the city gate was still under his control, so Li Lin fled Chang'an overnight.

~~
Xue Bai didn't expect that he would be warmly welcomed into Chang'an so soon.

At that time, he had just arrived at Lantian Posthouse. This time, he did not have much time to exchange poems with Li Bai, because the case of the three commoners had been vindicated, and with his current status, he should pay tribute to the three commoners and Xue Xiu who were sentenced to death at Lantian Posthouse.

"Respectfully presented by my son Li Qian, alas, may you enjoy the feast!"

As the ceremonial officer presiding over the sacrifice shouted at the top of his voice, all three armies fell silent.

Behind Xue Bai, Lu Jing, Lai Zhen, Wei Zhi and others also looked very sad and solemn. They cared about this memorial service more than Xue Bai because it represented acknowledging some mistakes made by the retired emperor during his reign and represented correcting the wrongs.

At this moment, shouts were heard from the inn, mixed with a sharp cry.

"What's the matter?" Lai Chen asked.

"Report to the governor, there is a madman who wants to see the King of Yong."

Lai Zhen frowned and asked some more questions until the soldiers found an old official from Lantian to explain the situation.

"The man who was making the noise was named Guo Suo. He was a wounded man rescued by villagers near Lantianyi more than 20 years ago. It seems that he was frightened and stupid because of something he saw. He has a brain problem."

"What did you see?"

"This……"

The old official didn't want to say anything, and his lips trembled for a while but he couldn't explain anything.

Lai Chen then urged sternly, "Speak!"

The old official hesitated for a long time, and when he realized that he could no longer shirk his responsibility, he finally said, "I saw the three concubines and the prince consort being executed, and I was so scared that I went crazy."

"Your Highness!"

Suddenly, a terrified cry attracted everyone's attention.

Turning around, I saw the soldiers stopping a man with disheveled hair and a dirty body. It must be Guo Suo.

Guo Suo was shouting and trying to come over here, and it was obvious that he was really crazy.

The brain of a madman does not protect itself by limiting its power, so it is often extremely strong. This was the case with Guo Suo, who, though skinny and unarmed, was able to push aside the strong armored soldiers and force them to put their weapons to his neck several times.

"Don't hurt him!" Lai Chen shouted quickly, "Let him come over."

As a result, the soldiers relaxed a little, and Guo Suo took advantage of this opportunity, roared, pushed everyone away, and rushed straight towards Xue Bai.

"Protect Prince Yong."

The soldiers around Xue Bai stood in front of him in an orderly manner.

When Guo Suo saw this, he became even more nervous and yelled several times. "Your Highness!"

"Your Highness, leave! They want to kill you!"

Afterwards, with a "bang", Guo Suo was knocked to the ground by Xue Bai's guards with their shields, and two or three people rushed forward and held him down.

He was still struggling, his face flushed with excitement.

"Your Highness, please go! Go!"

The old official at Lantian Post was worried that this situation would be misunderstood as an assassination, so he knelt down and kowtowed, saying, "Don't blame Prince Yong. I guess that he was a guard under Prince Ying in the past. He wanted to rescue Prince Ying, but he lost consciousness due to serious injuries..."

There was no need for him to explain. Everyone present was smart and could certainly see it.

Wei Zhi personally stepped forward, comforted Guo Suo with a few words, then tore off the tattered clothes on Guo Suo's back, revealing a back covered with scars in front of everyone.

The knife wounds were coiled like centipedes, and it was obvious that they were old wounds.

Guo Suo was still rolling and struggling, revealing his thin upper body. His skin was tightly wrapped around his ribs, as if it was about to pierce through. His stomach was a little bloated, probably because he had eaten a lot of indigestible things like tree bark.

Wei Zhi bent down again and carefully observed Guo Suo's teeth, palms, calves and other parts before turning back.

"The scars were indeed left more than 20 years ago. Although this man is thin, he has broad bones and a brave look in his eyes. He may have been a bodyguard of Prince Ying. The severe marks and calluses on his hands are probably caused by being treated like an ox or a horse during these years of wandering outside..."

"Your Highness!"

Guo Suo was still shouting. He looked up at Xue Bai and smiled. There was deep affection in his eyes. He kept muttering, "Your Highness."

Xue Bai was not the crown prince, but today those loyal officials behind him who valued their reputation the most did not pursue this presumptuous title. Instead, they looked at Guo Suo and stroked their beards with emotion.

"He recognized Prince Yong as Crown Prince Ying."

In fact, Lu Jing, Lai Chen and others were not without doubts.

They suspected that this was Xue Bai's deliberate arrangement, but when they cast their eyes on Wei Zhi, asking with their eyes, Wei Zhi took a few steps forward and said in a very subtle voice: "It doesn't seem fake."

Lai Zhen saw it with his own eyes and was inclined to believe that it was not arranged by Prince Yong. His face became serious, his eyes were red, and he said, "He is truly a loyal and righteous man!"

"Twenty years of injustice have finally been redressed, and the loyal servant and his former master can meet again. It must be the spirit of Prince Ying in heaven."

Xue Bai pushed aside the guards around him and stepped forward to personally help Guo Suo up.

"Your Highness, please leave. The Saint wants to kill you."

Guo Suo did not struggle anymore, but urged anxiously.

Xue Bai looked at the man carefully, trying to discern his intentions through the dust on his face, but he only saw deep concern and worry.

Then, he subconsciously looked down at his robe.

"Hurry, Your Highness, go!"

"No need to go." Xue Bai said, "It's all right now."

"Your Highness..."

"The saint has forgiven us."

Guo Suo was overjoyed and wanted to say something, but he rolled his eyes and fainted.

Xue Bai could feel countless pairs of eyes staring at him from behind, so he ordered people to take good care of Guo Suo in a concerned tone. He gave several instructions, and his tone was filled with the joy and care of a family reuniting.

But at this moment, he was thinking, how could it be such a coincidence? He had been to Lantian Posthouse several times but had never seen Guo Suo. How could he meet Guo Suo as soon as he pretended to be Li Qian?
Moreover, with so many people around, Guo Suo could mistake him for Crown Prince Li Ying at first sight. How much similarity must they have to have? But the fact is, no one had ever said that he looked like Li Ying before.

There is no such coincidence. It must have been arranged by someone. Who is it?
Xue Bai glanced around casually, his eyes passing over Lu Jing, Lai Chen, Wei Zhi, and then looking at his staff.

In his opinion, Yan Zhuang, Yuan Zai, and even Du Jin are people who would do these things... No, with his current status, there is no need to do such things. He has even begun to consider giving up the name of Li Qian and directly usurping the throne.

Then perhaps, the person behind the scenes did not have good intentions?
These are two major speculations. Xue Bai occasionally wondered whether Guo Suo was really Li Ying's bodyguard, because he had heard that he was Li Ying's son and so he had hypochondria.

As for the possibility that Li Ying's guards recognized him as Li Ying's son, he declined the offer. He had killed people and taken wives from the Li Tang royal family many times...

Just as he was daydreaming, the sound of hurried horse hooves disrupted his thoughts. News came from the front that soldiers from Chang'an were coming to welcome him into the city.

"The criminal general Ji Guangchen, welcome Prince Yong to Chang'an!"

As soon as they met, seeing that brave general kneeling before him, Xue Bai was still thinking about how to test whether Ji Guangchen was truly surrendering or just pretending to surrender, when another messenger arrived from the front.

The one who came this time was the courier sent by Chen Xilie, who arrived a little later than Ji Guangchen. But although he came late, he brought all the necessary documents.

However, the Secretariat issued an edict in the name of the retired emperor, stating that at this time when the country was in danger and the emperor had fled, Prince Yong should be the regent.

"I dare not obey your order."

However, faced with such tempting power, Xue Bai's first reaction was to refuse.

In front of Lu Jing, Lai Zhen, Wei Zhi and others, he took two steps back, bowed and said: "I only want peace in the world, prosperity in the country and well-being in the people, then I will be satisfied. Power is not what I want. What I want is only the breeze on the river, the bright moon in the mountains, and traveling around my homeland."

In the crowd behind him, Li Bai heard these words, smiled silently, waved his sleeves, and went to drink in the bamboo forest, too lazy to watch this hypocritical struggle for power.

This was the attitude of those who were bold and unrestrained and despised the powerful. However, the reactions of those who valued their reputation and cared about their clan and society were completely different. They all stepped forward and asked Xue Bai to accept their orders.

"At this critical moment of life and death, Prince Yong should not make excuses any longer."

Xue Bai was still trying to shirk his responsibilities, saying, "Since ancient times, we have heard of the crown prince acting as regent, but have we ever heard of a prince acting as regent?"

"This... the prince is not in the court."

Everyone responded vaguely, becoming more and more certain that this was Xue Baibu's setup.

They all recalled Guo Suo's cry just now, which lingered in their minds for a long time.

"Your Highness! Your Highness..."

~~
"I have met His Highness!"

Zhou Zhiguang walked into the room and bowed. When he looked, he saw a face that still looked childish under the candlelight.

"General Zhou, there's no need to be so polite."

Li Qu was a little nervous. He clenched his fists unconsciously and hunched his shoulders slightly.

He was still organizing his words, unaware that this demeanor had already conveyed the fact that he had a weak aura, which made Zhou Zhiguang look down on him.

The reason why he met Zhou Zhiguang was because Zhou Zhiguang gave him a gift, a very majestic horse.

There are huge differences between different horses, which can be said to be greater than the difference between horses and humans. A fine horse can gallop out with just a light kick, fast and steady, while a poor horse can only trot unsteadily no matter how hard you whip it. This time, Li Qu fled from Chang'an in a hurry, and the horse he rode was given to him by the imperial guards. The situation was tense recently, and no one had time to change it for him, so Zhou Zhiguang's gift was very thoughtful.

Zhou Zhiguang not only sent horses, but also sent horsemen to take care of them. Therefore, Li Qu's horses were treated very well and ate fine grass, which was much better than what ordinary people ate.

Li Qu thought that such hospitality was because Zhou Zhiguang wanted to join him.

He was very nervous, wondering whether he should reveal his intention to get rid of Dou Wenyang... Before he could open his mouth, Zhou Zhiguang spoke first.

"Your Highness, I have received news that Guo Ziyi has recaptured Chang'an."

"When did it happen?" Li Qu was very surprised. "So can we go back to Beijing now?"

"I sent people to spy in Guo Ziyi's army, so I got this information." Zhou Zhiguang said, "But Guo Ziyi did not welcome the saint back to Chang'an. I'm afraid he has changed his mind."

"No." Li Qu said quickly: "Mr. Guo is loyal..."

"Excuse my humble opinion, but I'm afraid Guo Ziyi wants to support Prince Yong as the crown prince." Zhou Zhiguang interrupted Li Qiu.

"What? How come?"

"There are rumors in Chang'an that the emperor and all the officials want to let Prince Yong be the regent in the name of the emperor being away from home. But since ancient times, is it reasonable for the emperor's nephew to be the regent? This is to replace your highness as the crown prince. Now the saint has not made a statement and has never told your highness about this matter. I guess he is wavering in his heart."

Li Qu was horrified and asked hurriedly, "What should I do?"

"What should Your Highness do?" Zhou Zhiguang deliberately repeated, as if he was beginning to think for Li Qiu, and said thoughtfully: "If I can replace Guo Ziyi to lead the army, I will kill Prince Yong, drive out Prince Yong, and welcome the Saint and Your Highness back to the court."

"But Mr. Guo..."

"If Your Highness does not trust me but still trusts Guo Ziyi, I will take my leave now!"

"Wait a minute, General Zhou." Li Qu hurriedly stopped him and asked, "How can I help you take over Guo Ziyi's position?"

"Duke Dou will come to the Saint to explain the pros and cons. If the Saint summons Your Highness, please tell Him clearly that Guo Ziyi once instigated Your Highness to rebel, but after Your Highness refused, he turned to King Yong."

"Isn't this a lie?!" Li Qu was shocked.

He had wanted to contact Guo Ziyi a while ago to get rid of the treacherous eunuch Dou Wenyang. Unexpectedly, within a few days, he was forced to help Dou Wenyang and his party to remove Guo Ziyi from the position of commander.

The world was so absurd that it made it hard for a young man like him to know how to deal with it.

Li Qiu finally stopped thinking that Zhou Zhiguang came to surrender to him. He thought that this military general was trying to control him, the crown prince of a country.

"I am willing to protect Your Highness with my life!"

Zhou Zhiguang suddenly raised his voice, revealing his domineering attitude.

"And I only need an imperial decree. It's such a small matter, Your Highness, are you unwilling to ask for it for me?!"

"I……"

Li Qu felt both fear and pain in his heart. When he looked up, he saw Zhou Zhiguang's domineering and ferocious face. He was stunned for a moment and finally compromised.

"well."

It has to be said that Dou Wenyang knew Emperor Li Cong too well, and the method he came up with was exactly the most effective way to remove Guo Ziyi.

After all, how could Li Cong have imagined that Li Qu would help Dou Wenyang frame Guo Ziyi?
Only the next day, Zhou Zhiguang received an imperial edict to replace Guo Ziyi as the Recruiting Envoy and Deputy Marshal of the Guanzhong Army. He led the 20,000 soldiers he had recently recruited to Guo Ziyi's camp on the banks of the Weishui Bridge, preparing for a mutiny.

Halfway through the journey, a scout horse came back from the front.

"Report! Guo Ziyi sent cavalry to capture Prince Yong, and they are now escorting him back to the camp."

Zhou Zhiguang frowned and spat, "He has done another great deed."

After a moment, he realized that the scouts' activities were not far away, and this place was not close to Guo Ziyi's camp, so he asked, "Where is Prince Yong now?"

"It's in Yishou County in the south."

This was a pleasant surprise to Zhou Zhiguang. He immediately pulled the reins and shouted, "Go! Follow me to quell Prince Yong's rebellion first!"

(End of this chapter)