Man Tang Huacai

Chapter 550: Eliminating the Corrupt Eunuchs

A candle flame was fiddled with a few times and indeed became brighter, but with a wisp of green smoke, the smell became even more unpleasant.

Accompanied by a cough, Li Cong said, "Ahem, take everything down, take away all the candlesticks."

"According to the order."

Several eunuchs standing in the shadows of the room hurriedly took down the candlesticks. Someone opened the window and used a round fan to disperse the smell of oil smoke in the room.

Li Cong felt a little hot. He stood in front of the window with his hands behind his back, enjoying the breeze. However, his neck was still covered with a layer of greasy sweat. The slight buzzing sound of mosquitoes in his ears made him feel even more annoyed.

"I've had enough!"

When Dou Wenyang arrived, he happened to hear Li Cong's sudden roar. He immediately realized that the saint was in a bad mood and quickly apologized, "It's my fault for not taking good care of you."

As the situation had been bad recently, he had become cautious in his self-proclaimed identity, remembering once again that he was a slave of the Emperor.

"I don't want to stay in Fengtian County any longer. This place is too simple. There are no dancers, no music, and even no good candle oil."

Li Cong was still complaining when a small flying insect stuck to the sweaty scar on his face. He wiped it with his own hand and said in a louder voice, "I want to go back to Qingliang Palace in Chang'an. I want to burn some incense!"

Dou Wenyang's face was also covered with sweat. As he lowered his head, sweat dripped from the tip of his nose. After five drops of sweat dripped, he said, "Saint, Xue Ni has already occupied Chang'an."

He knew very well that the Yongwang Rebellion had been quelled and Li Cong could return to Chang'an, but if so, Xue Bai would definitely chop off his head.

Therefore, he had no choice but to conceal the real news as much as possible and spread the rumor that Xue Bai and Li Lin were conspiring to rebel. This statement was brought back by Zhou Zhiguang, and there were both witnesses and evidence. Moreover, Xue Bai was indeed the regent, and it was not completely wronged.

"Xue Ni has been scheming and finally gained great power. Once the Saint returns, he will definitely harm the Saint. The best outcome is to imprison the Saint like he imprisoned the Emperor."

"I've had enough of Fengtian!" Li Cong angrily slammed the window coffin, "At least, at least I should move to a safe and fertile place where I don't have to worry."

What he said actually made sense. Fengtian was close to Chang'an, had no strategic location to defend, and had no supplies. From a strategic point of view, it was not a good place to stay.

From this we can see that although Dou Wenyang was somewhat clever in the struggle for power, he had no long-term planning at all and did not give any consideration to the most important and basic things.

Dou Wenyang has been in a very difficult situation recently and has not thought of anything else except relying on Zhou Zhiguang.

"How about going to Shu County?" Li Cong asked.

"There are many generals in Sichuan who once followed Xue Ni to attack Nanzhao, including Yan Wu who is now in charge of Yizhou." Dou Wenyang hesitated and said, "I'm afraid it's not very safe to go to Shu."

"Then where do you want to go? In this vast world, is there still a place that belongs to me?!"

"Sage, please be patient. Once Zhou Zhiguang has quelled the rebellion, we will welcome you back to Chang'an."

Dou Wenyang persuaded Li Cong earnestly and finally managed to appease him and he stepped out, wiping the sweat from his forehead and sighing.

Before he had rested for long, a trusted eunuch came and whispered, "Xue Ni has sent people to welcome the saint back to the capital. They are all civil officials and envoys. They are now outside the city gate."

"Hide it for now, keep it a secret." Dou Wenyang's eyes rolled, his face uncertain, "Wait a little longer and see if Zhou Zhiguang has obtained Guo Ziyi's military power."

He picked up a bowl of tea and felt it was very hot. He pursed his sharp lips and blew on it, muttering to himself.

"Don't be impatient. If you are impatient, you will get burned."

As if to confirm his words, someone rushed in the next moment and shouted in panic: "Oh no! The soldiers are rushing out of the city with Zhou Zhiguang's head!"

"Who?!"

Dou Wenyang jumped up and asked in surprise, "Whose head is it?!"

With a loud bang, the table in front of him was knocked to the ground, the teacup broke, and the boiling hot tea splashed out, scalding him and making his mouth grit.

He raised his head with a ferocious look on his face, hissing, and still asked, "What's going on? How could a vicious man like Zhou Zhiguang be defeated so quickly?"

"The villain doesn't know."

"Why don't you go check it out?!"

Dou Wenyang was so anxious that he jumped up and down, and soon he found out what was going on.

Because at the same time, most of Zhou Zhiguang's generals had surrendered to the court, and many of them even entered Fengtian City and were widely spreading what had happened.

"Chang'an is stable, and the court has sent envoys to welcome the saint back to the capital."

"Dou Wenyang and Zhou Zhiguang kidnapped the saint and fled, which was treason. Marshal Guo rode into the camp alone and explained the righteousness. Therefore, we repented and helped Marshal Guo eliminate the traitors and stabilize the country..."

When all this news reached Dou Wenyang's ears, he knew that the matter could no longer be covered up. With the saint's weak character, he would definitely surrender.

He had to go see the saint immediately, strengthen the saint's determination, and take the saint away from Guanzhong.

After operating for so long, he had more or less controlled some of the guards. Now there were only about 500 people left who could be trusted. He quickly gathered his men and rushed to the palace, and issued an order that anyone who dared to stop them from taking the saint away would be killed.

As expected, many officials had gathered in front of the palace, with official robes of various colors mixed together and making a lot of noise.

These officials had originally defected to Dou Wenyang, and were able to flee here with the emperor. They could all be called the "Eunuch Party," but at this time they were persuading the emperor to get rid of the corrupt eunuchs and return to Chang'an.

"Kill them, kill them!"

Dou Wenyang was driven mad by this group of ungrateful people. He screamed at the top of his lungs and gave orders.

Then, five hundred armored soldiers raised their swords towards the unarmed courtiers, and chopped them down like chopping melons and vegetables.

"Lord Dou, please spare me...ah!"

An official rushed to Dou Wenyang but was still chopped down. He twisted on the ground for a few times and finally died, with blood all over Dou Wenyang's face.

Covered in blood, he seemed to be mad. He picked up a single-edged sword and stabbed several injured officials himself.

"All of you die! Die!"

At this moment, this eunuch seemed more brutal and fearless than many warriors.

When a eunuch who has no descendants is forced into a desperate situation, he has nothing to worry about. Unlike civil officials, he does not have various ties such as clan family property, wife and children, and reputation in the future. He has no dignity, no family, and no worries. Whoever wants to destroy him can destroy everything.

Finally, there were corpses all over the ground in front of the palace.

Dou Wenyang and his men kicked open the door and rushed in. From afar, they saw eunuchs and palace maids screaming and running away. He ordered a team to pick up the queen and several princes, and he went to find the saint himself.

~~
It was just dawn. Li Cong had not slept well the whole night and was extremely tired. He finally curled up on the imperial couch and took a nap.

"Da Lang."

Li Cong was startled when he heard a voice calling him. He looked up and saw that it was Queen Dou.

"Da Lang, let's go back to Chang'an." Dou advised, and then whispered everything she had heard about the situation.

Upon learning that Zhou Zhiguang was dead and Guo Ziyi had come to greet him outside the city, Li Cong's face turned pale. He was torn between conscience and desire for a while and was about to make a decision when he suddenly heard a cry from outside.

"problem occurs!"

The couple were already frightened birds, and immediately thought that Xue Bai or Guo Ziyi had sent people to kill them.

But then, several eunuchs hurriedly led two officials in and reported: "Your Majesty, Dou Wenyang has rebelled and is killing people outside."

"How could it be? How dare he betray me?"

The two officials were stunned by such a profound question before they answered: "This treacherous tyrant is obsessed with power and has deceived the saint and isolated him from hearing. Now he has nowhere else to turn and has gone mad."

Then they said, "We are here on the orders of Marshal Guo to welcome the Saint back to Chang'an. We dare to guarantee with our lives that we will protect the Saint. Please allow us to protect the Saint and leave."

Hearing this calm and sincere tone, Li Cong also reacted and said hurriedly: "Take me away quickly."

The group tidied themselves up and went out, only to see Dou Wenyang, his face covered in blood, coming in from the opposite gate.

Originally, Li Cong had doubts about the statement "Dou Wenyang rebelled", but when he saw it, he was instantly frightened and rushed to the officials who were already stunned, saying: "Hurry up, take me away."

"Saint, this way."

In front, Dou Wenyang also saw Li Cong and hurriedly shouted, "Saint! I'm here!"

Of course Li Cong knew where he was, so he turned around even faster and fled in another direction.

"Who dares to hold the Saint hostage? Stop them!"

Dou Wenyang was furious. While giving orders, he also ran after them, constantly persuading them.

"Saint, please do not listen to the sweet words of those officials. They have coaxed you back to Chang'an to harm you."

However, despite his earnest persuasion, Li Cong did not even turn his head. When he met the imperial guards, he even shouted, "Quick, stop the rebellion for me!"

Only then did Dou Wenyang realize that the "rebel" the saint was talking about was actually himself, and he felt very wronged.

"Saint, it's me, the slave!"

"Saint, I am clearly following your orders, how can that be considered treason?"

"Have you forgotten, Saint? It was you who told me that Xue Ni was the dictator of the government and held great power. It was you who asked me to find a way to get rid of this traitor. Now that he is the regent, the next step is to depose and enthrone the emperor!"

"Saint, you are now running away from Xue Ni, do you know that?!"

"Saint, don't run away. I need you to take charge of the situation."

"Saint, please don't run away."

Seeing that no matter how he tried to persuade Li Cong to turn back, Dou Wenyang became more and more angry. Finally, the anger seemed to explode in his chest, and he howled like a ghost.

"Don't run!"

Li Cong also escaped.

Dou Wenyang was so angry that he grabbed a crossbow and shot at the back of the guards surrounding Li Cong.

Unfortunately, his aim was not good and he missed the target.

This made Li Cong even more frightened. He quickened his pace and quickly crossed the yard. Soon, his figure disappeared behind the guards.

"saint!"

Dou Wenyang cried out in sorrow and finally stopped.

At this moment, he could not see the chaotic scene ahead. In his eyes, there was only a vast empty wilderness between heaven and earth, and he had no idea where the road ahead lay.

He was so bewildered.

Although he was extremely powerful in the past, what was the reality? From the moment he was castrated, he was no longer a complete person, but a vassal of the imperial power and a slave of the royal family.

A slave abandoned by his master is like a stray dog, a kite without a string, or a weed without roots. He knows that he is finished.

He also experienced the irony and mockery of fate. He tried to eliminate rebellion for the saint, but in the end he became a rebel himself.

He was always there for the saint whenever he needed him, but when he needed the saint for the only time, the saint escaped without hesitation and threw himself into the arms of rebellion!
"coward!"

Dou Wenyang cursed in the direction of Li Cong.

He was not satisfied, so he cursed again.

"A spineless man!"

After he finished scolding, he started to cry first. Tears burst out and washed the blood off his face, making it look horrible.

"Dou Gong, let's run away. I'll go pick up the young master right away."

Dou Wenyang didn't care about his adopted son Dou Yu. When he was powerful, he could force people to give their sons to him. But when he lost power, would his adopted son still take care of him in his old age? Bullshit, it's impossible.

He has no roots, so what's the point of escaping to the countryside and hiding his identity?
"Don't run away, come with me to find the prince!"

A eunuch can only depend on a saint forever, but the saint may not be the same person.

~~
At this time, Li Qu had also heard about Xue Bai's regent status and the subsequent news.

His focus is different from Li Cong's.

Li Cong was concerned about whether he could return to Chang'an safely, but he blurted out, "Since ancient times, who else can be the regent except the crown prince?"

"Your Highness, the Saint has already left the city. You should leave as well."

"I do not want……"

As Li Qu was speaking, he turned around and saw Dou Wenyang rushing in.

He was frightened by the scary face and stood there in shock for a long time, not even able to hear what Dou Wenyang was saying.

"You, rebelled?" Li Qu asked after a while.

"It's not me who's rebelling." Dou Wenyang said hurriedly, "It's Xue who's rebelling. He wants to take away your highness's positions. Are you willing to accept that?"

Of course Li Qu was unwilling to accept this.

All along, he was the only one who had done nothing wrong, so why was he the one who lost the most in the end?

Dou Wenyang looked at Li Qu's eyes, carefully reached out his hand, and slowly held Li Qu's hand.

"I will take the prince away. We still have a chance."

Li Qu was a little hesitant, with all kinds of emotions rising at this moment.

He used to be really puzzled and disgusted by Li Cong's use of eunuchs. Those eunuchs were like vines entwined around trees, entwined around the emperor's power, looking like they were trying to strangle the emperor, or like a snake strangling his neck, which made him feel sick.

He was determined that if he ascended the throne one day, the first thing he would do was to eliminate the evils of eunuchs interfering in government affairs. Even before he ascended the throne, he relied on his righteousness and cooperated with court officials to stand against the eunuchs.

However, when someone threatened his imperial power, it was the eunuchs who stood by his side most quickly and resolutely.

Li Qu stared blankly at Dou Wenyang's terrifying face, and watched the blood-stained hand gradually grasping him, unable to escape. He shuddered, as if he felt his fate, the fate of repeating the same mistakes, and he was powerless to escape.

He had a premonition that he would be another mediocre and weak king. He felt so disappointed in himself that he almost cried.

But he couldn't resist, he couldn't stand the temptation of power, and he didn't want to accept failure. So he was pulled forward one step, and then another.

Li Qu was led out of the palace by Dou Wenyang like a puppet.

Someone was already waiting outside with horses.

"Your Highness, please get on the horse quickly!" Dou Wenyang acted very loyal and personally helped Li Qu get on the horse.

"The fine horse Zhou Zhiguang gave me."

Li Qu thought of a place where his divine horse could be put to good use.

Dou Wenyang actually obeyed him and quickly ordered, "Quick, go and get His Highness's horse."

However, his trusted general actually said, "It's useless."

"what?"

"I say, it's no longer useful."

As Dou Wenyang said this, he felt a pain on his back and fell heavily to the ground.

~~
"Behead the treacherous eunuchs!"

"Behead the treacherous eunuchs!"

There was a roar like the sound of a tsunami.

Dou Wenyang looked up and saw the magnificent tower of the Suzaku Gate in the imperial city in front of him.

He narrowed his eyes and could tell by instinct that Xue Bai was watching the execution up there.

That’s right, this is a move to win people’s hearts, how could Xue Bai not come in person.

Looking around again, Dou Wenyang discovered that his followers had also been brought here, including Wang Shoucheng, Yang Zigong...all of them were powerful figures who once held important positions around Li Cong. It seemed that today's execution scene would be quite grand.

Dou Wenyang is not afraid of death. He thinks that the sooner he dies, the sooner he will be reborn. He just hopes that his life will not be so miserable in the next life.

However, listening to the imperial edict that announced his crimes, he was stunned when he heard the words "colluding with the East Palace and raising an army to rebel" at the end.

No matter how Xue Bai slandered him and listed how many heinous crimes he committed, he had expected it, but it was obviously a false accusation against the prince.

"This traitor."

Dou Wenyang cursed and was surprised to find that his mouth was not blocked.

He would definitely not let Xue Bai get what he wanted, so he started shouting and yelling like a madman.

"Xue Ni! God will tell who is loyal and who is treacherous!"

Following these words, Dou Wenyang simply shouted out how Xue Bai had made the emperor uneasy and how he had worked tirelessly to assist the emperor in governing the country.

The people watching behind him couldn't help but burst into booing.

Seeing that someone was supporting him, Dou Wenyang became even more excited. He not only scolded Xue Bai, but also scolded the court officials.

"And you, those damn officials who claim to be noble, are thieves and prostitutes behind the scenes! Apart from peeing while standing, how much more righteous are you than me? I'm talking about you, Liu Xixian. You defected to the traitor Xue and held me hostage in exchange for credit? Have you forgotten the time when you knelt on the ground and licked my boots? Let me tell you, my boots are all covered with my urine, hahahaha..."

Liu Xixian was standing not far ahead.

He was the general who betrayed Dou Wenyang in Fengtian City. He had a handsome appearance, a dignified demeanor and was strong and powerful. Anyone who saw him would praise him as a "great man". However, when Dou Wenyang revealed such an embarrassing side of him, he immediately became furious and wanted to go over to shut his mouth.

However, as soon as Liu Xixian moved, someone stopped him.

It was Zhang Xiaojing, one of the generals of the imperial guards.

"General Liu, don't be impatient. He is about to die, so let him speak freely."

"Yes." Liu Xixian had no choice but to respond with a bitter face.

Dou Wenyang became more and more excited and started cursing them one by one.

"You are all traitors! Wang Jiahe, you are standing there too. As expected, you also signed your name to invite Xue Ni to be the regent. Bah, you are a spineless person! You are a hypocritical old scoundrel. You betrayed me? Do you really think I can't punish you? You have an elegant name, and you are trying to coax the white-faced boy from the Imperial College to use a mallet to poke your stinking fart..."

"Kill him! Kill him!"

Before Dou Wenyang could even utter the word "eye", Wang Jiahe had already jumped up like a madman, pointing at Dou Wenyang and shouting, "Behead this treacherous eunuch! Behead!"

"Hahahahaha."

Dou Wenyang laughed so hard that tears were about to come out, and his originally shrill voice became hoarse.

But his interest was even higher, his whole face flushed with excitement, and he cursed the officials more and more wildly.

Everyone calls him a treacherous eunuch, but they forget that nothing can be accomplished by relying solely on the words of a eunuch. A treacherous eunuch must also build up power before he can achieve anything.

After all, he only distributed the power given to him by the saint to his cronies. The ones who really did evil and oppressed the people were not these civil servants who kept saying "get rid of the corrupt eunuchs".
They ganged up on the dissidents and exploited the people. They did the same thing, were equally selfish. But just because he didn't have that evil root, he should be criticized instead?
The only thing he had less of than them was the crime of robbing women.

Some people take advantage of his lack of eloquence and want to throw all the dirty water on him. But they are wrong. Today, his lips and teeth are as sharp as knives, and he will peel off the faces of all the bureaucrats.

Dou Wenyang kept cursing and cursing until he was finally so hoarse that he could hardly utter a single word.

He was actually incontinent, and his crotch was wet.

But he doesn't care. Isn't this another kind of courage?
"A bunch of Confucian scholars!"

"It is because of cowards like you that the emperor is bullied by powerful officials and eunuchs like me stir up trouble!"

"Although I am disabled, I dare to fight against Xue Ni. What about you? You just grovel and bow down to me."

"You are dressed in brocade robes and look like human beings, but you dare to bully the common people. Even though you have that thing, it is not as good as a eunuch like me! You... are all impotent!"

"Parasitic!"

As soon as these two words came out, it seemed as if they were somehow echoing the curse that Wang Han had shouted back then.

Under the same blue sky, the Suzaku Gate is still the same Suzaku Gate. The civil and military officials in the court have been replaced, but the curses remain.

The two who started cursing, one showed off his high spirits in front of thousands of people, and the other was physically disabled. The only thing they had in common was that they were both very crazy.

"He's crazy! Kill him!"

Many of the court officials were still shouting, angry that a eunuch had humiliated them before his death.

Dou Wenyang was already satisfied. He looked at them with a smile, opened his mouth, and silently uttered the word "痿厥".

He suddenly thought that the highest level of insulting someone is to use that organ to insult someone, and the civil servants who cursed him as a eunuch party and a treacherous official all day long were just like that, which was no different from the vulgar people in the market who cursed people as "impaired".

"I am a eunuch, a slave, I am lowly, how noble are you?! You are noble, you are just born into a famous family..."

"puff."

The executioner finally swung down the knife he had raised.

After many years, Dou Wenyang's head was also chopped off.

Along with it, many other heads were chopped off and rolled down, like golden beads poured out of a bag.

The people watching the execution applauded and continued to shout "Get rid of the treacherous eunuchs", but some felt that it was not enough and wished that those people named by Dou Wenyang would be beheaded as well.

But no matter what, the transfer of power has been completed in this pool of blood.

The eunuch power that Li Cong had worked so hard to cultivate disappeared at this moment, which also meant that his efforts to rule the country personally were in vain and his imperial power fell into the hands of others.

He chose it himself, and it was doomed when he chose to escape many times.

……

Xue Bai stood on the top of the high city wall, watching the headless bodies fall down one after another, as if he was watching the grass on the grassland being cut row by row.

This was not the first time that he had executed powerful eunuchs on such a large scale. The last time, he executed the powerful eunuchs around Li Heng. However, if the problem was not solved from the root, a new group of eunuchs would still interfere in politics.

The emperor must be changed, and Xue Bai intends to do so.

Therefore, he believed that this time the disaster of powerful eunuchs in the Tang Dynasty would come to an end.

(End of this chapter)