Man Tang Huacai

Chapter 575 Military Power and Name

Accompanying Du Wulang to Jingzhao Prefecture was Quanfu, the son of the Du family's steward.

It is said that a third-rank official is the prime minister's doorman. He is now considered prominent, but Du Youlin is a cautious person and is very restrained with his servants. He does not dare to act arrogantly outside and usually likes to chat and brag with others.

Today, Du Wulang was doing business in the government office, while Quanfu was sitting in the front yard surrounded by a group of yamen runners, talking about the time when he was saved by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.

"I can't tell you the details, but I was almost beaten to death by Ji Wen's men. Fortunately, Your Highness rescued me."

The yamen runners were very supportive, and one said, "Those who survive a great disaster will surely have good fortune in the future. Seeing how successful Manager Quan is now, who in Jingzhao Prefecture would dare to touch Manager Quan?"

As they were talking, Wu Cou, the legal officer of Jingzhao Prefecture, came out. Facing Quanfu, his attitude was very kind and amiable.

"Manager Quan, please excuse me for a moment. The assassination of General Guo is a matter of great importance. Wu Lang is meeting with the governor of the capital, and he has something to tell you."

Quanfu also knew that this was a big deal, and he quickly said, "Mr. Wu, thank you for your courtesy. If you have anything to say, just tell me."

The two walked to the corridor, and heard Wu Cou say, "Wu Lang is very worried about the safety of a person, let's send her to the palace."

"Who?"

Wu Cou said: "General Guo was assassinated in the East Market Theater. The assassin was related to the Jiaofang. The person we want to protect is also related to the Jiaofang."

Quanfu was still puzzled and asked, "Who is that?"

Wu Cou said, "I don't know either. Wu Lang said that you would know once I told you. Send the person to Shaoyang Court to see His Highness. This is the token he gave me."

He took out the jade pendant that Du Wulang always wore, lowered his voice, and said, "This matter is very important to Your Highness, but Your Highness cannot send someone directly to pick it up. So you asked me to ask Wulang."

Quanfu suddenly realized what was going on and said, "So Wu Facao is your Highness's man. I understand. Please ask Wu Facao to follow me."

Over there, Wu Cou had already arranged many of his confidants, and they immediately followed Quanfu and headed towards the southeast corner of the city.

We drove all the way to the vicinity of Qujiang Lake, entered Quchifang, and stopped in front of a big house.

"It's right here." Quanfu finally stopped.

Wu Cou signaled to the yamen runners behind him with his eyes, and then said to Quanfu: "Please ask her to come out and enter the palace now."

Quanfu then went forward and knocked on the door. After a while, an old servant opened the door and said, "It's Manager Quan."

"Wu Lang asked me to bring my wife to see His Highness."

"please."

When everyone entered, they saw that the courtyard was full of flowers and trees, the steps were covered with fragrant grass, and the pavilions and towers were scattered in an orderly manner, which was very charming. Walking around the corridor, they could faintly hear the sound of silk music coming from the inner courtyard.

Just by looking at the residence, it seems that you can tell that the person living here must be a beauty.

Finally, they stopped in front of a small pavilion.

"I'll go ask my wife to come down."

Wu Cou was a little surprised to see things going so smoothly, but also felt nervous, his eyes fixed on the attic door.

He came here today to find Yang Yuhuan. As long as he could find her, it would play an important role in the major events that would follow.

Although there is no evidence, it can be inferred from various signs that Xue Bai must have hidden Yang Yuhuan.

The wind seemed to carry fragrance. A beautiful woman in a gauze skirt and a horse-like bun slowly walked down from the pavilion. She was very beautiful, with smooth and fair skin and a plump figure.

"Let's go." The beautiful woman said lightly.

Wu Cou did not move. After a moment of silence, he asked, "Who are you?"

"Since you have been ordered to take me away, why do you ask about my identity?"

For a moment, a trace of anger flashed across Wu Cou's eyes. He looked at Quanfu and said, "Are you sure this is the person Wu Lang wants us to send away?"

Quanfu had hidden behind the old servant and did not answer.

The beautiful woman laughed like a silver bell and said, "If it's not me, then who is it?"

Wu Cou said, "Today, a major assassination occurred in Chang'an City. Wu Lang asked me to protect Madam Yang."

The beautiful woman asked leisurely, "Then how do you know I'm not Madam Yang? Am I not beautiful enough?"

"excuse me."

Wu Cou was impatient with being teased by this beautiful woman, so he waved his hand and ordered the yamen runners to search the courtyard.

But before they could take any action, guards came out one after another and surrounded them.

Seeing Wu Cou panic, the beautiful woman's smile deepened and she asked, "Don't you know who I am?"

"You are not the second wife of the Du family."

"Who said that only Du Erniang can stand up for Du Wulang? My surname is Da Xi."

Wu Cou's color suddenly changed. He was an official in Chang'an, so of course he had heard of Da Xi Yingying's name.

He looked at Quanfu again, his eyes full of shock, thinking to himself that he had not been able to deceive this little servant from the very beginning, and instead fell into the other party's trap.

The original intention was to find Yang Yuhuan quietly, but now it has alerted the enemy.

"Madam Da Xi, today General Guo Qianli was assassinated, I..."

"You can tell at a glance that I'm not Madam Yang. Have you seen her?"

"I have indeed met Lady Guo." Wu Cou said, "I am only following orders to investigate the case. Sorry for disturbing you. Bye.

After saying this, he bowed hastily and hurriedly retreated.

Da Xi Yingying did not stop him, but sent someone to pick up Du Wulang, and at the same time sent someone into the palace to report the matter to Xue Bai.

~~
Du Wulang only stayed in Jingzhao Prefecture for half a day before leaving, without even entering the cell.

But when he left Jingzhao Prefecture, he did not praise Quanfu for his cleverness, but said, "You are so smart."

"I saw that Wu Chou had detained Wu Lang, so I had no choice but to ask Madam Da Xi for help."

"You do not understand."

Du Wulang sighed, and with a sad face went into the palace to see Xue Bai.

As soon as he entered Shaoyang Courtyard, he saw Du Jin standing there with a frosty face.

"Second sister."

"You are so capable now that you dare to buy houses and hide beauties for His Highness without my knowledge. You are so ambitious. What do you want to be? A broker?"

"Second sister, please don't speak so harshly." Du Wulang said: "Besides, this matter is just a misunderstanding. Those people broke into Da Xi Yingying's private residence..."

Du Jin said, "If they were not absolutely sure that you were helping His Highness hide people, would they dare to touch you?"

"They wronged me, did my second sister also wrong me?"

"How dare you hide it from me? If this incident causes His Highness to fail, do you deserve it?"

Du Wulang didn't dare to retort. He lowered his head and scratched his face, then followed Du Jin into the hall and met Xue Bai.

The atmosphere was a bit awkward, mainly because Du Jin looked unhappy.

Du Wulang glanced at Xue Bai stealthily, wanting to know what sweet words he had to make things right.

But when Xue Bai opened his mouth, he did not mention Yang Yuhuan, but said: "Tian Shengong sent people to appeal for justice, claiming that he did not burn, kill, rob or kidnap. In addition, he did not hand over Zhang Ting and her son."

When Zhang Ting was mentioned, Du Jin felt that she had not done a good job, and her expression became less cold. She said, "I have a hunch that Zhang Ting is in Tian Shengong's camp."

"There's no evidence yet."

"Since Tian Shengong didn't come to see you in person, it's possible that he has betrayed you."

This was Du Jin's intuition, but the matter had not been confirmed yet and it was difficult to investigate.

Du Wulang said: "I have been to his camp. There is nothing wrong with Tian Shengong's attitude, but it is a bit strange. I did not see Tian Shenyu from beginning to end. Also, his personal soldiers are a bit domineering, it is really hard to say."

Xue Bai then said, "Let's talk about Wu Cou."

"In fact, he just scared me a little, but he didn't really make things difficult for me." Du Wulang said, "But, Prince Zhong's Mansion really reported the disappearance of Zhang Ting and her son to Jingzhao Prefecture. I'm afraid this matter will eventually be traced back to my second sister."

Du Jin's expression, which had just eased, turned grim again, and she said, "Wu Cou is Li Chu's uncle. Now that he dares to jump out, it's time to get rid of him."

Li Chu's biological mother, Wu, was imprisoned in the imperial palace because of her father's crime. Later, she was sent to Li Heng, but she died after giving birth to a child. She was only eighteen years old and has never been given a title. Therefore, the status of the Wu family has always been low.

After Li Cong ascended the throne, Wu Cou was dismissed from office, but he had always been cautious and was not close to Prince Zhong's family. Later, he bribed Dou Wenyang and got an official position as Jingzhao Facao.

He was careful in his work and seldom made mistakes, so when Xue Bai became regent, he was not dismissed.

When the imperial court was destroying Buddhism before, Li Chu was ready to make a move, but Wu Cou did not take any action. However, this time he suddenly stood up and openly challenged the Eastern Palace forces. Xue Bai could indeed get rid of him with just one imperial edict.

"He did it on purpose."

"on purpose?"

"Wu Cou did two things today. One was to find out that the Du family had taken Zhang Ting and her son away. The other was to find Yang Yuhuan while tracking down Zhang Ting. He was destined to fail in these two things. Not to mention that he couldn't find Yang Yuhuan, even if he did, he didn't have the strength to take her away. So why did Wu Cou do this? He didn't want the result, but to make the matter bigger."

Du Jin said, "He wants people to think that we are targeting Li Heng's wife and children, and to spread the news of your affair with Yang Yuhuan. Even if you get rid of him now, the court officials will have a reason to oppose your succession to the throne?"

"Well, there are only two things to fight for power. One is military power, and the other is reputation."

"What are we going to do?"

"Use force to defeat cleverness."

~~
When Wu Cou returned home, the first thing he did was to grind ink, spread paper, and write his suicide note.

He detailed his recent experience in office. First, he encountered the Zhongwang Mansion sending people to report the case. The dignified prince cried and complained that he couldn't even protect his wife and children. Wu Cou didn't think too much, no matter what kind of power struggle was involved behind this matter, he just fulfilled his duty as an official and tried to investigate and search. He learned that it was the Du family who sent people to take away the orphans and widows of Zhongwang Mansion. In the process of investigating, Wu Cou also encountered the hidden Yang Guifei, uncovering a scandal that shocked the world...

Now, he knew that his life was over and he would soon be murdered, so he left a suicide note to prevent the truth from being buried.

After writing his suicide note, Wu Cou took his time bathing, dressed neatly, and sat in the main hall waiting.

He was waiting for the imperial court to issue an edict to dismiss him from his official position or even punish him, which would lead to a major case.

But we waited from the afternoon until dark, and the door remained motionless, and no one came.

Only the maidservant came over and asked, "Ah Lang, do you want to eat?"

"Is the kitchen cooking?"

"No."

Wu Cou said: "Let the kitchen cook as usual."

Afterwards, Wu Cou waved towards the darkness in the yard, and a guard came to him.

He handed over the suicide note and said, "I have done everything I could."

"But you didn't find Yang Guifei."

"Is it important?" Wu Cou asked, "What's the difference?"

"You also failed to anger the East Palace."

"It doesn't matter anymore." Wu Cou said, "No matter what he does, nothing can stop what is going to happen."

"I understand."

The guard took the suicide note and walked around behind Wu Cou.

"puff."

A dagger stabbed into Wu Cou's back and came out from his chest.

Blood was splattered all over the ground. Wu Cou, who was sitting there, lowered his head and no longer had any life.

~~
Daming Palace, Xuanzheng Hall.

Fan Lao received the imperial edict and said in a weak voice: "Your Highness, I am afraid I cannot take on this important task."

The reason for this was that the imperial edict in his hand was that Xue Bai appointed him as the general of the Shenwu Army, and temporarily replaced Guo Qianli as the commander of the imperial guards.

Compared to the famous generals fighting in various places on the border of the Tang Dynasty, he is indeed of a dim reputation, of humble origin, and has no experience in commanding large battlefields. He used to be just a smuggler selling pig iron, and was able to leap because he surrendered to Xue Bai early.

Leading the imperial guards and guarding the palace was a huge responsibility for him, especially in the current situation.

"Do you know why I use you?" Xue Bai asked.

Fan Lao was honest and said, "Because the war with Tubo is very urgent, I am the only one still in Chang'an."

"Because I trust you, and you come from a humble background, and you are ruthless enough to kill people."

After hearing the latter sentence, Fan Lao was stunned for a moment, but there was a little more confidence in his eyes. At least he knew where to put his strength.

"I am willing to die for Your Highness, but I am afraid that even if I die, I will still delay Your Highness' important affairs."

Xue Bai said: "This time we are not marching and fighting, it's just killing people. You can do it."

Fan Lao was worried about many things. He was afraid that he could not control the imperial guards. He also did not know whether he could tell who should be killed. He waited obediently for Xue Bai's further instructions.

"The saint is about to die."

Xue Bai said this, which showed his trust in Fan Lao, and then he said, "By then, there will be people who will not accept my ascending the throne. What you need to do is very simple. Kill anyone who dares to oppose you... until there is no one who opposes you."

"Here!"

After giving proper instructions, Fan Lao left the Xuan Zheng Hall, but Xue Bai did not deal with the official documents as usual.

He sensed the conflict was imminent.

In the past few days, Li Cong looked increasingly decadent, as if he might die at any time; the news of Wu Cou's death had spread, and there was much discussion in the city; in Sichuan, Li Guangbi's memorial also arrived, confirming that Tian Shengong had robbed the people, and the court officials submitted petitions one after another, demanding that Tian Shengong be severely punished.

Xue Bai planned to follow their wishes and remove Tian Shengong's military power.

This move might force Tian Shengong to rebel. Xue Bai was waiting for Lao Liang and Jiang Hai to lead their troops to Chang'an to control the situation.

He wanted to ascend the throne and become emperor, and now he was only one step away from this goal.

Since becoming regent, Xue Bai was not satisfied with his achievements, but he also boasted that he had brought some good changes to the Tang Dynasty. Compared with the original history, he made the country and the people less turbulent.

But recently, he has also realized one thing - this kind of good change is unknown to the world.

Officials and common people had previously praised his wisdom and had high expectations of him, hoping that the prosperous times would soon be restored. However, people were unable to see the long-standing problems facing the Tang Dynasty, with its poor people's livelihood and an empty treasury. They also did not necessarily understand why he advocated frugality.

It has to be admitted that the past year of poverty, coupled with the constant war in the northwest, has eroded most people's confidence in Xue Bai. They were unaware of the changes he had brought about, and were only disappointed that he had not done better.

Nowadays, this kind of sentiment is bound to be spreading, both in the officialdom and among the people. People around Xue Bai never tell him this, but he knows it.

It can be seen from Wu Cou’s death that people were talking about the suicide note and dissatisfaction with the Eastern Palace was brewing rapidly.

It was as if dark clouds were gradually gathering, the weather was becoming more and more oppressive, and a storm was about to come.

Just wait for Li Cong to die.

At this time, one wave of troubles arose when Li Yan, Li Shen, Li Qu, Li Yiniang and others entered the palace at the same time, asking to see Li Cong and begging to serve Li Cong.

Li Cong was going to die naturally, and if there hadn't been all these conspiracies, Xue Bai would have wanted to let the officials and nobles witness it. Now that they were serving Li Cong, Xue Bai wouldn't be able to block the news and get ahead of them.

But at this time, if he prevented others from seeing Li Cong, there would inevitably be many rumors accusing him of murdering Li Cong.

Weighing the pros and cons of two evils, Xue Bai agreed to the matter.

At the same time, another major incident was finally revealed.

That day, Yan Quanming hurriedly asked for an audience and reported: "Your Highness, I have found out that the person who secretly contacted Dazha Lugong must be Guangwu Prince Li Chenghong."

Xue Bai frowned.

He clearly remembered that day when he met Li Chenghong by chance in Furong Garden. Thinking that he had changed history, he asked Li Chenghong to entertain the Tubo envoys, and Li Chenghong did a good job.

"Sure?"

"At that time, Li Chenghong was in charge of receiving the Tibetan envoys who came to Chang'an. I started investigating him, but I didn't suspect him at first. As a result, I found that he always met with the Tibetan Zamp family openly, but met with Dazha Lugong's confidants secretly. My uncle has all these people in mind and has made a list, so there is no way he is wrong. Continuing to investigate, I found that Li Chenghong often asked Li Xian for information and passed it to Tibet through tea vendors and monks."

"Why did he do that?"

Yan Quanming was very reliable and said, "I have brought the person here. Your Highness, would you like to ask him in person?"

"Bring him here."

After a while, Li Chenghong came in timidly, shrinking his neck. When he saw Xue Bai, he showed a look of fear, prostrated himself on the ground, and said, "Your Highness, I don't want to do that either!"

Yan Quanming said: "I thought that Prince Guangwu was a very bold man who dared to be a traitor."

"No, I really didn't. I didn't want to be a traitor." Li Chenghong was straightforward and confessed directly, saying, "At that time, the envoy of Dazhalugong suddenly said that he heard that the emperor of the Tang Dynasty was controlled by others, and Tubo was willing to send troops to help the saint... When I heard it, I was scared! I was going to tell your Highness about this, but Li Qiwu stopped me and didn't let me say it, which made me make a big mistake. But I actually support your Highness!"

Obviously, it is impossible for these royal family members to be loyal to Xue Bai.

That is, they obeyed Xue Bai when he was strong. Whenever Xue Bai showed a flaw, or someone else threw out a bait that could be used to deal with Xue Bai, they would take the bait without thinking.

Time and again, it only showed that they were not of one mind, and Xue Bai gradually became impatient.

Li Chenghong continued, "Li Qiwu had ulterior motives. He threatened me not to report this to His Highness, and said that he would ask the Saint for his opinion. I...I was threatened with my life, and finally I had no choice but to board the pirate ship. He said that the Saint was willing to borrow troops from Tubo, and asked me to agree to Dazha Lugong's conditions, let the Tubo people send troops to help, and agree on rewards and marriage, so that Dazha Lugong could use this merit to become the regent of Tubo."

As he confessed, he became more and more afraid. Feeling Xue Bai's murderous intent, his voice became more and more trembling, and gradually he even cried.

Xue Bai became calmer and calmer, and asked, "Is he really a saint?"

"Yes, Li Qiwu said he was a saint." Li Chenghong said, "Your Highness, I know clearly that I didn't do anything. It was Li Qiwu who did it all in my name. Later, he contacted Dazha Lugong's people."

Xue Bai looked at Yan Quanming and asked, "Where is Li Qiwu?"

"As soon as I found out about this, I sent people to arrest him." Yan Quanming said, "But Li Qiwu fled to Tibet yesterday. I am still investigating how he escaped."

Xue Bai then ordered: "Check what information they have passed to Tubo, and order them to impose martial law in Chang'an and search for Li Qiwu."

"Yes."

As soon as this happened, they realized that something was wrong.

The royal family was not that difficult to deal with. Their seemingly colorful moves were nothing more than instigating Tian Shengong to rebel and then throwing dirty water on Xue Bai. Xue Bai had the confidence to suppress them even though he had exhausted all his troops and was in great difficulty.

But if the royal family joins forces with the Tibetan troops, things will suddenly become much more difficult.

Sure enough, within a few days, urgent news came from the west.

Due to the leakage of military intelligence, Qin and Long suffered a great defeat on the battlefield. Dazha Lugong launched a surprise attack and besieged Guo Ziyi's troops.

In addition, Wang Nandi secretly reported that Pugu Huai'en was colluding with Yidijian of the Uighurs and was frequently in contact with the envoys of Dazhalugong. There was a fear that they might form an alliance and the Qin-Long defense line was about to collapse, so he asked the court to temporarily avoid the Eastern Capital.

The news was vague and Xue Bai had no idea of ​​the specific situation on the front line, so it was naturally difficult for him to make a judgment.

I guess even Wang Nandi, who was on the battlefield, couldn't fully understand what was going on.

All Xue Bai can do for the time being is to block the news and transfer as many troops as possible to support Qin Long.

However, it was obvious that someone was fanning the flames. By the time the urgent report reached Xue Bai, the news that "the Tibetan army has invaded Guanzhong" had already spread throughout Chang'an City, and people were immediately in a panic.

Whoever wanted to stop Xue Bai from ascending the throne has now revealed his true intentions...

(End of this chapter)