Man Tang Huacai

Chapter 581 Catch them all in one fell swoop

If tonight is compared to the Xuanwu Gate Incident, the one who resembles Emperor Taizong is not Xue Bai, but Li Chu.

At least that's what Li Chu thought.

He seemed to be generous, but his character was sinister, good at disguise and scheming. In the past two years, he had been submissive to Xue Bai on the surface, but he was very unwilling in his heart. Tonight, the fire in his heart finally burned, and he wished to burn Xue Bai and the Purple Palace in front of him to ashes.

However, just as the soldiers were about to attack the stone steps and eliminate the rebels in one fell swoop, the sound of orderly footsteps suddenly came from the west.

It turned out that the people from Fanlao had bypassed Guangshun Gate, passed through Jixianyuan, and passed through Zhaoqing Gate, and surrounded Li Chu from the side.

On the surface, Xue Bai went into the palace alone to see Li Longji, and seemed willing to have a good talk. But in fact, he was trying to cover up his true intentions and planned to kill Li Heng and his son first.

The order Fan Lao received was to kill anyone who dared to stop Xue Bai from ascending the throne, and Li Chu was the first to bear the brunt.

"Li Heng committed regicide, his crime is extremely heinous, kill him!"

The shouts echoed within the palace walls, greatly shaking the morale of Li Chu's soldiers, and many of them stopped in their tracks.

A palace coup is not like going to the battlefield to kill enemies for the country. In essence, it is speculation. If you win, you will have a bright future, but the stakes are your own life. Who would not hesitate when making a bet?

Li Chu knew something was wrong when he saw this. His hope of becoming Emperor Taizong was shattered in the blink of an eye.

If he were to fight with military strength, he knew that the men he brought would not be able to defeat Fan Lao's men. So, the only way to survive was to kill Xue Bai first.

"Follow me to kill the enemy!"

Li Chu then ordered some people to resist Fan Lao, and he personally rushed towards Xue Bai with a knife.

Others can risk their lives for their future, but they will not unleash all their potential to help him ascend the throne. At the critical moment, only he can disregard everything, and when he personally takes the lead, can he inspire the already shaky morale.

"kill!"

The platform in front of the Purple Palace has three levels, each with twenty-one steps.

The armor Li Chu was wearing weighed fifty kilograms, and the sword in his hand weighed eighteen kilograms.

He rushed quickly, lifting his thigh high and stepping it down again and again.

This is a road to advancement. The harder and more tiring the climb is, the more it proves that the high position is worth it.

"Hu-hu-"

Li Chu gradually became short of breath and felt that his lungs were about to explode. Sweat flowed like rain over his steaming skin, and the muscles in his legs were so sore that they felt like cramps.

He had already passed two levels of the platform, and there were more than a hundred people fighting in front of him. There were only about thirty people left around Xue Bai, and there were more than a hundred people attacking with him.

"kill!"

Li Chu roared with all his remaining strength, and finally, he and Xue Bai were only a few steps apart.

He rushed forward impatiently, swung his sword and slashed at Xue Bai.

The knife was blocked by the soldiers around Xue Bai.

Li Chu felt a sharp pain in his palms. He was too tired and the blood could not reach his forehead. He suddenly felt a black screen in front of his eyes and almost fainted.

He almost fell down the stairs, and quickly steadied himself, telling himself that now was not the time to faint.

At this time, Xue Bai had already swung his sword at his face, but fortunately a guard stopped him for Li Chu.

"Follow Prince Yu to quell the rebellion!"

The fight between the generals and soldiers around gave Li Chu a few opportunities to catch his breath. He took a few deep breaths and the scene in front of him became a little clearer. There was blood splattered everywhere.

Xue Bai had already retreated a few steps, deliberately keeping a distance from the soldiers next to him, with a stern face, as if he was deliberately giving Li Chu a chance to kill him.

Li Chu did not hesitate and rushed over directly. Xue Bai retreated again and reached the high threshold of the Purple Palace. Li Chu chased him again, roaring and brandishing his sword.

"puff."

Xue Bai slashed Li Chu's face with a sharp knife, directly cutting through his high nose bridge and cutting off half of his nose. It was only because the blade was blocked by the helmet that it did not cut in completely.

It was a severe pain, but the strange thing was that although Li Chu felt pain, he had no time to feel it. The excitement and anger in his brain made his wounds seem to be paralyzed. He even forgot about his tiredness and was only focused on fighting back.

The two men slashed at each other several times, not caring about the splattering blood.

Finally, Li Chu grabbed Xue Bai's knife-holding hand with one hand, closed the distance between them, and slashed at Xue Bai's armor three times in a row.

Unfortunately, Xue Bai had more experience in battle than him. Once he was entangled, he cut with his knife into the gap in Li Chu's armor at his elbow and cut a piece of flesh from his bone.

"Go to hell!"

Li Chu roared, spit and blood splattered all over Xue Bai's face.

He finally pressed the knife against Xue Bai's collarbone and pushed down with all his might.

The two men stared at each other, their eyes filled with a life-and-death ruthlessness, with no memory of the gentleness and politeness they had when they first met.

Li Chu's veins bulged. He was actually almost exhausted. With the determination to fight to the death, he burst out with his last bit of strength.

He seemed to see that after this knife was cut, he would stand on this high platform and govern a prosperous and glorious era.

However, when Li Chu tried his best to hold the knife with both hands, Xue Bai only used one hand to block the knife, and took out a dagger from his waist with the other hand.

"puff."

"puff."

"puff."

The dagger stabbed Li Chu mercilessly again and again.

Xue Bai was very calm and said nothing, feeling the warm blood flowing on his hand, from his wrist to his elbow, feeling the young life slipping away.

He killed him, but he will also carry his ambitions and wishes.

Every time he killed someone and continued to live, the burden he carried became heavier. But he had already made up his mind long ago and could face these things calmly and fearlessly.

Therefore, each stab was fierce and clean.

"I……"

Li Chu finally ran out of strength and let go of his hands, with big hot tears falling from his eyes. He was really unwilling to give in.

"I... am... "

Blood kept gushing out from all his wounds, taking away his last bit of strength to speak.

He was just focused on the fight, and he actually had a lot to say to Xue Bai, but now he couldn't even utter the last sentence completely.

"Heaven...fate..."

Xue Bai pushed Li Chu's body away indifferently, allowing the heavy armor to hit the gold brick with a loud bang.

Li Chu in the armor completely lost his life after being hit.

Xue Bai threw away the knife stuck in his shoulder armor, looked at the body on the ground, and said, "I don't believe in fate."

~~
Li Heng squinted his eyes and looked at the platform, trying hard to see clearly what was happening against the towering silhouette of the Purple Palace.

Zhang Ting walked up to him and asked, "Why did Li Chu kill Li Tan? He knew that Li Tan was my brother-in-law and was helping you..."

"It doesn't matter now." Li Heng said, "You want to be the queen, he wants to be the crown prince, but the prerequisite is that I have to be the emperor! I don't care how you fight, I only care who can help me to the throne."

He didn't even turn his head while speaking, his eyes still fixed straight ahead.

In fact, he also knew that the situation was not good for him now. Fan Lao and his imperial guards had already arrived and would soon be able to control the situation. By then, the soldiers who were still protecting him would most likely surrender or even defect.

Given Li Heng's noble status, he could have escaped if he didn't want to be caught and humiliated.

But Li Chu was fighting desperately, and if Li Heng escaped, the situation would quickly collapse. He did not want to miss the throne that was within his grasp because of himself. As long as Li Chu could emulate Taizong, he could not be worse than Emperor Gaozu.

After a while, Zhang Ting heard the shouts coming from the platform and couldn't help saying, "It's not good."

Li Heng couldn't help but shudder and took two steps back.

Zhang Ting thought he was going to escape, but soon he stopped.

"We can't leave. We only have this one chance."

After tonight, with Xue Bai's strength, he can mobilize troops from all over the country, and Li Longji has already contacted Dazha Lugong, and there are still some troops loyal to him. On the other hand, if Li Heng fails now, he will surely die.

As he thought about this, a thin layer of sweat soon formed on his forehead.

Zhang Ting was not like Li Heng who had no way out. Seeing those ferocious soldiers approaching, she planned to escape. But then, she heard Li Heng's instructions to his generals.

"Don't panic, I have already made arrangements, our veterans will be here soon."

~~
After Li Longji escaped from the Purple Palace, he looked back and saw that apart from Gao Lishi, there were only a few guards following him.

According to common sense, he should have fled to the west, passed through the right Yintai Gate to take shelter in the Western Inner Courtyard, and then went to the Taiji Palace, where there was a troop of soldiers he had already subdued.

But he said, "Go east, to Qingsi Palace."

He was experienced in escaping, so he was quite calm at this moment. He looked back and saw no one chasing him. He said, "Li Qian must have guessed that I would go to Taiji Palace and made arrangements in advance, so he didn't catch up with him."

Gao Lishi said anxiously, "But there is nothing in Qingsi Palace. How can we guarantee Sanlang's safety?"

"Don't worry." Li Longji said, "Wait for those rebellious sons and grandsons to kill each other, and then it won't be too late for me to clean up the mess."

The group was still walking hurriedly while talking, and soon they bypassed Yiwei Palace and entered a rather deserted place.

The Daming Palace covers a vast area and the buildings are similar, so it is easy to get lost. Relying on their familiarity with the terrain, they quickly escaped from the fighting in the Purple Palace.

Li Longji also took time to rest for a while and changed into a pair of boots.

Gao Lishi took advantage of this opportunity to lead his men to explore the way forward, then came back and helped Li Longji walk slowly forward.

"Tonight, I am reminded of the first year of Tanglong, when you and I also secretly went to the Imperial Palace to persuade Zhong Shaojing to surrender." Li Longji said, "Looking back, it's been almost fifty years, right?"

"The situation Sanlang faced at that time was much more dangerous than it is now," said Gao Lishi.

Li Longji did not agree with this statement, shook his head and said: "Li Qian's scheming is incomparable to Li Guo'er."

He looked at the moon in the sky and said with emotion: "In my life, I have been gifted by God, and I have both literary and martial virtues. However, I have suffered setbacks repeatedly in recent years. In the past two years, I have often wondered why this happened. Recently, I finally got enlightened."

Gao Lishi's eyes flashed, and he asked, "What did Sanlang say?"

"Master Xuan Jing once said that if one wants to achieve immortality, one must temper this mortal body and reshape the muscles and bones. These are all my experiences, and I feel like I am about to see the key."

Gao Lishi remained silent.

Li Longji continued: "Do you remember that on Chencang Mountain, I was led by a divine chicken when I was in danger. That was God's will, helping me to practice. I have a premonition that the next auspicious sign will come soon..."

Before he finished speaking, a shadowy figure appeared in front of him.

Li Longji couldn't help but smile when he saw it, and said, "It's just as I expected."

He could already see that they were dozens of armored soldiers.

Then, with his status and momentum, he could easily subdue these people.

This is what he just said about the favor from heaven.

"Who's in front?" Neither side had a torch. When the other party saw someone coming towards them, he immediately shouted.

"You are lucky." Li Longji said calmly with his hands behind his back, "Tonight, you have picked up a great future."

However, the other party was not as disciplined as the other imperial guards. After hearing his voice, they said directly: "Surround them!"

Li Longji remained calm and scanned the other party with his majestic eyes, trying to intimidate the other party with his aura.

"Do you know who I am?!"

In this Daming Palace, there is obviously no one else who has such momentum and calls himself "I".

"of course I know!"

"We want to arrest you, the tyrant who indulges treacherous officials and imposes heavy taxes!"

"We fought for our country, but the tyrant emperor allowed Wang Yu to drive our family to death and even killed General Huangfu. How could we not rebel?!"

Hearing the long-lost name, Li Longji was stunned for a moment.

They had already experienced the An-Shi Rebellion and a series of coups d'état, but who would have thought that the old case had not been forgotten.

"go!"

Li Longji felt someone push hard on his back and staggered two steps. He was actually being driven like a sheep or a dog back to the Purple Palace. He could not help but be angry at the rudeness of these people.

What he didn't know was that in the eyes of these old soldiers, this was already a very respectful treatment.

~~
"Stop it all!"

In front of the Zichen Palace, the fighting was raging and many people did not notice that the first ray of sunlight had shone on the roof at some point.

Suddenly, more frequent footsteps came from all directions. Someone was leading the main forces of the North Court and the South Court to surround this place.

Because Zhang Ting believed Li Heng's so-called arrangement, he did not have time to escape. When he turned around, he saw Guo Qianli being carried over by the soldiers.

Guo Qianli had just experienced an assassination attempt not long ago, and his face was still very pale, but his prestige in the army was still there. As soon as he appeared, the two sides who were fighting stopped.

The sky quickly brightened, and everyone woke up as if from a dream, looking blankly at the corpses on the ground.

Li Heng's face turned pale. He looked up again, but he didn't see Li Chu's flag or the old soldiers he had arranged. He was very disappointed. He knew he had lost and felt like he had lost his soul.

Fan Lao had already led his troops to attack Li Heng, but was unfortunately stopped by Guo Qianli.

"General, what do you mean?" Fan Lao said, "Prince Zhong murdered the king, which is a heinous crime."

"It's a serious crime, how can you punish them privately?" Guo Qianli said weakly. He waved his hand feebly and ordered, "Bring them into the palace and talk."

"Here."

Jinwu General Zhang Xiaojing then stepped forward, but did not touch Li Heng. He just raised his hand and said, "Prince Zhong, please."

This was a signal for Li Heng to enter the Purple Palace.

Zhang Ting felt very strange. Why didn't Xue Bai let Fan Lao kill Li Heng with one knife, but specially sent Guo Qianli who was still recovering from his injuries to calm the situation?
Did something unexpected happen?

She lowered her head, hoping not to attract other people's attention, but unfortunately, all of Li Heng's confidants present, including her, were taken to the Zichen Palace.

As for the soldiers, they were left under the platform awaiting orders.

Li Heng climbed the stone steps step by step, with blood dripping down from each step. When he stood in front of the Purple Palace, he saw Li Chu's body lying there, and he couldn't help but feel grief.

He had received a lot of support in his life, including Wei Jian, Huangfu Weiming, Du Youlin, Wang Zhongsi, Li Tan, Li Chu... These people had held great power or commanded large troops. Unfortunately, most of them were abandoned by him, leaving Li Chu alone.

Li Heng really wanted to lie down beside Li Chu's body and cry, but he still wanted to live.

So he didn't dare to stop, stepped over the high threshold and entered the hall.

Xue Bai was covered in blood and was sitting on the imperial steps bandaging his wounds. He glanced at him nonchalantly.

"You win." Li Heng whispered, "I give up."

He walked a few steps dejectedly, then fell to the ground dejectedly and said no more.

Seeing this, Zhang Ting sobbed silently and knelt behind Li Heng.

Afterwards, more people entered the palace, and more people were driven into the palace, all waiting for Xue Bai to declare victory, end this palace coup, and from then on a new emperor would emerge covered in blood.

"Li Heng."

Xue Bai finally spoke, "You killed the saint..."

"I don't!"

Li Heng suddenly reacted.

He was just wondering why Xue Bai didn't have anyone kill him on the battlefield. He thought he wanted to save his life, but he didn't expect it was to punish him.

If he couldn't survive, he would just fight with Xue Bai.

Then, Li Heng stood up suddenly and shouted: "I have never committed regicide. When the saint passed away, you imprisoned me in the Ten Kings' House! You are the traitor who committed regicide!"

"Oh!"

Xue Bai threw his helmet to the ground with a dull sound.

"I am the crown prince! Why am I rebelling?!"

Everyone in the hall was shocked and fell silent.

Xue Bai said: "Before I led the troops to the battle, the saint had just shown signs of improvement. Why did he abandon the people and die as soon as I left? With the state affairs in such a state, could he bear to leave?! If you hadn't killed him, why were you in the palace that night?!"

Li Heng's lips trembled so badly that he couldn't speak.

When Li Cong died, Xue Bai was not even in Chang'an City. Li Heng had no way to pin the crime of regicide on Xue Bai. He unexpectedly discovered that although Xue Bai had done so many heinous things, he still lost to Xue Bai in terms of righteousness.

It is no longer clear whether Xue Bai is Li Qian.

"You...you...you are having an affair with Concubine Yang!"

Li Heng pointed this out angrily. Before he finished speaking, someone suddenly shouted from the back of the hall, "The Emperor has arrived!"

He was just about to deny Xue Bai in the name of Li Longji, but he didn't expect that Xue Bai had already caught Li Longji. He was very disappointed, knowing that it was useless to argue any further, and he felt hopeless.

But just when he was at his wit's end, Li Heng looked up and suddenly felt that there was a turning point.

He saw that Li Longji was followed by dozens of armored guards.

The scene was actually a bit strange. How could the emperor enter the palace with soldiers following closely behind him?
When others saw this, they would obviously think that Xue Bai had sent someone to bring Li Longji back.

I guess even Xue Bai himself thinks so.

But only Li Heng knew that those soldiers were not Xue Bai's men, but old soldiers from Longyou arranged by him.

In an instant, his thoughts went back to the Lantern Festival in the fifth year of Tianbao.

That night, Chang'an City was celebrating the Lantern Festival, with bright lights and a bustling atmosphere. He secretly met Wei Jian at Jinglong Temple.

"Huangfu Weiming sent veteran soldiers from Longyou to Beijing in batches. I also hid the armor and weapons in Guangyuntan under the pretext of opening up the canal. Everything is ready, and great things can be expected."

"Will Father not notice?"

"The Saint has long been suspicious of Your Highness. Now that things have come to this, Your Highness cannot hesitate. Don't forget the lesson of the Three Commoners."

At that time, Wei Jian advised Li Heng to be resolute and not to be like Li Ying, who entered the palace in armor but still did not follow through.

Unfortunately, that same night, Li Linfu reported that Wei Jian was colluding with Huangfu Weiming to rebel.

In a hurry, Wei Jian immediately sent someone to tell Li Heng to start the rebellion. Li Heng wanted to avoid being caught like Li Ying, who entered the palace in armor, so in order to clear his relationship, he quickly divorced Wei, and indeed won the favor of Li Longji.

This delay lasted for twelve years.

Unexpectedly, the old soldiers, armor and weapons that had been arranged were still there.

They were all old, almost forty years old, their faces were covered with wrinkles, their hair was gray, their armor was covered with green rust, and their weapons were all rusted. But their loyalty and anger were still there. In their eyes was the perseverance that only the old soldiers of Longyou could have.

Li Heng recognized them at a glance.

Although they had dealt with each other countless times in the past twelve years, this was the first time they met. Li Jingzhong, Pei Mian, Li Fuguo, and Cheng Yuanzhen, who were responsible for contacting them, had all died one after another, but the bond had not been broken.

His eyes felt sore and he couldn't help but shed tears.

"I'm sorry. I was too indecisive and hesitant, which led to the death of all those loyal ministers and generals, and caused the Tang Dynasty to suffer a catastrophe."

All the old soldiers looked at Li Heng in unison.

This small action touched Li Heng and gave him strong confidence.

He looked around the hall and found that Xue Bai did not deploy many military forces in the hall. All the soldiers were under the platform. Only some officials and generals were present. The most powerful force was the dozens of old soldiers.

Then, with just one order from him, he could get rid of Xue Bai and Li Longji and become the most qualified person to ascend the throne.

A piece of chess left behind twelve years ago has become the key to today's fight for the world.

Destiny!
Li Heng suddenly felt proud and shouted, "Father! Have you forgotten that this evil creature had an affair with your concubine, corrupted human ethics, was disobedient and unfilial, and deserved to be put to death?!"

After hearing this, Li Longji's face changed.

"Li Heng." Xue Bai was still sitting there bandaging his wound. He turned around and was extremely surprised. He shouted, "How dare you hold the emperor hostage?!"

"kill him!"

Li Heng pointed at Xue Bai, and an old soldier immediately rushed towards Xue Bai with a knife. At the same time, Li Heng quickly ran towards the old soldiers, seeking their protection.

There was chaos in the palace.

"clang."

In an instant, an old soldier swung his sword and hit Xue Bai's armor. Xue Bai quickly rolled on the ground to avoid it.

At this time, Xue Bai shouted: "Save the emperor!"

"Beast!"

Li Longji cursed Li Heng.

But at a certain moment, Li Longji suddenly realized something, so he looked at Xue Bai and cursed again.

"Beast!"

"Father." Li Heng held Li Longji and whispered, "We must get rid of him first to protect the ancestral temple and the country."

There was a hint of complacency in his smile, and he even wanted to tell Li Longji that he had indeed wanted to rebel with Wei Jian back then.

Li Longji's eyes were filled with anger, and he cursed: "Rebellious son! You..."

"puff."

Suddenly, there was a slight sound, which was the sound of a knife piercing flesh.

(End of this chapter)