The Flourishing Tang Dynasty: Beginning with Marrying Yang Yuhuan

Chapter 241 Longyou's Hospitality to Yang Guozhong

Gao Shi was familiar with Li Heng and was also a close friend of Wang Wei, so they wrote poems and drank wine during the banquet and had a great time.

After three rounds of drinks, Yang Guozhong took the time to go to the toilet.

Seeing Yang Guozhong leave, Gao Shi said, "Your Highness, I have noticed that Yang Zhao has been keeping an eye on you and seems to have some ill intentions."

Li Heng was surprised that Gao Shi had such a keen observation ability and explained, "Yang Zhao works for the Right Prime Minister."

"I see." Gao Shi had always had a bad impression of Li Linfu and Yang Guozhong. Now that he heard that the two were together, he was even more disdainful. After thinking for a while, he said, "Your Highness is devoted to the country and the people, but they are actually targeting Your Highness."

Gao Shi lowered his voice and continued, "Your Highness, would you like me to teach him a lesson?"

Li Heng said: "He is sent by the imperial court. If something happens in Longyou Road, we will not be able to complete the mission."

Gao Shi said meaningfully: "Then we will treat him well."

Li Heng glanced at the accompanying Longyou soldiers led by Ma Lin, nodded, and said, "Okay."

With Li Heng's permission, Gao Shi summoned his deputy and whispered a few words in his ear.

The deputy nodded continuously and left after receiving the order.

After a while, Yang Guozhong came back.

As soon as Yang Guozhong came back, Gao Shi raised his glass to Yang Guozhong and said, "I have heard of General Yang's great name for a long time, but I have never had the chance to meet him. Today I meet him, which is a great comfort to me. I offer a toast to General Yang."

Gao Shi's position was much higher than Yang Guozhong's, and he was always arrogant. Yang Guozhong became suspicious when Gao Shi praised Yang Guozhong like this. He said, "I am just a nobody, but General Gao praises me."

Gao Shi said, "Although I am a little tipsy, I also know that Yang is in charge of finances in Jiannan and is very popular with the emperor. Now he is accompanying His Royal Highness Prince Shou to Qixi to take up a post. I believe he also has a mission. We will need Yang to speak well of us in front of the emperor in the future."

Gao Shi took advantage of being drunk to expose the purpose of Yang Guozhong's visit, expressing his fear and thus currying favor with Yang Guozhong.

After hearing Gao Shi's remarks, Li Ying had a new understanding of Gao Shi's abilities.

Yang Guozhong was not stupid. If one wanted to gain his trust, one had to tell the truth first. So although Gao Shi's words were a bit bold, they were also the most useful.

Yang Guozhong really believed it, laughed and said, "General Gao is wrong. I am now just a minor official under His Royal Highness Prince Shou."

Gao Shi smiled along and said no more, "I offer a toast to Yang Canjun."

Yang Guozhong raised his glass and said, "Thank you, General Gao."

After they finished talking, they drank it all in one gulp.

With Gao Shi taking the lead, all the civil and military officials in Lanzhou came to toast.

Yang Guozhong was a wine lover, and seeing how enthusiastic these people were, he couldn't stop drinking. After a while, he began to feel dizzy, and half an hour later, he was so drunk that he fell asleep.

……

When Yang Guozhong woke up again, his limbs had been tied up and his eyes were covered with cloth.

"Who tied me up?" Yang Guozhong shouted angrily, "I am an official appointed by the imperial court..."

Yang Guozhong stopped talking here because he felt a cold chill on his neck.

It's the feeling of iron being close.

Then someone started talking in Tibetan, which Yang Guozhong couldn't understand.

Yang Guozhong was startled and asked, "You...are Tibetans?"

"That's right." The person who spoke this time spoke in Tang dialect, and then he continued, "Do you want to live or die?"

Yang Guozhong mustered up his courage and said, "Who are you trying to scare? How could there be Tibetan enemies in Lanzhou?"

"We are Tubo's secret agents in Longyou. We raided the inn where Prince Shou was staying last night. We didn't catch Prince Shou, but we did catch you, a drunk dead pig." One person explained.

"Are you really Tibetans?" Yang Guozhong was a little scared and hesitated for a moment, "If you have the guts, let me see your faces."

The leader said, "You can watch, but you will die if you watch."

"Then I won't read it." Yang Guozhong replied immediately, "No matter who you are, I will treat you as Tibetans, but you'd better let me go, otherwise..."

"What else?" The leader interrupted Yang Guozhong, "Tell me, where is Prince Shou? Otherwise I will kill you immediately."

As he said this, he patted Yang Guozhong on the neck with the back of the knife.

Yang Guozhong was anxious and said, "How should I know this? I was drunk yesterday and you caught me here when I woke up."

Another person said: "Then do you know the military deployment in Longyou?"

"I don't know." Yang Guozhong immediately shook his head. "Longyou is under the management of Wang Zhongsi now. He doesn't need to report to me on his plans."

"What does Wang Zhongsi want to do after taking over Longyou?" asked the leader.

"I don't know." Yang Guozhong replied.

"You know nothing. What's the point of keeping you? Just kill you!" said the leader, pressing Yang Guozhong's head on the dusty wooden board, as if he wanted to chop off Yang Guozhong's head.

"It works, it works." Yang Guozhong shouted hurriedly, "Although I don't know what Wang Zhongsi wants to do, I know what he doesn't want to do. He doesn't want to attack Shibao City."

"Oh?" The leader stopped what he was doing, paused, and said, "Besides that?"

Yang Guozhong said: "You want to kill Prince Shou, I can be your accomplice."

The leader asked, "Can you trust your words?"

Yang Guozhong said: "It is absolutely credible. I can swear to it."

"Swearing is useless."

The leader inserted the knife into the wooden board next to Yang Guozhong, took out a pill from his arms, punched Yang Guozhong in the stomach, and then stuffed the pill into Yang Guozhong's mouth when he opened his mouth, and helped Yang Guozhong swallow it.

"This is a poisonous insect. Once you eat it, the outer layer will dissolve after two months, and the poisonous insect will begin to eat your internal organs. If you obey, I will give you the antidote. If you don't, you will die of a ruptured stomach."

"You guys..." Yang Guozhong was horrified. He wanted to curse but didn't dare to. He could only say angrily: "A man cannot stand without trust. You don't even believe me on this."

As soon as Yang Guozhong finished speaking, a soldier suddenly ran in and said something in Tibetan in a panicked tone. Then the leader waved his hand and asked the soldier to retreat.

"I didn't expect you to be an important person. The Prince Shou of the Tang Dynasty personally led the troops to rescue you." The leader took the initiative to explain to Yang Guozhong.

Yang Guozhong said: "Then run quickly. If the King of Shou sees that I am safe and sound with you, how can I be the insider?"

"Of course it's a self-torture trick!"

The leader chuckled and winked at the others.

Then everyone rushed forward and beat Yang Guozhong up.

After injuring Yang Guozhong, the leader said: "Just follow Prince Shou, we will take the initiative to find you." After that, he led his men to retreat quickly.

Not long after these people left, Li Heng broke in with his men.

Li Ying quickly ordered someone to untie the ropes from Yang Guozhong and remove the blindfold.

"General Yang, are you okay?" Li Heng looked concerned.

When Yang Guozhong saw Li Heng, tears welled up in his eyes and he said, "Your Highness, you are finally here!"

"I'm glad you're okay." Li Heng patted Yang Guozhong on the shoulder. "If anything happens to you, how can I explain to the princess? How can I explain to the court? Alas, I never thought that Longyou is so dangerous now. I hope that General Wang Zhongsi can govern Longyou well after taking over."

Li Heng's words were not only hypocritical, but also took advantage of the opportunity to exclude Wang Zhongsi.

From Yang Guozhong's perspective, he was not sure whether these Tibetans were real or fake. The only thing he was sure of was that Longyou was absolutely poorly managed, and he could use this as an opportunity to report the Longyou officials to the court.

However, Wang Zhongsi had just taken over as the governor of Longyou, and the management of Longyou was in chaos, which was the fault of his predecessor, so it was useless for him to report Wang Zhongsi.

As for the predecessor in Longyou, Shibao City was lost, and those who should be punished have been punished. Who can be held responsible?
Yang Guozhong could only sigh and said, "I only now understand how important border security is!"

"Yes." Li Heng echoed, "The Tibetan bandits are full of tricks and despicable means. Oh, they didn't use any tricks on General Yang, did they?"

"No, no." Yang Guozhong denied.

Li Heng asked, "General Yang didn't tell the Tibetan secret agent anything, did he?"

"Definitely not." Yang Guozhong was very determined. "As a citizen of the Tang Dynasty, I will never betray the Tang Dynasty even if I die."

"That's good, that's good." Li Heng said with relief, "Collaborating with the enemy and treason is a serious crime. If you really say anything, not only will your head be in danger, but your family and even the Yang family will be implicated."

"Your Highness, please rest assured. I vowed to die rather than surrender." Yang Guozhong pointed at the wound on his body. "They tortured me just now, and I didn't say anything."

"Very good, General Yang, you are a loyal man." Li Ying patted Yang Guozhong on the shoulder and said to the guards, "Come here, take General Yang to treat his injuries quickly, and let Zhang Lingzhi treat him personally."

"Yes." Shi Shouyi stepped forward to take the order and took Yang Guozhong out of the ruined temple.

After Yang Guozhong walked away, Gao Shi and others appeared from behind and came to Li Ying.

Gao Shi said: "Your Highness, Yang Zhao is a jerk. He not only confessed everything, but also agreed to be a spy for Tibet. We might as well kill him and put the blame on Tibet."

"No." Li Heng shook his head. "If he dies, the court will investigate and the matter will be exposed. As long as he is alive, he will not investigate the matter further. It is not worth it for the brothers to take risks for a villain."

Li Heng only gave half of the reason. For the other half, if Yang Guozhong was killed, Li Longji and Li Linfu would send someone else to supervise him. If he replaced him with someone who was too smart and whose weaknesses were not obvious, it would be difficult for him to act.

Ma Lin came up to him and said, "When Jiannan fought with the Cuan clan and Nanzhao, Yang Zhao made many slanderous remarks. He was responsible for the death of 60,000 Jiannan soldiers and the loss of Shibao City and Songzhou."

Ma Lin's grandfather, Ma Zhenghui, was the former deputy governor of Longyou, who was remotely led by Li Linfu. Because Jiannan was involved in the loss of Shibao City, his grandfather was dismissed, and the troops that went to support Songzhou were still led by Ma Lin.

Ma Lin was surrounded by Tubo on the road between Songzhou and Longyou, and most of his brothers were killed or injured. If he had not been brave enough, he would probably have died too.

Therefore, the Longyou generals, led by Ma Lin, hated Yang Guozhong to the core. They did not dare to openly blame the court for its stupidity and Li Lin for his incompetence, but they dared to vent their anger on Yang Guozhong.

So on the surface, they were helping Li Heng to deal with Yang Guozhong. Secretly, if Li Heng hadn't stopped them, they would have killed Yang Guozhong.

Li Heng understood what Ma Lin meant and comforted him, "Brothers, you are all loyal and brave men. This is my fault. If I had disobeyed orders and led my brothers to advance to Dafeichuan and Mohuanchuan, Shibao City would not have been lost again."

When this matter was mentioned, everyone present was indignant.

However, their indignation was directed at the imperial court, not Li Heng.

When Li Heng was the governor of Longyou, they had food and money, and made great achievements. But as soon as Li Heng left, they ran out of food and money, and suffered defeat after defeat. How could this not make people angry?

Ma Lin sighed and said, "How can this be your Highness's fault? When your Highness was about to make great contributions, he was transferred back. In fact, your Highness is the one who is most wronged."

Li Heng smiled bitterly and said, "Forget it, let's not talk about the past. From now on, brothers, follow General Wang Zhongsi and work hard to build more achievements."

Ma Lin asked reluctantly, "Your Highness, are you going back?"

"All good things must come to an end." Li Heng patted Ma Lin on the shoulder, "We'll meet again if we're lucky."

"Your Highness!" Ma Lin called out in a heavy voice, "The 'Tibetan' said he wants to go look for Yang Zhao. Do you want us to follow Your Highness?"

"I'll make the arrangements. Thank you brothers for your help today." Li Heng said, taking out a bag of jewels and handing it to Ma Lin, saying, "There are a few good Huji wine shops in Lanzhou. Take the brothers out to have some fun, and then go and build a career after having fun."

Ma Lin hesitated for a moment, took the jewelry, bowed and said, "Thank you, Your Highness."

……

Under the leadership of Shi Shouyi, Yang Guozhong hurriedly found Zhang Lingzhi to treat his injuries.

Yang Guozhong screamed in pain. After much difficulty, he finally finished the treatment. Yang Guozhong asked tentatively, "Doctor Zhang, have you heard of insect poison?"

"I've heard of it." Zhang Lingzhi nodded. "Insect poison is particularly prevalent in Nanzhao. Tubo has recently become friendly with Nanzhao and has learned some of it. Has Yang been poisoned by the insect poison?"

"No, no, how could I be infected with that kind of thing!" Yang Guozhong quickly denied it, paused, and asked: "Doctor Zhang, do you know how to treat insect poisoning?"

Zhang Lingzhi said: "Since Yang Canjun didn't win, why are you asking this?"

"For prevention." Yang Guozhong lied without blushing, and said seriously: "You are the Dongyue of His Royal Highness the Prince of Shou, and also the exclusive medical officer of His Royal Highness the Prince of Shou. I am not so lucky to be treated by you every time, so I ask first."

"I see." Zhang Lingzhi nodded. "It is difficult to cure the poisonous insect because you cannot diagnose the pulse before it eats your internal organs. By the time you can diagnose the pulse, your internal organs have already been damaged. But if you know you are poisoned in advance, it will be much easier to deal with."

"What should we do?" Yang Guozhong asked hurriedly.

Zhang Lingzhi said: "Use Samsara wine as a guide and mix it with some insecticide."

"What is Samsara Wine?" Yang Guozhong asked.

Zhang Lingzhi said: "It's boy's urine."

Hearing about boy's urine, Yang Guozhong felt nauseous, but he held it in and said, "Doctor Zhang, can you prepare the herbs for me? I will have them ready for emergency use."

"Of course, I have to meet General Yang's request. I'll prepare the medicine for you now." Zhang Lingzhi agreed, opened the medicine box, immediately prepared the medicine for Yang Guozhong, and then gave it to Yang Guozhong.

Yang Guozhong took the medicine, took out a bag of money from his pocket and gave it to Zhang Lingzhi, saying, "Please ask Doctor Zhang to keep it a secret."

Zhang Lingzhi said: "There is no need for this. It is my job to keep it secret. Please rest assured, Yang."

Yang Guozhong took back the money bag, smiled and said, "Doctor Zhang is indeed a kind-hearted doctor. Thank you very much. I'll take my leave now."

"General Yang, take care." Zhang Lingzhi saw Yang Guozhong out and added, "General Yang, please remember, if you are really poisoned by the insect poison, you must drink at least half a bowl of Samsara wine."

"Got it." Yang Guozhong put the money back into his pocket and left quickly.

When Yang Guozhong walked away, Zhang Lingzhi finally couldn't help laughing.

(End of this chapter)