Chapter 238: Falling short
Li Mi was overjoyed, and he was a little in a trance for a while, he didn't expect this moment to come so easily, until the cronies around him called again and again.
"Sir, sir......"
"Quick, quickly send someone to report to His Royal Highness the Prince, Xingqing Palace is already under control! Go, follow me to Yuelongmen!"
"Sir, why bother to seek the near and far, the army has already invaded the forbidden center, and the guards in the forbidden area can't resist it, so we just need to wait here for the Xingqing Gate to open!"
"It makes sense, just wait here!"
Under the surprise, Li Yu's words and deeds were a rare gaffe, but he didn't care, this battle can be said to be a key battle to determine the future direction of the Tang Dynasty, so why bother to learn from those who sell their fame and reputation to forcibly suppress the joy in their hearts?
In less than half an hour, the Xingqing Gate was already full of soldiers of the Longwu Army, but Li Mi was not able to enter the Xingqing Palace from the Xingqing Gate, and it was difficult to even enter the Yuelong Gate. Because all the gates of Xingqing Palace have been piled up with sand and stones from the inside, even if you want to dig it up, you can't do it without half a day's effort.
After the end of the excitement and joy cooled down, Li Mi was not as anxious as before, so he waited for Long Wujun to further clean up the Xingqing Palace. After all, the protagonist in Xingqing Palace is the Son of Heaven, as long as the Son of Heaven is found, today's action will be successfully completed.
Otherwise, it will be a waste of water in the bamboo basket. It's just that this possibility is very small, after all, the Son of Heaven is already over the age of old, how can an old bone easily escape from the encirclement?
"Caught, caught......"
Tanma's voice sounded again, and Li Mi once again couldn't suppress the excitement in his heart.
"Caught?"
"Back to Mr. Hui's words, I caught the ...... of Gao Xianggong"
Gao Xianggong was naturally referring to Gao Xianzhi, who was actually captured alive under this manpower battle, which was really beyond Li Mi's imagination.
"Bring this man here!"
"Sir, I'm afraid I can't be escorted, and I was seriously injured under the battle of Gao Xianggong, and I am unconscious at the moment, and my life hangs by a thread. ”
After hearing this, Li Mi was embarrassed, and secretly said that if he was not seriously injured and unconscious, he might not be captured alive.
"Well, looking for Lang Zhong in the army, take care of him, I can't let him die!"
After getting the letter, Li Mi waited for the good news to pass on again, as long as he grabbed Gao Xianzhi, the traces of the Son of Heaven would soon be found. However, until the dawn of the day, Li Mi could no longer wait for the expected good news. Seeing that by noon, the forbidden middle school was searched, and several palace gates were almost cleaned, but there was still no trace of the Son of Heaven.
Until this time, Li Mi couldn't help but feel a little flustered. He sent the henchmen of the East Palace Six Rates to search carefully, but he still didn't find half a shadow of the Son of Heaven.
"It must have been hidden by Gao Xianggong!"
Li Yu's henchmen all thought that the Son of Heaven was hidden by Gao Xianzhi, and this Gao Xianggong should be pulled out for strict interrogation. At this time, the crown prince Li Heng also sent someone to inquire about the situation.
The eunuch Li Fuguo came on the orders of the crown prince, and before he saw Li Yu, his heart was already tumbling like a river blooming. Unexpectedly, he also has today, once the crown prince receives the throne of the Son of Heaven and ascends the throne, he will be the Gaolishi of the year.
It's a pity that Gaolishi has become yesterday's yellow flower, and he Li Fuguo will replace him. At this time, he couldn't wait to meet the Tang Dynasty Emperor who had become a prisoner.
"His Royal Highness the Crown Prince often says that Mr. has the ability to penetrate the heavens and the earth, and the slave and maid really believe it this time!" Li Fuguo smiled all over his face, approached Li Mi and asked mysteriously, "Can that person be found?"
Of course, Li Mi knew who he was referring to, but until now, he hadn't even been able to find half a shadow of this person!
"It's still searching, please wait for the good news!"
Li Fuguo's face changed slightly, and the smile on his face became a little heavier.
"Don't be in a hurry, don't be in a hurry, Mr. is looking for it slowly, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is just thinking about ......"
Li Mi also knew the mind of the crown prince Li Heng, he was afraid that the Son of Heaven would die in the chaos, and from then on he would bear the infamy of killing the king and killing his father, but at this time, if the body of the Son of Heaven is really found, it will at least prove that the matter is settled, and he will not be as anxious as he is now.
After a few perfunctory words with Li Fuguo, Li Mi excused himself and left. He didn't have a good sense of this chamberlain beside the crown prince Li Heng, and from the greedy gaze reflected by this person's triangular eyes, he could judge that this must be a despicable villain who will do whatever it takes to achieve his goals.
However, Li Mi also knew that he could not deal with all the people around the prince with evil senses with his own likes and dislikes, otherwise he would definitely be accused of attacking dissidents. Moreover, the crown prince Li Heng trusts Li Fuguo, which is not necessarily inferior to himself.
Seeing that it was getting late, Li Mi almost turned the entire Xingqing Palace upside down, and there was no trace of the Son of Heaven. The palace eunuchs serving in the Son of Heaven's dormitory also interrogated no less than dozens of people, but still found nothing.
"Sir, Gao Xianggong is awake!"
Li Mi frowned, it was time to meet this famous general who was in and out of the prime minister for a while.
Gao Xianzhi's upper body was red, from his shoulders, chest to abdomen, and he was covered with strips of cloth, and there was even faint oozing blood under the strips, but seeing that his face was pale, he first bled excessively, and his body was extremely weak.
"In Xia Li Mi, meet Xianggong. Originally, Li Mi didn't want to meet Xianggong, but now he has no choice but to find no trace of the Son of Heaven for a whole day, so in order to prevent accidents in the army, he can only ask Xianggong for help!"
After hearing this, Gao Xianzhi opened his eyelids with difficulty, looked at Li Mi with a pretentious look of anticipation, and snorted softly. At the same time, this also reassured him completely, Qin Jin did not deceive him and the Son of Heaven, if the Son of Heaven fell for Qin Jin's tricks at this moment, Li Mi would not have begged him so lowly.
However, he didn't intend to hide it, according to the time, the Son of Heaven had already arrived safely in Taiji Palace, and Xingqing Palace had also fallen, so it was pointless to keep this secret any longer.
"Want to know where the saint went?"
Li Mi nodded and replied, "Exactly!"
"It doesn't hurt to tell you, it doesn't hurt to tell you, the saint should be in the same place with General Qin at this time, you only need to go to find the trace of General Qin, and you will naturally be able to find the saint. ”
Li Mi was faintly a little angry, Gao Xianzhi was obviously playing tricks on him, the Chang'an Mutiny started with Qin Jin and the Shenwu Army, how could the Son of Heaven go to the same place with Qin Jin again? Qin Jin was lucky to get out of trouble before, but it was not selfish, he just shrank his forces and entrenched himself in the Taiji Palace, and seemed to be waiting for the opportunity.
According to Li Mi's plan, as long as he takes Xingqing Palace, he will mobilize heavy troops and entrench the Shenwu Army in Taiji Palace, for the sake of the crown prince Li Heng to take power smoothly, and for the stability of the Tang Dynasty, he cannot let go of anyone who is a big threat to this.
"Is there a tunnel in the south?"
Li Mi is not selfish, and still hopes to get some clues from Gao Xianzhi's mouth. Unexpectedly, Gao Xianzhi, who was weak, actually laughed, and coughed from the distance of laughter.
If you don't believe it, go and find General Qin, and remedy it?"
Finally, Li Yu's heart trembled, and he suddenly felt that Gao Xianzhi didn't seem to be telling a lie, could it be that the Son of Heaven was not in Xingqing Palace at all, he had always thought that the Son of Heaven was besieged here, but in fact he had already sneaked away?
As soon as he thought of this, Li Mi felt like falling into an ice cave, if this was the case, wouldn't it be a joke if he mobilized tens of thousands of people to storm Xingqing Palace?
Although his heart was suddenly full of anger, a loyal person like Gao Xianzhi, Li Mi didn't intend to be too embarrassed. After confirming that he could not find the trace of the Son of Heaven in Xingqing Palace, he personally rushed to the Longwu Army garrison in Yanzhengmen to meet the crown prince Li Heng.
"Sir, do you mean that no trace of the saint has been found?"
Facing the somewhat flustered prince, Li Yu nodded weakly. So far, he does not intend to hide the prince, he can only tell the facts and the situation first, and then plan countermeasures.
Not being able to find the Son of Heaven is not necessarily the end of the world, in fact, there are many possibilities. For example, the Son of Heaven hid, or escaped in disguise when the palace was breached, all of which did not have a great impact on the overall situation. As long as you control the gates of Chang'an, don't let the Son of Heaven slip out, and don't let him find reinforcements that can be relied on, everything will still be under control.
Of course, there is another possibility, but Li Mi thinks the probability is very small. At the beginning of Qin Jin's first rebellion, he was already on the same page as the Son of Heaven, and it was difficult to ease up.
After the crown prince Li Heng received a definite answer and knew that the body of the Son of Heaven had not been found, he was both relieved and faintly disappointed.
"What are you going to do next, sir?"
Facing the prince's expectant gaze, Li Mi couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed and apologetic.
"Attack Taiji Palace and encircle and suppress the Shenwu Army!"
Secretly sniping Qin Jin was a decision he made without telling the prince, and if it affected the prince's fate because of this, it would be difficult for him to forgive himself.
After discussing countermeasures for a while, the crown prince Li Heng specially emphasized his original intention, to do his best to save Gao Xianzhi's life, and not to embarrass the surviving Yulin guards after the city was broken, in order to stay away from the crime of killing the king and killing his father, he can only treat these loyal ministers well.
"Also, I ordered Yang Guozhong and a group of party members to be re-imprisoned, these people have lost the ability to threaten me after being captured, so it seems a bit hasty to kill them. It is necessary to hold a court trial and make the punishment clear, so that the world can hear and hear!"
Li Heng said very politely, he obviously disagreed with Li Yu's idea of killing. Including the sniping of Qin Jin, although he didn't say it, Li Yu could still feel the faint dissatisfaction in the heart of the crown prince Li Heng.
However, even if the prince was dissatisfied, Li Mi was determined to get rid of this ironclad powerful general for him. Looking at the strength of this person and the relative weakness of the crown prince, he has no doubt about this development trend. The only problem was that Li Mi overestimated his ability to control the situation and underestimated Qin and Jin's people...... As a result, it is now a little passive!
However, it is clear that Li Mi underestimated more than that.
At nightfall, a crusade against rebellion came out of the Taiji Palace, the content was that Li Mi had kidnapped the prince to commit rebellion, and whoever killed this person, the Son of Heaven promised to be crowned the prince of the country, and the hereditary replacement.
The seal of the Son of Heaven on the inscription is bright red and dazzling!