Xingqing Palace, Calyx Building.

The musicians and dancers in the hall danced in the hall, and the long water sleeves were like the colorful matches of the clouds, and the dazzling rainbows were crossed in the air.

Li Longji sat on the top seat, his eyes half-squinted, and his fingers unconsciously beat lightly on his knees as the musician played.

I have to say that Li Longji is an extraordinary person, being an emperor is a success, and he is also a genius in other aspects, such as his artistic attainments are very high, especially proficient in music and rhythm, and he is considered to be a big family in the world.

Li Guinian, that is, the protagonist of Du Fu's famous poem "Falling Flowers and Seasons", by the way, Wang Wei has a poem that has been handed down to the world by countless men and women in love, "May you pick more, this thing is the most lovesick", and it is not written about the love between men and women, the original name of this poem, red beans, acacia, are all made by a man who misses another man immensely.

Therefore, the same sex is true love, and the opposite sex is only for reproduction.

In his later years, Li Longji handed over most of the government to the prime ministers of the three provinces, and he only firmly controlled the personnel appointment and dismissal power of the court, and most of the time he was obsessed with music and rhythm in the Huaqing Palace in Calyx Tower or Lishan, and the reason why he did not hesitate to be criticized by the world to snatch his daughter-in-law Yang Yuhuan over was because Yang Yuhuan was not only beautiful and captivating, but also proficient in music and dance, and was cited by Li Longji as a confidant, so he wantonly grabbed it.

The performance of the musicians in the hall has gradually come to an end, and after a neon dress, Li Longji has a satisfied smile on his face.

Gao Lishi has been standing behind Li Longji and did not dare to disturb, and when the musicians finished playing and the aftermath in the hall gradually faded, Gao Lishi stepped forward quietly, leaned down and leaned into Li Longji's ear and said: "Your Majesty, there are twelve more recitals from the Yushitai, all of which are for the impeachment of His Royal Highness King Ji." ”

Li Longji's good mood was destroyed in an instant, and he frowned unhappily: "I have my own plans, I don't need to talk too much, just leave this kind of thing to the prime minister, why bother me?" ”

Gao Lishi said softly: "Li Xiang has been sick for many days, and he can't stand it, and all the affairs of the DPRK and China are taken care of by Chen Xilie, the left minister, and there are too many imperial histories, and there are many discussions between the DPRK and China, and Chen Xiang can't stand it, so he has to submit it." ”

Li Longji snorted and said: "Chen Xilie is less courageous than Li Linfu after all, Yang Guozhong's courage is enough, but he lacks knowledge and resourcefulness, everyone is a cloud, and the Tang Dynasty is now a prosperous era that is rare in a thousand years, but there is not even a decent candidate for prime minister in the prosperous era, isn't it ridiculous?" ”

Gao Lishi said cautiously: "Your Majesty, the prime minister's talent can be talked about later, and now the voice of the imperial history to impeach His Royal Highness King Ji is getting louder and louder, Your Majesty, what do you think should be done?" ”

Li Longji closed his eyes for a long time, and said slowly: "What crime did the imperial historians commit in impeaching King Ji?" ”

"Forcibly seizing people's property, raising dead soldiers, and assassinating court officials, with bad intentions."

Li Longji sneered: "Go and ask the Manchu Dynasty civil and military, how many people have not forcibly occupied the people's property and fertile land?" Do you really think I'm confused? As for raising the dead, well......"

It is indeed a taboo to raise dead soldiers, but there are many people in the elite class of the Tang Dynasty who raise dead soldiers, and King Ji is just exposed after planting his heels, if you really want to think about it, the prince of the East Palace raises more dead soldiers, didn't Li Longji count it? It's just that the number of dead soldiers has never posed a threat to Sheji and his throne, and he doesn't want to tear his face to investigate.

"Does King Ji have any other misdeeds?" Li Longji asked.

Gao Lishi said: "Your Majesty, His Royal Highness King Ji has lived in Chang'an for a long time, in addition to occupying some folk land, more concerned about money, there is no other move, Ji Wangfu eyeliner has a monthly report, His Royal Highness King Ji holds a banquet all day long, the people who come and go are some quite talented literati in Chang'an City, rarely contact with military generals, it is said that he often sings and dances in the house to entertain himself, drinks and feasts all night, and likes fishing and hunting beauty, nearly 100 concubines in the house, and the banquet is often a little ...... Well, there is nothing else to do without inhibitions. ”

Li Longji nodded slowly, and Gao Lishi summed up the habits and personality of King Ji in a few words, simply put, he is a standard gentleman, who does not participate in politics, and does not have any misdeeds, loves money, loves property, loves wine and beauty.

Although he was a little dissatisfied with his son's mediocre and useless performance, Li Longji was also relieved.

At his age, he has dozens of sons, and what Li Longji is afraid of is that his sons are too self-motivated, if any son fights with the powerful ministers and generals every day, often feasts the courtiers to discuss the current affairs of the dynasty, and forms a party with the courtiers to plump his wings, Li Longji is really worried.

King Ji's current performance, while Li Longji is angry with his mediocrity, he is actually quite satisfied in his heart.

Li Longji rubbed his eyebrows tiredly, and said: "It's nothing for my prince to occupy some land, but the assassination of the county order is unforgivable, and the king of Ji will be punished for a year, and after thinking about it for a month, he will be driven away from Chang'an and go to the domain of Jiangzhou." ”

This will is relatively severe, most of the princes of the Tang Dynasty have formal official positions, some are the governors of a certain local governor's mansion, and some are assassins Shi Taishou, but most of them are just "remote leaders", leading a false title, the prince himself is relying on Chang'an and refuses to go, and the real power of the local governor's mansion or the assassin's mansion is usually in the hands of the courtiers.

The emperor personally ordered his son to be driven out of the capital and let him go back to the local area to receive real power, which can be regarded as a righteous annihilation.

Gao Lishi bowed down, and Li Longji said again: "Tell Yang Guozhong, let him control the Yushitai, don't stare at my children all day long, the Tang Dynasty has been peaceful for a long time, except for the matter of the Heavenly Family, don't they have anything else?" ”

…………

Jiwangfu.

There is indeed a secret room in the palace, and the people of the elite class, who has not seen something unpleasant? There are unsightly things, and there are naturally unsightly places in the palace.

King Ji and Gu Qing were sitting in a secret room in the palace, King Ji's expression was still full of suppressed anger, if Gu Qing hadn't moved his father out, he would have ordered Gu Qing to be driven out at this moment.

There were no windows or light in the small secret room, only a low table with a candlestick on it. There are only two people in the room, Gu Qing and King Ji.

"Tell me, what did my father tell you?" King Ji said coldly.

Gu Qing smiled calmly: "Your Majesty asked about Qingcheng County, especially the number of dead soldiers who attacked the county government in detail, what kind of skill. ”

King Ji suddenly showed nervousness: "How do you answer?" ”

Gu Qing said with a smile: "Of course, I answered truthfully, and the lower officials didn't dare to bully the king." ”

Looking at King Ji's gradually pale face, Gu Qing said leisurely: "I have to say, the dead soldiers trained in His Highness's Mansion are really extraordinary, more than 200 people are well-founded, and 100 people attack and defend like one person, it's not simple." ”

King Ji tried to maintain an indifferent expression, and said: "This king doesn't understand what you're talking about, this king is just a carefree prince in Chang'an City, what does the dead have to do with this king?" ”

Gu Qing's smile grew cold: "What's the use of His Highness telling His Highness about this?" If you really have a clear conscience, you will say the same thing in front of Your Majesty in the future, and see if Your Majesty will whip you. ”

King Ji's face turned pale, his momentum suddenly weakened a little, and he still said unwillingly: "...... The dead were all dead, and there was no mark on them, and the father could not produce any evidence that he had raised them by the king. ”

Gu Qing stared at him amusedly: "Your Highness, did you drink fake wine and cause your mind to go insane?" Do you tell Your Majesty about the evidence? Your Majesty convicts a person of guilt or innocence, does he need to talk about evidence? Those unsightly things in your house think they can hide from your father? That's naïve. ”

King Ji was stunned for a moment, then lowered his face coldly, and said, "Don't talk nonsense, say it quickly, what else did my father say to you." ”

"Your Majesty asked about this case, and the lower official answered truthfully......" Gu Qing smiled: "But when Your Majesty asked about those dead soldiers, the lower officials only said that it was done by the local gentry who hired Jianghu Qiangliang, and did not say that it was the dead soldiers of His Royal Highness King Ji." ”

King Ji was stunned, and only after a while did he say, "You...... Why exonerate this king? ”

Gu Qing looked at him sincerely: "Xia Guan said that he didn't want to grudge with His Highness, Xia Guan's words are very sincere, Your Highness must believe me." ”

King Ji looked hesitant and stared at Gu Qing's eyes for a long time.

I really can't figure it out, from the time when two hundred dead soldiers were sent out of Chang'an to assassinate Song Gensheng, both sides understood in their hearts that this grudge was tied into a dead knot and could never be untied.

Later, the two sides of Qingcheng County fought for their lives, both suffered heavy casualties, and the grudge was already deeper, and the matter reached the court, and King Ji was in turmoil, but he didn't expect Gu Qing not only to fall into the ground, but also to help him exonerate in front of his father, so, Gu Qing ...... Could it be the one who drank the fake wine?

Gu Qing's expression was too sincere, King Ji really couldn't believe it, and asked with a frown, "Gu Qing, what do you want?" What do you want? ”

Gu Qing sighed: "Let's be honest, I will excuse you in front of Your Majesty, not because I don't hate you, but because I can't afford to provoke you, you are a prince, a noble of the heavenly family, I am just a six-grade petty official, the affairs of Qingcheng County have no way to retreat because of you and me, and we have to be hostile, but the matter is over, I hate you, but I can't kill you, on the contrary, you can easily kill me, after judging the situation, I have to choose to relieve my grievances with you, does Your Highness understand the meaning of the lower official?" ”

A proud smile appeared at the corner of King Ji's mouth.

Regardless of whether Gu Qing's choice to release his grievances was true or not, the reason Gu Qing said was true. A mere six-grade official really didn't dare to offend the prince, although the prince said that he had no power or power, but his status was transcendent, Gu Qing would never have the courage to continue to get along with the prince if he was in a normal state.

From this point of view, Gu Qing exonerated him in front of his father, and the logic seemed to be a lot smoother, and it was a reasonable choice.

King Ji's mood suddenly relaxed a lot, he felt that since Gu Qing, the party concerned, had exonerated him, the matter should not be too big, at most he would be fined a year and a half of salary, or he would be driven to the place to spend half a year of dull and boring days, and then he would only have to write a piece of music and pretend to be sick, and sell it to be pitiful, and his father would relent and let him go back to Chang'an.

Thinking of this, King Ji's mood was completely relaxed, and his tense shoulders were a lot looser.

"Gu Changshi is a person who knows the times, especially the poetry is brilliant, this king is happy and elegant, I will be relieved of a little misunderstanding at the beginning, and I hope that Gu Changshi will often come to the palace to drink and feast with this king and chant poems, this king will introduce some powerful people to know you, and Gu Changshi's future promotion and transfer are just around the corner."

Gu Qing got up and saluted respectfully: "Thank you Your Highness for your kindness, Your Highness will definitely be able to become a confidant with Your Highness, love each other in this life, and never give up." ”

At the end of the chat, King Ji was a little puzzled by Gu Qing's insistence on coming to the secret room to talk, although these words were a little unsightly, but they were not a big rebellion, and it would be a big fuss to go into the secret room to talk solemnly.

However, since he has solved a trouble, King Ji is in a good mood, and he doesn't think about it so much, maybe Gu Qing is more cautious.

The guests and hosts were happy, Gu Qing and King Ji walked out of the secret room side by side, and then Gu Qing said goodbye to King Ji.

King Ji smiled and reluctantly, and sent him to the outside of the main hall to stop.

Gu Qing walked very slowly and did not look back.

After stepping out of King Ji's sight, Gu Qing's footsteps were even slower, at this moment he was walking on the long corridor leading from the main hall to the gate of the palace, there was no one in front of and behind the long corridor, and there was a dense garden outside the railings on both sides.

Gu Qing's face was a little pale, and his expression was struggling.

From entering the palace to saying goodbye to King Ji just now, all the rhetoric and all the actions were all foreshadowing, and only at this moment was Gu Qing's real purpose.

Ten years is not too late for a gentleman to take revenge, Gu Qing is not a gentleman, and he can't wait for ten years. In the first battle of Qingcheng County, so many heroes went to die one after another, their faces, and the scenes of their dying are still lingering in Gu Qing's mind.

The source of hatred is King Ji, so many people have died, and it would be ridiculous if the initiator was still safe and sound.

Standing quietly in the corridor, Gu Qing struggled for a moment, took out the dagger given to him by Zhang Huaiyu from his arms, and after pulling out the sheath, Gu Qing took a deep breath, lowered his head and carefully looked at the various organs on his body, and then stabbed him in the thigh, the blade entered the body, and the blood burst out, Gu Qing covered his mouth and let out a muffled snort, his forehead quickly sweated, his face turned pale and staggered, and his legs fell to the ground as soon as he became weak.

The piercing pain and the inability to scream out loud made Gu Qing open his mouth and breathe hard a few times, and the blood on his legs had already stained the ground of the corridor red.

Looking at the injury on his leg, Gu Qing felt that it was not enough, because there was a loophole, and the officials who were good at investigating the case might suspect that he had done it, after all, as long as he could be ruthless, everyone could stab him in the leg.

So Gu Qing struggled to stand up, looked around the corridor, and then found a small crack in the pillar of a certain corridor, and the width of the crack was probably just enough to fit the handle of the dagger.

Gu Qing then inserted the handle of the dagger upside down in the crack, and after fixing it, the tip of the dagger was facing outward, Gu Qing turned his back to the tip of the dagger, and struggled again for a moment, and then decisively dodged and moved sideways, and his back slashed over the tip of the dagger.

The dagger that Zhang Huaiyu gave to Gu Qing was not an ordinary thing, and it may be an exaggeration to sharpen iron like clay, but it was very easy to cut through the clothes on Gu Qing's back and leave a wound on his back that was not deep or shallow.

Gu Qing only felt a burning pain in his back, and his clothes soon became wet, presumably the wound was bleeding.

After doing this, it was not enough, Gu Qing withdrew the dagger, pulled out his hairpin again, messed up his hair, tore the cuffs of his clothes with all his might, took off one of the shoes on his feet and threw them in the corridor, stained blood from his thighs, and limped from the flowers outside the main hall to drip the blood into the corridor, creating the illusion of bleeding all the way.

In the end, Gu Qing limped and moved towards the front of the corridor.

This time, Gu Qing's steps were very fast, although his leg was lame, he did not hesitate at all, after all, it was his own life, and he had to race against time. Time was very tight, because Gu Qing knew that he didn't have much blood on his body, and he had to find the doctor before he ran out, otherwise his life would really be confessed in the palace.

After walking through the corridor, they met a lot of people in the palace, the people couldn't help but be stunned when they saw Gu Qing's tragic situation, Gu Qing pale and tried to smile and tell them not to be afraid, the injuries on his body were just a light punishment from His Royal Highness King Ji, and the people showed sympathy after hearing it, but no one doubted Gu Qing's words, obviously King Ji was not a magnanimous master in his palace, and there were often things to punish his subordinates, so it was not strange. It's just that Gu Qing's serious injury is rare.

Fighting his spirits, Gu Qing explained all the way to the gate of the palace, Gu Qing felt that the pain in his leg didn't seem to be very strong, and his brain was a little dizzy, Gu Qing suddenly had an alarm in his heart, this was not a good sign, it was a symptom of excessive blood loss.

Facing the surprised and suspicious gaze of the warrior in front of the palace, Gu Qing's legs were weak, and the warrior at the door subconsciously supported him, Gu Qing smiled at the warrior gratefully, and then limped away.

The vigilance of the warriors in the palace was much higher than that of the subordinates, and after seeing Gu Qing leave, one of the warriors had already turned around and ran into the mansion quickly, obviously asking King Ji for confirmation.

Gu Qing limped to the street outside the palace, gritted his teeth and quickened his pace, and soon blended into the crowd of streams, passing by an alley, Gu Qing's figure was staggering, and when he fell to the ground, he quickly stuffed the dagger hidden in his body into a hole in a dilapidated corner of the alley, and then got up and continued to stagger.

The appearance of a person staggering on the street covered in blood was naturally shocking, many people in the crowd screamed in fright, Gu Qing's mind was in chaos, and he moved forward step by step, and the crowd everywhere he passed got out of the way.

After walking in the crowd for a while, Gu Qing raised his eyes and saw a team of Wuhou patrolling the street not far in front of him, so Gu Qing's body shook a few times, and immediately fell to the ground in the middle of the street, struggling to crawl forward on the dirty ground, dragging a long bloody road behind him, which looked very tragic and terrifying.

After hearing the news, Wuhou immediately rushed to Gu Qing's side, and saw that Gu Qing's consciousness was already blurred, but his lips were constantly squirming, and Wuhou only heard it clearly after getting closer.

"His Royal Highness King Ji, please spare the lower officials, the lower officials will never dare anymore, and the lower officials will be guilty......"

The voice was weak, the tone was full of helplessness and pleading, Wu Hou was startled, but he still silently wrote down what Gu Qing said, and after several Wu Hou summed up, he lifted Gu Qing and sent him to the nearest medical hall on the street.

The doctor in the medical hall was also startled when he saw Gu Qing's injury, and then immediately bandaged Gu Qing to stop the bleeding, and boiled medicine to replenish qi and blood.

While the doctor was treating Gu Qing, several martial artists gathered outside the medical hall to discuss.

"What to do? Do you want to report it? A martial artist said with a sad face.

"How can you not report it when everyone is in full view?" The other Wuhou's face was also ugly.

"Did you hear what the man said? The matter involves His Royal Highness the King of Ji, and I am afraid that reporting to Jingzhao Mansion will stab the sky......"

After deliberating for a while, an elderly Wuhou said categorically: "You still have to report it, no matter what the injured person is involved in, that is what Jingzhao Mansion should worry about, we only need to report it according to the truth, and the others have nothing to do with us, if we conceal it and do not report it, in case something big happens, maybe we are the ones who are guilty." ”

Several martial marquis thought about it and felt that it made sense, so one of them turned around and ran quickly towards Jingzhao Mansion.

An hour later, Jingzhao Mansion Yin sent someone to carry Gu Qing, who was in stable condition, from the medical hall to the palace for interrogation, and at the same time, the news that His Royal Highness King Ji, the twenty-second son of the emperor, had harmed the courtiers in the palace spread throughout Chang'an City.

And this news also spread to Xingqing Palace as soon as possible.