Qin Xiao said: "Without the Wutuo people to be behind the back, how dare Fan Ziqi murder the general?" After a pause, he finally asked, "Who is Li Huo?" ”

"He claims to be the prince of the Tang Dynasty." Yuwen Chengchao put away his knife: "But if it is really a prince, how can he be in the people for more than 20 years, I will never believe it." His brows furrowed, and he said, "But the Double Dragon Jade Pendant in his hand is not a fake." ”

"Double Dragon Jade Pendant?" Qin Xiao didn't see Li Huo take out the jade pendant at the birthday banquet, and he was a little puzzled.

Yuwen Chengchao said: "The Shuanglong jade pendant is the thing of the inner palace, and it is the jade pendant worn by His Majesty the Emperor. At the moment, he gave a more detailed explanation of the Shuanglong jade pendant and Li Huo's life experience, and finally said: "So if it wasn't for the imperial gift of the first emperor, that jade pendant would never fall into the hands of others." ”

Qin Xiao heard that Yuwen Chengchao was sure that the double dragon jade pendant was real, so he no longer doubted it.

Yuwen Chengchao is from the Yuwen family, and he can be regarded as a person born with a golden soup spoon, he has seen a lot of rare and strange treasures, and a jade pendant in the eyes of Yuwen Chengchao can naturally distinguish the true from the false, since Yuwen Chengchao is sure that the jade pendant is real, he will naturally not look away.

"Is the eldest prince sure that the double dragon jade pendant is real?" Qin Xiao was also puzzled.

Yuwen Cheng bowed his head and said, "It's true." In order to make me loyal to him, Li Huo showed me his identity, and took out the Shuanglong jade pendant as evidence, I personally touched the Shuanglong jade pendant at that time, and its materials and workmanship are indeed not made by the people, and it must be something from the palace. ”

Qin Xiao frowned and said, "In this way, he is really qualified to inherit the throne?" ”

Yuwen Chengchao clenched his fist, and the green tendons on the back of his hand burst out, but soon his fist was released, and he said with a little helplessness: "If his bloodline is true, in terms of bloodline, he is indeed more qualified to inherit the throne than today's saints." His eyes became cold: "But he murdered the general by despicable means, and unscrupulously to achieve the goal, although the monarch must have the courage and skill that ordinary people do not have, but if such a person really becomes the climate, he can only harm the world, and he is definitely not a Ming Jun who benefits the world." ”

"If it is really a thing in the palace, and it is also a jade pendant worn by the first emperor, how could it fall into the hands of Li Huo?" Qin Xiaohu said suspiciously.

Yuwen Chengchao also locked his eyebrows, was silent for a moment, and then said: "Maybe he is really the bloodline left by the first emperor in Xiling." ”

Qin Xiao immediately remembered Han Yunong.

On the side of Zhenjun Turtle City, there are only two forces that are really powerful, one is naturally the Zhenhou Mansion, and the other is the Duwei Mansion under Han Yunong, but in fact, the strength of the Duwei Mansion is far from being comparable to the Zhenhou Mansion.

"If nothing else, Yuwen County and Zhen County must have deployed their people as well." Qin Xiao said, "On Chinese New Year's Eve, when the rebellion was launched on the Fan County side, the other two places should also take action. ”

Yuwen Chengchao bowed slightly, and after calming down, his thinking became sharper, and he said slowly: "What you said is good." They have been preparing for this conspiracy for many years, and Fan Ziqi and Bai Jingzhai are both sinister and cunning people, and they are well-thought. The Yuwen family migrated from Yuwen County into the pass, it was when the dragons were leaderless, Yao Duhu also left Fengganfu City, where it was empty, the Fan family took the opportunity to send people into the city, the city was almost defenseless, and it was easy to be controlled. The situation on the Zhen County side will not be much better. ”

Now that the wolf cavalry has already been transferred to Fan County and fallen under the control of the Fan family, on the Zhen County side, there is only Han Yunong's Governor's Mansion left, and there is also a force that is even ignored, that is Du Hongsheng, the county guard of Zhen County.

Du Hongsheng's army guards are very limited, and in addition to being responsible for the defense of the various gates of Turtle City, he only has a small number of soldiers and horses to protect the county guards.

Zhen Hou Mansion can sit in Zhen County, except

With the intertwined connections in Zhen County and the prestige accumulated over the past hundred years, the most important thing is that the wolf cavalry has always been in his hands.

"Since Li Huo has already claimed to be the prince, then he will definitely make this banner with great fanfare." Yuwen Chengchao said: "Many families in Xiling are not of the same heart as the imperial court, and now the Fan family is following Li Camel to make trouble, those families in Xiling will inevitably follow the Fan family together, if the imperial court can't send troops immediately, then it won't be long before the entire Xiling will erect Li Huo's big banner everywhere." ”

Qin Xiao knew that what Yuwen Chengchao said was true.

Du Hongsheng nominally has the command of the defense of the city of Guicheng, but the soldiers and horses guarding the city have always only obeyed the dispatch of the Zhen family, and Du Hongjian can only have dozens of soldiers and horses who can be wise.

The Duwei Mansion, including the miscellaneous jailers, is only sixty or seventy people from top to bottom, and without the wolf cavalry, it is really not difficult for the Fan family to send people to seize Turtle City.

Qin Xiao asked, "Do you still have any concerns?" ”

"The general's body has been escorted out by us." A night crow thought for a moment before saying, "Can we find a way to bring him back to Guannai, this matter will be reported to the imperial court, and the saint will decide the general's future." ”

He did not continue the topic, turned around, and said, "Let's bury the general first." ”

"Do you really want the general to rest here?" All three Night Ravens had already stood up.

Yuwen Chengchao finally said, "Qin Xiao, what they said is not wrong. The general was killed, and soon the world knew that the people of the Tang Dynasty had always admired the general, and the imperial court must also give an explanation to the people of the world with a grand funeral. Although the general hoped to remain in Xiling after his death, it was indeed inappropriate to be hastily buried here. ”

This is a deep and remote forest.

Although Qin Xiao was the youngest among these people, he seemed the most calm, and said, "I know your intentions. The general is gone, he is famous, has countless military exploits, and is a famous general of the empire known to the army and the people of my Tang Dynasty. ”

"That's certainly one of the reasons." A night crow said: "Imperial civil and military generals, after his death, there will be a funeral ceremony in line with his identity." The general has made great achievements for the empire all his life, and no matter what, he should have a decent funeral. ”

Several people looked at Qin Xiao, and Qin Xiao said calmly: "As you said, the general is a meritorious general of the empire, who was murdered by traitors, and the imperial court should give the general a decent and grand funeral no matter what." We will bring the body back, of course the imperial court will hold a funeral for the general, and we can also give an explanation to the military and people of the world, and then what? Can you guarantee that after the burial of the general, the imperial court will definitely dispatch troops and send troops out of the customs to pacify Xilingzhi

Disorderly? ”

It is indeed strange that a mighty empire will be buried here.

Qin Xiao was silent for a moment, and finally said, "You really don't understand what I mean? ”

Yuwen Chengchao couldn't help nodding slightly, and a night crow was also very frank: "Yes, if it weren't for the general's insistence, almost no one in the imperial court would mention Xiling." In fact, the general wrote many times, hoping that the imperial court could formulate a recovery strategy for Xiling as soon as possible, but few people in the court paid attention to it, and their reasons were very simple, in addition to the inability of the treasury to support the war in the west, the most important thing was that before pacifying the southern frontier, it must not be easy to cause a war with the Vedic Khanate because of Xiling. ”

"In the eyes of most courtiers, the previous situation was actually the best situation." Another night crow said: "Let the Xiling people guard Xiling, the three counties of Xiling serve as a buffer area between Datang and Wutuo, as long as Xiling does not move, Datang does not have to act rashly." ”

Yuwen Chengchao frowned and said, "If such a big event happens, will the imperial court turn a deaf ear?" ”

"Great Prince, it has been seventeen years since the Veda Rebellion." Qin Xiao said: "In the past seventeen years, although the general has taken great pains to return to Xiling, has the imperial court ever made any moves? Even if there are still many officials who are still loyal to the imperial court, they only receive salaries from the Xiling family, and in the past seventeen years, the imperial court has not spent a single copper coin in Xiling. After a pause, he said: "I'm not saying that the imperial court has abandoned Xiling, but at least in the past seventeen years, the imperial court has not put its mind on Xiling's side, which is actually very clear in your hearts." ”

"Not bad." Qin Xiao said: "Xiling rebellion, if even the general's body can't return to the Tang Dynasty, there is no need to talk about the funeral, so the imperial court can't explain to the military and people of the world at all." A famous general of the empire, the body can't return to the Tang Dynasty, and even the face of the saint is not good-looking, so whether it is for the face of the court or to give an explanation to the military and people of the world, the court will transfer troops out of the customs, otherwise the court will not even want its own face. ”

A few people suddenly understood.

Qin Xiao sighed: "So I am very suspicious now, even if such a big change occurs in Xiling, and the general is murdered, the imperial court may not really go all out to quell the rebellion in Xiling, at least there are still many people in the court who oppose easily shifting the strategic focus of the empire to the northwest, and they may not quickly adjust the empire's strategy because of the general's death." Glancing at the general's body covered by the black cloth, a trace of sadness crossed his eyes, and then he continued: "If we send back the general's body, the imperial court will organize a grand funeral for the general, and the more grand the funeral, the more the grief and anger in the hearts of the people of the Tang Dynasty will be alleviated." ”

Yuwen Chengchao was shrewd after all, understood what Qin Xiao meant, and said, "You mean, we want to deliberately let the general stay in Xiling?" ”

Yuwen Chengchao was silent, didn't say anything more, picked up the general's body, and walked deeper into the forest, the three night crows looked at each other, and finally understood Qin Xiao's good intentions.

There was some surprise in their hearts.

Of course, they already knew that the general accepted Qin Xiao as his adopted son, although compared to Qin Xiao, the years they followed the general were far from being comparable to that of a young man like Qin Xiao, but since Qin Xiao and the general had the name of father and son, from a certain point of view, Qin Xiao was more qualified than them to decide the fate of the general.

To their surprise, the young man, though he looked immature, was far more worried than they had hoped.

Leaving the general's body in Xiling forced the imperial court to send troops, which was of course their common goal at the moment.