In the dormitory of the Shendu Da Neiguan Wen Palace, although the night is extremely deep, it is still brightly lit, and there are many officials and palace maids standing and wandering between the halls and the houses on both sides. The palace walls and corridors around the hall also frequently patrol the guards of the Beiya with armor and swords.

Suddenly, a rapid and dull exclamation came from the inner hall, and the lieutenant who stayed straight in the outer hall led several eunuchs to rush inside, and bowed to the ground and said, "What do you command?" ”

"Nothing, nothing, what time is it?"

A slightly tired and hoarse voice came from the curtain, and the emperor Li Dan, who woke up from his sleep, wiped a handful of fine cold sweat on his forehead, raised his hand to signal the slightly panicked concubines to roll up the curtains, and then a palace person poured out a bowl of shocking decoction from the silver pot simmering in the charcoal fire on the left window of the couch, and cautiously entered the front.

"It's just past three quarters of ugliness."

The lieutenant glanced at the copper leak scale and then replied, and then said: "The night is still long, and the servants are on standby in the outer hall. ”

After waking up in his sleep, although Li Dan was very tired, he didn't feel much sleepy, he sipped the warm decoction lightly, the interference in his mouth faded slightly, and the slightly dull thoughts gradually flowed, and then he asked again: "Who is the one who is straight in the inner garden tonight?" ”

"It is the North Gate Right Tun Battalion Commander Shangguo Yi Zhou Safety."

Hearing this name, Li Dan subconsciously frowned: "What is the background of this week's safety?" I remember that ten thousand horses have a fruitful name Li Shun, and the skills of the horn are the best in the camps, and it is difficult for ten husbands to get close to them, and they choose to enter the north gate! ”

"Zhou Anhuaizhou, Yifeng recruited the Long March athletes in the old year, and awarded Guoyi in Linzhang Mansion in Xiangzhou, and entered the Sensu Guard in March last year and gave the award."

After hearing this, the lieutenant hurriedly said, but after introducing this Guo Yi's life experience, he paused, and secretly peeked at the sage's affection before continuing to whisper: "As for Li Shun, because he is a member of the former Yishe Party, he has been tied to the inner prison of Lijingmen......"

When the emperor heard this, his eyelids jumped suddenly, and after a little muttering, he said again: "Tomorrow morning to hand over the book to the north gate, Zhou is on duty and loyalty, and he will be given the word 'brave' and awarded to the guerrilla general." ”

Speaking of this, he was still sleepy, so he simply got up and sat down, put on his robe and sat down, and then asked, "Where is Su Yong?" ”

"Ah Gong Su is guarding the stable in Xuanwu City this night, everyone wants to summon him at this time?"

"Don't disturb his ministry, go and get the watch of the guard at the north gate tonight."

After Li Dan heard this, he said again, and waited until the lieutenant took the book of the guards of the Beiya tonight, so that he could carefully read it under the lamp, and saw that there were more than 1,500 people at the north gate tonight, so he was slightly settled, and ordered that the soup and rice must be given generously when the direct guard is handed over tomorrow, and do not treat the soldiers who are tired of the guards.

"What's wrong with Shangyang Palace?"

After understanding the defense of the Inner Palace, Li Dan asked again. When he heard that the lieutenant replied that there was no announcement, he couldn't help frowning and said unhappily: "The times are different, the situation has changed, how can there be no abnormality at all?" There must be something that is not visible to the ears and eyes, so go and ask quickly! ”

After hearing this, the lieutenant hurriedly nodded yes, and then couldn't help but say: "Everyone is pure filial piety and virtue, and they ask about daily life every day, although the two palaces are slaves and lowly members, they are also moved. It's better to welcome the queen mother to the inner house, and the two guards are combined into one, which can also save the ...... of the north gate guards."

"Shut up! Heavenly family affairs, how can Ercao do it! ”

When Li Dan heard this, he immediately became angry, and scolded in a low voice.

Seeing this, the lieutenant was busy pleading guilty, not daring to say anything more, but he couldn't help but sigh in his heart.

Since King Yong's eastward advance, the emperor has fallen into this highly tense and suspicious mental state, and the courtiers may not know it, but the people in the inner palace can all feel this tension, and naturally they can also see that the saint's fear of King Yong's eastward movement can be said to be deep in the bone marrow.

Not to mention that the emperor himself is restless day and night, and the people in the Great Inner Palace are also suffering from this infection, I don't know how long this life will last.

The joys and sorrows of people are not the same, the emperor does not feel much about the trembling of the palace people, and it is difficult for the palace people to understand why the emperor is already the supreme in the world, why he is so jealous of a Yongwang who is far away in Xijing, and he does not even dare to take the queen mother back to Da Nei for placement.

In the past years of seclusion, including the coup d'état he experienced, even he himself could not estimate how much shadow Li Dan had.

These negative feelings were covered and suppressed by the powerful feeling of power, but as the situation gradually got out of control, the feeling of powerlessness and helplessness that year spread out from the bottom of my heart again, and it was even more turbulent than at that time.

After reprimanding the lieutenant officer, Li Dan continued: "Tomorrow, Shangyang Palace will send another two hundred sergeants, and all personnel related will not be allowed to enter or leave. In addition, the king of Fen and others moved into Shangyang Palace to live ......"

Speaking of this, Li Dan's tone was faintly trembling. His feelings for his mother are very complicated, with a strong resentment and fear that cannot be dissolved, and a dependence that comes from the bones.

Obviously, the current queen mother is already a powerless old man, and even his life and death are only in his thoughts, but he still has a sense of awe or expectation for his mother in his heart. At the moment, he doesn't have full confidence in Ouchi's palace defense, but he still vaguely feels that once the situation is completely out of control, his mother may still be able to ensure the safety of his children.

The lieutenant received the order to withdraw, and Li Dan did not continue to fall asleep, but just sat in the banquet, and occasionally a trace of distracting thoughts flashed in his mind and summoned people to ask, such as how many people knocked on the table yesterday, such as how the situation in Hedong was, or the itinerary of Prime Minister Li Sixun.

It wasn't until it was nearly dawn that the meager morning light fell into the dormitory, and a slight tiredness swelled up. Taking advantage of this sleepiness, Li Dan took a short nap directly at the desk. I felt that I should have slept for a long time, but when I was awakened by the sound of footsteps outside the hall, I found that the candles on the side of the seat had not been cut.

"What happened?"

The emperor's vision was still a little blurred, and when he saw that the person who was going to enter was Su Yong, the regular servant who should have stayed in Xuanwu City, and his expression was still quite anxious, and suddenly a spirit came to his senses and hurriedly asked.

"Yes, it's a letter from Hedong, Di and Di Xianggong died in Fenzhou, Fenzhou Lingshiyi ......"

Su Yong stepped forward, half-supporting the emperor and whispered.

"How, how...... Who does it do? ”

When the emperor heard this, he was shocked again, clenched Su Yong's arm sharply, gritted his teeth and asked in a low voice.

"No, the letter newspaper said that although there were signs of thieves infiltrating the Lingshi Station, Di Xianggong's death was not caused by others, but hanged himself...... There should be no doubt that the king of Yu sent people to pass the news. ”

"Hanging? Di Gong he, how could he, how could he! ”

Hearing Su Yong's answer, Li Dan looked even more excited, stood up from the seat tremblingly, wandered in the room anxiously for a while, turned to face the north, sighed, and when he closed his eyes, tears were already flowing from the corners of his eyes: "How can he abandon me, he ...... What a demoral lord I am, I let him rather die! I, the old thief...... The old thief deceived me! When I was in the palace, he, he abandoned me! The family and country are in trouble, I should be, ha, the old thief eats Lu for half his life, and his reputation is greater than the truth, and he is just a cowardly rat! ”

"It's happened, and it's useless to be sad. The ministers will swear to obey the emperor's orders and go to danger together! ”

Li Dan was indeed sad and angry in his heart, but now was obviously not the time to indulge his feelings, he shook his head a little muddy, and then said: "Di died in Fenzhou, where is King Yu?" Did you get to Jinju? ”

"No, King Yu still stayed in the north of Fenzhou, in order to wait for the Turkic invitation to surrender the cattle and horse materials, he failed to ...... in time"

Hearing what Su Yong said, Li Dan laughed angrily, and bent his waist with laughter: "My good son! But he knows that material resources are difficult, and he cherishes everything and everything, he, he ...... The situation in Dugi is dying, and the fool is in love with Mo Nan cattle and horses! Su Yong, am I wrong? There are some things, the difference is huge, and we should admit that the inferior seed in the sect is indeed inferior to the strong seed left by the second brother! ”

"The saint must not think like this, His Royal Highness King Yu has not been open for a long time, and he has been able to take charge of major affairs alone, and in time, he will be able to support his family and country......"

When Su Yong heard this, he hurriedly said again.

"In time? Fang is in this world, who is willing to spend time with me? ”

Li Dan sneered, then raised his hand and rubbed his face, and then said, "Who is the one who stays straight in the political hall today?" ”

"It's Wei and Jiang."

"Summoning them into the palace to see, as well as Zuotai Yuan Shuji, if they are still in the ya, they will be summoned together."

Although he didn't sleep all night, after learning the news of Di Renjie's death and the army of Hedong was still far away, the emperor naturally lost his sleepiness, and changed his clothes and went straight to the palace after a little washing.

King Yong led his army to the east, and he was deeply shaken by the feelings of the court. Although the important ministers of the court made the decision to send Prime Minister Li Sixun west to pacify and dissuade them after two days of sleepless discussions, the ministers did not dare to give much confidence in whether they could succeed.

Recently, the emperor lived in the palace, no longer involved in foreign courts, foreign dynasties are also panicked, many courtiers are worried about the situation or future, no heart, the lack of staff is serious, even if they return to the imperial city to be straight, most of them also want to find out the news, and the government affairs of the court are basically deserted.

As the center of the imperial court's administration, the political hall should be busy in the daily season, dealing with large and small military and political affairs. However, in fact, for several days, the political hall has been very quiet, not to mention the normal handling of affairs, even the documents of the impeachment of personnel in the Imperial Historical Observatory, which are usually irritable, are rarely submitted.

Naturally, it is not a good phenomenon to be noisy and noisy, but if even the basic supervision and maintenance are stagnant, the situation will be even more serious, indicating that even the courtiers have lost confidence and participation in the current situation.

Such a situation never occurred even at the most tense moment of the Wuzhou Revolution and the situation in the DPRK, and at that time, whether for or against it, there were at least disputes and confrontations between the DPRK and China. Unlike now, there is a pool of stagnant water on the surface, but on the inside it is already torn apart by the river and the sea.

After being summoned by the emperor, the two prime ministers of the political hall and Yuan Shuji arrived in the palace before and after, and when they saw each other, a trace of undetectable surprise flashed in their eyes, but more of a worry and helplessness sank into their eyes.

When the emperor entered the palace, the three of them stood up to salute. The emperor didn't say much to them, and after sitting down, he looked at Jiang Xi, the Duke of Yuguo, and asked, "Has the news from the west come back?" ”

Jiang Xi shook his head after hearing this, but added: "Although there is no sound of news coming back, it can already be determined that King Yong's eastward journey this time will lead the western army to more than 5,000 soldiers, which is much inferior to the imperial court's previous estimate that the western army will still gather 50,000 armor after the year. It can be seen that even the armies of Shaanxi Province still have objections to King Yong's trespass, and King Yong does not dare to suppress the ......"

"When King Yong captured the north gate, the number of troops was not thousands."

Wei Juyuan rolled his eyelids, glanced at Jiang Xi and then said, after saying this, he ignored the faces of several people in the hall, and then lowered his head and sat silently again.

"This is not the same as the past! Regardless of the difference in circumstances, the incident occurred suddenly, and there was less preparedness inside and outside. Now that King Yong's line has stopped, the inside and outside are no longer able to duel in the faint moment. Today, the two yajia forces of the capital are still united, and the city defense and palace defense are rigorous. In addition, Li Xianggong's mission to the west said that the court does not want King Yong to return to the country, and King Yong may not dare to ......"

Jiang Xi glanced at Wei Juyuan, who was pouring cold water, and then continued.

Wei Juyuan smiled after hearing this, then attended the worship and looked up at the emperor and said: "The people of Shaanxi, King Yong's management is profound, and the eastward trend of the Zhuxun Gate is proof of this. Today, King Yong's simple line, or pretentious with weakness, or no rebellion, his belly is far-reaching, and non-ministers dare to snoop. However, according to Jiang Xianggong, the open formation can still be decisive in battle, and the hidden disaster cannot be prevented. Today's capital personnel, mostly tend to Luonan, whether there is a hidden evil, only the saint judges. ”

When the emperor heard Wei Juyuan's words, a trace of gloom flashed in his eyes, and he thought for a long time before he spoke again: "Wei Chengqing, how is he living and behaving recently?" ”

Many conspiracies, especially those involving the artifacts of the state and dynasty, have never been unprovoked. Just like the revolution in the Shendu in the old years, when King Yong came into contact with the military power of Beiya and commanded the Suyue army, the kings of the Wu clan were already alert and began to suppress King Yong, and even almost succeeded.

If there was no clue to the things planned by Wei Chengqing at the beginning, then when a large number of Nanya soldiers rushed to the prefecture and county under his arrangement, there was no way to hide it.

But the problem is that being aware and being able to suppress are two different concepts. Wei Chengqing was already the prime minister of the political affairs hall at that time, and many Guan Longxun sects had gathered under his subordinates, and even the Nanya Suwei did not know what it had been infiltrated.

Although the emperor began to suppress the power of the emperor after the initial results of the Northern Ya Wanqi, it was unfortunate that it coincided with the Turkic invasion at that time, and while dealing with external troubles, he also had to try his best to guard against Xingtai. Under such circumstances, if the purge of the court is launched again, it will undoubtedly be a kind of self-harm, which can only take Wei Chengqing's position and maintain a superficial calm.

Now the situation faced by the imperial court is that the threat on the surface of the Yong King is about to pass through the Tong Pass, and the secret King of Luling may be closer to Dugi. Both threats are lethal enough, the difference is only which is the earlier one.

Hearing the emperor talk about Wei Chengqing, Jiang Xi couldn't help but say: "Now that King Yong has come to Tongguan, he needs to stop him together." If the DPRK and China start fighting again, I am afraid that the situation will be even more dangerous! ”

At this time, Wei Juyuan was no longer yin and yang, but said directly: "The hidden wilderness of calamity, although I don't know where to hide, if you want to make trouble, you must take Wei Chengqing as the consul!" Please immediately go to the palace to kill Wei Chengqing, so that the disciples have no hope, and they will be shocked and disturbed, and those involved will have wavering will, or expose their evil ......"

"But if King Yong takes advantage of the situation to go east, what will stop him?"

"King Yong's progress is not out of order. If it is a true and straightforward artifact, then the soldiers of the Western Army will definitely not be a mere 5,000 people! His complaint also stops at the border disturbance......"

"King Yong's armor is not more than a thousand, and he has dared to make trouble! Today, the indulging in the Guan, the momentum is strong, and it is not only ......"

"King Yong's festival is still given by the saint. But the thieves in the wild who want to fight for special merits have already determined to be outside the king's law! ”

The two quarreled-for-tat, and the emperor frowned even deeper, and for a while he was also struggling, not knowing who to obey.

Yuan Shuji, who was also in the hall, never spoke, looking at the two prime ministers who were arguing, and there was a hint of mockery in his eyes. When the two of them stopped and organized their words, he got up and bowed and said, "King Yong's eastward journey today is indeed unstoppable. And the disaster in Shannan is also entangled with the court. But if the saint spreads the world and personally conquers the thieves of the Hebei turmoil, with this righteousness, he can make King Yong wrap his feet, and the saint can drive across the Hebei to advance, can avoid the scourge of the turmoil in Duji, can join the army of the king of Hedong, and can gather the power of Hebei characters! ”

"This, Zhongcheng will talk about this plan in detail!"

When Li Dan heard this, his eyes suddenly lit up.

"Never! How can the Holy Driver go to the wilderness ...... lightly"

Wei Juyuan and Jiang Xi were already shocked when they heard Yuan Shuji speak like this, and when they saw that the emperor showed a lot of interest in this, they couldn't help but be even more anxious, temporarily gave up their dispute with each other, and stopped in unison.

"What strategy do the two ministers have to determine the inside and outside?"

Since Yuan Shuji spoke, he no longer flinched, looked directly at the two of them and said in a deep voice: "King Yong is so restless in Guanxi, and the only reason for this is the disturbance of the Turks. The holy driving is pro-march, and its momentum is not attached. The dirt is hidden in the court, and the only thing that can be taken advantage of is the shock of the palace, otherwise it will not be enough. It is difficult for the army in Hedong to return, so the power of the court is weak and light, and the momentum is not up to me, I should be in power! ”

"Nonsense! Respected by the patriarchal law of the Son of Heaven and respected by the society, how can he compete with thieves and ministers! ”

Wei Juyuan stood up and paused, pointed at Yuan Shuji and said angrily.

"Wei Gong don't be dry, I also know that this plan is not advisable, but now that I am in a difficult situation at home and abroad, I can't stop my way, let's talk about it."

Li Dan got up to persuade peace, but there was a thoughtful look in his eyes.