In the fifth year of Taihe, September Yimao, and the third quarter of Xuzheng.

Jiannan Road, Xichuan, Chengdu Mansion, Jiedu Embassy Mansion.

The candles flickered, the atmosphere in the front hall became more serious, and everyone was silent for a long time, if it weren't for the copper leak still ticking, everyone would have suspected that time had stood still.

A little over a year ago, the Victorian garrison began to be demobilized en masse for some reason. The month before, Victoria was short of food, and the demobilized defenders were left to fend for themselves, and most of them starved to death. Even so, the state capital was surprisingly quiet, and the sergeants did not mutiny. According to the report that Zhang Yijun sent to Chengdu before, a hidden stake planted in Victoria, there may be a change brewing in Victoria.

A month ago, if the Tibetan soldiers of Victoria came to defect, one of them sent a secret letter to Li Deyu, the envoy of the festival, through the Chengdu Prefecture Commander, expressing the willingness of the deputy envoy of Victoria to plot to surrender to the Tang Dynasty. As a result, Zhang Yijun and Xi Tanmou were put on the line, and if everything went well, they would do something tonight.

However, the news that the dark pile has been delayed for a long time has cast a shadow on everyone's hearts.

"Li Gong......" The young Yang Zong made meritorious contributions, took a step forward, broke the silence, and solemnly crossed his hand to Li Deyu, "Victoria is in danger, surrounded by water on three sides, and sits in the center of Xishan...... If the dark stake has been exposed, I hope that Li Gong will prepare as soon as possible......"

Dressed in a light scarlet official robe, Sima Li Huaishen, whose name is Huayuan, had a somewhat ugly expression when Yang Zong spoke. He raised his eyebrows, resting his hand on the ten-iron gold belt with a silverfish bag tied to his waist, interrupting it, his eyes glancing at the knotted envoy from time to time.

"Who doesn't know what General Yang said? It is precisely because it is so important to seek Victoria that we are here to wait for news from Yijun. ”

"Uh......" Yang Zong's expression was quite disdainful, "Why rely on that dark stake so much?" ”

"If there is no 'that dark pile', everything today will be impossible to talk about," Li Deyu's expression became serious, and he seemed to have guessed the meaning of Yang Zong's side knock, "What does Xiangyi mean?" Just say it bluntly. ”

"Uh...... Returning to Li Gong, if what Yi Jun said earlier is true, Victoria is now empty, money and food are in short supply, and there are only less than 500 garrison soldiers in it. The last general can lead the vanguard of the Wuwei army to attack Xuecheng at night, directly take the state capital, and then divide the city...... In this way, Xichuan can be completely restored, and the heavy troops of Tibet can be dispersed in the southwest. And take this opportunity, if the imperial court sends troops out of Fengxiang, the recovery of the thirty-three states of Longyou is just around the corner......"

"No." Li Deyu interrupted him directly.

"For ...... Why not? The political situation in Tibet is unstable, and the opportunity to recover Victoria is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! ”

"Xiangyi," Li Deyu turned around and patiently explained: "Yijun has not yet sent back the news, the truth is unknown, and it is a yes." Ten years ago, I Tang and Tubo Changqing Alliance, agreed not to attack each other, if at this time to send troops, the division is nameless, two also. The Xichuan Bull Party is eyeing the tiger, if it fails, you and I, all the public present are not guaranteed, and the three are also ......"

"Fight each other? Forever repaired? Yang Zong was young and vigorous, arguing with reason, but the more he spoke, the more excited he pointed out the hall: "Just ...... Just last year, the captives were still besieging the city of Hequ Luzhou...... When did they speak of faith? ”

When the others heard Yang Zong's words, they all dissuaded him from saying anything more. However, Yang Zong's eyes were already red at this time, and he couldn't care about much, he crossed his hands respectfully, and actually knelt down with a "plop" in front of Li Deyu, his voice trembling.

"My uncle is in Luzhou...... Killed in battle! ”

Li Huaishen, who was on the side, heard this, and immediately changed his face: "Why did I say why General Yang begged to send troops again and again, it turned out that he was hiding his selfish intentions!" ”

"My uncle treats me like a father, and the hatred of killing my father is not shared!"

"Can killing my father's revenge be bad for the military affairs?" Li Huai roared deeply.

"Reconquest, how is it a bad militaristic event? Besides, among the princes present, who doesn't have a little selfishness? Yang Zong's eyes widened, and his words were already very rude.

"Pay attention to your identity!" Li Huaishen was furious, said loudly, and then quietly glanced at the Jiedu envoy, and found that Li Deyu was not angry, so he suppressed his voice again, with contempt in his eyes, and then reprimanded: "You were just a first-tooth soldier brigade commander last year, if it weren't for Li Gong's support, how could you be a Zhonglang general?!" ”

"Alright, alright." Yuhou Weirong hurriedly persuaded from the side: "Everyone is loyal to the Tang Dynasty, why quarrel here." ”

When Li Huai heard this, he forcibly suppressed his anger and reasoned with Yang Zongxiao: "General Yang, Li Jiedu has been planning this major event for a long time, and you don't know all the details inside. It's not that he doesn't trust General Yang, it's just that now in Xichuan, in addition to the princes present, including Li Zhi, the envoy of Xichuan Jiedu, which one is not the henchman of Prime Minister Niu Sidian? Even Wang Jianyan, the envoy of the prison army, swayed from side to side, with an ambiguous attitude......"

Wei Rong also echoed and said: "What Li Sima said is yes, if the teacher is unknown, he will be impeached by the Niu Party, besides...... If the hidden pile is really exposed, the captives must be prepared. And Victoria's terrain is dangerous, and it is easy to ambush if you rush to send troops. ”

What Li Huaishen and Wei Rong said is the truth, the current court is controlled by the Niu Party, Niu Sidian and Li Zongmin are the prime ministers, these two people help each other, where the same party will help, and the other party will be squeezed out of the court.

And Li Deyu, the envoy of Xichuan Jiedu, happens to be their most feared political enemy.

"What's more," Li Huaishen looked at Yang Zong, who was still kneeling on the ground, with contempt, squeezed out his voice between his teeth, and said with a mocking smile: "As far as I know, isn't General Yang's father a family exile?" The descendants of the people don't have to worry about this matter. ”

"Huayuan, that's enough." Li Deyu stopped, and walked over to help Yang Zong up.

However, Li Huaishen's words were like a sharp sword, straight into Yang Zong's heart, even if he stood up, Yang Zong was like a defeated wolf, looking down at the stone slabs on the ground, not daring to look at other people's faces.

"What General Yang said is not very wrong." Wei Rong started a round: "After all, after planning for so long, it obviously can't just be just counted." ”

Who knew that these words caused the hall to fall into a brief silence, and everyone knew that if the secret stake was exposed again, then the Victorian conspiracy would be completely frustrated.

Li Deyu's voice seemed to float from the sky.

"Xiangyi, I know it, and you know it too. If the troops are rushed out, even if they win, what will the DPRK-China Bull Party do? Niu Siyan will degrade me in the name of abandoning the alliance and breaking the covenant and using troops for my own purposes; In order to show goodwill to Tibet, the city of Victoria will be returned to Tibet; The princes present no longer want to be officials. I am the envoy of the Nishikawa Festival, and I am responsible for everyone. ”

Li Deyu is not alarmist, Xichuan is mixed, if the news of Victoria's surrender reaches Chengdu Mansion, it will inevitably alarm Prime Minister Niu Sidian's party henchmen in Xichuan. And the Niu Party, which has always been extremely at odds with Li Deyu, is far more interested in the party than in recovering lost territory.

"Report!"

As soon as Li Deyu's voice fell, a government office came from outside the hall in a hurry, he held a wooden tube in his hand, panted and ran to Li Deyu, holding the wooden tube, kneeling on one knee.

"The scouts sent to Victoria have just arrived in Chengdu...... Present here, please take a look! ”

This sentence was like timely rain, and everyone was relieved and breathed a sigh of relief.

Marching Sima Li Huai complained deeply to the government pass: "Why did it take so long to come? ”

According to ...... It is said that the scouts were dressed as Tibetan cavalrymen, and they ...... Didn't recognize it for a while, so ...... Delayed. ”

Jiedu made Li Deyu quickly disassemble the wooden tube, took out a small piece of paper inside and hurriedly swept it. He hurriedly ordered the secretary of the palace to order the fox: "Remember, order the soldier Cao to immediately send the Wuwei army scout, be sure to go to the border of Tangbo at the hour, always pay attention to the movement of Tubo, if there is any change, come and report it at any time!" ”

Linghu worked hard to write, did not dare to slack off, and in a moment the draft of the festival marshal order was completed, and after Liu Zhan, the judge of the festival, stamped the seal of the marshal's mansion, handed it over to the circular, and went straight to the outside of the mansion.

"Huaishen congratulates Li Jiedu!"

Li Huaishen seized the opportunity and hurriedly bowed to the envoy of Jiedu to congratulate him, which also caused everyone to rush to congratulate.

"Now...... I'm afraid it's not time to celebrate," Yang Zong seemed to regain his spirit, arched his hand from the side, and interjected: "Li Gong, what did the dark pile say in the report?" ”

Regarding Yang Zong's demolition, Li Huai gritted his teeth with deep hatred, and couldn't help glaring at him fiercely.

"It's done." Li Deyu looked at everyone, his expression was soothing, his eyes were clear, and he said word by word, "Let's wait for the change!" ”

At the beginning of the year.

South Tubo Province, Victoria, Xuecheng County, somewhere.

In the abandoned Taoist temple, Zhang Yijun, under the leadership of the bearded man in Tibet, bypassed the main house in disrepair dedicated to Sanqing from the door and entered the dilapidated backyard.

In the center of the backyard stood a tall bronze alchemy furnace, and the courtyard was overgrown with weeds, and the weeds near the courtyard wall were a foot high. There is a stone table on the right side in front of the alchemy furnace, which is different from the rest of the entire barren Taoist temple, only this stone table looks newer.

According to the map of Xue Cheng, the backyard of the Taoist temple should be close to the Victorian capital, perhaps for this reason, only the backyard wall of the Taoist temple has traces of repair, and it has been artificially raised to an impossible height, but it seems that it is at least the previous thing of the Changqing Huimeng.

Zhang Yijun looked around at the courtyard wall, how could he not find a place to climb over the wall, and was suspicious for a while, is it true or false that the informant agreed to meet here?

The alchemy furnace in the backyard looks like no one has cared about it for 50 years, Victoria is located in western Sichuan, the climate is humid, and the alchemy furnace is full of patina inside and out. But in general, no matter how you look at it, this Taoist temple doesn't show anything boring.

"Victoria's Deputy Envoy Xi Tanmou, where are the others?"

The bearded man didn't speak, but looked at Zhang Yijun with a fierce face, pulled out the horizontal knife with a "swoop", and took a few steps towards him, causing Zhang Yijun to retreat, his hand unconsciously touched the Tibetan knife on his waist, and the back of his head touched the alchemy furnace.

Hit the trick?

"If you have something to say, why draw your sword against each other?"

The bearded man obviously couldn't understand such a complicated Tang dialect. However, although he had a fierce expression on his face, he leaned down and slammed the horizontal knife on the ground where Zhang Yijun was standing, and there was a sound of inserting it into the wood. Then the big man slowly pulled out the handle of the knife, and like a handle, he took the weeds covered on the ground with him, and turned over a palm-thick wooden board from the ground.

Beneath the planks is a steep wooden staircase that leads to the pitch black underground.

There is a culvert underneath the alchemy furnace!

Zhang Yijun couldn't help but smile bitterly in his heart, he had been doing secret stakes since a year ago, except for occasionally handing over the scouts to send back news, he completely cut off contact with Xichuan, which made him extremely sensitive. And the bearded man in front of him seemed to have a fierce expression all the time, so it was no wonder that he had a false alarm.

The bearded man stretched out his hand and made a "please" gesture.

The matter has reached the final stage, and there is still an hour left before the beginning of the child. Zhang Yi didn't care about hesitation and thoughtfulness, so he followed the steps and went into the dark passage. The bearded man held on to the plank, drew his horizontal knife, and followed. As soon as the entrance to the culvert was closed, the two of them were completely enveloped in darkness.