In the fifth year of Taihe, the third quarter of September, the first three quarters of the unitary month.

Jiannan Road, Chengdu Mansion, Xuanhe Gate.

Outside the city gate, thousands of soldiers lined up in an orderly line, silent.

The pitch-black armor blended in with the surrounding night. The torches lit on the tower of the city shined as bright as day over the Xuanhe Gate. At the front of the team, Yang Zong, the commander of Zuo Guoyi, held a long-handled Mo knife and stood under a black dragon "Wuwei" military flag with a yellow background. In the center, a road that can accommodate two teams of armored cavalry leads to the majestic and tall Xuanhe Gate. Xing Victorian Thorn Shi Yu Zangjian has taken off the six-grade green robe, put on a brand-new light crimson robe that symbolizes the history of the Thorn from the five-grade state, and rode on a black horse, standing at the end.

The autumn wind blew slowly, and the firelight swayed, but it was still a little cold.

Yang Zong held the jade token left by his uncle in his left hand, he held the Mo knife tightly in his right hand, carried it on his shoulder, and stroked the carved text on the jade with his left thumb to confirm something.

"Brother, are there any mint leaves?" Yang Zong nervously smacked his somewhat dry lips, touched the empty cloth bag, and asked the Wuwei Army standard-bearer standing beside him.

The standard-bearer was very embarrassed, Yang Zong was the new lieutenant of Zuo Guoyi, and he would definitely not dare not give mint leaves. However, Xing Victoria Thorn Shi Yu Zangjian was at the back of the team, and if he reached out to pick out the mint leaves at this juncture and made the military flag crooked, he would be fined half a month.

Yang Zong seemed to have guessed the psychological activity of the flag bearer: "You said where to put it, I'll take it myself." ”

"On the right side of the waist...... In a cloth bag. The standard-bearer said almost in a whisper.

Yang Zong took out a small handful of dried mint leaves from the cloth bag, took a few slices and stuffed them into his mouth and chewed them, nodded and thanked him with satisfaction.

"This mint leaf is fresh and nice...... It's from the west of Zhejiang......"

"Huh? Where are you from? ”

"It can't be a northern soldier who is also transferred, right?"

"Then we'll both be the same......"

I don't know if it's nervous or boring, Yang Zong asked the flag bearer one after another as if he didn't have anything to say.

However, this standard-bearer is obviously not like Ling Fox, he responded simply at first, and then completely remained silent. Yang Zong also knew that it was boring for himself, so he gave up.

"Huh...... This group of Tibetan slaves, asked them to go to Xuanhemen, why did they take so long a day. ”

After another half of the incense, Yang Zong was completely impatient to wait, scolded loudly, and looked back at Yu Zangjian who was riding on the horse, and the new Victorian assassin was expressionless.

Suddenly, someone in the team whispered, "Ah, here ......"

The night was getting dark, and although it was not intimate, the faint light of torches in the distance illuminated the silhouette of the Tibetan foot soldiers on the march. Yang Zong's eyesight has always been very good, squinting his eyes, a hundred steps away, led by a black horseman, followed by a wooden fork, stamped feet, equipped with messy Tubo infantry. In the distance, you can still hear the cheers of the Tibetan language in the procession. It was as if they were celebrating the end of the day's march.

The procession was eighty paces away, and it seemed to be the order of the black horsemen at the head, and more than 300 people stopped on the spot. The black rider covered his chest with his right hand, as if he was performing the Tubo salute in the direction of the Xuanhe Gate.

Yu Zangjian's face was as serious as facing a great enemy, and he rode to the front of the troops, presumably he could see much more clearly when he was on a horse.

"Yang Duwei...... Looks like it's time for the two of us to play. ”

Even Yang Zong, who was not so sensitive, could hear the unconcealable tension in Yu Zangjian's words at this moment, after all, this was the first time that Yu Zangjian had seen the "genuine" Tubo army in Xichuan.

With some disgust and some mocking eyes, Yang Zong glanced at Yu Zangfang's face full of anxiety.

"Yu Thorn History, they are here to ask for surrender, not to ask for battle......"

"I'm not afraid of them." Yu Zangjian touched his beard and pretended to smile easily.

"Yang didn't say you were afraid of ......"

Yang Zong said helplessly, and inadvertently saw Yu Zangjian's left hand holding the reins tightly.

Yang Zong raised the Mo knife with his right hand, put it on the shoulder armor on his right shoulder, smacked the mint leaf in his mouth to the ground, licked his upper lip, pulled the flag bearer beside him, and walked straight towards the black horse.

Yu Zangjian took a deep breath, turned around and casually called the two Heavenly Expeditionary soldiers standing in the front row, and followed behind Yang Zong and the standard-bearer on horseback.

"...... is coming?" Yang Zong's tone was slightly contemptuous, but when he got closer, he noticed the face armor pattern of the Tubo black horse, which was quite hateful, which made Yang Zong's eyebrows stunned. After a pause, Yang Zong then confirmed: "The person who came is the deputy envoy of Victoria? ”

The black rider calmly dismounted, lifted his visor, and his real appearance was no softer than the pattern of the visor. The bronzed cheeks and chin were covered with untrimmed beards, and the most disturbing thing was the blindfold on the left eye socket, which looked like a black hole in the darkness of night and the faint light of torches.

The black rider was followed by a big bearded man, burly and holding a hammer, standing not far behind the black rider. If Yang Zong is already very sturdy in the Xichuan army, but in front of the bearded man, Yang Zong looks like just a milky teenager, not to mention Yu Zangfu.

"Exactly!" Xi Yumou seemed to be smiling, and he didn't look at Yang Zong. Xi Yumou's rather standard Tang dialect surprised Yang Zong, after all, most of the Tubo soldiers he came into contact with in Hequ were slave soldiers, and they often couldn't speak a word of Tang dialect.

Xi Tanmou's eyes were half open, looking at Yu Zangjian, and said contemptuously: "Presumably you are not the envoy of Xichuan Festival, right?" ”

Yang Zong and Yu Zangjian looked at each other, this group of Tubo people obviously came to surrender, and the leader spoke so rudely, which really made Yang Zong and Yu Zangjian have a nameless fire in their hearts, but they had to endure it.

"This official is to assassinate Yu Zangjian in Victoria, and temporarily know the affairs of Victoria," Yu Zangjian squeezed out a smirk, and said loudly: "I also ask the deputy envoy to hand over the Victorian festival ribbon according to the plan, so that the army can be drawn as soon as possible and enter Victoria, so as not to change." ”

Xi Tanmou held his head high, snorted coldly, and said: "If it is according to the original plan, my seal should be directly handed over to the Jiedu Envoy, a thorn history, or temporary, the level ...... I'm afraid it's not enough. ”

Yu Zangjian was a scholar, although his face turned pale with anger by Xi Tanmou's contemptuous attitude, but he didn't dare to fight back at all. However, Yang Zongke, who saved military merits by cutting off the heads of the Tubo people in Hequ, couldn't bear this humiliation, and roared angrily: "What? You don't want to deliver the ribbon? Then you barbarians won't be able to enter Chengdu Mansion! ”

Xi Yumou was stunned for a moment, and the moment he looked at Yang Zong with one eye, there seemed to be a strong killing intent in his eyes, even Yang Zong was cold. Xi Yimou looked Yang Zong up and down for a long time, and after weighing the pros and cons, he sneered and said lightly: "I didn't say no......"

After speaking, Xi Tanmou said a few more words of Tubo behind him, causing the Tubo soldiers to laugh. Yu Zangjian and Yang Zong didn't understand either, so they endured it so that they didn't have a seizure.

Xi Tanmou stretched out his palm towards the bearded man, and the bearded man took out the Victorian Festival seal from his arms with understanding, and the small seal ribbon looked extremely small in the hands of the bearded man. However, after Xi Tanmou took the seal ribbon in his hand, he jokingly threw it at Yu Zangjian. Yu Zangjian was unprepared, of course he didn't catch it, and the seal ribbon fell straight to the ground, but fortunately it didn't break because the road was wet and soft.

Yang Zong gritted his teeth, Yu Zangjian's snort became thicker, and the bearded man stretched out his thick palm to the horizontal knife.

After snorting playfully from his nostrils, Xi Tanmou put on his armor, got on his horse without heeding, and walked straight to Xuanhe Gate along the official road with about 300 people behind him.

Looking at the Victorian Festival ribbon that fell to the ground, Yang Zong and Yu Zangjian had a surge of anger in their hearts, but they had to endure it stubbornly. It is the top priority for the army to set off as soon as possible, and presumably Xi Mou has also calculated this, so he dares to be so snub to the new Victorian assassin.

In addition, the surrender of Victoria is of great strategic significance to Datang, and Xi Zangjian is clear, and Yang Zong and Yu Zangjian are also clear. The surrender of foreign races has a strong demonstration effect. If nothing else, this Tubo man will definitely be knighted in the future as a reward, and a small Victorian assassin will certainly not be able to suppress him.

"Open the gates!"

With the shouts of the soldiers on the city tower, the Xuanhe gate slowly opened, and more than 2,000 people from the Tianzheng Army and the Wuwei Army who were ready to go outside the gate tacitly left a road to Chengdu Mansion for Xi Yimou and the Tubo defenders behind him.

"Yang Duwei......" Yu Zangjian dismounted and carefully picked up the Victorian Thorn Shi Seal, gently rubbed the soil on it with his sleeve, and sighed: "You say, is this our surrender, or the surrender of the captives?" ”

Yang Zong cursed fiercely at Xi Yumou's back, pestled the handle of Mo's knife into the mud, looked at the Xuanhe Gate behind him, and the back of the Tubo foot soldiers who were gradually entering the city, and spat on it.

"All martial arts, heavenly signs, pull out!"

Youzheng.

Chengdu Mansion, the festival of the embassy.

In the front hall of the middle hall, Li Deyu leaned on the chair of the envoy of the festival, and looked at Zhang Yi a few times apart.

In front of the case, several candles had begun to burst their cores.

Zhang Yijun's words caused Li Deyu to feel excited, when did the handsome mansion where he lived every day become a sieve?

"Yijun, do you have any evidence?"

Seeing that Zhang Yijun was silent for a while, Li Deyu breathed deeply, as if he wanted to suck the air of the entire temple into his lungs. Then he got up calmly, picked up the silver scissors next to the candle, and cut off the wick on the desk that had begun to shoot head. "When King Ying sent you to my shogunate, it wasn't something you would do to make something out of nothing......

The mention of King Yingjun made Zhang Yijun pause, and some fleeting memories came to his mind.

"This matter is by no means something that Yi Jun made ......out of nothing," Zhang Yijun frowned and said seriously: "Too many things have happened today, and I will wait for Yi Jun to explain them one by one!" ”

Li Deyu sat up straight and bowed slightly. Zhang Yijun knew that this was the meaning of the festival to prepare for listening.

"Victoria's festival is reckless, does Li Gong know?"

"From the first year of the Baoli calendar to the fifth year of Taihe, the seventh year of the Victorian Festival."

"Exactly," Zhang Yijun tried to keep his thoughts as clear as possible, so he also said carefully, "However, according to the deputy envoy of Victoria, Xi Yimou, this person has not been allowed to do things for a long time, and has withheld military salaries, which has aroused military resentment. This is the fundamental reason why this Victorian plan can be successful. ”

Li Deyu nodded and motioned for Zhang Yijun to continue.

"The predecessor of the Victorian secret pile Sima Zhu was suddenly killed, and it is reported that the conspiracy said that it was because he could hear the rumors and be on guard. However, how could such a person who was unruly and only wanted to accumulate wealth and goods suddenly discover Sima Zhu, who had been hidden for more than a year? Yijun believes from this that Sima Zhu is not exposed, but betrayed! ”

After listening to Zhang Yijun's analysis, Li Deyu looked stunned and slowly got up from the chair.

"Sima Zhu was appointed by Guo Zhao, the former envoy of the festival, when he was in office, and the officialdom of Chengdu Mansion was mixed, and those who knew his identity were probably not only the wingmen of the Shuai Mansion, but also Bing Cao, and even the military envoy...... Why do you suspect the Shuaifu? ”

"Because the high is suspicious!" Zhang Yijun seemed to have been prepared and replied without thinking.

"Suspicious?"

"Not bad!" Zhang Yijun nodded, "Don't hide it from Gong Li, as far as Yijun knows, the deputy envoy of Victoria has already intended to surrender to the Tang Dynasty." And killing Sima Zhu is the possibility of you taking advantage of Victoria's surrender. Li Gong thought about it, who will profit from this? Overseer of the Embassy? Wang Jianyan is a eunuch, with his back to the North Division, he has always swayed from side to side, killing the dark pile is a serious crime, and he will not wade into this troubled water. Will it be Hyosa? Those warriors wished that Victoria would surrender as soon as possible, so that they could earn military merits. Li Gong thought about it again, if there is a secret stake of your political enemies in the Shuai Mansion, seeing that you want to take credit, what will he do if he has the identity of Sima Zhu? ”

“…… Besides, at that time, Li Gong was in a hurry to take office as the envoy of the Xichuan Festival, and it was too late to recruit and transfer his assistants from the new recruitment, and almost all the adjutants were based on local materials. It can be said that except for Ya General, who was personally promoted by you, the other officials are all old people from Xichuan. Let Li Gong have no cronies available at the beginning, which is also the upright conspiracy of the Niu Party last year. Have you forgotten? ”

Li Deyu listened quietly, still shaking his head suspiciously, "No......"

"If it is to prevent me from recovering the lost territory, and now Victoria is clearly about to surrender, Yijun, you are a hidden pile, but you are also safe, how to explain this inconsistency?"

"It is precisely because of such contradictions that the matter of sending troops to Victoria needs to be postponed," Zhang Yijun said in a cold voice, thoughtfully: "What Li Gong said is right, Yijun has been hiding in Victoria for more than a year, and even until Victoria is successful, the secret stake of this marshal's mansion is silent, as if he is waiting for Victoria to be completed." So under this premise, is sending troops to Victoria exactly what this person wants? ”

Zhang Yijun originally wanted to tell Li Zhi's confession about this, but his faint intuition made him feel that the connection between this and Sima Zhu's murder was still unclear, and it was only Xue Tao's words that had not been verified, and considering his guarantee to Xue Tao, he gave up and did not mention the matter for the time being.

Xu is because of his hard work in recent days, Li Deyu actually had a little weakness in his eyes, and he said abruptly: "Betraying the secret pile, Tang Lu will be beheaded." This suspicion of yours is to ...... all those involved in Victoria's conspiracy are all stamped with suspicion. and all the people I trust......"

After saying this, Zhang Yi couldn't help but be stunned and silently realized.

"That's what it is...... Why did Li Gong insist on sending troops? ”