Chapter 262 is all waiting and searching

The emperor asked Mu Xiaoxiao many questions carefully, especially concerned about the news that Mu Xiaoxiao found along the way. Mu Xiaoxiao marked the tuntian land he passed through from the map, and he had seen no less than four or five, even if there were 10,000 people hidden in Li Yuanshan in each tuntian land, this was already a large number.

The emperor looked at the places marked on the map and sighed slightly: "It is the duty of the government to supervise the garrisons in Tuntian in various places...... In order to hide from me, Li Yuanshan naturally wanted to buy Hou Wenji. From this point of view, it is not for a while that Hou Wenji has a disagreement with me. ”

Fang explained: "Perhaps, at the beginning, Li Yuanshan only said something about the northwest important land, and the right Xiao guards were few and difficult to suppress, so he privately expanded some soldiers and horses. Although this is also a great sin, it is indeed excusable. So Hou Wenji accepted the benefits and hid it for him. But later, even if Hou Wenji discovered Li Yuanshan's true purpose, he didn't dare to talk about it to His Majesty again, because that would be tantamount to conspiracy to rebel. ”

The Emperor nodded.

"You will stay in the Taiji Palace tonight, and Ming'er will go out of the palace directly with me in the morning."

Under Su Buxing's reminder, the emperor realized that the night was already very deep. He waved his hand and ordered, motioning for Fang Xie to let them go. Fang Xie retreated, and when he walked to the door, he stopped again: "Your Majesty...... The minister is not sure. ”

The Emperor looked at him and asked, "What will happen tomorrow?" ”

Fang Xie nodded.

The Emperor said, "Tomorrow you just have to follow me, but you won't need to do anything." If you can use it, you can explain it to me as you go. ”

Fang Xie responded and withdrew from the Dongnuan Pavilion, saying in his heart What does the emperor rely on? How can you not seem to worry about tomorrow at all?

Mu San led them to the arranged room, chatted for a few words, and then took his leave. Fang Xie stuffed a silver ticket with a large denomination in his hand, but Mu San just refused to accept it. Fang Xie said with a smile If there is no silver in the palace, it is not easy to make a point, so I will lend it to you. Mu San put it away and left with a thousand thanks.

Although Fang Xie and Shen Tian Fan Mu Xiaoxiao were in the same room, it was not easy to do anything in the palace. The three of them chatted for a long time, and only after a while did they lie down to rest. packed up a futon and slept alone in the outhouse. He laid his mattress on the ground, and lay down for a long time without falling asleep.

His mind was all about tomorrow, constantly speculating about what Prince Yi would do. He knew that Prince Yi must have mastered a part of the army, but the most worrying thing was that he didn't know which guard's men and horses were bought by him. It's because I don't know that I can't prevent it.

He planned to persuade the emperor to bring the eight hundred elites who were rumored to be sharp in the world when he left the palace early tomorrow morning. As long as there are these 800 people, the emperor should not have an accident.

There must be a lot of masters on Prince Yi's side, and what Fang Xie is most worried about is why those people in Wudang Mountain came. If those Daoists were Prince Yi's people, coupled with the great cultivators raised by Prince Yi, the situation would definitely be very difficult tomorrow. Fortunately, there is also a recognized No. 1 master of the Great Sui in the Yanwu Academy, Zhou Banchuan, and there is also a Taoist leader Xiao Zhenren in the Qingfeng Temple. In the palace, there must be many people with advanced cultivation in charge.

Thinking of this, Fang Xie understood why Xiao Zhenren and the people of Yiqi had never left Chang'an City. The emperor must have been worried about Prince Yi's rebellion, so he left Xiao Zhenren and them in Chang'an in case of emergency. Xiao Zhenren was already familiar with His Majesty when he had not yet ascended the throne, and His Majesty must have already explained something to him.

Fang Jie's worries were precisely because he didn't understand Prince Yi. He couldn't guess how much strength Prince Yi had, especially his control over the military. Moreover, he was also worried about the queen mother in the harem, the old lady was said to love Prince Yi the most, in case the emperor was defeated, the old lady would definitely be on Prince Yi's side. The emperor is the most filial person, and it is difficult to say how to face the queen mother.

He couldn't sleep, and he didn't know how many people couldn't sleep that night.

Prince Yi's Mansion

Qin Liuqi looked at the hundreds of black-clothed people standing neatly in the courtyard in front of him, his face was solemn. These people are the snake guards that Prince Yi has not been forming for a long time, but these people are all good at killing. Many of them are soldiers who are so confused that their lives are unsatisfactory, and the rest are charlatans. Most of them are murderous people without blinking.

"Have you memorized your tasks?"

Qin Liuqi said coldly: "As soon as the prince's side starts tomorrow, you will be a small group of ten people to assassinate those who are targeting the prince in Chang'an City." I've given you the list, remember, the first few on the list must die. If this is done, you all have the merit of the dragon. No matter what your previous origins were, after tomorrow, you will all be nobles! ”

"Got it!"

The snake guards answered.

"There is only one chance, and you have seized it and climbed to the sky in one step. If you don't grasp it, you won't recover. ”

Qin Liuqi said: "Fate is never immutable, others can be clothed and fed, and you can do the same." Don't you all envy the children of those families, so go and create a family that belongs to you. The prince has given you the opportunity, and then it's up to you! ”

Ouchi Guard

Luo Weiran put the two lists on the table and said, "These people must be kept an eye on, and no one is allowed to get away." ”

He pointed to another one: "Although none of these people serve in the imperial court, they are all nobles. If Prince Yi wants to succeed, he must either enlist these people to help him, or get rid of them...... Ming'er is strictly protected, and no accidents are allowed! ”

"Whoa!"

In the Ouchi Guard, the deputy commander made Meng Wushu and the four thousand households respond neatly. Because of Hou Wenji's affairs, three of the eight thousand households of the Ouchi Guards were taken out and secretly executed.

"If we don't do well tomorrow."

Luo Weiran straightened up and let out a long sigh of relief: "The Ouchi Guard Office may die at the hands of you and me." ”

……

……

northwest

Wolf Milk Mountain

In a dense forest, the Sui army of about 1,000 people sat listlessly on the ground, and there was still a little bit of the appearance of the mighty and heroic division of the Great Sui. The place is very private, under the cliffs, there is a large wood. Although the Wolf Milk Mountain does not look very tall, the mountain range is huge. It is not too difficult for a team of more than 1,000 people in the mountains to hide and not be found.

On a stone next to a small stream, Yang Kai, the gloomy face of King Xujun, looked at the soldiers who were sitting on the ground resting in a mess, and couldn't help but sigh. Just a few months ago, these soldiers were still proud of the elite of the Great Sui, but now, there is no fighting spirit in them.

After several months of hiding in the mountains, Meng Yuan's cavalry could not go up the mountain to find it, and Li Yuanshan's rebels were in a hurry to control the cities in the northwest, leaving only 20,000 horses to guard the foot of the mountain. Fortunately, there was a water source and a lot of prey in this mountain, and if it was the same as the Half Moon Mountain north of Chang'an City, they would all starve to death without the need for the rebels to chase them.

A young man wearing tooth armor beside him also had a very unsightly face, squatted on the edge of the stream and took some water and handed it to Yang Kai: "Lord Wang, drink saliva." ”

Yang Kai took the kettle and said after a moment of silence: "Li Xiaozong...... Why don't you rebel with Li Yuanshan? ”

Li Xiaozong was stunned for a moment, and said with a wry smile: "The prince still doesn't believe in humble duties? ”

Yang Kai shook his head.

Li Xiaozong was silent for a while and said: "The humble position was indeed very painful at that time, if Li Yuanshan did not collude with the Meng Yuan people, maybe the humble position would follow him on the wrong path." But...... He shouldn't have stood with the Meng Yuan people to slaughter my Great Sui, he had forgotten what kind of blood was flowing in his body. ”

Yang Kai snorted: "It's not that I don't trust you, I'm just curious...... In the past few months, if you hadn't taken the men and horses to hide in the Wolf Milk Mountain, these people wouldn't have been able to survive. ”

Li Xiaozong said: "I firmly believe that there are still many people and horses who survive, although the 700,000 army has been defeated, but the Mengyuan people want to kill all our men and horses, it is not so easy." The lowly faction has been searching in the Wolf Milk Mountains, and they are sure to find others. As long as we gather some more people, we can take advantage of the emptiness in Li Yuanshan's back to kill them...... If you can destroy the 20,000 rebels at the foot of the mountain and snatch some supplies from Fangu City, you can recruit the people. The people must be resistant to the rebels, and the prince only needs to climb up and shout at that time, and a large number of people will be able to accompany him. ”

Yang Kai nodded: "I also believe that there are still many people alive, but they have been scattered and don't know where to hide." Jin Shixiong, the general of Zuo Xiaowei, never heard the news of his death, and he should have broken out with his men and horses at that time. He has more than 10,000 cavalry under his command, and it should not be difficult to kill them. ”

As he spoke, a man in lieutenant costume walked briskly.

"Lord Wang, I found it!"

The man was tall and thin, with a resolute face. It turned out that the skin was very white, but after only half a year of fighting, it had already turned into a wheat-like color.

It was Cui Liushang.

"What did you find?"

Yang Kai stood up and asked.

Cui Liushang had a happy look on his face: "Lord Wang, the lowly duty took the scouts to search north for one hundred and fifty miles, and found traces of human activity, and chased them all the way, but they were actually found by the lowly rank to find the men and horses of Jin Shixiong, the general of Zuo Xiaowei." No less than 5,000 people were planning to make a detour to the north, enter the 100,000 mountains from the north, take the territory of the Northern Liao people and return to the Great Sui. ”

"Northern Liao?"

Yang Kai's face changed, and he suddenly smiled and said, "How did I forget about them." Cui Luoshang, have you seen General Kim Shixiong? ”

"See!"

Cui Luoshang said: "I rushed back with a few people first, and the other scouts stayed with General Jin to lead the way, and they were rushing here to converge." ”

"Five thousand people, Jin Shixiong actually saved so many soldiers."

Yang Kai couldn't help but sigh with emotion.

"It's all gathered along the way, if it weren't for Meng Yuan's cavalry searching back and forth on the grassland, maybe more would have been gathered."

Cui Luoshang replied.

Yang Kai handed the kettle to Cui Luoshang and said, "Take a break, let's set off to meet Jin Shixiong." In addition, I have a plan...... If it is successful, it may be able to catch Meng Yuanren off guard! ”

"Northern Liao?"

Li Xiaozong asked subconsciously.

Yang Kai nodded: "The Northern Liao people have long had the intention of taking refuge in the Great Sui, as long as we persuade them to send troops, we can take back some places, as long as we hold firmly, we can wait for the reinforcements mobilized by Your Majesty to arrive." When the time comes, the rebels will be defeated by attacking from both sides. ”

Li Xiaozong didn't speak, but what he was thinking in his heart was...... Your Majesty...... Do you have the heart to deal with the affairs of the Northwest at this time? It's time for Prince Yi to do it.