In the East Palace, Tai Li Heng sat on the steps and stared blankly at the drizzle, a gust of wind blew, the drizzle flew obliquely, wetting his hair and robe, but he seemed to be unconscious, the person was like a statue motionless, yesterday's cabinet meeting had almost decided his fate, Huangfu Weiming was deposed, Fu Meng Chaling was transferred, but the most important thing was that Yongwang Li Xuan Yao led the Anxi Metropolitan Protector, pierced his heart, dripping blood, he almost had no doubt that Li Ling was the new Tai who was going to replace him, Li Heng closed his eyes painfully, There seems to be a picture in my mind of the situation when he was canonized as Tai ten years ago, with a vast appearance and majestic majesty, at that time, he was proud of the mountains and rivers of the Tang Dynasty, full of ambition, and sketched his grand career; But just ten years later, he sat alone on the steps, with a miserable wind and rain in front of him, strong loss and strong dissatisfaction, like two out-of-control magic dragons, completely devouring Li Heng's heart, making his heart full of despair and hatred.

There was a slight sound of footsteps behind him, Li Jingzhong came to him with an oil-paper umbrella, he looked down at Li Heng, with a trace of pity in his eyes, the person in front of him was finished, and now Chang'an City even knew that the soldiers guarding the door were going to collapse, the news was not groundless, and the day of abolishing Tai was getting closer and closer.

Li Jingzhong sighed secretly, and his heart was a little lost, after all, he had served him for more than ten years, and his feelings were a little, but more importantly, he saw that the interests were about to slip away from his hands, if Li Heng ascended the throne, he would be a vested interest, but loss was lost, and he couldn't help it, and he couldn't break free from the black hand that covered the mountains of the Tang Dynasty behind him.

"Your Highness. It's cold outside, so let's go back to the house! ”

Li Heng's train of thought was interrupted, and he also felt the cold biting, so he stood up with Li Jingzhong's hand, and slowly walked back to the house, he put on a thick robe, pondered for a while, and said slowly to Li Jingzhong: "You go to Wei Jian's mansion and pass on a message." Ask him to see him at the old place tonight. Li Heng still has one last hope, that is, Wang Zhonghei, he is also his supporter, Shuofang and Hedong have more than 100,000 troops, if he can stand up and say a few fair words for himself, or make a gesture. Maybe he can shake his father's determination.

But Wang Zhonghei is not the emperor's only knowledge, this Li Heng also knows this, he didn't come to the two appointments, how much sacrifice is he willing to make for himself? Li Heng's hand almost crushed the teacup, as long as there was a glimmer of hope, he would never give up, since Wang Zhongsi refused to come to see him, let Wei Jian persuade him.

"Tell Wei Jian to wait for me in the Cold Moon Hall at one hour tonight."

Li Heng finished speaking. saw Li Jingzhong standing still, wanting to speak and stopping. He was heavily, 'Huh! With a sigh, gloomy eyes stared at him. Said coldly: "What? Are you going to deceive me? ”

Li Jingzhong was so frightened that he hurriedly knelt down, "The slave doesn't dare, Your Highness, the slave has a suggestion." ”

"What advice?"

Li Heng's voice was still cold, when did he need someone to give advice, but he was the only one who could use him, Li Hengqiang held back his anger and asked.

The slave thought that now the emperor had returned to Beijing. Your Highness will inevitably be discovered by someone who cares when you go out at night now, so it is better for Your Highness to write a letter. The subordinate brought Wei Shangshu. ”

Li Jingzhong said it very tactfully, he meant that someone would stalk secretly, but in fact he didn't want to carry this huge burden anymore.

Li Heng looked at Li Jingzhong quietly, his eyes flickering, Li Jingzhong's abnormality today made him vigilant, "Why does he have to write the letter himself?" Li Heng thought that many things about himself were known to his father, but this person had never been caught, and he suddenly began to suspect Li Jingzhong, "Could it be him?" ’

"That's it! You have a point, this time it's gone. ”

Li Heng stretched his voice and said coldly: "I'm a little tired, you can go!" ”

Keeping staring at Li Jingzhong leaving, Li Heng slowly walked to the inner room, and when he arrived at the door, he shivered all over, and his head began to heavily.

The concubine was sitting on the couch reading a book, and suddenly saw the princess come in, so she put down the book and greeted her, she has been married to Li Heng for nearly 20 years, her appearance is still beautiful, her temperament is graceful and dignified, her bright eyes are serene and quiet, and there is a smile on the corner of her mouth, which reveals a gentle and elegant atmosphere from her every move.

When she got closer, she saw that her husband's cheeks were flushed and his steps were a little erratic, so she gently held his hand, only to feel cold to the bone, and hurriedly helped him sit down, his face touched his hair, and couldn't help but be surprised: "Why is Your Highness's hair wet, but is it raining?" ”

She touched Li Heng's forehead again, feeling extremely hot, and was suddenly startled, "Your Highness is sick!" ”

Li Heng nodded slightly, he also felt a little uncomfortable,

Concubine Wei was even more anxious, and hurriedly helped him to lie down on the bed first, removed his shoes and socks for him, and said, "Lie down quickly, the concubine will go and call the imperial doctor." ”

She turned around and was about to leave, but Li Heng grabbed her slender and white hand, "Wait a minute, I have something to say to you." ”

Concubine Wei stopped, she saw her husband's face full of seriousness, her heart was a little uneasy, although she was in the deep palace, but she also heard a little news from the mouth of the maid, but she never asked her husband about the court, and she didn't take this matter too seriously, if her husband was abolished, she would not be a concubine.

Li Heng tried his best to soften his tone, and said with a slight smile: "This New Year, you haven't been back to your parents' house yet, this is over, why don't you go back today, and by the way, send a letter to your eldest brother for me, do you think it?" ”

"But you're sick, how can I rest assured?"

Concubine Wei shook her head and said softly: "You can go to your mother's house at any time, and you are not in a hurry at this time, I will go back when you are well." ”

Li Heng saw that she didn't understand, so he simply said: "I actually want you to send a letter for me, the stakes are very high, and I can't rest assured of others." ”

Concubine Wei understood what her husband meant, thought about it, and agreed, Li Heng was overjoyed, hurriedly wrote a letter, solemnly handed it to her, and repeatedly instructed: "This letter can only be handed over to your eldest brother, if you can't see him, burn the letter!" ”

Concubine Wei carefully accepted the letter, and then found Du Liang and told her to take good care of her, and then ordered someone to prepare for the car, and she wanted to go back to her parents' house to visit relatives.

.

The Wei family is all over Chang'an, and Wei Jian is the descendant of the Wei family, his house is located in Guangdefang, next to the house of the medicine king Sun Simiao, today is the twelfth day of the first month, there are two days before the fourteenth day of the first month to worship the ancestors, Wei Jian's two younger brothers Wei Lan and Wei Zhi who are outside the official land also returned to the old house.

It was already dark, and the spring rain seemed to be tired and faded away, but the sky was still gray, and at night it turned dark red like a fire.

The Wei Mansion is still busy, ancestor worship is a big event, there is a lot of preparation work to do, and there is no sloppiness at all, the people in the Mansion are so busy that their feet do not touch the ground, but Wei Jian locked himself in the study, he has not stepped out of the door for a whole day, his hand is pressed on his forehead, his elbow is on the table, he looks very tired, indeed, he has not closed his eyes for two nights, his heart is full of anxiety, as long as he closes his eyes, the situation of being driven out of the East Palace will appear in front of him.

There was a random splash of ink on the white wall in front of him, the ink had not yet dried, and a deep pit had been smashed out next to it, exposed

The broken mortar, just under the ink, in the corner of the wall there was a broken three-petaled Ran Wei Jian who was once furious.

There is only one reason for his anger, Wei Jian just learned that Huangfu Weiming had been hiding in his own mansion, he not only concealed the truth of the matter, but also wasted ten days, the emperor could not find Fei Tai's crime for a while, but he searched for his private message with Tai in Huangfu Weiming's mansion, so that there was still hope for redemption, because of his selfishness and became weak.

'The waste is ironclad! ’

Wei Jian seemed to have aged ten years overnight, his resolute forehead was full of old spirit, his shrewdness and ability all over his body had disappeared, and his eyes were dazed and dull.

Wei Jian is thinking about Tai's future, and Huangfu Weiming's crime is to privately raise the new army instead of leading troops to force the palace, which shows that the emperor does not want to make a big move, so Li Heng should not repeat the tragedy of the former Tai Li Ying, at most, he was demoted to the idle king, so what about himself? At present, it seems that the emperor can't find an excuse, and it is very likely that Ming Shengshi is demoted and promoted to the right servant of Shangshu.

At this time, there was a gentle knock on the door, and the second brother Wei Lan hurriedly said outside the door: "Big brother, the concubine is here!" ”

The concubine is also Wei Jian's sister, he was startled, got up and opened the door and came out, and asked in a hoarse voice, "You mean Concubine Wei, where is she?" ”

"Big brother, I'm here."

Concubine Wei came surrounded by a group of maids, she waved her hand back slightly, ordered the maids to stop, and stepped forward and whispered to Wei Jian: "Big brother." I have something important to look for you. ”

Concubine Wei's last words blocked Wei Jian's etiquette of paying homage to the concubine, and he immediately woke up from a daze, and his face quickly regained his usual shrewdness, needless to say, her important matter must be related to Tai, "Come!" Go to the room and say. He pushed open the door of the study and let Concubine Wei in.

"Big brother, then I'll be busy first."

Let's talk about it. Wei Lan turned around to leave, but after a few steps, he was stopped by Concubine Wei, "Brother Lan, you can also listen to it and get an idea for your eldest brother." Although she didn't know the content of the letter, she knew that her husband was like a wife. Intuitively, she knew that there must be too much to ask for in the letter, and her eldest brother was too foolish and loyal, and everything was not principled, and it was best for someone to remind him by the side.

Wei Lan hesitated for a moment and looked at the eldest brother, Wei Jian thought for a while, then nodded, "It's okay, you can come too!" "In case something happens to you, this family also needs someone to stand up.

It was quiet in the room. Concubine Wei had already left, and Wei Jian looked at the letter and was silent. The content of the letter was simple, ordering him to persuade Wang Zhongji to stop reporting on his work. Immediately return to Shuofang and mobilize a large army to demonstrate and put pressure on Li Longji.

This is equivalent to the same method of Huangfu Weiming, not to mention whether Wang Zhongji is willing to do this, even if he agrees, what about his generals? What about the soldiers? There is a glimmer of hope, but it is extremely slim, and if it is not good, it will anger Li Longji and make him go on a killing spree.

It was a stab in the face to Li Heng. stretched out his head and stabbed him, but it was different for Wei Jian and Wang Zhonghe. Wei Jianxin sighed, since Tai's order has been issued, even if he can't do it, he must carry it out.

"Big brother, this is the most sensitive time, you can't take care of too many things, otherwise it will ruin you." Although I don't know what is written in the letter, it can be seen from Wei Jian's expression that this matter must be extremely tricky.

Wei Lan hurriedly said: "You have done your best for Tai, while you haven't set foot too deep now, hurry up and take it back!" Why bother wading through the muddy waters? ”

Wei Jian patted his brother's shoulder and said with a slight smile: "I have always been the leader of the Tai Party, if I retreat at this time, then who else is willing to stand up, won't it chill everyone's hearts, people must have a beginning and an end, since I chose him, I must take this responsibility, if I am silent, what is the difference between me and Huangfu Weiming and others." ”

He slowly walked to the window, stared at the dark red sky, and said to himself after a while: "Tai has not lost his morality, but now he hastily abolished it for his own selfishness, ignoring the turmoil of the country, this is definitely not what Renjun did. ”

.

On the thirteenth day of the first lunar month, the sky gradually opened, and a large area of earth clouds moved rapidly eastward, and occasionally a touch of azure blue appeared from the heavy clouds, and at noon a ray of sunlight finally shone on the castle tower, arousing the cheers of the soldiers.

Seeing that tomorrow is the first day of the Shangyuan Lantern Festival, the people who came to Chang'an from Jingzhao counties to watch the lanterns are endless, and if there are relatives, they will vote for relatives, and if they have no relatives, they will find a clean inn to live in.

There was a lot of noise outside the Mingde Gate, and thousands of people waiting to enter the city crowded the city gate, and the more anxious the congestion, the slower the speed of the soldiers' release.

At this time, several carriages appeared in the distance, escorted by a team of cavalry to the city gate, the first carriage was spacious and sturdy, the horses pulling the carriage were covered with yellow mud and panting, obviously after a long journey, there were three young women sitting in the carriage, all with beautiful faces, one of them was holding swaddling clothes, pointing to Chang'an City and saying something to the other two, the corners of her mouth smiled, a pair of beautiful eyes were bent into a crescent moon, this is naturally Li Qing's wife, the other two needless to say, one is Xiaoyu, the other is Li Jingyan, they are the second day of the first month from Shazhou, After ten days of trekking, I finally arrived in Chang'an, the purpose of which was to reunite with my husband and the family to celebrate the Yuan Festival together.

The child had just made a fuss, and now he was sleeping soundly, "Sister, let me hug me for a while!" Li Jingyan saw that the curtain was holding hard, so he reached out and took the little guy over.

She kissed the child's pink little cheek, looked at her for a moment, and suddenly smiled: "Sister, have you noticed that the little guy's nose is more and more like his father." ”

"The little guy has a flat nose, and now where can you see who he looks like."

Xiaoyu on the side smiled lazily: "I think you thought about that person, so you made up a reason." ”

Li Jingyan's cheeks suddenly flushed, and she took a sip, but she couldn't find the words to refute it, so she turned her head and ignored her, the curtain gently beat her arm, laughing and saying nothing, seeing that she was about to see her husband, why wasn't she just as excited? At this time, the carriage slowed down, and she turned her head to look out the window, and saw that the line to enter the city was lined up in a long line, and the advance was extremely slow, so she had to wait patiently. She suddenly felt something, as if someone was watching her, and after a little contemplation, she found that there was also a carriage parked outside the opposite two zhang, which was also guarded by soldiers, but she saw a woman staring at herself up and down at the window, and saw that she was about in her early twenties, with slender eyebrows, apricot eyes, and delicate skin, like white porcelain. The curtain also felt that she was a little familiar, where did she seem to have seen it? But I can't remember it at once.

"Are you Li Qing's wife?" The woman on the other side suddenly asked, her tone cold and a little unfriendly.

"Exactly!"

The curtain answered, hesitated, and she also asked: "I see that you are quite familiar, but I can't remember where I have seen you." ”

The woman smiled coldly, "You have a fate, so naturally you can't remember me, we met in Chengdu, my surname is Yang, my name is Yang Huahua." ”