That night, the atmosphere in Chang'an suddenly became tense, the gate of Pingkangfang was closed, the green building, the wine shop, the inn, and the gambling hall were all closed, and all the people were driven to the street, and a group of soldiers searched from house to house with a vicious look, and as long as they found a man in black clothes, they were immediately arrested.

The news of Cui Xiangguo's assassination spread throughout Chang'an before dawn, like a hurricane, and the joy of people's longing for a polo tournament was wiped out.

The sudden news also made every official's heart suddenly nervous, I don't know what kind of changes this will bring to the pattern of the imperial court, the day has just dawned, all the people have got the news that the Pingkang Fang and Dongshi have implemented martial law, please take a detour, all kinds of speculation circulated in each square, some said that Cui Yuan had been seriously injured and died, and some said that this was the revenge of the Hui people.

The Tang Dynasty Emperor Li got the news after dawn, he was shocked and worried, shocked that someone dared to assassinate Xiangguo in front of everyone, this wind together, the important ministers of the court will be in danger of themselves, but the worry is that Cui Yuan was seriously injured and did not die, and an opportunity to change the power structure of the Tang Dynasty was wasted.

In order to stabilize the situation, the Li department immediately convened the officials from the third rank and above in the Zichen Hall to discuss the personnel arrangements during Cui Yuan's serious injury, and at this time, Cui Yuan sent his clan brother and the servant of the Ministry Cui Yu to convey his intention that during his serious injury, the right minister's ruling pen will be managed by the other six cabinet members, each of whom will be in charge for one day.

Cui Yuan's suggestion was almost unanimously accepted, although it was only one day, but he was able to use the power of Xiangguo to achieve some of his wishes, Cui Yuan's assassination seemed to have subsided so quickly, and did not cause any political earthquakes, and martial law in Pingkangfang and Dongshi was lifted in the evening.

The night is getting thicker and thicker, large clouds are floating in the cold night wind, the cold moon is cold, and a team of orange lanterns swim on the Wangxian Bridge connecting Daming Palace and Taiji Palace. Li Xiang came to the Taiji Palace worriedly.

Taiji Palace is very quiet, sometimes walk through two palaces in a row can not see a palace person, look lifeless, Li Department was slightly surprised, soon, he came to the Queen Mother's bedroom, there was already a little eunuch rushed to inform the Queen Mother. After a while, Zhang Liangdi's personal eunuch Luo Chengen greeted him.

"The old slave sees the emperor, and the queen mother invites the emperor in."

Li nodded, and he took two steps. He turned around and asked in a low voice, "It seems that there are a lot of palace people in Taiji Palace, where have they gone?" ”

Luo Chengen smiled bitterly and said: "The emperor may not know that the queen mother's temper is hot these days, and she ordered punishment if she didn't go well, and she rushed to the palace maid to say that there were already 100 people. But there are no newcomers to add, so it naturally looks very lonely. ”

Li Department was stunned. He immediately sneered secretly, it seems that the Queen Mother knows about this, so things will be easy to do.

These days. Zhang Liangdi has been tortured by Zhang Huan's affairs to the point of emaciation, and she will be awakened by bloody nightmares every night. Immediately after that, I lost sleep all night. The nerves are unusually tense and a little bit windy. Either she was furious, or she was so frightened that she hid in the tent, and only felt a little at ease when Zhu sent Long Wujun to guard the gate for her.

It seems unlikely that she could get rid of Zhang Huan, but it is possible to get rid of him from Daming Palace, so she sent someone to send a letter to the Li family, and in this matter, the interests of the two of them are the same.

At this time, Zhang Liangdi was smearing rouge in the mirror, and in the mirror was an aging and pale face, and in just a few days, she was already old.

"Queen Mother, Your Majesty is here." Luo Chengen reported unusually softly behind her.

Zhang Liangdi sighed softly at the mirror, and threw the powder in her hand on the case, "Let him in!" ”

She sat down on the seat, the palace maid put down a curtain of light yarn, Li Department had already walked in quickly, he knelt down and bowed, "The emperor sees the queen mother!" ”

"The emperor is flat!" Zhang Liangdi waved her hand gently, she didn't wait for Li Department to speak, she smiled faintly and said, "We haven't seen each other for almost half a year!" ”

"The emperor has a lot of things to do in the past six months, and I have no time to visit the Queen Mother, please forgive the Queen Mother."

Zhang Liangdi smiled coldly, "You are indeed very busy, you are patrolling Hedong, canonizing the crown prince, and raising an army, what is it called the Tianqi camp, and the Zhang Huan who was dismissed by the mourning family is reused again, it is really very face-saving for the mourning family!" ”

"Zhang Huan was reused because of his meritorious service, and he did not intend to go against the Queen Mother." Not necessarily! A mocking smile appeared on Zhang Liangdi's lips, "Why do the mourning family think that you promoted his descendants because you are ashamed of your eldest brother." ”

"Queen Mother!" Li Xian's face was swollen red, and he said with some annoyance: "If the Queen Mother has something to say, please speak directly, there is no need to be so cynical, if I didn't have that heart, I wouldn't have come to see the Queen Mother today." ”

Zhang Liangdi nodded, "It seems that you are still relatively sober and know that the matter is serious." ”

She suddenly lowered her voice, stared at Li Ji gloomily, and said, "Don't forget, you killed him with your own hands back then, what did he say when he was dying?" ”

Li was shocked by Zhang Liangdi's gloomy and miserable face, and the angry curse of the eldest brother when he was dying appeared in his mind, "My son will avenge me!" ”

It was for this sentence that he went on a killing spree, cutting down all the sons of his eldest brother, including the dozens of wives and daughters of the crown princess Shen Pearl in the mainland, and killed them all, but he didn't expect it

"You didn't expect him to have an illegitimate child outside, did you?" Zhang Liangdi seemed to know his thoughts, and she laughed sharply like a night owl, "Of course he knows that all his sons will not be spared, he is actually referring to Zhang Huan, but unfortunately we didn't understand." ”

Her laughter stopped abruptly, and her ghostly face leaned closer to Li and said, "But we still have a chance now, don't we?" ”

Li was silent for a long time, he sighed and said: "The three thousand cavalry in his hand is not trivial, and he controls the Daming Palace, a little negligence, I am afraid that he will backfire on himself, and I will throw myself into a rat trap!" ”

Zhang Liangdi suddenly smiled, she had been thinking about this answer for a long time, and she had already made up her mind, she was not afraid that she would not be able to do it, but she was afraid that the Li Department would not do it, she smiled faintly and said: "There is another person who can control the Tianqi Battalion." Could it be that the emperor forgot? ”

Li was slightly stunned, and his eyes gradually brightened.

Just when the emperor and queen were discussing how to solve the problem of leaving the land sixteen years ago in the Taiji Palace, Zhang Huan's East Inner Garden also came to an uninvited guest, Zhang Huan lit the lamp in the room, and poured a cup of tea and handed it to Chu Xingshui.

"I heard that Uncle Chu only arrived in Chang'an yesterday?"

"Don't call me Uncle Shi!" Chu Xingshui waved his hand and said categorically: "I am your own uncle, and you have the blood of my Chu family in your body." It's a fact you can't deny. ”

Zhang Huan touched his nose and smiled: "We know it in our hearts, and it's always a little embarrassing to say it." ”

"Awkward?" Chu Xingshui sneered and said: "You are a person who wants to do big things, if you dare not do anything, don't dare to say anything, don't pretend to be sentimental in front of me." If you admit that I am your uncle, then I will tell you the truth, if you do not admit it, then I will leave now, and you will not ask me for help in the future. ”

"That's a nice thing to say!" Zhang Huan's face suddenly sank. He also said coldly: "Are you really here to help me?" If you're here to help me, then don't mention a single word Pei tonight. ”

Chu Xingshui's face changed several times. He stared at Zhang Huan for a long time before he shook his head and said, "You really disappointed me!" I thought you could do great things, but I didn't expect you to be a stupid person who doesn't know how to take advantage of opportunities. ”

He sat down slowly and said in a deep voice, "Not bad! I was entrusted by Pei Jun to win you over. You can say no, but you need to know how dangerous you are now. Zhang Ruoho is critically ill, you must already know. If he dies, Hedong will lose his pillars. There will be a big chaos, and no one can protect you, maybe you don't have to wait until then, do you know why the emperor issued an order to deny that you are the son of Prince Yu? ”

Zhang Huan smiled faintly and said, "It's just trying to kill me." ”

"Not bad!" Chu Xingshui nodded lightly, "You can see this, it means that you still have a little vision, the court does not recognize you as the son of Prince Yu, but in fact, everyone knows the truth in their hearts, this is the harbinger of killing you, if I am not mistaken, it is not Cui Yuan who really wants to do something to you, but Zhang Potian, do you want to get it?" ”

Zhang Huan was silent, although he didn't want to admit it, but he knew that Chu Xingshui was telling the truth, why Zhang Potian rushed back to Hedong, Zhang Huan knew very well in his heart, but Zhang Potian had been back from Hedong for seven days, but he had been ignoring himself, which faintly revealed that Zhang Potian's mentality had changed, he used to value himself, the premise was because he was a child of the Zhang family, and now once he knew his special identity, it was impossible for him to have no ideas, as for him to kill himself, maybe he was really afraid that he would ruin the Zhang family, Maybe he made some kind of deal with the Li family.

However, the praying mantis catches the cicada, the yellow finch is behind, Zhang Potian and Li Department should of course know that there are two foxes behind them, waiting there one left and one right, just waiting for them to show their flaws, the situation is confusing, no one knows who will have the last laugh?

After being silent for a long time, Zhang Huan suddenly turned around and smiled: "Then what conditions does Pei Xiang plan to give me?" ”

Chu Xingshui sighed in his heart, and in the end, there was still only a naked transaction between their nephews and uncles, and he had no choice but to smile bitterly and said: "If you are willing to take refuge in Pei Xiang, Pei Xiang promised to appoint you as the assassin of Hedong County and the training envoy of the Puzhou regiment, and recruit you as a son-in-law." ”

Hedong County? Zhang Huan secretly sneered and drew a big cake for himself, Cui Yuanken? But he still said quietly: "Since I am a training envoy for the Puzhou regiment, then my 3,000-day cavalry camp will also follow me, this is my condition, can Pei Xiang agree?" ”

This Chu Xingshui hesitated, "I'm going to go back and discuss this with Pei Xiang." ”

"Please tell Pei Xiang, Cui Yuan's rumors are where I let them go, if he agrees to my condition, I might as well give him this favor."

Chu Xingshui was stunned, for a while, a trace of ecstasy burst out of his eyes, and he disappeared in an instant, he quickly stood up and said with a smile: "Then I will go back, and I will give you an answer soon." ”

Just when Chu Xingshui had just walked to the door, Zhang Huan suddenly whispered: "Uncle! ”

Chu Xingshui was stunned, he turned around and nodded to Zhang Huan, with a hint of warmth in his eyes, "If one day, you have no way out, then you will come to Huainan." ”

As soon as Chu Xingshui left, Zhang Huan immediately ordered, "Someone!" ”

A personal soldier walked in quickly, half-knelt and saluted, "Please give orders to the general." ”

"Go! Hurry up to Yongjiafang and invite Mr. Li to me. ”

Several of his own soldiers mounted their horses and galloped away, while Zhang Huan paced back and forth in the room with his hands behind his back, he had received the news this morning that Cui Yuan had been assassinated, and before he recovered from his injuries, he had given the right minister's ruling pen to the other six cabinet members to take charge of each day, and Zhang Huan certainly understood what that meant.

He walked to the window and looked silently at the dark night sky, time was running out, and he had to start preparing.

Soon, a carriage stopped in front of the house, and Li Mi got out of the carriage and hurriedly walked into Zhang Huan's room, "You have something urgent to find me?" ”

"I have accepted Chu Xing's lobby and joined Pei Jun." Zhang Huan smiled faintly.

Li Mi was slightly stunned, and he immediately smiled meaningfully, although Zhang Huan did not discuss this decision with him in advance, and he told himself about the alliance with Cui Xiaofu not long ago.

But he also knows that Zhang Huan is a very scheming person, and he is unwilling to say everything to himself in many things, as a strategist, Li Mi of course hopes that the lord he is loyal to will obey his words, but he also hopes that Zhang Huan can make independent decisions on major matters and become a hegemon as soon as possible.

Since Zhang Huan had decided to use Pei Jun, he had to prepare in advance, he thought about it and asked with a smile: "Do you want me to go to Taiyuan first?" ”

Zhang Huan nodded, "That's exactly what I meant, I'll give Mr. a hundred people, and I'll leave tonight!"