Taiyuan is not far from Xingyang, and it only takes one day and one night to ride a horse, but to walk by land, it is bound to pass through Dongjun. At this time, Dongjun had completely fallen into the sphere of influence of the Wagang thieves, and no matter how bold Li Xuanba was, he did not dare to take such a risk, so he took a warship, set off from Xingyang, detoured to the eastern capital, and then went north along the Fenshui River to Taiyuan.

Despite the war, Taiyuan is still prosperous, and the population of the county is much larger than before. Zhen Zhai'er harassed Taiyuan, so that the people outside the city had to hide in the city. When Yang Guang built Jinyang Palace, he had already considered the matter of going on patrol, so Jinyang Palace was on the edge of Fenshui, Li Xuanba and the accompanying guards explained a few words, and then took Liang Xiao ashore.

Li Xuanba was very young, Liang Xiao was even younger, and the two of them got off the boat, which naturally attracted the side eyes of many people, ordinary people just looked at them curiously, and the officials of the imperial court stepped forward to ask about their identities. When he learned that Li Xuanba was Li Yuan's third son, the faces of the surrounding people showed smiles.

"It turned out to be the third son." The official with a serious face, after confirming Li Xuanba's identity, also put on a smile and said respectfully: "At this hour, Lord Tongshou will generally be in Jinyang Palace, and the villain will take you over." ”

Whether it is the people or the officials of the imperial court, their smiles are completely from the heart, and there is not the slightest flattery in their eyes.

Li Xuanba arched his hand and said: "Jinyang Palace is ahead, Xuanba can go by himself, don't dare to bother the adults." The official was polite, no longer insisted, and watched Li Xuanba leave.

When they arrived at Jinyang Palace, the guards stopped the two, and although Li Xuanba was prominent, there were some rules that still had to be followed. Li Xuanba didn't care, while he was waiting, he said to Liang Xiao: "What do you think of the people here?" ”

Liang Xiao thought for a moment and replied, "They seem to respect Gongzi very much. ”

Li Xuanba chuckled lightly and said, "Where do they respect me? After speaking, his eyes fell on Jinyang Palace. Liang Xiao looked over with Li Xuanba's gaze and understood in his heart.

Li Yuan didn't expect Li Xuanba to come to Taiyuan, he hesitated for a moment and ordered someone to bring Li Xuanba in.

"Father." When Li Xuanba saw Li Yuan, he bowed down and bowed. The father and son are both guarded by a county, and Li Xuanba's behavior is naturally a junior ceremony.

Li Yuan walked up to Li Xuanba, helped him up, and then looked at him seriously. Since the farewell of Dongjun, the father and son have not seen each other for several months, and Li Xuanba has grown a little taller, and he is not as thin as before.

"Seeing that you are all right, I am relieved to be my father." Li Yuan opened his mouth and said: "I heard that the Wagang thieves are powerful and may attack Xingyang at any time, how can you, as the general guard of Xingyang, leave at this time?" ”

Li Xuanba looked at the guards in the palace, Li Yuan understood, sighed secretly, and asked those people to retreat first.

"Your Majesty ordered Xuanba to deliver an edict." Li Xuanba took out Yang Guang's secret edict from his arms, presented it with both hands, and said, "Your Majesty heard that Taiyuan is not very peaceful, so let Xuanba personally run it." ”

Li Yuan took the edict, put it in his arms casually, and said calmly: "Your mother misses you very much, since you are here, let's go and see her." ”

Through Li Yuan's simple actions, Li Xuanba had already guessed that Li Yuan had not received Yang Guang's previous edict.

"After getting down to business, Xuanba will naturally go to see his mother." Li Xuanba said with a straight face: "But before that, Xuanba wants to ask his father, why did you do this?" After Xuanba woke up, although he had only met his father once or twice, he admired his father very much, and his father was willing to give up his small family and fight thieves for the court, but why did he choose another path at this time? ”

"My father has done so many things for the court, but how does Your Majesty treat my father?" Li Yuan was a little annoyed by Li Xuanba's questioning, and shouted: "Because of the rebellion of subordinate officials, Your Majesty will punish your father's sin, do you think your father should sit back and wait to be killed?" ”

"There are countless ministers around my father, and Xuanba doesn't believe that no one can guess His Majesty's mind." In the face of Li Yuan's anger, Li Xuanba was unmoved, and said: "Xuanba didn't come here to persuade anything, I just want to know, why did my father do this, and I also want to know what my father will do in the future?" ”

There are only Li Yuan's father and son in the palace, so Li Xuanba has no worries and tells his intentions straight to the point. Li Yuan glanced at Li Xuanba in surprise, and there was a hint of strangeness in his eyes.

After a long time, Li Yuan sighed, his voice became softer, and said: "The people live a miserable life, inside, there are endless traitors, outside, Turkic, Goguryeo and other countries are eyeing each other, and all of this is caused by Your Majesty's immorality. His Majesty is wise for half a lifetime, and his father does not want the Great Sui to be destroyed in his hands, otherwise, he will definitely leave a reputation for eternity. ”

What Li Yuan said made Li Xuanba unable to refute, he was silent for a moment, and said: "Don't hide it from my father, the child also hopes that His Majesty can wake up and abdicate as soon as possible." After speaking, ignoring Li Yuan's surprised gaze, he continued: "What about the few secret envoys sent by His Majesty? ”

"Killed by the people." Li Yuan replied casually.

"Sure enough." Li Xuanba muttered and said: "Your Majesty is already suspicious of you, so you will send Xuanba here, since you have decided to raise troops, naturally you can't let the news leak out, I don't know how you plan to deal with Xuanba?" ”

Li Yuan said a lot of big truths, but these are not the real reasons why he decided to rebel, if it wasn't for Li Shimin's beauty plan, if it wasn't for Li Shimin's beheading of the secret envoy, Li Yuan might have followed Yang Guang's edict and returned to Luoyang with his family. But Li Yuan was reluctant to hand over Li Shimin, so he chose to raise troops to rebel.

Li Xuanba is also Li Yuan's child, where is Li Yuan willing to hurt him?

"You stay in Taiyuan." Li Yuan let out a third sigh and said, "You are still young, and the troubled times and disputes should not involve you. As long as the Father's breath remains, he will protect you. ”

Li Xuanba was moved in his heart, but he knew that he couldn't stay, otherwise the 200,000 troops in the eastern capital would appear under Taiyuan City in the near future. So he shook his head and said, "The child can't stay, if the father doesn't stop him, the child will rush back to Xingyang after visiting his mother, and as for His Majesty, the child will find a way to help his father delay for a while." ”

Li Xuanba is reluctant to stay, there is another reason, he has waited in Xingyang for so long, and finally has his own power, and he is not willing to give up at all.

Li Yuan knew very well in his heart that Li Xuanba should not stay in Taiyuan, he thought about it and asked, "Can the soldiers over there in Xingyang be trusted?" ”

"As long as General Zhang doesn't personally ask for it, Xuanba has the confidence to wait for his father's reinforcements." Li Xuanba said with a smile.

Li Yuan also smiled and said, "Since this is the case, you can go back to Xingyang, if you let the Wagang thieves capture Luoyang, what is the point of doing what your father did?" ”

"The child hopes that his father will remember today's words." Li Xuanba nodded and said, "Your purpose is to support the Sheji, not to replace it." ”