Although he felt aggrieved for his father in his heart, after all, it was his husband who was sitting in front of him, Jing Xuan gathered his mind and said: "Listening to what Your Majesty said, in comparison, the concubine thinks that Mr. Liu's proposition is more to the point of this matter: not only is it not appropriate to stop reconciling with Tubo and relatives, but the reaction is as good as possible. ”

"What Concubine Ai said coincides with me." The emperor's eyes lit up, "I thought about it repeatedly, I was deeply puzzled as to why Li Shu did such an unwise and unwise act at this time, and only then did I hear that Concubine Ai said that Li Shu's biological mother's confidant actually married into the Zhang family, and I rethought about it in connection with the recent events in the court and the palace, and came to this conclusion." ”

"The concubine is willing to hear about it." Jing Xuan had almost never seen the emperor happy for one thing, but he was curious to hear what the emperor had learned from Nazhu marrying Zhang Liang.

"This starts from the fact that the Eastern Capital fell to the rebels two years ago, and Li Shu became the marshal of the world's soldiers and horses. Concubine Ai didn't know, according to the practice of this dynasty, the prince was handsome, mostly remote leaders, and did not actually lead the army. Even when I was the commander of the prince at the beginning, I no longer led the army personally after the recovery of Liangjing, and Li Shu refused to hand over the military power for various reasons after leading the army to recover the eastern capital. After I succeeded to the throne, I demoted Li Shuyuan to Jiangling. Imagine that with Li Shu's intelligence, in the face of his own predicament, he did not know how to calm down and protect himself, but instead sent the peace envoy sent by the imperial court to the foreign domain, and my eldest son was placed under house arrest in Jiangling. What is his purpose? ”

Seeing the scenery, he listened attentively. The Emperor took a sip of tea. He continued: "I did not believe in Li Shu's rebellion, but I somewhat agreed with Mr. Liu's analysis: Li Shu wanted to use this move to prevent his sister from marrying a foreign vassal far away, so as to avoid separating their mother and son. But after learning from Concubine Ai that Li Shu's mother and son had already colluded with the Zhang family, I thought about it, if Li Shu wanted me to change my original intention and marry someone else, he could directly go to the chapter to advise, or even go to Beijing in person to explain the truth to me. There is no need to act so rashly, which will attract the suspicion and attention of the imperial court about him. According to Zeng Qingze's return to Beijing alone to tell the details of the incident, the king of Jiangling only said that he invited King Mu to rest in Jiangling City for two days and never show up again, and they were also told by Li Shu's subordinates that they would not be allowed to leave until King Jiangling returned from hunting in the city and personally served King Mu. In such a subtle way, Li Shu wanted to mislead me into thinking that he made this decision out of concern for his brother and sister, and I almost fell for his design. ”

Jing Xuan blurted out: "The concubine is stupid and fails to comprehend the holy will. Your Majesty, can you be clearer? ”

The emperor explained complacently: "Li Shu not only kept Shi'er in Jiangling, but also did not explain his reasons to me, and left room for maneuver for himself in advance and retreat. That's where his heart is suspicious. Regardless of whether the court is suppressing or appeasing, it has reached a critical juncture. He couldn't bear to keep his sister away from this same reason to protect himself, and when the court turned its attention to Gangneung, his real purpose had been quietly achieved without realizing it, that is, to prevent Shi'er from arriving at the city of Luo on time, so that Tubo would mistakenly think that our court was being rude, and then cause unrest in the south. Mr. Liu made a judgment without knowing that Li Shu's mother and son had already colluded with the Zhang family, and naturally fell for his treacherous scheme, and if he sent troops to encircle and suppress Jiangling City according to the proposal of the Duke of Jin, as soon as the soldiers and horses moved, some cities would get the news, and they would come to naught as if they were reconciled. Li Shu really put a difficult situation for me this time, if it is not an exaggeration to say that he harbors a rebellious heart. ”

Jing Xuan was still puzzled, and asked: "The concubine mother and daughter are now living in the capital, and the king of Jiangling is acting like this, isn't he worried about the court dealing with them?" ”

"Deal with them?" The emperor sneered helplessly, "One is the only concubine left by the first emperor, and the other is the eldest princess who is about to go to southern Xinjiang to make peace, what reason do I have to deal with them?" After disposing of them, where can I find an eldest princess with an identity as noble as Changning to marry Tubo Zampu? Today is not what it used to be, the general trend of the imperial court is declining, and it is no longer a situation where foreign vassals are vying for tribute and relatives during the time of Taizu Taizong! ”

Jing Xuan pondered it carefully, and couldn't help but sigh: "Princess Changning's surrender to Tubo is known to the whole world, and King Jiangling's move is obviously a plan and then move, wanting to trap His Majesty in injustice." If the concubine's mother and son and the Zhang family were secretly colluded with each other for a long time, the situation faced by the imperial court would be even more passive. The concubines thought about it and were deeply worried about His Majesty. ”

"At present, I have a lot of worries, in the palace, in the court, in the river, in Jiangling, in Tibet...... It's complicated and chaotic, and I can't figure it out for a while, but Concubine Ai is from a door, and she is quick to think, so there must be a good plan to help me. The emperor looked directly at Jing Xuan, his eyes full of hope.

Jing Xuan stood up, gave a salute, and said solemnly: "Since the concubine has been trusted by His Majesty, she has entrusted her heart and dare to do her best to repay Your Majesty. Although the concubine is in the harem, she has also heard a little about the affairs of the court, and the current situation is urgent, but there is still a solution. ”

When the emperor heard Jing Xuan say this, he was overjoyed, and urged repeatedly: "What is the best plan, Ai Concubine say it quickly." ”

"But with an edict from Your Majesty, it is enough to summon King Jiangling back to Beijing." Jing Xuan said very firmly.

The Emperor questioned almost without thinking, "It's that simple? Can Concubine Ai explain one or two in detail? ”

"Your Majesty just mentioned that King Gangneung kept King Mu in Gangneung in an ambiguous way, leaving room for his future advances and retreats, if he can do this, why can't Your Majesty? Now it is not enough evidence to judge the collusion between the concubine and the Zhang family based on the two things of Nazhu marrying Zhang Liang as a concubine and spreading rumors by the palace people of the Shangfu Bureau, so His Majesty might as well try him by summoning the king of Jiangling back to Beijing, leaving him with the problem of whether to serve the edict or not, and also leaving room for the future disposal of the camera. ”

The emperor seemed to understand something, but he was still skeptical, and continued to ask: "Aifei this method, it is okay to test Li Shuke, but how to get out of Jiangling while Shi'er is still in Jiangling, and how to complete the mission of marrying and reconciling with Tubo, I don't understand what is the connection between calling Li Shu back to Beijing and the two?" ”

Jing Xuan smiled and explained to the emperor: "According to Your Majesty's opinion, will King Jiangling be unfavorable to King Mu?" Not to mention that his biological mother and sister are in Chang'an, just to say how the small land of Jiangling City can withstand the siege of officials and troops on all sides, how could King Jiangling, who is good at running the army, make this unwise move that is tantamount to hitting a stone with an egg? On the Tibetan side, although the concubines expected that after the king of Jiangling received the summons from His Majesty, out of consideration for his own safety, he would immediately let the king go south, but after all, it had been delayed for a long time, and the concubines did not dare to speculate whether the reconciliation with the Tubo could be successfully achieved. ”

The emperor looked disappointed and muttered, "That being said, there is not much difference between summoning him back to Beijing and the courtiers' tactics of suppression. (To be continued.) )