Although Li Yuan issued an order to seal the defeat of Li Xiaogong's army at Yingchuan, the report to the imperial court only said that Li Xiaogong's army was ordered to withdraw to Xiangyang.

But the paper couldn't hold the fire, Li Xiaogong was defeated by the Sui army in Yingchuan County, and the news of the annihilation of the whole army still came out, and the Chang'an government and opposition were shocked and in an uproar.

This incident made Li Yuan fall into a great passivity, and he had no choice but to deceive the king and conceal the crime, and dismissed Yang Ze, the squire of the military department, and then ordered Shangshu's right servant to shoot Pei Lin as a visiting envoy to Jingxiang Road, and led the deputy officials of the Criminal Department, the Military Department, and the Imperial Bookstore to Jingxiang to investigate the truth of the matter.

However, the house leak was rained overnight, Li Yuanji was ambushed by the Sui army on the western front in Chousang Town, and the news of the annihilation of the 30,000 new army came immediately, Li Yuan almost collapsed, and both lines were defeated, not only surrendering the Central Plains to the Sui Dynasty, but also losing 110,000 elite soldiers.

Under a series of heavy blows, Li Yuan finally couldn't support it and couldn't afford to get sick.

In the East Palace, Li Jiancheng has been extremely busy these days, his father has fallen ill, and almost all the government has been handed over to him, and all kinds of cumbersome things have come one after another, so busy that Li Jiancheng has no time to drink a sip of tea.

Although Li Jiancheng was busy, he also paid attention to the battle of the Central Plains, the battle of the Central Plains was a foregone conclusion, he did not want to think about it, he was more concerned about the changes in the pattern of interests after the battle of the Central Plains.

is not only the change of the power in the world, but also he pays more attention to the changes in the internal interest pattern of the Tang Dynasty, especially Luo Cheng, the son of Luo Yi, who brought him the news of Tongguan, which made Li Jiancheng angry, and the King of Qin actually seized his power in Guandong.

In the study of the prince of Mingde Palace, Li Jiancheng's face was pale, and he stood in front of the window with his hands in his hands, listening to Luo Yi talk about what happened in Tongguan without saying a word.

Luo Yi had just escaped back from Tongguan, and he had already rejected Li Shimin's woo, so he had to turn this refusal into the prince's praise for him.

"At that time, the lowly man felt that there was a knife and axe hand hidden in the tent. Humble knows. As long as he said the wrong thing, his head would fall to the ground, and he didn't know how to suddenly have courage at that time. Yan Yu refused King Qin's wooing, and King Qin's face had changed at that time, but in the end, he still saved his life. Now that I think about it, it was because King Qin threw a rat and was afraid that killing the lowly post would lead to a mutiny, and the lowly post failed to protect the soldiers of Tongguan for His Royal Highness, which is really guilty, please punish His Highness! ”

After Luo Yi finished speaking, he glanced at the prince cautiously, and saw that he was standing motionless like a sculpture with his hands in his hands. I couldn't see the change in his expression, Luo Yi felt a little uneasy in his heart, and wanted to say something. But there's no way to talk about it. He bowed his head.

The study was quiet, so quiet that you could hear the prince's slightly heavy breathing. After a long time, Li Jiancheng said slowly: "General Luo would rather die than surrender him, he is loyal to me, I am very pleased, he is in Tongguan as the king of Qin, you can't keep the military power, I won't blame you, don't worry!" I will find another job for you, and I will not do anyone who is faithful to me. ”

Luo Yi was overjoyed, and hurriedly bowed down, "Luo Yi is willing to serve the prince wholeheartedly!" ”

Luo Yi's heart is like a mirror, now that the King of Qin has almost controlled the power of the Guanzhong army, the prince wants to reuse himself, he can only seal Bashu and Jingxiang, the farther away from Chang'an, the greater his power, this is what he has been looking forward to for a long time.

"Go down and rest! Reunited with his family, in addition, Ling Lang Luo Cheng I like it very much, I have appointed him as the guard of the East Palace, I hope you don't object. ”

Luo Yi was shocked, is this to take his son hostage? But in a blink of an opinion, the prince sealed him first, it should not be this intention, he really admired his son, he hurriedly said: "It is his blessing to be reused by the prince, and I thank the prince for him." ”

"Go ahead!"

Luo Yi bowed and slowly retreated.

Luo Yi walked out of the Mingde Palace, the bright sun shone on him, making him breathe a long sigh of relief, the nightmare of losing Tongguan was over, and he would usher in a new spring.

His steps also became brisk, and he had just walked down the steps when he found two officers leaning against the stone railing not far away, talking about something, one of them was his son Luo Cheng.

Luo Yi hurriedly walked away and shouted, "Da Lang! ”

As soon as Luo Cheng turned around, he was surprised and happy when he saw that it was his father, he had been worried about his father whether he could escape Li Shimin's clutches, he was overjoyed and said: "Father, are you okay?" ”

Luo Yi felt warm by his son's care from the heart, and he nodded with a smile, "I'm fine, I heard the prince say that he has appointed you as the general of the East Palace, congratulations first." ”

Luo Cheng is also the first day of taking office today, mainly because he is familiar with the situation in the East Palace, he scratched his head a little embarrassed, and introduced the officer next to his father again, "This is General Yang of the East Palace, and he is also the top boss of the child, today he took the child to familiarize himself with the situation in the palace." ”

A hint of surprise flashed in Luo Yi's eyes, he knew that the person in front of him was Yang Yuanqing's brother Yang Rong, and there was also a big brother Yang Jun, the three brothers had a bad relationship since they were young because of the problem of concubines, plus Yang Jun and Yang Rong's surrender to Tang caused Yang Xuangan to be killed, and the three brothers were already incompatible.

Although Yang Jun and Yang Rong were trusted by the prince because of the crown princess, they were Yang Yuanqing's brother after all, and they were suspected of killing their fathers......

At this moment, Luo Yi also felt that the prince was a little too tolerant, although he thought so, Luo Yi had a smile on his face, after all, Yang Rong was his son's top boss, it was not easy to offend, he hurriedly arched his hand and said: "It turned out to be Yang Xian's nephew, thank you Xian's nephew for taking care of the dog!" ”

Yang Rong was promoted a few months ago because of Liu Wenjing's murder, after Liu Wenjing was killed, many East Palace officials were implicated and dismissed, there were a large number of vacancies in East Palace officials, and Li Jiancheng did not want outsiders to enter the East Palace, so he recommended a group of officials.

Among them, Yang Rong served as the general of the East Palace guard, and Yang Jun served as the crown prince to wash the horse, although Chen Shuda and other ministers believed that the two brothers were Yang Yuanqing's brothers, and their reputation was not good, so it was not suitable to use.

But Li Yuan was ashamed of the prince because of Liu Wenjing's matter, so he tried his best to approve the prince's recommendation, and the two brothers were finally able to make a comeback.

Yang Rong was in his early thirties at this time, no longer young and crazy, gradually maturing and becoming calm, he saw the surprise in Luo Yi's eyes, and he was secretly annoyed in his heart, but he also smiled back quietly: "Uncle Shi is polite, Brother Luo Xian is young and promising, and he is deeply valued by His Royal Highness the Prince, and his future is limitless and enviable." ”

He laughed dryly, his tone was full of philistine, Luo Yi nodded, and said to his son: "You are now on official business, don't bother you for your father, talk about it at night, and go first for your father." ”

"Father, please go slowly!"

Luo Yi bowed his hand to Yang Rong again, turned around and left, looking at Luo Yi walking away, Yang Rong smiled at Luo Cheng again: "Where did we go, by the way, there are two Zhonglang generals in the East Palace, one is me, and the other is you should be familiar with, it is Xue Wanjun, but ......"

Speaking of which, Yang Rong looked to both sides, lowered his voice and said: "The water in the East Palace is very deep, this person is recommended by the Dugu family, you have to be careful, don't get too close to him, you have to learn to protect yourself." ”

I don't know why, Luo Cheng saw Yang Rong's treacherous face, and there was an indescribable disgust in his heart.

At this moment, a eunuch shouted in the distance: "His Royal Highness the Crown Prince wants to enter the palace to face the saint, and the guards are ready!" ”

Yang Rong hurriedly pulled Luo Cheng, "Come with me!" ”……

After thinking about it again, Li Jiancheng still felt that when he went to see his father, he had to make it clear about the seizure of power in Tongguan, and he must not condone the second brother Hu Lai, if he did not express his position in time, the next target of the second brother was Imjin Pass and Yongtongcang.

Although Li Jiancheng also knew that his father was ill, he could implicitly tell his father that the fundamental reason why the second brother did not rescue the third brother was that he wanted to seize military power and would rather let the Sui army annihilate Yuanji's 30,000 recruits.

Li Jiancheng was resentful in his heart, got into the chariot, and went to the harem.

Li Yuan did not go to the court because he fell ill yesterday, and he was not in the imperial study, he is currently resting and recuperating in the meditation hall, although the name of the palace is 'meditation', but Li Yuan's heart is not calm at all, the fiasco of the Central Plains made him feel a sense of despair, he felt that he was powerless to win the world.

Li Yuan is actually more of a heart disease, he is lying on the sickbed, his favorite concubine Zhang Jieyu is taking care of him carefully, and Queen Dou is sitting on the side to talk to him, she has a smile on the corner of her mouth, but her eyes glance at Zhang Jieyu who is serving tea and water from time to time, and a trace of coldness occasionally flashes in her eyes.

Queen Dou is the daughter of the Dou family, Li Yuan's father died early, which led to the low status of the Li Yuan family among the Guanlong nobles, and was almost driven out of the ranks of the Guanlong nobles.

Li Yuan's entry into Guanzhong to establish the Tang Dynasty was also inseparable from the full support of the Guanlong nobles, among which the support of the Dou family and the Dugu family was the greatest, so that Li Yuan wanted to get soldiers and food, and quickly established a force.

Since the death of Li Yuan's mother, the Empress Dowager Dugu, the Dou family has become the master of the harem, and many of Li Yuan's concubines are in charge of her.

Among her husband's many concubines, Dou only disliked Zhang Jieyu, thinking that she made the saint bothered too much, and every time she was fortunate to visit her dormitory, the saint was always tired, and Dou thought she was a vixen and didn't know how to cherish men.

It's just that the saint loves this girl very much, so that although Dou hates it in his heart, he is helpless, and he pretends to be tolerant and caring for her on the surface, just looking for an opportunity to clean up this girl, at this time, while her husband has diverted his attention, Dou's cold gaze glanced at Zhang Jieyu.

At this time, Li Yuan was wrapped in a sick towel on his head, looking tired, and was lying on the couch reading a book that the Qin king Li Shimin had just sent, Li Shimin suggested that the imperial court quickly recruit troops in Bashu and Jingxiang to prevent Jingxiang from being killed by Xiao Mo and Du Fuwei.

At the same time, it was suggested that the imperial court temporarily adopt a defensive posture to consolidate Guanlong Jingxiang and not rush to expand, and Li Shimin pointed out that although the Sui army won the victory in the Central Plains, it was actually exhausted and exhausted, and it had to fill the two big holes in Hebei and the Central Plains, and it was not able to attack Tang for the time being.

These suggestions and consolations from the second son Li Shimin hit Li Yuan's heart every sentence, which made him feel greatly relieved, and Yang Zuoshu smiled at Dou Shi: "Erlang is really good, very insightful, no wonder the queen loves him so much." ”