The battle for the East Palace is like an undercurrent under the calm water, although there are many murderous opportunities, but the water surface is calm, and Li Qing'an's return is like a stone thrown into the water, causing ripples, but no one knows that this ripple will cause water waves? Or disappear silently.

As Li Li's analysis, the current strong contenders for the East Palace are King Di, King Rong, King Yong and King Ying, although there are also people who put forward the theory of the emperor's eldest grandson and the former prince's comeback, but those are not the mainstream, the mainstream is only four people, among the four people Di Wang is undoubtedly the most dazzling pearl, it is said that seventy percent of the people in the court are optimistic about him entering the East Palace.

Li Yan, the king of Di, is the fourth son of Li Longji, and the eldest son Cong is convicted and faces the wall at home; The second son, Ying, was convicted and died in the East Palace in the twenty-fifth year of Kaiyuan; The third son, Heng, was also convicted two years ago, deposed the crown prince, and demoted him to the king of Liang.

Now that the first three sons have been convicted or died or degraded, Li Yan has become the most powerful contender for the position of the East Palace, and under the temptation of the position of the East Palace, under the temptation of the throne of the Ninety-Five, Li Yan himself has lost his usual style and style, and has become power-hungry.

Just when Li Yan was ambitious to march to the East Palace, his inner house suddenly became unquiet, early in the morning, a woman in palace clothes in her twenties led a large group of maids and women to rush to the west courtyard of the back house, the young woman in palace clothes surnamed Sun, is the Confucian of King Di, and the Confucian is the internal official of the prince's mansion, that is, the wife and concubine of the prince.

Li Yan's concubine is the daughter of Wei Tao, and the relationship between husband and wife was originally harmonious, but after the outbreak of the Yangzhou salt case, Wei Tao, who was then the governor of Yangzhou Metropolitan Governor, did not implement Li Yan's strategy well, resulting in the Yangzhou salt case to make the then prince Li Heng a complete victory, for which Li Yan began to be dissatisfied with Wei Tao, thinking that he was biased towards the prince, and his relationship with the concubine became less intimate, and then the Wei family took refuge in the East Palace, which made Li Yan very annoyed and began to treat Princess Di coldly, although the relationship between husband and wife on the surface was quite harmonious, Some things also made the princess come forward to do it, such as asking the princess to have a relationship with Dugu Mingyue last year, and wanted to pull Li Qingan over, but as he began to dot on the two Confucians, he was completely indifferent to Princess Di, locked her in the inner house, and forbade her to show her head again.

And this Sun Confucian, who led a large group of maids and wives to the West Courtyard, is one of his two favorite Confucians, Li Yan dotes on two women at the same time, causing them to be jealous and quarrel all day long, Sun Confucianism accompanied Li Yan last night, and learned that Li Yan rewarded Zhang Confucian's pair of extremely valuable agate bracelets, and she only got a pair of agate earrings.

This made her hold a grudge, while Li Yan was receiving guests in the front hall, she led the maid to make trouble, and when a group of them were still halfway, someone quickly reported Zhang Ruren to the West Courtyard.

Zhang Ruren is also a powerful character, she is also dissatisfied with Li Yan's pampering of Sun Ruren last night, let her stay alone in the empty room, heard that Sun Ruren came to make trouble, she immediately summoned dozens of maids and women in the room, took wooden sticks and brooms, rushed out of the courtyard door, and prepared to fight.

In the alley next to the west courtyard, two groups of women met, they have been hating for a long time, there is almost no scolding, the two groups of women rushed up, a big fight, they each for their masters, all of them competed for the first, everyone braved, and used the woman's eighteen means, pulling hair and grabbing the face and pinching **, the screams and cries in the alley, in a mess, there were already people running to the front yard to report.

Today, a very important guest came to the palace of the king of Di, An Lushan, the king of Dongping County, An Lushan is still the envoy of Fanyang Jiedu and the envoy of Lujiedu, in the ninth year of Tianbao, he defeated the Khitan, and slapped Li Longji's sycophant, Li Longji gave a big reward, and named him the king of Dongping County in one fell swoop, becoming the first person with a different surname in this dynasty.

An Lushan entered Beijing on the third day of the first lunar month, and like Li Qing'an, he also went to Beijing to report on his work, he had been in Beijing for more than a month, and he refused to return to Fanyang, he also saw that the East Palace had reached the most critical moment, and at this moment he must grasp the direction, which is related to his future and destiny.

An Lushan was the first to support King Shou, when King Shou's mother Wu Hui Concubine took care of him, but the world changed over time, he knew that King Shou would no longer have a future, his eyes fell on King Qing Li Cong, began to hook up with Li Cong, but Li Cong was demoted because of the East Palace witch cup case, so that his support failed, after a period of observation, his target was locked on the body of Li Yan, the king of Di, as early as the second half of last year, An Lushan contacted through his agent in the court, Shang Shuji Wen and Li Yan, yesterday Li Qing'an entered Beijing, caused a subtle influence in the government and the opposition, and An Lushan couldn't bear the anxiety in his heart, and came to visit Li Yan early in the morning while Li Longji had not returned.

For An Lushan's visit, Li Yan also welcomes the abnormal, what he lacks most now is foreign aid, among the major Jiedu envoys who hold military power, Ge Shuhan supports Rongwang Li Wan, Hedong Jiedu envoy Zhang Jiqiu has not yet expressed his position, and Jiannan Jiedu Gao Xianzhi has a good relationship with King Ying, as for Li Qing'an, needless to say, the die-hard supporters of the former prince Li Heng have not changed so far.

Now Li Yan's support rate in the DPRK and China is very high, and even Yang Guozhong has publicly expressed his support for him, but he only lacks a foreign aid from the Jiedu envoy, although Ji Wen has visited several times, but his attitude has always been unclear, and An Lushan's visit today is the biggest good news for him.

Although Li Yan also knew that his father was very taboo to make friends with foreign vassals, but in January, Gao Xianzhi visited King Ying, and his father did not express his dissatisfaction, Ge Shuhan sent Helong native products to King Rong, and his father did not object, and if his father did not allow the prince to make friends with foreign ministers, then he should also publicly ban it, none of these, which made Li Yan speculate that perhaps his father was only strictly forbidden to have deep friendships between the East Palace and the vassal king, and it was not limited to the level of the prince.

Therefore, Li Yan also received An Lushan with the highest standard to show his sincerity.

In the guest room, Li Yan and An Lushan were greeting, and An Lushan brought some Fanyang native products and several excellent Youzhou green jade.

"I heard that His Royal Highness likes seal carving, this is a little bit of my heart, and it is also my treasure for many years, please smile at Your Highness."

Li Yan saw that the green jade jade was warm and delicate, without the slightest flaw, and knew that it was a rare thing, since An Lushan said that it was a treasure for many years, it showed that he attached great importance to himself, Li Yan couldn't help but understand, but the posture still had to be placed, he smiled and pushed the green jade back and said: "The gentleman does not take the favor of others, since it is something that An Shuai has treasured for many years, how can I be embarrassed to accept it." ”

An Lushan laughed, the fat on his face trembled, and he pushed Qingyu back, "I am a rough person, I can only lead soldiers to fight, I can't play this kind of elegant thing, I have long wanted to give it to those who really know the goods, so that it has a return, but it has been difficult to meet him, I have heard for a long time that His Royal Highness is a master of seal carving, give it to His Highness, and forget my wish for many years, Your Highness please accept it!" ”

"In that case, then I might as well be respectful."

Li Yan happily accepted the green jade, and said with a smile: "Everyone in Chang'an says that I am the Liang'an of the Tang Dynasty, the barrier of the country, one of the two is Li Qing'an of the Western Regions, and the other is An Shuai, I think this is an exaggeration, then Li Qing'an's qualifications are only a few years, how can he be compared with An Shuai, I think that the Tang Liang'an should be An Shuai and Shuo Fang An Sishun Generals." ”

An Lushan smiled slightly and said: "Your Highness, don't underestimate this Li Qing'an, he is also considered to have a lot of military achievements, and he can defeat the Great Food Army, which is not something that ordinary generals can do, I heard the Western Turks say that the combat power of the Great Food Army is no less than that of the Tubo people, and the cavalry is especially sharp, so my evaluation of Li Qing'an is a rising star of the Tang Dynasty, although he is young, he can control the Anxi Imperial Court, from this point, he can keep pace with my An Lushan." ”

Li Yan didn't expect An Lushan to comment on Li Qing'an like this, he couldn't help but be a little embarrassed, and said with a dry laugh: "Maybe it's the generals who look at the generals more thoroughly, I don't know much about this Li Qing'an." ”

An Lushan smiled and said casually: "Really? I think His Highness knows him well. ”

An Lushan had something to say, Li Yan's face couldn't help but change slightly, at this time, he suddenly saw the housekeeper waving to him outside the door, his expression was quite anxious, and he was stunned in his heart, and said, "What happened?" ”

The housekeeper glanced at An Lushan, and Ai Ai said: "Master, there is an urgent matter in the inner house, and it will be troublesome if it is late." ”

"What the hell is going on?" Li Yan said angrily.

The housekeeper stepped forward and whispered a few words to him, and Li Yan was furious: "They are so nonsense!" ”

At this time, An Lushan stood up and said with a smile: "I'm just here to visit His Highness today, and it's not good to stay long, I'll come to visit officially another day, and I'll leave first." ”

Li Yan hurriedly said: "I'm sorry, the house is restless, so I can't entertain An Shuai well." ”

An Lushan laughed, "It's okay!" It's okay! There was no trouble in that house, so I said goodbye first. ”

He arched his hand, and dragged his fat body outward, Li Yan kept sending An Lushan out of the gate, and then hurriedly ran to the inner house.

The inner house is still in a mess, and it is useless for countless subordinates to come to persuade and fight, that Sun Confucianism is very strong, pressing Zhang Ruren to the ground, she rode on the other party's waist, pinched her with one hand, grabbed her hair with the other hand and scolded: "Slut, dare to bully me?" ”

Zhang Ruren didn't say a word, only struggled desperately, Sun Ruren suddenly saw the agate bracelet on her wrist, her eyes suddenly turned red, and she grabbed it.

At this moment, Li Yan's roar suddenly came from behind him: "Stop it all for me!" ”

When the master came, the maids and women were so frightened that they stopped, only Sun Zhang and the two Confucians were still twisted together, competing for the bracelet, Li Yan rushed up, forced the two to pull the two apart, the two stood up, and actually pounced into him at the same time and cried.

Li Yan saw that the two of them were gray-faced, their capes were scattered, their dresses were broken, and their faces and hands were twisted into blue and purple, and it was difficult to say who took advantage of them, he was angry and distressed, and said hatefully: "You tell me, do you dare to fight again?" ”

The two Confucian people cried so much that they were raining, their shoulders shrugged, and Sun Confucianism whimpered: "The lord is unfair, don't give me the bracelet for her." ”

The Confucian also cried: "The master said that he would come to me last night, why did he snub the concubine?" ”

Li Yan saw that they were fighting for this trivial matter, and he immediately couldn't cry or laugh, he was very fond of these two Confucians, and he didn't really scold them, so he coaxed: "I know, treat them fairly in the future, but you can't fight, make me embarrassed, don't you hear!" ”

The two Confucian people nodded together, and when they heard it, Li Yan saw that they were embarrassed, so he said: "You go back and freshen up, I still have important things to go out, and you will talk slowly when you come back in the evening." ”

Li Yan saw that the hour was not early, so he hurriedly coaxed them and went out in a hurry.

Last night, Li Yan got the news of Yang Guozhong, today is the son of his father returning to Beijing, he is going to Lishan to meet the driver, to do a good job in these details, he led dozens of followers, rushed out of the city gate, galloped in the direction of Lishan.

．．．．．．．．． Because of Li Qing'an's arrival, Li Longji had to return to Chang'an in advance, and on the second day of Li Qing'an's Huaqing Palace, Li Longji returned to Chang'an, which should be said to be a temporary decision.

In order to appease Li Qing'an and the Anxi army, Li Longji had to make a little sacrifice and return to Chang'an in a little hurry, but fortunately, Lishan was not far from Chang'an City, and it could be reached in half a day.

Li Qing'an also took his three hundred guards to guard the vicinity of Longlin with full armament, which can be regarded as a kind of honor that Li Longji rewarded the Anxi army, and he can bring weapons around him, except for the Yulin army, few armies can do it.

Li Qing'an didn't sleep very well last night, several palace maids who served him stood all night, he could not adapt to this kind of overly cared for service, the futon was also not used to it, it was thick and soft, and it was so hot that it was difficult for him to sleep, he thought about it all night, and fell asleep in a daze when it was almost three watches.

Although he didn't sleep well, he still rode a horse and followed the dragon chariot in good spirits, he also changed back into a military uniform, cross-body bow and arrow, waist with a horizontal sword, he and his soldiers The armor has been blown by the wind, the luster is no longer there, and even a little old, and the bright armor of the Yulin army is completely different, but the murderous aura exuded by their bodies makes the surrounding Yulin army timidly dare not approach, as if a fierce beast from the primeval forest has entered the captive-bred herd, although the muscles are thin, the fur is not shiny, But that blood-devouring breath is incomparable to raising domestic beasts.

Li Longji sat on the dragon chariot, half-squinted, looking at Li Qing'an and his personal guards with some complicated feelings, the murderous aura on Anxi's body made him a little uneasy, and he secretly made a comparison in his heart, if Li Qing'an's three hundred personal guards and his three thousand Lin army armor soldiers competed on the battlefield, what would be the result? The result of the comparison made Li Longji a little frustrated, it is very likely that his Yulin army armor will be defeated, the reason is very simple, these Yulin troops are all from the high families or clans of Chang'an, although the appearance is good, but their weapons have never seen blood, in the face of death and blood, will they fight bravely and fearlessly?

Li Longji didn't have an answer, he couldn't help but think of Yang Guozhong's direct advice a few months ago, Li Qing'an has too many troops, and it has exceeded any festival envoy, seeing Li Qing'an's fierce personal soldiers, Li Longji can't help but feel a little vigilant, if the 100,000 army is the same as these cavalry in front of him, then who can resist the Tang Dynasty?

Li Longji's eyes fell on Li Qing'an again, it should be said that this young general is still more reassuring to him, from the rise of Tianbao's six-year Xiaobolu battle, he has become a prince in just four years, and the speed of promotion has made all the frontier officials out of reach, only Yang Guozhong can compare with him in the Manchu Dynasty's civil and military affairs, didn't he just want to support this person to balance Yang Guozhong? There are also the pillars of talent who have become the successors of the Tang Dynasty.

Although the strength of the Anxi Army made Li Longji a little uneasy, but the commander of the Anxi Army, Li Qingan, diluted this uneasiness in his heart, if Li Qingan had anything that made him dissatisfied, it was that he was too loyal to the former prince Li Heng, even if he was imprisoned, he refused to admit his mistakes, this loyalty has always made Li Longji uncomfortable, but with the passage of time, with the weakening of Li Longji's hatred for Li Heng, this loyalty has become a kind of advantage, at least let him believe that Li Qingan has no intention of rebellion, under the chaotic situation, There don't seem to be many people who can remain loyal all the time, and it is said that even Chen Xilie betrayed Li Linfu.

Thinking of the chaos of the court situation, Li Longji had a headache, and he also felt that he had less and less energy to deal with these intricate and interlocking interests.

Although he was reluctant to admit his aging, the physiological changes made him have to be heroic shortness of breath, and he couldn't help but glance at the concubine beside him who closed his eyes and recuperated, Li Longji couldn't help but sigh secretly.

At this time, a eunuch rushed from afar and stepped forward to report: "Your Majesty, His Royal Highness King Di is in front to greet Your Majesty, and specially sent water to greet Your Majesty." ”

Li Longji was stunned, how did he know that he was back in Beijing today?

"Xuan is coming!"

The team stopped, Li Qing'an was about thirty steps away from Long Yuan, he also restrained his war horse, and looked around, this is the official road, which is currently located on a gentle hill, the official road is wide, the Yulin Army and the officials of Jingzhao Mansion have cleared the road in advance, there are no pedestrians, next to the official road is a dense forest, which stretches into the distance, Li Qing'an is a scout, this road makes him feel uneasy, and the car driver should not stop in this place.

And the surrounding guarded Yulin army seems to be not very concentrated, everyone is waiting on horseback, and did not go around to patrol, the nearest part of the forest is only about sixty steps away from the official road, within the range of crossbow arrows, if the assassin is ambushed here, it is very advantageous, but the Yulin army does not seem to realize this, Li Qingan turned back to look for Changsun Quanxu, he wanted to remind Changsun Quanxu to pay attention, but when he turned around, he saw Pei Xiao staring at him, he had already changed the armor of the Anxi Army and followed his team, Li Longji's will made him helpless, and Yang Guozhong was not here, so he had nowhere to complain.

Pei Xiao's dissatisfied gaze interrupted Li Qing'an's train of thought, Li Qing'an smiled faintly at him, this person he is going to decide, no matter how much Yang Guozhong pleads, he will not give in.

After a while, Li Yan, the king of Di, was led to Long Yuan's approach, and he kowtowed respectfully and said, "Welcome my father back to Beijing!" ”

"How do you know I'm back in Beijing today?"

"Back to my father, my son was going to the Hot Spring Palace to greet my father, but I heard that my father had returned to Beijing halfway."

Li Longji nodded, "It's rare for Wu'er to have such filial piety, get up!" Go back to Beijing with me. ”

Li Yan stood up, but the moment he stood up, an arrow shot like lightning, and an arrow was shooting right on Li Yan's shoulder.

Li Yan screamed, turned over and fell to the ground, and the Yulin Army suddenly had a big chaos, all of them flocked around Long Yuan, and the palace maids screamed and made a mess.

Li Qing'an was also taken aback, he turned his head to look at the arrow, only to see two gray-clothed men flash out from behind a dense tree and run towards the depths of the woods.

Li Qing'an reacted very quickly, he took off his bow and opened his bow and arrows, drew his bow like a full moon, his eyes were firmly fixed on the back of one of the gray-clothed men, and at the moment when he disappeared into the woods, his arrows were shot, and the arrows were extremely fast, chasing straight towards the place where the gray-clothed man disappeared in the woods, only to hear a miserable scream coming from the woods.

The Yulin army woke up like a dream, shouting and chasing towards the woods.

Li Longji was shocked and angry, he trembled all over, and shouted in a trembling voice: "There are assassins! ”

Yang Guifei was also so shocked that her face turned pale, and she fell into the dragon chariot and shouted screaming: "Come and save the driver!" ”

At this time, Li Qing'an rushed to the horse, and he shouted: "No one must panic, the Yulin army is lined up to protect the saint." ”

He said to the eunuchs and palace maids around Li Longji: "Quickly help Your Majesty into the dragon chariot and don't show up." ”

Under the command of Li Qing'an, the Yulin army immediately lined up the Chengren Wall and surrounded the dragon chariot with a giant shield, and the panicked eunuch palace maids on the dragon chariot also came to their senses and hurriedly helped Li Longji and Yang Guifei into the dragon chariot.

Li Qingan turned over and dismounted, and walked quickly to Li Yan's side, he saw at a glance that it was a crossbow arrow, the arrow was faintly turquoise, it was a medicine arrow, Li Qingan stepped forward to help Li Yan, saw that his face was pale, his expression was painful, he knew that it was the arrow attack, he brushed the ground and tore his clothes, the arrow was nailed to his right shoulder, and the injured place was already black.

Li Qing'an pulled out the arrow with all his might, and pulled out the dagger to rip off the blackest piece of flesh at the wound for him, and suddenly the blood gushed like a spring, Li Yan screamed in pain, and fainted to death, Li Qing'an took out the wound medicine he brought with him to wrap the wound, from his experience, the medicine surname of this arrow is not strong, it can be saved, at this time, the two imperial doctors who accompanied the team hurriedly ran up and took over Li Qing'an's rescue work.

They quickly examined Li Yan's injuries, took out antidotes, pried open Li Yan's mouth, and poured water on him.

"Is his injuries serious?" Li Qingan asked.

An imperial doctor nodded and said: "The arrow wound itself is fine, I am afraid that this poison is fierce, but judging from the situation in front of me, it should not be a strong medicine, it is an ordinary slow surname poison, which can be detoxified." ”

Li Qing'an stood up, and at this time, the dozen or so Yulin soldiers who rushed first had already returned, and he immediately asked, "Did the assassin catch it?" ”

A Yulin military captain clasped his fists and said: "Back to the general, the assassin was shot and wounded by the general, but he had already committed suicide by taking poison, and the other assassin did not catch him, and when we asked him before the assassin died, he only said the word 'Xing' and died." ”

At this time, Li Longji's thunderous roar came from the dragon chariot, "If this arrow is shot at me, will I still have my life?" This is the assassination of me, and the eldest grandson Quanxu is ordered to come to see me immediately, and Jing Zhaoyin also called me. ”

(To be continued)