Everyone felt he would be a strong contender.

But no one ever thought about whether he wanted to be that competitor or not.

He was forced all the way forward, stepping into the mountain of corpses and blood, every step was no less than Baili Ye's fight at the border pass, and sometimes, he even said to Qiu Zhongxiao that he was actually more willing to go to the battlefield, at least killing the enemy.

He doesn't care who is the emperor.

It doesn't matter if he's himself or someone else, as long as it's for Qingqi, whoever it is.

Li Tong listened, and the more he listened, the more frightened he felt.

She knew that the calculations in the palace were bloodless, so she stabbed the knife secretly, one stabbed one accurately, one stabbed one flesh blurred, but she couldn't see anything outside, and swallowed the blood with a smile.

Youchun didn't go out, standing by the door and listening quietly, his little face was pale because of this, and his eyes were full of distress.

"When he left the palace, it wasn't all to come to Songting Tower, but more often to go outside the city to have a look."

"Out of town?"

Qiu Zhongxiao took a sip of wine, quite melancholy: "Madam doesn't know, before you started, there was a slum outside the city, he couldn't act openly, he could only take advantage of the time to sneak out of the palace, go to send some food and clothing to those people, if there is time left, he will come to Songting Tower to sit for a while." ”

"Every time, he would sit by the window and look out at the people on the street. The reason why you could see him dancing in Songting Tower that time was because he hadn't been on his favorite stage for a long time, he couldn't dance in the palace, and once he was discovered, he would have a reputation for indulging in lust, saying that he had disregarded the royal family, and in Songting Tower, no one recognized him. ”

Li Tong was a little weak-hearted, he knew that this was the case, so he didn't chase him around in the first place, so he could let him dance in Songting Tower for a while.

Perhaps, it was one of the few times he was happy.

"The ministers of the DPRK and China all said that he didn't love the people enough, but how did they know that in the days when the torrential rain and floods began, he stayed up all night, and half of the secret guards around him were sent out, just to be able to keep an eye on the officials who went down to provide disaster relief at any time, so as not to let them fill their pockets and deduct disaster relief funds, why do you think those officials who are disaster relief will be so conscientious?"

Li Tong muttered, "They are afraid of death. ”

"Who is not afraid of death? Halfway through the dark guards, the emperor will become a leaky iron bucket, but anyone with bad intentions can take this opportunity to do something to him. ”

The emperor is really a high-risk profession! Li Tong thought.

"In the court, I don't know how many people want him to leave in embarrassment, I am not only his minister, but also his friend." Qiu Zhongxiao looked at Li Tong steadily: "It's impossible for me to let him leave the position that I don't know how many people have worked hard for him, not to mention, this position also has a credit to your husband." ”

Li Tong remembered that it was Bai Li Ye who led his troops back from the border pass to allow Bai Li Xian to ascend the throne smoothly.

In fact, the implication is that Bai Li Ye was not so reluctant to Bai Li Xian's ascension to the throne, and even supported it.

And what made him finally change his mind and want to seize the throne were those people around him with ill intentions.

It's not that Bai Li Ye wants that throne, it's that those around him want a higher level of power.

From the dragon's work, ancient to seductive.

"If Madame doesn't believe me, you can go to the slums outside the city."

When he left Songting Tower, Li Tong was in a complicated mood, but after a turn of footsteps, he still walked out of the city.

Youchun was a little worried, and kept asking beside him, "Madam, are we really going to go?" Otherwise, don't go, it's going to be dark. ”

Li Tong raised his head, looked at the big sun overhead, and admired Youchun's eyes and nonsense.

"Lord Qiu is right, if this emperor is worth it, why bother pushing the general to take this road of no return? We all have to die for the crime of rebellion, and while we haven't gone deeper yet, wouldn't it be better if we could stop the loss in time and persuade the general to abandon the plan? Do you want to die? ”

Youchun squirmed his lips a few times and fell silent.

Her life belongs to the general, if the general wants to take it back, then take it back, if he wants to keep it, then keep it, she has no autonomy.

Her life is no longer her own.

Looking at Li Tong's resolute face, Youchun thought of the general's appearance when he looked at his wife, his heart was full of all his eyes, and it seemed that as long as he saw his wife, the general's mood could become very good, and his deep eyes were full of spring, even if the expression was not so rich, but the cold arc would always soften.

She didn't want the general to die.

I don't want my wife to die.

But Madame is right, if this road goes on, it's okay to succeed, if it doesn't work, the entire general's mansion will have to go to hell together.

Out of the city, according to the route pointed out by Qiu Zhongxiao, the master and servant walked for a long time, and they arrived at a remote Zhuangzi.

There are not many people in Zhuangzi, the gate is a large fenced gate, planted with two fruit trees, before you go in, you see a large vegetable garden, there is a small area next to the vegetable garden, there are chickens and ducks, and next to it is a well.

The houses were not spaced wide, and there were a few children running around happily along the middle road, laughing and playing, and it seemed to be pleasant, not like the slum she had imagined.

"Madam, this is ...... Slum? ”

Li Tong said in a low voice: "If Qiu Zhongxiao hadn't lied to me, then they would have been able to live this good life now, all of which were thanks to him." ”

There were hardly outsiders in Zhuangzi, and when two richly dressed women appeared at the gate, they quickly attracted attention, and the person who seemed to be in charge of Zhuangzi walked out.

"What are you two doing here?"

It was an old man, who looked to be in his sixties, with gray hair, but his ears and hearing were not bad, his legs and feet were also neat, and he walked much faster than Li Tong, his skin was dark, his fingers were full of thick calluses, and he looked like a working hand.

"Just wanted to ask something." Li Tong said softly.

The old man frowned slightly, and a trace of caution flashed in his eyes: "If you ask someone, we are all unrelated here, seeing that this lady is still young, there should be no children yet, we are a slum here, I dare not dirty my wife's clothes, please go back." ”

When Li Tong heard this, he confirmed Qiu Zhongxiao's words in his heart.

"We don't mean anything, we just want to ask how long he's been here?"

"You ......"

The old man was too cautious, and Li Tong could only tactfully knock: "He has encountered some things, which are not easy to deal with, I need to know some news about him in order to help him." ”

"I heard from a good friend of his that he used to be here all the time."

Probably because Li Tong's expression was too sincere, the old man's heart was still shaken, and he told Li Tong the reason clearly.

I have to say that these things should not have been done by this high-ranking young emperor himself, he could have casually ordered a trusted cronie around him to do it.

But he didn't.

Li Tong didn't think that there were no credible people around him, but he probably felt that these things could only feel the meaning if he did them himself.

After leaving the slum, Li Tong wandered around the street aimlessly a few times.

She didn't know what to say, the usurper heart that was already a little shaken was now shaken a little bit, he was the same as her, not the same as the rumored appearance.

Li Yintong is stupid, but he actually understands everything.

Baili Xian is ruthless and unjust, but he cares more about the thoughts of the people than anyone in the court.

"Madame, what are you thinking?"

Along the way, Youchun followed and didn't speak, and now seeing that Li Tong didn't say anything, he couldn't help but feel a little uneasy in his heart

。

"All along, I haven't thought about how to really help Baili Ye, from beginning to end, all I think about is how to escape from this place, as long as I can achieve my goal, I don't mind who is sitting in that position."

Li Tong muttered: "But reality gave me a slap in the face, it's not that if I don't listen or watch, I can treat it as non-existent, anyone can sit on this throne, but if this person can love the people like a son, what if he sits all the time?" ”

"Madame wants to betray the general?" Youchun's voice suddenly became a little gloomy.

Li Tong stopped and turned his head to look at her.

"I know that you are loyal to him, no matter what he says, even if you are asked to die, you can act immediately without saying a word, but once a mutiny is launched, Baili Ye will not be able to wash it in the history books."

"What's more, I don't think he took the initiative to want this position."

Youchun frowned slightly: "Madame thinks someone is persecuting the general?" ”

But soon, she shook her head again and denied: "Impossible, what the general doesn't want to do, no one can force him." ”

Indeed, according to Baili Ye's character, what he doesn't want to do, no one can force him to do it, before Li Tong appeared, this person had nothing to fear, but what if he was bewitched?

The absence of fear does not mean that there is no desire/desire.

As long as it is human, there will be desire/hope.

And Baili Ye's desire/hope is just to protect Qingqi, and more, it is probably to protect the eldest brother's country, even if it is his son.

The reason why Baili Ye was willing to support/support Baili Xian to ascend the throne before, Li Tong guessed that it was probably because among those princes at that time, only he was the most likely to be a good emperor.

After all, Bai Li Xian is thoughtful and can balance the confrontation between the party forces in the DPRK and China to the greatest extent.

But he forgot that Bai Li Xian was a person who couldn't care about anyone, including the people.

But in fact, these camouflages can be easily broken, just look and listen.

It's a pity that Baili Ye didn't, just like Li Tong at the beginning, he just wanted to grab what was close in front of him.

Li Tong exhaled, she didn't expect Youchun to understand, after all, she was just a little maid, she only needed to follow the master's orders and orders, and the rest, she didn't need to have her own ideas.

In this era, there are clear hierarchies.

Turning a street, both of them heard the sound of insults coming from a small alley not far away, and the dull sound of fists falling on their bodies.