The 10th day of November in the 14th year of Tianbao. Chang'an City, last night fell the winter rain all night, the damp and cold breath, making people feel bored, and did not sleep well overnight, Shen Pearl got up early in the morning to change clothes, put on a strict robe, personally carried a cup of bird's nest stewed, and walked into the study.

Li Li held the corner of his forehead with one hand and a pen with the other. The pen is an excellent Xuanzhou tribute, the ink is full but not dripping, but the hand holding the pen is resting on the case, densely written words, pressed by the dark blue robe sleeves. His eyes were slightly closed, and even in a nap, he still frowned slightly, and his face was handsome and could not hide his fatigue. The room was silent, and there were no attendants waiting by the side, which was Li Jiao's habit, and he was extremely disgusted with the nuisance of others.

Over the past year or so, His Majesty has gradually entrusted him with more and more important tasks, not only leading the governor of Liangzhou from afar - as we all know, this is just a false name - but also making him participate in the deliberations of the military department, which is a power that the prince does not have, how can it not be eye-catching? It's just that now that the Yang family is in power and the state affairs are difficult, he still has to be cautious everywhere, and it is really hard for him.

Thinking of this, Shen Pearl quietly put the cup of bird's nest on the table, and several pots of stoves in the room were blazing and warm, but if they couldn't add charcoal in time, they would usually be extremely depressed after the extreme prosperity.

She walked to the nearest fire, picked up the tweezers, and added a piece of charcoal to it. The blazing charcoal fire added new combustibles, and the smell of new charcoal choking came to the nostrils. She hid her nose and avoided it, but still inhaled a lot, until she felt the air in her chest feel uncomfortable, and she held on to the wall with one hand, and couldn't help retching. She was most afraid of this, she couldn't spit out anything every time, but it was dark, her hands and feet were cold, and even Li Li was frightened countless times. The doctor always smiled and said, "It's okay, it's okay, when the pregnancy period is 100 days old, the symptoms will disappear." ”

As soon as his body was warm, he had been helped into the crook of Li Li's arm. He gently stroked her vest, and saw that she was retching, panting, cowardly, and his heart ached, and finally saw her gasping for breath, and carried her to the bed in the inner room.

"You," he tightened his brows, wanting to blame, but he couldn't bear it, clenched her cold hands, and finally said a little angrily: "Knowing that I am pregnant, why don't I sleep for a while this morning, it's cold, what are you doing here!" Su Porcelain, why don't you let her wait for you? It's good for you, just one person, came to serve me, so many slaves and maids, is it your turn to bring tea and water to add charcoal? ”

Shen Pearl has long been weak-hearted. The child in this womb is also her beloved. She has already lost one, and she must not repeat the mistakes of the past. But since pregnancy, she not only has a lot of discomfort, but also emotionally affected, Li Jiao is busy with official business, with limited time with her, parents, brothers and sisters-in-law have returned to Wuxing, Murong Lin Zhiyuan went back to Hui, in addition to the plain porcelain interpretation, there are no many people who speak, but also add a sense of sadness and tears in the wind, looking at the moon homesickness, at this time seeing Li Jiao's fierce words, to the unseen, knowing that he is sincere, or aggrieved, eyes rolled, a tear fell, refused to say a word, but the body struggled to get up, pushed away Li Jiao's obstruction, put on embroidered shoes and go.

Li Jiao regretted it, and rushed up to stop in front of her, seeing that Shen Pearl was still ignoring it, Fang Baoxiao picked up the bird's nest on the table and said, "Okay, okay, I admit the punishment - punish me for drinking this cup in one gulp, how about it?" After speaking, he didn't wait for Shen Pearl to answer, squinted his eyes, and drank the cup of bird's nest fiercely. Bird's nest is delicious, but such a large cup to drink in one go, it is not easy, after staying up all night, people have a poor appetite, Li Jiao can't drink half of it, it feels like chewing wax, the entrance is difficult, listen to Shen Pearl snorted, cut off the bird's nest, said "forget it", then put his mind at ease.

Li Jiao said: "Today is off, after I wash up, accompany you out of the house for a walk?" "Officials have a tenth, twentieth, and thirtieth day off every month, and they don't go to the government office, and they don't have court meetings.

Shen Pearl looked at him with a tired face, and said softly: "The ancients also said, 'The way of civil and martial arts, one piece and one relaxation', you should really rest for a while, if you want to go out of the house to play, you will have plain porcelain to accompany me." ”

Li Jiao shook his head and said as if he was serious: "That's not good, I've heard people say that whoever a child has the most contact with before he is born, he is born with whom he is most like." ”

It was the first time that Shen Pearl heard this strange theory, and was stunned, and asked, "So what?" ”

Li Jiao smiled and said: "You and Su Ci are facing each other day and night, if my son looks like a woman like Su Porcelain, it will be terrible!" ”

Shen Pearl smiled and said: "The wife of the Minister of Civil and Military Affairs of the Manchu Dynasty is far better than the time when she is pregnant with her husband, according to your words, now the nobles of Chang'an City should all be picturesque, charming and charming, and the banquet in the palace of the last month, how can I look at most of them with hateful faces?" Besides, how do you know that I must have a son in my womb? If I give birth to a daughter, as beautiful as plain porcelain, I will be satisfied! ”

Li Jiao's eyes were blazing, and he said, "I know it must be my son." ”

Shen Pearl said: "Your Highness must be crazy for your son." As soon as the words fell, I remembered the royal family, especially His Majesty had high hopes for the fetus in his womb, if he had a man, Li Li's status would be more consolidated, although there was no difference between men and women, she only hoped to give birth to the fetus safely and smoothly, but at this time she was extremely looking forward to the baby in her womb. Thinking of this, there seems to be infinite pressure on my shoulders, everything in the world can be worked on, and the only way to have children and daughters seems to be the only way to rely on God's will.

Li Jiao saw that her expression was a little gloomy, so he hugged her shoulder and smiled: "It's just a joke, how can you take it seriously?" As long as it's our kids, I'm just a big guy. ”

The two of them were talking and laughing, and suddenly heard the heavy footsteps of high-soled official boots outside the room, and they were wondering, "boom", and the door of the study was pushed open. Li Jiao's face was solemn, let go of the hand holding Shen Zhuzhu's shoulder, and shouted: "What person, bold!" ”

The person who came was Feng Shengyi, who was newly mentioned as the head of the Criminal Department, and his dark face was flushed red at this time, because he was in a hurry to report the news, he came all the way, panting like a cow.

"Your Highness, something big has happened - An Lushan is reversed!"

Li Li and Shen Pearl were relatively speechless. Like the civil and military officials of the imperial court, although they had expected this day, when they were really at this moment, the chill still soaked into the bone marrow. Feng Shengyi didn't close the door tightly, the cold wind blew, the window screen flickered, the silence seemed to be long and short at this moment, Li Jiao slammed the table, and the over-heaped cases were scattered on the ground, and sneered: "Okay, good, the old thief finally reversed!" ”

An Lushan was on the first day, that is, on the ninth day of the first month. In the early morning of the same day, he swore an oath in the southern suburbs of Jicheng, playing the pretext of "begging Yang Guozhong with secret edicts" and raising troops to "quell the trouble", opening the prelude to the chaos. Although he had already ambushed people along the way from Fanyang to Chang'an and captured the messenger who reported to Chang'an, there were still many worms in the Tang Dynasty who had slipped through the net, and the news was quickly transmitted to Chang'an.

Xuanzong was furious.

On the afternoon of the 10th day of the first month, a court meeting was convened, and Guo Ziyi, the envoy of the right wing of Shuofang and the governor of Fengzhou, was the envoy of Shuofang's festival and led the Shuofang army to the east to fight the thieves.

On the 21st, Xuanzong beheaded An Qingzong, the eldest son of An Lushan, and gave death to the lord of Rongyi. At the same time, he ordered the sixth son Rongwang Li Wan and the general of Jinwu Gao Xianzhi to be the main and deputy marshals, and led tens of thousands of troops to the Tongguan Eastern Expedition, and set up new Jiedu envoys and defense envoys in various places to stop the rebels.

The Tang interior defense was lax, and the rebel army tended to go straight in.

On December 22, Bianzhou and Xingyang fell.

On the 23rd, Luoyang fell, and the defender Feng Changqing joined up with Li Wan and Gao Xianzhi and retreated to Tongguan, and the rebels took Cui Qianyou as the vanguard, and attacked Tongguan without going down, and the two armies became confrontational.

On the 25th, another part of the rebel army, led by An Qingxu, stepped up its attack on the Hebei counties, Hongnong, Linru, Puyang, Jiyang and Yunzhong counties fell, and the 17 counties of Hebei fell into the hands of the enemy.

On the 28th, Li Jiao returned to his house, and the governor Zhang Deyu was wearing a bulky cotton robe, and was hanging lanterns and posting door gods with his servants - the one who rode the giant tiger was the god, and the one who stood on the shoulder was Yu Lei, which was majestic and majestic. The New Year's Festival is approaching, usually at this time is the lanterns of the alley market are hanging high, relatives and friends are next to each other, subordinates are the same, congratulating each other, giving each other a legacy, but this year because of the war, up to the palace, down to the princes and nobles, high-ranking families, and ordinary people, all seem to have lost their enthusiasm for the New Year, the market is deserted, and there are few people who make green lights.

Li Jiao glanced at Zhang Deyu, didn't speak, and walked to the inner mansion. Zhang Deyu ran in small steps, bent over, and laughed in a low voice: "The princess is pregnant, and there are two great gods, Shen Tu and Yu Lei, to exorcise demons and avoid evil, and she will be safe." Li Jiao bowed his head slightly, this Zhang Deyu was transferred from the prince's mansion last year, but it is not annoying, and he can do some things, hindering the prince's face, and becoming the head of the palace after Liu Run.

The house and the outside have been cleaned, Shen Pearl is reading a book in the collapse, listening to Su Ci salute and say, "I have seen Your Highness", hurriedly put down the book, for fear that Li Li would blame himself for reading and hurting his mind, and he didn't know what words to use to prevaricate, but he saw Li Li's expression was calm, and he waved at Su Ci after widening his robe, and Su Ci hurriedly retreated and closed the door.

Shen Pearl knew that the more peaceful Li Jiao seemed to be, the more unusual it was, and he didn't know what the battle situation ahead was.

Li Jiao slowly sat down on the collapse and said, "Uncle Rong died violently in the army yesterday. When he said in the army, he meant the Tongguan army. King Rong had a great friendship with him, and he had no intention of grief.

"How so?" Shen Pearl had met with King Rong Li Wan a few times, and was very surprised, "It is said that King Rong has a strong physique, how can he say that he is dead." Is it a sudden illness? ”

Li Jiao shook his head, "I can't tell, but ,...... Uncle Wang is indeed too lustful, he is in Tongguan, and there are still four or five concubines in the tent...... "The rest is hard to say, even Shen Pearl can't think about it, King Rong is famous for being lustful in Chang'an, but at the age of forty, the concubines in the house are like clouds, not to mention, the children have reached fifty-eight people, such a long-term waste, it is indeed very supportable." Although King Rong is just a false name, he died at an inopportune time, the two armies faced each other, and the commander died violently, which can be said to be a big setback to the morale of the army. In addition, there is another question, that is, who will succeed the manager? I suddenly realized in my heart, and I saw a ray of anxiety flashing in Li Jiao's eyes, could it be ...... I was uneasy, and there was a faint pain and panic slowly rising.

Li Jiao looked at her intently, and was even more reluctant in his heart, and hugged her tightly into his arms with a fierce force, until she couldn't breathe, kissed her, deeply imprinted her forehead, and said with difficulty: "I'm sorry, Pearl." Your Majesty ordered my father to be the marshal, and I had to go to Tongguan instead of my father. ”

Shen Pearl trembled, sure enough. Tongguan, that is the battlefield where Wu Ge was armoured, the car was wrong, and the sun and arrows fell, and there were countless soldiers and horses every day on the battlefield, she always thought that it was out of reach, and now the battlefield in front of her. She knew that maybe he wouldn't come to the front line in person, and that he would go to Tongguan more as a symbol, a symbol of His Majesty's attention, and a symbol of the Tang family's confidence in the victory of this war. However, she was still worried, how could she not be worried—afraid of a cold arrow suddenly coming from the city, afraid of a group of ambushes suddenly bursting out of the middle of the road, afraid of the cold wind and cold rain hurting his body, afraid of ......

All in all, my heart was full of unprecedented fear and panic.

Seeing that she didn't answer for a long time, Li Jiao sighed and looked at her waist, although she was 100 days pregnant, she was still as slender as ever. His tone was full of guilt: "I'm really upset to leave you at such a time. Don't worry about me, Tongguan is dangerous, there are two generals Gao and Feng guarded, when it is unharmed, wait until July and August next year, Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi two generals cut off the rebels in several ways, go north to take down Fan Yang and dump his lair, the rebels will be in chaos without a fight, and it will be easy to recover Luoyang and Hebei counties. ”

Shen Pearl came back to his senses, but secretly scolded himself, even if he was reluctant and worried, the expedition was imminent, how could he let him worry about himself anymore, only if he was calm and calm, he would rest assured. Gently hugged his body, raised his head and smiled: "Don't worry, I will take care of myself and the child, and wait for you to come back." In the current situation, His Majesty attaches great importance to this child, I am afraid that it will not be inferior to you and me, and it is expected that no one will dare to think rashly. ”

Li Jiao said: "I will be well-arranged, strict inside, and windy clothes outside, no one can touch you." It's just ......," he frowned, "your own body must be cherished by yourself, and that's what worries me the most." Shen Pearl gritted her teeth and replied, "When I go back, I will ask Su Ci to move all the books to the warehouse." Li Jiao chuckled, hugged her and said, "It's not necessary, you always have to pass the time, don't you?" As long as you keep it in mind for me, I will be relieved. ”

Shen Pearl nodded silently and said, "You must always remember, be careful in everything, and return safely." He paused and asked, "When are you leaving?" ”

Li Li said: "In the afternoon." ”

Shen Pearl leaned into Li Li's arms, smelling the faint aroma of his clothes, he was already familiar and attached, and he didn't know how long it would take to smell his breath again. I just hate that time is so hurried, my heart is wandering, and the pain of parting is so bitter. After a long time, Youyou said to Li Jiao: "You, I beg you for something." ”

Li Jiao closed his eyes and replied, "You say, no matter what, I will answer you." ”

"I beg you to bring your wind robe."

Li Jiaoqian opened his eyes: "No! First, he wants to protect you, and second, he is now the head of the Criminal Department, how can he take it away at will? ”

Shen Pearl said softly: "If you want to take him away, you must have a way." With strict protection, I am enough, and you are in the midst of war, which makes people worry about their safety the most. I beg you. ”

Li Jiao saw that her eyes were misty, as if she was pleading for help, and finally nodded: "Okay." I'll send another elite dead soldier to watch around the Qingyi Pavilion. After a moment of conversation, he said: "Since I have promised you this, you must also promise me one thing - from the time I leave, you are not allowed to ask, you are not allowed to look at the battle situation of Tongguan, and you can wait for me to come back with peace of mind." ”

Shen Pearl bit her lower lip, her face turned a little pale, and asked, "Why?" ”

Li Jiao said: "In the past year and a half, the war in Tongguan has been tight, and now there are many hearsayrs in Chang'an City, and there are inaccuracies in the side newspapers, I just don't want you to worry about it." I have asked Zhang Deyu to give an order, no one is allowed to mention war with you, and you have to calm down! ”

Shen Pearl hung her head for a long time before she gently replied with the word "good".

Li Jiao smiled at this time, leaned his head and put his ear on Shen Pearl's waist, Shen Pearl shrank back behind him, and said, "What are you doing?" Li Jiao said: "I'm listening if the child is calling his father inside." ”

Shen Pearl wanted to laugh but tears filled her eyes, secretly wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes, and said with a smile: "How big is this?" Dare to call your father and mother, you must be a talented genius. As soon as the words fell, I heard Li Jiao whisper in his ear: "Our son is not only a talented genius, but also a son of heaven in the future." ”