At the end of December, Luoyang City.

The cold wind of the cold moon is raging in the cold winter, and the city of Luoyang has just experienced a snowfall at this time, and the whole city is covered with snow, like a warrior in snow-white armor, overlooking the earth, revealing a king's breath in the world.

Li Xichu took Wei Congrong, Jia Naian, Bao Tian, and Shen Mintuo to finally come to the east gate of Luoyang, looking at this majestic city, several people were shocked.

At this time, Li Si and the others had already lost their previous spirit, and they saw that several people were ragged and exhausted, their original gorgeous clothes were even more tattered, and the carriage and coachman were gone.

The crowd set out from Dengzhou, traveled thousands of miles along the way, not only was deceived by the coachman to take away the coil and carriage, but also encountered thieves and thieves and ruffians and bullies several times, and almost died several times. Now that they have finally arrived in Luoyang City after hardships, several people were so excited that they burst into tears, and Shen Mintuo even knelt directly on the ground and cried, attracting sideways glances from passers-by.

After a long time, everyone calmed down, and then passed through the tall and wide city gate, and after the urn city, everyone finally saw the flowery Luoyang style. At this time, several people looked at the bustling street, a little overwhelmed, and there was a trace of anxiety in their hearts, they all looked at Li Sichu, Wei Congrong asked: "Eldest prince, where are we going next?" ”

Li Xichu was also a little flustered, stabilized his mind and looked around, and said, "Let's go, go directly to the Great Prince's Mansion!" ”

A few people said that they were determined, so they asked all the way to look around, and walked around the city for more than an hour before finding the mansion of the eldest prince Li Congke.

At this time, Li Congke was still staying in Luoyang City, although Emperor Li Siyuan ordered him to return to Xijing several times to guard, but Li Congke delayed with various excuses, so that many ministers in the court began to communicate with Li Congke openly and secretly, which brought huge pressure to An Chongxue.

When Li Sichu and others came to Li Congke's mansion, they saw a sea of people outside the gate of the mansion, and many gorgeously dressed dignitaries gathered on the street, waiting for Li Congke's reception. The carriages of these dignitaries were lined up on the side of the road, and they actually filled the entire long street!

Seeing this, Li Xichu and the others were dumbfounded, these dignitaries and nobles who rode in the carriage were all carrying gifts, so they couldn't enter Li Congke's mansion, how could these little people get in?

"Eldest son, what should we do? This, this can't get in! ”

Li Xichu also had no idea, although he was a child of a family, but where had he seen such a scene in Luoyang, he didn't know what to do for a while, so he could only be at a loss with a bitter face.

At this moment, the door of the mansion slowly opened, and with the singing of the housekeeper, Li Congke strode out wearing a gorgeous costume, wearing a bearskin coat and a delicately decorated horizontal knife hanging from his waist.

Immediately afterwards, a team of ironclad guards lined up, guarding both sides of Li Congke, directly pushing the crowd outside the gate away, not letting anyone approach Li Congke, and then began to guard the door of the mansion.

At the same time, a luxurious carriage slowly approached, followed by dozens of cavalrymen also wearing iron armor, completely blocking the long street, waiting for Li Congke to get on the car and leave.

Seeing this, Li Xichu gritted his teeth, rushed forward suddenly, and was put to the ground by the ironclad guards after only running two steps, and the two spears instantly pressed against Li Sichu's body, if it weren't for those ironclad guards who were worried that seeing blood would anger Li Congke, Li Sichu would already be a corpse at this time!

"I'm going to sue! I want to sue Li Congyan, the assassin of Dengzhou, for plundering places and killing innocent people, Li Congyan also expanded his army and sold illicit salt, he intended to rebel! ”

Wei Congrong and the others were also startled when they saw this, but then everyone turned their hearts sideways and rushed up one after another, shouting loudly to sue Li Congyan. Immediately afterwards, Wei Congrong and the others, without exception, were stopped and put down by the ironclad guards.

Bao Tian was also swept down by the spear of an ironclad guard because he ran too far forward, and this time the blow was very heavy, Bao Tian fell to the ground in pain and convulsed, and he couldn't slow down for a long time.

Li Congke was slightly stunned when he saw this, and then waved his hand, asking people to bring Li Xichu to him, and asked, "You want to sue Li Congyan, the assassin of Dengzhou?" ”

"Exactly!"

"Don't you know that he is my imperial brother?"

"The grass people know! But the grass people know that the law of the country is ruthless, and the prince is the pillar of the country, so he should enforce the law impartially and eliminate harm for the people! Therefore, the grass people dared to sue today, and asked the eldest prince to uphold justice for the people of Dengzhou! ”

Li Congke sneered and said, "What a good pair of teeth!" What's your name? What is your identity? ”

"The eldest prince of Qiyu, the son of the Li family in Penglai, Dengzhou, Caomin, Li Sichu!"

"Penglai Li family? Are you a child of a family? ”

Li Congke thought for a while, then ordered someone to bring Li Si and the others in, and then waved back the carriage and the guard iron horse, and turned back to the mansion.

Only a group of dignitaries and nobles outside the gate were left, and they were still gathered on the street gossiping about something.

In the back hall, Li Xichu recounted what he knew, and Li Congke's face couldn't help but change slightly after listening to it.

"Li Congyan actually directly booby-trapped Liu Yu and others, didn't he know that Liu Yu and others were An Chongzhi's henchmen? Hehe, that's giving me a breath! ”

"Li Congyan has a team of thousands of elites in his hands? What did he rely on to raise soldiers, just on the pitiful taxes in Dengzhou? Sea Salt Workshop and Glass Workshop! He still understands this, it's really hidden, I haven't seen it all these years! ”

"What! Li Congyan killed more than 20 family heads in Dengzhou and confiscated their family property? ”

Hearing this, Li Congke's face began to become gloomy, and he asked: "If this matter is true, then Li Congyan really has a heroic posture, and I must not keep him!" What else to say! ”

"The eldest prince, Li Congyan also wantonly recruited displaced people, opened up wasteland and divided land, increased commercial taxes, and bought people's hearts, which is a great act of disobedience, this is the ambition of the wolf, the eldest prince has to guard against it, and he has to manage it!"

Li Congke stood up abruptly and said in a cold voice, "What does he want to do?" What is he going to do! ”

When Li Si first saw this, he wanted to add another fire, but before he could speak, he saw Li Congke's murderous eyes, and he was so frightened that he crawled on the ground, and he didn't dare to speak, and Wei Congrong and the others were also so frightened that they threw themselves on the ground and didn't say a word.

After a while, Li Congke said: "You stay in the mansion for the time being, I will summon you at any time." ”

After speaking, Li Congke sent someone to take Li Sichu and the others out.

Li Xichu, Wei Congrong and others were still secretly happy in their hearts, thinking that Li Congke must have believed his words, so not to mention what rewards there would be, at least they could treat everyone well, and delicious food and wine were indispensable.

But what Li Sichu and the others never expected was that several servants directly took everyone to a remote and dilapidated house in the mansion, and one of the stewards even said: "You just stay here, no one is allowed to go out of this room without the order of the eldest prince, otherwise their lives will be lost!" Don't blame me for not reminding you. ”

After speaking, the steward locked the door from the outside and walked away, leaving only Li Xichu, Wei Congrong and others who wanted to cry without tears.

At the court meeting the next day, Li Congke impeached Li Congyan in public, claiming that Li Congyan had committed 17 crimes, including arson, trafficking in illicit salt, collecting displaced people, and secretly expanding the army.

To the surprise of Li Congke and everyone, An Chongzhi did not contradict Li Congke for the first time, but also impeached Li Congyan, claiming that Li Congyan committed suicide and killed local officials, installed cronies, controlled the place, and had bad intentions. Li Congke and An Chongzhi sang and harmonized, which immediately caused the surprise of the Manchu Dynasty.

Emperor Li Siyuan saw that the two stood together unexpectedly, and he was very vigilant in his heart, and Li Congke always stayed in Luoyang and did not leave, so he was even more suspicious, so he did not follow the wishes of the two, let alone strictly investigate Li Congyan, but issued an edict ordering Li Congyan to defend himself in order to prove his innocence.

When Li Congyan received the edict of Emperor Li Siyuan, he was also taken aback, and he couldn't figure out what was going on for a while, why did Li Congke and An Chongzhi notice him at the same time, was it because his movements in Dengzhou during this time were too big?

"It shouldn't be!"

Li Congyan pondered and meditated in the Assassin's Mansion: "Dengzhou is far away from Luoyang and the court, it is not a strategic place, let alone a major financial and tax place, there is no reason why this side will attract the attention of important ministers in the court!" Moreover, Li Congke and An Chongzhu are political enemies of life and death, and my side is just rectifying some local families, and they are not involved in the affairs of the DPRK and China, how can they unite the front and fight me? ”

After thinking about it for a long time, Li Congyan still didn't know the essentials, but Li Congyan could still be sure of one thing, that is, Emperor Li Siyuan did not intend to dispose of himself, otherwise he would not have issued an edict to ask, and just let himself give the court an explanation, isn't this obviously sending news to himself?

"It seems that this Li Siyuan is not a fool, knowing that Li Congke and An Chongzhi are in the united front. But now that the two of them have begun to notice me, I need to prepare early, and those plans must be quickened and put on the agenda as soon as possible. After all, only when you are strong can you protect yourself! ”

After Li Congyan figured out this, he found Wu Conghan, dictated it himself, and asked Wu Conghan to draft it, preparing to defend himself to Li Siyuan and give the court an explanation.

“…… The murder of more than 20 family heads and family members in Dengzhou was done by the thieves and thieves in Dengzhou. The present minister is mobilizing troops and horses, preparing to exterminate the thieves and clear the place, and in a few days the head of the leader of the thieves will be sent to Luoyang......"

“…… When the minister first arrived in Dengzhou, he rectified the officials of the Dengzhou Assassin History Mansion, which was within the minister's responsibility. As for the booby-trapping of officials and selling salt without permission, they are really framed, and I ask the saint to investigate ......"

“…… The minister is the assassin of Dengzhou, appeasing the displaced people, opening up the wasteland and reclamation is the most important task, and it is the responsibility of the minister, this is a government affairs, how can the crime be said? Therefore, it must be a traitor in the DPRK and China who maliciously made false accusations, and I ask the saint to investigate ......"

Li Congyan threw the murder of more than 20 family heads to the thieves, and as for the other things mentioned in the edict, he denied them all. Anyway, Li Siyuan would not really send someone to investigate, even if he sent someone to check the facts, he would have already cleaned up the first and last dishes, and it would be in vain for Da Luo Jinxian to come.

"Lord, this self-defense is very important, is it okay to write it like this?"

Wu Conghan was a little uncertain in his heart, for fear that if a sentence was written inappropriately, it would cause trouble for Li Congyan.

Li Congyan said with a smile: "It's okay! This self-defense on the above table is nothing more than giving Li Congke and An Chongzhi a step down, the sage has no intention of embarrassing me at all, what happens here in Dengzhou, the sage will not care. ”

"If I'm not mistaken, the only thing that the saint cares about now is why Li Congke and An Chongzhi attacked me at the same time, is there some collusion between the two of them in secret?"

Wu Conghan didn't quite understand the battle between the DPRK and China, and was still skeptical at this time.

Li Congyan said: "You can rest assured, as long as Li Congke and An Chongzhu stop fighting, the saint will definitely protect me, this is called balance!" ”

When Li Congyan's self-defense was sent to the court, Li Congke and An Chongzhi expressed their opposition one after another, and even Li Congke asked to go to Dengzhou in person to check the truth of the matter.

However, Emperor Li Siyuan thought that it was a big fuss, so he made a haha and directly passed the matter.