Night gradually fell, the lanterns of Luoyang City began to ignite, and the long-awaited Shangyuan lanterns finally slowly kicked off.

As soon as the sky was dark, every household had dinner early, closed the door, and went out with his wife and children to watch the lanterns, millions of people poured into the streets, and the streets and alleys of Luoyang were full of people, and there were crowds of people watching the lanterns everywhere.

Children carry small lamps to follow their parents around, groups of girls hold money bags, pick out their favorite small items everywhere, and many large shops and large households have various artists performing.

Hu Xuan Dance, Hu Teng Dance, Tuozhi Dance from Sogdia, Fire Skills from Tianzhu and Tocharo, Horse Dance from Tuyuhun, Lion Dance, Military Drama, Puppet Show, all kinds of entertainment appeared, dizzying and thunderous.

But the most attractive is still the uncovered puja held on the eve of the first lunar night every year, the reason is not that the Buddha is attracted, but that a large amount of money will be thrown during the puja, which fatally attracts the people of Luoyang.

However, not all pujas are held at the Luoshui Rim, there are no large enough venues there, and some pujas are still held in the imperial city, but ordinary people are not allowed to enter, only thousands of monks and nearly 10,000 devotees participate.

This was also the final compromise reached, as long as many idlers were intercepted outside the imperial city, the imperial court would allow genuine monks and devotees to enter the imperial city to participate in the puja.

Thousands of monks and tens of thousands of robe-clad believers chanted the Great Cloud Sutra in unison to pray for the blessing of the Holy Spirit Emperor, while the southern shore of Luoyang was crowded with ordinary people waiting to be scattered.

Xue Huaiyi was half-lying on a temporary tall building, looking a little absent-minded, he didn't turn back to look at the palace city Yingtianmen, so far, the empress Wu Zetian has never come out to participate in the festival, which makes Xue Huaiyi extremely depressed and desperate at the same time.

This festival was his last effort to save Wu Zetian's heart, for which he did not hesitate to invest 30,000 yuan, but Wu Zetian never showed up, at this moment, he suddenly felt that the huge mantle on the Tianjin Bridge was so dazzling, and it was not a Buddha statue painted on it, but full of humiliation.

"General, Master Chibao is here!" said a monk who served him respectfully.

"Where are the others?"

Xue Huaiyi immediately got up and sat down, his eyes looked at the puja, and without waiting for the monk to answer, he had already seen that on a wooden platform a hundred steps away, a ball of fire was swirling up and down around a black shadow. Xue Huaiyi nodded slowly, "Bring him over to see me!"

Under the careful care of the imperial doctor and lover Shen Nanmu, Wu Zetian's illness improved day by day, and finally fully recovered in two days.

After years of fighting between the government and the opposition, she finally sat on the throne, and her body and mind were a little tired, at this time she no longer needed to be rude and passionate, but also needed a kind of warmth, and Shen Nanmu's careful and considerate character undoubtedly catered to Wu Zetian's needs.

At this time, Wu Zetian and Shen Nanmu were hugging each other and sleeping in the hibiscus tent, and had already thrown his former lover Xue Huaiyi out of the clouds, and Wu Zetian's personal maid Yan Shuang'er felt that the saint was already asleep, so she retreated from the bedroom lightly.

As soon as she walked out of the dormitory, a eunuch waiting here secretly handed her a note and whispered, "The general wants to know when the saint will leave?"

Yan Shuang'er was secretly annoyed in her heart, she was obviously illiterate, and she still had to give her a note, was this humiliating her? She sneered and said: "The saint is still taking medicine, I don't know when he will leave, let's talk about it later!"

She turned around and walked to the other side of the Taichu Palace, and after a while, she came to Shangguan Wan'er's official room, and handed the note to Shangguan Wan'er tremblingly, since Shangguan Wan'er caught her red-handed a few days ago, and concealed the hook-up between her and Xue Huaiyi for her, she was completely subdued by Shangguan Wan'er.

Shangguan Wan'er had been patiently waiting for her chance, and although she wasn't sure what would happen tonight, she was still prepared.

Shangguan Wan'er opened the note, took a skim, and looked at it, the note was Xue Huaiyi's handwriting, and asked when the saint would go to the festival, Shangguan Wan'er showed a mocking smile at the corner of her mouth, is this Xue Huaiyi still delusional?

This afternoon, she told the saint about the huge Buddha statue of 20 zhang high, which is said to be painted with the blood on Xue Huaiyi's knees, and the saint just smiled, not taking it to heart at all, this Xue Huaiyi is still preaching all over the city, but he is just humiliating.

"Sheren, how should I answer him?" asked Yan Shuang'er timidly.

"What did you say when you gave you the note?"

"I said that His Holiness was taking medicine, and it was difficult to decide when to go to the puja for the time being. ”

Shangguan Wan'er nodded, "You just tell them the truth, just say that the Holy Lord and Imperial Doctor Shen have rested and will not participate in the Dharma again." ”

"Yes! Shuang'er understands, Shuang'er retires!"

Yan Shuang'er slowly retreated, and at this time, Shangguan Wan'er asked again: "Xue Huaiyi wants to worship the Buddha in the Ming Hall, has the Holy Lord agreed?"

"The Holy One agreed, but they were not allowed to hold a puja in the Ming Hall, and they could only worship the Buddha, and only tonight. ”

"I see, go ahead!"

Yan Shuang'er bowed and retreated, Shangguan Wan'er immediately wrote a letter, called an old eunuch, handed the letter to him, and said: "Give this letter to Li Zhen and tell him, pay special attention tonight!"

"The old slave is going!"

The old eunuch took the letter and hurried away, Shangguan Wan'er walked to the window with her hands down, she could clearly see the huge cloth curtain Buddha statue on the Tianjin Bridge from the window, Shangguan Wan'er's eyes showed a cold murderous intent, and the battle between her and Xue Huaiyi for several years was about to end

Li Zhen was in the internal security office of the imperial city at this time, he took more than fifty of his subordinates and waited patiently for the opportunity, at noon he shook a shot, and successfully tricked Wan Guojun to the White Horse Temple, removing a major obstacle, judging from all kinds of signs, Xue Huaiyi was also fully prepared, both sides were waiting for the opportunity, in the hunting ground of the palace, to see who could have the last laugh.

Li Zhen stood on the third floor of the official office pavilion, watching from a distance the grand event being held in the south of the imperial city, he could faintly hear the sound of chanting, at this time Zhao Qiuniang slowly walked to his side, and said with a smile: "Dealing with a little Xue Huaiyi actually consumes so much of our energy, to be honest, it is really a bit of a fuss." ”

Li Zhen also said with deep feelings: "This is the power of imperial power, we must be careful not to stimulate it, in the final analysis, it is the attitude of the saint towards Xue Huaiyi who is not resolute enough, so that we go around one bend after another, just like walking a bamboo pole, we must pay attention to balance, pinch the strength and influence of all aspects, and the slightest carelessness will be wasted." ”

"But it's still himself who really defeats Xue Huaiyi, isn't it?" Zhao Qiuniang said with a smile again.

Li Zhen nodded lightly, and couldn't help but smile: "We just took advantage of the situation and helped him." ”

At this time, a sergeant stepped forward to report, "Commander, an old eunuch came to the palace, saying that there is a letter to the commander." ”

"Bring him here!"

An old eunuch was quickly brought over, he took out a letter and handed it to Li Zhen, "This is a letter from the Sheren to the commander, there is no message, everything you want to say should be on it!"

"Thank you!"

The soldiers took the old eunuch down, Li Zhen opened the letter and looked at it, turned back to Zhao Qiuniang and smiled: "Shangguan Sheren has allowed us to act." ”

"But where do we start?"

"Naturally, we will start at the Rintoe Temple!"

Li Zhen pondered for a moment again, and said to Zhao Qiuniang: "If Xue Huaiyi's people enter the palace, there will basically be no suspense, and this side will be handed over to Captain Zhao, and it should be noted that Xue Huaiyi temporarily repents." ”

Zhao Qiuniang nodded, "Don't worry! ”

Xue Huaiyi finally despaired, when Yan Shuang'er personally told him that the Holy Lord was sleeping with Imperial Doctor Shen, and he had no time to come to the grand event he held, the words 'sleeping together' were like a giant hammer, smashing his last ray of hope, and he had realized that the Holy Lord had completely abandoned him.

Despair, jealousy, anger, hatred, like sharp daggers piercing his heart to blood, at this moment, all he had left in his mind was madness, what he couldn't get, no one could imagine.

"Go to the Ming Hall to worship the Buddha!" Xue Huaiyi finally made up his mind and made a final decision.

More than two dozen monks lined up and walked towards the Ming Hall, each carrying only a wooden fish and the most basic magic weapons, and they slowly walked to the Yingtian Gate.

Ying Tianmen was originally called Zetianmen, the momentum is magnificent, the door is flying and watching the clipping, the view has twofold, the upper weight is purple microcosm, the left and right are even one hundred and twenty feet high, and there are Yongtai Gate and Qianyuan Gate inward.

The Yingtian Gate was lined with thousands of guards who were responsible for the puja that was being held in the Imperial City, while the Yingtian Gate was guarded by Wu Yanxiu, a lieutenant general of the Yulin Army.

At this time, a soldier reported to him, "There are more than 20 monks who have asked to enter the palace city and go to the Ming Hall to worship the Buddha!"

Wu Yanxiu is the leader of Xue Huaiyi's polo team, and he used to have a very close relationship with Xue Huaiyi, but seeing Xue Huaiyi fall out of favor, he also tried to keep a certain distance from Xue Huaiyi, so as not to provoke himself.

Wu Yanxiu received the Holy Lord's decree in advance that the monks of the White Horse Temple could be allowed to go to the Ming Hall to worship the Maitreya Buddha, and he immediately walked up to the city tower, looking at the twenty or so monks below, and he immediately ordered: "Carefully check their belongings, and do not bring any irrelevant items into the palace!"

The soldiers stepped forward one after another, carefully searched their bodies, and examined the monks' magic weapons, and the last lieutenant reported: "General, they are not carrying any suspicious items. ”

"Let them in!"

More than 20 monks marched into the palace, and Wu Yanxiu immediately instructed one of his lieutenants: "Bring a hundred brothers with them, and bring them out as soon as the service is over." ”

"Obey!"

The captain followed the monks into the palace with more than a hundred soldiers, and headed towards the Ming Hall, at which time the craftsmen of the Ming Hall and Heaven had already withdrawn from the Imperial City, and the huge palace was deserted, with only guards patrolling back and forth.

More than 20 monks slowly walked up to the second floor of the Ming Hall, sat cross-legged in front of the huge Buddha statue, and began to chant the Great Cloud Sutra, and the soldiers stopped bothering them and left the Buddha far away

Due to the grand unsheltered pujas being held in the southern part of the imperial city and on the banks of the Tianjin Bridge, in order to maintain order, almost all the palace guards went to the southern city, making the eastern part of the imperial city deserted.

There is a lonely large wooden house next to the right guard polo field in the east of the imperial city, and the wooden house is full of charcoal, but at this time, dozens of internal guard soldiers unexpectedly appeared in the charcoal room, and they replaced an old wooden board on the ground in the middle of the charcoal house with a huge iron plate, which means that the exit of this secret passage was finally blocked.

"Now it's okay!"

Captain Wang Zongyi said with a smile: "Even if they crash into the stone wall, they don't want to come out of here again!"

"Captain, will there be any other exit?"

Wang Zongyi shook his head, "There is only one exit in the imperial city, unless they go back from the original way, but the original road should not be able to go back." ”

He slowly walked to the gate of the charcoal house, looked at the wide and flat racetrack outside, and couldn't help sighing: "I really didn't expect that the secret passage of the underground palace of Lintoe Temple turned out to be the gateway to the imperial city, no wonder Xue Huaiyi tried his best to occupy Lintoe Temple." ”

At the same time, in the Lintoe Temple, thousands of warrior monks of the White Horse Temple have entered the tunnel from the Guanyin Hall, the underground palace is extremely spacious, and the ventilation is also good, they have changed into armor in the underground palace, carry swords, and prepare to enter the imperial city through the secret passage exit at the other end.

At this time, they had a chance, there were almost no guards in the east of the imperial city, and once there was a big event in the palace, they could take advantage of the chaos to directly enter the Taichu Palace.

At this time, several warrior monks unexpectedly saw that the secret door on the stone wall could not be opened, and they hurriedly reported to the warrior monk leader, who stepped forward to check for a moment, scolded angrily and whispered, and then ordered: "Directly smash the stone wall!"

Soon there was a dull smashing sound in the dungeon, but at this time, something happened that the warrior monks in the dungeon could not have dreamed of.

More than 2,000 Qianniuwei soldiers quickly surrounded the Linzhi Temple, and under the leadership of the general Wu Youxu, they broke open the gate of the temple and rushed in with murderous spirit.

Abbot Zhiwen hurriedly greeted him with dozens of nuns, but he was confronted by a large group of soldiers rushing in, "Kill!" The Qianniuwei soldiers roared, frightening dozens of nuns to kneel down and beg for mercy.

"Where is the warrior monk of the White Horse Temple?" Wu Youxu asked with a knife pointing at Zhiwen.

"They're ...... Inside the dungeon. Zhiwen said tremblingly.

At this time, several internal guard soldiers came out from the other side, and the person who was the fire chief Lin Zhuhu, he bowed to Wu Youxu and saluted, "See General Wu!"

Wu Youxu knew him and nodded, "Commander Li told me that the entrance to the underground palace is in Guanyin Hall, please Brother Lin take me to Guanyin Hall." ”

Lin Baohu clasped his fists and saluted, "Please come with me!"

Under the leadership of Lin Baohu, hundreds of Qianniuwei soldiers rushed into the Guanyin Hall, there were dozens of warrior monks guarding the Guanyin Hall, under the fierce attack of hundreds of Qianniuwei, the warrior monks were caught off guard, and they were all captured by the Qianniuwei soldiers in just a moment.

The Qianniu Guard soldiers entered the Guanyin Hall of Lintoe Temple, which means that the back road of the warrior monks in the underground palace has been cut off

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