In the early winter of the 823rd year of the Holy Tang Dynasty, when Li Jiangyao led a lone army, dreaming of one day recovering the great rivers and mountains, a new round of crisis was brewing in the imperial capital, which was thousands of miles away.

Located in the Prince's Mansion in Yuhefang in the east of the city, a small private banquet has just entered the best realm of wine and hot atmosphere at this time.

The host of the banquet was none other than Li Qiang, the king of Huaiyang, who had recently been appointed as the deputy head of Jinhe River Affairs.

After the performance, a group of glamorous dancers bowed to the guests and exited the hall one by one. Guanglu Doctor Xiao Shao hugged the beauty in one hand and the wine glass in the other, and laughed loudly: "Hahaha, I said Your Highness, you are really calm." It has been more than a month since the appointment of the imperial court was issued, and the ceremony of sacrificing the river is about to be held, but you are still staying in the imperial capital all day to drink and feast, hahahaha. ”

Li Kui drank all the wine in the golden bottle, and hummed nonchalantly: "I care so much about him?!" ”

"That's-" Li Qiang's brother-in-law, Luo Linyuan, the deputy general of the Forbidden Army's Tiger and Leopard Cavalry, said flatteringly: "Our Royal Highness is the eldest son of the emperor and the heir to the throne. Who would have thought that he would be inserted sideways by a guy with an unjustified name, and you say that people are not angry? Now that the imperial court is coerced by Xie Guang, he has given our Royal Highness a sesame mung bean official to be an official, isn't this a heart-to-heart practice? ”

Xu Hanzhong, a doctor of Taixue, said: "It is reasonable, it is reasonable. Li Bing was in charge of the Jinhe River affairs, but let His Royal Highness be the deputy. His Highness must not be squeezed by him when he goes there. ”

Li Jiong was sullen when he heard this, and waved his hand: "Alas, don't talk about these troubles, let's drink!" ”

Everyone responded one after another, raised their glasses to accompany the king of Huaiyang, and at this moment, the housekeeper of the palace suddenly walked in quickly from outside, walked to Li Kui's side and whispered a few words.

Li Kui was slightly stunned, looked at the housekeeper and wondered, "Why is he here?" …… What about Zhao Jing? Did you come back together? ”

Zhao Jing in Li Kui's mouth is the chief military general of Huaiyang Palace. In his early years, this person was a Jiangyang thief with unique skills, and four years ago, by chance, he was recruited by Li Kui to serve as the commander of the royal palace.

The butler shook his head and said in a low voice: "Your Highness, General Zhao has not returned, only that gentleman ......"

Li Kui's eyes purred, and he immediately said to the guests: "Drink slowly, this king has some things to deal with, go and go back." With that, he got up and left the table, and went to the study in the back garden, accompanied by the butler.

When I came to the place, a man in a black robe was sitting in the middle of the house and waiting. The man pressed his hood so low that it almost covered his entire face.

Li Kui turned to the housekeeper and the guards and ordered, "You are all waiting outside, and you are not allowed to come in without the king's order!" ”

All his men said yes in unison, turned away, and closed the door of the study.

Li Kui pricked up his ears to listen to the movement outside, and then said, "It's okay, General Di, take off your hat." ”

The black-robed man nodded when he heard this, and gently took off his hood, revealing a white and handsome face, it was Sima Xian under Xie Guang's command and General Xuanjia Zhonglang - Di Xian!

Li Kui walked unhurriedly opposite Di Xian, sat down in his robe, burped, and said, "General Di, why are you here all of a sudden?" What about Zhao Jing? That thing...... How's it going? ”

"I've encountered a little trouble," Di Xian replied in a calm tone, "Your Highness, the last general is here for this." That person, he narrowly escaped, and General Zhao is currently rounding up with his men. ”

"Escaped? Not dead?! Li Jiong was slightly surprised: "How can this be?" What went wrong? ”

Di Xian comforted: "Your Highness doesn't need to be in a hurry first. Although General Zhao failed to succeed in one blow, he had completely blocked the nearby mountains and forests, and that person estimated that it would be difficult to fly. What's more, we haven't discussed it before, it's best to be able to succeed, but even if we miss, the situation is still in the plan. ”

Li Kui nodded in disappointment and sighed: "Alas, that's what I said, but wouldn't it be better if I could really do it once and for all?" ”

Di Xian smiled slightly: "Your Highness is not wrong, we think so too." But in any case, the plan has already begun, and it is normal that there are some surprises in the middle. ”

Li Kui obviously didn't have any other good way, so he could only listen to Di Xian's words. He was silent for a moment, still a little worried: "You do things, this king is naturally relieved." But...... Are you really sure that Mrs. Xie didn't notice anything about it? Next, will he turn against the imperial court? ”

Di Xian had already been mentally prepared for the virtue of this King of Huaiyang, and said calmly: "Your Highness, you can rest assured, Xie Guang has always been kept in the dark about this matter, and I am afraid that until now, he has not received any news." ”

Li Jiong hesitated: "Alas, that's okay. After that, I will have to rely more on Mr. Law and General Di. If you two can stand on the side of this king, why worry about big things? When this king ascended the throne, the two were the number one heroes. Xie Guang's position as the Taifu belongs to Mr. Lao, and the Xuanjia Army must be in General Di's bag. ”

When Di Xian heard this, he hurriedly got up, knelt down on one knee, and said with joy on his face: "The last general is grateful!" From now on, Di Xian will go to the soup for His Royal Highness, and he will not hesitate! ”

Li Kui ate this set the most in his life, and immediately smiled, and stretched out his hand to support Di Xian: "Oh, Aiqing doesn't have to be so formal." This king has always been in love, you work hard, the future is limitless! ”

Di Xian stood up, said some more compliments, and then said with a straight face: "Your Highness, Mr. Lao sent me to the imperial capital, in addition to reporting the situation to you over there, I also reminded Your Highness that we can implement the next plan." ”

Li Kui was stunned when he heard this: "Oh? Is it? So fast? ”

Di Xian patiently explained: "It's not too fast, Your Highness." Starting from the imperial capital, you have to walk for half a month before you can enter the defense area of the Xuanjia Legion. At that time, we just staged a big scene of the Xuanjia Army attacking His Highness, blaming Xie Guang for it, so that the outside world looked like he intended to take revenge because of Li Bing. In this way, the court and the East Palace are bound to break out into a fierce conflict, and we are watching the tiger fight on the mountain next to us, and when they are defeated, His Royal Highness only needs to stand up and shout, the government and the opposition will respond, and the emperor's position will be worry-free! ”

Li Jiong nodded while listening to him, looking a little absent-minded, and he didn't know what this King of Huaiyang was thinking in his heart. After a while, I heard Li Kui ask hesitantly, "Hmm...... About the ambush on the way, huh...... You're not going to fake it, are you? ”

Listening to the other party speak so bluntly, Di Xian almost didn't tilt his nose. He shook his head angrily and funny, and said patiently: "My good highness, how is this possible? We are not the descendants of the East Palace, and it is difficult for Xie Guang to achieve great things, so I still expect to follow you and soar in the future. Please let your Highness put 10,000 hearts, the action is personally presided over by General Zhao Jing of your palace, and the whole process is guaranteed to be foolproof. Even if His Highness suffers some hardships, it will only be a few small injuries at most, and he will show it to the court. ”

Li Kui thought carefully for a while, gritted his teeth and said, "Alas, if you don't fight for your life, how can you snatch the throne?" Well, this king took a risk, and gambled on this! Tomorrow! Leave early tomorrow morning! ”

Di Xian was overjoyed to see this, and once again confirmed the follow-up details with the King of Huaiyang, and then got up to say goodbye, still quietly left through the back door of the palace, boarded the carriage that had been waiting there for a long time, and quickly disappeared into the hazy twilight of the imperial capital.

Sitting in the rickety carriage, Di Xian recalled the previous conversation with Lao Jianhua. He still remembers that he still didn't understand at that time: why did he secretly cooperate with Li Kui, the king of Huaiyang?

Lao Jianhua said to him: "The general trend of the world has fallen into a complicated situation. Emperor Li Chengwu is declining, the crown prince Li Bing is beginning to grow, Xie Guang's ambitions are expanding, and the Turks are ready to attack. All this is like layers of dry firewood, which only need a little spark to ignite a sky-high flame. However, people of insight in the DPRK also saw the key to the chaos. They want to use the clever strategy of "calming down" and using some compromises and concessions as a price to first stabilize the situation of danger, and then secretly lay out, step by step, and finally unravel the mess. Once these people's strategies are allowed to work, then our hard work over the past 10 years will be in vain. Therefore, we must throw this spark before they succeed! ”

"Master, when you say Mars, do you mean King Huaiyang?" Di Xian seemed to understand a little.

Lao Jianhua nodded: "That's right, I'm talking about him." Li Jiong is Li Chengwu's eldest son, with a noble status. After the weak crown, this guy has shown quite ambition, especially in recent years, he has been openly and secretly enveloping the ministers of the DPRK and China, always looking for opportunities to show his talent and ability, so it is not difficult to know that his ambition is not just to be a prince. It is no exaggeration to say that at least half of the reason why the crown prince Li Bing made up his mind to join forces with Xie Guang was from Li Jiong's threat. ”

Lao Jianhua paused slightly, and continued: "The imperial capital is in crisis, Li Chengwu chose to retreat as advance, stabilized Xie Guang and the Xuanjia army with appropriate compromises, and successfully avoided the danger of the Holy Tang immediately falling into a civil strife and a big war. But you know what? The court was not idle for a moment in the dark. According to my spy report, in those prefectures, prefectures, and counties that the Taifu Mansion could not reach, personnel adjustments have begun quietly, and all officials who have a vague position and are indecisive have been replaced; The main generals of the various legions, the Metropolitan Protectorate, and the Zhichong Mansion went to Beijing secretly one after another to meet the emperor and give face-to-face lectures; The officials at all levels to be appointed by the East Palace Bureau, whether they are Xie Guang's people or not, have been placed by the Beiya secret agents around them, and they are under the strict supervision of the Reverse Scale Division at any time. ”

Di Xian was shocked: "There is such a thing? Did you tell Master Taifu? ”

"Tell him?" Lao Jianhua sneered: "Why should I tell him? Look at Xie Guang's arrogant and domineering appearance, as if he can listen to advice? Now all around him are flatterers, and there are more than enough successes and more failures! What's even more ridiculous is that Xie Guang himself doesn't even know it. ”

Di Xian agreed: "Master is right. Xie Guang is very satisfied with the current situation and is very confident. He believes that if the current situation continues, as long as Li Chengwu dies and Li Bing ascends the throne, he can tilt the power of the government and the opposition, cover the sky with one hand, and become the lord of the dynasty that manipulates the puppet emperor. ”

Lao Jianhua sighed: "Alas, with such a pattern, being a hero is almost the same, and if you want to go up again, it is as difficult as climbing to the sky." If this development continues, within two years, Xie Guang will be like a boiled frog in warm water, and he will be slowly strangled in his dream by Li Chengwu and them. By the time he woke up, he probably wouldn't even have the ability to resist a little. ”

Of course, Di Xian believed in Lao Jianhua's judgment, and couldn't help but say, "So it's necessary for us to stimulate Xie Guang and let him act?" ”

"You finally understand the purpose of being a teacher." Lao Jianhua said with a smile: "Whether it is Xie Guang, or Li Bing, including the emperor Li Chengwu, it is nothing to us. What I want is chaos in the world! Only when it is completely chaotic can real opportunities arise. If we take advantage of Xie Guang's ambition and strength, we can't watch him fall into the trap of the imperial court and lose in a daze. At this time, it is the best choice to bring the King of Huaiyang in and stir up the contradiction between the imperial court and the Xuanjia Legion. Once the situation gets out of control, I don't believe that Li Chengwu can calm down when he sees his own son die! ”

Di Xian looked out the car window at the street that was gradually sinking into the night, and admired Master's judgment more and more. With the strength in Lao Jianhua's hands, if he really wanted to attack the prince, Li Bing would not have known that he had died hundreds of times. However, their goal is not there.

Whether the prince lives or dies, it is just a tool that can be used.

The most desirable result, of course, is a situation like this:

For the sake of the throne, Li Kui, the king of Huaiyang, sent people to ambush and attack Li Bing. Regardless of whether the crown prince can escape this catastrophe or not, Xie Guang can't help but make a big move and take revenge. Once Li Kui is killed, the emperor Li Chengwu is bound to be furious, and Xie Guang can only take risks and raise troops to protect himself.

At this point, Saint Tang will eventually fall into the abyss.

Thinking of this, Di Xian's slightly pale face showed a grim smile.