On the outskirts of Chang'an, the moonlight shone on a small earthen bag in the wilderness, and you could vaguely see the words "Tomb of Father Li Gonglinfu" written in blood on the wooden sign in front of it.

Li Xiu, who was kneeling in front of the tomb, turned his head and heard the barking of a dog in the distance, and first thought that there was a thin coffin that would not allow wild dogs to dig out Grandpa's body. But if the wild dogs don't plan, what about the others?

He then stood up, pulled out the wooden card, scraped off all the handwriting on this side with a dagger, and then rewrote "The Tomb of the Father".

Shangzhu Guo, Jin Guogong, Taiwei, and Zhongshu Ling, who were once extremely popular ministers, can only leave these four words in the end, and the land occupied is only a loess.

After doing this, Li Xiu realized that the two officials who had been following him for the past few days did not know where they were, maybe they were lazy and slept at the post station in the north, right?

This is a good opportunity to flee elsewhere and stay incognito, so that you don't have to exile Zhenzhou again and save your life.

He glanced in the direction of Chang'an City to the north, and driven by the desire to survive, he walked to the east, his steps rustling on the dead leaves on the ground.

Suddenly, Li Xiu stopped, because a conversation flashed in his head.

"If he escapes, will Xue Lang take care of it?"

"I'm responsible."

This time, Xue Bai made a guarantee for him to take care of his body and carefully handle Li Linfu's funeral. In addition, Xue Bai also told him privately that he would find a way to save the innocent family members of the Li family from the pain of exile.

If you don't say goodbye, you will live up to Xue Bai's trust, wouldn't you give up the hope of rescuing your family.

Although Li Xiu and his wife Lu are not harmonious, they have a lot of affection for their children. Thinking about it again, if you just run away like this, what is the point of hiding and hiding for the rest of your life, alone.

After all, he turned around and walked towards Chang'an City.

When I returned to Chang'an, it was already dawn, and the morning drums on the city were ringing in all directions.

"Knock, knock, knock......"

The sound of drums entered the guest room of Xue Mansion in Xuanyang Fang.

Xue Bai woke up, and smelled Li Tengkong's faint fragrance in a daze, feeling a little unreal.

He carefully pulled out his numb hand, and was about to get up and leave the curtain, only to find that the corner of his coat was pulled by her.

"Are you awake?" Xue Bai asked softly.

Li Tengkong's eyes were still closed, as if he was still asleep.

But Xue Bai found that she was clutching the corners of his clothes very tightly, so he asked again, "Didn't you wake up?" ”

"Didn't wake up."

"Hungry? Get up and eat something. ”

Li Tengkong turned sideways, shook his head, and didn't want to get up, hugging Xue Bai as if he couldn't hug him enough.

"Let's eat some, you've lost weight lately."

"How? Ji Lanzi always said that I was obsessed with her. ”

"No." Xue Bai doesn't like to say coaxing words, but occasionally he will say a sentence or two, "It's thin, it's distressing." ”

The two of them were tired of crookedness, and they didn't know how long it was, but they heard Kyauknu say outside the door: "Seventeen Niang, Shilang has come to find Xue Bai." ”

The morning drum stopped for a while, and Li Xiu had already walked from the city gate to Xue's house.

He waited in the front hall and was led into a guest house, where Xue Bai and Li Tengkong held hands and came out of the guest room.

When Li Xiu saw it, her face changed and she felt a little embarrassed.

His sister is the daughter of the Prime Minister's Mansion, and marrying Xue Bai in the past was considered a marriage, but now that the family is in trouble, she is occupied by Xue Bai like this.

The law of the jungle above the court is like this, which makes people helpless.

"Juro sit down." Xue Bai raised his hand and said, "Xiaoxian wants to use some morning food, just eat and talk together." ”

I don't know if it's because Li Xiu's mentality has become inferior, or because Xue Bai's status has improved again, although it is just a sentence, the momentum completely dominates the whole scene.

Li Xiu could no longer take out the shelf when he asked Xue Bai to assist in the Right Prime Minister's Mansion, so he resignedly agreed and sat down on the stone bench.

After a while, Mian'er came over with a food box and served the morning food.

Although Xue Zhai's food does not have delicacies from the mountains and seas, there are many types and tastes good, because Yan Yan is a particularly picky mouth, and relying on Fengweilou is his own industry, there are quite requirements in this regard. When the box opened, there were several snacks, pastries, and a small pot of wine.

"I don't drink it." Xue Bai put the pot of wine in front of Li Xiu and said, "Shilang, drink some." ”

"Okay."

Xue Bai scooped up a few more dumplings, handed them to Li Tengkong, and said, "Let's eat some?" ”

"Hmm."

Li Xiu couldn't bear to look at them like this, turned her head slightly, drank a glass of wine, and dissolved the bitterness in her mouth.

"What does Shiro think of Li Xianzhong's defection?" Xue Bai got down to business.

"If it is said that my grandfather and other festivals have consulted and conspired against him, although he is wronged, it is not too ridiculous. As for Li Xianzhong, he is only the deputy envoy of Jiedu, how could Grandpa conspire with him? He was obviously forced to defect by An Lushan. ”

These things were already very clear in Xue Bai's eyes, but there was still new content in Li Xiu's words for Xue Bai to notice.

"Other knots? Who? ”

"The border town festival envoy is also those people." Li Xiu said: "Except for Zhang Qiqiu, the envoy of Shuofang Jiedu, and Han Xiulin, the queen of Hedong Jiedu, these two people were recommended by Wang Zhongsi when he left office. The rest, Ge Shuhan, the envoy of Longyou Jiedu, An Sishun, and Gao Xianzhi, the envoy of Anxi Jiedu, were all appointed when my grandfather was the prime minister. ”

"Li Linfu, Ge Shuhan, An Sishun, and Gao Xianzhi also talked about using force to prevent Li Heng from ascending the throne?"

Li Xiu hesitated and did not answer, as if he was thinking about whether he could trust Xue Bai.

Xue Bai was not in a hurry, and urged Li Tengkong to eat more.

"Ann Sishun." Li Xiu made a decision after hesitating, and replied, "An Sishun has always wanted to be a part-time Shuofang Jiedu envoy, and promised that Grandpa would not support Li Heng in the future. Therefore, Grandpa wanted to get rid of Zhang Qiqiu and hand over Shuo Fang to An Sishun. ”

"An Sishun and An Lushan are brothers, these brothers want to control the five towns in the north, isn't Li Linfu worried?"

"They are not brothers, An Lushan's aunt took him to remarry An Sishun's grandfather, and the relationship between the two is not good." Li Xiu said, "Grandpa wants An Sishun to lead Hexi and Shuofang at the same time, but he has the intention of containing An Lushan. ”

"I don't believe it." Xue Bai said.

Li Xiu was stunned.

Xue Bai said: "In my opinion, the relationship between the two brothers, An Lushan and An Sishun, is not so bad, acting deceived the entire imperial court, and wants to seek the festival of the five towns." ”

"How so?"

"Intuition."

Xue Bai is not familiar with An Sishun, and there is no evidence to prove his opinion, but from what he knows about An Lushan, that chubby Hu man has a pig-like face but a bright heart, and he is very good at disguise and deception.

Thinking along this line, he had a vague idea.

Li Xianzhong's defection was due to An Lushan's persecution, and for this reason, Shuofang lost the deputy envoy of Jiedu, and Zhang Qiqiu, the envoy of Jiedu, was also implicated. Don't you think that An Sishun and An Lushan, the two brothers, have a conspiracy? ”

Li Xiu said: "You mean, An Lushan is helping An Sishun? If their brothers pretend to be at odds, then their plans are too big. ”

"yes."

"But no, An Lushan's killing of his brother Xie has nothing to do with An Sishun no matter how you look at it."

"Then why did you kill Brother Jie? Just forced Li Xianzhong again? ”

Li Xiu said: "An Sishun has reminded Grandpa many times that An Lushan has built a city and stationed troops, and what he has done has exceeded preventing the prince from ascending the throne. It can be seen that the feud between his brothers is real. ”

Xue Bai said lightly: "You can't see what he says, you have to see how he acts." ”

"I can only say that you are prejudiced against An Sishun." Li Xiu said, of course, these things have nothing to do with him, so he asked: "Saying this, can you clear up my grandfather's grievances?" ”

"I can't." Xue Bai said, "But let me know how much role you have." ”

Li Xiu was stunned, drank another glass of wine, and muttered, "What do you want?" ”

"About the envoys of the towns." Xue Bai said, "I want to know as much as I can about them, how many generals there are, how much grain and grass they have, what their position is, and where they go next." ”

At present, An Lushan is eyeing Hedong and An Sishun is eyeing Shuofang. And he, a scholar in China, has no right to meddle in these matters, so it's hard to say how much role Li Xiu can play, but the emaciated camel in the Right Prime Minister's Mansion is bigger than a horse, so it must be of some help.

"Why do you care?" Li Xiu suddenly asked.

Xue Bai said: "I'm worried about Sheji. ”

Li Xiu stared at him, and his eyes gradually showed a sense of concern.

Xue Bai noticed this gaze and said, "What? Don't believe me? ”

"Faith."

Li Xiu hesitated, opened his mouth several times, and at the end, he said in a low voice: "Grandpa told me about your identity......

Xue Baizheng picked up a pigeon egg with chopsticks, and when he heard this, his heart moved, and he secretly thought that Li Linfu really told Li Xiu.

At that time, Li Linfu pretended to be dementia and tested him. And he also pushed the boat along the river, deliberately responding to the position of the emperor's grandson Li Qian, in order to make Li Linfu unpredictable and suspicious.

This is also one of the reasons why he is willing to save Li Xiu, and he wants to know how much Li Xiu knows.

The round pigeon egg was clamped, and it was put into Xue Bai's mouth steadily, he chewed calmly, and only after swallowing it completely did he ask, "What is my identity?" ”

Li Xiu held the wine glass and lowered his gaze slightly, avoiding Xue Bai's direct gaze. I recalled in my mind the words that Li Linfu had said when he was seriously ill.

"My father suspects that Xue Bai is the son left by the deposed prince Li Ying, but I can't remember what the situation was back then."

After saying this, after a while, Li Linfu muttered again: "I don't even remember why I have such doubts...... You go and fetch some papers. ”

At that time, Li Xiu only thought that his grandfather was sick and confused, and he was talking nonsense, but today's Xue Bai's several questions made him suddenly remember this matter.

The courtyard was quiet.

Li Tengkong was not delicious, put down his chopsticks, picked up the cup and drank warm water, and said, "Brother, you should believe him, if you have anything to say, just tell him." ”

"The big girl is not staying."

Li Xiu sighed and said slowly: "I don't know what your identity is. However, before his death, Grandpa went to Huaqing Palace to face the saint, and brought a few files with him, which seemed to be about your life experience, right? ”

Xue Bai was not afraid of what these files could debunk, because he was not the emperor's grandson Li Qian, but these files were obviously extremely useful for him to pretend to be the emperor's grandson.

As early as when he saw them in the Right Prime Minister's Mansion, he had coveted them for a long time.

He remained silent and asked, "Is it the time when you want to contaminate the vitality of the saint?" ”

"Yes."

"Then what else is still in your Lishan now?"

"Not in another business." Li Xiu said, "At that time, my grandfather arrived in Lishan and went directly to the Huaqing Palace to meet him. When I crossed the Wangxian Bridge, I put it in the Xiaoyao Hall next to it. ”

Xue Bai nodded and wrote down, realizing that Li Xiu's role in him was not only to serve him in the battle for the official position of the border town, but also to seek the usurpation of the throne in the future.

Although he promised to protect the innocent people of the Li family, there were many ways, such as letting Li Xiu be exiled to another place, or sending someone to protect him in Zhenzhou. Now it is decided that it is time to be more gracious and subdued.

However, just thinking of this, Dali Temple had sent someone to take Li Xiu back to his cell.

~~

Zhongshu Gate Lower Province.

Yang Qixuan finally recovered from his injuries and returned to the yamen to take care of things.

He cleaned himself up decently and restored his courtier's demeanor, but unfortunately his broken teeth could no longer grow, so he decided to speak as little as possible.

Stepping into the vestibule, he first probed his head and looked around, looking for Xue Bai's figure, but he was worried that he would really encounter it.

"See what?"

Someone slapped him on the shoulder, and a bad breath came from him, and he didn't have to look back to know that it was Jiwen.

"Don't worry, Xue Bai hasn't come to see things for two or three days." Ji Wen sneered, "It is said that he got the daughter of the god, and he must have died drunk in the gentle country." ”

Yang Qixuan is most concerned about this matter, so he naturally knows it.

He sent someone to keep an eye on it, and Xue Bai personally carried Li Tengkong back. There is also Li Jilan, who said that he was temporarily living in the Hezheng County Lord's Mansion, but in fact, he never came out after following Xue Bai home that day.

At this time, looking at the lewd smile on Ji Wen's face, Yang Qixuan only felt a heartache.

"Look at you like this." Ji Wen said, "A man's husband, why don't you have a wife?" I'm down to business. ”

As he spoke, he wrapped his arms around Yang Qixuan's neck, approached, and spoke to him from ear to ear.

"This time, Xue Bai has committed many serious crimes, and we, as counselors, should impeach him."

"But he relied on the merits of the Southern Zhao, and the saint was afraid that he would not be moved easily."

"Simple." Ji Wen said, "Dig up the new grave of the brother slave and take a look, as long as the purple gold court clothes are still there, it is a big crime to bully the king." ”

"This ......"

Ji Wen said: "Let me tell you like this, Li Xianzhong is Li Linfu's righteous son, and he defected, it can be seen that Li Linfu must be a rebellion, and Xue Bai is also a rebellion when he harbors Li Linfu." ”

Yang Qixuan was a little worried, but he didn't take into account the relationship between Weng and his son-in-law who had been with Li Linfu for many years, but was afraid of Xue Bai, and he said: "In this way, it is really a battle with Xue Bai." ”

"He beat you in public, do you have a way out?"

Yang Qixuan thought about it for a while, and said, "Xue Bai is rebelling? Yes, he must have rebelled before he dared to beat the official in public. ”

Now that he had his ideas, he was also a counselor, and when he returned to the official office, he wrote a letter of impeachment against Xue Bai.

Blowing dry the ink, he soon felt embarrassed again, and now the prime ministers, Yang Guozhong and Chen Xilie don't want to make more trouble, how can this music be handed over.

However, at noon, Gwen went to his official office again, asked him for a recital, and nodded with satisfaction.

Yang Qixuan couldn't help but be curious, so he asked his doubts.

Ji Wen then smiled and said, "You forgot, it is not only Yang Guozhong and Chen Xilie who are in charge of the same book. There was also one person, even Xue Bai who came up with one hand. ”

Yang Qixuan was stunned for a moment, and said in surprise: "He? He's on our side, too? ”

Ji Wen patted him on the shoulder and said, "The strength of the Mansion Monarch is far stronger than you expected." ”

~~

The next day, Xue Bai planned to put aside many affairs in his hand for the time being, and went out of the city to pick up Yan Zhenqing.

Yan Zhenqing has been to Longyou for the second time, and he has been staying for more than a year, because there is a Subi tribe in Tubo who wants to rebel against Tubo and join the Tang Dynasty.

This matter was eyebrow-raising before the Battle of Nanzhao. Now that the battle of Nanzhao has been fought, Subi has not made any big moves, but I don't know how it is going.

Even Xue Bai didn't know much about such confidential matters, so he could only talk to Yan Zhenqing in private.

Xue Bai brought back the Tubo princess Nalan Zhen this time, thinking that with such a captive in hand, he might be able to help Yan Zhenqing.

On this day, before he went out, he asked Du Yan to bring Nalan Zhen to Xue's house, and he could see him at any time after he talked to Yan Zhenqing. Then he got on his horse and was about to go out, when he was met by a team of messengers.

"Xue Sheren, please follow us to Dali Temple, Siqing wants to ask you a few words."

"What?"

"It's just a routine, don't worry."

Xue Bai could probably guess the reason, seeing that it was still early, Yan Zhenqing would not arrive so early. Then he nodded and went to Dali Temple.

He has not yet rescued the innocent family members of the Li family, and it seems that he is about to fall into it.

Dali Siqing Li Daodi is an old minister, and he had a good relationship with Li Linfu in the past, and he was not very willing to participate in various party struggles. Therefore, it is not bad to treat Xue Bai, and if you have something to say, you will say it directly.

"Sheren, you have been impeached. Routine, Dali Temple has to review you again, the old man attaches great importance to this case, so he personally asked. ”

"Yes, Li Siqing has worked hard."

"I heard that you sheltered the family of the rebel Li Linfu......"

Li Daodi was old and lacked energy, and halfway through speaking, he handed over the official document in his hand and said, "Xue Sheren can read it for himself." ”

Xue Bai looked at it, and it was indeed Yang Qixuan.

"Li Siqing, this matter is simple, Yang Qixuan is jealous with me, resentful, and deliberately slanders me."

Li Daodi didn't care about right or wrong, he wrote down, looking like he was just for the sake of handover.

But in fact, this seemingly inattentive attitude to handling cases can sometimes make people take it lightly and make a big mistake.

"Jealousy and deliberate slander." Li Daowei muttered and asked, "The sage cut Li Linfu's official title and took back the posthumous gift, but Xue Sheren kept his purple gold court clothes, how to explain this matter?" ”

"Does Yang Qixuan have any evidence?"

"According to the officials present, you broke them apart."

"So what?"

Li Daodi reminded: "Just open the coffin for an autopsy, and the truth of this matter will be clear." ”

"Open coffin autopsy?" Xue Bai said: "Li Linfu is a rebellious with Li Xianzhong, and he is an old minister who has served the saint for more than ten years, the saint has always been lenient, if he does this to the deceased for a court dress, and loses the face of the saint, Yang Qixuan's proposal is disloyal; Moreover, Yang Qixuan has been Li Linfu's son-in-law for many years, and he just divorced his wife, and he didn't remember the old love and dig up the corpse, which was unfilial. How much truth does an unfaithful and unfilial person say? ”

After asking a few more questions, Li Daodi put down the brush in his hand.

"The old man will present the results of the inquiry, but who the saint believes more is beyond the influence of the old man."

"Thank you, Li Siqing."

Xue Bai bowed and withdrew.

Leaving Li Daodi's official office, there is the familiar front yard of Dali Temple in front of him, and across the wall, there is a whistling sound.

"I'll tell you, what is the big case of rebellion, it's just that Yang Qixuan and Xue Bai are jealous."

It was the voice of Togoro.

As soon as Du Wulang heard that Xue Bai was taken away by Dali Temple, he rushed to the rescue as soon as possible.

He is very familiar with the guards of Dali Temple Prison, and he is good at telling these scandals, whenever a servant asks him, he will talk about it vividly, in order to change the direction of the case.

"Did you know? Xue Bai also beat Yang Qixuan a while ago, just for the sake of women...... Yes? Are you out? ”

Du Wulang was talking lively, turned his head and saw Xue Bai, and put his mind at ease.

"Xue Bai is here, you can ask him, am I right?"

Xue Bai smiled bitterly and said, "Yes, you are right, I just fought with Yang Qixuan and was jealous, so I beat him." ”

"Xue Sheren, the villain heard that you are not only jealous of a little lady, it seems that it is still two miles?"

"He said that......"

Halfway through Xue Bai's words, he suddenly saw a person standing in the corridor next to him, looking at this side with his hands down, it was Yan Zhenqing.

He was in a state of embarrassment.

No matter how thick-skinned he is, in front of his father-in-law, he really can't say that he is jealous of the little lady next to him, or for the two little ladies, and he doesn't know where the rumors came out.

"Let's disperse." Du Wulang had the foresight to see, and hurriedly dispersed the crowd, "Let your officials see it, for fear that they will scold you for not being faithful to your duties, so disperse." ”

Xue Bai walked towards Yan Zhenqing and saluted shamefully.

"I've seen my father-in-law."

"Hmph."

Yan Zhenqing's face was blank, he snorted coldly, and walked out with his hands down.

Xue Bai followed, talking about many things after the separation as he walked, until he talked about the conversation with Li Xiu yesterday, of course, only about the topic of the border town, and hid the part about his life experience.

"Brother Nu's death, the situation is even more chaotic." Yan Zhenqing was a little embarrassed, and then Xue Bai's topic said: "Speaking of An Sishun, this person and Ge Shuhan were once generals under Wang Zhonghei back then, and they didn't deal with each other very well. ”

Xue Bai listened to the thought and thought that he might be able to let Ge Shuhan seek the position of Hexi Jiedu envoy of An Sishun. However, the Tang army and the Tibetan army are now fighting in Qinghai, and it is not good to delay the border war because of these power struggles.

Xue Bai then asked: "What is the situation in Longyou?" ”

Yan Zhenqing shook his head and said, "You don't have to ask. ”

Even Xue Bai didn't tell him, this matter was obviously extremely confidential. And confidentiality also means that things are progressing.

"I was in Nanzhao and captured a Tibetan princess, who is the daughter of Zhudan, can it be beneficial to the situation in Tibet?"

When Yan Zhenqing heard this, he involuntarily stopped, twisted his long beard, and his eyes flashed.

For the time being, he couldn't care about beating Xue Bai to fight for the wind and be jealous, and asked about the situation of Nalan Zhen, and said, "Go to your mansion to talk." ”

The two went all the way back to Xue's house.

Xue Bai took Yan Zhenqing to the attic and looked into the courtyard, only to see Na Lanzhen wearing a skirt, holding a drum in her hand, and Ren Mulan next to her was holding a sword and imitating Li Shiniang's sword dance, laughing and playing.

"It's really a bit like a ruler with a red bead." Yan Zhenqing looked at it for a while, and then stroked his beard.

"Zhangren has ever seen a ruler with a Danzhu?"

"He came to Qinghai in person, and it was precisely because he was there that the Subi Department was ready to defect, but he didn't dare to make a move."

"And now?"

Yan Zhenqing glanced back unhurriedly, and then said in a low voice: "Tubo Zampu came to the front line in person, and some courtiers behind him are naturally ready to make a move." I have returned from this trip with their envoys. ”

He said that, he didn't want to say too much to Xue Bai, pointed to Nalan Zhen in the courtyard, and said, "This little woman, I have to take it away then." ”

"By the way, I haven't told my father-in-law yet, she is one of my students." Xue Baiyun said: "He can also be regarded as the grandson of the father-in-law." ”

Yan Zhenqing understood what he meant, and said, "Don't worry, it's much more useful to support her than to kill her, we know how to do it." ”

Xue Bai thought for a while and said, "There is one more thing I want to ask my father-in-law for help." ”

"Are you jealous?"

"I want to protect Li Xiu and the innocent family members of the Li family, but I'm afraid it's not good to plead with the saint in this matter." Xue Bai said, "If the teacher needs to be sent to Tibet, why don't you give Li Xiu a chance to make meritorious contributions?" Ge Shuhan is a person who misses his old love and should be willing to protect Li Xiu. ”

Yan Zhenqing did not agree immediately, but asked rhetorically: "Brother Nu had many henchmen back then, and there was no one else in the court who was willing to protect him?" ”

"Nope."

"Before I returned to the court, Ge Shuhan also mentioned this matter, but I didn't expect the Li family to come to this point." Yan Zhenqing said: "It's okay, but I'm afraid that the court may not agree." ”

"Son-in-law will do it." Xue Bai said.

Compared with going to Zhenzhou, temporarily sending Li Xiu to Longyou to settle for a period of time, presumably his future will be much better.

And he can also make better use of Ge Shuhan to balance An Sishun and An Lushan brothers.

Asking for tickets at the beginning of the month, thank you!! I just came back from the annual meeting, and I was too busy, so I will write the summary at the end of the month for two days~

(End of chapter)