Xingqing Palace, Mingyi Gate.

Chen Xuanli and Long Wujun were in front, and Yuan Zai led Li Cong behind, and they had been waiting for a while.

Yuan Zai glanced at the corner and noticed that a soldier came from the east and handed a message to Yang Guozhong, after that, Yang Guozhong hurriedly entered the palace, and after a while, Chen Xuanli also left.

From this detail, it can be seen that the officers and men are likely to have won a great victory on the battlefield of Tongguan. As a result, the prestige gradually shifted to the side of the prince.

In recent years, the saint has become more and more unconvincing.

Yuan Zai seems to be loyal to Yang Guozhong, but what he does today has been instructed by others.

"Motoro!"

Hearing the call, he looked back and saw Wang Yunxiu wearing a samurai robe and rushing over with a team of guards, so he asked, "You woman, why did you come here late at night?" ”

"I want to ask Lang Jun, how can I persecute Zhongliang?"

He even felt that the throne was in front of him.

After waiting for a long time, one of the eunuchs was hanged from the city wall and prostrate on the ground, asking for an audience.

Those Chang'an market gangsters under Xue Bai are secretly running for him, and on the Tongguan side, Ge Shuhan and Xue Bai will soon return with a large army. Thinking of this, the father who had terrified him in the past suddenly became not terrible at all.

"Who would dare to do it?!" Guan Chongsi shouted angrily and was already protected in front of Li Cong.

Li Cong was excited, and it took a long time before he remembered something.

~~

"Quick!"

But soon the panic subsided, and he was surprised to find that he had adapted very quickly, and had shown proper dignity.

They all knew that Luoyang was victorious, and the rebellion was only in front of them, and they had no scruples about supporting the prince, so they vented the anger in their hearts to their heart's content. Not only to Yang Guozhong, but also to the saint.

Instead, he wanted to argue, and the dispute was so that the Manchu officials knew his loyalty and his wife's righteousness.

However, what he didn't expect was that as he spoke, a knife suddenly flashed in front of him, and it was Wang Yunxiu who took out a dagger and quickly cut off the rope on Guan Chonghe's hand.

Li Longji did not fully believe this set of arguments, because if Li Cong wanted a coup d'état, there was no reason for Li Cong to persuade Li Heng.

In an instant, Li Longji's face became solemn.

However, he still believed part of it and asked, "Does Li Qi have a plan to talk about?" ”

Tonight, Li Qi should have come to support him, but he hadn't seen it yet.

Even if the Son of Heaven came in person, it would not be easy to open the palace city during the curfew, but fortunately, it was safe and secure within the wall, so Li Longji had to wait patiently.

"Yes." Li Fuguo said: "King Jianning said that the prince hid a batch of weapons near Guangyuntan. ”

"But what if they were wronged?!" Wang Yunxiu pointed to Yuan Luqian, Yan Jiming and others who were tied.

"Who dares to hurt the prince?!"

In this regard, Yuan Zai had already expected that he did not want to openly stand in the East Palace, but his wife's identity was really suitable. In this way, the husband and wife sang on stage, and no matter what the final situation was, he was firmly invincible.

At this moment, a light crossed the west side of Xingqing Palace, and it exploded in the palace city with a loud bang.

Really speaking, this is very similar to An Lushan's "Qingjun side", the difference is that this time it is really the desire of the people, and it can even be said that everyone's anger has been pressed in their hearts for too long and too deeply.

"Yuan Changshi advocated the righteousness of Hebei and reversed the situation, who wants to kill him? But deceived the saints? ”

Ahead, the Yanzheng Gate Tower was in sight, and the guards hurriedly stepped forward and ordered the door to be opened.

Yuan Zai Zhengse said: "As an official of the imperial court, I just act in accordance with the holy decree!" ”

"What to do?!" The Praetorian guards were immediately alarmed.

So, Li Cong took a step forward and said, "I ask to see Your Majesty!" ”

He has made it so clear that he is determined to coup d'état, and there will be no shortage of followers, and the Tang Dynasty has frequent coups d'état, not to mention that Li Longji is the most disappointing time. Therefore, although the fire broke out, the emotions of the people were even higher.

The sudden change occurred, Yuan Zai was stunned for a moment, and the first one woke up, guessing that there would be a palace change tonight. But he's not quite ready, so how to choose?

At the same time, this question was also placed in front of many officials present, and there were obviously many people who dared to speculate, and some people soon shouted loudly.

"Please ask the prince to advise the saint and remove Yang Guozhong!"

"Let's go out of the water!"

Soon, Li Fuguo bowed down in front of Li Longji and cried before saying a word to show his concern for the saint, and then he didn't dare to hide it and reported it directly.

As soon as this remark came out, it immediately ignited the dissatisfaction of many people, and a slogan was born, which soon resounded in front of Xingqing Palace.

"It must be Yang Guozhong, a traitor, blocking the Holy Hearing."

Today, King Jianning came to King Zhong, saying that he wanted to support the crown prince to ascend the throne, and hoped that King Zhong would be able to express his support when the time came. King Zhong was shocked and accused them of being disloyal and unfilial, so King Jianning ordered people to watch King Zhong...... King Zhong was worried about His Majesty's safety, and tried every means to let the slaves and maids come to report the news! ”

"The saint, he called himself Li Fuguo, said that he asked to see him for a hundred thousand urgent matters concerning the safety of the saint."

"Call."

In the royal path within the wall, the firelight dispelled the darkness, the sonorous sound of the armor kept ringing, and a group of dragon warriors was rushing forward.

Everyone was shocked, but Li Cong quickly reacted and shouted: "Yang Guozhong sees that the situation is not good, and he wants to harm His Majesty, let me wait to enter the palace quickly!" ”

Tonight, there was a sudden change, and there was a fire in Xingqing Palace, and they were escorting the saint to Daming Palace.

Even Li Cong didn't know that he was so popular, and he panicked for a moment.

A seven-foot-2-inch man suddenly stood up, a head taller than the people around him.

Li Linfu mentioned this matter a few years ago, saying that Huangfu Weiming brought a group of "dead soldiers in armor" with him when he entered Beijing, but Wei Jian's case investigated and handled many people, and no evidence was found.

"How did Li Cong get the weapon?!"

"It was Xue Baiyun who came over, and it is said that he has always had Longyou veterans by his side, presumably the part left by the person who adopted him."

Saying this, Li Longji also felt that something suddenly became clear, some people pointed out that Xue Bai did it in Pei Mian's case back then, but he was fooled by the shaft, and now that he thinks about it, it is indeed suspicious.

He didn't fully believe Li Fuguo, and asked, "Why did Li Qi say this to Li Heng." ”

"This ...... The slaves and maids didn't know, they were all relayed by the loyal king. ”

Li Fuguo scratched his head, he didn't look very smart, he was easily seen to be a countryman, but because of this, he was a little more credible.

After a while, he suddenly realized and said, "The slave understands!" King Jianning didn't want to support the crown prince, and deliberately told King Zhong all this, no wonder the slave and maid could come out of the Ten Princes' Mansion smoothly, it turned out that King Jianning secretly let the slave and maid come over. ”

Li Longji summoned Chen Xuanli and gave a few orders, and Chen Xuanli immediately sent someone to Daming Palace, and at the same time ordered someone to bring Li Heng.

The night wind blew the movement inside Chang'an City, faintly ringing in the ears, and the situation outside Chang'an City was even more unsettling. In this case, Li Longji's waiting seemed extremely tormenting.

After a long time, Chen Xuanli came back and said in his ear: "Sage, I'm just afraid that Daming Palace is not safe." ”

Li Longji was not surprised, and snorted slightly: "This is my son, has Yang Guozhong suppressed Li Cong?" ”

"Not yet."

"Is Li Heng here?"

"Back to the saints, it's here."

Li Longji hadn't seen Li Heng's son for a long time, but he didn't expect to see him again in such a situation.

But tonight, Li Heng is no longer a threat to him, but a threat to Li Cong.

"Li Cong has ill intentions and bad intentions, I hope you can expose him, can you do it?" Li Longji asked, but he didn't say anything about the defeat of the Tongguan army.

"Yes!"

Li Heng gritted his teeth and replied in a deep voice.

He was confined in the Ten Princes' Mansion, and it was not easy to find out the news, but after An Lushan's rebellion, he didn't care about him, so that he could understand some current affairs a little. When it was learned that Xue Bai captured An Lushan alive in Luoyang, his judgment was the same as that of Li Longji, believing that Li Cong's military advice was inevitable.

Then, if he still has to fight for the throne, there is very little time left for him. Therefore, today he took the risk and forcibly left the Ten Princes' Mansion, took his eldest son Li Li to the third son Li Qi, and forced Li Qi to support him.

As long as he persuaded Li Qi to help Gao Lishi, Li Heng believed that with his years of prestige, there was still a way to stabilize the situation for the saint tonight.

After Li Heng left, Li Longji was still worried, he realized for the first time that there were indeed others who could threaten his throne in addition to his son.

"Sage, Yang Guozhong has arrived."

When Yang Guozhong arrived, he was a little disheveled, and the head on his head was also crooked.

Li Longji was furious when he saw him, and said, "That's your idea!" ”

"Minister...... Sin deserves death! Yang Guozhong hurriedly knelt down, kowtowed and pleaded: "The minister thinks it is a top priority, and he should report the troops of the Quartet to return to the king of Zhongqin!" First protect the safety of Your Majesty, and the minister will die without regrets! ”

"Send fast horses and summon all towns to quell the rebellion."

Li Longji also knew that he didn't dare to delay this matter, so he quickly agreed, and then asked, "What about Li Cong?" Are you suppressed? ”

"The crown prince learned of the defeat of Tongguan, coupled with the arrival of King Zhong, the momentum has decreased, and the fire in Xingqing Palace has also been extinguished."

"Hmph."

Li Longji snorted coldly, but did not immediately order to return to the palace.

In the past, he was sometimes in Daming Palace, sometimes in Xingqing Palace, sometimes in Taiji Palace, and sometimes in Huaqing Palace, chic and uninhibited. But tonight, I feel that no part of the entire Chang'an is safe.

Where to go?

"Your Majesty." He cautiously spoke, "The second battle report has arrived. ”

"Ugh."

"The rebels feinted, Geshuhan's soldiers and horses were led to the pass, a series of cannons rang out, wood and stone together, had to retreat, but the road was narrow, and the rebels were suspicious in Nanshan, and they were cut off with fine horses. The officers and soldiers were defeated, and the soldiers fled, or drowned in the Yellow River, or fell into heavy trenches, and countless casualties were killed. Tongguan ...... Tongguan was lost. ”

Li Longji listened, but there was no reaction.

He felt that this thing was so unreal, but Yang Guozhong's words were conclusive. It's like watching a fine piece of porcelain fall and not wanting it to break, but it still breaks.

The situation in front of us is that if you want to defend Chang'an City, of course, it is very likely to defend it, but you are afraid of everything. It doesn't matter if Luoyang is lost, Chang'an is lost again, and he is captured alive, which is a tragic situation that I can't imagine.

For him, the emperor, there are more possible situations to consider. For example, when the rebels came to the city, Li Cong or which son coup d'état; For example, the soldiers and horses of a certain king of Luqin have resurgence. Obviously, this is very likely to happen.

How? Even Li Longji himself knew that it couldn't be that the shadow of the rebels didn't see it, and the Son of Heaven abandoned Chang'an...... Too cowardly.

He was wise and wise, and he was by no means such a person who did not take responsibility.

A little moonlight shone through the clouds, and the two sat and knelt opposite each other for a long time, casting a wordless shadow in the empty passageway.

Yang Guozhong recovered from the worry of being beheaded, and finally captured the thoughts of some saints.

He tentatively spoke, and said, "Chang'an City has a solid wall, and it will be able to hold it." ”

Li Longji didn't want to speak, his lips only opened a little, and he spit out two words, "Where is the grain?" ”

Yang Guozhong didn't know how to answer, frowning and thinking about countermeasures.

He usually puts a lot of energy on fighting for power, and he is very good at power, and it is inevitable that he will not be able to do anything when it comes to resisting the rebels and quelling the chaos.

As for the little bit of the saint's mind that he had guessed, he felt that it was too ridiculous to mention it, and he really couldn't mention anything else.

"Sage, the tens of thousands of janissaries and new troops in Chang'an are inevitably weaker...... If it is in Shu County, where the minister always lives, the minister will have the confidence to summon the men in Sichuan to level the thief. ”

Talking intermittently, Yang Guozhong raised his eyes and glanced at Li Longji weakly, afraid that this kind of thinking would be reprimanded. How could the generation of heroes who created the prosperous era of Kaiyuan and the glory of Yao Shun flee to Sichuan and Shu without seeing the thieves?

However, the expected scolding did not appear, and Li Longji seemed to be asleep sitting on the cold and empty royal road.

Yang Guozhong was secretly taken aback, and gradually gained some confidence in his heart, and continued: "Your Majesty is a member of the community, and you can't stand under a dangerous wall. The rebels were able to capture Tongguan, but this matter was too strange. Why don't your majesty...... Moved to Shu County...... Shock the ...... of Tibet and Nanzhao"

Even if he can spit out thousands of words with a clever mouth, he can't make it up at this time.

Li Longji was silent, no one knew how he felt at this moment, life in the world, living to the situation of facing such a decision, only he knew what it was like. By the end, he sighed softly.

"Ugh."

A sigh fell on Yang Guozhong's ears, like snow flowing down his ears into his heart, breeding some strange feelings.

For the first time, he felt that this old man sitting in front of him was not worthy of being the king, and after having this thought, he further thought that when he arrived at Shu County, which was his own territory, maybe he could coerce the Son of Heaven to order the princes?

In an instant, Yang Guozhong was frightened by his own thoughts, and scolded himself for being bold, how dare he be heretical. But soon, he thought of Li Heng, Ge Luofeng, Absi, An Lushan, Li Cong, Ge Shuhan, Xue Bai...... Were these people rebellious in the first place?

Thinking back to the five years of Tianbao, Xue Bai was still like himself, sitting in a brothel in Nanqu and eating soft rice, and in a blink of an eye, he was about to support the crown prince, and his rebellion turned out to be like this.

As a result, Yang Guozhong's mentality is also a little different from the past.

A gust of wind blew and blew away the clouds and snow in the sky. But it didn't take long for the rolling thick clouds to fall again, and the snowflakes became bigger, but the originally fierce north wind was separated by the wall when it blew through the royal road, and let out a terrible whimper, like an unwilling cry.

~~

Imperial City, Shangshu Province.

The reason why Du Yan chose to hide here was to deliver news and deploy people to be unobtrusive.

All night, people carrying lanterns went back and forth outside the government office, and even a small group of Jin Wuwei was transferred, and others thought that a certain Lang official was running an errand in the imperial city.

But the coup d'état was no small matter, and it was out of her control after all.

The ambush hidden in Daming Palace failed, Li Heng rushed to Xingqing Palace to obstruct it, and accidents followed, and she judged that Li Heng and Li Longji had joined forces.

"Quick, send all our men out to support the prince's entry into the palace by force."

After making many arrangements one after another, an important news finally came.

"Erniang, we arranged to deliver a somewhat strange message in the Chunming Gate."

"What?"

"Geshuhan was defeated, and Tongguan was lost."

Du Yan frowned, and accidentally waved her hand and knocked the candlestick on the case to the ground.

The fire oil was dripping on the carpet and was almost burning, Du Cheng picked it up in time and said softly: "Don't panic, the Tongguan army has not yet learned the news of Xue Bai, it is possible." ”

Although she is not as talented as Du Yan, she is calm when she encounters things, and she is still gentle as water, which is quite inspiring.

"If the army guards the city, it will never be defeated." Du Yan pondered, snorted coldly, and said, "Now it seems that this matter is only intentional by the faint king." ”

"You mean? But how can the king of a country be like this? ”

"If it's either bad, or it's hopelessly stupid, then it's not worthy of being a king."

Du Yan's tone was full of contempt, and she felt extremely evil about Li Longji in her heart, and she couldn't wait to overthrow this emperor immediately. However, it was precisely when the situation reached this point that she realized that now was not a good time to force Li Longji to abdicate, otherwise the court would be in chaos and Chang'an would really be taken by the rebels.

For example, a father and son in a rich family are fighting for property, and maybe a grandson is added, in short, there is infighting, and suddenly a thief breaks into the door, so it is necessary to wait for the thief to be driven away and then continue to fight.

"Damn." Du Yan gritted her teeth and scolded.

Du Cheng understood her thoughts, patted her hand, and said, "Take your time, it's not easy to rebel." ”

"Send someone to tell the prince to take a step back. Tonight, I don't ask the saint to abdicate, but I want to behead Yang Guozhong, and then ask the prince Mao Sui to recommend himself to serve as the defense of Chang'an. ”

"Kill Yang Guozhong, is it too embarrassing for the saint?"

"What you want is to embarrass him, otherwise how can the prince be powerful? And how did they successfully defend the city? Du Yan's tone was light, "In danger, let's take a step back." ”

"Well, just stabilize the situation and wait for Xue Bai to come back."

"I'm sure he's coming back soon."

Du Yan thinks that the gas volume is small, but when the national disaster is at hand, this pattern still exists.

~~

Xingqing Palace.

There are more and more officials behind Li Cong, and in order to support him on the side of Qingjun, everyone dares to violate the curfew in Chang'an, which shows their determination.

He, the crown prince, didn't have any strength in the past, but tonight inexplicably some people dressed up as forbidden soldiers rushed to support him. In addition, there are border army generals like Guan Chongsi taking the lead, and the momentum is violent.

On the other hand, Xingqing Palace, because of the sudden incident tonight, there was a fire again, and Chen Xuanli was not there, so there were not many weapons at the palace gate.

"If the saint doesn't summon me again, I'll break into the palace later!"

Everyone gathered around Li Cong and stepped forward.

As long as they rushed into the palace and the hearts of the people fell, they would take advantage of the chaos to kill Yang Guozhong, and the situation would be even more favorable.

On the side of the palace gate, Li Heng got the holy decree and was ordering the forbidden army to strictly guard the palace gate, and seeing that the other party was about to break in, he raised his hand and gave a slap to the nearby soldiers.

"Why don't you stop it?!"

When the momentum between the two sides was like fire and water, and it was getting more and more intense, Li Fuguo rushed over and said a word to Li Heng in his ear.

"Really?" Li Heng was surprised, and his eyes showed disbelief.

"Yes." Li Fuguo said, "Yang Guozhong has gone to prepare, and the sage has sent someone to pick up a few concubines. ”

"So suddenly?"

Li Xiang muttered, thinking about what would happen if he stayed in Chang'an. After that, he shook his head and said to himself, "No." ”

"Your Highness?"

"You go, pick up Zhang Liangdi, and then inform Yu'er and them."

Li Fuguo was slightly stunned, took it, and hurried away.

Li Heng looked outside the palace again, and found that Li Cong's movement had also stopped, knowing that the other party had also gotten the news.

Sure enough, soon there was a pretended earnest shout from outside the palace.

"Erchen doesn't dare to collide with Your Majesty! There are indeed 100,000 urgent military situations, and I beg Your Majesty to meet you......"

"Huh."

Li Heng saw at a glance what Li Cong's idea was, turned around and left, muttering to himself: "If Brother wishes, you will stay in Guanzhong and continue to defend against the enemy."

~~

Xingqing Palace, next to the palace wall, a Jinwu guard stood with a halberd all night, and when the morning dawned, snowflakes fell all over the body.

Last night was very chaotic, he first prepared to take the prince into the palace with the general, and then ordered him to guard the palace gate strictly, and then the prince ordered him to open the palace gate and let him enter the palace, and then the king rushed to confront the prince...... It's good to not know who to listen to.

As a pawn, all he can do is fulfill his duties. So let those big men come and go in front of him, constantly making things difficult, he stood alone and guarded the palace gate. After standing all night, he was slapped at least six times, and his feet were numb like his own, and finally he heard the sound of the morning drum, and he went down.

He lives in the west of Chang'an City, by the city wall. The location is very remote, and he has to walk for more than half an hour on foot in the heavy snow to return home from Xingqing Palace, and he does not have a private horse as others imagined and cannot afford to raise it. There are indeed some children of families in the Beiya Forbidden Army, but most of them are actually far from being as beautiful as they seem.

When passing by a stall selling hu cakes, he hesitated for a moment, thinking that his family had a large population, and he did not buy them because he was hungry. Suddenly, someone rode over and called out to him.

"You! Stop it. ”

"Jin Wuwei Liu Er, I've seen the general."

Liu Er recognized the person, it was a captain in the Longwu Army, wearing a spring shirt, wrapped in a brocade coat and going out, without a head, as if he had just woken up, he stepped forward and asked arrogantly: "Do you know that the saint is out of the city?!" ”

"Nope." Liu Er was confused when he heard it, "I didn't get any orders from Jingjie. ”

"Idiot!"

The whip smashed over without warning, and Liu Er's face was covered with a piercing scar.

"Tongguan was defeated, and the saint fled west. You stayed in Xingqing Palace all night, and you said you didn't know?! ”

"I ......"

"Chang'an just raised too much waste like you! The situation will be out of control like this! ”

The lieutenant was very short-tempered, and he scolded hatefully again, and galloped towards the city gate with a wave of his horsewhip, not forgetting to raise his foot and kick Liu Er to the side of the road.

"The knot of light will be paid!"

Liu Er smashed on the snow and got up, only to see that many people had come around to look at him, either confused, frightened, or curious, and discussed.

"Is it true that the rebels attacked and the saint fled?"

"I did see a lot of people out of town in the morning, and the cars and horses were endless."

"These forbidden armies are powerful and prosperous on weekdays, and eat the rent we pay. When it's time to fight, you'll just pee your pants......"

Liu Ercai got up, wiped the horse feces on his body, and suddenly felt a heat on his face, and someone actually spat a mouthful of thick phlegm on his face. He was furious and roared.

"! How much white work I do and how much pay I receive, you know?! ”

The good deeds around him ran away. Liu Er was full of grievances, and he didn't know who to vent to.

He picked up the tattered felt hat that had fallen to the ground, and thought that the saint he had just heard had fled, and he was absurd and at a loss.

At the time of the national crisis, the forbidden army didn't even know what was happening, let alone defending his family and the country, he also felt that he was a waste, but he didn't know what he did wrong.

(End of chapter)