The sky was bright, and Bian Lingcheng was still asleep, but he was woken up by someone.

He had previously supervised the army in Hedong, and after supporting Changshan with Li Guangbi, he escorted Yuan Luqian and Yan Jiming back to Chang'an.

Unexpectedly, since he left, Li Guangbi has made many achievements, which is a pity. But it doesn't matter, he went back to Chang'an to handle a big case of rebellion.

Recently, he is tracking down Xue Bai's life experience, and with Yang Guanghui as a helper, he carefully visited Li Ying's crown princess Xue's maiden home.

Last night, the two interrogated the prisoner until the third watch, and then slept in the courtyard next to the private cell.

"General Bian, something big happened in Chang'an at night."

"What?" Bian Lingcheng woke up in a daze.

Yang Guanghui had heard all kinds of rhetoric within an hour, some said that there was a coup d'état in Xingqing Palace, some said that there was an assassination in Daming Palace, some said that the rebels had captured Tongguan, and some said that the saint had escaped from Chang'an, and so on, but he was confused and didn't know what was going on.

Bian Lingcheng was shocked: "Such a big deal? Why didn't you tell me at night?! ”

In front of the Qinzheng Building, many officials could be seen standing and talking to each other, and an atmosphere of unease was permeated.

"This ...... Presumably the prince planned it? ”

"Yes, I've asked Jin Wuwei to block it with all his might."

What Li Cong said next was all cold conditions.

"Tongguan is lost, but is it true?"

Yuan Siyi turned his head and snorted angrily, and said: "The saint is in the north, and he just issued an order to appease the people, how dare you listen to rumors and shake people's hearts?!" ”

went out, but today's Chang'an is a little different. On the long street, Jin Wuwei was arresting people and scolding at the same time.

He looked left and right, and finally saw Yuan Siyi, so he hurriedly stepped forward and asked, "General Yuan!" I've heard of the saint Nishiyuki, but is it true? ”

"Geshuhan buried 200,000 troops in World War I, misleading the country."

"Your Highness can't persuade you, why don't you keep the saint?"

Yuan Siyi's face finally showed a bitter color, and he didn't say that the saint had escaped, and said, "The saint hasn't gone far yet." ”

Bian Lingcheng couldn't stay any longer, so he hurriedly put on his robe and rushed out.

"But why did those officials arrive at Xingqing Palace in time?"

"Your Highness." Yan Jiming opened his mouth and said, "It's better to keep the saint, the thieves have not arrived and the Son of Heaven has abandoned the city, and the impact is far more than the defense of Chang'an, but the entire Sheji!" ”

I never thought that when the situation was at its worst before, the Kaiyuan Emperor would one day be compared to Emperor Huai of Jin, how ridiculous is this? How far does it have to be so deaf that the tragic situation of the Jin Dynasty can be repeated in the prosperous era of the Tang Dynasty?

But at the moment, if you are not careful, the situation may be doomed.

Bian Lingcheng stomped his feet and said hurriedly: "I'll chase the saint." ”

Bian Lingcheng had no choice but to turn around and follow Yuan Siyi to continue walking. The strange thing is that Yuan Siyi actually began to explain everything that happened to him.

~~

Upstairs in Qinzheng, Li Cong was standing at the Gangan looking at Yuan Siyi and Bian Lingcheng.

He continued to Xingqing Palace, but when he arrived at the palace gate, he found that there were many fewer guards, and the generals in charge of defense had also changed. didn't deny him to enter the palace, but led him to the Qinzheng Building.

"The sage did go to Sichuan and Shu to recruit troops, and the prince asked himself to stay in Chang'an, and the sage agreed, and the will was indeed there......"

"I know." Li Cong sighed, "However, the saint has made up his mind, and he doesn't want to come back no matter what." ”

"The saint took away the Sixth Army of the Northern Ya, how can he keep it."

Yan Jiming was still afraid that he would not know, and emphasized: "Yongjia Nandu, Wuhu Chaohua ......"

Bian Lingcheng was shocked, thinking about the attachment of the counties he saw in Hebei, and the situation of Li Guangbi's repeated defeats of the rebels, and he did not understand why the combat strength of the rebels in the two places was so different.

"Ugh."

"Don't worry." Yuan Siyi grabbed him and scolded: "I'm still here!" ”

"The saint is still in the north, and anyone who dares to spread rumors will be taken down!"

"Indeed, the saint fled and went out of the city at dawn. I sent men to catch up with him and ...... with him Some conditions were discussed. ”

"The curfew in the whole city, we all heard about it in the morning."

"How could I not know?" Li Cong asked rhetorically.

Of course, I haven't gone far, and the news I got at night, and the city gate that came out at dawn, how far can I go.

"The sage wants Xixingchuan Shu, but he doesn't say that he can go, he has now crossed Weishui, but he lacks horses, and ordered to transfer all the horses in the forbidden garden; I was summoned to be the generalissimo of the world's soldiers and horses, and I was left behind in Xijing, and I was fully responsible for the defense of Chang'an; At the same time, Yuan Siyi was left in charge of the palace and the key, with Zhang Yan as Jingzhaoyin, Ren Yingwang Li Jian as the envoy of Jiannan Jiedu, and Ren Zhong Wang Li Heng as the envoy of Shuofang Jiedu ......"

"What the hell is going on?" Bian Lingcheng asked, but no one answered.

"Nonsense!"

Yuan Luqian and Yan Jiming understood what these words meant.

Bian Lingcheng bowed his head and was silent, followed Yuan Siyi to the Qinzheng Building, and when he arrived at no one's place, Fang whispered: "General Yuan, you can hide it from others, but you can't hide it from me." Anyway, I'm also an old man who has been waiting for the saint for more than ten years. ”

"Don't get the word out." Yuan Luqian said: "Otherwise, the people of Chang'an will be panicked, and they will inevitably not be able to hold it." ”

Standing behind Li Cong were Yuan Luqian, Yan Jiming and others.

"Is it true that a saint?"

Yan Jiming and Yuan Luqian glanced at each other, both of them feeling terrified. In the end, they can only face this reality.

When Bian Lingcheng heard this, he turned around and wanted to rush to the Taiji Palace, but after thinking about it, he felt that it was wrong, thinking that the saint never lived in the Taiji Palace, and how could he report his whereabouts to ordinary people?

At the moment of the thief, the saint and the prince still made a compromise with each other, but there were too many fears in this compromise.

And there is also a deep hidden danger, assuming that the prince resisted the rebels in Chang'an and lost the prestige of the saint at present, is it possible for the prince to welcome back the saint at that time? Or, does the sage think the prince can hold Chang'an?

The cold wind blew, Yan Jiming felt a cold sweat on his body, coupled with the disaster of imprisonment for many days, his physical strength was exhausted, his feet were weak, and he was almost planted.

Li Cong supported him with both hands and said: "In the autumn of critical survival, I only hope that Yuan Qing and Yan Qing will not hesitate to help me defend Chang'an!" ”

Yan Jiming stabilized his mind, stood up straight, and said, "I have confidence." ”

"Confidence?" Li Cong said, "I want to teach you to know that Chang'an is almost free of soldiers to fight." ”

"Since Xue Bai has recovered Luoyang and captured the thief leader alive, he will quickly go to King Qin of Chang'an, and we will wait to defend the city!"

~~

"The saint has issued several holy decrees one after another, and the soldiers and horses of the world will soon come to King Qin."

Yuan Siyi said, stopped, raised his eyes and glanced at the Qinzheng Building, lowered his voice, and said, "King Qin, which king is Qin?" DID YOU KNOW? ”

Bian Lingcheng deserved to be a long-serving saint, his eyes rolled, he quickly understood, and asked in a low voice, "King Qing?" ”

"yes."

Yuan Siyi retracted his gaze and said, "If it weren't for King Qing's sudden palace change, the saint would not have left Chang'an." ”

Bian Lingcheng then understood what kind of tricks this pair of heavenly father and son were doing across Weishui.

The two entered the side hall of the Qinzheng Building, Yuan Siyi walked to the side of the case, found one from the many holy decrees, picked up the pen, and wrote a few words.

Bian Lingcheng thought to himself, he still had to catch up with the saint as soon as possible and go to Sichuan and Shu with him, just like the Jin Dynasty crossing to the south, and it would definitely be more dangerous to stay in the north.

was in a trance, and suddenly heard Yuan Siyi say something in his throat.

"Bian Lingcheng took the order."

"The slave is here, and the slave is in order."

"The general of the right prison gate, Bian Ling, is honest and modest, persistent and respectful, diligent and diligent, moves to the internal service and saves affairs, adds a hussar general, and is in charge of the palace and the key......"

Bian Lingcheng was only surprised for a moment before he sensed that something was wrong, and when he heard the words "Palm the Palace Key", his face turned pale.

Yuan Siyi had already handed the holy decree to him and said, "Go ahead and do it." ”

"Slave and maid command."

This is the errand that Bian Lingcheng envied the most in the past, but now he feels very hot.

He first went to the Inner Chamberlain, appeased the speculative eunuchs, and announced his appointment.

In the process, he could feel that the prince's party was trying to conceal the sage's escape and stabilize the situation in Chang'an.

After being busy for a long time, it is obvious that the hearts of the people inside and outside the palace are much calmer. The crown prince put on the posture of a prison state, at least to maintain the stability of order.

However, when Bian Lingcheng went to find Yuan Siyi again, he never found it. Until I heard a message.

"General Yuan has already taken the treasure of the inner money out of the city!"

"What?!"

~~

There was no one in the hall, Li Cong deliberately drove everyone else out, stood alone in front of the imperial couch, stretched out his hand and touched the gilt handrail.

Suddenly, someone entered. He quickly turned around and found that it was Bian Lingcheng who had come in.

Each other's positions are actually opposites. Li Cong was assisted by Xue Bai to enter the East Palace, but Bian Lingcheng had been persecuting Xue Bai, so Li Cong immediately became vigilant.

"Your Highness."

Bian Lingcheng looked very respectful, and reported cautiously: "The slave maid came to say that Yuan Siyi escaped, and he also brought many treasures with him. ”

"Why don't you run away?" Li Cong asked.

"Slave maid...... Left. Bian Lingcheng hesitated for a moment and replied: "They want to leave the slave and maid to monitor His Highness, but the slave and maid think that His Royal Highness is the pillar of the Tang Dynasty. ”

Li Cong instantly understood Bian Lingcheng's intentions, but did not make a statement. Because he was afraid that accepting such a bad eunuch would cause dissatisfaction among his supporters.

"The slave maid wants to help His Royal Highness defend Chang'an and the Tang Dynasty, this heart is also sincere, and the world can learn from it!"

"You persecuted Xue Bai, and you still dare to open your mouth?!"

"No, the slave is just doing what she is told." Bian Lingcheng kowtowed and said, "The slave knows that His Royal Highness wants to defend Chang'an, and he must have Xue Bai's support...... The slave maid also recently found out about his origins. ”

Li Cong was about to kick him away, but he was stunned when he heard the words.

He had actually heard many things. But he didn't believe it in his heart, and he couldn't care about it in his situation.

"You mean, he really is?"

"It is indeed the son of the abolished prince Ying." Bian Lingcheng immediately responded.

He had indeed been checking whether Xue Bai was Li Ying's son recently, but he had not found any evidence at all. The reason why he said this to Li Cong was naturally for his own interests.

Bian Lingcheng has no literary talent and martial arts, just a slave who waits for people, and what he is best at is figuring out people's hearts.

Li Cong has four sons, all of whom are of the blood of the successor Li Ying. So, if Xue Bai is also Li Ying's son, will Li Cong be willing to pass on the throne to Xue Bai in the future? No way.

The so-called love of birth and nurturing, whether it is born or raised, is nothing more than the establishment of the relationship between father and son and psychological identity, simply put, the word "feelings". Even among Li Cong's four sons, Li Yan and Li Shen were a little older at the beginning of their adoption, and they received less care than Li Yan and Li Li.

When Li Cong was the king of Qing, he was bent on passing on the throne of King Qing to Li Li. Because for him, Li Li is his favorite biological son.

Who is Xue Bai? An outsider who came out of nowhere......

Bian Lingcheng keenly felt the jealousy that gradually grew in Li Cong's heart. He was too familiar with this feeling, and back then, it was like this that the sage began to be jealous of the crown prince Li Heng, so that some people were able to rise to prominence by suppressing the crown prince.

"His Royal Highness knows that the reason why the saint ordered the slaves and maids to 'persecute Zhongliang' is to determine that Xue Bai is the son of the deposed prince Ying, and everything he does has ulterior motives......"

"Are the saints sure?" Li Cong raised an eyebrow.

"Yes." Bian Lingcheng said, "If Your Highness doesn't believe it, you can call Yang Guanghui and ask." Gao Lishi and Yuan Siyi, who were beside the saint, also knew a lot about this matter. ”

It was impossible for Li Cong to ask Gao Lishi and Yuan Siyi, but he was already a little convinced in his heart, and as a result, his fear deepened a little.

"Xue Bai is close to His Royal Highness, presumably because he has always regarded His Highness as an uncle in his heart......"

"Shut up!"

Li Cong snorted, pointed at Bian Lingcheng, and scolded angrily: "Hugh thinks I don't know what kind of thoughts you have in mind as a cheap slave, dare to separate me from Xue Bai, die!" ”

He knew very well that no matter what, it was impossible for him to turn against Xue Bai, and now he was still deeply dependent on the other party.

"Slaves don't dare!" Bian Lingcheng said: "The slave maid said at the beginning that His Royal Highness guards Chang'an and the Tang Dynasty, and needs to rely on Xue Bai, how dare he separate?" The slave maid is just thinking about His Highness and thinking about His Highness in the long run. ”

Li Cong leaned down, gritted his teeth, and asked softly, "What?" Are you persuading me to pass on his position? ”

"His Highness relies on him, but ...... Do you rely only on him? The slave maid looked at it, and now around His Royal Highness, Du Youlin, Yuan Zai, Yuan Luqian, and Yan Jiming are all Xue Dang. ”

In a word, Li Cong finally fell silent.

Bian Lingcheng knelt on the ground and walked a few steps on his knees, dusted off the upper of Li Cong's shoes, and said: "By Your Highness's side, there must be slaves and maids, people who are purely loyal to Your Highness." ”

Looking at the courteous figure on the ground, Li Cong thought of Li Jingzhong beside Li Heng, and heard that he had almost buried Xue Bai alive...... On the way to power, it seems inevitable that kings will inevitably have such slaves and maids.

It's like a manure tank, where maggots are always indispensable.

~~

As it approached evening, more news had come back from the east, and the news of the loss of Tongguan gradually became known to more people.

Fortunately, the imperial court is also making every effort to stabilize the hearts of the people, and posting a proclamation, announcing the great victory of Hebei and Luoyang, and the capture of An Lushan, indicating that this is the dying struggle of the rebels.

Gradually, the situation in the city calmed down a bit, and at least it was preparing for the battle in an orderly manner.

"You can rest after closing the gates, right?"

Du Youlin, who had been busy all night and day long, sat down in Shangshu Province and muttered to himself while beating his sore legs.

Du Yan has a lot of officialdom things that are inconvenient to come forward, and she needs to use Du Youlin to show her strength, and she frowned when she heard this.

"Grandpa is too unmotivated."

"What?"

"My daughter's plan is to help Grandpa into the phase, and it is also possible. In this critical autumn of survival, Grandpa said that he wanted to rest? ”

"Phase?" Du Youlin shook his head and said: "I'm not good at being flexible, I can't be a phase, I can't." ”

Du Yan immediately pushed a stack of official documents into his hand and said, "Do you really need to do anything?" ”

"Are you humiliating your father?!"

"Please do it as soon as possible." Du Yan said, "You have to have a good talk with Zhang Yan, Wei Jiansu and others, and find out the attitude of these important ministers for His Highness." ”

"Humph!"

As soon as Du Youlin went out, Du Wulang, who was hiding quietly and stealing, hurriedly followed, and his mouth was full of surprise.

"Just two days ago, we were still wanted by the imperial court, who would have thought that suddenly the imperial court fled, and we became the imperial court instead?"

Before the two reached the front yard, a messenger had arrived.

"Oh no!"

"What?"

"Zhang Yan, Wei Jiansu, and the ministers of the Yiying Imperial Court, before the city gate was closed, went out of the city to join the saint!"

On the field, only Du Wulang felt that these people were still cleaner when they left.

Others know that if the court is divided into two, it will inevitably make the world more turbulent.

They hurried to Xicheng and looked at the city tower, only to see an endless stream of teams following Li Longji.

"Beat the twilight drum! Close the gates! ”

"Boom!"

At present, the only way to stop the news of the saint's escape can be stopped by curfew as soon as possible and the people are driven home with twilight drums.

However, before the six hundred twilight drums had been beaten, someone pointed outside the city and shouted, "There is a fire!" ”

~~

The Xianyang Bridge is erected on the Weishui River, which is the main road leading from Chang'an to the Western Regions and Sichuan and Shu. The bridge was built in the Han Dynasty, also known as the Xiwei Bridge, because it is opposite to the gate of Chang'an City, it is also called the Gate Bridge.

The people of Chang'an City often send guests to the east to Badao, and to the west they are at Xianyang Bridge. For example, in the tenth year of Tianbao, when Du Fu returned to Chang'an, he saw that the imperial court was using soldiers to Tubo and the people were suffering from military service, so he wrote a poem "Soldier Chariot Travel", which has the sentence "Ye Niang's wife sent each other off, and the dust did not see Xianyang Bridge".

Who would have thought that just a few years of time. The Tang Dynasty Emperor who swept his army to fight against Tubo has escaped from Xianyang Bridge in embarrassment.

As Li Longji escaped from the Xianyang Bridge and a group of princes and ministers caught up, a majestic fire suddenly broke out on the bridge.

Many of the people who had been following the saint's line and wanted to flee were suddenly blocked in their way......

"The saint is gone."

Du Youlin understood why the saint had to set a fire before leaving, firstly, to prevent the rebels from catching up, and secondly, to prevent the prince from doing any more unfavorable moves.

"I walked in such a hurry, but I didn't bring any food or grass."

In fact, he no longer had the energy to care about Li Longji's grain and grass, and with this fire, the public opinion in Chang'an City, which had finally calmed down, suddenly surged again.

Originally, with the dusk drum, the city gate was slowly closing, but the fire was together, and many people were suddenly frightened and rushed to the city gate.

"Let us run for our lives! We will run away with the saints! ”

This is not the worst situation, the bullies, thieves, and rangers of Chang'an City learned that the saint had fled, and they began to gather one after another, planning to take advantage of the disorder in the city, rob the house, rob the house, and flee again.

Chaos abounds.

For Li Cong, the crown prince, don't talk about guarding Chang'an at the moment. Maintaining order before the rebels arrive is already difficult.

……

"Not good! Someone stormed Yongfeng Cang! ”

Yan Jiming had just led his men to suppress a group of thieves who were robbing the West Market, when he suddenly heard a shout again, turned his head to look, and saw smoke rising from the northwest direction.

What is stored in Yongfeng's warehouse is military salary, once it is looted or even burned, Chang'an City will inevitably not be able to hold it.

He had no choice but to run desperately to protect Yongfengcang.

"Quick, tell the prince to send more people! Just go! ”

"Be careful, there's a mob blocking the way."

Yan Jiming rushed out of the West Market, and the companions of the thieves had already flocked to him, clinging to knives and axes, and they dared to oppose the court officials and the forbidden army.

"Plug them! I'm going to Yongfeng Cang...... Drive! ”

"Bang."

Yan Jiming did not hesitate to drive his horse into those thieves, frightening the other party to avoid it, but he also took several hits. One of them had a long-handled axe that slashed into his thigh, blood pouring down.

He didn't care much, ran all the way to Yongfeng Warehouse, and saw countless people around the warehouse asking for food from a distance.

If it was all thieves, it would be fine, and Ji Ming saw that there were many old, weak, sick and disabled people who were also guarding there.

"Boom!"

He slammed his horse so hard that the horse's hooves almost trampled to death a little girl of four or five years old on the road, who was also unattended, and was sitting on the ground crying miserably.

Yan Jiming is a good horse under his crotch, and he is humane, and he was not frightened when he was pulled suddenly, but inevitably, he still fell off the horse and slammed on the ground.

When the pain came, he tried to get up, but found that his leg had been broken, so he could only lie there and watch the little girl cry, watching many figures howling and begging for food in front of him.

The flight of the Son of Heaven brought great panic to the people of Chang'an, and only then did it begin to manifest concretely.

Yan Jiming finally couldn't hold back, his eyes were sour, and tears kept spilling.

Since he arrived in Taiyuan, he has seen too many people doing their best to quell the war. Xue Bai, who had anticipated the rebellion early, Wang Rare, who had repeatedly rushed to kill the front, Yuan Luqian, who endured heavy humiliation, and Li Guangbi, who commanded Ruoding......

These people, who have worked hard to prepare money and food, recruit soldiers, plot against enemy generals, and fight desperately, how can they suppress a rebellion that was not difficult to control more and more, and finally come to this point.

Are they not trying hard enough?

Or the saints on the throne worked too hard, trying to overturn their every achievement.

Thinking of this, Yan Jiming broke down. At this moment, the sound of horses' hooves came to him.

He looked back, and saw no armor on the comer, and knew that the thieves had arrived.

"Stop! Stop it! ”

Yan Jiming roared angrily, he hoped that this doom of the world would end here and things would not continue to deteriorate.

"Phew!"

The sound of horses' hooves stopped beside him. Someone dismounted and picked up the little girl not far away; Someone else walked up to him and held out their hands.

"Husband, I'm crying here with a little girl, sit up."

Yan Jiming looked up, stunned for a moment, and muttered, "Uncle? ”

The person who appeared in front of him was covered in frost and snow, his face was covered with blood, and only a pair of eyes were calm and resolute, it was Yan Zhenqing.

"Get up, first relieve the siege of Yongfengcang, and then talk...... He had a broken bone and took it for him. ”

"Sss

Yan Jiming sat there and grinned in pain.

turned his head and found that Yan Zhenqing had brought some people back, suppressing the riot, killing the leading thugs, and calming the emotions of the people.

Gradually, Yongfeng Cang finally settled down.

The bonfire reflected Yan Zhenqing's back, and it was still majestic, which made people suddenly feel that they had the backbone.

"Uncle."

Yan Jiming couldn't help but call out and asked, "What happened in Tongguan?" ”

Yan Zhenqing turned his head, his expression was gloomy, his eyes were sad, and he didn't speak for a long time.

Yan Jiming seemed to see the flames of war, soldiers, blood, and fallen corpses from his pupils.

Silence is worth a thousand words.

"But we could have won." Yan Jiming was unwilling and said, "Have you seen Xue Bai?" He captured An Lushan alive, maybe he can save the situation, does uncle know where he is? ”

(End of chapter)