Su Buwei carefully wrapped the brocade quilt around the emperor's knees, wrapping both of the emperor's legs very gently. The emperor seemed to be in a daze leaning on the recliner, his eyes looking at the sky did not move. No one knew why, the capture of Xiangcheng was such a joyous event, but the emperor was not happy at all, he didn't even enter Li Yuanshan's palace, but chose a rich man's house in the city to live in.
When it was warm in the afternoon, the emperor asked Su Buwei to help him out of the house, chose a clean and sunny place, and lay down on a recliner to rest.
It had been at least ten days since the emperor hadn't come out to breathe, but this supreme being who was not old according to his grade was already senile.
"There is still wind outside, if His Majesty is unwell, we will go back."
Su Buwei said lightly.
The emperor nodded slightly, looking away from the blue sky, with some difficulty.
"Is everyone here?"
asked the emperor.
Su Buwei bowed his head and said: "Except for the general Gao Kaitai who is still rectifying troops and manpower outside Xiangcheng, other civil and military officials are already waiting in Haoran Palace."
The emperor hummed: "Where is Jin Shixiong?"
"Bathering and changing."
The two young eunuchs walked slowly into the yard each holding a stack of memorials. Su Buwei waved his hand to signal them to leave first. The emperor glanced at them, raised his hand and waved it as if to repel flies: "Take it away, take it away... I don't read the memorial today, and I won't read it in the future. I sent someone back to the capital to tell the prince, saying that I feel a little unwell." , from now on, don’t send the booklets to the army, let him discuss everything with the queen.”
"Here."
Su Buwei responded, and with a wink, told the two young eunuchs to leave quickly.
"Su Buwei, I know that you also like astrology divination. It's terrible that I blame you for not being able to do it openly. Now that you're free, why don't you just help me calculate my fortune today?"
Su Buwei quickly replied: "Your maidservant has already figured it out before, everything is suitable for today."
"Good day..."
The emperor beckoned: "Then help me up, let's go to Haoran Hall."
Su Buwei helped the emperor up, and it happened that the servant led Jin Shixiong to come to see him. The emperor glanced at him and said indifferently: "Let's not talk about the other things. I have wronged you to live in the cage of Jinyi School these days. I will give you an explanation in a while. Follow me and tell me about you as you walk. He Xu Junwang's recent years on Langru Mountain, I will talk about it in a festive way, I don't want to hear sad and desolate things today."
"Here."
Jin Shixiong nodded, and then looked at Su Buwei suspiciously. Su Buwei sighed slightly, with a solemn expression.
The Haoran Hall was built by Li Yuanshan, although it is not as magnificent as the Tai Chi Hall in Chang'an City, it is not small in terms of scale. When the emperor was carried to the outside of Haoran Hall, he took a special look, and smiled in a good mood, saying that the word Haoran is a good choice, but it's a pity that Li Yuanshan doesn't have the spirit of Haoran, so he can't sit still in the hall.
Outside the main hall, two rows of pumpkin warriors stood upright, majestic.
In the main hall, at least one hundred and twenty civil and military officials had already been waiting here. With the great victory in Xiangcheng, almost everyone had a smile on their face. Li Yuanshan guarded Xiangcheng for 20 days, but in the end he failed to withstand the attack of the imperial army and fled from the west gate in a hurry. The victory of Xiangcheng is of great significance, enough to leave a heavy stroke in the history books. This is Li Yuanshan's lair, the place where he claims to be king, and the imperial government's recovery of Xiangcheng is equivalent to announcing that Li Yuanshan's rebel regime is about to collapse.
Seeing the emperor coming in, all the courtiers immediately bowed to greet him.
Su Buwei helped the emperor up the nine steps, and slowly sat down on the chair that Li Yuanshan had sat on for three years.
"I congratulate Your Majesty. Once Xiangcheng is broken, Li Ni's end will not be far away."
Some people began to praise the emperor's majesty, and those who echoed him immediately decorated the image of the emperor with more flowery and beautiful sentences. Although the emperor looked like a very withered old tree, he was still a lofty mountain in the words of praise.
"Get up, everyone."
The emperor said something lightly, and it seemed that his mood gradually improved. After hearing the news that Xiangcheng was breached and Li Yuanshan retreated with the remnant soldiers, the emperor did not see a smile on his face. Perhaps infected by the ministers, the corners of his mouth curled up slightly. At this time, the courtiers were almost in a trance, vaguely remembering His Majesty's demeanor before the Western Expedition.
"I am actually happy today, so listening to your praises is more comfortable than before. Since the defeat of the Western Expedition and the fall of the Northwest, I have not been really happy for three years. Every time I think of the three rivers and mountains, thousands of people are waiting for me. Come to rescue, my heart hurts like a knife. Xiangcheng is broken, it is a good thing, although Li Yuanshan was not executed, but his end is not far away, isn't it?"
"Li Ni was punished, only overnight!"
Someone stood up again and started the second wave of praise.
The emperor smiled and nodded: "You have worked hard with me on the westward expedition... I have been thinking about what kind of rewards I should give you after the rebellion in recognition of your achievements? This matter gave me a headache , look at you people, you are born in a famous family and have a lot of money. You don’t pay attention to money rewards. Many of you are already princes of the state. So I worry about how to satisfy all of you.”
"It is the duty of ministers to serve His Majesty, and they dare not speak of merit."
"It is the greatest honor for the ministers to share the worries for His Majesty."
"Being a slave in front of the saddle and horse in the back, I only want to follow your majesty!"
After not seeing the emperor for a long time, everyone felt depressed when they got better, so the flattery words that hadn't been used for a while still came out skillfully, and the tone was still so sincere.
The emperor seemed to be enjoying it very much. He raised his hand and pressed it down and said gently: "Fortunately, after thinking about it for a long time, I didn't think about it in vain. I finally thought of the most suitable and most honorable reward for you."
Everyone quieted down, waiting for the emperor's next words. There was more or less expectation in everyone's eyes, and there was also a kind of pride that was deliberately hidden.
The next sentence they heard shocked everyone!
"My body is getting worse every day, and the more I get to the present, the more I can't bear to part with you. So I suddenly thought, if I take you with me, wouldn't it be great to continue to be a monarch in another world? What do you say...how?"
As soon as these words came out, the hall was suddenly shocked and silent.
…
…
The emperor seemed very satisfied with the reaction of the courtiers, he couldn't help laughing, a bright and bright smile appeared on his skinny face, he pointed at the ministers one by one: "You who follow me to go out, I have carefully considered whether to bring it or not. I really spent a lot of thought. I didn't bring any of the things I despised and hated. You are all my favorite subjects, so I think so You should all be happy with the reward, right?"
A civil servant turned pale with fright, and said to himself with a trembling voice: "Your Majesty... Your Majesty is joking..."
"It's not a joke."
The emperor smiled and said, "You are not joking."
He waved his hand, and Su Buwei immediately shouted to the outside of the hall. Immediately after, a large number of Jinyi schools poured into Haoran Hall, and the sharp horizontal knives in their hands were already out of their sheaths. The door of Haoran Hall was closed, and the light in the hall immediately dimmed.
"His Majesty!"
Someone said in horror: "Your Majesty, why is this!"
"Why?"
The emperor shook his head: "You guys... You all said that you would follow me just now, why have you changed your face now?"
He paused and breathed a sigh of relief: "At this moment, I am happiest when I make this decision. I was hesitant at first, but I saw that you all laughed heartily because Xiangcheng was breached." At that time, I knew I couldn't hesitate anymore... You are not idiots, and I am not. So you don't have to pretend to be stupid anymore... Xiangcheng is broken, is it really worth being happy? You are not happy that I regained a piece of lost ground, but that I am glad that Yu Zhen is about to walk into the pit dug by your new master."
"I won't wrong any of you. Don't you have any correspondence with Li Yuanshan in private? Li Yuanshan needs your help in secret, and persuades me to follow the trap he set up step by step. But what you don't know is that Li Yuanshan I don't need you now either..."
He beckoned, and then two Jinyi schoolmen came in carrying a bamboo basket.
"Li Yuanshan deliberately left all the correspondence between him and you guys, what do you think he wants to do?"
The emperor smiled and became more and more comfortable.
"Your Majesty, are you going to make enemies of the whole world's family!"
Someone finally couldn't bear the pressure and stood up, pointing at the emperor and roaring.
The emperor smiled and said: "Haven't you all been wondering why I only brought 200,000 soldiers in this Western Expedition, but I wanted to recruit a million civilians. I will tell you now, I know, my army has already It's unreliable. And if I want to get rid of you, there are those generals with heavy soldiers present. If I want to get rid of you, I won't be able to get rid of you. If you don't do it, you will join forces and send me to the underworld first. The reason why I recruited brave , is to separate you from the army... Speaking of it, I am sorry for those people who are willing to serve the country. They followed me to the northwest, but I know that few of them can go back alive. But they are my people , They should stand up when I need them."
"You said that I am an enemy of the world's aristocratic family..."
The emperor was silent for a while and suddenly raised his voice: "It's not been a day or two since I wanted to do this. I really didn't have the courage to admit it before, but today I have it!"
"Suppressing the rebellion is only one of the parts of my expedition to the west. The most important thing is that I want to leave a clean court for the crown prince and take away a batch of dirty ghosts. I know how Li Yuanshan arranged it. You guys We all know that it is precisely because of Li Yuanshan's arrangements that I have the opportunity to get rid of you people... I will use myself, with millions of bravery and millions of rebels to bury you with me, be content... Soon after, the court will The army will be defeated in a certain place west of Xiangcheng, and the rebels will enter the camp. None of you loyal and patriotic subjects are willing to surrender, and die generously. When I am bored, I will even give each of you a reward after death. Once it is written, it will be sent to the capital after today, and the prince will not have to do such boring things again."
Either because he just took the medicine, or because he was excited, the emperor's complexion got better and better: "I know that Li Yuanshan dug a big hole, and I'm going to fill it in. Luo Yao also helped him fill the soil. There are people like you. But I also dug a big hole, using my life plus the lives of millions of brave people who are loyal to me, in exchange for the lives of Li Yuanshan and Luo Yao! There is no way I can leave the prince a complete So I have no choice but to leave him with a country where a piece of meat has been gouged out but not destroyed to the bone. And you, you will never know where the hole I dug is."
"You are all smart people, but you are all treating me as an idiot."
The emperor sighed: "If I was in good health, I would be too lazy to kill you in this way. I will spend ten, twenty, or even thirty years to get rid of you, including your family, bit by bit, but you I still don't realize that I just want to goug out your families that have been around for hundreds of years. I have the ability... Unfortunately, God doesn't give me much time. I have killed many people since I became the throne, but you always think that I am a big I have been very proud to have lied to you as the mildest emperor of all Sui dynasties, and if I have enough time, I plan to be proud of it for the rest of my life."
Everyone opened their mouths wide, looking at the eloquent and eloquent emperor.
The emperor leaned forward slightly, looked at the panicked courtiers with a smile and said triumphantly: "When I am in good health, play slowly. When I am not healthy, play quickly. But... I want to play At that time, you can only be played obediently."