In the blink of an eye, it was the beginning of May. The weather was getting hotter day by day. People inside and outside Chang'an were actually suffering. People inside the city were worried about when the rebels would attack the city and whether the troops outside could arrive. People outside the city were not sure whether they could capture the imperial capital in one fell swoop. After all, morale was weak and it would be exhausted if it came again. A siege was a siege, but it was not a siege. Anyone who could see the situation would know that it could not be dragged on any longer and it might take a few days.
Li Qishen certainly knew that he was counting the days. He was not panicking, but he was not too arrogant to say that he was completely calm. He usually liked to talk nonsense, but he never concealed anything when it was time to be serious. He was also honest in front of Huo Jun in the Changsheng Palace: "... If you ask me that, it's embarrassing. I'm not sure."
"Me too." Huo Jun still had a blank expression on his face, and even his true words sounded like sarcasm. "I was afraid that the prince would laugh at me, but now that he said this, I feel relieved."
"The Shuofang Army should be the first to arrive. There are still two days left. I entrust these two days to you." Li Qishen said to Chang Zu beside him in a light tone, "Wine."
Chang Zu responded and handed the tray forward with both hands. It was between Li Qishen and Huo Jun. Inside was a long-necked porcelain pot with a porcelain cup on each side. There were special cracks burned on the walls of the cups.
Li Qishen picked up the wine pot and filled each of the two cups with wine to seven-tenths of its capacity. It was a rare strong liquor in Chang'an City. The liquor was as clear as water, and when it hit the wall of the cup, it released a strong aroma that reminded people of something like war. He put down the wine pot and picked up the cup closest to him: "Please."
Huo Jun could drink quite a bit, and it was just a small cup, so he didn't refuse. He took the glass, gestured, and drank it all in one gulp.
"Don't worry, Your Majesty." He swallowed the burning wine and put the glass back on the tray. "I will order people to raise the flag immediately. The garrison is still there, Chang'an still exists, please rest assured, Your Majesty."
Li Qishen also drank it all, put the porcelain cup back, and nodded: "Okay."
"I am wearing armor, so it is inconvenient to salute." Although it was light armor, the knees and elbows were also wrapped in iron armor. Huo Jun could not salute according to the palace rules, so he could only give a military salute. When he said goodbye, he actually smiled a little, "Take care, Prince."
"If you could smile more often, so many girls would flock to you, and you wouldn't have been unmarried until today." Li Qishen smiled and made a harmless joke.
Huo Jun was too lazy to pay attention to him and turned away. It was morning, and the sun shone in from the door, casting a broad strip of light. The general in light armor walked steadily forward, his whole body immersed in the sun, and his armor glittered in the light, like a gilded statue in a temple or Taoist temple.
Li Qishen looked at it for a while, then suddenly folded his hands, bowed and performed a proper and proper salute. He had never performed this salute before, but now he performed it solemnly and strictly. When he bowed his head, his dense eyelashes fell down, and the light dotted on them. At first glance, it looked like tears that were about to fall.
He said softly, "The general is righteous."
Of course Huo Jun didn't hear it, and even if he did, he wouldn't turn around. He stepped out of the Changsheng Palace and happened to meet Changning. He couldn't salute, so he could only nod, and Changning clasped his fists instead.
After the gesture, neither of them looked at the other for a second. The two passed each other. Huo Jun walked straight ahead, while Chang Ning entered the Changsheng Palace and asked the palace maids waiting in the palace to leave first. When the palace was empty, she looked calm and asked Li Qishen in a loud voice, "General Huo knows, right?"
"I know. We can use the troops stationed in the city to resist the rebels and delay for two days until the Shuofang Army arrives." Li Qishen was also very calm, but his words were extremely cruel. "The whole army will surely be annihilated."
Chang Ning's eyelashes trembled, and then she pretended not to hear and changed the subject: "The latest war report from Shuzhou, do you know?"
"Know."
"Your Majesty has arrived in Chengdu, which is An Guangxing's territory. He is quite capable to be such a dog, but I don't think he is a threat. We just need to be careful of him turning against us. In addition, the rebels outside Chang'an should be just one of them. When Your Majesty fled south from the city, one of the rebels chased him." Changning exhaled and looked at Li Qishen. "The rebels chased and killed you halfway, and at Maweiyi, Your Majesty was separated from the Crown Prince and the Imperial Concubine. The Imperial Concubine fell into the hands of the rebels, and she couldn't bear the humiliation and hanged herself. The Crown Princess and the little prince are still missing, but they are probably in the hands of the rebels."
She paused before telling the most important news, "The rebels were numerous, and the prince led the Jinwu Guards and was defeated and died in the chaos."
This news arrived on the table this morning. Glimpsing it was one thing, but really hearing Chang Ning say it was another. If I said I had no reaction at all, I would be lying. Li Qishen suppressed the thought surging in his heart and looked back calmly: "So what?"
"So I ask you, if we defend Chang'an City, the military governors of various places will definitely send the battle report here, and your order can be spread to all directions." Chang Ning looked at him, his expression changed, and he became fierce in an instant, almost like asking, "When that time comes, what will you do?"
Li Qishen was not panicked at all, and looked back calmly: "I have seen in legends that those who made plans too far in advance did not have a good ending, so I advise you not to rush. Let's discuss it after the Shuofang Army arrives."
"You..." When he said that, the momentum he had accumulated collapsed instantly. Chang Ning couldn't figure out what Li Qishen was thinking. He wanted to hit him but couldn't. After holding it in for a long time, he slapped his leg and said, "Oh, there's another thing. It's annoying me."
Earlier, she had the intention of assassinating the king and forcing him to abdicate in the rainy night, but the tone of the second half of the sentence suddenly turned into a complaining woman. These days, Li Qishen has been in charge of the former dynasty. He was reluctant to let Xie Wangzhi worry about the troubles in the harem, so he sent people to throw them all to Changning. As soon as he heard it, he knew that it was the favorite concubine in the harem who was causing trouble. Li Qishen was too lazy to pay attention to those women, but he had to listen: "What's wrong?"
"Chang'an City has been under siege for half a month, and there is not much food left in the palace." Chang Ning herself didn't care. She could eat delicacies from land and sea, and she could also eat bran cakes with pickles. The problem was that the concubines in the harem who lived a life of luxury couldn't do that. "Fresh vegetables and meat can't be preserved. They were used up before. What is sent over now are dried or pickled. They are not satisfied and think that eating these things will damage their beauty. I pinched my nose to persuade her, but Shangguan Fangyi just turned her face away."
Chang Ning became more and more annoyed the more he thought about it. He shook his head and threw away the delicate hibiscus faces in his memory. "Anyway, she's not someone you can easily mess with. You better be careful."
"Why should I be so cautious?" Li Qishen was puzzled. One of the things he hated most in his life was interfering with the harem.
"Are you stupid? To be able to enter the palace and secure the position of Fangyi, you must not be a fool. You are torturing me like this just to force you to go in person."
Li Qishen was too lazy to think: "I'm not going."
"Then I'll be frank. Shangguan Fangyi only entered the palace last year. She is sixteen this year, four years younger than you." Changning was so angry, "Your mother is a Xianbei."
The current situation is like this. If Chang'an City can be defended, the next step is to mobilize troops from various places to counterattack. Once Li Chengjing goes to Shu, he may not be able to return to Chang'an. The father is cowardly and incompetent, and he is also old, while the son is in his prime. The Xianbei people also practice levirate marriage. I think Shangguan Fangyi has moved her mind and wants to change a branch to rely on.
"Don't worry about it. Send out orders to seal off all palaces. No one is allowed to enter or leave. If you don't obey orders, give them three meals a day as they are now. Eat if you want. If you starve to death, bury them in the flower garden so that they won't bloom next year." Li Qishen understood. Compared with the war situation, he didn't want to spend any time on those women. Instead, he thought of Changning. "You should spend more time on yourself, so that Xianyu Khan won't travel all the way to Chang'an City and finally fail to recognize which gray lady is Princess Changning."
"… Why mention him?" Chang Ning choked and frowned, "Forget it, I'm going back. Just as you said, I won't enter the palace again. Take care, Your Highness."
Li Qishen did not respond with "take care", but just said "hmm" in a neutral tone. Fortunately, Changning was not a person who was too formal, so he didn't care at all, turned around and walked out, closing the door for him.
“… One by one, they told me to take care, I thought I was going to die.” There was no one in the hall, no one would rush over to kneel down, kowtow and shout “Prince, you can’t do that, it’s unlucky”, Li Qishen said nonsense and picked up the wine jug that had not been removed earlier.
He was too lazy to use a cup, so he picked up the jug and drank the rest of the wine from the jug's spout.
After drinking half a pot of strong liquor, it was like swallowing a mouthful of fire or a sharp blade. No matter how good a drinker is, he couldn't bear it. A faint blush quickly appeared on Li Qishen's face. After a moment of confusion, his mind became clearer. He threw the wine pot away and sat on the ground, leaning against the desk. His eyelashes trembled and his eyelids slowly drooped.
The moment he closed his eyes completely, there was a strong sound of wind. Changning did not close the door tightly, and the wind blew the door open. The sunlight cut through the Changsheng Palace and fell on him.
**
The weather was getting hotter, and it was almost time for the season to change. Shu'er's cough became worse again. According to the doctor's suggestion, Xie Wangzhi did not accompany her to read and write as before, but only chatted with her through the door for a while. Shu'er's voice was not clear behind the door, but her sentences were clear and coherent. She only coughed occasionally, and it didn't sound very serious.
Xie Wangzhi told Shu'er a legend, which mentioned a puppet. Shu'er was a child after all, and wanted any strange thing she heard. Normally, it would be easy to ask the embroiderer to make one for her. But given the current situation, Xie Wangzhi didn't want to go to the embroidery workshop and get bored. He found some scraps of cloth and cotton and made one for Shu'er himself.
Her embroidery skills were not very good, but it was enough to sew a puppet to fool the children. But today, for some reason, she pierced her fingertips several times even though she was facing the light. It happened again. Xie Wangzhi squeezed out the blood from the needle hole, thought for a while, and suddenly asked, "What's going on outside?"
The maid who brought in the water shuddered and almost knocked over the teacup. She barely managed to put it down, her whole body trembling: "Madam... outside, tonight... the rebels are attacking the city!"
The author has something to say: Thank you to the little angels who voted for me or irrigated nutrient solution during 2019-11-25 18:02:55~2019-11-26 18:12:28~
Thanks to the little angels who threw the grenades: Yu Hehe 1;
Thanks to the little angels who cast mines: Kekeaiai, Psychopath, Nanmoyuanzhi, Daxi1;
Thanks to the little angels who irrigated the nutrient solution: Mu Ruo Qiu Xi 76 bottles; Xia Shu 20 bottles; Zhous 5 bottles; Er Yu 4 bottles; Xie Huang Bao 2 bottles;
Thank you very much for your support, I will continue to work hard!