"Bai Chun? It's just a woman, what's so scary about it! If Li Hong hadn't accepted her early, I would never let her go!" When Li Chong heard the name Bai Chun, the image of a stunning beauty immediately appeared in front of his eyes. face.
"It's just you? Even ten of you are no match for Bai Chun." Li Zhen became increasingly powerless. Her son didn't even know how dangerous Bai Chun was, and thought he was just a maid beside the prince. It was simply ridiculous.
"Father, why do you want to increase the popularity of others and destroy your own prestige? If you are a prince, I will not be able to compare with you. But if there is a little girl next to the prince, I will not be able to compare with you. Are you looking down on me? "Li Chong didn't know what was wrong with his father, why he became more and more pessimistic as he spoke.
Although the current situation is indeed very serious, and there is even no way out, it is not right to praise Baichun after praising the prince.
"Back then, the late emperor secretly established a yamen called Lijingmen. Their main purpose was to defend the imperial power and protect the stability of the country. But now... Lijingmen has become in name only, but there is a mysterious yamen in the East Palace, the Jingwei. '. The Jingwei is more mysterious than the Lijingmen. It can spy on intelligence, assassinate people the East Palace wants to assassinate, and even send people to lurk in other countries..."
"Don't tell me that Bai Chun's other identity is that he is a member of Jingwei." Langya King Li Chong looked at Li Zhen and said with an unnatural expression.
Li Zhenchang sighed: "It would be nice if we were just a member of Jingwei. This was what His Majesty revealed inadvertently after being drunk at the Luoyang Palace last year after returning from the Eastern Expedition to Goguryeo. Jingwei... was probably in control." In the hands of Bai Chun."
"This... I have never heard of the Yamen Jingwei, or even the word "Jingwei". Is what you said really true?" Li Chong still didn't believe it. If it was true, then this Bai Chun, And Jingwei, that’s really mysterious.
"If you have heard of it, can it still be considered a mystery? His Majesty favored Wu Mei back then. After the queen gave birth to the current prince, she gave birth to a daughter the next year. However, the rumors say that the queen was jealous and When he went to celebrate, he took advantage of Wu Mei's unpreparedness and secretly strangled the only princess his Majesty had given birth to to Wu Mei. Then he went to visit and found that the princess had died. His Majesty was furious and immediately wanted to depose Wang Liwu. Then for some unknown reason, it took another two years to depose Queen Wang and make Wu Mei the queen," Li Zhen said sadly, as if she was immersed in the past.
"At that time, it seemed that Wu... Wu Mei was competing for favor with Queen Wang and Concubine Xiao Shu in the harem. In the end, Wu Mei was named queen as she wished, but Queen Wang died tragically, and Concubine Xiao Shu was demoted to a commoner and relegated to the cold palace. But... now it is rumored that Wu Mei and Concubine Xiao Shu It seems that the old feud between them has been cleared up... But what does this have to do with the Jingwei you mentioned?" Monk Li Chongzhang was confused and asked doubtfully.
"Because of this matter, His Majesty immediately issued an order to give Li Hong, who had not yet been crowned king, four eunuchs and four palace maids. And these four eunuchs were members of the Li Jing family, including the four Each of the palace maids has extraordinary skills. When the Cuiwei Palace incident occurred, Prince Li Hong sacrificed two palace ladies in order to protect the queen. It seems that Jingwei was established at that time, but even so, the prince traveled south this time, knowing full well. There are many dangers, but not even a maid was brought with him. Only two of the four personal eunuchs were brought with him. Do you think this is a coincidence? When the prince went to Anxi, he was captured by the Persian Protectorate. The Tang army was besieged by the Dashi Kingdom and was in danger. Bai Chun went to Anxi to rescue him alone. The prince brought Bai Chun, Mang Zhong, and Cheetah with him. Neither his majesty nor the queen objected. How could it be possible? Can't explain the problem?" Li Zhen slowly walked out of the main hall, looked at the door of the mansion, and turned to look at Li Chong behind him.
"Investigation, assassination... Are you saying that among the people in Zhe Chong Mansion, it is possible that His Highness the Crown Prince's people have infiltrated into them? Is... is this possible?" Li Chong felt incredible. If this could really be done, then he … He really lost and had nothing to say.
"It's not a possibility, but a certainty. Since King Luo Bin was appointed by Li Jingye to join the army, he is fully capable of inserting Jingwei or other people from the prince without anyone noticing. So..." Li Zhen looked at her with both eyes. Looking at the closed door, he sighed again and said, "Open the door and see if there is any hope of survival."
Li Zhen himself knew very well that even so, the chance of saving his life was slim, but now, he had no choice but to act like this.
There is still no news from King Cao, so he is obviously in danger, and Li Jingye is a perfect person to blame. With Li Hong's city, it would be weird if he didn't take advantage of it.
"Father, if you can't, how can you open the door of the palace and wait for death? Isn't this the same as surrender?" Li Chong took two steps forward and stood in front of Li Zhen to dissuade him.
"Remember what I just said to you, none of this has anything to do with you. You were forced here by me. Open the door!" After speaking to Li Chong, Li Zhen's eyes flashed with determination and she shouted A command came out.
The thick vermilion door was immediately opened with the combined efforts of several soldiers, and the heavy door bolt was removed. Then with a creaking sound, the door was slowly opened.
The door of the mansion that was opened instantly did not appear in Li Chong's mind, with the scene of soldiers swarming in with crossbows, spears, and swords. Instead, it looked quiet, and the Datang Mansion standing outside the door did not appear. Some of the soldiers held their heads high, others were crestfallen and unarmed, and some even had their armor removed and were wearing underwear and lined up in a long queue, slowly passing by the gate of the mansion.
The sound of horse hooves sounded from afar, and after a while, two war horses slowly stopped at the door. They were Prince Li Hong and Li Jingye.
Both of them looked equally calm, showing no emotion. After Li Hong turned over and dismounted, Li Jingye dismounted immediately and stood behind Li Hong.
The two of them looked at each other, then looked at the Yue King Li Zhen and Langya King Li Chong standing on the high steps inside the gate, and then Li Hong stepped forward and walked into the mansion without any scruples.
Li Jingye hesitated slightly, then followed Li Hong into the palace.
"My ministers Li Zhen and Li Chong have met His Highness the Crown Prince." Langya King Li Chong followed Li Zhen and saluted in unison.
"Uncle Yue Wang, please." Li Hong smiled, looked up at the sun that was about to reach its peak, and then pointed to the hall and said.
The four people slowly walked into the hall, and outside they were surrounded by soldiers from three parties. The King of Yue looked at Li Chong with a frown, but when he saw that Li Chong did not look at him, he could only sigh inexplicably. This is asking for death.
Li Hong sat down, and those on the left and right were Li Zhen, Li Chong, and Li Jingye on the right. The atmosphere in the hall was a little abnormal, but there were also some signs of relaxation.
"The winner is a prince and the loser is a bandit. This is the truth that has not changed for many years. The people suffer in wars, the people suffer in prosperity, and the people suffer in death. But every citizen of the Tang Dynasty is innocent, whether it is you, Li Jingye, or Uncle Yue Wang, no matter what goal you want to achieve, today, Yangzhou City is no longer under your control, but has returned to the control of the imperial court. As the saying goes, the situation is over," Li Hong said softly as he looked at the three of them. .
"Then what does His Highness mean? How to reconcile? Will the imperial court not pursue the case? Will you let us go?" Li Jingye's current reliance is naturally on the more than a thousand soldiers outside Yangzhou City, who are preparing to attack Changzhou, The soldiers from Runzhou and Jinling.
So now, it seems that he is at a disadvantage, but he still has a lot of bargaining chips in his hand to negotiate with Li Hong.
Li Hong did not speak, but looked at Yue King Li Zhen and Langya King Li Chong.
"It's not your style to let things go by the past, just tell me the conditions." Yue Wang Li Zhen thought for a moment and said in a deep voice.
"Dismiss the soldiers and punish them for their crimes." Li Hong said calmly.
"If His Highness has no sincerity, then I, Li Jingye, think it is better to give it a try. Just as Chen Sheng of the pre-Qin Dynasty said: 'A strong man will not die until he dies. If he dies, he will be famous. How can princes and generals be content with each other?' Even if it is Your Highness currently has the upper hand in the Yangzhou City, but the more than a thousand soldiers of the government who are committed to the job are also elite soldiers and strong generals. As the saying goes, if you kill one thousand enemies, you will lose eight hundred. In this way, His Highness wants to calm down this dispute through peaceful means. I'm afraid it won't be possible. What's more, Runzhou, Changzhou, and Jinling will also be caught in the flames of war. Your Highness cares about the people and loves them as sons, so you should think twice." Li Jingye snorted and told himself. If you plead guilty, then you might as well follow Chen Sheng and the others and make a fortune.
"Where is Uncle Yue Wang, what do you think? Li Jingye is confident and confident. He thinks he has elite soldiers and generals, and he wants to try again. I wonder what your plans are?" Li Hong once again did not immediately answer Li Jingye's words, but Once again, he turned his attention to Yue King Li Zhen and Langya King Li Chong.
"I will meet with Your Majesty and ask Your Majesty for your decision. If Your Majesty agrees, I will dismiss all the soldiers in the mansion." The King of Yue was unsure whether there were any of Li Hong's people in Zhechong Mansion that he had fought over with King Cao. Now he I had to put a big question mark in my heart again.
Therefore, seeing Li Jingye negotiate terms with Li Hong so arrogantly and confidently, he had to have a desire to survive.
As long as Li Hong is not punished in Yangzhou, and as long as Li Hong is willing to let him return to Chang'an to meet His Majesty, then everything else will be easy to talk about, and then he and Li Chong can definitely keep their lives without worries.
"What about you?" Li Hong then looked at Li Jingye to see what he wanted.
"When the late emperor gave my grandfather the imperial surname, he recognized my grandfather's achievements and recognized that our family is a royal family. Therefore, my condition is to ask the court to make me, Li Jingye, king." Li Jingye looked at Li Jingye. With a slight smile on his lips, Hong said firmly and decisively.
(End of chapter)