Above the sea of people armed with swords, spears and armor, white clouds were changing unpredictably in the vast sky. Guo Shao said: "Duke of the Founding Kingdom, I still feel that I have lived longer than you."
Li Chuyun's body suddenly became shorter, and his entire face and eyes could not be seen, but he looked really scared. However, he was a duke after all, so Li Chuyun did not lose his composure, but was speechless. Maybe he was even weaker than Guo Shao.
At this time, Guo Shao said again: The Liao people are besieging Liaoxi Fort in the northeast. In comparison, the Liao Kingdom deserves more attention from our dynasty. After Li Gong resigned as the commander of the Hexi Army, he took up the command again and led troops to rescue Zhang Jiankui, taking the opportunity to wipe out the Khitan forces in the Liaoxi Corridor.
Li Chuyun was so shocked that he cried out. He had not lost his composure just now due to extreme fear, but now the unexpected situation made him interrupt Guo Shao's words. His Majesty wanted to re-grant military power to the old minister.
Guo Shao did not answer his question. Now that all the civil and military officials were present at Xuande Gate, the emperor could not just make a fool of himself.
Minister Li Chuyun raised his head and looked at Guo Shao in a daze.
Guo Shao had been thinking a lot during the long silence. Although the monarchy system had been in operation for countless centuries, the culture had not yet been completely castrated of its blood and courage. Keeping a group of brave warriors to maintain the strength of the military would inevitably have some side effects. For example, sometimes boys who were not very obedient would be more mischievous and disobedient. It was obviously difficult to make the soldiers like obedient and loyal servants, and to make them brave at the same time.
Guo Shao still remembers the Tokyo mutiny, when Li Chuyun and others followed him with their entire families' heads on the line. He is a man who remembers things well, and has been through thick and thin together for so many years. He cannot punish Li Chuyun to death just because he was not so obedient during a special period.
As long as he was still sitting here, Li Chuyun was not a threat.
Guo Shao still holds the same view as before: In this world, if we only use sincere, noble and selfless friends, then there will be almost no talents left; from the central government to the local governments, there are hundreds of states and tens of thousands of officials, can we expect everyone to be loyal to us
In comparison, these old brothers may not be absolutely loyal, but at least they are more reliable than ordinary people. Guo Shao is unwilling to do something stupid that will reduce his own power.
He also weighed the pros and cons. After this incident, Li Chuyun's loyalty to him would be even stronger than before. It was just like when Yang Biao threatened to stab him in the back, but Guo Shao saved Yang Biao on the battlefield. Would Yang Biao think that he was weak and could be bullied
And Li Yuaner, that woman foolishly waited for him for so many years and gave birth to a son for him. Guo Shao really didn't want to let everyone down.
Guo Shao reached into his arms and pulled out a piece of tattered paper, which he handed to the eunuch next to him. The eunuch passed the paper to Li Chuyun.
Guo Shao said: I don't care what you think, I only care what you do. I believe in Li Gong's heart, just as I believe in brothers who live and die together.
His Majesty Li Chuyun suddenly banged his head heavily on the floor tiles, holding the tattered paper in both hands, and burst into tears. It was a bit funny for a big man with a big beard to cry like this.
Guo Shao waved his hand and gathered the Liaoxi Army. I order you to clean up the messy people in the country first.
As soon as these words came out, the surroundings were as silent as death, leaving only the sobbing of Li Chuyun. Guo Shao glanced to the side and saw that Fan Zhi's face had turned pale. Guo Shao didn't say anything for a while, but felt that he was really exhausted, so he asked the eunuchs to come up and carry him away from Xuande Gate, and no longer paid attention to other things.
Li Chuyun knelt on the Xuande Gate for a long time. Even when Wei Renpu and others got up and left in boredom, he was still in a daze.
After a long while, he lowered his head and wiped his face with his sleeve, then he got up from the ground and walked towards the city. The guards on duty on the city wall also looked at him quietly.
Li Chuyun left the imperial city and rode home on horseback.
As soon as he returned home, his wives, concubines and four children came over to him and asked him about his health. Li Chuyun felt better when he saw them, and a smile gradually appeared on his face.
Sometimes when people reach a certain position, they seek advancement not for greater success, but for safety, so that fewer people can control their own destiny. The emperor is so tolerant of his own people, and if they let bygones be bygones, what else can threaten the status of the Li family? Li Chuyun feels particularly relieved, and even feels that as long as the position of the current emperor Guo Shao is secure, everything he has will be secure.
Li Chuyun relaxed, feeling very tired. The ups and downs of emotions made his head a mess, so he said: "I need to calm down." Then he went to the study.
He sat for a while, then took out the piece of paper that had been glued together from his bosom. This piece of paper was the letter from the Khitan people at that time, which Li Chuyun had torn up and glued together again and sent to Tokyo. He put it on the table, reading and pondering.
The emperor certainly had no doubt that he would commit treason. Li Chuyun must have been crazy to collude with the Liao Kingdom.
Li Chuyun speculated from the time of this letter that he was worried that the emperor's illness was related to the Liao conspiracy, and he sent it back to Tokyo after hesitation in order to alert the court.
When Guo Shao returned it to Li Chuyun at Xuande Gate, he said those words, indicating that the emperor understood that Li Chuyun still wanted the best for the emperor and did not want to see the emperor harmed, and for this reason he was willing to risk the suspicion of having secret dealings with the Liao Kingdom. That's what he meant.
Li Chuyun thought for a while, put his hand on his face, and let out a long sigh: I finally did something right.
He let out a long sigh and his mood gradually became cheerful.
At this time, he heard a voice outside the door saying: Leave it to me, don't disturb me if you have nothing to do, I have something to discuss with Mr. Li. It was Zhongli's voice.
Then a woman's voice said: Yes.
Li Chuyun waited for a while, and as expected, Zhong Li came in with a teacup. Li Chuyun frowned at him, feeling very dissatisfied. He felt that this staff member's level was just like that. He used to think he was quite sophisticated, but this time, he was far inferior to Wei Renpu's bureaucrats in terms of vision and routine.
Zhong Li put the teacup on the desk and put the wooden tray behind the chair. He bowed and said: "Mr. Li met the emperor. What happened?"
Li Chuyun looked at Zhongli unhappily: Fortunately, the government treats old friends kindly.
Zhong Li nodded and said: I guessed it, otherwise how could Lord Li come back safely so quickly
Li Chuyun sighed and said, "Now that I think about it, I am really ashamed. I just feel embarrassed.
Zhong Li shook his head and said: What Lord Li is defending against is not the government family, but the Fu family.
After hearing this, Li Chuyun remained silent, frowning and thinking, as if he was in a trance. As Zhong Li said, he was not on guard against the emperor. After everyone had survived a life-and-death experience together, Li Chuyun had no intention of challenging the imperial power. However, if the emperor of the Fu family was gone, he was indeed very worried about the Fu family being in power. Even if he wanted to be a loyal minister, he wanted to take the initiative to do so, rather than leaving the fate of life and death to his opponent.
After a long time he said: Anyway, we did nothing wrong. Wei Renpu experienced a storm and nothing happened to him. Instead, he gained more trust from the government.
Zhong Li said: The Fu family does not regard a civil servant as an opponent.
Li Chuyun did not comment. He always felt that he was not familiar with this matter and there must be a more sophisticated way to do it. While thinking hard, he picked up the teacup and took a sip slowly. He only felt that the tea had an unpleasant smell, so he put the teacup on the table and frowned.
At this moment, Li Chuyun suddenly felt as if his throat was being bitten by many ants. It was stinging and numb. He immediately widened his eyes, turned his head to look at the teacup on the table, and pointed at Zhong Li, but he could not speak. What he saw in his eyes quickly turned black.
In the blurry vision, he saw Zhong Li's face flushed, he was madly and sneering, but his smile sounded like crying.
Li Chuyun felt strange and puzzled. His hand pointing at Zhong Li stiffened and his body gradually tilted.
Black blood flowed from Li Chuyun's eyes, nose, mouth, and ears. His eyes were wide open, his expression was bright, and he looked like he would not close his eyes until his death. He did not know why Zhong Li would harm him.
Zhong Li also looked at Li Chuyun in a daze, his tears gradually flowing down, and he coughed a few times patiently: I can't wait for the day of revenge.
After saying that, he took out a piece of paper from his bosom, on which was written: You are ordered by the emperor to get rid of Li Chuyun, make amends for your mistakes, and pray for peace for your relatives and friends.
He thought about it and felt that it would make it more conspicuous if he kept this thing on his body, so he rolled it into a ball and swallowed it raw. It was very difficult. Zhong Li stretched his neck and choked with tears.
Just then, a voice came from outside the door: Alang, Alang, someone is handing in a note asking to see you.
After a while, the person outside the door heard no response, so he walked to the door to see. It was a servant in green clothes. When he saw Duke Li Chuyun lying on the ground, the servant was so shocked that his eyes popped out.
Someone help me, someone is killing someone, someone is killing someone! The servant shouted in a crying voice and turned around and ran away.
Zhong Li glanced at the teacup on the table, then took it over, took a big sip from the cup, and swallowed the paper ball with all his strength. Not long after, he also felt a palpitation in his heart and a sore throat, and fell to the ground, with the teacup in his hand falling to the ground and breaking into pieces.
After a while, people came in one after another, first the servants holding sticks. Everyone was horrified to see that the founding duke had died like this.
Then the eldest lady came with her people. When she saw Li Chuyun on the ground, she closed her eyes and fell to the ground. The study of the eldest lady and the eldest lady was in chaos. Some people went to help Li Chuyun's body, while others helped the eldest lady.
Someone else shouted: Go call the doctor!
The entire Li Mansion was in chaos, with shouting and crying heard everywhere.