In the spring of the sixth year of Zhaoping, in order to seek Hetao, after a lapse of 30 years, the northern Hu people assembled 300,000 cavalry and marched south again.
Pei You'an, envoy of Jiedu in Longyou, appointed the Great General of Dingbei, led Yan, Yun, Gan and other dozens of prefectures, commanded the army and horses of the imperial court, and went north to meet the enemy.
Just when the wolf smoke resurfaced on the northern border, in April, King Changle of the clan claimed that he had found the young emperor Xiao Yu, and on the grounds that Xiao Lie was not still in the orthodoxy, he revolted in the fief Dongchangfu and secretly sent people to raid Gengzhou. He broke through the guards and freed Xiao Yintang, the abolished prince who had been imprisoned for several years. Then, under the joint slogan of the righteous kingship, he claimed to have assembled 100,000 horses to occupy Dongchang and occupy Jinan. Since he was in danger, half a year later, in the autumn of this year, when he led his troops out of Shandong, he encountered a strong sniper from Liu Jiushao.
The King of Changle was defeated and rushed back to the halls of Dongchang Mansion, and then the city was surrounded.
When King Changle was stubbornly resisting, he was executed by Xiao Yintang in the chaos. Xiao Yintang killed several sons and brothers of King Changle, together with the fake Xiao Yu who was promoted as the young emperor. The head is at the head of the city of Tangyi, claiming that he has no intention of rebelling from beginning to end. He was only taken hostage by King Changle from his ancestral land. He had no choice but to take the opportunity to kill Nishou and the fake Xiao Yu who pretended to be the young emperor. .
While Liu Jiushao continued to besiege the city, he sent someone to quickly deliver Xiao Yintang's love letter to the capital.
When the love letter was delivered to the imperial study in the imperial palace, the emperor ended the morning court, and not long after he came back, he was playing chess with Ci'er.
In the early days, the courtiers discussed two pieces of news.
One is the progress of the war outside the northern customs. After the stalemate with the Hu people for more than half a year, more than ten days ago, Pei You'an led the army and formed an array outside the Jianmen Pass, breaking the Hu Qi, and the Hu people fled to the northwest. In order not to give the opponent a respite to regroup, Pei Youan pursued the victory and attacked, trying to break the royal court and avoid future troubles. The war has entered a critical period.
Another news is that Liu Jiushao besieged King Changle, the abolished prince and the fake young emperor, and now he is waiting for the turtle to be caught in the urn.
Both are good news. Not only did the courtiers smile, but the emperor's mood was also a little relieved. He returned to the imperial study, dealt with some memorials, and asked Li Yuangui to call Ci'er.
Ci'er was brought by Cui Yinshui, and the grandfather and grandson began to play chess again.
For the past six months, the emperor did not bring Ci'er to worship the Taimiao, but neither did Jiafu and Ci'er leave the palace. The ministers originally thought that the emperor was going to make the child his grandson, but after waiting for more than half a year, there was no follow-up. At first, due to external and internal troubles, I had no intention of doing so. Recently, the situation has gradually become clear. They all kept their mouths shut, neither denying nor nodding their heads. The ministers have always been afraid of the emperor's accumulation of power, so they did not dare to take any extra steps, and the matter was dragged down like this.
Xiyuan is now Ci'er's living place. There is Taiye Pond, a swan room and a tiger room, and many rare and exotic animals are kept in it. Ci'er followed Jiafu and completed the civil and military homework assigned by her father every morning. She could not be shaken. For the rest of the time, she would either accompany her mother, play games, or be summoned by the emperor to accompany her. The emperor often called Ci'er to play chess to relieve fatigue. It's almost four years old.
While playing chess, the emperor said that his father should be able to return before the end of the year. Ci'er's eyes lit up and she was very happy. At first, the emperor also stroked his beard and smiled, gradually as if thinking of something, looking at the joyous grandson opposite, his eyes gradually darkened. After condensing, Li Yuangui entered and brought Liu Jiushao's good news from Dongchang House.
After reading Liu Jiushao's report of Xiao Yintang killing King Changle and the fake Shaodi, the emperor said coldly, "I don't know what he thinks? Zhang's family and Ni Wang have secretly colluded early. He killed his father first. , is insane, and now he is conspiring against the king to rebel. He is desperate."
"Long live, Master Liu has sent a separate report together, saying that it is a confession letter from the abolished prince..."
Li Yuangui presented another secret letter sealed with varnish and looked at the emperor carefully.
The emperor glanced at the secret letter, his face was extremely ugly, after a long while, he finally took it, opened it, took out the inner letter raft, glanced at it, his face changed greatly, he stared at the letter, suddenly closed his eyes, " "Gudong", the whole person fell from the couch.
Li Yuangui was shocked and called the imperial doctor urgently. Ci'er just had the chess piece in her hand, and was waiting for Grandpa Huang to turn around and continue playing chess with her. Suddenly seeing that he was not good, she jumped up in fright and called "Grandpa Huang". Li Yuangui hurriedly asked Cui Yinshui to send Ci'er back first. Noticing that the letter was still tightly squeezed by the emperor, he pulled it out and glanced at it quickly. He was also shocked and immediately hid the letter in his arms.
After her son was picked up by the emperor, Jiafu was doing needlework in the room. Not long after, she saw Cui Yinshui send him back. With tears on her face, Ci'er threw herself into her arms and wiped away her tears: "Mother, Grandpa Fang Cai Huang played chess with me. After reading the letter, it suddenly became bad and fell down..."
Jiafu was taken aback and asked Cui Yinshui. Only then did he know that the emperor seemed to have received the latest news about the rebellion in Dongchang Mansion. The person was not well and passed out. As for the news, Cui Yinshui did not know.
Jiafu hugged her son inside and comforted him. Because he was not good at walking around, there was no news, and he was very anxious. In the middle of the night, Ci'er fell asleep, and Cui Yinshui came over and said that Li Yuangui invited her to come over.
Jiafu asked Cui Yinshui to guard Ci'er, and she immediately went to the Chengguang Hall where the imperial study was located. When she entered, she saw the emperor lying there, his face like golden paper, but he still hadn't woken up. Imperial Physician Hu looked solemn and was doing his best to treat. Li Yuangui was on the side with a deep worry in his eyes. When he saw Jiafu coming, he wiped the corners of his eyes and motioned her to come with him. When the two arrived at a side hall, Li Yuangui screened the people who were withdrawing from the palace, and Jiafu asked anxiously, "Long live, what's wrong? What happened?"
Li Yuangui silently took out a piece of letter paper from his arms and handed it over.
Gave took it.
The letter was actually written by Xiao Yintang, who rebelled with King Changle. He said that he had killed King Changle and the false young emperor who had held him in rebellion for the emperor, and now he made two demands to the emperor.
First, to restore his crown prince, after the restoration, the emperor abdicated in the name of Taishanghuang, and he ascended the throne.
Second, on the day of receiving the letter, immediately send Jiafu to the chapel in Dongchang Prefecture. Within ten days, if he can't see anyone, he will tell the world about Pei You'an's life experience, so that everyone in the world will know that Pei You'an is the son of the current emperor and Tianxi Yuan Hou's affair.
Xiao Yintang said that the secret he knew was unquestionable. Pei Xiuzhi of Duke Wei's mansion is now in his hands. Pei Xiuzhi also testified that Pei You'an was not the biological son of Duke Wei, but the adopted son who was adopted by Duke Wei thirty years ago.
Xiao Yintang finally said that if the emperor agreed to these two conditions for him, then after he ascended the throne, he would treat Pei You'an well and save his life.
However, as long as one condition cannot be met, he would rather burn all jades and stones than to be imprisoned for the rest of his life.
After reading the letter, Jia Fu was stunned.
After Pei Xiuzhi went out for a banquet two months ago, he did not return to the mansion and disappeared mysteriously. Madam Xin was very anxious at the time, and Pei Quan also reported the incident to the imperial court a few days later. After all, he was a prince, and he disappeared for no reason. At that time, the Governor's Office of the Fifth Army launched a search in the whole city, but no one was ever found.
Never thought that Pei Xiuzhi would fall into Xiao Yintang's hands.
"General Liu said that Tangyi has been trapped to death by him, the food in the city is exhausted, and the prince's rebel army can be abolished. He can support him for at most ten days. Long live during the day, unconscious, and I haven't woken up yet. I am afraid that the courtiers will find out. The imperial court was in chaos, and he was still clinging to the news…”
Li Yuangui looked at Jiafu and said in a low voice, his expression extremely heavy.
Jiafu knew in her heart that Xiao Yintang wanted to pass by herself within half a month. In addition to using her as a pledge to stop Liu Jiushao's siege, she thought more deeply, which should also be used to guard against Pei You'an in the future.
But this secret of Pei You'an's life experience, apart from the deceased grandmother, Duke Wei, the emperor, Pei You'an and himself, no one else in this world should know.
How did Xiao Yintang know this secret? Did Zhou Hou also guess it before and mentioned it in front of him
Jiafu was in a state of turmoil, and her hands and feet were extremely cold.
Xiao Yintang, the prince of the prince, was abolished overnight, fell into the quagmire from the clouds, and was imprisoned in Gengzhou for so many years, and finally let him escape through chaos. Less than a year later, he failed again. If he was forced to At the end of the road, it is very likely that the fish will die and the net will be broken.
Jiafu never dared to imagine how everything would end once Pei Youan's life secrets were revealed to the world.
"Madam, this matter is really important, and there is no room for any mistakes. Long live is still in a coma. I can only make my own opinions and invite Madam to discuss it. Please write a letter to Madam and tell Mr. Pei about the matter. I will be there tonight. People send it out!"
Jiafu suppressed her turbulent mood and came to the table. With the pen and paper she had prepared, she hurriedly wrote a letter. Li Yuangui sealed it with lacquer, summoned a trusted friend, and explained it. The trusted friend accepted the letter and left immediately. go.
"Eunuch Li, how long does it take for the letter to be delivered?"
Li Yuangui frowned slightly: "It takes 800 miles to rush, it can be reached in five days, but if Master Pei pursues and goes deep into Hudi..."
Even if the news can be delivered to Pei You'an on time, it is impossible for others to come back within ten days when the others are outside the customs and are engulfed in war.
Jiafu closed her eyes for a moment, then opened them: "Eunuch Li, within ten days, he will not be able to rush to Tangyi anyway. Since the abolished prince wants me to go, I will go..."
"Madam, how can you be in danger alone? Absolutely!"
"I have to go, stabilize him first, and wait for the husband to come back! Father-in-law, you know that this matter is not only related to my husband and Jinshang, but also to the Queen of Yuan. Even if the abolition of the prince is only a threat, he must not take it. This is half a risk!"
Jiafu's face was slightly pale, her voice was not high, but her tone was extremely solemn.
"You don't have to say it, I've made up my mind. You prepare the way for me, and I'll leave tonight!"
Li Yuangui looked at her steadily, knelt down to her slowly, and kowtowed: "The slave and maid follow the order!"
…
Jiafu hurried back to Xiyuan, and there was the sound of three-warning drums in the direction of the bell and drum tower in the northeast corner of the palace.
Ci'er is still sleeping. Jiafu sat beside the bed, stared at her son's sleeping face for a long time, and finally leaned down, kissed his forehead lightly, then turned and walked out.
Cui Yinshui didn't know the ins and outs of the matter, but only knew that something big had happened. She was going to leave the palace, and she didn't know when she would return. The slaves will take good care of the young master."
Jiafu nodded, turned her head, took one last look at her sleeping son, drew his face into her mind, and turned away.
…
At the end of October in the sixth year of Zhaoping, on the last day limited in the letter, a carriage carrying a mysterious woman passed through the camp of thousands of troops, and finally stopped at the besieged Dongchangfu Tangyi City. Before the West Gate.
Xiao Yintang stood at the front of the city, shouting loudly to order Liu Jiushao's encircling soldiers to withdraw from the arrow, then quickly went down to the front of the city and ordered people to open the city gate.
Jiafu wore a cloak from the hood to the feet, showing only half of her face. She bent out of the carriage door and stood there with a pair of wonderful eyes, staring straight ahead.
The city gate opened, and a figure hurried out of it, walking towards her.
Xiao Yintang, whom she had not seen for many years, the man from her last nightmare in her last life, just like this, appeared in front of her again.
Xiao Yintang stood beside the carriage, turned his back slightly, the autumn sunlight shone on his face, and his whole person revealed a gloomy atmosphere mixed with hysteria. He stared at her closely, his eyes did not blink, his eyes flickered, and gradually, a smile appeared on his lips.
He stretched out a hand towards her to help her out of the carriage.
Jiafu avoided it, got out of the car with the yoke, and walked in towards the city gate.