No matter how fiercely Xu Chi, Han Qing, and the other generals in the Northern Battlefront Army objected, the Empress would not change her mind. She insisted on taking the Sixth Prince back to Chang 'an.
The generals had no choice. Now that the Golden Tribe was invading the south and the Northern Frontier of Tang was in danger, they could not send an army to escort them. Finally, they decided to send 500 elite cavalries with them.
On the morning before leaving the Northern Military Camp, Ning Que found Xu Chi again and said, "Her Majesty and I brought back a troop of tens of thousands of people. I think we are qualified to ask you for a few people."
Xu Chi thought for a while and said, "500 cavalries are indeed too few."
"That's not what I meant."
Ning Que said, "I don't want living people. I want dead people."
Xu Chi understood what he meant. He frowned slightly and said, "The two generals committed suicide on the spot after the assassination failed. Even if you have their bodies, it's useless."
Ning Que said, "The two generals are dead, but the hundreds of cavalries who participated in the assassination have not been punished. I know they are now locked up in the military camp."
Xu Chi frowned even more and said, "Mr. Thirteen, do you want to kill them?"
"In normal times, those who dared to disturb His Majesty's body and assassinate the Empress and the Crown Prince will be sentenced to death. I know why you don't want to kill them now."
Ning Que said, "So I won't ask you to kill all of them. But I want you to promise me that they must be sent to the most dangerous battlefield in the front line."
"After a few years, when the war is over, if there are any of them alive, I will not pursue it. If they die, it will be considered as atonement."
After saying this, he turned around and left.
When he was about to leave, he encountered a very tricky problem.
The heavy pine coffin.
Everyone knew that Ning Que needed time and secrecy to bring the Empress and the Sixth Prince back to Chang 'an. If the heavy pine coffin went with them, it would be very inconvenient.
Xu Chi suggested to leave His Majesty's coffin in the Northern Military Camp for the time being to motivate the soldiers.
The Empress shook her head and said softly, "His Majesty wants to go back to Chang 'an, so I have to bring him back."
"Burn it."
She looked at the heavy gray coffin and said.
Everyone was shocked.
The Empress smiled and said, "His Majesty is such a carefree person, why would he care about such things?"
Ning Que recalled the incessant scolding of idiots in the imperial palace and said with a smile, "Indeed."
The pine coffin began to burn on the pile of wood.
The bark of the tree crackled and sparks flew.
In the end, it turned into ashes.
…
…
'When it rains, it pours' was far from enough to describe the continuous blows the Great Tang was suffering, and 'precarious' was insufficient to describe its perilous state. Wave after wave, each higher than the last, was howling toward it.
The battle of Capital Cheng was a great shock to the Tangs, but it did not affect their confidence at all. It was the Golden Tribe Royal Court's move to the south that made all the Tangs feel uneasy.
The rescript of the West-Hill Divine Palace called for the world to attack the Tang Empire, which made the Tangs feel the possibility of their country being destroyed for the first time. The recent news of Qinghe County's treason was the heaviest blow.
They were angry because of uneasiness, because of fear, because of anger, and because of anger. The entire Chang 'an was in an atmosphere of anger. The ministers of the Empress's faction, who had forced themselves to endure for the sake of the country, could no longer bear the current situation. They blamed the new Emperor and the Princess in the palace in the court and in public.
The officials questioned the palace why the Empress and the Sixth Prince had not returned to Chang 'an, why there was no news from Helan City, and why Qinghe County, the Princess's ally, would do such a shameless thing at the most critical moment of the imperial court. They asked the Emperor and Her Highness why they would have the face to see the former Emperor.
After the Academy closed its doors, the new batch of students from the front yard were sent home or volunteered in the various departments of the imperial court. They and the young students from the Imperial College were the most passionate and excited group of people in Chang 'an. When the Tang Empire was shrouded in dark clouds, they finally took to the streets and gathered in front of the imperial palace to start petitioning.
As for the specific content of the petition, these students were not very clear. But in short, they wanted to change the current situation. They wanted to see change.
No one knew where the news came from, but it began to spread among the petitioners. The Defender-general of the State Xu Shi, who was supposed to return in a few days, had actually been assassinated by the West-Hill Divine Palace in the southern Xiao Mountain area!
The whereabouts of General Xu Shi had been betrayed to the West-Hill Divine Palace by a noble in the palace!
As for why that noble would do this, it was obvious that he had come to the wrong position. He was afraid that General Xu Shi, who had always been known for his uprightness, would return to Chang 'an and overthrow him from the throne!
When the news spread from the petitioners to all parts of Chang 'an, more and more people expressed their anger and doubts on the streets. The entire Chang' an seemed to have become countless angry rivers.
Angry rivers were often muddy. So some people began to fish in the muddy waters, and some tried to turn into fish and slip away. The hidden sentries and spies that the West-Hill Divine Palace had planted in Chang 'an for hundreds of years began to move. They were ready to take this opportunity to make the situation even more chaotic.
Chao Xiaoshu received the imperial edict and led the Valiant Cavalry Battalion to the east to resist the invaders. A part of the Yulin Royal Guards had already gone north to fight against the cavalry of the Golden Palace. Chang 'an seemed to be impregnable, but in fact, there were only about 800 Yulin Royal Guards and hundreds of palace guards. Together with the runners of the Chang' an Local Government, they could maintain law and order and suppress riots. The situation was precarious.
The Qinghe County Guild Hall was located in a prosperous area of Chang 'an. Before the news of the warlords defecting to the enemy came, it had been a place under the imperial court's surveillance. Now it was heavily guarded. The descendants of the warlords who were trapped in the Guild Hall looked gloomy, waiting for their unknown fate. However, some of them looked at the gradually chaotic situation and had other ideas.
Li Huiyuan was also very angry. He even felt that he was angrier than the petitioners in front of the imperial city.
He felt that he was innocent. The pain of not being understood was like a poisonous snake biting his heart. Yes, he had asked He Mingchi to spend a lot of effort to find General Xu Shi's whereabouts. He was also the one who had asked He Mingchi to find a way to contact the bigwigs of the West-Hill Divine Palace.
The situation at that time was completely different from now. At that time, only the Northeast Border Military was destroyed, and the Tang Empire still seemed to be strong and unshakable. However, when the news of the Golden Palace's invasion reached Chang 'an, he immediately ordered He Mingchi to stop the plan. He even exposed his sinister actions to find a way to inform Xu Shi.
However … the bigwigs of the West-Hill Divine Palace did not listen to him. He Mingchi and the Military Ministry did not contact Xu Shi. Xu Shi died just like that. Can you blame me? If that old guy really thought of me as an emperor, how could he leave the Southern Army without an imperial edict? If he had stayed in the Southern Army, how could he have died? Why is everyone blaming me now? It's all my fault!
The main hall of the imperial palace was extremely lonely and cold. Li Huiyuan sat on the chair and looked at the night sky outside the hall in a daze. Countless thoughts flashed through his mind and then flashed back again.
The eunuchs and palace maids were very afraid of him now because he was very angry. This made him even angrier because he clearly saw indifference, alienation, and contempt in the eyes of the eunuchs and palace maids.
When I was an emperor and a prince, you could look at me with so much respect and fear. Why did you dare to leave me so rudely now?
Li Huiyuan could not stand it anymore. From yesterday to tonight, he had ordered people to secretly kill several eunuchs and palace maids. However, even so, he still could not see the expression in their eyes that he wanted to see.
So he became even angrier.
He suddenly felt that this cold and lonely hall was not a place for people to stay. He suddenly stood up and waved his hand to push a eunuch who was begging him to the ground. Then he walked to the depths of the imperial garden with Xu Chongshan who had been guarding outside the hall.
It was late autumn and the imperial garden was also bleak. Fortunately, there were several kinds of flowers in full bloom, which were very charming in the night sky. Looking at the beautiful flowers, Li Huiyuan finally calmed down a little.
"Why do you think these people don't understand me?" He said with a frown.
Xu Chongshan glanced at the animal eaves on the eaves of the palace in the distance. After a moment of silence, he said, "Because you are not a person who is easy to understand."
Li Huiyuan did not notice that Xu Chongshan was not respectful to his title. He asked confusedly, "What do you mean?"
Xu Chongshan said, "No matter how you got the throne, you're the Emperor of the Tang Empire now. Anyone with a normal brain wouldn't do what you did. But the strange thing is that you always seem to be able to find a reasonable explanation for what you've done. It seems that your brain is actually normal. Normal people are always doing abnormal things. Who do you think can understand that? "
When he said the first sentence, Li Huiyuan came to his senses, but he did not respond. He continued to listen to him in silence, but his face became more and more gloomy.
"It seems that you also want to rebel against me." He looked at Xu Chongshan and said coldly.
Xu Chongshan slightly leaned forward and bowed. When he straightened up, his body became like a mountain.
"His Majesty has done me a great favor. I have some psychological barriers to killing you. But after these days, it has disappeared. Because you living in this world is the biggest shame of His Majesty."
Li Huiyuan looked a little nervous, but he did not turn around and run away. He said in a sharp voice, "You have been in the palace for many years. Don't you know that you can't kill me here?"
"So I did not do it until you came to the imperial garden to relax."
Xu Chongshan said, "You may not know, but this is the farthest place in the palace from the other halls. The animal eaves on the eaves in the hall can no longer protect you."
…
(To be continued … If you like this work, please come to Qidian.Com to vote for me. Your support is my biggest motivation.)
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