When the situation in the Palace had just stabilized and the imperial soldiers and cavalry were out in all directions to arrest the members of the Taiping party, Li Chengyi was the first to set off with about five hundred imperial soldiers under his command. His target was Princess Taiping herself.
Li Longji had given his second brother a lot of thought before sending him to Princess Taiping's residence. With Princess Taiping's power and the emperor's love for her, no civil or military official dared to raise a butcher's knife against Princess Taiping. Even the royal brothers and Li Longji himself couldn't bear to do so. Only Li Chengyi was an exception.
Li Chengqi also understood San Lang's painstaking efforts. In a life and death struggle for power, there was no room for soft-heartedness and laughable fantasies. Today's benevolence would be the root of the disaster that would destroy his family and clan in the future. He also understood that San Lang was shouldering even more things and had even more things to worry about, so he was willing to be the bad guy.
The saying "brothers in war" was fully interpreted by Li Longji and his brothers. Princess Taiping wanted to remove Li Longji from the throne and support a weak prince as a puppet. When the time was right, she would force him to abdicate the throne and give up the country. She didn't know that the five brothers were of one mind and would not be divided by her.
Today, in order to protect Li Longji's throne, the four brothers went into battle together, and Li Longji handed over the military power to them without the slightest suspicion. Li Chengyi rushed to Princess Taiping's residence with his troops and saw a few servants of the Princess Taiping's residence running inside in panic to report the news. He said with a murderous look, "Kill them! Except for Xue Chongjian's family, kill Taiping's family and Taiping herself! "
The 500 imperial soldiers received the prince's clear order. With a shout, they rushed into Princess Taiping's residence. Swords and knives flashed and the sound of killing shook the sky.
The relationship between Xue Chongjian and Li San Lang was not shallow. Not only had he assisted Li Longji in killing Empress Wei, he had also become close friends with Li Longji due to their similar temperaments. Although Li Longji understood the principle of cutting weeds and eliminating the roots, he was ultimately unable to use any ambitious and ruthless methods. Before Li Chengyi sent out his troops, he had specially instructed him to protect Xue Chongjian and his family.
The news that the Imperial Army had gone to various places in the capital to arrest the Taiping Party members quickly reached Yang Fan's ears. At this time, Yang Fan was stepping on lotus roots at Longqing Lake with his sons. He was bare-chested and wearing a pair of snub-nosed pants. He led his two older sons, Yang Nianzu and Yang Ji, into the shallow waters that were waist-deep.
His bare feet could easily feel the fat lotus roots in the mud. He held his breath and sank into the water. Then, he could dig out the mud and pull out the round lotus roots. The mud had a strong suction, so it was not easy to pull the lotus out of the water in one piece. They would only break the section that they touched, instead of digging out a whole one.
The two younger sons were shouting on the shore as they cleaned up the fat lotus roots that their father and brother had dug up. They excitedly brought them to their sisters. The sisters squatted by the lake and carefully washed away the mud that was still wrapped around the lotus roots with the lake water. At this time, the news came. Yang Fan turned pale with fright. He immediately rushed to the shore, grabbed the horse of the informant, and galloped away.
Yang Fan was wearing a pair of wet snub-nosed pants. He stepped on the stirrups with his bare feet and whipped like rain.
It had never occurred to him that Princess Taiping and Li Longji would publicly break off their relationship and meet each other in arms so soon. According to common sense, the political struggle between the two sides should have been a long process of wrestling. How could they enter the final battle so hastily?
By the time the horse arrived at Princess Taiping's mansion, Yang Fan's trousers were already dry, and the mud on his bare feet had already congealed into clumps. When he landed on the ground, the clumps of mud shattered on the stone steps of Princess Taiping's mansion.
"Stop, who are you?"
The dozen or so soldiers guarding the gate of Princess Taiping's Mansion pointed their sharp spears at Yang Fan and asked in a stern voice. The search and massacre in Princess Taiping's Mansion had not ended yet. Yang Fan saw the bodies of several family servants lying in a pool of blood in the courtyard toward the mansion. He could not help but feel his heart tighten. He shouted in a stern voice, "I am the Defender-general who Supports the State, Yang Fan. Get out of the way!"
Most of these dozen or so imperial guards had never seen Yang Fan. Although there were a few seasoned soldiers among them who had seen Yang Fan before, they had only seen him from afar in the army, so they could not clearly see General Yang's appearance. In addition, Yang Fan's hair was tied into bundles, his upper body was bare, his feet were bare, and he was only wearing a pair of pants. His appearance and temperament were very different from the General Yang in their minds. It was really difficult to tell who he was. The soldiers could not help but hesitate.
Yang Fan could not wait for them to call the officer to identify him. He was burning with anxiety. Seeing the soldiers hesitating, but still not giving way, his motionless body abruptly crashed to the side. He went through the gap between two spears. Two soldiers flew more than a zhang away.
With two spears in his hands, Yang Fan's arms made a circle and shook. The soldiers felt numb in their hands and could no longer hold the spears in their hands. Seven or eight spears flew into the air. Yang Fan rushed in with two spears in his hands. Another few soldiers with spears chased after him in shock and shouted, "Stop him, someone is forcing his way in …"
Yang Fan could not and could not bear to kill people. He rushed in and only cared about knocking away their weapons or sweeping them away. Hearing the news, more and more soldiers came to surround him. Yang Fan could not be ruthless and could not break out of the encirclement. He was trapped at the entrance of the second courtyard. At this moment, a brigade commander who came to help recognized Yang Fan and exclaimed in shock, "General, why are you here?"
Yang Fan held two spears in his hands. His eyes narrowed as he said, "You know me?"
The brigade commander knelt down on one knee with a saber in his hand and said respectfully, "I am a veteran of a thousand cavalries!"
Yang Fan suddenly understood and asked anxiously, "How is the princess now?" He was afraid to hear the news that Taiping had been killed, but he had to ask. Because he was worried, his voice trembled as he asked.
The brigade commander answered, "Princess Taiping is not in the fu. We are also in the midst of searching …"
When Yang Fan heard this, his heart relaxed. At this time, Li Chengyi walked out of the rear residence under the escort of a group of soldiers. Beside him was Xue Chongjian. Xue Chongjian's face was pale and his eyes were lifeless. Even though his relationship with his brothers was extremely indifferent, but seeing their entire families being massacred still had a strong impact on him.
"General Yang?"
When Li Chengyi saw Yang Fan, he couldn't help but be startled. Yang Fan had purposely concealed his role in killing Empress Wei. This matter was known by very few people, but Li Chengyi was very clear about it. Because of this, Li Chengyi had always regarded Yang Fan as one of his own. Now, seeing Yang Fan dressed like this, holding a pair of spears in his hands and opposing his soldiers, he couldn't help but be astounded.
When Yang Fan knew that Taiping wasn't around, the anxiety in his heart lessened and he regained some rationality. He hurriedly thought of a reason and threw away his spear. He cupped his hands towards Li Chengyi and said, "Prince, Yang —"
Just as he said this, he saw a horse galloping over. The rider on the horse was wearing a eunuch's robe. He actually did not get off the horse when he barged in from the door of the fu. He raised a roll of yellow silk high up in his hand and shouted loudly, "Spare the knife! Spare the knife! High Emperor has ordered, do not harm Princess Taiping! "
…
In Mount Zhongnan, there was a zen temple that wasn't big but had an extremely elegant environment. This zen temple was funded by Princess Taiping and could be considered a family temple. The memorial tablet of her husband, Xue Shao, was enshrined in the temple.
In order to ascend to the throne, Empress Wu Zetian had used the heads of countless people as her stepping stones to ascend to the throne step by step. Xue Shao's head was also one of the stepping stones. Taiping had always felt guilty for Xue Shao's tragic death and being unable to save him, therefore, she built this zen temple to pray for his salvation.
At this moment, Princess Taiping was in this zen temple. The mountain temple originally didn't accept incense offerings from outsiders, so it was quiet and elegant. At this moment, it was abnormally quiet. In the courtyard, the water was clear, the trees were green, and the rugged mountain rocks made it look like a paradise. Princess Taiping sat on a square rock and beside her stood the internal and external stewards as well as a few trusted aides.
Princess Taiping's face was pale and her eyes were filled with tears. External steward Li Yi had just sent news from the city. When she heard that the entire fu had been slaughtered and other than Xue Chongjian's son, wife, and son, everyone else like Xue Chongxun had been executed, even someone as unyielding as her couldn't help but cry.
After planning today's operation, she hid here. On one hand, she wanted to draw a clear line between herself and the mutiny. After everything was done, the chancellors would bring her back to the city to preside over the overall situation. On the other hand, she also considered that if the plan failed, as long as she wasn't around, with the relationship between Princess Taiping's fu and the imperial family, she believed that her family wouldn't be implicated. It was a pity that she was wrong.
"San Lang, I've underestimated you, underestimated you …"
Princess Taiping smiled sadly and two lines of tears rolled down her face. She had underestimated Li Longji's determination. Li Longji had always been weak and tolerant towards her. In fact, it wasn't because he was afraid of her, but because he was worried about his own father. Princess Taiping had always been smart, but she had misjudged this matter.
Now, not only had she failed to accomplish her mission, but she had also harmed the lives of her entire family. Princess Taiping's heart was in great pain.
Li Yi said in fear, "Princess, the Emperor has already sent troops here. You'd better leave quickly. The world is so big, there must be a place where you can hide."
Princess Taiping's body shook slightly and asked, "How did the Emperor know my whereabouts so quickly?"
Li Yi lowered his head and didn't speak. Princess Taiping slowly turned around and stared at him. Li Yi's knees suddenly went soft and he knelt in front of her. He said in a trembling voice, "I don't know."
Princess Taiping smiled faintly and said, "You're afraid that I'll be sad if you tell me, right?"
She closed her eyes and slowly opened them again. Her eyes were cold and emotionless, "It was Chong Jian who betrayed his mother, isn't it?"
Li Yi banged his head on the ground until his forehead was dripping with blood. He didn't answer Princess Taiping's question.
Princess Taiping said faintly, "Even though the Emperor will find me sooner or later, I really don't want my own son to betray me …"
Li Yi cried loudly, "Princess …"
Princess Taiping looked at him and said softly, "Ever since I married the Emperor's son-in-law at the age of sixteen, you've been serving me by my side. You've followed me for many years. You … are very good!"
She looked at the internal steward Zhoumin, whose face was full of tears, and said, "And you, you're also very good. Now, all of you run for your lives. As long as I'm dead, the Emperor won't make things difficult for you. "
Zhoumin knelt down on the ground and wailed loudly, "Regardless of life or death, I want to follow the Princess and serve the Princess."
Princess Taiping was furious and said sternly, "Bastard! Get out of my sight immediately. Don't let me see you again. Get out! "
Li Yi and Zhoumin wailed loudly and refused to get up. Seeing that the Princess was furious, they hurriedly got up and left the courtyard, but they still stood far away. Princess Taiping heaved a sigh of relief and turned around to face a pond of green water. Other than herself, there was a lonely figure in the water.
Princess Taiping stared at the figure in the water and said slowly, "Taiping trusted Mister so much. Why did Mister deliberately harm me?"
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