Seeing Li Zhi, who was angry and silent, Wu Mei asked thoughtfully, "That's not right, Your Majesty. How come all these memorials were submitted through the Honglu Temple? Then there was no memorial from the Ministry of Rites to impeach her?"
"How could there be none? It was Zhang Jianzhi who suppressed them all. Now the Minister of Rites has been in cahoots with that little idiot. And then there's Yan Liben! A large number of craftsmen were sent to Anxi this year." Li Zhi said unhappily.
"Then..." Wu Mei looked at Li Zhi who was really angry, and asked cautiously, "Then Lu Dongzan's son, Gal Xiruo, is still being held by Li Hong?"
"Well, he is still in custody. Lu Dongzan refuses to withdraw from Tuyuhun no matter what. Now the two are in a stalemate. Now Li Hong has done this and cut off their property. Just wait and see. Sooner or later, the two will have a war." Li Zhi did not realize what Wu Mei meant and answered honestly.
Wu Mei rolled her eyes at him and said calmly, "Then why did you ask him to come back quickly? Since you know that Tubo is a great threat to the Tang Dynasty, and Nanzhao in the southwest is now supported by the Tang Dynasty, it has little effect in containing Tubo. You asked Li Hong to come back. Are you really planning to abandon Tuyuhun and other places?"
"Alright, no need to say more. I am just angry at his abusive behavior in Anxi. Look at the Western Regions. Does it still look like the ceremonial country of the Tang Dynasty? If it weren't for him..."
"If it weren't for him, who in the Western Regions would be afraid of the Anxi Protectorate of the Tang Dynasty? Who would take the Four Towns of Anxi seriously? The Tubo people are ambitious and would have launched a war against the Tang Dynasty long ago, vowing to take down Khotan. And there is also Li Zhapu. Now Ashina Duzhi is being convicted by Li Hong, and it is only a matter of time before Li Zhapu is captured."
Wu Mei rolled her eyes at him and continued to excuse Li Hong, "And the Persian Governorate. Peros and Wang Mingyuan are terrified every day. If it weren't for Li Hong's interference in trade, the White Arabs would have captured the Persian Governorate long ago. Small states like Tocharistan and Khwarezm are being spit out bit by bit by the White Arabs now."
"So what? As the emperor of the world, can I just watch the Arabs and Tubo cry out for injustice and do nothing? Can't I, the Son of Heaven, say a word for them?" Li Zhi's face was full of dissatisfaction. This little idiot was only concerned with his own happiness. The desert would probably be more comfortable for him than Chang'an City. At least he wouldn't have to lecture him or have his mother pull his ears every now and then.
...
...
What Li Zhi could not tolerate the most was that the little idiot was now in Anxi, living a happy life that made people envious and jealous. What a carefree life those were.
It is also said that he has a pure black wolf with hair as white as silk in his hand. Now he is almost the overlord of Loulan. No one dares to mess with him wherever he goes. If he wants to eat a live chicken, he will eat it. If he catches a live sheep, he will run to the Governor's Mansion.
The only thing missing is hunting cattle and horses, which is probably because a wolf is too big to hunt.
Pei Xingjian's face was furious. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince really did not take the imperial edict seriously. It was already such a late hour, but he could still be so leisurely and stay in Loulan without doing anything.
"Your Highness, how do you plan to deal with... His Majesty's edict?" Pei Xingjian held thirteen imperial edicts in his hands, feeling that they were more important than his life, but there were some people who did not take them seriously.
"What can I do? Do you dare to burn it or should I? Keep it well. After all, it is my father's order. You go back and capture Li Zhapo as soon as possible, then I can leave." Li Hong sat in the shade, took the ice that Xia Zhi had just found, put it into the grape wine, and handed a cup to Pei Xingjian.
Now he is sixteen years old, tall and strong, with an inverted triangle body that looks strong and sturdy with well-proportioned muscles.
His bronze skin, angular face, cold yet cunning eyes, and especially the signature smirk at the corner of his mouth, will make people unconsciously lose themselves in his unruly temperament.
The hair was tied up in a horse's back and draped behind his head, with a few strands of hair scattered unruly in front of his eyebrows. In addition to the noble temperament that he had developed from being in a high position for a long time, he also had a hint of evil temperament that made women confused.
When Pei Xingjian heard Li Hong say that he could leave after he recovered Li Zhapu and other places, he immediately frowned and said solemnly: "Your Highness, I am not deceiving you, but Li Zhapu is easy to deal with. Now Cheng Wuting, Wang Fangyi, and Guo Shifeng have divided their troops into three groups, and it is not long before they can capture Li Zhapu. But if you leave the Western Regions now, I think it is inappropriate."
Pei Xingjian's anxiety about the imperial edict was one thing, but if Li Hong really went back, he was a little worried. Although the Anxi Protectorate seemed stable now, the two powerful enemies, Tubo and Baiyi Daqin, had not yet been truly afraid or intimidated. If His Royal Highness the Crown Prince left and the Ministry of War intervened in the Anxi Protectorate again, the Anxi Protectorate would not act as casually as it does now.
Pei Xingjian knew very well the credit for all this. It was because of the presence of Crown Prince Li Hong in the Anxi Protectorate that the Anxi Protectorate was able to give full play to its instincts to the greatest extent without any constraints.
So let's talk about business. Since Li Hong was leaving, he had to discuss things with Li Hong as a monarch and his subject, rather than as a superior and a subordinate.
After more than a year or so of getting along, Pei Xingjian had a deep understanding of Li Hong's character. He was not greedy for merit or power. Every time he returned victorious, he never mentioned his own merits in the memorials, but instead attributed all the credit to them.
He seems to be doing things casually, but in fact he is extremely rigorous. Every decision seems to be made after careful calculation.
Moreover, over the past year or so, he has never been involved in leading troops in battle. He has only been guarding Loulan, focusing all his attention on civil affairs and the supplies and welfare of all the soldiers in Anxi.
At the same time, he gave himself the greatest authority to play to his strengths, allowing himself to use troops at will without any constraints. This is the most valuable and rare thing for a minister.
Under the command of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, the four towns of Anxi have undergone more than a year of reconstruction and have now become a city that occupies an area of land and is almost as big as Chang'an.
The city wall built of cold rocks and cement is like a solid wall of steel and is still being raised. The tall and majestic city gate is just like the one in the Tang Dynasty, which makes people want to worship it as soon as they get close to it.
Li Hong sneered at Pei Xingjian and said, "Pei Xingjian, don't you want me to go back to Chang'an?"
Pei Xingjian held the grape wine that Li Hong handed to him, his old face flushed, and he said awkwardly: "It is difficult to disobey the emperor's order, but I still hope that you can stay in Anxi privately."
"That's good, don't worry. After you capture Li Zhapo, it will be your turn to stay in Anxi Protectorate. I have been in Anxi for more than a year, almost two years. In addition to killing two thousand bandits in the past, it is time to stretch my muscles." Li Hong, wearing a thin white cloth shirt, said lightly.
Pei Xingjian's eyes lit up, and he asked in surprise, "Your Highness, what are you saying?"
"I have to go to Tibet first and get Tuyuhun back, and then go around Tibet to see if I can piss Lu Dongzan off to death." Li Hong said easily as he looked at Quan Yi running over from a distance.
"I object. This is too dangerous. How about letting me go for you?" Pei Xingjian requested hurriedly.
"That's not possible. The majesty of the Tang Dynasty is sometimes not achieved by its subjects, not to mention the tough Tubo. If I want them to be completely convinced, I have to go there." Li Hong's face turned a little green as he spoke.
What did he see? Two robbers broke in at the same time.
Quan Yi just ran in in a hurry, and then he saw Bai Qi, who now looked like a calf, running in from the door behind Quan Yi, holding a dying, bleating sheep in his mouth.
"Grand Protector, it's bad. We almost got into trouble today." Quan Yi ran in breathlessly, without even looking at Pei Xingjian, and said breathlessly.
Li Hong looked at Quan Yi, his eyes rolling around in his sockets, indicating to him that Pei Xingjian was still here and he would talk later.
But even though he rolled his eyes until they were almost cramped, the bandit leader Quan Yi seemed not to see it, and said with difficulty, breathing heavily, "It's no good. Today, our brothers almost got caught. That old bastard Lu Dongzan actually sent several of Ru's people to wait for the caravan at the border. We only managed to get back half of the goods. But fortunately, we basically wiped out all of their people, and our brothers didn't suffer any losses."
Li Hong was so angry that his nose was smoking. This guy was so tactless that he didn't notice that the cup in Pei Xingjian's hand fell to the ground and broke with a bang.
"Your Highness, that...that group of thieves were really sent by you..." Pei Xingjian was stunned. He could not believe that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, who was so righteous and wanted to duel with Tubo just now, had now become the mastermind behind the bandits in the desert who made people shudder.
When Quan Yi heard the bang, he noticed Pei Xingjian, who was already dazed beside him. Only then did he understand why the Crown Prince had been rolling his eyes at him.
Knowing that he had said something wrong, he looked at Hua Meng and Mangzhong, and then before Li Hong scolded him, he hurriedly hid behind Hua Meng and asked for a glass of grape wine to cool off.
"Bai Qi, what's wrong with you? Why did you take the sheep from the fellow villager again? I've told you so many times that you have to pay for it! Has Ban Mei paid yet?"
Li Hong looked at Pei Xingjian who was shocked, and then looked at Bai Qi who was holding a sheep with blood at the corner of his mouth, and immediately cursed angrily.
Bai Qi put the sheep, which had stopped twitching, on the ground, and suddenly raised his head and let out a long howl in broad daylight, bringing Pei Xingjian back to reality from his shock.
Pei Xingjian shook his head in disbelief. Although the desert bandits looked like members of the Tang Dynasty, fortunately no one had any evidence, so there was no way to blame anyone.
But now, he had caught them red-handed, with the real culprit right in front of him! What should he do? And His Majesty's decree also said that he must destroy the bandit group when he had time.
Wait a minute, something seems wrong! Pei Xingjian pondered the word "de kong" on the imperial edict, muttering, "de kong, de kong, de kong, ah...it turns out that His Majesty already knew about it."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
