Chapter 87 Chapter 87 The young man’s lower lip covered by the white gauze covering his eyes…
Since the Jinwu Guards took over the guarding of Taiji Palace, the atmosphere in other parts of the capital also became tense for a while.
A storm is coming, as if the weather is about to change.
Su Shang sat in Su Wang's study, closed his eyes and digested what Su Wang had just said to him.
This was already the 30th day since the Jinwu Guards took over the Taiji Palace, but it was also the 27th day since news of the rebellion in Pingying and other two states in the north.
The rebellion broke out suddenly, and its name was vague. It simply said that loyal and good people were being wronged, and evil people were in power, so it was necessary to "restore order, punish the treacherous and flattering people, and stabilize the country."
When the news reached the capital, Huo Gan, the governor of the Shen Ce Army, was still reporting to the capital. Shortly after the news spread, he volunteered to lead the troops to quell the rebellion.
This was naturally something he had discussed with Su Wang in advance, but it was not really a discussion. Although his tone was still respectful and polite, the content of his words had a subtle meaning of negotiation and threat, that is, letting him lead the army in rebellion was a prerequisite for him to join the Su family.
Su Wang was naturally unhappy to hear this. You know, when there was a riot in a local area, the first force sent to quell the riot should be the troops stationed there. Only when the local situation became difficult to suppress would the court send troops to support. As the governor of the Shen Ce Army camp, Huo Gan volunteered to go to the battle at the first opportunity. This was undoubtedly because he felt that the riot was not serious and would be easy to quell, and he could use it to gain military merit.
However, if the situation really comes to the point where the court needs to send troops for support, Huo Gan is indeed the most suitable candidate. Although the Shen Ce Army is mainly responsible for guarding the capital, it is also its responsibility to go out and quell unrest when unrest occurs in other places.
So in the end, the court ordered Huo Gan to lead troops north to quell the rebellion. However, because of Huo Gan's initial attitude, Su Wang also sent his trusted military supervisor to accompany him, and also restricted Huo Gan's ability to bring troops.
According to news from the front line, everything seemed to be going well in the past twenty days that Hogan led his troops on the expedition.
It's just too good...
Su Shang closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "The rebels plus the Shen Ce Army led by Huo Gan, a total of tens of thousands of people, have been so peaceful for over twenty days. There have been no major battles, only minor skirmishes. It's incredible. It seems that everything is beneficial to the court, but why has the chaos never been quelled?"
Moreover, the riot came at a strange time. There was only some noise during the period of the uprising, and then it became quiet. Even in the past few days, the scouts sent by the court were unable to bring back any useful information.
Su Wanggang showed the news sent back today to Su Shang. Both father and son became suspicious of the good news in recent days.
Su Wangxian asked, "Have you been sending people out recently?"
Su Shang opened his eyes instantly, and after a moment of silence, he said, "Yeah."
He knew that Su Wang was asking about the person he had sent out to look for the body.
Ever since his last confrontation with Shangguan Xu in Lizheng Hall, he had been determined to find that person and make her give up.
But Su Wang was clearly dissatisfied with his actions: "Still looking? It's been a month. I heard that you had people tie ropes and search everywhere on the mountain, under the cliffs, and even on the steep cliffs, but you still can't find any trace of that person. Even now, you still haven't given up?"
Su Shang said indifferently, "It's not that we didn't find anything. We did find some pieces of clothing. Besides, I sent people all the way to Jiangnan, but they couldn't find any trace of him." He lowered his eyes and twirled the ring on his finger. "Perhaps he was eaten by wild beasts a long time ago. I'm not the one who refuses to give up. It's just that someone wants an explanation."
Su Wang snorted coldly, looking at the profile of the person below him, and thought, if he was really relieved, why would he send people to patrol the road to Jiangnan?
Su Shang silently played with the thing in his hand, suppressing the uneasiness in his heart.
"Let's think about Huo Gan first." After a moment, Su Shang spoke first. "The north is so peaceful and smooth, I still feel something is wrong. Should we send someone to investigate again? This time, we can use a different reason. There are so many important cities in the north, so we should investigate them all."
At this point, Su Shang paused, looking up at the person sitting above him. "By the way, what has the Anbei Protectorate been doing lately? They haven't done anything about the unrest in Pingzhou and Yingzhou." He murmured softly, "Pingzhou, Yingzhou, Anbei Protectorate. Strange, why do these places feel connected?"
——
In the Lizheng Hall, Shangguan Xu was lying on the beauty couch in the side room. It was another boring day.
Since that day, she has been under house arrest in the Lizheng Palace. No information can come in or out, and she can only find some books and paintings to pass the time every day.
But sometimes, people from outside come to talk to her.
It’s just Sushant.
While closing her eyes to rest, she heard the palace door being opened and the slow and heavy footsteps becoming clearer and clearer. She knew that Su Shang had come again.
She stood up first and walked to the door of the side room.
Su Shang really stopped and looked at her.
"You knew it was me?"
Shangguan Xu glanced at me and chuckled, walking towards his seat in the outer hall while saying, "Anyone who listens to these footsteps for a while will find them familiar."
She walked over to one side of the Arhat couch and sat down, resting one elbow on the table, her lowered fingers playing with the other's hook as she asked, "Why, did you find someone?"
Su Shangben was slightly pleased with her familiar expression, but his face darkened again because of her next words.
Seeing that he didn't say anything, Shangguan Xu looked up at him and said slowly with interest, "It seems you haven't found it yet. So what are you doing here?"
Su Shangyin was furious at these words, and with the aura of his body, he leaned over and pressed her down: "Do you really believe that he is not dead?"
Shangguan Xu's smile faded, and he looked away, as if he wasn't confident about what he was asking. "Does this matter? I've been imprisoned here by you all day, and I don't have much hope to achieve. Isn't this all I can ask?"
Her tone was so lonely and pitiful that when she stopped mocking him, he realized that she had lost a lot of weight during this period.
He softened his tone and said, "Of course you have it, but you just don't want it."
Su Shang sat down next to her and stretched out his finger to check the temperature of the teapot on the detective table. "It's getting cold, so don't drink the cold tea. Ask Qinghe and the others to add new tea in time."
After saying that, he called someone in and asked them to change the water in the teapot to warm water.
After the people left, Su Shang continued, "Your Majesty has been doing very well and being very obedient recently. You don't have to worry. The affairs of the court are being handled in an orderly manner, and the north has also been stabilized."
"North?" Shangguan Xu asked, puzzled. "What happened in the north? Hasn't it always been peaceful? What do you mean?"
During this month, Lizheng Hall was cut off from all contact with the outside world, including the little emperor. Therefore, Shangguan Xu did not need to know about the imperial seal used in the court to issue decrees. Therefore, Shangguan Xu should have no idea what happened outside this month.
Su Shang looked at her deeply.
There was really no flaw in her puzzled look, and instead, there was a hint of anxiety about losing her understanding of the outside world.
Su Shang then said, "It's nothing serious. It's just some rabble gathering together to cause trouble. The court has already suppressed it."
Shangguan Xu asked again: "Why did the rebellion suddenly start? What is their name?"
Su Shang pondered for a moment and said insincerely, "What reputation can one get for doing such things since ancient times? They are just high-sounding words. Anyway, they haven't caused any waves, so there's no need to pay attention to them."
"Now that the rebellion has been suppressed, has the leader been captured? Has he been taken to the capital?"
Hearing this, Su Shang looked at Shangguan Xu with a half-smile: "You seem to be very concerned about this matter?"
Shangguan Xu knew what he was testing, so he shook his head and sneered, barely audible, before asking, "Shouldn't I pay attention to the conspiracy? Should I just ignore the first of the Ten Evils? And if I truly ignored it, would you then ask me why I was so indifferent?"
She said bluntly: "If you have something to ask, just ask directly. Why beat around the bush and test the waters?"
The moment his thoughts were ruthlessly exposed, Su Shang's heart ached for a moment. His eyes were still fixed on her face, but his breathing suddenly became clearer. After a pause, he said, "It's just a casual question. Why do you have to provoke me like this? Don't you think I can even ask? Are my words just tests?"
He turned his head to look at the ground, took a deep breath, and then answered her initial question, "The leader hasn't been apprehended, but the situation has stabilized. However, judging by the current situation, capturing the leader is only a matter of time, so you don't have to worry about it."
Just as Shangguan Xu said, Su Shang did have a probing intention when he mentioned the unrest in the north.
For some reason, Su Shang always felt that the current chaos in Pingying and Yingzhou was not as simple as the name he saw on the surface. However, he could not figure out what deeper conspiracy was behind it. So even though he had some doubts about the person in front of him, he did not hide the situation of the chaos in the north.
It was because he felt that if she was really involved in that matter, he would probably only make more mistakes and let her realize something. It would be better to tell her vaguely about what was happening outside. In such a matter, even if he only magnified one or two of them, it might cause the party who was not informed to lose their composure.
So he only said that the situation was now under the control of the imperial army.
However, she didn't say anything after that.
Su Shang asked her in a caring tone: "Why aren't you talking? If you want to know anything, you can ask me. You must have been bored recently, so I came here today to talk to you more."
Shangguan Xu said indifferently, "I don't have anything to ask. It's useless to know anyway."
After hearing her words, Su Shang wanted to withdraw the Jinwu Guards outside the palace and release her from house arrest for a few moments, but he suppressed his thoughts and said that now was not the time.
Sure enough, she asked the next moment, "How long do you plan to keep me locked up? Until the unrest in the north is quelled? Or longer? Ten years later? For a lifetime?"
"Of course not." He quickly answered, "It's actually very simple. Once you accept his death, let go of the past, and have other hopes, then this Taiji Palace will continue to be a place you can come and go as you please."
She smiled: "But if I really do as you wish and tell you that I admit it and let it go, will you believe it?"
Su Shang didn't say anything.
Shangguan Xu lowered his eyes and said, "Please help me find it again. Even if he's dead, I want to see his body. After all, he has done something for me, so I have to give him an explanation."
Although her words were still obsessed with the whereabouts of that person, Su Shang's brows relaxed a lot after hearing it, and he felt much more relieved.
Her words clearly meant that she acknowledged that the man was dead, and she was just considering some old feelings and wanted to give him a decent death.
Su Shang smiled immediately: "Okay, I will help you find it."
Shangguan Xu looked at Su Shang's departing figure, the loneliness in his eyes gradually dissipated, and his gaze became darker and darker.
She secretly thought that the later things in the north came to light, the better, so she could divert more of his energy to the south of the Yangtze River.
——
People in the capital spent another ten days in a tense atmosphere.
That night, Gu Chou was in charge of the Jinwu Guards on duty at the Taiji Palace.
Since the Jinwu Guard took over the guarding of Taiji Palace, the Jinwu Guard's Lieutenant Generals have taken turns to guard Taiji Palace. Among them, several Gu Chou were the most effective in implementing various regulations during their rotation, so he was deeply trusted by the commander.
Outside the Lizheng Hall, Gu Chou brought his personal soldiers to replace the Jinwu Guards who were originally guarding outside the hall. Then he gave a few instructions to the people around him and entered the hall alone.
It was already three o'clock in the morning, but Shangguan Xu was still dressed in the hall, as if waiting for someone to come.
Gu Chou stopped a few feet away and bowed respectfully to the people in the hall: "Your Majesty, the arrangements for the Jinwu Guard tonight are complete."
Shangguan Xu pondered: "Judging by the time, they should have entered the capital by now?"
Gu Chou nodded. "Yes, by noon tomorrow morning at the latest, they will be within the patrol area of the Shen Ce Army stationed outside Chang'an City. By then, it will be difficult to hide their whereabouts."
Shangguan Xu murmured, "So we must seize control of Taiji Palace tonight and hold on until they reach the outskirts of the city."
"The Jinwu Guards on duty tonight are all under the control of the Empress. However, the Yulin Guards who work with the Jinwu Guards..." Gu Chou hesitated slightly, "The former generals are still in various mansions outside the palace and are under control."
Since Su Shang took control of the Taiji Palace, the Yulin Guards that were transferred to cooperate were all controlled by Su's trusted generals who had been placed there before. As for the important generals who had previously obeyed Shangguan Xu's orders, they were all placed under house arrest in the palace for various reasons. The Yulin Guards implemented a unified military system, which meant that only by controlling those Su's trusted generals could the Yulin Guards return to Shangguan Xu's hands.
Thinking of this, Shangguan Xu's eyes flashed fiercely and he said, "I have someone to help me with the Yulin Guard commander. We just need to cooperate with him from inside and outside."
It was a dark and windy night, and a curfew had already been declared in Chang'an City. However, a dark shadow flashed by in the corner, which the Jinwu Guards had not noticed.
In Shangguan Mansion, Shangguan Li was alone, kneeling in the ancestral hall with lights always on. He heard footsteps behind him.
"Is it today?"
Ah Zheng nodded: "Yes, time is running out, thank you for your help, Mr. Dalang."
——
In the important area of the capital, on the winding mountain roads, an army as long as a long snake was marching quickly through.
Among the three armies, flags were flying in the wind, and soldiers were riding tall and in a state of solemnity. The whole team was in great momentum.
As they marched, the sounds of horses' hooves intertwined with the sounds of wheels spinning.
A carriage was traveling in the front of the team, surrounded by heavily armored warriors, who were riding horses with swords on their shoulders, their postures steady and their eyes alert.
There was only one man, riding a horse beside them, wearing a golden helmet and iron armor, but he kept turning his head to look towards the carriage. His voice was not cold and hard like the armor, but instead said gently: "We are almost there. Then you won't have to go through all this trouble anymore. You can relax a little."
A light laugh emanated from the carriage, and the reply was tinged with joking: "I don't think it's a hassle. I want to ride a horse tomorrow. Fifth brother, if I do anything wrong then, you have to help me."
The man on the horse turned his head again and saw a corner of the car curtain slightly opened, and the dim light from inside the car diffused out. In the light, he saw the smile on the lips of the young man inside who was wearing a white veil covering his eyes.
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