Chang'an.
After reading the secret report, Li Xuanzhen's face was as gloomy as water.
Qin Fei and several other subordinates came out of the study, looked at Li Xuanzhen's back, and looked at each other. Before they could say anything, Li Xuanzhen suddenly trembled and fell to the ground.
“Your Highness!”
Qin Fei rushed forward and helped Li Xuanzhen up.
Li Xuanzhen clutched the letter tightly and coughed up blood.
Everyone was horrified. Not long ago, the Northern Rong suddenly attacked and the prince defended Liangzhou to the death. He was seriously injured and has not recovered yet. He is vomiting blood!
The eunuch was startled and ran away, urging the guards to call the imperial physician.
Qin Fei helped Li Xuanzhen back to the house. After a while, footsteps were heard from the front porch. The staff and soldiers waiting in the outer courtyard moved away one after another. The Crown Princess Zheng Biyu and the imperial physician came together.
Zheng Biyu went into the inner room and asked, "Why is Your Highness vomiting blood? Did you practice martial arts again?"
Qin Fei lowered his eyebrows, stepped back from the screen, and replied, "Your Highness has just read the letter from the Pei family."
On the bed, Li Xuanzhen's eyes were closed, his face was as pale as gold paper, and he was still holding the letter tightly in his hand.
Zheng Biyu sat in front of the couch, pried open his fingers, quickly read the letter, and felt a mixture of emotions in his heart. He sighed softly.
Princess Wen Zhao has already passed away. What's the point of finding out her background?
The Seventh Princess, who was so charming and beautiful that she was the dream of all the young men in the capital, will never come back.
The imperial physician looked at Li Xuanzhen's old injuries, reapplied medicine for him, wrote a new prescription, and warned him: "Your Highness' old injuries have not healed yet, you must stay calm and don't get angry."
Zheng Biyu looked at the tightly furrowed brows of the sleeping Li Xuanzhen, and recalled what had happened in the past few months with a solemn expression.
It may be difficult to make Li Xuanzhen calm down!
…
A few months ago, the Northern Rong suddenly attacked, and Li Xuanzhen defended Liangzhou. He led the border soldiers in a bloody battle for several days until reinforcements arrived.
When the news reached Chang'an, the Manchu court was shocked. Without waiting for Li De to order reinforcements, beacons were lit simultaneously in Jincheng, Xiaoguan, Shanzhou in the northwest, Xiazhou, Jinzhou in the northeast, Jiangzhou, Shuzhou in the south, and Langzhou adjacent to Western Shu. Within a few days, several major outposts fought bloody battles with the Northern Rong, Southern Chu, and Western Shu, resulting in countless casualties.
The whole country was shaken.
Hearing that the Northern Rong cavalry were heading south and that the Southern Chu were taking the opportunity to attack, the wealthy families in Chang'an were terrified and fled south with their gold and silver. The ministers in the court were also frightened and did not know what to do. The ministers urged Li De to move the capital.
Just when people were in panic, Li Xuanzhen sent a manifesto to Chang'an, fiercely criticizing those cowards who wanted to abandon the city and flee. He said that if the capital was moved at this time, people's hearts would be unsettled, and the Great Wei would become a laughing stock for all eternity. How could it unify the world in the future?
At this time, urgent battle reports of 800 miles in Jincheng, Jinzhou and other places were sent back to Chang'an. Although the outposts in various places were hastily prepared for the battle and lost several cities, the soldiers were brave and quickly regrouped. After retreating to guard the pass, they relied on the easy-to-defend and difficult-to-attack terrain to refuse to go out and formed a standoff with the enemy. Moreover, several places received advance warnings and sent out letters for help in time. The nearby garrisons rushed to rescue, and together with the garrisons, they suppressed the sudden attack of the enemy and only waited for the court to continue to send troops and supplies so that they could recapture the outposts in one fell swoop.
Immediately afterwards, Du Sinan, a clerk from Jincheng, rushed to Jiangzhou day and night. With his eloquent tongue, he successfully forced the general of Southern Chu to retreat. Southern Chu and Western Shu withdrew their troops at the same time overnight. Within a few days, news came that the Southern Chu court was shocked and changed its reserves. The Meng family of Western Shu then delivered a letter to the Wei Dynasty, saying that everything was a misunderstanding and they had no intention of attacking the Wei Dynasty.
Li Deli rejected all objections and angrily denounced the ministers who suggested moving the capital as bringing disaster to the country and the people. He sent troops to reinforce Liangzhou, Jincheng and other places, appointed Pei Dudu as the commander-in-chief of the army, and recaptured the lost cities.
The withdrawal of Southern Chu and Western Shu freed Wei from all worries and allowed it to concentrate its forces on resisting the threat from the north.
The Northern Rong cavalry came in force, but they were few in number, had insufficient food and fodder, and failed to break through the northern defense line within half a month, unable to penetrate deep into the Central Plains. Realizing that the Wei Dynasty had begun to launch a counterattack, they did not want to fight any more, and after looting the Jincheng area, they decisively withdrew their troops.
The Great Wei was held.
However, Helan fell completely into the hands of the Northern Rong. The neighboring country of the Wei Dynasty, the Northern Han, was destroyed overnight. Jincheng suffered heavy losses and was almost lost. As long as the Northern Rong concentrated their forces to launch a rapid assault, the Wei Dynasty had to continuously send troops to defend each pass.
Fortunately, the Northern Rong were now unable to launch a full-scale attack, and Li Xuanzhen defended Liangzhou, preventing the Great Wei from being completely exposed to the Northern Rong's iron hoof.
The Wei Dynasty survived the crisis safely.
Those days when everyone was in danger, the situation was changing rapidly, and the situation was treacherous. All of these thrilling moments could be felt by Zheng Biyu, a lady from the inner palace.
Thinking back on it now, I still feel a lingering fear and a chill running down my spine.
Just a little bit more and the Wei Dynasty was dragged into the war and attacked from all sides.
When the Northern Rong retreated, Western Shu, Southern Chu, and Great Wei temporarily restored diplomatic relations and celebrated, the court began to reward people according to merit. Li De recalled Du Sinan, who had made great contributions in the Battle of Jincheng, and asked him who had informed him before the Northern Rong's sudden attack, allowing him to discover the Northern Rong's conspiracy in time, not only to defend Jincheng, but also to persuade Southern Chu to retreat.
Du Sinan did not give an answer immediately.
A few days later, in Chang'an City, on Suzaku Street, people swarmed out to welcome the triumphant soldiers.
Li De led the civil and military officials to greet him.
A wounded personal soldier came from the north, limping at the front of the team.
"Liangzhou is secured, Jincheng is secured, Xiaoguan is secured, the Great Wei is safe, and the people are spared from the flames of war."
He knelt down at the gate, raised his head, and his eyes were bloodshot: "Your Majesty, I was ordered by Princess Wen Zhao to return to the pass to give warnings. Fortunately, I have fulfilled my mission!"
At that moment, everything was silent in front of Tianjie.
His voice echoed for a long time in front of the palace gate.
The bustling crowd looked at the guards in silence.
The civil and military officials dressed in gorgeous clothes looked at the personal guards in surprise.
No one spoke for a long time. Everyone was silent.
Li De was stunned for a while and asked, "Where is Princess Wen Zhao? She has made great contributions to the country. I want to reward her."
All the ministers followed suit, and words of praise never ceased to be heard.
The guard burst into tears: "The Yelu tribe was destroyed, and the princess...she..."
He cried uncontrollably, as if he had exhausted all his strength.
Sad sobs were heard from the silent crowd, which started as suppressed sobs and then turned into a chorus of crying.
A few months ago, they sent off the Seventh Princess here and watched her marry far away in the frontier, hoping that she would live a peaceful life.
A few months later, the seventh princess outside the Great Wall risked her life to remind the soldiers guarding the pass. The Wei Dynasty was safe, but the seventh princess died in a foreign land.
The official from the Ministry of Rites escorted the Seventh Princess to her wedding. When the procession passed by the foot of the Great Wall, the official asked the Seventh Princess if she had anything else to tell Li De.
The Seventh Princess looked back at the towering mountains and cities behind her and smiled faintly: "May the rivers be clear and the seas be peaceful, and the waves be calm."
The princess went out to marry a prince, fighting against millions of soldiers.
Men, women, old and young fell to the ground and sobbed.
That day, Zheng Biyu stood on the corridor of the city wall, listening to the crying sounds coming from the long street like the tide, and her eyes could not help but become wet.
She did not find Li Xuanzhen among the triumphant team, so she sent someone to inquire.
Qin Fei reported to her: "Your Highness, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince... He took the cavalry to Helan."
Zheng Biyu was shocked: Helan is now the territory of the Northern Rong, and Li Xuanzhen is still seriously injured, is he trying to kill himself?
"Why did he go to Ha Ngan?"
Qin Fei sighed: "When the Northern Rong attacked, His Highness sent a team to Yelu to take Princess Wen Zhao back to Beijing. When the Northern Rong retreated, those people came back and reported that the Yelu tribe had been destroyed. They searched for several days but couldn't find the princess. They were besieged by a group of Northern Rong cavalry and dared not stay any longer, so they had to retreat to Liangzhou first."
The team returned empty-handed, and Li Xuanzhen was furious. After dealing with military affairs, he ordered the chief secretary to stay in Liangzhou. Regardless of his injuries, he personally led the cavalry to the Yelu tribe to look for people.
The search lasted for more than a month. Not only did Li Xuanzhen find nothing, he was also surrounded and intercepted by the Northern Rong several times. Half of his personal soldiers died. He narrowly escaped death and retreated to Liangzhou.
The area north of Liangzhou had completely fallen into the hands of the Northern Rong, and they were helpless.
His subordinates tried hard to persuade the seriously injured Li Xuanzhen to return to the capital to treat his injuries first, but Li Xuanzhen flatly refused and insisted on finding Princess Wen Zhao. Since he could not lead his troops across the defense line of the Northern Rong, he disguised himself as a herdsman to sneak in!
The local defender of Liangzhou was horrified: Li Xuanzhen was the heir apparent of a country. If he died at the hands of the Northern Rong people, they would be held responsible for the crime!
Everyone was terrified and tried every means to dissuade Li Xuanzhen, except Qin Fei who said nothing.
He understood the prince. The prince usually accepted advice with an open mind, but when he went crazy, no one could persuade him.
In order to save Zhu Luyun who had secretly escaped, the prince broke into the enemy camp alone and fought a bloody battle all night.
Now Princess Wen Zhao's whereabouts are unknown. The prince will not return to Beijing unless Princess Wen Zhao is found.
Qin Fei had no choice but to leave all his personal soldiers behind and return to the capital to report to Zheng Biyu.
Zheng Biyu was extremely anxious. If she had known that Li Xuanzhen would go crazy, she should not have sent him the letter explaining the Seventh Princess's life experience. He must have read the letter and felt guilty towards the Seventh Princess, which is why he went so crazy.
She immediately ordered her maid to grind ink and prepare paper, preparing to write a letter to persuade Li Xuanzhen to return to the capital, when a servant suddenly entered the hall holding a letter.
Zheng Biyu looked at the letter he had sent not long ago and was speechless for a long time.
The servant explained to her that the letter did not reach Li Xuanzhen because there was war everywhere in Liangzhou and the messenger had an accident on the way, so the letter was sent back by someone else.
With a click, the pen in Zheng Biyu's hand fell to the ground, and the ink dripped down the hem of her skirt.
Li Xuanzhen did not receive the letter.
He didn't know the Seventh Princess's background. Even though she was the daughter of Concubine Xie Gui, and even though he had been tortured by hatred all these years, he still wanted to save the Seventh Princess.
Zheng Biyu suddenly understood a lot of things.
I understand why Li Xuanzhen hated the Seventh Princess in the palace so much. He hated her so much that he sent people to monitor the Seventh Princess day and night, and hated her so much that he would grit his teeth and call out the Seventh Princess' name when he woke up from a nightmare at night.
Zheng Biyu sat upright in front of the window, closed her eyes, and her face looked like she was half crying and half laughing.
If I had known this would happen, I wouldn’t have done it!
He acquiesced to Wei Ming's plot against the Seventh Princess, and personally sent his delicate sister to the bed of the rude and barbaric Yelu Khan. He said he would not regret it...
He regretted it a long time ago!
No wonder Wei Ming has always been targeting the Seventh Princess. As Li Xuanzhen's military advisor, he must have seen that there was something special between Li Xuanzhen and the Seventh Princess. He married the Seventh Princess in her place not only to save Zhu Luyun, but also to make Li Xuanzhen completely heartless!
Zheng Biyu crumpled the paper and did not write the letter to persuade Li Xuanzhen to return to Beijing.
After sleeping in the same bed for several years, she and Li Xuanzhen treated each other with respect. No one in the world understood Li Xuanzhen better than her, and she could not persuade him.
Zheng Biyu began to plan for the future. She sent her son to Taiji Palace and taught him how to please Li De. Within a few days, Li De issued an edict that he would personally educate the Emperor Taisun.
The position of the East Palace remains stable.
A month later, Li Xuanzhen came back.
He was covered in wounds and couldn't even ride a horse, so he was carried back by his personal guards.
The personal guards also brought back sad news: the seventh princess Li Yaoying had died at the hands of the Northern Rong people. Some people saw with their own eyes that the Northern Rong people had killed all of the princess's guards, even the horses were not spared.
Li Xuanzhen was in low spirits and remained silent all day.
Zheng Biyu performed a ritual for Li Yaoying.
Everyone knew that the Seventh Princess was extremely dangerous, so she first secretly bribed a dozen Hu people to report the news for her, and then sent out dozens of personal soldiers. In the end, most of those who successfully reported the news were Hu people, and only one personal soldier survived. The situation was so critical, the Yelu tribe was destroyed overnight, how could the Seventh Princess escape?
The news of Li Yaoying's death spread throughout the Central Plains. The people wept and spontaneously held memorial services for Li Yaoying. In memory of her, they built a temple in Jingnan and planted many flowers and trees. Li De issued an edict to posthumously confer the title of Princess Zhenguo on Li Yaoying, and Empress Xie was also awarded a title. The empress lived in a separate palace and had no idea that her daughter had died outside the Great Wall. Li Zhongqian, who was recuperating in Luoyang, was also kept in the dark.
In a flash, another half month passed. Li Xuanzhen's injuries were getting better day by day, but he was getting thinner day by day.
Zheng Biyu sent Zhu Luyun to his side.
When Li Xuanzhen was defending Liangzhou, Du Sinan and Zheng Jing interrogated every servant around Zhu Luyun based on the intelligence sent back by Li Yaoying, and thoroughly investigated her collusion with Southern Chu, Western Shu, and Northern Rong. According to the guards of the princess's mansion, the loyal servant of Princess Yiqing who died under Li Xuanzhen's knife was just one of the confidants sent back to the Central Plains by the princess, and there were more loyal servants scattered all over Western Shu and Southern Chu.
Their real purpose was not to ask the Central Plains dynasty to send troops to rescue Princess Yiqing, but to use the princess's identity as the daughter of Zhu to stir up people's hearts, collect intelligence for the Northern Rong, incite the Central Plains countries to fight each other, weaken the military strength of each country, and when the Central Plains fell into chaos, the Northern Rong could march straight in.
This time, the Northern Rong's raid was just a test by Haidu Aling.
After reading the confession, Li De and the ministers in the court were still frightened and broke out in cold sweat.
Zheng Jing also found out another thing that had puzzled the ministers for a long time: Why did Southern Chu ambush Li Zhongqian?
The secret operation tells the whole story: there are many noble families in Southern Chu, and the imperial power is weak. The major families are fighting openly and secretly for the throne. Haidu Aling's confidant takes the opportunity to persuade the ambitious eldest prince to attack Li Zhongqian and provoke a war with Wei.
The sneak attack team was composed of the elite troops of Southern Chu. If Li Yaoying had not made a deal with Li Xuanzhen to rescue Li Zhongqian, Li Zhongqian would have been killed without a doubt.
Du Sinan wrote a letter with harsh but sharp words, informing his old friends in Southern Chu of Haidu Aling's plot. Those old friends held high positions in the Southern Chu court, and after confirming that there were spies around the eldest prince, they worked together to overthrow him: Although they were hostile to Wei, they would be in trouble if the Northern Rong occupied the Central Plains. Could Southern Chu remain unscathed?
The eldest prince and Xishu are both plotting against the tiger!
Nanchu was soon easy to store.
Zheng Jing submitted a memorial suggesting that Zhu Luyun be arrested for treason. The court officials debated fiercely, but since Zhu Luyun had no idea about Haidu Aling's plan, she was finally pardoned and all the servants around her were killed.
When Zhu Luyun saw Li Xuanzhen returning seriously injured, she felt guilty and distressed.
This time, Li Xuanzhen no longer comforted her with gentle words as before. He was in a daze the whole day and had a big quarrel with Zhu Luyun.
Zhu Luyun cried and said she wanted to leave Chang'an.
Zheng Biyu was extremely upset and ordered someone to send Zhu Luyun back to her room.
A few days later, Li Xuanzhen accidentally saw the letter that should have been delivered to him a few months ago.
He shivered all over, vomited blood, found Zheng Biyu, and stared at her with his blood-red eyes without blinking, like a fierce ghost: "Why didn't you tell me earlier? Why?!"
Zheng Biyu sighed and said calmly, "Your Highness, when I learned about this, you had already sent Princess Wen Zhao to the Yelu tribe."
Li Xuanzhen could hardly control his expression. His teeth were chattering. He staggered back a few steps and laughed out loud towards the sky.
"Yes! I have sent her away!"
"I sent her to her death with my own hands!"
"Why?! Why did she want to save Li Zhongqian? Why didn't she want to sever her relationship with Li Zhongqian?"
"As long as she cuts off her relationship with Xie's mother and son...as long as she nods...I won't have to hate her anymore..."
"Why doesn't she call me Brother Changsheng anymore?"
He suddenly stopped, his face twisted: "I want to avenge my mother... I want to avenge my mother... Li De is not dead yet, Xie is not dead yet... I am sorry for my mother... I am sorry for my mother!"
Zheng Biyu looked at her frantic husband with sad eyes.
He ruined himself and also ruined the Seventh Princess.
…
The next day after his madness, Li Xuanzhen calmed down strangely and began to investigate whether what Concubine Rong said was true or false.
He sent people to inquire about the Xie family in Jingnan, and asked Governor Pei to write a letter and have the messenger deliver it to the Pei family's old house.
The Pei family and the Xie family have never had any contact with each other. Pei Gong may know some hidden secrets, so he rushed thousands of miles to Chang'an to stand up for Li Yaoying.
Now, the letter is in Zheng Biyu's hands.
Pei Gong said in the letter that Li Yaoying was indeed not the daughter of Concubine Xie.
That year, Tang died of a stroke. Li De abandoned his troops and rushed back to Weijun. The army was demoralized and suffered defeat on the front line. Xie Wuliang and Pei Gong led the troops to meet the enemy. When they were cleaning up the battlefield after the war, they accidentally saw an abandoned baby.
The baby in the cradle was too small and too weak, just a tiny ball, without any sound.
The soldiers thought the child was dead and were about to bury him on the spot. Xie Wuliang climbed down from his horse, took the swaddling clothes, felt the child's pulse, and said, "He's still alive."
Pei Gong glanced at the child and said coldly: "This child is blue all over. She won't live for many days if we take her back. It's better to let her die quickly and be reborn into a good family in the next life."
Xie Wuliang smiled and brushed away the dust on the child's face with his fingertips: "It's a life after all. When I was born, I was about the same age as her. If I can survive, maybe she can too."
Pei Gong thought: This Master Wuliang really gave birth to a delicate intestine. Unfortunately, all his efforts were in vain, as the abandoned baby would not survive for more than a few months.
Later, the child survived, although he was weak and unable to walk, he still survived.
Xie Wuliang wrote a letter to Pei Gong, which contained a poem.
In the middle grows white lotus, with three hundred lotus stems. In the daytime it shines, and in the breeze it spreads its fragrance. The silver capsule of fragrance bursts, and the dew pours out like a jade dish. I see this beautiful flower in my dusty eyes.
Pei Gong only replied: It's a good name.
Zheng Biyu put down the letter and sighed deeply.
There were footsteps outside the window, and a maid hurried into the room and whispered, "Your Highness, Princess Fukang is missing."
Zheng Biyu frowned slightly, glanced at the groggy Li Xuanzhen, and said, "Send people to look for her. She has been making a fuss about leaving these days. Just wait for her at the city gate."
The maid responded and went out. After a while, another maid came running into the room.
Zheng Biyu frowned and asked, "Have you found Madam Zhu?"
The maid shook her head, her face horrified: "Your Highness, the Second Prince... No, Duke Wei is back!"
Zheng Biyu's heart skipped a beat.
Li Zhongqian learned the news of Li Yaoying's death.