After Zhang Xingcheng left, Cheng Yaojin sat in the camp for a long time, going over the situation and carefully considering the possible directions before returning to the Chinese military tent and giving orders to the generals in the tent. Said: "Immediately recall the light cavalry that harassed the Youtun Guards, assemble the troops, and return to the station outside Chunming Gate after dawn."
The generals looked at each other, confused by this sudden order.
Everyone is trying their best to compete with Youtunwei, but you, the commander-in-chief, just turn a blind eye and show no concern. Why are you suddenly about to retreat?
However, Cheng Yaojin's prestige was so high that even though these generals were dissatisfied, they did not dare to say anything, so they had no choice but to retreat and return to their respective units to gather soldiers.
Cheng Yaojin ignored the thoughts of his generals and stroked his beard, wondering how Li Ji would react...
Since the withdrawal of troops from Liaodong, Li Ji's various measures have been unbelievable and confusing, but there is no doubt that he sat back and watched the Guanlong rebels ravage Chang'an and besieged the Taiji Palace, and did not do anything while the East Palace was swaying and overturning. This means that Li Ji's interests were completely opposite to those of the prince.
Even after the prince's fall, he became more aligned with Li Ji's interests.
Under such circumstances, the person who least wanted to see the crown prince successfully ascend the throne was probably Li Ji. Previously, under the command of Fang Jun, the Youtun Guards broke through the Jinguang Gate and entered Chang'an, stealing the retreat of Guanlong's army and leading to a rebellion in the East Palace. When he was defeated, I don’t know how upset and angry Li Ji was...
At this moment, the prince is forcing Li Ji to express his position. How can Li Ji be willing to obey?
If you're not careful, all forces will have to fight to fight back this time, and the winner will be judged as the hero...
*****
At dawn, it is raining.
The lush forests of Zhongnan Mountain are shrouded in drizzle, and the sky is dark and pale. Even though the three armies were confronting each other at the foot of the mountain and the atmosphere was tense, the monks of Dayun Temple still beat the evening drums on time. The melodious drums floated and lingered in the mountains, causing the birds to fly away and clearing their minds.
In the jingshe on the back hill of Dayun Temple, sandalwood curled up, tea fragrant, and spring water flowed outside the window. Changsun Wuji looked at the letter in his hand and frowned.
Across the way, Yu Wenshiji drank tea slowly, while Linghu Defen and Dugu Lan stared closely at Changsun Wuji's expression...
After a long time, Changsun Wuji put down the letter in his hand, handed it to Dugu Lan, picked up the tea cup, took a sip of tea, and let out a long breath.
When Dugu Lan and Linghu Defen read the letter one after another, they both looked ugly.
Yu Wenshiji smiled bitterly and said: "We have always thought that His Highness the Crown Prince is cowardly and hesitant, but now it seems that we have all made a mistake. To be able to force Li Ji with such courage is quite a bit of a heroic demeanor."
Changsun Wuji drank tea and refused to comment.
Even though this prince's edict was the result of the collective efforts of the officials in the East Palace, the prince's courage to adopt it and implement it was indeed much stronger than many foolish princes. In addition, when he was trapped in the Taiji Palace before, he refused to surrender and even fought to the death many times. He was prepared to commit suicide three times, which shows that the prince is indeed a soft character on the outside but strong on the inside.
This kind of person is usually obedient, hello, me, hello, everyone, but once his bottom line is touched, he will often do some crazy things, making the world look at him...
Now looking back on the past, Changsun Wuji will inevitably regret in his heart. If he had known that the prince had the guts to "rather die than surrender", perhaps he should not have taken such drastic measures, which resulted in a wrong move and a huge defeat. , pushing the Guanlongmen clan to the edge of life and death, and there is a danger of overthrowing at every turn.
Linghu Defen said from the side: "In my opinion, there is no need to pay attention to this matter. The prince is probably just testing Li Ji's attitude. The nobles in Shandong and Jiangnan have not really filled the vacancies in the court, and there will definitely be some disputes between them." Only through friction and running-in can we gradually control the overall situation. It would be unwise to force Li Ji to make a public statement at this time. On the contrary, the Youtun Guards blocked Zuowuwei and Youhouwei at the foot of the mountain this time, making us worry-free. I'm quite surprised. Could it be that Fang Er took the wrong medicine this time, and he's working so hard? It's a big revelation."
The three armies were confronting each other at the foot of the mountain. The atmosphere was tense. If they were not careful, a melee would break out. The remaining Guanlong troops on the mountain were all frightened. For fear that Gao Kan could not bear the pressure and was unwilling to take risks, he simply withdrew his troops and allowed Zuo Wuwei to come up and kill them all. A killing spree?
Now that Gao Kan was strong and resisted Zuo Wuwei, and Yu Chigong was waiting for the opportunity, Dayun Temple was as safe as a rock, which made all the remaining Guan Long men breathe a sigh of relief, and inevitably had a feeling for Fang Jun. Feelings of gratitude...
Changsun Wuji held the tea cup in his hand, paused for a moment, and looked at each other with Yu Wenshiji, both of whom could see that the other person was filled with anger - Mother! The reason why Fang Er works so hard is because the two of us "sold" our daughter in exchange for it. How dare you show it off? It is a pity that Linghu Defen's family does not have a legitimate daughter of the right age, and the concubine is afraid that the second wife will look down on her, otherwise she will have to force Linghu, the old thief, to get along with him, so that he can also taste such humiliation.
After all, this matter was extremely embarrassing, and they both made a tacit agreement not to mention it.
Yu Wenshiji returned to the topic and asked: "If nothing else happens, Zuo Wuwei will probably withdraw his troops and return to Chunmingmen to try to prevent His Highness the Crown Prince from leaving the city. After all, they have not yet fully controlled the court and dare not bet on whether the Crown Prince is pretending. Once The prince has torn Li Ji's cover up and the situation has suddenly changed. How should we respond?"
Changsun Wuji pondered for a moment and said decisively: "As long as Zuo Wuwei withdraws from Chunming Gate, he will immediately order Yuchi Gong to lead his army to Baqiao. Chen troops will go to the east of Baqiao. There is no need to pay attention to Li Ji. He can break through Baqiao and rush to Chunming Gate at any time. Get ready to put pressure on Zuo Wuwei."
The more the Shandong aristocratic family and the Jiangnan gentry are unwilling for the prince to go out of the city to greet the holy emperor, the more the Guanlong clan will naturally do the opposite and support the prince to leave the city. The sooner the prince ascends the throne, the faster everything will happen. After stabilizing, Guanlong's security has greatly increased.
The biggest fear is that the court will be chaotic and disorderly. The prince's edict will not be recognized by the Shandong family, the Jiangnan gentry and Li Jizhi, and he will have to overthrow the Guanlong clan and then quickly...
Yu Wenshi nodded: "That's exactly what it should be."
Linghu Defen said worriedly: "Not only the Zuowu Guards must withdraw, but the Right Tun Guards must also retreat to allow Yuchi Gong to leave and rush to Baqiao. Otherwise, what if the Right Tun Guards kill a carbine and attack the mountain?"
What the Youtun Guards should do most is to wipe out the remnants of Guanlong. This move to block the mountain is unbelievable. Who knows what Fang Er is thinking? If the Zuowu Guards and the Right Hou Guards all withdraw, and Gao Kan sees that Dayun Temple’s defenses are empty, and simply goes up the mountain to kill him, everything will be over...
Speaking of this, Zhang Sun Wuji and Yu Wenshiji were naturally stabbed in the scars. The latter said angrily: "Now that the Right Tun Guards are helping us block the Zuo Wu Guards, they will naturally not look for us after the Zuo Wu Guards withdraw." Brother Ji Xin doesn't have to worry about this."
Linghu Defen's eyes widened and he was filled with doubts: Is the character and reputation of Fang Er so noble in the eyes of you two? It would be fine if Yu Wenshi and one of them trusted Fang Er not to add insult to injury, but Changsun Wuji also had the same expression... Judging from the grudges between Changsun's family and Fang's family, I'm afraid there must be some outsider behind this incident. Unknown activities.
But no matter how hard he thought, he couldn't figure out why Changsun Wuji, Yu Wenshi, and others trusted Fang Jun and his Youtun Guards so much...
Changsun Wuji didn't want to talk about such a humiliating thing, so he turned around and went to his desk: "I will write a letter and give it to Yuchigong immediately, ordering him to obey orders."
*****
Seeing Yuwen Shiji, whose clothes were half wet and walking in a hurry, Yuchi Gong greeted him respectfully into the tent and complained: "If you have anything to do, just send someone to send a letter. Why do you need Duke Ying?" Do you have to do everything by yourself? It’s windy, rainy, and humid, so you have to pay attention to your health.”
He said polite words, but he also knew that it would be an urgent matter to allow the dignified second-in-command of the Duke of Ying and the Guanlong clan, Piaofeng Daiyu, to come and go in person, so he couldn't help but cheer up secretly.
Yu Wenshi entered the tent, sat down, wiped his head and face with a cigarette, and said with a wry smile: "I was born to work hard, there is nothing I can do about it."
Yuchi Gong sat opposite him, stared at his expression and asked, "But something big happened?"
Yu Wenshi nodded and told the story of the prince's intention to leave the city to "welcome the Holy Emperor", and then said: "This matter is of great importance, and we must not let the Shandong family hinder the prince's travel. Therefore, after discussing with Zhao Guogong, I decided to let you He led his troops to Baqiao to form a deterrent to Chunming Gate and restrain Cheng Yaojin's Zuowu Guard so that he could not threaten the prince's travel."
Yuchi Gong was taken aback, pondered for a long time, and said hesitantly: "In my opinion, the prince may not have really left the city. It is more likely that he just used this to test Li Jizhi's attitude. If I lead the army back to Baqiao now, there will be only Youtun Guards at the foot of the mountain. If Fang Er’s desire is detrimental to Guan Long, it will be unstoppable and will lead to self-destruction.”
He was one of the most famous generals in the Tang Dynasty. He spent his whole life fighting and charging in battle. Naturally, he knew that the powerful fighting power of the Youtun Guards might not be able to defeat him even if the Youhou Guards under his command went all out. If only Dayun was left on Zhongnan Mountain, The remaining Guanlong army near the temple will be completely wiped out by Youtunwei's offensive in less than an hour...
Yu Wenshi's eyelids twitched. Fang Jun seemed to be a hurdle to overcome. There was no way around "beauties seeking glory", right?
He said solemnly: "This is the decision we made after discussion. Duke E only needs to follow the order. As for the Youtun Guards... don't worry about it."
Yuchi Gong nodded quickly, understanding that this must be some kind of exchange of interests between the Guanlong clan and Fang Jun in private, in exchange for Fang Jun's liberality or even secret help.
It was just that he was not willing to lead his army to Baqiao and confront Zuo Wuwei again.
Just as Zuo Wuwei was Cheng Yaojin's subordinate and was unwilling to take risks easily, the Right Houwei was also Yuchi Gong's support. In the event of heavy losses, who would guarantee his future power and status in the court, and that he would not even be defeated? Guanlong bosses sold it?
