"Where is Xun Mou?" Liu Yanru asked hurriedly, sitting on pins and needles.
"I don't know."
"Hurry up and gather the brothers of the Dragon and Tiger Guards, go to Xun Mou's house to get someone first." The first thing Liu Yan thought of was the Dragon and Tiger Guards. After all, this team has only used his confidants since it took power.
"Your Majesty, the news of the rebellion of Xun Mou and others was reported by a reliable person who risked his life. The culprits did not notice it. Now rashly sending people to Xun Mou's house to arrest people will only alert the enemy. What's more, there are many servants in Xun Mou's house now. , There are so many masters, Meng Silang is currently in the Jinwu Guard, and he is Xunmou's man, so if we send people to arrest him now, it will be difficult to succeed."
Liu Yan stepped forward and held Xu Bingde's hand tightly, as if grasping the last straw, "Does father-in-law have any clever ideas?"
"There are still nearly two hours before the morning court meeting. We will deploy immediately and pretend to know nothing at first. All the ministers will go to the morning court as usual. Xun Mou and his son will definitely come by then, and we will meet with the Longhu Guard General Zhang Dan agreed on the signal, and then Zhang Dan appeared at the right time, led his men to surround the Xuanzheng Palace, and captured Xunmou and his son unprepared. General Chen Ziyuan of the Yulin Guard was promoted by you personally and is worthy of your trust. Let him guard the various palaces. In order to prevent the thieves from counterattacking, I asked Xu Zixu, the dog son, to personally lead some people to surround the Xun Mansion. When you take down Xun Mou and his son, Zixu will immediately search the Xun Mansion."
At dawn, many officials, big and small, were already standing outside the Xuanzheng Hall. Every time Xun Yu and his son went to court in the morning, they deliberately distanced themselves from each other to avoid others talking. This time was no exception, but this time Xun Mou seemed to be preoccupied.
Quan Shidao seemed to have noticed that Xun Mou was worried, so he stepped forward to greet him, "General Xun, why are you so unhappy today? What are you worried about?"
Xun Mou raised his lips slightly, "I didn't sleep well yesterday. Thank you for your concern, Lord Shangshu."
Quan Shidao always felt that his smile was a little strange, but he couldn't put it in words, so he said goodbye.
Lu Renxiang, who was behind him, also saw the clues and stepped forward unhurriedly to greet Xun Mou, "General Xun, are you okay?"
"Thanks to Mr. Lu!" So the two of them exchanged pleasantries again.
After three drums sounded, only high-ranking officials were allowed to enter the palace, while the other officials had to wait outside the palace.
Lu Renxiang, who has always been alert, always felt that something was wrong. He found that there seemed to be more people outside the Xuanzheng Palace than usual. He looked back at the palace door. For some reason, he followed the sound of the drum and slowly closed the door. Lu Renxiang gritted his teeth and tightened his grip. Frowning, just wait and see, I made up my mind and stepped into the palace.
The emperor's behavior did not seem to be abnormal, but he was much calmer and more relaxed than usual. For example, he questioned officials as usual, but he did not strictly intervene in the corruption cases in recent days and floods in various places. Lu Renxiang looked at the expressions of those senior officials, and there seemed to be nothing unusual. So he searched for Xun Mou's situation with his peripheral vision, and found that he was standing in the front row without saying a word, with a calm expression, which was completely different from the flustered expression outside the hall just now. Xun Mou stood there motionless, as if waiting for the emperor to ask questions.
"Where is General Xun?"
Liu Yan's loud voice echoed in the hall, appearing more majestic.
Xun Mou trembled slightly, then immediately regained his composure, walked out of class and saluted, "I'm here!"
"Is there any news from Gao Yun?" Liu Yan asked calmly.
Xun Mou was shocked. This matter was under the control of the Ministry of War. Why did your Majesty say this? How should he answer? After a moment of silence, he replied: "The war ministers at the front don't know much about it. This matter is under the command of the Ministry of War. Xu Shangshu should know."
"Really? Do you know what happened to the reinforcements sent out?"
"This..." Xun Mou pretended to be confused, glanced at Xu Bingde, and continued, "Sending additional reinforcements was also Xu Shangshu's suggestion, and the people sent were also recommended by him. You should ask him about this matter." Later, Xun Mou also felt something was wrong, so his tone changed, as if he was provoking Xu Bingde.
Xu Bingde turned red with anger, pointed at Xun Mou and scolded: "You clown, I'm afraid you know better than me, right?"
Xun Mou looked stern, with a murderous look in his eyes, and asked, "Why did Mr. Xu say this?"
Xu Bingde no longer wanted to pretend, "If you don't want others to know, you have to do nothing yourself. The Liu Bozhao and Wang Yan who were sent have been bribed by you, right?" After saying this, everyone in the civil and military circles in the court was in an uproar.
"Master Xu, don't spit blood!" Xun Mou said nonchalantly, "Your Majesty, you must make the decision for me."
A trace of suspicion flashed between Liu Yan's eyebrows, but looking at Xun Mou's disapproving look, he hesitated again. Xun Mou was young but the city was so deep. If this root of the problem was not eliminated, it would be a disaster sooner or later. It might be the right time to act now. it's time to. Then he raised his eyebrows and shouted: "Here comes someone!"
Suddenly, the sound of golden leather was heard around the Xuanzheng Hall, and all the officials in the hall were stunned. It seemed that the emperor had been prepared for today. Immediately afterwards, two groups of armored dragon and tiger guards rushed into the entrance of the hall and surrounded the hall. Then a tall and mighty general walked slowly into the palace from the main entrance, and everyone hurriedly made way for him.
Xu Bingde was full of pride, smiled and clasped his fists at the visitor: "General Zhang is here just in time, we will capture the rebel Xun Mou soon."
"I only obey His Majesty's orders. It is not up to you to give orders."
"Zhang Dan, you..." Xu Bingde was startled, but there was nothing he could do. He turned to the emperor in the palace and cupped his hands, "This is exactly what His Majesty meant."
Zhang Dan looked at Xun Mou, then raised his fist to the emperor, "Your Majesty..." He asked whether the emperor would take action.
Everyone in the hall was dumbfounded at this time, but Xun Yu and his son remained silent, as if the matter had nothing to do with them, which made Liu Yan a little nervous. In such a battle, other people would have been so frightened that they would have knelt down and begged for mercy. How could Xun Yu and his son be so indifferent.
At this time, Xun Yu suddenly snorted coldly and said: "Master Xu, you are both the minister of the Ministry of War and the uncle of the dynasty. How can you easily take people without real evidence? Moreover, Xun is neither a mountain villager nor a barbarian bandit." , but the late Emperor personally named Duke Wei Guo, how could he be blamed so easily?"
Xu Bingde was so angry that his face turned red and he was speechless. Liu Yan in the palace was also at a loss.
"You are using strong words to make excuses." Xu Bingde said angrily, "Liu Bozhao and Wang Yan have been bribed by you a long time ago, and I was deceived by you just because I was confused. After the two of them led their troops to Qixingyuan, they never moved forward again. Use the excuse of heavy rain to stay where you are. If Gao Yun's deputy general Han Tai hadn't killed him back to Qixingyuan, I'm afraid no one would have known about your plan."
"You have no proof, how can you convince everyone?"
"Hmph..." Xu Bingde raised his hand, "It was Liu Bozhao's subordinate Wan Hu who joined the army and returned to Beijing immediately to report. Others are waiting outside the palace."
Xun Yu's face suddenly darkened and he looked at Xun Mou, who couldn't help but frown.
"Xuan Wanhu enters the palace."
Wan Hu followed the attendants into the palace. After performing the courtesy of a monarch and his ministers, he told everything he had seen and heard in the army. It turned out that after Liu Bozhao and Wang Yan led their troops to Qixingyuan, they suddenly encountered a heavy rain, so Liu Bozhao ordered everyone to The army camped on the spot. Although the heavy rain suddenly stopped, it soon stopped that night, and the weather was sunny the next day. However, Liu Bozhao had no idea of leaving the camp. Several generals also advised him to send troops to assist Marshal Gao as soon as possible, but they turned a deaf ear and used the excuse of Mr. Divination to say On the grounds that it was not appropriate to break camp these days, they kept their troops stationary. They also said that Gao Yun had reported good news and that the rebels would be captured soon. It was not until Marshal Gao's subordinate Han Tai suddenly came to kick the camp the day before yesterday that everyone discovered that Marshal Gao had already died for his country. , but it was too late.
