At the end of the Sui Dynasty

Since Li Yuan abdicated, although he still lives in the Taiji Palace, he doesn't care about political affairs at all. Except for a few confidants in the past, the rest of the ministers don't see each other, and they rarely appear in public places. He just reads and writes in the Taiji Palace every day. , serve some flowers, birds, and caterpillar fungus, or have fun with the concubines. It seems that I have completely resigned to my fate, and I just want to enjoy my old age in peace.

Concubine Yin De and Zhang Jieyu are Li Yuan's favorite two concubines, but since the Xuanwumen Mutiny, they have quietly disappeared, as if the world had evaporated.Li Yuan knew this well, but didn't ask anything, as if these two people never existed at all, and Li Shimin also thoughtfully presented four beauties to his father, who were younger and more beautiful, and Li Yuan was very satisfied after enjoying them , very favored.

On this day, the heat was unbearable. Li Yuan was enjoying singing and dancing in the Liangyi Hall of Tai Chi Palace with four new beauties, while drinking the wine tributed from the Western Regions.

At this time, a palace official came in and reported: "To the Supreme Emperor, the right servant of Shangshu shot Lord Feng to see you outside the palace."

Li Yuan frowned and asked, "Besides Feng Lun, who else?"

"Lord Feng came here alone." The palace man replied.

A flash of surprise flashed in Li Yuan's eyes, and he said calmly, "Take him to the Pillow Xia Pavilion."

The palace people retreated in response.

Shangshu Youpushe Feng Deyi, whose real name is Feng Lun and whose name is Deyi, is one of Li Yuan's confidant ministers. After Li Shimin ascended the throne, he treated his old ministers fairly well. Yi's position was promoted from Minister of the Ministry of Officials to Minister Youpushe, which was equivalent to a prime minister.

However, Feng Deyi is a tactful person. Since Li Yuan abdicated, he has rarely come to the Tai Chi Hall. Occasionally, he came to pay his respects to the Supreme Emperor with other people. It is probably to avoid suspicion. It is the first time to come alone like today. Second-rate.

Li Yuan patted the buttocks of the beautiful woman in his arms, told her to stand up and leave, and then waved away the musicians, then adjusted her appearance and went to Baoxia Pavilion.

Taiji Palace has Taiji Hall, Liangyi Hall, Chengqing Hall, Wude Hall, Ganlu Hall, Lingyan Pavilion, and 35 other halls, pavilions, temples, etc., which are very grand. Li Yuan lived here when he was emperor. Most of the political affairs are handled in the Wude Palace. Now that he is the Supreme Emperor, he seems to have retreated to the second line, but he still insists on living in the Taiji Palace. Whether he is really willing to abdicate is a matter of imagination.

Although Li Shimin felt that it was inappropriate for Lao Tzu to continue to live in the Taiji Palace after he abdicated, he came to power through a coup d'état. Li Yuan left his father and continued to live in Taiji Palace, but he, the real emperor, could only live elsewhere.

Closer to home, let’s say that when Li Yuan came to Baoxia Pavilion, the right servant of the Shangshu, Feng Deyi, had been waiting here for a while. Seeing the former stepping in, he immediately knelt down and saluted, saying: "Feng Deyi, see the Supreme Emperor, please greet the Supreme Emperor !"

Li Yuan said indifferently: "Don't be too polite to me, a bad old man, let's get down."

Feng Deyi stood up cautiously, and complimented: "The Supreme Emperor is strong and healthy, and he is not old at all, but the minister is really old. He lost another big tooth yesterday, and now he can't even chew meat." Opened his mouth to show Li Yuan.

Li Yuan glanced at it, and said pityingly: "You are two years younger than me, but your teeth are so bad, you need to take good care of them. Sit down!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Feng Deyi waited for Li Yuan to be seated, and then he sat down respectfully. These details made Li Yuan feel very comfortable.

"De Yi came here not just to greet me, right?" Li Yuan took a sip from his teacup, then cast a vague glance at Feng Deyi.

Feng Deyi said with a smile: "I wrote an article recently, and I was quite proud of it. I was eager for skills for a while, and then remembered that I hadn't come to pay my respects to the Supreme Emperor for a long time, so I brought the article to the Supreme Emperor to comment on."

Li Yuan smacked his beard and smiled when he heard the words: "You old bastard is so shameless that you boasted about yourself. Since it is a good article, let me read it for you."

Feng Deyi didn't even dare to say anything, he took out a stack of manuscripts from his sleeve, and respectfully said to Li Yuan: "Please be correct, Your Majesty."

Li Yuan took the manuscript and flipped through it, and asked nonchalantly as he read it: "I haven't been out of the palace for a long time, but now the country is still stable, and the people are doing well?"

Feng Deyi's eyes flashed, hesitantly said: "This..."

Li Yuan raised his head, frowned and said, "Why is Deyi hesitating?"

Feng Deyi hesitated, Li Yuan's heart moved, and he said calmly: "Your article is not bad, but there are a few mistakes, let's talk about it in my study."

Li Yuan stood up, took Feng Deyi into the study and closed the door, and the latter said with a worried face: "Da Tang and Gao Qi are at war."

Li Yuan said in a deep voice: "I know this, and I have expected it for a long time. How is the battle going?"

"Not so good." Feng Deyi said worriedly: "Li Xiaogong and Li Xiyu lost in Bashu, not only failed to eliminate Qin Qiong and Luo Shixin, but were defeated. Now they are in a very bad situation and are struggling to support themselves."

Li Yuan frowned and said, "With Li Xiaogong's ability and a [-] army in hand, how could he not be the opponent of Qin Qiong and Luo Shixin?"

Feng Deyi said: "Xu Shiji secretly sneaked into Bashu to preside over it, and Li Junwang suffered a loss in his hands."

"As expected." Li Yuan sighed, Gao Qi had too many outstanding talents, one Li Jing was enough to cause headaches, and finally Xu Shiji came out.

Feng Deyi nodded and said: "The emperor has already personally conquered Hedong, but Li Jing is really powerful. So far, the emperor has not made much progress, but Hangu Pass was breached by the leader of Qi, Gao Changqing."

Li Yuan was horrified, stood up abruptly, and said in a broken voice, "When did it happen?"

"I just received the [-]-li rush yesterday, it should have happened the day before yesterday." Feng Deyi replied.

Li Yuan's complexion changed, he suddenly woke up and asked urgently, "Who is guarding the gate?"

"Mr. Huo Guo, Chai Shao, and Princess Pingyang are also guarding Hangu Pass together."

Li Yuan lost his mind, and asked in surprise: "How are Princess Pingyang and her son-in-law doing now?"

Feng Deyi hurriedly said: "Don't worry, Your Majesty, Princess Pingyang and her son-in-law are all well, and they have been evacuated to Tongguan now."

Li Yuan breathed a sigh of relief when he heard the words, then sat down on his seat and said, "The east of Tongguan..."

"All of them have fallen into the hands of the Qi army. Now the whole country is in shock, and the people in the whole Guanzhong are in panic. Some people even proposed to let the emperor come out to take charge again, so as to save the society of the Tang Dynasty." Feng Deyi said at the end. He deliberately lowered his voice.

Li Yuan's complexion changed slightly, and he said unnaturally: "I am old, and my energy is not as good as before. The emperor is a wise king. I believe that he can turn the tide and turn the world around. Jieli 20 cavalry attacked Jingyang, which is very close to Chang'an. It’s not that the emperor has successfully resolved it, so you don’t have to panic, Deyi.”

Feng Deyi laughed and said: "The Supreme Emperor's words are very true. In fact, I have full confidence in the Emperor, but now the Emperor is driving to Hedong, and no one in Beijing is in charge of the overall situation. I am worried that there will be troubles, so I told the Supreme Emperor. I hope the Supreme Emperor can come forward to appease the people at this time."

Li Yuan said calmly: "No need, I believe the emperor will handle it well."

Feng Deyi said yes again and again, so he didn't mention it anymore. The two just continued to discuss the article. After discussing the article, Li Yuan seemed to be still unsatisfied, so he left Feng Deyi to have lunch together and go hunting in Xiyuan in the afternoon.

…………

In the Ministry of Education, Fang Xuanling looked solemn and worried. The news in the past few days was extremely unfavorable to Datang.First of all, Li Xiaogong and Li Xiyu did not destroy the Qi army in Bashu, but were defeated by the opponent. Now they are in a passive situation, and the situation is extremely unfavorable; , all failed to get a bargain from Li Jing; third, and the worst situation happened, Chai Shao lost Hangu Pass.

This is a big trouble. Guanzhong is a land of four fortresses, known as the land of abundance. Qinchuan is surrounded by extremely dangerous passes for eight hundred miles. Hangu Pass is the east gate of the Guanzhong Plain. Now it has been broken by the Qi army. It's safe!
But fortunately, there is Tongguan behind Hangu Pass, otherwise the Qi army would have driven straight in and approached the city of Chang'an.

The current situation is extremely bad. The emperor has only been in power for more than two months, and the key is that he is not in the right position and his foundation is unstable. At this time, successive defeats on the battlefield are undoubtedly extremely fatal. The country is overthrown.

At this time, a close aide hurried in and reported in a low voice: "To Mr. Zhong Shuling, the Taishang Huang just left Taiji Palace and went hunting in Xiyuan."

Since the Xuanwumen Mutiny, Fang Xuanling was appointed by Li Shimin as Zhongshu Ling and canonized as Duke Xing. Li Shimin personally conquered Hedong this time, and Fang Xuanling was responsible for staying in the capital. One of his tasks was to monitor the Supreme Emperor so as not to cause trouble.

So when he heard that Li Yuan had left the Tai Chi Palace, Fang Xuanling became vigilant, and hurriedly asked: "Is the Supreme Emperor traveling with beauties?"

The confidant shook his head and said: "No, the right servant of the Shangshu sent Feng Deyi to enter the palace today to pay his respects to the Supreme Emperor. The Supreme Emperor invited him to have lunch, and in the afternoon he invited Lord Feng to go hunting in Xiyuan."

Fang Xuanling's eyes flashed, and he frowned and said to himself, "Feng Deyi?"

After pondering for a while, Fang Xuanling waved his hand and said calmly: "Understood, order He Lang to ensure the safety of the Supreme Emperor. If there is a mistake, it will be difficult for the Emperor to pursue it."

The confidant backed out with a promise, Fang Xuanling frowned tightly, it is a bit unusual for the Supreme Emperor to go out to hunt at this time, could it be...

Fang Xuanling sighed secretly, I hope my guess is wrong, Datang really can't stand the toss, if the Supreme Emperor intends to retreat, even if it is suppressed in the end, it will be extremely detrimental to the emperor and to the country of Datang.