Man Tang Huacai

Chapter 391 Disobedience and unfilial piety

When the fireworks exploded above the Calyx Tower, Yuan Siyi couldn't help but take a step forward, put his hands on the battlements, and stared nervously, for fear of causing trouble.

However, there was no chaos as expected, only a dazzling light blooming all over the sky.

Viewed from the palace wall, the brightly lit buildings and the fireworks above complement each other, which is so beautiful that it truly corresponds to the four words "the calyx of a flower complements each other".

This is the most beautiful night scene in the world, so beautiful that Xue Bai feels lonely. He really hopes that someone close to him is by his side at this moment, not Yuan Siyi.

When the sound of gunpowder explosions gradually subsided, Yuan Siyi frowned, slightly disappointed, and said, "They didn't take action."

Xue Bai watched with his hands behind his hands, his face calm and calm, looking extremely aloof, and said nonchalantly: "They thought about taking action. Maybe they sensed something was wrong and stopped."

Everything he knew had been told to Yuan Siyi. In order to gain credit, Li Qiwu oppressed him in the name of being a prisoner, took away the fireworks formula, and controlled the production of fireworks. He sent Du Wulang to keep an eye on it and discovered that he had used arrow clusters in the raw materials, and was about to investigate the matter. Invited to Princess Xianyi's mansion by brothers Li Chu and Li Tan, they tried to win over her.

Although he didn't say it clearly, according to his understanding, the implicit meaning of brothers Li Chu and Li Tan was to let him not meddle in other people's business. If something went wrong, he, the firework, would be the first to be held accountable, and his body and family would be destroyed. It would be better to wait and see what happens. They I won’t treat him badly in the future.

Xue Bai then took a huge risk to remind the saint, and when faced with Yuan Siyi's questioning, he honestly explained what happened. Someone had hijacked him and wanted to use him to assassinate the saint.

This is a frame-up.

Li Heng pursed his lips and almost opened his mouth to save the dying flame.

Xue Bai slowly sighed and said: "In the past, I was often framed. After five years of Tianbao, I woke up from amnesia and was involved in the Du Youlin case. I made false claims about prophecies. What a sin."

~~
Li Heng raised his head for a long time until his neck was sore.

Xue Bai was slightly sarcastic in his heart, but he shook his head and said, "I really can't put myself in his shoes."

When he ascends the throne, he will work hard to govern. Reducing the palace expenses and returning 30,000 palace residents are just trivial matters; he also wants to change the tax law. The mediocrity of renting has come to an end, and he plans to switch to the double tax law proposed by Xue Bai; he wants to exile Yang Guozhong and rectify the situation. He wanted to cut down Ping'an Lushan, appease the people of Guandong, and prevent chaos in the bud; he also wanted to attack Tubo, rule Uighur, destroy Khitan, take back the ancestral country from the hands of the faint emperor, and achieve countless great achievements.

Li Qiwu didn't keep his word. Did something go wrong?
Thinking about this problem, Li Heng gradually felt a cold feeling on his back.

"Oh?"

There was a faint light flashing in Yuan Siyi's eyes, and she sneered slightly.

Only Li Heng only cares about fireworks.

In this short moment, his heart was surging, and there were countless turbulent waves in his mind.

"This……"

It all still seems so ridiculous. The young man who was wronged in Du Youlin's case has now become the driving force behind Li Qiwu's crime. Xue Bai resisted and resisted, and became Li Linfu?
Very shameless, but powerful, at least extremely powerful in Chang'an City.

"I thought the reason why Xue Lang deliberately planned to assist Prince Qing... was because he had thought about it."

As a result, Yuan Siyi's suspicion was not dispelled, but became more suspicious.

His expectations were raised high, but then gently lowered. As the last fireworks fell, he opened his eyes in disbelief and searched for the sky, as if he was reluctant to let go of the beauty.

Others often don't believe that the principles Yang Guozhong taught Xue Bai are worth thousands of dollars, but recently Xue Bai has deeply realized that if he wants to accomplish things in Tianbao Court, he really has to follow Yang Guozhong's principles.

Xue Bai pretended to be confused and asked, "Why not?"

The sky is full of stars, but in his eyes they are not as bright as fireworks. But fireworks are short-lived, and starlight is the norm.

"At that time, I was very puzzled and angry. How could the temple princes open their eyes and tell lies, wronging the Du family and me. But now I understand, because if the crime is proven true, the consequences will be too serious. The safety of the saint cannot be ignored. It is better to If you kill someone by mistake, you can’t let it go. Thinking about it this way, does Supervisor Yuan still think that I framed Li Heng and Li Qiwu?”

Yuan Siyi was tempted and said in a slow tone: "Prince Qing had no children, so he adopted several sons of the deposed Prince Ying. If Prince Qing is established as the crown prince, wouldn't it be equivalent to giving the throne to the line of the deposed Prince Ying?"

However, after all the colorful flowers bloomed, it finally came to an end, and the fireworks in the sky began to gradually fade.

"I didn't think too much about it." Xue Bai's smile became fake and he spoke in a casual manner, "I'm so humble that I dare not participate in the abolition of Li Li, let alone assisting King Qing? I just put the safety of the saint as the top priority. .”

The night was still calm.

"Are you sure you've stopped? Didn't you frame the prince and Li Qiwu?"

Today, the ministers proposed to rename the Qianqiu Festival as the Tianchang Festival, hoping that Li Longji could live forever. But in fact, who believes it? Even Yuan Siyi didn't believe it.

"Xue Lang puts himself in his shoes, if the son of the deposed crown prince Ying takes the throne, will he reverse the case for his grandfather? So, what kind of reputation does the saint have in this case?"

As long as he ascends the throne, he believes that he will be able to do it.

"Haven't you seen enough, Your Highness?"

In the square behind him, money was scattered all over the ground. The ministers leaned over to pick up the money and thanked the emperor happily, but the saint's figure remained motionless above the calyx tower.

The gorgeous fireworks bloomed in his eyes, and he was fascinated by them without blinking, as if he was expecting something to happen.

"It's just about being a saint."

Without it, I only serve Li Longji’s heart.

As for himself, he had no regard for the duties of a fireworks artist. He leaned against the red and green trees every day, stole incense and jade, and temporarily left power to his confidants, leaving officials such as Li Qiwu and others to take charge of specific affairs. , when something goes wrong, it’s a good opportunity to overthrow political opponents and take the rest of the credit.

Xue Bai exuded the unyielding aura of an important minister of the country. As he spoke, he turned his head and looked at Yuan Siyi, as if asking: "Am I wrong?"

When it comes to saints, Yuan Siyi knows saints best. He suddenly thought of something and decided to suppress Xue Bai's momentum. A smile appeared on his face and said: "Unfortunately, no matter how good Xue Lang is, it is impossible for a saint to stand up." Prince Qing is the crown prince."

Yuan Siyi was impatient, but could only listen to Xue Bai reminiscing about the past, because he felt that Xue Bai had gained the trust of the saint tonight. This was absolute power. Even he, the eunuch of the internal chamberlain, could only give in and do things according to Xue Bai. , to ensure that it is in line with the saint’s will.

He believed that his initial prediction was correct. Xue Bai was probably the abandoned son of the deposed crown prince Ying, and he was doing everything to usurp the throne. But tonight’s target is not a saint, but a prince.

He soon realized that even if what Xue Bai said was true, it was deliberately conniving and even leading to misunderstanding. He was not easily fooled and immediately pointed out the truth.

For example, this time, when Yuan Siyi guessed that Xue Bai would make some move and stared at him to pinch him, he did nothing. If you don't do it, you won't make a mistake. As long as he catches the wind and maximizes the suspicion in Li Longji's heart, it will be enough to bring down the prince Li Heng.

Facing Xue Bai like this, Yuan Siyi opened her mouth, unable to refute, and sighed: "Xue Lang is so calculating."

Suddenly, a voice sounded behind him, but he was so focused that he didn't realize that someone was approaching, so he couldn't help being startled.

He looked back and saw that it was Yuan Siyi. He became more and more frightened, and cold sweat ran down his armpits.

"The saint has summoned me, please come with me, your highness." Yuan Siyi said.

"Yes."

Li Heng had a premonition that something was not going to happen and even forgot to reply. He looked up at the saint's towering figure and was about to walk towards the calyx building.

However, Yuan Siyi moved to the side and whispered: "Your Highness, this way, the saint is in the Qinzheng Building."

Something seemed to explode in Li Heng's mind, and he realized that he was finished and had been framed by his biological father again.

But what did he do?
He just came to the Qianqiu Festival to celebrate his birthday and did nothing!

"Your Highness? Please."

"Ah Weng." Li Heng pulled Yuan Siyi's sleeve and begged in a low voice: "Protect me."

Yuan Siyi had always had a neutral attitude towards Li Heng. Because he had accepted too many gifts from An Lushan, he thought that the East Palace would not have much favorable impressions of him. But in the final analysis, Yuan Siyi was still the saint's domestic slave. She had always seen how much the prince suffered from cowardice. This time, seeing Li Heng being framed by Xue Bai and being so frightened, she felt sad in her heart.

"Your Highness came before the saint. To tell you the truth, nothing major happened this time. It was just a trap for Your Highness by some ministers. It would be nice to have a clear explanation."

"Who framed me?"

Yuan Siyi kept walking, thinking in her mind, thinking that if she could help Li Heng compete with Xue Bai, she might be able to stop or expose Xue Bai's conspiracy.

To put it bluntly, nothing really happened tonight after all, and Li Heng might still have a chance to make a comeback.

He then said: "Your Highness wants to know, but don't say it was the old slave who said it..."

Li Heng heard this and asked, "Aweng, can you let me see Xue Bai first? If I try to trick him a few words, I might be able to find a flaw and prove his innocence."

~~
A figure with his head peeking up walked to the palace wall and waved to Xue Bai. It was Du Wulang.

"The fireworks are over? Are we done with our errands?"

"Don't be so sneaky that the guards will mistake you for an assassin and shoot you."

"Ah, really?" Du Wulang didn't expect it to be so serious, so he shrank his neck, "I'll never come to this palace again."

Xue Bai asked: "I told Li Tan."

"I told you." Du Wulang said: "You really don't want to harm him, do you? He is actually quite good."

"Is there a lie in what I asked you to tell him?"

"No, it's almost all true."

"You told him the truth to remind him and for his own good. How could you be harming him?"

Du Wulang had no choice but to say: "I can't tell you anything. Anyway, I told him everything that needs to be said."

"How did he react?"

"I was chasing King Guangping, but I lost him and never found him again."

Xue Bai was also a little confused. He really wanted to deceive Li Chu and Li Tan into doing something to prove the inextricable relationship between Li Qiwu and Donggong. But in the end, only Li Chu found Li Qiwu, but Li Tan didn't know where he had gone.

Fortunately, Li Chu's actions have confirmed that Li Qiwu is from the East Palace.

Not long after, a young eunuch came over and asked Xue Bai to go with him. Xue Bai did not refuse and followed for a while and met Li Heng under the corridor.

The young eunuch quickly retreated. Xue Bai looked around and saw Yuan Siyi waiting at the corner in front, looking a little anxious.

Xue Bai said: "Your Highness, why don't you go and see the saint soon?"

"How about making a deal?" Li Heng only had a short time, but he had to determine the seriousness of the matter before meeting the saint, so he asked in the most direct way: "You can have anything you want."

Xue Bai gave him face, took two steps forward, and spoke in a voice that only the other party could hear, saying: "I want His Highness's life."

There was a brief silence. Li Heng didn't care to understand how he felt when he heard such words, and asked: "Why do you?"

"You can't protect yourself."

Li Heng wanted to find out Xue Bai's trump card as quickly as possible so that he could know if there was anything he could exchange for it to resolve this danger. Coincidentally, he did have something else that Xue Bai wanted.

That's why Xue Bai was willing to have this conversation with him and answer his questions truthfully.

"Nothing happened." Li Heng said, "You may not be framed..."

Xue Bai interrupted him briefly and forcefully, saying: "Whether you are conspiring with Li Qiwu or not, you know it in your heart."

Li Heng was surprised again. Tonight, only the two of them knew how devastating Xue Bai's game was to Li Heng. Even Yuan Siyi has not yet understood the seriousness of this matter and feels that nothing has happened.

But what is the reality?
What was the reason why Li Heng believed in this possibility after hearing only the word "change the sky" and stayed in Huacalyx Tower to watch the changes?
Did he really do nothing?
At this moment, facing Xue Bai's all-seeing eyes, one conversation after another echoed in Li Heng's mind——

"The saint appointed Xue Bai as the fireworks envoy to hold a fireworks ceremony on the Qianqiu Festival. As far as I know, fireworks are dangerous things."

"How dangerous is it?"

"According to soldiers who went to Nanzhao under Xianyu Zhongtong's command, the gunpowder used to make fireworks was very dangerous."

"What does Your Highness mean?"

"I'm worried that Xue Bai deliberately caused this fireworks ceremony to harm the saint and wanted the general to keep an eye on it."

"..."

Li Heng deliberately did not think about the subsequent conversations, subconsciously thinking that as long as he didn't think about them, they never existed.

In fact, no third person should know about these conversations, because they all take place in the most secretive places. How did Xue Bai know? All day long, he only cares about leaning on the red and green, and being with Du Jin...

Thinking of Du Jin, Li Heng almost jumped up as if he had been stung by a poisonous bee.

He suddenly understood that Xue Bai was pretending to be romantic, but in fact, every time he had a tryst with Du Jin, he had listened to the news she had found in Chang'an City. That woman was already very scheming, but now she has even more ruthless tactics.

And every time Li Qiwu came to meet him in disguise, he did not hide it from Du Jin's eyes. Xue Bai knew that he had met with Li Qiwu several times and could guess the content of their conversation.

Does the saint know all this?
Li Heng didn't dare to think any further. He had already realized deeply enough how terrible the consequences of that immovable stop just downstairs were.

Back then, Li Ying, Li Yao, and Li Ju entered the palace wearing armor. They had no intention of harming the saint, and they were sentenced to death... He shuddered again and avoided looking at Xue Bai's gaze.

"I don't want the reserve anymore." Li Heng was heartbroken and said in a low voice: "Stop trying to kill them all. Abandoning the reserve is not good for you. The fate of Li Linfu opening the coffin and exposing the body is right in front of you. Save my life."

"Anything I want?"

Li Heng hesitated for a moment.

Suddenly, there was a loud noise in the distance, as if another firework exploded. But when the two looked up, they didn't see any fireworks in the sky. Instead, they heard the roar of elephants.

There was chaos in the direction of Huaxe Tower. It must have been fireworks that startled the elephants and caused panic among the crowd.

Seriously, this would be an excellent opportunity for assassination.

Li Heng was stunned for a moment, then turned to look at Xue Bai, suspecting that it was Xue Bai who had done something. Even if it wasn't, Xue Bai, as a fireworks user, would definitely bear a heavy responsibility if something like this happened.

However, Xue Bai was at a loss for a moment. Obviously, this situation was beyond his expectation.

But if not him, who else?
Xue Bai was puzzled for only a moment. He quickly figured out the reason and said, "Okay, Li Qiwu is finished..."

~~
Yang Yuhuan felt that the saint had often become strange since he heard that Li Linfu wanted to take advantage of him.

She had promised to watch the fireworks tonight, but when things came to a close, the saint let her lean against the balcony alone, and he climbed up to the high building to enjoy the congratulations of the officials.

However, she was still in a good mood, because the fireworks tonight were more beautiful than she expected. She was fascinated by this, and then she felt very sad when she thought that the beauty of fireworks was so short-lived, just like she only had a few years of youth.

So, while carrying someone on her back, she rarely wiped the corners of her eyes and wiped away the tears that had flowed down unintentionally.

"Concubine, what's wrong?"

"The wind is too strong." Yang Yuhuan turned around, with a smile as bright as a flower again, and said, "I want to watch the fireworks again."

"The fireworks are all finished."

"No matter what, you go and ask the fireworks user if he can set off another one, just one. I don't believe he didn't prepare one."

Zhang Yunrong had no choice but to say: "Please let me go and ask General Gao."

She then ran to a tall building. When she came back, she said she was blocked and could not see Gao Lishi, but Gao Lishi's confidant eunuch had already conveyed the message on her behalf. After a while, the news came back and the saint promised to set off a few more fireworks for her.

"Are you really prepared?"

"There should be."

Yang Yuhuan continued to stand by the railing and watch. After waiting for a while, there was actually a young eunuch holding a firework and placing it at the ready downstairs. She couldn't help but smile proudly.

However, maybe the little eunuch was too panicked, lit the fuse and ran away. Then with a "whoosh" sound, the fireworks shot horizontally towards the calyx building and exploded in front of the building, scaring the palace maids into screaming.

It happened that the elephant that had rolled up Ganoderma lucidum in its long trunk to celebrate the saint's birthday was there. He was frightened and ran into the crowd uncontrollably.

"Ah! Run quickly!"

"Don't hurt the lucky elephant! Never hurt the lucky elephant..."

Seeing that the elephant was about to crash into the crowd, suddenly a petite figure in red, holding a hundred-foot pole, jumped onto the stage. After running across the stage, he jumped down without hesitation, and actually jumped on the stage. On the elephant's back.

Seeing this situation, Yang Yuhuan couldn't help but cover her mouth in shock.

However, it didn't help that the little girl in red jumped on the elephant's back. The elephant had already knocked over two officials and was about to trample them to death.

"Cover its ears!!" The mahout ran after the elephant like crazy, shouting: "Cover its ears."

"Okay!"

The little woman in red responded loudly, stood up slowly on the elephant's back, leaned over and touched its head, and then gently covered its fan-sized ears.

After a while, the chaos subsided, and there was a roar of praise from the crowd, as if they had watched a performance.

"Who is that? Such strong skills." Yang Yuhuan, who was watching this scene upstairs, couldn't help but ask.

"It's Mrs. Gongsun's disciple, Li Twelve Niang." Zhang Yunrong said, "She seems to have some lawsuits against her. Mrs. Guo Guo is protecting her, so no one dares to touch her."

"I remembered." Yang Yuhuan said, "I want her to be my guard. Go and bring her up. I'll give her a glass of wine."

"Here."

After this little disturbance, Yang Yuhuan felt that he had had enough fun. He turned around and saw Long Wujun escorting a person down the steps.

She couldn't help but become confused as she looked at it, secretly wondering how King Jianning came to the Huahe Tower? What did he do again, and he was captured by the guards?

~~
Diligent government affairs building.

There were many people standing in the hall, but they didn't make a sound. You could hear a pin drop.

Behind the curtain, Li Longji took a nap for a while. When he opened his eyes, he saw Gao Lishi and Yuan Siyi waiting there, ready to report.

"explain."

"Back to the Saint, there was a disturbance in front of the Huaxe Building. I checked it out and found that there must be something wrong with the fireworks. I have taken the general supervisor Li Qiwu to inquire."

"Ask carefully." Li Longji said calmly.

Gao Lishi said: "This Li Qiwu is afraid that he has conflict with the water god and fire god. The same thing happened when the Yellow River was used for water transportation. He chiseled rocks into the river, which made the water god angry and made it difficult to sail. Two years ago, his house in Chang'an was lost again. Fire; coupled with tonight, the luck is really bad."

He was talking and laughing, as if he wanted to stop the matter with Li Qiwu.

But Li Longji didn't answer, his face was cold.

When Yuan Siyi saw this, he reported: "Sage, the prince has arrived."

"Call." Li Longji pointed at Chen Xuanli and said, "The three of you stay, and the rest will leave."

When Gao Lishi heard this, he knew that the saint was determined to depose the prince, and he was worried. After thinking about it, he still advised: "Sage, what happens tonight may have nothing to do with the prince."

"I will wait until Li Qiwu confesses."

"But Guoben..."

"Today is Tianchang Festival." Li Longji suddenly scolded Gao Lishi, "Are you sincere in waiting to congratulate me for eternity?"

Gao Lishi responded quickly: "Old slave, I am sincere."

"Since we are destined to last forever, why should we be crown prince? Or you are all deceiving me!"

Even Gao Lishi couldn't answer this. To a certain extent, what the saint said was absolutely correct. But who would have thought that such a rogue word would come from the mouth of a wise king like a saint.

Not long after, Li Heng entered the palace.

"My dear father, please be well."

Li Heng prostrated himself honestly, without giving Li Longji any chance to accuse him harshly, and said: "The auspiciousness has descended from heaven today. It can be seen that God also believes that my father's merits are eternal and he should live a long and endless life. As for my sons and ministers, they are weak and sick, let alone My eldest son, I cannot bear the heavy burden of the country, so please give up the position of prince to your eldest brother, and I sincerely ask for your father's grace."

He tried to make his tone fuller, hoping to show his sincere emotions, but his voice was still weak and revealed endless sadness.

Even Chen Xuanli turned his head and felt that His Highness the Crown Prince was very pitiful.

Only Li Longji didn't feel sorry for his son and hated his hypocritical appearance. Thinking of Li Heng standing downstairs in Huaxe, waiting for his death, his heart was as cold as iron. He wanted to ask, "I'm afraid you have already thought about it." What are you going to do after you ascend the throne? How dare I destroy you?"

But when he spoke, his words were gentle.

"You are my son and my prince. How can I depose you just because you are 'frail and sick, and not the legitimate eldest son'? Get up."

Li Heng couldn't stand up and put his head on the ground.

When Yuan Siyi saw this, she couldn't help but wonder, secretly thinking that the prince did not defend himself and put the blame on Xue Bai, but instead took the initiative to give way to Prince Qing. Why was this?

Praise for killing?

Li Heng was lying there without raising his head, but he could deeply feel Li Longji's terrifying murderous intention.

He knew that he had to resign before Li Qiwu "confessed", otherwise if Li Longji continued to listen to more details, he would really die worse than Li Ying.

"My son had the courage to say a few words that offended my father... Tonight, I recalled what happened to my second brother and felt deeply wronged by him. I didn't plead for him back then, and felt extremely ashamed. I couldn't bear to be the crown prince and begged my father..."

"He was wronged, are you wronged?!"

Li Longji suddenly became furious, picked up the gold cup and smashed it on Li Heng's head, shouting: "Wei Jian, Huangfu Weiming, Wang Zhongsi, Li Qiwu, have I wronged you once?!"

This time, Li Heng actually raised his head instead of being submissive.

There was blood flowing from his forehead, and he continued to speak under terrible pressure.

"The child deeply feels the injustice done by the second brother and does not want to live in the East Palace. Please give up the throne to the eldest brother. Otherwise, if the child succeeds to the throne, he will have to reverse the case for the second brother... The child is disobedient and deserves to die!"

(End of this chapter)