Man Tang Huacai

Chapter 394 North Wind Travel

In the autumn of Fanyang City, the wind was already biting, and a blazing bonfire was burning in the courtyard of the Jiedushi Mansion, making the interior of the hall as warm as spring.

There was a mountain of meat piled on the huge bed. That was An Lushan lying on his back, the meat on his belly was soft and flowing down like grease.

A middle-aged woman climbed onto his belly. She was the Xiwandan clan of the Khitan tribe. Although she was over forty years old, she was still very charming.

She has chestnut curly hair, wheat-colored skin, and plump lips. At this time, she is fidgeting with her hands to gently lift An Lushan's breasts, which are even plumper than hers.

This action had been going on for a while, and she was so hot that she was sweating profusely. When she heard the comfortable snoring coming from An Lushan, she lowered her head and looked for something under the huge belly.

After lifting a layer of fat, she squinted her eyes, changed her posture, put her head against her belly that was always leaking, and stretched out her tongue to explore...

"Dong dong dong dong."

The sound of drums could be heard in the distance, and it lasted for a long time. The drums were still sounding until Siwandan had stopped moving.

"Help me up." An Lushan said.

Although the tone was still the same as in the past, Feng Shenwei's feelings were completely different when he heard it. He turned his head and asked someone to bring Sun Xiaozhe up and started talking about the Lishan incident.

However, this is just An Lushan's personal opinion. The noble and solemn scholars in Hebei resented the imperial court much more deeply.

"Mr. Anfu, the saint ordered me to bring Sun Xiaozhe back and hand him over to you."

"Haha, but because he is too rude and ignorant of etiquette, he offended the saint?" An Lushan was still laughing.

They said they were begging for mercy, but their ferocious looks made it seem like they wanted Feng Shenwei's life. Gao Shang even winked at Tian Qianzhen. Tian Qianzhen put his hand on the handle of the knife and made a move to draw the knife and kill Feng Shenwei, but was blocked by others.

Feng Shenwei's lips trembled and he wanted to speak, but the generals around him started shouting.

"Master Fu, please spare General Sun's life!"

He is not at the end of his rope and has to rise up. As long as he does not rebel, he will still be the king of Dongping County and enjoy endless glory and wealth. Before Li Heng ascended the throne, rebellion was a huge risk for him but achieved little change.

"It seems to be a serious crime of treason...Well, the court sent someone, it is Feng Shenwei, the eunuch beside the saint. Do you want him to tell the prince?"

It was Sun Xiaozhe who was being whipped. He screamed loudly and miserably, but his voice was full of vigor and contempt for the court.

There are not so many people for a saint to hold a small court meeting in Chang'an City. In other words, Fan Yang Jiedushi's momentum is not inferior to that of a saint.

The general who came to report the news hesitated for a while and said: "Master Fu, General Sun committed a crime in Chang'an and was taken back. The saint asked Master Fu to watch and deal with it."

Before he could finish his words, a woman rushed out from behind An Lushan and rushed towards Sun Xiaozhe, crying something in Khitan.

However, the noble and solemn people were even bolder. They almost said in unison: "Then let's make the Hunjun too."

If he hadn't said it, others might not have been able to tell that this charming woman had a son as old as Sun Xiaozhe.

At the end, Feng Shenwei said: "Please don't blame me Lord Anfu. The saint saw what General Sun did in Lishan with his own eyes..."

Feng Shenwei was about to say in a bossy tone, "It's up to you, the saint just wants to see how you handle it," but at this time he didn't dare to say anything else.

An Lushan was sitting leaning against him, with a unhappy expression on his face. When he saw them, he shouted, "What's wrong with this? I've finally managed to please the saint, but now I'm going to become suspicious."

An Lushan was defeated by the Khitan at that time, and he was able to escape thanks to Sun Xiaozhe's full protection. It was impossible for him to kill his favorite general in front of so many confidants. He simply pointed at Sun Xiaozhe and cursed: "You are a reckless bastard. Even if you have a grudge against Wang Zhongsi, you should not take action. You will make me angry!"

When he was uneasy, An Lushan showed his honest smile again, holding his stomach in his hands and hurriedly went down the steps to greet him.

"If the saint is suspicious of me, how can I do anything important?"

Today's saint has been wise and martial for decades, and still has a very high prestige in the hearts of people in the world, including An Lushan, who also has a heartfelt fear of him. He hoped that he could wait until Li Longji died before raising his troops to fight for the world from the useless Li Heng, or to separate one side.

~~
That night, Gao Shang and Yan Zhuang arrived at An Lushan's residence together. They didn't speak during the whole journey. They only looked at each other when they crossed the threshold, with the same enthusiasm and madness in their eyes.

"Hahahaha." An Lushan laughed and looked at Siwandan, "You have made me very comfortable in your service. I will reward your son heavily."

They have very similar experiences. They suffered a lot when they were young, and their talents were ignored when they grew up. They were often looked down upon. There are many people like them in the east of Xiaoshan Mountain. Tonight, it is only up to them to convey their dissatisfaction.

"This... is at Lord An's disposal."

Recently, An Lushan's legs and feet were not good and he was walking with a limp. When he moved, many servants around him rushed to help him. When Feng Shenwei saw him, he didn't dare to wait for him to greet him. He quickly stepped forward and said first: "Master Anfu, please slow down, please slow down."

But at the same time, An Lushan's subordinates were also brought. Gao Shang, whose face was burned, was wearing a mask and stood on the right, followed by Yan Zhuang, Gao Miao, Zhang Tongru, Ping Lie, Dugu Wensu, Li Shiyu, Li Tingjian and other staff, on the left are the generals, An Qingxu, An Shouzhong, Ashina Chengqing, Li Guiren, Cai Xide, Niu Tingjie, Xiang Runke, Cui Qianyu, Yin Ziqi, He Qianqian, Wu Lingxun , Neng Yuanhao, Tian Chengsi and Tian Qianzhen stood densely packed in the huge hall.

"Son!"

Sun Xiaozhe then shouted at his mother that she was wronged, and what he said was also in Khitan language. Although Feng Shenwei couldn't understand, he could feel his anger and ferocity. He had no choice but to bite the bullet and speak again, but his voice lost the air of a great eunuch in the palace.

Two soldiers entered the hall, took Sun Xiaozhe away from Feng Shenwei's men, and pulled him out. After a while, screams were heard in the distance.

"Master Fu, Sun Xiaozhe is back."

"No, no, no." An Lushan shook his head repeatedly.

After a long time, Feng Shenwei was brought over.

Gao Shang disagreed with this and responded: "If you want to do big things, why should you care about such trivial details?"

Feng Shenwei had already thought about how he should face An Lushan with an attitude of raising an army to ask questions, so that he could convey the saint's question. However, when I entered the hall, I looked up and saw so many people. I was shocked and felt an inexplicable chill down my spine.

After hearing this, An Lushan stopped limping and stood there with his big belly in his hands. His eyes rolled around, still pretending to be dumbfounded, and asked loudly: "How should I deal with it?"

He screamed, furious, and then said: "Drag him down and give him a hundred lashes, a hundred lashes!"

"The envoy is here, but he wants to die."

Seeing that Wandan couldn't help him alone, he quickly put on his clothes, walked around the screen, and called the servants headed by Li Zhu'er, who were either propping up his belly or putting on clothes. After a lot of work, An Lushan He was helped to the outer hall.

The honest and smiling expression on An Lushan's face froze, and gradually became a bit colder. This is Fan Yang, this is his territory, he doesn't need to pretend to be funny, he exudes a frightening aura.

"Do you think there is still a way out now?" Gao Shang said: "Hunjun is surrounded by Yang Guozhong and Xue Bai. These two people have always been at odds with Fujun, and they will often report evil deeds to Fujun. This time about Sun Xiaozhe This is proof that the current monarch is unwilling to kill Sun Xiaozhe, which has made the emperor afraid, and he has no choice but to rebel!"

"That's right." Yan Zhuang said: "If you continue to cut off, you will suffer chaos. Rather than wait until the emperor has murderous intentions towards the prince, it is better to take action first."

"Do it?" An Lushan was shocked and scolded: "Why do you do it? Nothing is ready yet."

The two of them had no intention of persuading An Lushan to really raise his troops now. They were just constantly indoctrinating An Lushan to make preparations in advance.

Yan Zhuang said: "Don't worry, Mr. Fu. The imperial court now uses a fool like Yang Guozhong as prime minister. He is like a tree that looks tall and dense, but has been hollowed out by insects and will fall down with just one push."

Gao Shang also said: "The foolish king ignores government affairs and only cares about enjoying himself. The king of the government went to Chang'an and took the throne easily."

An Lushan would not be fooled by these two people, but he had no choice but to rely on their wisdom in everything. Just like this, after the defeat of the Khitan in the first battle, it was he, the masterminds, who made the plans and even trekked to the grassland to negotiate with Li Huaixiu and concluded an alliance. Later, he used the Khitan to sneak attack on the Xi tribe and turn defeat into victory, which made his strength less powerful. Decrease but increase.

It's just that these conspirators have always been ambitious and always encourage him to rebel.

As for whether he wants to rebel? Although he was dissatisfied with Prince Li Heng, apart from that, he was the one who was put in that position and had to rebel.

"Two gentlemen, don't be anxious." An Lushan still used the excuse he had always used to delay, saying: "Hedong Jiedushi has not yet been obtained. Without the terrain of Hedong, how can we enter Chang'an."

This is true. To enter Guanzhong from the territory he occupied, one must pass through the Taihang Mountains or break through Tongguan, which is far from the condescending geographical advantage of Hedong.

Seeing his expression, Gao Shang and Yan Zhuang looked at each other, and Yan Zhuang said: "Then please make preparations in advance, and we will try to let you also serve as the governor of Hedong."

"Got an idea?"

"Wang Zhongsi is dead, so this matter is not difficult."

"Really dead?"

"Sun Xiaozhe chopped him twice and said he must be dead, so the court would say he died of illness."

"That's good." An Lushan clapped his hands and laughed: "It seems that Sun Xiaozhe has made a great contribution this time."

"Yes, compared to killing Wang Zhongsi, making Hunjun suspicious is nothing."

After the three people discussed their plans, Gao Shang and Yanzhuang left the main room.

Gao Shang took off his mask, revealing his horribly burned face. Bathed in the bright moonlight, he asked Youyou: "How do you plan to help the master of the house take the east of the river?"

"If that doesn't work, we can seize Yanmen Pass by force first and then counterattack. We can also take the lead."

"I'm afraid Fu Jun still has concerns."

"Soon." Yan Zhuang said, "I have a hunch that these concerns will be eliminated soon."

Gao Shang stroked his scarred cheek with his fingers and murmured: "Tell me, if we kill Feng Shenwei, will the Lord of Fu have to rebel?"

"Don't rush for a while, what Mr. Fu said makes sense."

As Yan Zhuang spoke, he caught a glimpse of the mysterious smile on Gao Shang's face. He reacted and asked in shock, "Have you sent someone to kill him?!"

"hehe."

"You're crazier than me!"

Yan Zhuang cursed and quickly ran to where Feng Shenwei was staying to stop this.

Gao Shang stood there and let him go, with a mocking look on his face, and murmured to himself: "Why are you nervous? All of you have overestimated the court and underestimated the power of the prince."

~~
Since the burn, Gao Shang has become a womanizer and has never let a woman serve him again.

He would never let anyone else get close to him when he was sleeping, except Tian Qianzhen. Because he was rescued from the fire by Tian Qianzhen, he could even feel through the smell in his sleep whether the person approaching him was Tian Qianzhen. If not, he would wake up with a start.

The next day, Gao Shang woke up and saw Tian Qianzhen sitting beside his couch.

"Ah Hao is here, did you kill Feng Shenwei?"

"No. Yan Zhuang came and stopped him. Yan Zhuang coerced and lured Feng Shenwei to say good things to the Lord after he returned to the court, but I think it's difficult."

"It doesn't matter, a person's life is considered as the Fujun's statement." Gao Shang said, "As long as the Fujun doesn't openly rebel, the imperial court will not dare to force him first."

"Then why let me kill?"

"This way, others will be afraid of you." Gao Shang said, "Even if you rebel, you are the most ferocious one among the rebels." Tian Qianzhen nodded and said, "I understand."

"Let's have a meal together."

"Okay, by the way, there is one more thing." Tian Qianzhen said: "There is a very famous poet in Fan Yang. You often read his poems."

"Li Bai, Li Taibai?"

"Yes."

Gao Shang's eyes lit up and he said, "Where is he? How did you know he was in Fan Yang?"

Tian Qianzhen reached into his arms and took it out. First he took out two ears. The blood at the cut area had dried. Then he took out a piece of paper, which was still stained with blood.

"I went to kill Feng Shenwei last night. The guards outside the gate of the posthouse were talking, saying, 'The man just now is Li Bai, who is waiting for the imperial edict.' So I went up to ask them and took this."

Gao Shang took it and took a look, and what he saw was a poem titled "Traveling to the North Wind". Below it was the sentence "The north wind hurts the rain and snow, and travelers do not return. I imitate the ancient style and give it to the missing woman in Youzhou."

"The candle dragon lives in a poor house, and the rays of light are still shining brightly."

"Why can't the sun and moon shine like this? Only the north wind roars up from the sky."

"The snowflakes in Yanshan Mountain are as big as a mat, and they blow down Xuanyuan Terrace."

"..."

Gao Shang's eyes were full of praise at first, because although he was rebellious, he also liked poetry. He liked Li Bai's free and unrestrained poetic style. He used "as big as a mat" to represent snowflakes, which was so exciting, wonderful and unexpected.

However, gradually, a trace of suspicion flashed in Gao Shang's eyes, and he looked back and re-examined the poem.

The whole poem only writes about the grief and indignation of a missing woman in Youzhou over her husband's death in battle, but it seems to be vaguely alluding to An Lushan's defeat at the hands of the Khitans.

Gao Shang didn't know if he was too concerned. He felt that the first line of the poem had another meaning - even the candle dragon, which rarely opened its eyes, would occasionally shine on the world, but why the supreme sun and moon refused to illuminate the thistle. The deep earth, let it be dark and dark?
It seems to be satirizing that Li Longji is a treacherous person who is completely ignorant and unwilling to understand Fan Yang's true condition.

But what truth does Li Bai know?
Looking at the next few sentences, "Only the north wind roars up from the sky" seems to describe that Anlu Mountain has become the sole ruler of Hebei, and the snowflakes "as big as a mat" are blowing towards Xuanyuan Terrace, which symbolizes the dignity of the emperor. , implying that An Lushan already covets the artifact?
Gao Shang shook his head and asked, "Where is Li Bai?"

Tian Qianzhen said: "I have sent someone to look for him."

Gao Shang was so concerned about this matter that he even forgot to eat breakfast and kept chewing the poem.

At noon, Tian Qianzhen's subordinates came to report that they had found the wife of a general who had died in Fan Yang's army. She must be the "Missing Woman from Youzhou" who had taken Li Bai in.

"How to be sure?"

"Sir, please look at this."

It was a stack of poem manuscripts. Gao Shang took them and looked at them one by one. He saw that there were not many problems with these poem manuscripts. Among them were "Wandering and Hunting", which wrote about the warriors of "The British Wind Shakes the Sand Moraine"; "Youzhou Huma Ke Song" wrote about the knight who said "It's so hard to die to serve the country." It seems that when Li Bai first traveled to Yan and Zhao, the people he met were all generous people who "raised swords to save the border".

However, when compared with "North Wind Journey", it can better highlight the fact that these martyrs became the victims of Anlu Mountain.

In this way, Gao Shang finally confirmed Li Bai's spying on Fan Yang.

This was not a big deal. In comparison, Feng Shenwei, the eunuch sent from the palace, and the others dared to threaten him, so why should they be afraid of a literati who could only write poetry?

But because Li Bai was a poet that Gao Shang liked very much, he was willing to spend some energy to deal with the matter.

"Where's Li Baibai?"

"We interrogated the woman, and Li Bai left, but not long ago, just last night."

Gao Shang sneered and said: "Ah Hao, send Qingqi to chase him. Your Majesty needs some world-famous people to build more momentum for him."

"Here."

Soon, dozens of Qingqi rushed out of Fanyang City, searching for the figure in white with a sword...

~~
Changan.

After the Mid-Autumn Festival, in September, the turmoil caused by Yi Chu began to subside.

Those who were originally angry and in disbelief about this matter gradually became too lazy to speak out about it. After all, life had to go on, and things in the court could only be discussed and discussed, and they could not be eaten.

Many people noticed Xue Bai's role in this matter and paid attention to him. But to their surprise, Xue Bai was not active in the East Palace. Instead, he changed his past pushy style and acted much more restrained.

Like a pebble whose edges have been smoothed by Chang'an officialdom.

Early that morning, he and Yan Yan practiced Tai Chi together, showing off his calm and calm temperament. But when he stopped his fists, Yan Yan immediately cheered and said, "Okay? I made an appointment with Miss Xiaoxian. When they play dominoes, will the husband and the husband play together?"

"Do not hit."

Although Xue Bai brought dominoes to Datang, he himself didn't like playing them at all. No one except Li Longji could ask him to play cards again, not even Yan Yan or Li Tengkong.

But today, Li Tengkong actually came to invite him.

He had just changed his clothes, walked through the corridor, and was about to go out, when he saw the lotus-like woman in front of him. She has finally become plumper recently. Although she is still thin, her complexion is still plump.

"Well, are you playing cards? Yan Yan and Qing Lan and I are missing someone."

"Isn't Ji Lanzi here?"

"She's going to meet a friend and will come back later."

Xue Bai said: "Does she have any friends besides you?"

"After I met her, and even after I met you, she certainly has other friends."

Xue Bai is a man with great ambitions and is not satisfied with the small fun of playing cards... Seeing the affection flashing in Li Tengkong's eyes, he couldn't help but hold her hand and whispered: "We are here Talk over there.”

The two then entered a veranda, embraced each other, and tasted each other's lips.

When Xue Bai wanted to take another step, Li Tengkong gave a "shu" sound, pushed him, and said in a voice as thin as a mosquito's moan: "No, I'm two generations higher than you."

"Sooner or later these two generations will be overthrown."

"Bear with it a little longer."

Li Tengkong was worthy of being a Taoist, and he was very tolerant. After quietly coming to flirt with Xue Bai, he ran away in a hurry when he saw that he was too determined.

But today she gave Xue Bai a thought, and added something in a low voice before turning around.

"At least wait until we get out of Chang'an."

So much so that they even forgot about asking him to play dominoes. In fact, they were not short of people. Jiaonu and Mian'er were all looking at the card table eagerly. Unfortunately, Yang Yuyao will not give up her position easily.

Xue Bai sighed in distress, planning when to take Li Tengkong out of Chang'an.

After that, he calmed down and left the house.

Today he wanted to see Yang Guozhong and discuss his attitude and strategy towards An Lushan again. The two had differences on this matter, and even Ji Wen's handling could never reach an agreement.

Outside the door is Xuanyangfang Street, and a carriage has just stopped. The wind blew the car curtain, and Xue Baiqia saw Li Jilan turning around to talk to two women in the car. She only showed the side of her face, and her cheeks were slightly red.

Xue Bai was secretly communicating with Li Tengkong recently, and he was reluctant to provoke Li Jilan. Seeing that her carriage blocked the door, he simply went around to the side door and went out, and even put on a piece of ragged clothes.

Outside the side door is an alley, where a middle-aged man is walking with a suitcase on his back, looking around.

"This young man, dare I ask if this is Xue's house?"

"No."

Xue Bai said: "Xue Zhai has to go around to Xuanyangfang Street. There is a gate there."

"That's it, thank you."

The middle-aged man agreed, looked Xue Bai up and down, and seeing that he had a good temperament, followed his footsteps and said: "A certain Yin Fan is from Danyang and likes poetry."

"Mr. Yin, you are so polite. Whose poems do you like, sir?"

Yin Fan stroked his beard and said: "In a few years, I compiled 234 poems by twenty-four people including Chang Jian, Li Bai, Wang Wei, Gao Shi, Cen Shen, Meng Haoran, Wang Changling, etc., and recently compiled it into " "Collection of Heroic Spirits of Heyue" three volumes..."

Hearing this, Xue Bai stopped and asked, "Sir, are you here to see Xue Bai from Zhongshushe?"

Yin Fan was a little confused and muttered: "I heard that he is still young, but I don't know if he has been appointed to such a high position as a scholar in Zhongshe. I want to find Xue Bai, who wrote poems against Li Bai."

This person is probably a bit nerdy.

Xue Bai said: "We are talking about the same person. Why are you looking for him?"

"I heard that he was good at making paper and invented the technique of movable type printing. I would like to ask him to help me publish "The Collection of Heroes of Heyue" to the world. In addition, I want to include his poems in this fourth volume."

"Sir, why don't you include Du Fu's poems?"

Yin Fan knew about Du Fu, and said thoughtfully: "Du Zimei has not spread to Danyang a few years ago, so it can be included in the fourth volume in the future."

The two of them talked and walked to Xuanyangfang Street.

Xue Bai turned around and took a look and saw Li Jilan standing at the door with two middle-aged women looking around as if waiting for someone, so he pretended to go to the other side.

Yin Fan saw him and said, "My wife and sister are over there. We've passed now. Thank you young man for leading the way."

"You're welcome."

The two said goodbye, and Yin Fan walked towards the gate of Xue's house. When he was almost in front of his wife, he said, "I just met a kind-hearted young man who invited me here."

"Alang, this is Ji Lanzi, a disciple of Princess Yuzhen."

"You're polite. I often hear Li Bai mention Princess Yuzhen."

"Sir, do you also know Li Taibai?"

"That's natural. I received a letter from him ten months ago..."

(End of this chapter)