The Bad Guys: Everyone, let’s revive the Tang Dynasty together!

Chapter 319 Beauty
"Prince of Jin, Li Keyong?"

Li Xingyun was stunned, then frowned: "What do I need to do?"

After he finished speaking, he thought for a moment and asked again, "Are you ready for what I mentioned earlier?"

Yuan Tiangang approached with his hands behind his back and said in a hoarse voice: "Sending troops to Hebei to put pressure on the Pseudo-Liang will give Your Highness a chance to force the Pseudo-Liang to return Yang Shuzi. But the situation in the world is changing rapidly, and the opportunity is fleeting. Yang Shuzi has been trapped in the Xuanming Sect for a long time, and Your Highness should also make preparations early."

Li Xingyun finally stopped hesitating. Yang Shuzi was like a father to him and was the only relative he and his junior sister had in the world. If Yang Shuzi was killed because of his hesitation, Li Xingyun would probably never be able to let it go for the rest of his life.

He was just confused and said, "Will the King of Jin really help us? I am an orphan of the Tang Dynasty, with no reputation or soldiers. What good will it do him to help me?"

Yuan Tiangang laughed loudly: "It is an honor for Li Ya'er to help His Highness achieve great things! Fame? When His Highness shows it to the world, His Highness is the legitimate heir of the Tang Dynasty, and Li Ya'er will only come up to you with a flattering face! As for soldiers and horses... Haha, the most abundant thing in the world is the people of the Tang Dynasty!"

Li Xingyun was quite speechless. He always felt that Yuan Tiangang was a little crazy. He was not afraid of getting his tongue bitten by the wind when he said this.

He waved his hand and walked ahead with his hands behind his back: "Now that things have come to this, I'll follow your arrangements..."

As he spoke, he rolled his eyes and turned back to say, "But it's best not to let too many people know my identity, otherwise it will be too troublesome. How can I survive in the world in the future?"

Yuan Tiangang did not comment, but asked calmly: "Then your Highness's junior sister..."

Li Xingyun was a little worried. After thinking for a long time, he sighed and said, "It will be exposed sooner or later. It's better to tell her now. You wait here for a while. I will let her prepare herself mentally so that she won't be scared when we arrive in Taiyuan later."

Yuan Tiangang would not refuse. He stood with his hands behind his back and watched Li Xingyun scratch his head as he walked away. There was not much change in his eyes under the mask.

Your Highness, just follow the path he has arranged and move forward slowly. You will eventually grow, so there is no need to rush.

Huijue quietly walked to Yuan Tiangang's side, put his hands together and asked: "Donor Yuan, aren't you worried that your efforts will never be understood?"

Yuan Tiangang sneered indifferently: "As a subject, why do I need the word 'understanding'? For the eternal Tang Dynasty, I have a clear conscience."

Huijue remained silent, but continued politely: "I'm afraid that Mr. Li is not interested in this..."

"That's not up to him."

Yuan Tiangang spoke calmly, but this calm tone seemed to be full of murderous intent: "Not everyone is qualified to bear the responsibility of the Tang Dynasty."

Huijue sighed softly and said politely, "I understand. I will wait until the day when the matter of what Yuan Benefactor has instructed me to do is revealed."

Yuan Tiangang put his hands behind his back, without even turning his head, and just said casually: "Sorry for the trouble."

Huijue did not respond and left quietly again.

In the back mountain covered with frost and snow flying all over the sky, Yuan Tiangang was the only one left. He stood with his hands behind his back, gazing at the scenery in the distance, not knowing what to think.

Conquering Hebei was a path he had to pave for Li Xingyun.

Xiao Yan's power has already been established. He has secretly moved to Hebei and has quietly accumulated a huge fortune under the noses of people all over the world. From Hebei to the grassland, he has a dominant position and overlooks the Central Plains. He only needs to wait for the opportunity to devour the pseudo-Liang state.

Although Yuan Tiangang could not see the opportunity clearly for the time being, Xiao Yan obviously had the patience to wait for that day. During this period, what he did was to continuously accumulate momentum. Only then would he be on good terms with the empress and be immediately interrupted by Yuan Tiangang.

If Xiao Yan seeks quick success and becomes powerful very early, Li Xingyun's advantage will be squeezed to the smallest point, and at that time even Yuan Tiangang may not be able to resist taking action.

But to Yuan Tiangang's surprise, Xiao Yan, a hot-blooded young man, had such patience that he was reluctant to attack.

Of course, Yuan Tiangang would not take action himself unless he had no other choice. Killing one person was easy, but it was not enough to control the overall situation. Letting Xiao Yan die was simple, but it would not do much good to Li Xingyun. Yuan Tiangang did not care about the life or death of one person, and he disdained any infamy or reputation.

What he cared about was whether this person's life or death was decided by Li Xingyun.

Just as Xiao Yan was quietly waiting for the opportunity to devour Daliang, Yuan Tiangang was also quietly waiting for Li Xingyun to gain power. Then, under the gaze of the people of the world, he would seize this great cause from Xiao Yan just like Emperor Taizong captured two kings in one battle, and then use thundering means to clear up the troubled times and establish the prosperous dynasty that belonged only to the Tang Dynasty.

This is what being domineering means.

Rather than simply killing one person.

Using one person's body to control the situation and force the whole world to submit to him, this is the hegemony and kingly way that Yuan Tiangang respects.

This is the reason why Li Xuan said that to Xiao Yan in Twelve Caves in the past.

"Yuan Tiangang is a man who is very particular about 'momentum'."

Therefore, at that time, the fake Li suggested to expose Xiao Yan's identity and make him exposed to the world, forcing Xiao Yan to have no place to stand in Daliang. Only then did Yuan Tiangang slap the fake Li away.

That would indeed make it so that Xiao Yan had no place to stand in Daliang, but it would also create a powerful situation for Xiao Yan, making it more legitimate for Xiao Yan to control Hebei. Ambitious people like Li Keyong would turn to Xiao Yan to fight against Zhu Liang.

Xiao Yan will become the legitimate anti-Liang faction in the world!

Aboveboard and upright.

This will be even more troublesome than the current Xiao Yan. Just like Emperor Yi in the late Qin Dynasty, Emperor Gengshi between the Han Dynasty, and Emperor Xian in the late Han Dynasty, everyone knows that he is a mascot, but this mascot happens to be the one who possesses absolute righteousness.

Before any of the princes gained absolute power, it was impossible for them to challenge this righteousness. Even a powerful man like Cao Cao never usurped the throne in his entire life.

Not to mention that Xiao Yan is not such a puppet. Yuan Tiangang can predict that if Xiao Yan really reaches this step, he will definitely have the means to force all the princes to truly recognize him as the emperor.

Once the orthodox title is confirmed, Li Xingyun can only stay where he wants. Princes like Li Keyong of Jin and Wang Jian of Shu will only support Xiao Yan with flattering faces to show the world that they are loyal ministers of the Tang Dynasty.

This is how Li Keyong lived over the past few decades. No matter how domineering he was and how much he disrespected the Tang Dynasty, in his actions he always regarded the Tang Dynasty as the legitimate one and strictly stated his position.

What Yuan Tiangang needs to do is to bring this "momentum" to Li Xingyun's name first.

The current headache is how to get His Highness Li Xingyun to take this step.

Yuan Tiangang has been fortune-telling in recent years and can see that the situation in the world will generally go as predicted before. Zhu Wen will die at the hands of the pseudo-Liang clan, the Daliang state will be destroyed, and the Li Tang will rise to power...

He is not a god. Being able to predict the general trend is already a step ahead of heaven, and he cannot calculate the specific actions of an individual. Not to mention that the current situation has become a mess because of Xiao Yan, Yuan Tiangang does not rely too much on divination.

He just believes that everything depends on human efforts.

------

Taiyuan, Jinyang Palace.

Taiyuan is the birthplace of the Tang Dynasty. The status of this northern capital of the Tang Dynasty has been unquestionable over the past hundreds of years and even now.

In the ninth year of Kaihuang (590 AD) during the reign of Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty, Prince Yang Guang of Jin expanded the Jinyang Palace and built a palace wall outside the Jinyang Palace that was seven li in circumference and four zhang high, which initially took shape. Then in the sixteenth year of Kaihuang (596 AD) and the third year of Daye (607 AD), Yang Guang expanded and rebuilt the Jinyang Palace respectively. Therefore, as a temporary palace, the scale of the Jinyang Palace was comparable to that of the Zhu Liang Imperial Palace in Bianliang.

Jinyang Palace was located in the northwest corner of Taiyuan City. When Emperor Gaozu of Tang, Li Yuan, started a rebellion against Sui Dynasty, he was tricked into the palace by Emperor Taizong Li Shimin and Pei Ji, the deputy supervisor of Jinyang Palace, to sleep with palace maids, which committed a capital crime. Only then was Emperor Taizong pushing Emperor Gaozu onto the road of rebellion.

The current Prince of Jin, Li Keyong, lives in Jinyang Palace, but no one would say that the Prince of Jin has committed a capital crime. Not even Yuan Tiangang cares.

Taiyuan is very important. As the northern capital, it was the barrier of the entire Tang Dynasty. It is located in the hinterland of Hedong, surrounded by mountains on the east, west and north. It relies on the surrounding mountains of various sizes such as Longshan and Mengshan, and is guarded by passes such as Niangzi Pass and Shiling Pass. The terrain is extremely dangerous and it is a strategic location that "controls the key points of the four passes and the capital of the five originals".

In addition to the Fen River, the second largest tributary of the Yellow River, running through the center, Taiyuan City itself also has an extremely solid city wall with a circumference of nearly 50 miles and a height of 40 feet. It consists of two outer cities, east and west, and a central city. It is extremely majestic and easy to defend but difficult to attack.

Just by owning this wealthy and majestic northern capital, the State of Jin already had the ambition to dominate the world.

Climbing the tower of Jinyang Palace, you can see the "jade-like" Fen River. Although the weather has not yet warmed up, the locust trees and willows are shady, and the mist and waves are connected. It is a rare water town in the north, which is enough to make people express their feelings. Li Keyong sat in a wheelchair, with one eye closed, overlooking the beautiful scenery. No one in the palace dared to disturb him.

The King of Jin was over fifty years old, with white hair on his temples. As he had been sitting in a wheelchair for many years, he did not look as imposing as the rumors said. However, he was a well-known tough man after all. He was strong, tall and broad. Although he wore an eye patch for his blind eye, his one eye was piercing and full of spirit, and even when he squinted, he gave people a sense of oppression with his blazing light.

If we say that Li Keyong was a bully with a fierce reputation and a very powerful aura ten years ago, although he rarely manages government affairs now in the name of leg disease, it is even more unspeakable feeling of oppression when getting along with him. This is a feeling shared by many officials of the State of Jin. In front of Li Keyong, the holy lord Li Siyuan would shake his legs from time to time to express his fear.

"Father."

The tall Li Cunren came over holding a cloak, put the cloth on Li Keyong's shoulders, and advised: "It's cold upstairs, go in early."

Among the Thirteen Guardians of Jin State, only Li Cunren and Li Cunxu were outside the Tongwenguan. Li Cunren had always been Li Keyong's close assistant, and the father-daughter relationship between them was even stronger than that between Li Cunxu and Li Keyong. Therefore, Li Cunren was not afraid that her words would disturb Li Keyong's interest.

Li Keyong was speechless. His self-created Supreme Saint Qiankun Gong had reached perfection. The leg disease was just a cover for him to deceive the world. This little cold could not even affect his body's protective qi. But Li Cunren did not know this and it was a good intention.

"Has the prince who lives in Gaya Temple not left for Taiyuan yet?"

"I didn't dare to monitor that bad commander too much because of my adoptive father's order, but there was no action over there. I think that the prince has lived in Gaya Temple for more than half a year but has never been to Taiyuan. He may have some grudges against our Jin State..."

Li Cunren pondered, "Last year, I went to Gaya Temple to invite Master Huijue to come to the palace to talk about Buddhism with my adoptive father. I happened to run into a young man with my eldest brother's adopted son Zhang Zifan. Now that I think about it, maybe that young man is the orphan of Li Tang who lives in Gaya Temple."

Li Keyong laughed and pushed his wheelchair upstairs. "I have met the adopted son of the boss several times. He is a smart man. I don't know if this was an accident or the boss's intention..."

Read the error-free version at 69shuba! 6=9+shu_ba is the first to publish this novel.

Li Cunren's heart froze, and he immediately whispered, "I'll send someone to check right away."

"Forget it. Since that bad commander is behind this, there's no need to bother about such a small matter." Li Keyong said indifferently, "What good suggestions do you have for advancing into Hebei this time?"

Li Cunren did not dare to say more. A year ago, Crown Prince Li Cunxu suffered a great defeat in Hebei, killing thousands of Yaer soldiers and tens of thousands of volunteers, which made Li Keyong very unhappy. The court did not suggest that the crown prince lead the troops this time, so there would be no reason for this.

However, Li Siyuan had always been suspicious of his adoptive father. Although Li Cunren did not see that Li Siyuan could achieve anything great, he did not dare to judge the idea of ​​letting Li Siyuan lead the army. After thinking for a moment, he said cautiously: "The prince's ability to lead the army has always been trustworthy. There were some setbacks in Hebei last year, but it was because Mobei was colluding with Xiao Yan behind the scenes. If not for this, Hebei might have been in the pocket of my Jin State..."

Li Keyong did not comment and turned his wheelchair slowly forward.

Li Cunren followed closely behind, thought for a while, and then whispered: "But the prince is very resentful after this battle. If Xiao Yan leads the troops in Hebei again this time, the prince may be angry on the battlefield. I think that if someone in the army can hold the prince hostage, this disaster may be avoided. However, the prince and my brother have a rift, so they are not a good match. If my brother is allowed to lead the troops, I am afraid that the prince will have too many thoughts."

Having followed Li Keyong for so many years, Li Cunren would of course be more inclined towards Li Cunxu. Moreover, Li Siyuan has always been in charge of the Tongwenguan and has never had any outstanding achievements on the battlefield. It would be safer not to let him interfere in such a war.

Unexpectedly, Li Keyong suddenly smiled coldly, "Does he have any thoughts? Who should I let lead the troops? Do I have to consider his thoughts?"

Li Cunren kept silent.

The adoptive father also has his opinions about the Crown Prince. In recent years, the Crown Prince's prestige in the army has been too great, and many veteran generals are willing to become the Crown Prince's vanguard, which is quite similar to the relationship between Emperor Gaozu of Tang and Emperor Taizong. The Crown Prince has been growing in power and has promoted many young generals. The Crown Prince should not have any ideas of usurping the throne, but it is hard to say about his subordinates.

Li Keyong did not want to embarrass Li Cunren. His adopted daughter was an expert in intelligence, but not in politics. Talking too much to her would make her suspicious.

Of course, he would never have thought that Yuan Tiangang was deliberately trying to stir up the father-son relationship between him and Li Cunxu. Yuan Tiangang was quite afraid of Li Cunxu, and it would be better for Jin to fall into the hands of Li Siyuan than in the hands of Li Cunxu.

Li Keyong has made a preliminary decision. It is certainly more stable for Li Cunxu to lead the troops, but he needs a great general to check and balance him. The veteran Zhou Dewei is very steady and has a high reputation in the army, so he is the most suitable person.

But it is also necessary to use Li Siyuan to warn Li Cunxu that you, Li Cunxu, should not think that no one will compete with you for the position of King of Jin. It would be better to let Li Siyuan move to Luzhou to guard against Zhu Liang's troops in Heyang.

Of course, the specific arrangements still need to be negotiated, and whether Li Keyong will make any changes will depend on the situation.

He pushed the wheelchair, squinted his eyes and looked ahead, and said suddenly: "Is there any progress on Xiao Yan's information..."

Li Cunren was startled, then he reviewed the recent intelligence in his mind and shook his head: "This person has not made much progress in Daliang, and the things we have collected are mostly related to his wealth and sex, so we cannot have a deep understanding of him."

Li Keyong stopped suddenly and tapped his fingers on the armrest of the wheelchair.

Li Cunren waited quietly at the back.

Although Li Keyong did not know why Yuan Tiangang would match Qi and Jin to launch a major action against Daliang, and the ultimate goal was to help Jin take over Hebei, he was not a fool. He could keenly perceive from some clues that Yuan Tiangang was targeting Xiao Yan. Although it was just a guess, it was enough for Li Keyong.

If there is anyone in the world who would make Li Keyong afraid, Yuan Tiangang ranks second, and no one can rank first.

This little clue was enough to make him care about Xiao Yan.

"I heard that Xiao Yan is quite fond of women?"

Li Cunren thought about it and nodded, "It is true that there is such a rumor. It is said that he is always accompanied by many beauties. His Anle Pavilion is also full of beauties. The rouge review that has been famous in the martial arts world in recent years was created by him. It is said that he has seen countless beauties and is a first-class romantic man."

Li Keyong raised his lips and said nonchalantly, "Pick one and send it over."

Li Cunren was stunned for a moment, then immediately understood, and then he thought about it and came up with a candidate, and immediately leaned over and said: "There is a woman under the sixth brother's tutelage who is quite cruel, but has a good appearance and a very seductive figure. She is from our Shatuo people and can be trusted..."

Li Cunli...

Li Keyong actually admired his adopted son quite a bit. He was very methodical in his conduct, vicious and ruthless, and had the style of cutting the weeds at their roots. However, because he was too close to his eldest brother Li Siyuan, Li Keyong did not value him very much.

However, since Li Cunren mentioned it, he did not hesitate to call Li Cunli to talk about the father-son relationship, and also to give some advice to this adopted son about whether it was the Holy Master or the King of Jin who was in charge in the State of Jin.

------

Tongwenguan, Lizitang.

Li Cunli, who had just returned from Jinyang Palace, put one hand in his sleeve and held a cup of tea in the other hand, blowing away the hot steam. He sat there with neither slow nor steady movements, showing the elegance of a scholar.

There were footsteps outside the door. Although he couldn't make out anything from the footsteps, Li Cunli still heard a bit of arrogance in them, because the footsteps were not light. It seemed that there was no etiquette at all outside his door.

Fortunately, the visitor finally restrained himself at the door and bowed with his hands folded across the door.

"The Sect Master is calling for his subordinates..."

"Come in." Li Cunli put down the teacup.

The door was pushed open and a tall figure walked in.

The person had long light brown hair tied into a ponytail hanging behind his head, and the hair on his temples was tied into small braids and gathered in the ponytail at the back of his head.

There is a snake-shaped accessory hanging from her earlobe, which complements the red snake around her neck and looks very matching.

Just as Li Cunren said, although her appearance was only above average, her figure was very attractive, with long straight legs, and she had the powerful beauty of a grassland girl.

"Come closer." Li Cunli waved with a smile.

The visitor was a little puzzled, took a few steps closer, folded his arms, bowed down and knelt.

But Li Cunli stood up, walked a few steps left and right, looked around for a moment, and nodded with satisfaction.

"Well, yes, she is indeed a beauty."

As the woman looked up in surprise, Li Cunli held his chin and spoke.

"Pack up and go to Bianliang in two days. Think of a pseudonym that sounds good. After all, the famous Champion Marquis is not an ordinary person."

(End of this chapter)