The Emperor ordered Zhao Tang

Chapter 40 Don't be free, or die

Ximen Chongsui's residence.

The saint left more than 300 guards outside and went in alone with a dozen attendants.

Crash.

Large groups of warriors dressed in various costumes rushed out from all over the mansion and surrounded the saint and his entourage. These were the so-called "Chang'an Heroes".

The chivalrous young men in Chang'an were mainly from the three prefectures, and there were also some wandering warriors of unknown origin. Every spring, they formed groups and each had a short horse decorated with brocade saddles and golden bells, and rode under the flowers and trees with a bridle, and had servants follow them with dishes. When they found good wine, they would stop and drink. Most of these chivalrous young men came from wealthy families, so they had spare energy to engage in military affairs, so most of them were skilled in archery and horse riding, and were strong and healthy. The eunuchs liked to bribe the chivalrous young men very much.

Without him.

The training cost is low, the financial burden is small, and they have the habits of assassins, so their loyalty and quality are relatively high.

Therefore, when the eunuchs of the imperial court were sent to other towns to serve as military supervisors, they liked to hire a number of chivalrous young men from Chang'an in addition to their guards. When the military supervisor Zhu Chang of Jingnan died, the chivalrous young men bought a coffin and sealed it for him, and walked a thousand miles to escort the remains of their lord all the way back to the capital for burial, which was a heroic act.

Ximen Chongsui also raised a group of extremely brave young knights.

At this time, the knights in bright clothes and riding fast horses put their hands on the hilts of their swords, staring straight at the saint, their eyes moving back and forth on the saint's body.

General Liu Xianyuan narrowed his eyes and pulled the saint behind him.

bass!
Liu Xianyuan half-drew his sword.

Seeing this, the young heroes stepped forward at the same time and stared at Liu Xianyuan.

"What are you doing?" Li Dao, the left imperial attendant, was sweating profusely. He scolded Liu Xianyuan, "Put it away quickly."

Liu Xianyuan swung his hand, pushing Director Li to stagger, and said with a squinting eye: "If you make any more noise, I'll kill you too!"

"You!" Director Li was so angry that he stomped his feet and said nothing more.

The courtyard fell into silence again, and the atmosphere was so strange.

Da da da.

The sound of hurried footsteps in wooden clogs could be heard from afar.

From the main hall, a group of maids walked out.

Li Ye raised his head.

Afterwards, Ximen Qi, Ximen Zhao, Ximen Yuanyuan, Luo Quanguan, Liu Jishou, Han Fuli and other eunuchs walked out of the living room in a row. The anger of the accompanying court officials disappeared instantly after seeing the expressionless and dull faces of these eunuchs.

Behind the eunuch was a large group of warriors from the Shen Ce Army, all of them with red faces, as if they had just drunk some wine, and their eyes were looking at the female official behind the saint.

Zhao and others caught these aggressive glances.

"Saint..." A female imperial concubine was afraid and moved closer quickly and in small steps.

"Why are you panicking?"

Li Ye strode forward and said in a serious tone, "I am here to visit Junrong today."

The eunuchs were silent for a long time before someone said lightly, "Father is sleeping soundly, please go back, Saint."

"Hahaha." Bursts of laughter rang out in the courtyard.

Behind him, some ministers burst into tears.

The emperor lowered his status and visited the "house slave", but was kicked out by the "house slave's" servant.

Isn't this the most serious collapse of rituals and music in history?
Li Ye suddenly felt a little sad.

He thought of Cao Mao who was attacked by swords and axes.

He thought of Zhu Houcong, who was forced to recognize his father by force in later generations.

Today, their situation is very similar.

As an ordinary person, he could not care less, but now as the Son of Heaven, this identity is his biggest asset for turning the tables. If he left in disgrace in front of everyone today, word would spread, and then there would be no need for him to be a saint anymore.

Thinking of this, Li Ye lifted his sleeves, walked to the pavilion beside the pond and sat down calmly, facing the contemptuous faces of the eunuchs and warriors: "I must see Junrong today..."

At this point, he paused, and then spoke in a soft and calm tone: "I would rather die than be without freedom."

He has been a coward for the past six months, submitting to everything, but if there is no point in swallowing his anger, why should he continue to be a coward?
As for losing...

The sinister one has a golden seal and a purple ribbon, the domineering one holds the imperial seal and is crowned king, with foxes on both sides and puppets sitting in the hall.

As the emperor, he already had nothing, so what did he have to lose?
The worst that could happen was that the eunuchs would grab your hair and drag you into a small dark room, where you would be beaten and scolded.

He has been locked up several times!
Are you still afraid?

If you can't be the thin ice brother and have no chance to reach the other side, then just step on the ice and drown with your inner man.

"Give me liberty or give me death?"

The eunuchs, warriors, and young knights were whispering to each other. They didn't expect that the saint, who had been obedient for a while, became tough again.

"Lock him up for another month!"

"It would be better to arrest him and lock him up in Shaoyang Court, or imprison him in Xingqing Palace, and choose a prince to succeed him."

"The saint has a strong desire for freedom, but he is disobedient again."

"..."

The faces of the accompanying court officials were livid. Seeing that Li Ye was still sitting there without changing his expression, the Right Imperial Attendant Han She could not help but pull the Saint's sleeve and whispered, "The Saint is a noble man, you should not act on impulse. Since the army is not ready to see guests, just return to the palace to study and attend to government affairs."

Li Ye glanced at Han She.

A gentleman does not stand on a dangerous wall. Who doesn't understand this?

But the current issue is not whether the emperor should sit in the hall.

He had a good relationship with Ximen Chongsui recently, and Ximen Chongsui hadn't scolded him for a long time. He came to visit with good intentions, and Ximen Chongsui had no reason to refuse. Now this group of insiders stopped him, and their sinister intentions were clear from the faces of the ministers.

They want to see the saint make a fool of himself, and these eunuchs want to use this opportunity to tame the emperor once more.

What is the essential difference between taming three times and being killed by the collapse of a dangerous wall!
It was precisely because Li Ye was no longer an ordinary person, but the emperor, that he insisted on sitting here and not leaving. "Your Majesty!" Seeing that the saint ignored him, Han She changed to a formal and serious title, grabbed the saint's sleeve and cried.

More than a dozen other attendants also bowed down and echoed: "Your Majesty, we invite you to return to the palace to study and attend to government affairs!"

Zhao's mind turned and he immediately understood the intention of Han She and others - this was to give the saint a way out.

Because being kicked out by a servant's servant is indeed embarrassing, the emperor will definitely fight to come back, but being persuaded by the servants to return to the palace is much more decent...

Then Zhao also shed two tears of emotion, held the saint's hand, and cried out with sobs: "Saint...!"

Li Ye reached out his hand and pulled Zhao up, but he did not retreat. Instead, he said gently: "Don't cry, there have been too many emperors who have been humiliated in the past. I am not the first one. Those who cannot be offended are rare. There is no way to retreat from today's matter."

"Woo..." Upon hearing this, someone burst into tears and was speechless.

"Tsk tsk tsk." Upon seeing this scene, a warrior of the Shen Ce Army laughed and was about to make a ridicule, but when he saw Liu Xianyuan's murderous gaze, he stopped laughing.

They have no reverence for the saints.

But they would be afraid of Liu Xianyuan, a notorious butcher who has killed countless people.

You never know when you might meet me on the road...

indoor.

Lying on the sickbed, Ximen Zhongsui's huge body looked like that of a sow, and his intermittent, thunderous snoring paused from time to time, making people worry that he was suffocating.

"Ha ha ha... ha ha——" Another snoring sound stopped abruptly. Ximen Zhongsui smacked his lips twice and turned over.

At this moment, a faint noise penetrated the window again: "Saint..."

“Bang!” Ximen Zhongsui opened his eyes in annoyance, slammed the wooden wall fiercely, and cursed: “Which evil creature is making noise outside!”

The maidservant beside her was so frightened that she knelt down hurriedly and said in a trembling voice: "Reply Junrong, yes, yes..."

"Who is it!" Ximen Chongsui kicked the quilt away and screamed violently.

"It's the Saint. He heard that Junrong was ill, so he came to visit." The maid suppressed her fear and said quickly and fluently, "Junrong's servants thought you were sleeping, so they asked the Saint to go back. The Saint refused and is waiting in the pavilion for Junrong to summon him..."

Saint? Simon Chongsui was greatly surprised.

The little emperor must be hoping to die immediately, so why would he come to the palace to show concern?

Then he thought of the saint who was unwilling to be humiliated and was sitting in the wind waiting. He struggled to sit up, put on his clothes and go out to take a look. However, his limbs were weak and his head was dizzy. He could only cry out "ouch" and lie down again, saying hoarsely: "Go, ask the saint to come in."

When I thought about what those people did, I couldn't help but feel furious.

These evildoers rely on their power to embarrass the saint. Aren't they bringing hatred upon themselves from both the government and the public?

He beat and scolded the emperor in a secret palace, and few people knew about it.

These beasts don't even consider the situation...

gazebo.

The maid walked up to Li Ye respectfully and bowed deeply, saying, "Junrong has woken up and is unable to get up. Please, Your Majesty, please move a little."

The court officials were stunned when they heard this.

Although most of them were also worried about the safety of the Saint, they were not loyal enough to risk their lives. Didn't they see those knights and warriors in armor? They were scary... So they just tugged at the Saint's sleeve covertly, hinting that the Saint should not go in.

Liu Xianyuan was sternly told by his father every day not to "let the saint make mistakes". Seeing that the attendants were all pretending to be dead, he said angrily: "Please come in with your entourage!"

"No thanks." Li Ye struggled to get rid of his sleeves, patted Liu Xianyuan on the shoulder and smiled, then led the imperial physician Ling Hui Tu and said to the maid, "Lead the way."

As he said this, he strode after him.

The fake sons, eunuchs, and warriors all cast their glances over and stared at the saint coldly.

The courtyard was packed with young knights in bright clothes and riding fast horses.

The maid yelled, "Get out of here!"

The heroes made way.

Walking in the crowd, facing dense eyes, Li Ye did not look sideways, kept a distance of one foot from the maid, and walked at a steady pace.

After entering a dark and exquisite inner room, the maid slowly pulled open the screen with a picture of Flying Bodhisattva.

Li Ye looked over and saw Ximen Chongsui sitting up from the bed with difficulty. He smiled bitterly and said, "That's good. Even this old slave is sick."

The saint's tears suddenly fell.

He hated Ximen Chongsui.

He had the intention to kill.

But seeing this picture at this moment, I feel inexplicably sad.

Perhaps it was because the humiliation in the courtyard was too great, perhaps it was because Ximen Chongsui had always given him basic dignity, perhaps it was only now that he, the poor emperor, had a little dignity as a king... I want to tell my heart to the jade zither, but there are few people who understand me. Who will listen when the string breaks?

Seeing this, the maid knew that the master and servant had something to say in private, so she drew the curtain and left silently.

"Why are you crying?" Ximen Zhongsui sighed and reproached, "I told you long ago that being an emperor is not that easy. It won't be up to you to like or hate me. These people are arrogant and they may have many plans against me, let alone you."

The sage did not answer, but simply asked: "What is wrong with you? The order I issued to cultivate land has not been accepted by many noble families in the interior of the country, and no one has paid attention to it so far. There are also military officers and noble families who are threatening to rebel, and they want to bring the vassal states to the capital to kill Li Qun, the Minister of Agriculture who is in charge of this matter, and then seize Chang'an."

"Stupid!" As if seeing the saint being insulted, Ximen Zhongsui's tone softened and he said softly, "Those people betrayed the previous emperor and fawned on Zhu Mei. An imperial edict is enough. Are they still waiting for you to do this good deed that benefits the country and the people?"

Then he complained, "Visiting the sick? I knew you came to visit me for no good reason."

"Sincerely, I want to talk to you about military affairs." Li Ye wiped his face and said, "Also, you asked me to draw up a gift list to give back to Hedong. I have discussed this with the Taiwei and decided to give Li Keyong 30,000 buckets of grain seeds for spring ploughing."

"Very good." Ximen Zhongsui sighed and said quietly, "However, if the people of Bian learn of our alliance with Li Keyong, they will surely be resentful. You must think of a way to silence Quanzhong."

"Prepare to promote him to the rank of general." Li Ye said.

"better than nothing."

(End of this chapter)