Tang Dynasty, my wife Wu Zetian

Chapter 84 The Emperor’s Secret Message
This is a tent at the north corner of the camp.

Pei Xingjian stood inside the tent, looking at the Qianniu Guards in front of him, and said, "If you have anything to say, you can say it now."

Just now he was talking to Su Dingfang in Su Dingfang's camp, when suddenly a personal soldier came to report that a Qianniu Guard had come from the capital and wanted to see him.

The Qianniu Guard did not give his name, but only said that there was something extremely urgent!
Pei Xingjian had no choice but to leave Su Dingfang's tent. Sure enough, he saw a general dressed as a Qianniu Guard outside the tent. He was dusty and looked like he had come from a long journey.

Pei Xingjian bowed and said, "I am Pei Xingjian. I wonder what the general wants from me?"

The Qianniu Guard asked, "Has General Xue Rengui arrived?"

Pei Xingjian was secretly surprised and wondered, "Is Xue Rengui coming to the camp too?" He replied, "I haven't heard of it."

The Qianniu Guard breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Two horses died in a hurry, but we finally got there before him." He winked at Pei Xingjian and said, "General Pei, can you help me find an empty tent to talk?"

Pei Xingjian then brought him to the small tent in the corner of the camp.

The Qianniu Guard carefully checked around the tent and patrolled outside before returning to the tent, taking out a scroll from his sleeve and holding it high.

"The Saint's secret decree, Pei Xingjian receives it."

Pei Xingjian was startled and quickly knelt down, clasping his hands and saying, "I accept your order."

The Thousand Oxen Guard placed the decree in his hand and said in a deep voice, "The Saint has ordered that this decree can only be read by you, and it will be destroyed after you have read it."

Pei Xingjian nodded, broke the wax seal, took out the secret decree from the scroll, and after reading it, his eyes flashed. He took out the flint and burned the secret decree.

After the Qianniu Guard saw that all the secret orders were burned, he bowed and said, "I have to return to the capital to report on the order. Goodbye!" Then he turned and left.

Pei Xingjian stood in the camp, looking at the ashes of the secret decree, pondering silently for a while, and then walked out of the tent.

At this moment, a soldier came running over and said with a smile: "General Pei, there is another general outside the camp. He said his surname is Xue and he wants you to see him."

Pei Xingjian asked, "Is his name Xue Rengui?"

The soldier shook his head and said, "I didn't give my name."

Pei Xingjian strode out of the tent and saw a handsome man in his forties standing outside the camp gate. Who else could it be but Xue Rengui?

"Brother Xue, have you also been transferred to the front line?" Pei Xingjian laughed loudly.

Xue Rengui smiled and nodded, saying, "Is General Su in the tent?"

Pei Xingjian nodded and said, "Yes, I'll take you there." He took Xue Rengui all the way to Su Dingfang's tent.

Seeing Xue Rengui coming, Su Dingfang smiled and said, "The battle at Bailan Mountain has made General Xue famous. This is cause for celebration."

Xue Rengui bowed and returned the greeting, saying, "General, you are too kind. I have come here on the orders of the Holy Lord. I have an important matter to discuss with you in detail."

Su Dingfang nodded, asked Xue Rengui to sit down, and asked him, "What instructions does Your Majesty have?"

Xue Rengui said, "Your Majesty intends to have General Su take command, replacing General Cheng as the chief commander of the Congshan Road."

Su Dingfang was stunned and asked, "What about Cheng Zhijie?"

Xue Rengui said: "Of course he was transferred back to Chang'an."

Pei Xingjian said calmly, "Brother Xue, has the situation in Chang'an changed?"

Xue Rengui nodded and said, "Changsun Wuji has retired."

Both of their expressions changed.

No matter who you are, no matter whether you hate or respect Changsun Wuji, you have to admit that Changsun Wuji is a mountain in the court, and people can only look up to him.

Who could have thought that this mountain would suddenly collapse.

Pei Xingjian knew Zhangsun Wuji's character and knew that he would not retire for no reason. There must have been a power struggle involved.

At this moment, he couldn't help but feel fortunate that he had left Chang'an City early, otherwise, with his special identity, he might have been deeply trapped in it.

Su Dingfang shook his head and said, "Cheng Zhijie is in trouble."

Without Zhangsun Wuji's support, Cheng Zhijie could only allow the emperor to slaughter him. He finally understood why Cheng Zhijie was so eager to defile himself. It was obviously to protect himself.

Pei Xingjian looked up at Su Dingfang and said, "Lord Su, I have a way to save Lord Cheng."

Su Dingfang's eyes lit up and he said, "You are always resourceful. Then you and General Xue should go together. I still have to pretend to be injured, so I won't go."

The two men bid farewell to Su Dingfang together and came to Cheng Zhijie's central military tent.

The banquet started again in the tent.

Perhaps because he understood Cheng Zhijie's current situation, Pei Xingjian could feel a bit confused and sad when he saw his ruddy face again.

Cheng Zhijie still had a smile on his face as he said to Xue Rengui, "Isn't this General Xue from the Tuyuhun War? He is truly a young man to be feared and admired."

Xue Rengui said in a deep voice: "General Cheng, please accept my order."

Cheng Zhijie was startled and stood up, walked to Xue Rengui and knelt down. Other generals, musicians and dancers also knelt down.

Xue Rengui said, "Your Majesty, since leading the army on the Western Expedition, Cheng Zhijie has been procrastinating and neglecting military duties. He has deeply disappointed me. I will immediately remove him from his position as the Grand Commander-in-Chief and replace him with Su Lie!"

Cheng Zhijie sighed secretly, bowed and said, "I accept your order!"

Xue Rengui announced the decree and left. Cheng Zhijie waved his hand to order everyone to leave, sat alone behind the table, poured a glass of wine, and when it reached his lips, he could not swallow it.

He sighed deeply and thought to himself, "After all, I was too clever for my own good. I couldn't escape this disaster!"

Since the Qin and Han Dynasties, founding generals have had a hard time ending up well.

Cheng Zhijie always felt fortunate that the emperor he met was Li Shimin. Although he also killed many founding generals, it was because they did not know when to advance or retreat, and they deserved it.

When the new emperor ascended the throne, Cheng Zhijie also felt a sense of crisis.

To show his loyalty to the new emperor, he personally led the troops and commanded the cavalry from Cuiwei Palace to escort Crown Prince Li Zhi back to the court to succeed to the throne. He also toured Chang'an and stayed outside Zuo Yanming Gate for three months.

This move was indeed appreciated by the new emperor, and his position in the army once surpassed Li Ji.

However, soon after the emperor ascended the throne, all matters major and minor in the court were decided by Zhangsun Wuji.

Li Ji, who opposed Zhangsun Wuji, was forced to resign as prime minister, and King Wu Li Ke was murdered.

When Zhangsun Wuji tried to win him over to deal with Li Ji, Cheng Zhijie did not refuse outright in order to leave himself a way out.

Therefore, he did not dare to express his attitude on deposing Wang and enthroning Wu.

Who knew that this little cleverness would turn out to be a huge mistake, and he was expelled from Chang'an.

Cheng Zhijie originally thought that it would be a good opportunity to stay away from the court and no longer be involved in the struggle between the emperor and Zhangsun Wuji.

It’s a pity that he is not Pei Xingjian after all. He has too much influence in the army and is guilty of possessing a treasure. How can the emperor trust him?

When he discovered that Wang Wendu was a spy sent by the emperor to monitor him, he became disheartened and began to consider retiring.

However, he did not dare to go back now, fearing that he would still be involved in the fight. He wanted to wait until the outcome of the fight in the court was decided, and then return to Chang'an, close the door and refuse visitors, just like Yuchi Gong.

Unfortunately, the situation was worse than he had imagined.

Not only was Changsun Wuji defeated, he was also completely defeated and even resigned from his official position.

In the current situation, he had no idea whether he could retire safely. Thinking of this, he couldn't help but sigh.

"Mr. Cheng, don't worry." A voice suddenly sounded.

Cheng Zhijie looked up suddenly, only to see Pei Xingjian still in the tent. He glared at him and said, "Didn't I tell you all to leave?"

Pei Xingjian said calmly, "I know Mr. Cheng is worried, so I came to offer him medicine."

Cheng Zhijie was stunned for a moment and looked at Pei Xingjian with narrowed eyes.

"Could it be that Changsun Wuji sent you here?"

Pei Xingjian said, "No."

Cheng Zhijie asked, "So that's Han Ai and Lai Ji?"

"Neither. General Su asked me to come and offer the medicine."

Cheng Zhijie was stunned again, and remained silent for a long while before saying with a wry smile, "I wasn't very kind to him before, but when I was in danger, he kept helping me."

Pei Xingjian said, "Mr. Su has always respected Mr. Cheng."

Cheng Zhijie laughed heartily and said, "Okay, I'll remember this favor. General Pei, tell me, do you have any good medicine that can cure this old man's heart disease?"

Pei Xingjian said: "This medicine of yours is for one person."

Cheng Zhijie was stunned and asked, "Who is it?"

Pei Xingjian said, "Old General Yuchi!"

Cheng Zhijie frowned and asked, "You want me to learn from him?"

Pei Xingjian shook his head and said, "No, you must ask him for help. I just wonder what your relationship is like with General Yuchi?"

Cheng Zhijie snorted, "This old fellow is disgusting and hateful. He doesn't get along well with anyone. Whenever I meet him, we always quarrel."

Pei Xingjian asked again, "What is the relationship between General Yuchi and Zhangsun Wuji and the others?"

Cheng Zhijie still shook his head: "That's even worse. That old fellow has always been outspoken. Not to mention those civil servants, even the late emperor couldn't stand his temper. If he hadn't offended so many people, he wouldn't have been hiding in the palace for more than ten years."

Pei Xingjian smiled and said, "That's great. If you can persuade him to come out of seclusion, the crisis will be resolved."

Cheng Zhijie was stunned for a moment, but soon figured it out.

The emperor was wary of him, wasn't it because he had too much influence in the army and was worried that Li Ji alone couldn't control him?
Putting aside the character of Yuchi Gong, he served Emperor Taizong and made countless great contributions, and his influence in the army was no less than that of Cheng Zhijie.

If Yuchi Gong also came out, he would not be able to threaten the emperor, and the emperor would naturally not kill him!
The only question is, how can we impress Yuchi Gong?

Pei Xingjian seemed to see his concerns and smiled, saying, "General Cheng, don't worry. Think about it, Lord Su, you don't have a good relationship, but he still helped you. How could General Yuchi, who has been your comrade for many years, just stand by and watch you die without help?"

Cheng Zhijie snorted coldly and said, "If that old fellow doesn't help me, I'll expose his trickery. Humph, then we'll die together!"

Thinking of something happy, he laughed heartily and raised his glass, saying, "Pei Xingjian is indeed worthy of his reputation. Thank you very much!"

(End of this chapter)