Lanting prelude

Chapter 1

Lanting Preface Game 1: Xuanjiawei
On the morning of Lu Shiheng's death in battle, the rising sun was like blood, and the eastern sky was dyed bright red.

The battle started early in the morning.

According to the coup plan drawn up in advance, Lu Shiheng, the general of the Forbidden Army Zhonglang, was ordered to guard the north main gate of the Taiji Palace - Xuanwu Gate, so that King Qin Li Shimin could kill the prince and King Qi and fully control the Taiji Palace.The battle situation that day was chaotic and tragic. In order to enter the palace to save the Lord, Donggong and Qi Wangfu soldiers gathered three thousand elites to attack Xuanwumen.With outnumbered enemies, Lu Shiheng led his brothers to fight hard for more than an hour, and suffered many injuries on his body.When dawn broke, a stream arrow roared and shot towards Lu Shiheng's face.He swung his knife subconsciously to block it, and cut the arrow into two pieces—the rear half flew out obliquely, but the arrowhead at the front end remained undiminished, sank into his neck with a puff, and pierced out from the back of his neck.

A hole appeared in Lu Shiheng's throat, and blood gushed out like a spring.

He was on his back and fell straight backward.

A white egret hovered quietly in the sky.Lu Shiheng looked at it, and felt that the sound of fighting around him suddenly became extremely distant...

On June [-]th, the ninth year of Tang Wude, the sun was rising, and the morning light was shining all over Chang'an.

Downstairs of the Xuanwu Gate, corpses were lying on pillows, blood was flowing everywhere, and the air was filled with a pungent bloody smell.

Li Shimin, dressed in armor, strode forward surrounded by a group of assistants and generals.His expression was dignified, his eyes swept over the stiff corpses, and his heart was stabbed with pain.A moment ago, Yu Chi Jingde, his subordinate general, appeared in front of the Eastern Palace and Qi Wangfu soldiers with the heads of the crown prince and King Qi, breaking their morale on the spot.Thousands of people descended and fled, and scattered like birds and beasts in an instant.The battle was over, and a dangerous coup d'état was accomplished.Just when Li Shimin breathed a sigh of relief, the soldiers flew to report: Zhonglang General Lu Shiheng was seriously injured and urgently asked to see His Highness King Qin.

Li Shimin's heart tightened suddenly.

In a forbidden barracks outside the Xuanwu Gate, Lu Shiheng was half lying on the bed. Although the wound on his neck had been bandaged, the blood was still pouring out unstoppably.A group of soldiers surrounded his bed anxiously and helplessly.Hearing the sound of chaotic footsteps behind him, the soldiers knew that the King of Qin was coming, and one after another stepped aside and knelt down on one knee to salute the King of Qin.

Li Shimin waved his hands to signal them to get up, and at the same time walked quickly to the side of the bed, bent down, and tightly held Lu Shiheng's right hand hanging on the edge of the bed with both hands.

This hand was as cold as ice, and Li Shimin couldn't help trembling.

Lu Shiheng, whose face was as white as paper, slowly opened his eyes.The moment he saw Li Shimin, his eyes flashed brightly, and he opened his mouth to speak, but only a series of indistinct grunts came out of his throat.

"General Lu," Li Shimin held his hand even tighter, "If you have anything to say, we can wait until you recover from your injury. We will have plenty of time in the future."

Lu Shiheng stared straight at Li Shimin, shook his head, his eyes were eager and helpless, and a series of louder grunts came out of his throat.Seeing this scene, the grandson Wuji, Fang Xuanling, Yuchi Jingde, Hou Junji and others behind Li Shimin were all surprised and looked at each other in blank dismay.

Li Shimin frowned, staring into Lu Shiheng's eyes: "General Lu, what exactly do you want to tell me?"

The corner of Lu Shiheng's mouth twitched, with an almost desperate expression on his face.Suddenly, he freed his right hand from Li Shimin's palm, dipped his index finger in the wound, then stopped and looked at the people in the room.

Li Shimin understood, without turning his head, he said: "Wuji, Xuanling, you go out first."

Changsun Wuji exchanged glances with Fang Xuanling, Yuchi Jingde, Hou Junji and the others. Although they were full of suspicion, they could only suppress their curiosity and lead everyone back out quietly, holding back their hands. Closed the door.

Only Li Shimin and Lu Shiheng were left in the room.

Lu Shiheng's index finger began to write tremblingly on the gray-white Ge linen bed sheet.

Li Shimin held his breath unconsciously, his eyes focused on that index finger.

Slowly, a crooked word appeared on the bed sheet: LAN.

Li Shimin frowned, his eyes full of confusion.

Then, a second word appeared on the sheet: Ting.

Lanting? !
Li Shimin looked deeply at Lu Shiheng: "Are you referring to Wang Youjun's famous calligraphy post..."Lanting Preface"?" Wang Youjun is Wang Xizhi, a great calligrapher in the Eastern Jin Dynasty.

Lu Shiheng drooped his eyelids.

"And then?" Li Shimin became more and more confused, "What do you mean by telling me this?"

Lu Shiheng raised his hand again with difficulty. Just as he wrote a horizontal line, he found that the blood on his index finger was dry, so he had to dip it in the wound again, and then slowly wrote the word "天", and then wrote another one next to it. The word "dry".Just as Li Shimin was concentrating on waiting for him to write, Lu Shiheng's hand suddenly stopped.

Li Shimin was slightly startled, and raised his eyes to look at Lu Shiheng, only to see that his eyeballs were bulging, his expression was ferocious, and then he suddenly spit out a big mouthful of blood, tilted his head to the side, and there was no more movement.

Li Shimin's eyes turned red, and he was about to reach out his hand to check his breath, when he suddenly felt his body being pulled by something, looked down, and saw that Lu Shiheng's right hand was actually tightly grasping the saber around his waist.

This finger has thick knuckles and bulging veins. Although it has lost any color, it is still as hard as a steel claw.Even though he has been on the battlefield for many years and has seen countless dead people, the scene in front of him still makes Li Shimin's scalp tingle.

Was this an unconscious action of Lu Shiheng before he died?Or, what message was he trying to convey to himself with the last ounce of strength?
Li Shimin was stunned for a long time.

"Go at ease, General Lu, I will find the answer."

He stretched out his hand and gently closed Lu Shiheng's wide-open eyes.

The door opened, and Li Shimin walked out expressionlessly.Changsun Wuji, Fang Xuanling, Yuchi Jingde, Hou Junji and others quickly surrounded him. "Your Highness..." Just as he was about to ask, Changsun Wuji caught a glimpse of the scene in the room from the corner of his eyes, so there was no need to say the following words.

The soldiers standing outside also expected what happened, and they couldn't help their eyes flushing.

"Let's have a good burial!" Li Shimin stood with his hands behind his back, looking past the crowd, staring blankly into the distance.

"Yes." Changsun Wuji replied.

"Who else is in his family?" Li Shimin asked.

The eldest grandson Wuji was trying to search his memory, Fang Xuanling took a step forward and said, "On the top there is my mother, on the bottom there are my wife, three children, and several younger brothers and sisters. General Lu is at home... the eldest son."

Li Shimin sighed softly, thought for a while, and said: "you add pensions, posthumously give officials and titles, and their mothers and wives are all entrusted with imperial orders. Among their children, younger brothers and sisters, the younger ones are sent to the county school, the older ones are sent to the Taixue, and the right-age ones are directly sent to the county school." Seal Yin to become an official!"

"As ordered." Changsun Wuji and Fang Xuanling replied in unison.

Before following Li Shimin out of the barracks, Changsun Wuji couldn't help being curious, and took another long look into the room.

He really wanted to know what Lu Shiheng wrote before he died.

Unfortunately, Changsun Wuji found nothing.

Lu Shiheng was still half-lying stiffly, a piece of the bed sheet beside him was torn off, and a few strips of Gessine cloth that seemed to be unbroken were hanging on the edge of the bed, fluttering with the morning wind blowing into the room, looking weird and desolate.

The piece of cloth that was torn off must have something written on it.Changsun Wuji thought so, and suddenly saw Li Shimin glanced at him, his heart trembled, he quickly lowered his head, and coughed twice.

On the afternoon of June [-]th in the ninth year of Wude, two teams of flying cavalry from the Qin Palace were ordered to rush into the East Palace and the Qi Palace, killing all five sons of Prince Li Jiancheng and Qi Wang Li Yuanji.

On June [-]th, three days after the "Xuanwumen Incident", Tang Gaozu Li Yuan was forced to appoint Li Shimin as the crown prince, and issued an edict stating: From now on, all military and state affairs will be decided by the prince before reporting.

On August [-]th, Li Shimin ascended the throne in the Xiande Hall of the East Palace as Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty.

(End of this chapter)