Chapter 364: Zhang Huan returns to Beijing

Before the sky was dark, there was still a trace of black clouds in the west. Cui Ning returned to Zhang's mansion with his children, Pingping and his young sister Cui Xuezhu.

Cui Xuezhu's arrival immediately caused a sensation in the mansion. The eaves were full of servants who came to see the strange ones. Everyone was amazed. There were such beautiful women in the world. The servants had little knowledge and had never seen the world before. But even Pei Ying and Yang Chunshui, who came from wealthy families, had never seen such a delicate girl. They were also secretly surprised. Her skin was so white and crystal clear that even Li Fanyun, who had always been conceited, was ashamed of herself. Cui Xuezhu's beauty and temperament were like a fairy falling from the sky, but with a little shyness and shyness, making people feel that she was not a fairy who was not a worldly ignorant.

Yang Chunshui, who had been watching her, suddenly asked Pei Ying in a low voice: "Sister, when will the master be back?"

Pei Ying didn't say anything. She stared at the beautiful woman who was coming and said for a while: "Don't think about it, she is our guest, and you must not neglect it."

As she said that, she smiled and greeted her. Cui Xuezhu met Pei Ying without introducing her. She bowed deeply and said, "Xuezhu gave a gift to her elder sister."

"Yes, beautiful people and beautiful names." Pei Ying praised and asked Cui Ning: "Second sister, is this the daughter of your Cui family? Why have I never seen you so handsome?"

Cui Ning pulled Cui Xuezhu and smiled at Pei Ying, "This is my cousin Cui Xuezhu. My eldest sister has actually seen her. Didn't she ask you for painting?"

Pei Ying suddenly realized that she looked up and down for a while before nodding and sighing: "That yellow-haired little girl back then was so beautiful, and her luck made people!"

She quickly took Cui Xuezhu's hand and smiled affectionately: "Welcome to our mansion to be a guest, just treat us as your sister."

After saying that, she immediately instructed Aunt Sun, "Auntie, pack up a single courtyard for her and go to me to get whatever is missing."

At this time, Cui Ning came over and said with a smile: "Sister, don't bother, just let Xuezhu live with me."

Pei Ying shook her head, "How can this work? It's really inconvenient for you to be pregnant."

"Or stay with me." Pingping, who was on the side, interrupted: "My place is really empty and there is a shortage of people to talk to, so live in my place!"

"Okay! Let's live there." Pei Ying pulled Cui Xuezhu and pointed at Pingping and smiled: "It's really deserted to let you live alone. This sister Ping is the most enthusiastic and knowledgeable. You can just talk."

Cui Xuezhu bowed obediently, "All it depends on the arrangements of my elder sister!"

The night gradually became deeper and drizzled in the sky. It was already early March, and the spring rain had a touch of intoxicating warmth. This spring rain would make the green thicker and make the hawking sounds of apricot blossoms come from the deep alleys of the Ming Dynasty.

On this deep rainy night, the gate of Tongguan slowly opened. The general Li Baozhen and the chief Pei Wei came out to greet him personally. Pei Wei, the supervisor of the Pei family, was stationed in Tongguan. At this time, he had received a letter from Feige from Ye County. The Pei family had reached a compromise with Zhang Huan. The troops west of Tongguan were allowed to be dispatched by Zhang Huan. In other words, all Qianniu Guards in Guanzhong surrendered to Zhang Huan. So what if they didn't surrender? Li Baozhen had publicly replaced the black bright light armor of the Longyou Army.

Amid the fire of fire, a cavalry team began to line up into the gate of Tongguan. The army was neat and majestic. Everyone was wearing black bright light armor, which shone brightly with Li Baozhen.

These were Zhang Huan's five thousand personal guards. They returned from Ye County five days ago. With their riding down the best war horses, thousands of miles of roads also passed by. Zhang Huan's return was not for war, but for the purpose of retracting and retracting. Retracting was to collect the Pei family's soldiers, but letting Cui Xiaofu, Li Mian and others go to make arrangements calmly. Now is the time for him to come back to collect the net.

Halfway through the brigade of cavalry, five hundred personal guards held their shields and appeared in the fire at the city gate. Li Baozhen greeted him and said loudly: "Li Baozhen, the general of Tongguan, met the governor!"

"General Li is not a gift!" The shield formation was withdrawn, and Zhang Huan rode out from the guards, but the guards were still watching the surrounding situation with great vigilance. Zhang Huan walked in front of Li Baozhen. He first greeted Pei Weishou to show etiquette. Then he smiled at Li Baozhen and said, "I heard that Cui Qinggong's two sons are in your hands?"

Li Baozhen also smiled, "Not only Cui Qinggong's two sons, but all his documents and letters were in the hands of Mo Jiang. It was the ceremony that Mo Jiang wanted to present to the governor."

Li Baozhen turned around and waved his hand. A team of cavalry rushed forward with the brothers Cui Xiong and Cui Ming. Although Cui Ming finally surrendered to the court army, he did not enjoy the corresponding courtesy. Chu Xingshui asked Li Baozhen to temporarily take their brothers to Tongguan, waiting for Zhang Huan to come back and leave.

The two brothers were brought up with dejected expression. Cui Ming's face was pale. Thinking that death was coming, his legs kept trembling, while Cui Xiong lowered his head and said nothing.

Zhang Huan looked at them, then smiled coldly at Cui Xiong and said, "To be honest, we are old acquaintances. When Daming Palace was separated, I didn't expect that we would meet today!"

Perhaps the length of heroic spirit is related to the following words. Cui Xiong became a eunuch and naturally became short of breath when he spoke. He bowed to Zhang Huangong and said softly: "How dare Cui Xiong compares the light of rice with Zhang Shangshu's Haoyue? It was indeed my fault that I had no idea about Mount Tai."

At this time, his younger brother Cui Ming also begged: "I have only been the lord for a few days, and have never massacred the people, nor have I done any other evil things. Please spare my life by Shangshu Zhang."

Zhang Huan said lightly: "Killing you is like killing two ants for me. It is very simple for you to survive. Do whatever I ask you to do. Once I am in a good mood, I may give you a house and a few acres of land, so that you can live in your old age and end your life."

The two brothers looked at each other and suddenly said in unison: "We will follow the will of Shangshu Zhang!"

"Okay, bring them."

Zhang Huan waved his hand and his personal soldiers immediately took the two brothers down. He then bowed to Li Baozhen and said, "I have already recorded General Li's merits, and Rong Hou will reward him together."

The army continued to move forward and galloped towards Chang'an overnight.

There are still hundreds of miles from Tongguan to Chang'an, and the official road has become significantly wide and flat. However, after passing Weinan County, the army's speed has slowed down. The journey of more than 100 miles stopped and walked, as if waiting for something. In the evening of that day, the army arrived in Xinfeng County and stationed five miles away from the county town.

When it was almost dark, several fast horses galloped from the direction of Chang'an and rushed to the front of the camp after a moment. The horsemen informed the guards of the situation and were immediately led into the camp. These people were the messengers of the Internal Affairs Department that Zhang Huan had been waiting for. The news they brought would be the key to the next step. The two messengers were brought in and bowed half-kneel to Zhang Huan and said, "Report to the governor, Li Sizheng ordered us to come and deliver the letter."

As he said that, one of them presented a letter, and his personal soldiers took it and handed it to Zhang Huan. The letter was very thick. After being opened, it turned out to be a thick stack of rosters. Zhang Huan looked through these rosters page by page. All of them were from the royal family, including Li Fu, King Jiyin, Li Kai, King Beiping, and Li Yang, Prince Danyang.

There were as many as thirty people, and these were all clans who firmly opposed him to the throne. Li Fanyun made very detailed information about their intelligence, detailing everyone's background, status in the royal family, official positions, family and children, and even the property and land they owned were clearly written.

Zhang Huan looked through page by page, and finally his eyes fell on King Guangwu Li Chenghong. King Guangwu Li Chenghong was the prince who had been dealt with by him in the assassination of Yuan Zai. Unexpectedly, he jumped out again today, 'What is not life or death!' Zhang Huan's eyes shot out a sharp murderous intent. He put the list together and immediately ordered his personal soldiers to say, "Go and invite Master Li."

After a moment, Li Mi hurried over and bowed to Zhang Huanshi, "What's the matter with the governor looking for me?"

Zhang Huan handed the roster to him and said coldly: "These are all dead-stricken royal families. They are still unwilling to give in today. I plan to use them to establish their authority. Do you have any good suggestions?"

Li Mi did not rush to answer. He slowly looked through the list and finally put down the roster and shook his head slightly, "Except for Shandong, almost all the heroic passes in the world are controlled by the governor. There are tens of thousands of elite soldiers in Chang'an City, no one, and no force can stop the governor from taking office. Don't they understand this? In my opinion, these thirty royal families simply lost to Prince Yu in the palace coup that year. They were afraid that the governor would settle the old accounts after taking office, and were confused by Li Mian's dangerous words, so they all opposed the governor. It was enough to deal with them. It was enough to use a letter to the governor. Why do you need to use any weapons? Now the governor is in a general trend. It is enough to order a few strong men to go directly to the palace to force Cui Xiaofu to give way. It is necessary to seize the throne in a bloody way, and it seems that the governor is narrow-minded."

Zhang Huan walked slowly in the tent with his hands behind his back, his face very gloomy. After the Luoyang quelled the chaos, he did not rush to return to Beijing, just to let these opposing people jump out one by one. He could catch them all in one go and cut them off to eradicate the roots. He asked Li Mi to come over to discuss a way to take action, but Li Mi opposed him to kill people, which left him speechless for a while.

Seeing that Zhang Huan was silent and knew that he was unwilling, Li Mi advised him again: "The governor doesn't have to think too far. The so-called political arena is invincible. Today they oppose the governor. In a year or two, they may be firm supporters of the governor of Chengdu. If they take a step back, they can use justice to gradually eliminate them in the future. Now, killing for the ascension of the throne will attract more dissatisfaction from the Li clan and are not conducive to the reputation of the governor. It is better to create a situation where everyone wants to return to their hearts. It is the long-term way."

Perhaps the last sentence awakened Zhang Huan. He pondered for a long time and finally accepted Li Mi's advice. He nodded and said, "Okay! As the gentleman said, I will write a letter to each of these thirty people first, and then make a test. If there are any opponents, I will slowly deal with them."

In Chang'an, a carriage drove into the house of Ten Kings and stopped in front of the Luo Palace. Li Qi got off the carriage angrily and strode back to the mansion, "Bastard, it's too bullying!" Li Qi returned to the room and finally couldn't help but curse. He threw the teacup to the ground hard, and there was a loud bang, "Bang!" and fragments splashed everywhere.

Huang Yunqing, who had just arrived, was almost hit by the debris, which scared him to jump out of the door. After a long time, he leaned over and persuaded: "Please calm down."

Hearing his voice, Li Qiu held back and ordered people to come in and pack up the teacup fragments. When the servant retreated, Huang Yunqing asked in a low voice: "What happened? It made the prince so angry."

A sentence aroused Li Qi's anger again. He said hatefully: "Today, Li Mian impeached me for four years and refused to hold the Taimiao Festival and asked Cui Xiaofu to be dismissed. It's a pity that I wanted to hold the festival last year, but Li Mian, a vicious thief, failed to do it. Now he is better, and he stabs me from behind."

Huang Yunqing then understood why Li Qi was angry. He quickly advised: "Prince, please don't be angry. According to the customization, the removal of officials above the fourth rank and above must be signed by more than five people in the cabinet before it can work. Now Li Mian is just a proposal. At this critical moment, how could Cui Yu, Chu Xingshui and others agree to change the Zongzheng Temple? Therefore, this proposal will definitely not be passed in the cabinet. As long as the prince makes up for the loss and proposes a high sacrifice plan as soon as possible, it will block Li Mian and others' mouths."

"I also know this. It's just that this ancestral temple festival is extraordinary. It's best to get Zhang Huan's instructions to hold it. However, others are not in Chang'an, so I can't decide for a while, and I'm really embarrassed."

Li Qiu sighed, rubbed his temples with his hands and said, "My Sect Master Temple has been a Qingshui Yamen for more than 20 years, and no one cares about it. I didn't expect that now it has become the front line of struggle. Things are unpredictable!"

Huang Yunqing pondered for a moment and said, "Why do I find a way to find Zhang Huan's eyes and ears in Chang'an for the prince, and the prince will also visit Shangshu Chu. It is a two-pronged approach to contact Zhang Huan. In this way, the grand ceremony of the ancestral temple will be targeted and the prince can also arrange it calmly."

"Okay! This matter will be done according to the gentleman's idea."

As soon as Li Qiu finished speaking, he suddenly saw the butler running quickly and said in horror: "Prince, several cavalrymen came from outside the mansion, saying that they were ordered by Shangshu Zhang to send a letter."

Li Qiu jumped up in shock and hurriedly ran out. Huang Yunqing stopped him, "Your Majesty, don't go there in person, be careful of fraud!"

Li Qiu immediately woke up and stopped. He took out a gold medal and handed it to Huang Yunqing and said, "Please go and take a look for me, and I'll say I have important guests."

Huang Yunqing had no choice but to take over the gold medal and go with a bitter look on his face. Li Qiu walked back and forth in the room with his hands behind his back, waiting for Huang Yunqing's news irritable. For a moment, Huang Yunqing's rapid footsteps came from outside the door. Li Qiu rushed out and asked, "Is it really someone sent by Zhang Huan?"

Huang Yunqing waved a letter in his hand and said, "Prince, it seems to be a letter from Shangshu Zhang."

"Give it to me!" Li Qiu grabbed the letter and opened it impatiently. It was indeed Zhang Huan's handwritten letter. In the letter, he explained a few things to him. He read it carefully twice, and couldn't help but squint his little eyes and smiled.

Zhang Huanren had not returned to Beijing yet, but a strange atmosphere appeared in the capital. First, the magistrate of Wugong County urgently reported to the court: "A white carp was found in the Wei River, as big as a cow, and the fisherman couldn't find it."

Immediately afterwards, Yunyang County also urgently reported to the court, "A mountain citizen found a golden ring in the sky in the Saga Mountain, which caused the low singing of beasts and attracted the worship of hundreds of birds."

But what caused the most sensation was that the craftsmen who renovated the Taimiao discovered twelve thousand-year-old jades, which were the twelve strange jades unearthed in Baoying County when Emperor Suzong ascended the throne.

The appearance of various auspicious signs in Chang'an caused a lot of discussion. The literati and officials knew that this was a hint that Zhang Huan wanted to ascend the throne, and ordinary people regarded auspicious signs as a new hope for the Tang Dynasty. Over the years, Zhang Huan's prestige among the people has reached an unprecedented height. His ascension to the throne means that the prosperous Tang Dynasty will come again, which means that the prestige of Tian Khan's general has once again attracted worship from all countries.

The calls for the royal family members who once fiercely opposed Zhang Huan's ascension to the throne on various occasions suddenly became smaller. More than a dozen members of the thirty Tang royal family who had vowed to advance and retreat with the empress dowager left Beijing and went to Jiangnan for a trip. Zongzheng Temple then officially announced that the prince Yu's handwritten edict was found in the old file of Zongzheng Temple: he had a son who was fostered by Zhang family in Hedong and named him Huan.

The situation has begun to change in a subtle way.

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In the Ming Palace, Cui Xiaofu has never been as lonely as she is today. She stood in front of the window with her hands behind her back, staring at a plum blossom not far away. The beauty of the tree has gradually withered, and the red leaves all over the ground have fallen on the ground. Although she still hopes for the firm opposition of the royal family, she also knows that the possibility of recovery is very small, and even Li Mian is unfortunately ill, so who can support the overall situation for her?

Overnight, her power broke down like a bubble. Her decree to dismiss Li Qizong Zhengqing actually walked around and quietly returned to her imperial case. Not only did her decree unable to leave the palace gate, but even the troops defending the outer periphery of the Daming Palace were all replaced with the Longyou Army. The Qianniu Guards of the Pei family seemed to have suddenly evaporated and disappeared silently in Chang'an.

This is a sign that the sky is about to change, and it is also the coming day of Cui Xiaofu's demise. Cui Xiaofu stared at the petals on the ground. She suddenly remembered the situation when she first entered the palace thirty years ago. She was named a talented person by the late emperor and served by the seriously ill emperor. That day she suddenly heard that the plum blossoms were about to fade, so she sneaked out to bury the flowers when Prince Yu saw his father. Just as she was sad about the petals on the ground, she heard a shout of killing in the palace.

And today, the traces of time seem to have gone a circle.

At this time, a eunuch's report came from behind, "Empress Dowager, Li Fanyun is looking for a meeting outside the palace."
Chapter completed!