Traveling through the troubled times of Sui and Tang Dynasties

Li Yuan felt that his temples on both sides were bulging, and they were about to explode.

When he lowered his head, he saw Luo Cheng kneeling there with his back straight, his expression serious, his thin lips tightly pursed, and he didn't say a word.The anger in my heart was not in one place, and I was very irritable: "Okay, okay, you are all scrambling to admit your mistakes. Luo Cheng, you said it was your fault again, but that's okay, tell me, what is your mistake?"

Luo Cheng frowned, and said neither humble nor overbearing: "Your Majesty, I don't know how King Qi explained to you the traces of the hundreds of thousands of guards in Bingzhou City, but if there were no hundreds of thousands of guards in Bingzhou City, Luo Cheng would not be able to stop them." Live in Wang Shichong's elite troops to break through desperately."

"You mean that Yuan Ji led all the guards in Bingzhou City to Luoyang, the eastern capital, to besiege Wang Shichong?"

"Exactly."

Unexpectedly, laughter suddenly came from the side hall, Luo Cheng looked at Li Yuan in surprise, it took a while for the latter to stop laughing, his face was not relaxed at all, but became more and more ugly: "Luo Cheng, do you know the crime of deceiving the emperor, What is the crime?"

"Criminals who deceive the emperor can be punished." Luo Cheng said loudly.

Li Yuan clasped the table with his right index finger lightly, turned his back, and said in a solemn voice: "Today, in the early court, Yuan Ji told me in front of all civil and military officials that he was greedy for life and afraid of death. Panicked and overwhelmed, hundreds of thousands of soldiers and men in Bingzhou City abandoned the city."

When Luo Cheng heard this, his heart trembled. Li Yuanji, that idiot, was trying to kill him, and hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, what His Royal Highness Qi Wang said is not true."

"Whether my son is a bear or a hero, I know in my heart." Li Yuan turned around and looked at Luo Cheng with flickering eyes, "Among my sons, only Yuan Ji and Yuan Ba ​​never lie, Yuan Ba ​​will not , Yuan Ji disdains it. But he just lied to me."

Li Yuan said again: "Before you came, the prince couldn't even wait for me to return to the palace. He dared to intercept my dragon chariot halfway and pleaded with Yuan Ji, saying that there must be something wrong with this matter. Because Yuan Ji led the army to withdraw from Bingzhou city. There is a time gap between the two coming to besiege with Liu Thief, so it is absolutely impossible for his third brother to abandon Bingzhou City and ignore the safety of Chang'an City because of greed for life and fear of death, fear of Liu Thief, there must be something hidden in it."

Luo Chengxin said, so you know all about it, so why did you send Li Yuanji to prison?

Seeing Luo Cheng's puzzled expression, Li Yuan asked, "Luo Cheng, I didn't have to explain so much to you, do you know why I told you this?"

Luo Cheng thought for a while, but couldn't think of a reason, so he shook his head.

Li Yuan said again: "I want to tell you that there is indeed a deep brotherhood between Yuanji and Jiancheng, and they can think about each other. Therefore, if something happens to Yuanji, even if he is as stable as a prince, he will be reckless at times and dare to stop my dragon." On the other hand, if something happens to the crown prince, I believe Yuan Ji will help regardless of anything, but if the object is Shimin...hehe, guess what will happen?"

"I don't know."

"When Yuan Ji was young, for some reason, he was not favored. The crown prince is the eldest son of the family. He is distinguished and generous. He can handle all the affairs of the house properly. Maybe, he didn't It's not intentional to take care of Yuan Ji, but I just don't want to be criticized, but in fact, if it weren't for the prince's impartiality, Yuan Ji might not be able to live at all. Therefore, even though Yuan Ji has been crowned king, the prince is still the only one to follow. But the people of the world are different , Yuanji and Shimin have been at odds since childhood. When he was young, Shimin was loved by his mother, but there was no difference in age, and the young Yuanji never enjoyed it. Shimin grew up surrounded by stars, and Yuanji was He guarded the dilapidated courtyard and survived fierce battles with other brothers. When he grew up, Yuanji acted perversely and domineeringly. Shimin once mentioned to me because of Yuanji's bad deeds, and Yuanji also took revenge on Shimin for this. It is not an exaggeration to say that these two brothers are enemies, let alone brothers. Although they maintain harmony on the surface, in private..." Li Yuan shook his head with a forced smile.

"You said that Yuan Ji led the army to the Eastern Capital to help the people of the world and threaten Wang Shichong? Do you think I should believe it?"

"Your Majesty—" Hearing this, Luo Cheng finally understood what Li Yuan was thinking. He wanted to explain again, but Li Yuan didn't give him a chance at all.

"Okay, General Luo, I think you are the founding hero of the Tang Dynasty. You have made great military exploits for our Tang Dynasty. Today, the crime of deceiving the emperor will not be investigated for the time being. If you deceive me again—" Li Yuan shot at Luo with sharp eyes. Cheng, "Legal disposal."

"Your Majesty, King Qi really led his army to the Eastern Capital. If it wasn't like this, how could the humble minister happen to appear outside Chang'an City and retreat with His Royal Highness Qi? Moreover, he did not go to the Eastern Capital for His Royal Highness Qin. , but for—”

"Your Majesty, Your Highness the Crown Prince seeks an audience." The servant walked to Li Yuan's side and delivered a report.

Li Yuan glanced at Luo Cheng who was at the side, twitched the corners of his lips and said, "I really mean Cao Cao, Cao Cao will be here soon, let him in."

As soon as the words fell, Prince Li Jiancheng hastily stepped into the side hall. Although his face was anxious, he was courteous and thoughtful.

"Get up."

Li Jiancheng looked up and saw his father's expressionless face, Luo Cheng frowned, a little uncertain about what Luo Cheng said, and tentatively said: "Father, my son just went to see the third brother in the prison."

"Oh? Did he think it through? Did he tell you why he withdrew his troops and merged with the state?"

Hearing what Li Yuan said, Li Jiancheng had a solid idea in his heart. Before Luo Cheng had time to say it, he breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, he still had time: "Father, although I haven't asked the reason, but I guess , it should be related to the death of the third brother's nanny Chen."

"Chen's dead?" Li Yuan asked back.

"Liu Wuzhou arrested Mrs. Chen and threatened his third brother. Mrs. Chen couldn't see how his third brother was threatened, so he hit a wall and died." Li Jiancheng honestly reported the matter.

Luo Cheng raised his head and looked at him in surprise. This is true, but is the order wrong?No matter how it sounds, people feel that it was because the Chen family was captured and Li Yuanji was threatened that he withdrew his troops and merged with Zhoucheng.

In fact, Li Jiancheng could not deceive the emperor, but also wanted to excuse Li Yuanji, so he said such ambiguous words, which could easily lead Li Yuan into the pit.

Sure enough, when Li Yuan heard this, he was furious, and he slapped the table and stood up: "He has turned against him. An old nanny can make him ignore his parents, abandon the people of Chang'an City, and abandon him. And ignore the city fortress!"

Li Jiancheng folded his hands in front of him and stood respectfully without saying a word.

Li Yuan was still cursing, until he was tired of cursing, Li Jiancheng comforted him in a timely manner: "Father, doesn't this just show that the third brother values ​​friendship."

"He values ​​friendship? He values ​​fart..." Li Yuan was so confused that he even cursed out the dirty words. With his hips on his hips, he almost carried his back in anger, "Is Chen Shi so good? Didn't he just feed him a few sips of milk?" What? I am his biological father, and the queen is his biological mother. Fortunately, he can give up Bingzhou City for an irrelevant person! Where is Mrs. Chen? Where is Mrs. Chen? Bring her to me!" This is Let's talk about crime.

"Father, you forgot, my son-in-law has already told you just now, Chen Shi couldn't bear the threat of Liu Wuzhou's third younger brother, he had already crashed into a wall and died."

Li Yuan said angrily: "That means she is dead. If she is not dead, I will have to give her death. An old nun almost endangers the safety of tens of thousands of people in Chang'an City."

Luo Cheng's heart skipped a beat, and he said that if he had told the truth just now, he wondered if the emperor would kill him right now.

Thinking of this, Luo Cheng glanced at Li Jiancheng who was on the side, and it happened that the latter also looked at him and shook his head slightly at him.

Luo Cheng understood, and he didn't speak any more.

When he walked out of the side hall, Luo Cheng stepped forward to catch up with Li Jiancheng: "His Royal Highness, how is His Royal Highness King Qi doing in the prison?"

Li Jiancheng stopped, looked around, and then looked at Luo Chengdao: "He is the king of Qi in my Tang Dynasty, but he is in jail, why?"

Before Luo Cheng could answer, Li Jiancheng's tone was flat, without warmth at all: "I'm just such a younger brother, if you can't promise him, then stay away from him, and stop using him to do things for you."

"His Royal Highness, I did not..."

"Maybe you don't want to use him, but if it wasn't for you, Yuan Ji wouldn't let you ride the Maxima, and Li Zhiyun might not have died. If it wasn't for you, he wouldn't have the audacity to withdraw troops from Bingzhou and go to Luoyang to support you, let alone There is danger to Chang'an... If the father knows these things, Yuan Ji will be severely punished. Before he commits the unforgivable crime for you and his head is beheaded by the father, I will save him, and you must stay away from him "Li Jiancheng turned his back and said: "Based on what I know about him, it is not easy for him to forget you, but I believe that after a long time, he will naturally forget you."

Luo Cheng pursed his lips tightly and said nothing.I only heard the people beside me say again: "Hiding the criminal ministers of the previous court, I'm afraid that your Luo family will not be able to escape the crime."

Luo Cheng raised his head suddenly, his eyes met.

Li Jiancheng said coldly: "You don't need to worry about how I know that you have hidden Yuwen Chengdu, I naturally have my eyeliner. You just need to know that if I sue the emperor, the whole Luo family will be held accountable."

Until Li Jiancheng left, Luo Cheng still stood steadfastly in the same place. He could not allow himself to implicate his father, mother, concubine, brother, and the Luo family army, and he could not let Yu Wencheng have anything to do. He owed more and more to Li Yuanji, and it was difficult to pay back. Qing... Luo Cheng's mind went blank, he was at a loss and at a loss.

Full of worries, he returned to Beiping Mansion in the center of Chang'an City, returned to his own backyard, and met Yuwen Chengdu head-on. Luo Cheng's eyes fell on the small bag on his left shoulder, and his brows frowned again: "Do you want to leave?" ?”

Yu Wencheng didn't expect him to come back so soon, he lifted the burden on his shoulders a little uncomfortably, turned his head away from him, and said hoarsely: "I'm wearing a sinful body now, I can't see the light, you I'm Datang's minister, I can't drag you down. Li Yuanji is fine, with him by your side, I feel at ease—"

Before Yu Wencheng finished speaking, the burden on his shoulders was pulled to the ground: "Don't worry? What are you worried about?"

The depression of the past few days broke out in an instant, and Luo Cheng roared angrily: "You all force me... I just regard Li Yuanji as a friend, a comrade-in-arms, but he insists on accepting it in such a bottomless, almost self-harming way." Me, step by step, forced me to compromise, made me feel guilty, made me feel sorry for him... It's not that I didn't feel it, I already felt that something was wrong with Li Yuanji, but I still deluded myself that as long as he didn't say it, we would be fine Get along with each other...until he said clearly that I should refuse, it's not right to procrastinate like this, but looking at his grinning face that reaches to the ear, seeing that he led the Bingzhou army to Luoyang without hesitation, the words came to the fore side, didn't say it..."

Yu Wencheng looked at him with tears in his eyes, looking like he was about to fall, and his heart tightened. Even if the man in front of him was approaching with thousands of horses, he could still keep his expression on his face. Even if he encountered a tough opponent, he would never be timid , but in terms of feelings, he is a real coward.

"Yes, Li Yuanji's kindness to me, I can't afford it, I can't afford his love..."

"His Royal Highness asked me to leave Li Yuanji, saying that it was for his own good, and even threatened me with you and the entire Luo family..."

"You said to let me stay by Li Yuanji's side...you are all forcing me to make a decision, what should I do? Has anyone asked my opinion?"

"Luo Cheng..." The word Luo Cheng murmured out from Yu Wencheng's mouth, with a little charm and ambiguity, and his heart ached.

Suddenly warm in his arms, Yu Wencheng froze in place motionless, let him hug him tightly, buried his head in his chest, and listened to him whispering on his chest: "I am very grateful to Li Yuanji for what he did for me. Everything, but the one who taught me how to love someone first, the one who thinks about someone is you, Yu Wencheng."

"Luo Cheng..."

"Give me some time, give me some more time, I'll take care of everything, and when I'm done with these things, we'll leave and get out of everyone's sight."