Chapter 331 The arrow is on the string
"Mother will find a way to save you even if it costs her life." Concubine Wu Huifei stood up, turned her back to Yang Yuhuan, and tears flowed down her face.

Yang Yuhuan looked at Concubine Wu Huifei's back. Her parents had died early, and she felt the love from her mother.

Yang Yuhuan was stunned for a moment, and said, "Mother, you can't protect your daughter-in-law in this matter. My husband hopes that you can be safe. From now on, we will not contact each other. When the saint takes action, you can push all the blame to your daughter-in-law, and sacrifice your relatives for the sake of justice. This way you can buy a way out."

"Mother has her own plans." Concubine Wu Huifei did not look back and went out while holding back her tears.

Yang Yuhuan stared at Concubine Wu Huifei's back for a long time before turning to Zhang Mujin and said, "I will bear the responsibility of deceiving the emperor alone. I will let Shi Shouyi escort you out of the city."

Zhang Mujin said: "The situation is unclear right now. How can I abandon you at this time? No matter what decision you make, I will follow you."

Yang Yuhuan pondered for a moment and said, "Then wait a little longer. Now is not the time to turn hostile."

……

Li Longji returned to Xingqing Palace and thought for a long time.

He no longer trusted Li Heng, but he did not dare to directly order to seize Li Heng's military power. After all, Li Heng had once demonstrated how to let the soldiers of the four towns in Longyou Road fight against Tubo across a front of thousands of miles.

With Li Heng's terrifying ruling power, if he gave a direct order, it would very likely force Li Heng to march back from Tongguan and attack Chang'an.

So he had to find a way.

Thinking about it until night time, Li Longji unconsciously walked to Wu Huifei's palace.

One of them was outside the door, the other inside, looking at each other.

Concubine Wu Hui was stunned for a moment, then stepped forward and said, "I greet Sanlang."

"Sanlang, Sanlang..." Li Longji muttered to himself a few times, looked at Concubine Wu Huifei, and said, "It's very late at night, why are you still awake?"

Concubine Wu Huifei said: "I went to the Prince Shou's mansion today."

Li Longji had been in the room for half a day and had not had time to ask about Concubine Wu Huifei's affairs, so he just found out and angrily asked, "What are you doing there?"

Wu Huifei asked, "Didn't Sanlang go there too?"

Li Longji was startled and said, "I heard that Princess Shou was ill. I will take the imperial physician to see her."

Concubine Wu Huifei said, "Qi'er just reported that a group of Zoroastrians in Huaiyuanfang are spreading rumors all over the capital, trying to alienate the father-son relationship between Sanlang and Ying'er. But Qi'er has no troops or power, so she doesn't know what to do."

"Zoroastrianism?" Li Longji pondered, "That was An Lushan's doing. He actually has arrangements in the capital!"

Concubine Wu Huifei said: "Sanlang ordered the governors of all towns to come to the king to defend him. The other governors were waiting and watching, but Yan'er was the first to arrive. I hope Sanlang will understand his sincerity."

Li Longji seemed to be thinking about something.

As Concubine Wu Huifei said, if Li Heng had not arrived immediately, Tongguan would have been breached by the rebels and Chang'an would have fallen.

Li Longji thought for a while and said, "From today on, you are not allowed to leave the palace again, and you are not allowed to see anyone from Shouwang Mansion again."

"Yes." Concubine Wu Huifei bowed to Li Longji, tears welling up in her eyes.

Li Longji did not enter Wu Huifei's room. He left on his own and returned to the Purple Palace.

After watching the night in the Zichen Palace for a long time, Li Longji summoned Li Heng and Yang Guozhong.

In the end, he did not intend to trust Li Heng, nor did he intend to delegate power to Li Heng. He wanted to join forces with Li Heng and Yang Guozhong to fight Li Heng.

Li Longji said to Yang Guozhong: "Draft an imperial decree tomorrow and ask Prince Rong to draw troops from Jiannan and Guo Ziyi to draw troops from Shuofang to go to Tongguan to assist Prince Shou in taking back Luoyang. As for Wang Zhongsi...let's let him suppress Tubo."

When Li Heng heard this, he immediately understood that Li Longji was mobilizing troops to guard against Li Heng. However, as for Wang Zhongsi, he didn't know whether Li Longji suspected Wang Zhongsi's loyalty or was worried about the stability of the border.

However, Wang Zhongsi was of no importance to Li Heng now, so Li Heng quickly stepped forward and said, "Why not let Guo Ziyi lead the troops directly?"

Li Longji glanced at Li Heng.

Li Longji knew clearly that Li Heng had once been the governor of Shuofang, and that the civil and military officials of Shuofang sent gifts to Li Heng at any time, and that Li Heng had a close relationship with the Shuofang army.

But now, he could only keep silent and nodded, "Alright, but Prince Shou must not know about this."

Li Heng and Yang Guozhong received the order at the same time and retreated. After the two men left, Li Longji said to Gao Lishi who was standing beside him, "Send someone to keep an eye on the people in the Shouwang Mansion. If there is any unusual movement, report it to me immediately."

"Yes." Gao Lishi took the order and looked worried.

He was not only worried about whether Li Longji could really defeat Li Heng, but also worried about the future of the Tang Dynasty.

……

Tongguan.

Li Heng summoned all the generals to discuss military affairs. Except for the military supervisor Li Lin, all the generals were present.

Li Heng asked, "Where is Prince Yong?"

Zhang Guangsheng replied: "Prince Yong drank with a few geishas last night and has not yet gotten up."

Li Siye asked, "Where are the geishas in Tongguan?"

Zhang Guangsheng said, "It was sent from Chang'an by Yong Wang's order."

Li Siye was shocked and angry, but he endured it.

Li Heng said: "In that case, let's ignore him and talk about military affairs first."

Gao Xianzhi stood up and said, "Your Highness, the valley outside the pass is long and narrow, and the elite rebels are hiding. It will be disadvantageous for our army to go out and fight. We should hold Tongguan and let the Shuofang army harass the rebels' rear. When the rebels come back for reinforcements and are exhausted, we can make a concerted effort to recapture Luoyang."

Li Heng pondered and asked, "Is there any news about Yan Zhenqing and the Shuofang Army in Hebei?"

Gao Xianzhi said: "The court has not synchronized news from other fronts with us for two days."

"Hasn't the military report been delivered yet?" Li Heng was unconsciously angry.

Because he knew that without the military report, there was a high probability that the Shuofang Army did not attack. If the Shuofang Army did not attack, there was a high probability that they were deployed to guard against him.

Historically, the Shuofang Army took Changshan while Shi Siming was attacking Raoyang. If Li Longji had not forced Geshu Han to leave Tongguan, the Shuofang Army would have raided An Lushan's hometown.

But now, he did not move his troops out, and Li Longji transferred the Shuofang Army to guard against him. This situation was even more serious than in history.

Seeing Li Heng was silent, Li Siye said, "Not only did the court not keep us updated on other fronts, it also sent an army behind us. Your Highness, since the rebels are under the banner of attacking Yang Guozhong, why don't we leave 30,000 soldiers to guard Tongguan, and the rest of the army will return to Chang'an, behead Yang Guozhong, and force the rebels to retreat."

"That's right." Ma Lin agreed with Li Siye's words. "Anyway, Yang Guozhong deserves to die. If we kill him, even if the rebels don't retreat, they will be left without a reason!"

Gao Xianzhi could not help but said, "The supervisory team behind us is Yang Guozhong's confidant. We have to deal with the rebels in front and our own people in the back. How can we win the battle when we are attacked from both sides?"

Zhang Guangsheng had been with Li Heng the longest and had learned a lot from him. He said, "Your Highness and I are loyal to the Tang Dynasty, but now that An Lushan has rebelled, the Saint no longer trusts military commanders. I am worried that the court will transfer the Shuofang Army and the Jiannan Army to our rear."

Upon hearing this, the generals were horrified and knelt down in unison, saying, "Your Highness, please kill Yang Guozhong!"

Li Heng glanced at the generals and sighed.

He originally wanted to repel the rebellion first and then go back to deal with the people in Chang'an, but now it seems that he can't wait.

Li Heng said quietly, "Wait two more days."

The generals looked at each other, all puzzled.

Li Heng said: "Let the head coach of the supervision team, Du Qianyun, come to discuss the battle outside the border."

"Yes." This time the generals heard clearly and stood up to accept the order.

After the generals left, Li Ying asked Zhang Guangsheng, "Hasn't the princess sent a letter yet?"

Zhang Guangsheng said: "It has not been delivered. The surveillance guards just reported that the Flying Dragon Guards have set their sights on the palace."

"What?" Li Heng stood up in shock. After a long pause, he said, "Tell Shi Shouyi to get the princess and the others out of Chang'an City as soon as possible!"

"Yes." Zhang Guangsheng took the order.

(End of this chapter)