Northern Dynasties Imperial Industry

"Thieves, retreat, retreat! I am the Son of Heaven, I am the Supreme Being, please don't let any evil invade..."

In the dimly lit bedroom, the sound of sleepwalking could be heard intermittently from the bed covered with hanging curtains. The meaning was still fierce, but the tone sounded a little tired, even frightened, and the voice was also very hoarse and dry.

There was no servant in the tent in front of the bed who dared to approach. The servants were all kneeling or standing outside the tent. Although the night was extremely dark and they were all exhausted, they still stared wide-eyed and did not dare to sleep. His eyes were already bloodshot, but he still pinched his thighs and bit his arms, hoping to use the pain in his body to offset the sleepiness that came like a tide.

Outside this dormitory, many monks were sitting around, and they were all chanting sutras in a low voice to pray for blessings and disasters, to cure diseases and prolong life. Chanting sutras from morning to night consumes a lot of physical strength and energy, and some monks are already swaying just sitting there.

But even so, they still dare not slack off. From time to time, novices come to add refreshing tea to their sutras. This tea soup has many special seasonings added, and the taste is more bitter and unpleasant than the tea soup, but it is also more refreshing because of it.

The reason why the monks chanted sutras and prayed so hard was naturally because the person in the dormitory had an extraordinary status and was the current emperor. The emperor destroyed Taoism in the country and worshiped Buddhism, which made the ascetics prosper. He also donated a large amount of money to Ganlu Temple every year to worship Buddha. Therefore, these monks also sincerely hope that the emperor in his prime can turn the crisis into peace and prolong his life. , continue his wise rule, and do not let evil spirits from outside invade his country.

Probably the prayers of these monks had an effect. The emperor, who had been sleeping for a long time, woke up again today, and his condition was better than that in the morning. After opening his eyes, he opened his mouth to express his hunger.

After hearing this, the servants standing outside hurriedly brought out the warm soup that had been prepared and served it. Because the emperor was too hasty to ask for it, a waiter in a hurry actually poured out the hot soup in the bowl and fell into the emperor's lap. On the front.

"Diao slave deserves to die!"

The eunuch next to him suddenly darkened his face when he saw this, pointed at the waiter and scolded angrily.

And the waiter was so frightened that he knelt on the ground and repeatedly knelt and begged: "Your Majesty, spare your life, Your Majesty, spare your life..."

Ping Qin King Gao Guiyan had been staying in the side room. He hurried over after hearing that the emperor had woken up. When he entered the room and saw this scene, he immediately wanted the servants to pull out the sloppy and erring waiter and kill him. However, the emperor committed suicide. Zhong waved his hands weakly and said: "That's all, he didn't mean it."

As soon as he said this, the waiter who was kneeling on the ground begging for mercy felt as if he had been granted amnesty and thanked him repeatedly. However, others around him were very surprised when they saw this. Even Gao Guiyan was a little surprised. He stepped forward and asked in a low voice: "Your Majesty, do you really want to forgive this slave?"

Gao Yang, who was on the bed, nodded in response after hearing this. However, when his eyes glanced at the surprised expressions on the faces of Gao Guiyan and others, his thoughts stagnated slightly, and he said in a cold voice: "Although Hubao is old, he is still capable. I'm ready to bite people. Drag them down and kill them!"

After hearing this, everyone in the hall showed such expressions on their faces. It was just that the waiter was suffering, and their mood suddenly changed from great joy to great sadness.

Gao Guiyan turned his head and waved back briefly, and then two armored soldiers came forward, covered the mouth of the waiter who was still wailing and begging, dragged him out of the hall and killed him.

Gao Yang sipped half a bowl of liquid soup, with a slightly satisfied look on his face. When he wanted to continue eating, a heartburning backflow surged up in his chest and abdomen, causing him to cough repeatedly. It took him a while to calm down, but Neng stopped eating without feeling satisfied.

"Is there any new news from Yedu?"

After leaning on the bed for a while, Gao Yangcai looked at Gao Guiyan and asked.

When Gao Guiyan heard this, he couldn't help but feel alarmed. He was worried that the emperor meant something when he asked this question. The most influential news coming from the capital in the past few days was that his family members were persecuted for violating the ban and breaking the law. Strict sanctions imposed by the Governor-General of the Supervisory State.

He has also been feeling agitated and restless in recent days because of this, but because he still has to stay here as a guard, he is too busy to do anything, so he can only put this matter aside for the time being. When he heard the emperor's question, he couldn't help but subconsciously take over his own family affairs. He first glanced at the hall to see if there was anyone who might report this to the emperor, and then secretly peeked at the emperor's expression, and found that it was just a simple inquiry. Gao Guiyan secretly breathed a sigh of relief as he implicitly questioned himself.

"Your Majesty, everything seems to be business as usual in the capital, and there is no urgent matter being conveyed here."

Gao Guiyan walked forward, stopped a few feet away from the bed, and whispered to the emperor.

After hearing this answer, Gao Yang frowned slightly and said in a deep voice: "Where are King Changshan and King Changguang? They haven't sent any news back?"

Although Gao Guiyan came to Liaoyang with the two kings, he was not very clear about the interaction between the emperor and the two kings. At this time, he could not help but be a little suspicious when he heard this question, but then he answered truthfully: "The two kings Your Majesty has also come without any news. Do you want me to send someone back to the capital to inquire?"

After Gao Yang heard this answer, his eyes suddenly became deep. He thought he still had enough time to calmly solve these internal personnel problems, but since arriving in Liaoyang, his physical condition has deteriorated and has not improved at all. Now the task entrusted to the two kings has yet to be completed, which gradually makes him feel bad.

"All the mages outside the hall should evacuate. Don't do this useless work again."

After a moment of silence, Gao Yang spoke again. Before, he still had a strong desire to live, and felt that his illness was getting worse and worse, and medicine and stone had no effect. He still wanted to place his hope in gods and Buddhas, so he went directly to Liaoyang Ganlu Temple to pray to Buddha and extend his life. But now it seems that there is still little effect. .

At the moment, he still has not completely disregarded life and death, but the remaining time in his life is too precious, and he cannot continue to waste it in this temple, so he continued: "Preach to Jinyang, go to Puyang The king of Nan'an and Tang Yong led 20,000 troops here to welcome him. They sent a message to the king of Yedu to escort the queen and the prince to Liaoyang to meet him. They went to Jinyang together and the king of Changshan stayed here. Sizhou Mu..."

Gao Yang has been thinking about some personnel adjustments and arrangements for a long time, and now he is talking about them intermittently.

Among all the personnel matters, the one he was most worried about was Gao Yan, his eldest brother. He originally planned to use Gao Yan's hands to kill Zhu Yuan, and then took advantage of Gao Yan's criticism and difficulty in rallying people. He was detained until the transfer of power was successfully completed in the country. After the heir succeeded to the throne, he could be killed or released without losing the effect of demonstrating kindness.

As a result, there has been no further information from Yedu, and even Liu Taozhi and other confidants have not received any further news. Gao Yang does not know what happened specifically, so he can only return to the base camp of Jinyang for the time being to make plans. Separating Gao Yan and Gao Zhan allows them to check and balance each other when necessary.

After explaining these things, Gao Yang fell asleep again full of exhaustion. He had hardly eaten in the past few days, and the nutrients he took in from the outside world were seriously insufficient to sustain consumption, so sleep became his only way to recuperate and stay alive.

Gao Guiyan felt quite sad when he saw the emperor in such a dying state. He was originally not taken seriously by the Gao clan. He was originally the illegitimate son of his father Gao Hui who lived abroad. He was fostered in Gao Yue's home when he was young, and was often neglected and abused by Gao Yue.

It was not until the Northern Qi Dynasty that he gained the trust and respect of the current emperor. Not only did he avenge his youth by killing his cousin Gao Yue, but he had also been in charge of the imperial army for many years and was a very important figure in the court. It can be said that most of Gao Guiyan's current glory and wealth were bestowed by the current emperor, and he is naturally very grateful in his heart.

But in addition to sadness and worry, Gao Guiyan was also worried. Once the emperor died and the prince succeeded him, would he be able to maintain his current position of power? Especially after learning that his family had been detained and questioned by the prince's envoys, Gao Guiyan became less and less optimistic about this.

With complicated emotions, Gao Guiyan exited the emperor's bedroom. At dawn, he and other courtiers dealt with the personnel affairs that the emperor had previously assigned.

However, he had just selected the personnel to go to Yedu to report the news and orders. Suddenly, a general from outside rushed into the temple and reported: "Reporting to your Majesty, there is a troop several miles away from the east bank of Liao River in the south and is approaching Ganlu Temple quickly. Scouts After asking, the military reported that they came from Yedu to transport supplies..."

"There's no need to worry about such a trivial matter!"

Gao Guiyan was in a depressed mood. After hearing this, he said in a deep voice that he was so worried now that he had no time to deal with such trivial matters.

However, the general said: "But, there have been no notifications for transporting supplies in Riki recently. Although the troops sent supplies in the cloud, there are not many carriages in the team."

After hearing this, Gao Guiyan's face changed slightly, and he felt a little worried. He quickly took out his armor and put it on himself, and then led a team to Ganlu Temple.

As soon as the group arrived in the wilderness outside the temple, they saw a cavalry team of nearly a thousand people quickly passing through the countryside, galloping towards the northwest of Liaoyang. Gao Guiyan asked people to come forward and ask, those knights. They all had no response.

The other knights were still wondering and speculating, but Gao Guiyan had already frowned tightly, looking at the direction of the team running with a thoughtful look on his face. After a moment, he suddenly exclaimed: "It's not good. , this team is going north to block the Liashui River Valley and block my way! Check quickly to see if there is a way to follow the army in the south!"

All the officers and soldiers were surprised after hearing this. They must know that Liaoyang is inland far away from the border. Who led the division and brigade to blockade Liaoyang? Could it be that the Qiang army in the border area had made another breakthrough and had already reached Liaoyang?