Linzhi

"Your Highness!" Tao Xuan turned pale with shock, rushed forward without even thinking about it, and supported He Rong, fearing that he would fall to the ground the next moment.

Unexpectedly, He Rong stood still, he didn't even look at the mouthful of blood he vomited, and still had the energy to grab the bamboo stick.

If he put aside his pale face, Tao Xuan would really think that vomiting blood was his own illusion.

"Your Highness, take care, I'll go to the doctor right away!" Tao Xuan said tremblingly, trembling extremely.

This group of people has already bet their lives and futures on His Royal Highness King An. Even Tao Xuan, who is so slick and slick, has decided in his heart that King An is the one who is most likely to lead everyone to clean up the land and calm the world. That person, if Wang An suddenly had an emergency...

Tao Xuan didn't even dare to think about it.

Even the news of the death of the emperor had never made him so afraid.

He Rong seemed to be aware of his mood, and he still had the time to say to him, "I'm fine."

A faint smell of blood accompanied the other party's opening, if there seemed to be no spread, Tao Xuan joined in and showed a smile uglier than crying.

Facts have proved that Tao Xuan didn't react too much. He Rong's mouthful of blood almost alarmed everyone in Ganzhou. Even Ying Ziyu and Xiao Zhong ran over, looking worriedly at the doctor who was taking He Rong's pulse. The gaze almost set the doctor's clothes on fire.

"How is your highness, you should say something!"

Ying Ziyu hated the other party's hesitant appearance the most, wishing he could grab the doctor's skirt and shake it from side to side.

"It's not a bad thing to let out stagnant qi and internal fire, but in the future, His Highness should pay attention to calming down and recuperating, and don't work too hard, otherwise even if you take medicine, there will be no improvement." The doctor said.

Tao Xuan couldn't help asking: "What do you mean, His Highness is in good health?"

The doctor is neither overbearing nor humble: "There is no problem now, but it does not mean that there will be no problem in the future."

The corner of Tao Xuan's mouth twitched, and Ying Ziyu felt his fist itch a little, but at least he had to hold back his attack in front of His Highness.

When the doctor went out to write prescriptions and prescribe medicines, He Rong said to them: "It's okay, the blood comes out, and I feel that my chest tightness is much better."

Ying Ziyu's eyes widened: "You still have chest tightness? Why didn't you say it before?"

He Rong supported his forehead, feeling as if he was lifting a rock to shoot himself in the foot.

He called the maid.

"Go and prepare the incense table and incense candles, and prepare some offerings. I want to sacrifice to His Majesty and Second Brother from afar."

Xiao Zhong and Ying Ziyu looked at each other, and the latter couldn't help asking: "Your Highness, I don't understand something. His Highness Ji Wang has 2 horses in his hands, and the Turkic people are not good at attacking cities. It is not difficult for him to defend Chang'an. Why didn't they even fight, and dismissed the 2 horses on the spot, and instead went to practice this prayer alone, isn't this..."

He reluctantly swallowed the words "the bravery of a man".

"Ying Ziyu!" Tao Xuan gave him a warning look, signaling not to sprinkle salt on Wang An's wounds.

"It doesn't matter." He Rong waved his hand, "You are often at the border and don't know much about the forbidden army in the capital. There are two reasons for this. One is morale. , without courage, even my second brother himself did not believe that the 2 people could hold Chang'an. Second, the soldiers were weak, His Majesty went south to accompany the emperor, and all the elite of the forbidden army were taken away. They are also vulnerable dandies, although they claim to be [-], but in fact, less than half of them can actually be sent to the battlefield to fight against the enemy."

In fact, it is not difficult to understand that the imperial guards guarding the emperor and the capital sounds like a huge force, but with a large number of people, it is inevitable that the good and the bad will be mixed, and there will be no shortage of noble children from aristocratic families who go in to dawdle, like Zhang Ze, if he didn't run around with He Rong later , and now he is also one of them.

Xiao Chong and the others could not help but sigh when they heard this.

It has only been a few decades since the founding of the country. The fortune of the country should have been prosperous, but it was beaten like this by the Turks. The bottom line is that there is a mediocre and ineffective monarch, and there is a disaster of military discipline. It is different, but there is no if in history, and the shattering of mountains and rivers is actually happening right before our eyes.

Before He Rong appeared, although Ying Ziyu, Tao Xuan and the others had made up their minds to defend Ganzhou, they still sighed in their hearts that the power of the dynasty was approaching. Until Xiao Zhong returned to surrender, the battle against the Xiao family went smoothly. Only then did they feel that a big stone fell to their hearts. If the news of the emperor's death and the fall of Chang'an had not come, Ying Ziyu and the others would have almost forgotten the reality that the Central Plains was retreating steadily.

So He Xiu put aside 2 horses and went to assassinate Fu Nian alone. It can be said that he was showing the courage of a man, or he wanted to save Chang'an by himself, but no matter what, he failed. Fu Nian did not die. He will be enraged by He Xiu's actions and will take even crazier revenge.

He Rong asked someone to bring the "Chang'an Evil Ghost Picture" and unfolded it slowly in front of them.

Everyone's expressions were serious, such as Ying Ziyu, who clenched his fists tightly, gritted his teeth and said, "If I let Lao Tzu catch them, I will cut their flesh and blood Throw them all into the river to feed the fish!"

Xiao Chong thought a little more, and said: "Your Highness, the person who sent you this painting at this time is really a person with a very serious heart, maybe it is to sow dissension, to confuse people's hearts, and also to force you to send troops to deal with the Turkic people as soon as possible." , and he can hide behind and pick up cheap."

Tao Xuan also said: "That's right, Your Highness, at this moment, we can't lose our sense of control. It's not even known whether the letter was sent by His Highness the Fifth Highness."

The letter was sent by He Zhan.He Rong knew very well that he couldn't even recognize the handwriting of his younger brother whom he had grown up with.

The short four-word question shocked He Rong's mind, and it didn't make him lose his sense of control.

But by coincidence, it was followed by the picture scroll, and then the death news of Emperor Jiayou and He Xiu.

This seemed to indirectly confirm He Zhan's questioning, and also confirmed He Rong's inaction.

Xiao Chong said: "My condolences, Your Highness, there are so many things going on at the moment, and His Highness still needs to be the master. When Chang'an is recovered in the future, His Highness can explain to the late Emperor."

The first emperor...

The father who had been with them in Zhushan County, the father who said to himself "I know, you have always been a good boy", became the first emperor in a blink of an eye.

He Rong felt a little dizzy, he couldn't help pressing his forehead, and asked Tao Xuan: "The emperor has passed away, what is the court's plan? Will there be a new emperor?"

Tao Xuan: "I haven't heard of it yet, but the late emperor's coffin is still in Xiangzhou, I'm afraid they won't be moving for a while."

He Rong shook his head: "You don't know Li Kuan. This man is very scheming. He must be planning to support a new emperor now, so he will definitely speed up his journey to the south. I heard that there are rebels in Taiyuan and Luoyang. If they hear that the emperor is driving Beng, maybe he will simply establish himself as king and face the Turks. Li Kuan should get rid of himself as soon as possible, and leave the northern battlefield to us, let us fight the Turks and lose both, and then he will come forward to reap the benefits of the fishermen."

Tao Xuan hesitated: "Then shall we still fight the Turks?"

"Where are you looking from a distance?" He Rong looked at Xiao Zhong.

Xiao Zhong didn't hesitate to think: "Naturally, those so-called rebels, if I expected it to be true, must have the support of powerful people behind them. They don't need us to take action, they will fight for a while because of the territory grabbing. It is always the Turkic people, as long as they defeat the Turkic people, they will be able to unify the north, as for Li Kuan and his generation, even if their schemes succeed for a while, it will not last long.

He Rong's pale face finally showed the first smile since today. Although it was a little faint, it was enough to show that Xiao Zhong's words reached his heart.

"According to what Zhiyuan said, when Lin Miao's good news comes, we will set off south."

Several people responded, and Tao Xuan said again: "Your Highness, if Li Kuan supports the new emperor and asks us to obey, what should we do?"

He Rong pondered, "It's wartime now, and it's not uncommon for news to be delayed."

It means pretending not to know even if you know it, and doing what you should do.

Tao Xuan understood it, and thought to himself that you said Li Kuan was a treacherous and cunning man, so you didn't give in too much.

Ying Ziyu scratched her head: "Didn't it mean that Empress Pei has left Xiangzhou? If we could find her, we wouldn't be so passive."

As soon as he said it, He Rong was also reminded.

I don't know what happened to Empress Pei now.

But now the situation is chaotic, when Queen Pei leaves, it is definitely impossible to bring many people, not to mention she is still pregnant.He Rong couldn't think deeply about the possible ending of a woman wandering in troubled times.

He wanted to send someone to rescue him, but he didn't know where to start.

I can only hope that the other party's auspicious person will have his own destiny.

……

Queen Pei sneezed.

There are probably enough people thinking about her these days. She sneezes one after another, but she no longer cares about whether she will catch a cold or drink a bowl of ginger soup.

Because she is in labor.

And she gave birth in a grove.

Three days ago, they traveled to Gyeongju. Thanks to Zhang Ze and Ma Hong, they narrowly avoided several times of looting by Turks, bandits, and rebels. Even so, there were still three or four conflicts in the place occupied by the bandits. With Zhang Ze and his party present, they were saved from danger in the end, but this also increased everyone's vigilance. Liujia, however, gritted their teeth and insisted, and would never drag the team down easily.

Prior to this, although Empress Pei was born in the general family and was not a woman who didn't know the dangers of the world, she never thought that one day the world would be in chaos and the Turkic people would enter the customs. Some thieves and bandits took the opportunity to use the tiger skin as a banner, occupying the mountain as the king, and those aristocratic families also raised the banner of the rebel army.But in fact, few of these people really went to fight the Turkic people, and all of them were fighting each other to separate forces.

But bad news came one after another. When Chang'an fell and the news of King Ji's death came, Wu, who had been frightened all the time, finally couldn't take it anymore, and immediately saw Hong. Everyone panicked and found the nearest medicine shop for her, but they couldn't help it. It was already a step too late. On that day, Mrs. Wu gave birth. After a day and a night, she finally gave birth to a stillborn baby and died of a bloody collapse.

Everyone had to bury him in a hurry, and then started on the road again. Affected by this, Empress Pei was a little restless. The amniotic fluid broke.

Without going to the village or shop, Ma Hong had to hastily ask someone to park the carriage in the woods beside the road. Although he was a servant, he had never delivered a baby before, and he heard Empress Pei's voices Painful groans came from inside the carriage, and they followed Liushen Wuzhu, so they had no choice but to wander around in place, not knowing what to do.

He was at a loss, and Zhang Ze's big men didn't even know about it. In order to avoid suspicion, they hid far away, but it was Empress Pei who asked the maid to call Zhang Ze out of the carriage.

"General Zhang, if I can't make it through this test, you can go to King An immediately and tell His Majesty the secret of his death. I still have a handwritten letter here. Please take it with you and hand it over to King An. Break it, break it, don't hesitate."

Hearing the intermittent words of Empress Pei enduring the pain, Zhang Ze felt uncomfortable.

"Your Majesty, please rest assured, you are auspicious, and you will be fine."

Empress Pei sighed softly, and the severe pain that followed caused her to be involved in a new round of pain again, and she had no time to talk to Zhang Ze.

If something happens to Empress Pei...

Zhang Ze didn't dare to think about it.

The emperor has passed away, although Li Kuan preemptively slandered Empress Pei for assassinating the emperor, but as long as the empress arrives in a safe place, announces to the world, exposes Li Kuan's conspiracy, and then uses the mouth of the former emperor to support His Royal Highness King An to ascend the throne... everything will be logical.

I'm afraid that if the queen can't pass this test, then all the efforts they have put in along the way will be in vain.

"Hurry up and think of a way!" Ma Hong said anxiously.

"What can I do!" Zhang Ze was also very anxious, and they couldn't help at all with things like giving birth.

Zhang Ze found that he couldn't hear the woman's screams, and couldn't stay beside the carriage for a moment, so he could only walk outside the grove to see if there was a passing carriage, and if there happened to be a doctor inside...

He also knew that he was fantasizing, and when he was secretly smiling bitterly, he suddenly heard a voice coming from outside.

"It's all your fault. It would be fine if we didn't take this road. There are no ghosts. If we encounter robbers, how can we fight them with just the two of us?"

"Senior brother, generally no one would want to steal from us, it would be useless at first sight!"

A nagging complaint, and a crisp response.

The two raised their heads while talking, and met Zhang Ze who had walked to the edge of the woods.

The latter is powerful and powerful, with a knife on his waist, and he is not a kind person at first glance.

The older monk gasped, stepped back two steps, put his palms together and said, "This benefactor, if we meet, we are destined. Let's go slowly."

Zhang Ze: "..."

Inexplicably, he watched the other party pull up the little monk and turn around to leave. Empress Pei's suppressed and painful screams came just in time, making the two of them stop and follow the prestige.

The two monks looked at each other in dismay, imagining a tragedy of killing people and stealing goods. They struggled with conscience between whether to go or not to go, and finally changed direction and turned back.

Zhang Ze was a little vigilant, and stopped in front of them: "What do the two Zen masters want to do?"

"Justice!" The great monk said righteously, "Who is calling?"

Zhang Ze couldn't laugh or cry, but the more he looked at the great monk, the more familiar he looked. If the other person's stature was smaller and his hair was longer, wouldn't it be...

"Fourth Highness?!"

The great monk was startled, and looked Zhang Ze up and down.

"You recognize me?"

Zhang Zexi said: "I am Zhang Ze, the nephew of Marquis Wuwei. I also visited Prince Lu's Mansion when I was in the capital!"

The old people met, but they didn't care about the pleasantries. Zhang Ze briefly described what happened to Empress Pei, and He Xi slapped his thigh: "You didn't say it earlier, my little brother got my master's true biography, and the pulse and treatment are so-so, and there are no doctors around. , let him deal with it."

The little monk glanced at him slowly, wondering: "But I didn't give birth to anyone!"

He Xi said: "Didn't you give birth to the sheep? It's almost the same, I trust you!"

He believed in the little monk, but Zhang Ze didn't believe it. It sounded absurd to him, but the current situation couldn't be faulted, so he hurriedly asked Sushuang to convey the situation to Empress Pei, and let Empress Pei decide on her own.

After a while, Empress Pei agreed with the little monk to enter the carriage.

Seeing Zhang Ze staring at the little monk's back worriedly, He Xi patted him on the shoulder and said confidently, "Don't worry, my junior brother is very good at medicine. We have treated many people along the way. Well, he taught me my medical skills!"

It was because of this that Zhang Ze was even more worried. When he was in Chang'an, he often heard about the absurd deeds of the Fourth Highness from others.

A person who becomes a monk instead of a prince is really... rare in ancient and modern times.

When the two groups reunited, He Xi couldn't help but ask where Zhang Ze and the others were going, and asked about the current situation in various aspects. When he heard that the emperor had passed away, the smile on He Xi's smiling face finally disappeared, and he sighed: "Life and death! Destiny, my father was an emperor, so he can die without any regrets, but it’s a pity that the people in this world have been implicated and affected. Amitabha, it seems that I will recite two more volumes of Buddhist scriptures tonight to save them. .”

It was the first time for Zhang Ze to see someone who was so detached from the news of his father's death, and it was an eye-opener.

"Your Highness, since you are here, come back to Lingzhou with us to meet King An. He has not seen you for a long time, and he must miss you very much."

He Xi nodded: "Actually, our trip is also going to Lingzhou. Last time I received the third brother's letter, I already set off."

It's just that I stopped and stopped along the way, dawdling, and took a big circle in the middle of Sichuan, so I just arrived in Gyeongju until now.

Zhang Ze was about to say something, but he heard a baby crying suddenly from inside the carriage, like a bright sky, illuminating everyone's hearts instantly.

"It's born, it's born!" Su Shuang's joyful voice came from inside.

"Mother and child are safe!" This is what the little monk said.

Zhang Ze's mood seemed to be thrown from the ground high into the sky, and then gently fell to the ground.

He couldn't help looking at the dark night outside. On the top of the distant mountain, there seemed to be a faint white line, which reflected the outline of the corner of the mountain, and also cut off the long and silent night, indicating that the dawn was coming.