Looking at the mountains and rivers

Wei Changxuan stared at him blankly. After a long time, he shook his head: "I never thought that my life could be used to threaten you, let alone, I know very well the ambition in your heart. You want to ascend to the supreme throne, let Everyone in the world is prostrate at your feet. This may be your lifelong wish, and I will not stop you, nor can I stop you." After he finished speaking, he sighed and said, "When I was very young, my foster father taught me,' A man born in this world should look up and be ashamed of the world'. I will never forget these words for the rest of my life. Now that the country is in crisis, if I don't go, I will feel ashamed, and I will never stand in the world without face."

Hearing the determination in his words, Yang Yan's face changed again, his lips were biting white, almost oozing blood: "Wei Changxuan, don't force me, you know I won't allow you to go .I can order now to take away your official position and lock you up until the end of the war."

Wei Changxuan was dumbfounded, he gritted his teeth and laughed silently: "Of course you can lock me up, you can even kill me like your father and grandfather treated my father!"

Yang Yan was stunned, and suddenly shouted: "Shut up!" The veins on his forehead throbbed violently, and his chest heaved violently, "It turns out that you have always hated this matter, and you hate my father, king, and my grandparents so much. Zu, isn't it?"

Wei Changxuan didn't make any excuses, he was obviously very angry, and his breathing was very heavy.

Yang Yan only felt chills in his heart, and the tears seemed to be out of control, and they poured out silently. He murmured: "You said earlier that this matter has nothing to do with me, so you won't resent me for it, but you clearly do. Blame me! I know that your father's death will always be between you and me, and no matter how we cover it up, we are just deceiving ourselves." He raised his sleeves, wiped away the tears on his face, and said in a very low voice, "Wei Changxuan, I will not kill you, nor will I imprison you. You are going to fight, to die, just go. You are right, we will go our separate ways from now on."

The room was silent, only a soft sound was heard, it was the sound of gold and iron objects falling to the floor, Yang Yan knew without asking, that what Wei Changxuan dropped was the ancient dagger.The footsteps of guard Changxuan passed by him, walked to the door, and finally only said in a low voice: "Yexi, take care."

After the sound of footsteps walked out of Moxue Pavilion, Yang Yan seemed to lose all strength suddenly, her knees softened, and she slumped to the ground.He groped to pick up the dagger, there was still some residual temperature on the dagger, it was the temperature in Wei Changxuan's arms.I remember that in the afternoon of the previous day, the two of them were sitting side by side on the highest wooden steps of Moxue Pavilion, and the sunlight poured down from the skylight, reflecting the warmth on Yang Yan's shoulders.He fumbled with one hand for the dry ancient book spread out on his lap, while the other hand was placed by his side, which was gently held by Wei Changxuan.What Wei Changxuan was flipping through were the volumes of military books hidden in the pavilion. He read the books very quickly, and the pages were rattling. Even Yang Yan was not sure whether he had read them or not. Read that ancient book on your lap.The afternoon passed silently, and he could only feel the hand he was holding. Wei Changxuan's palm was warm, with a touch of a callus. The feeling was so clear, but now it was nothing like is a dream.

The dagger was held tightly by him, but it was still getting cold a little bit. Yang Yan squeezed the dagger hard, and the chill on the dagger seemed to penetrate his chest, making him gasp in pain.

"Uncle." Dugu Hong, who had been wandering outside for a long time, finally broke in. He looked at Yang Yan who was squatting on the ground, very strange, "Uncle, what's the matter with you? Did General Wei quarrel with you? I think he was in a hurry just now." Go out, your face is very bad..."

Yang Yan just shook his head without saying a word.

Dugu Hong was taken aback by his appearance. He bent down and saw Yang Yan's face was as pale as paper, and his body shrank like a leaf in the cold wind.He had never seen such an uncle, he was not as calm as usual, but thin and pitiful, like a wronged child.

"Uncle..." Dugu Hong called him softly, and slowly hugged him from behind.

The boy's body temperature was very high, but Yang Yan's trembling did not stop at all. He closed his eyes hard, stretched out his hand and pushed away his nephew's arm: "Altai, go down, and leave me alone."

May [-]th, Jian'an, Hanchen Palace.

Emperor Yong'an was awakened in his sleep. When he was pushed awake by his concubine, he was about to reprimand him in a daze, but he heard the alarmed voice from the inner guard outside the bed curtain: "Your Majesty, there is an urgent military situation in the northwest. Come in!"

"What?" Yang Jie sat up suddenly, and lifted the curtain, only to see the inner prisoner with a mournful face, handing in a roll of blood-stained battle report.At this moment, Yang Jie couldn't care less about the dirtiness of the scroll, and when he opened it, his face changed drastically, and he said urgently, "Hurry up, call all the ministers, and discuss the matter in the side hall!"

About half an hour later, all the officials came at night, they obviously came in a hurry, most of them were in disheveled clothes, and all of them were sleepy, huddled listlessly in the side hall of Hanchen Hall.

The emperor only wore a regular uniform, and before he had time to comb his hair, he raised his hand and ordered the eunuch to read the battle report.

"Recently, about 20 soldiers of the Yanyu army have been divided into two groups. Within two days, they broke through the Panmen Pass and Yunxia Pass, and penetrated more than [-] miles into our Dazhao territory. If they break through the Longzhou line, they will definitely go straight to Jian'an, and Dazhao is in danger. !"

Hearing this news suddenly, all the ministers were frightened and frightened. Some ministers stammered and asked: "The Yanyu people are coming aggressively. This is premeditated. Now we can only entangle the troops as soon as possible and go to defend against the enemy."

"How can there be soldiers and horses to defend against the enemy? Now the defenses of the cities are empty. Longzhou City has only 3 horses. I'm afraid they can't withstand Yan Yu's iron cavalry." The speaker of the Ministry of War who came to deliver the letter just now, he suddenly knelt down and said in a deep voice. Said, "Your Majesty, I beg you to lead one hundred thousand imperial troops to Longzhou for support."

"Nonsense! Now that the foreign enemies are strong, the imperial army should naturally guard the capital to protect the safety of the emperor. If they leave the capital rashly, if the foreign enemies take the opportunity to attack the capital, what should we do?" Yong Wang Yang Lin hurriedly stopped, and bowed again, " Your Majesty, the people of Yanyu are brave, and I am afraid that no one will be able to resist them for a while, so it is better to send people to negotiate a peace. They are short-sighted, they just need to cut out a little land and let them retreat."

"Your Majesty, absolutely not!" Another veteran came out, "Yanyu people are greedy by nature, like jackals. The reason they have repeatedly invaded these years is because they have tasted the sweetness of my court's tribute, gold and silk, and they refuse to let it go. If this time again sets a precedent for land severance, allowing Yanyu people to migrate from the extreme north to the Central Plains, closer to the hinterland of Dazhao, there will be endless troubles from now on!"

Tang Zhiyuan, Shangshu of the Ministry of Rites, also stepped forward and said: "I think it is not appropriate to cede the land, and it is the right way to formulate a strategy to defend against the enemy." He hesitated for a moment, and then said, "It's just that the imperial army is weak, and most of them can't resist the tigers and wolves of Yanyu. For the current plan, it is safer to gather the Donghu army in Hexi and other places to fight against the enemy."

As soon as he said this, all the officials followed suit: "That's right, the Donghu army has been fighting against Yanyu all year round, and they must be able to deal with it."

Yao Shaoqin, the servant of the Ministry of War, was a little embarrassed: "However, if the Donghu Army does not have the Northwest General Guard, His Highness Mu Wang's warrant, I am afraid that it will be difficult to dispatch for a while."

All the courtiers were aware of this matter, but King Mu declared himself ill and had not been in court for a year. Everyone speculated about the rift between His Highness and the emperor, and gradually fell silent in front of the emperor.Emperor Yong'an hurriedly summoned his ministers to discuss this disaster that fell from the sky. He originally hoped that the people would come up with some feasible solutions, but unexpectedly, after talking about it, the ministers inevitably brought up King Mu.He was a little annoyed in his heart, but it was inconvenient to express it. He just frowned and remained silent. After half a day, his tiredness gradually came to him. He yawned and said, "Since you have no good plan, you should step back first." Bar!"

When the courtiers came out one after another, Emperor Yong'an remembered something again, and stopped the Minister of the Ministry of War: "Shaoqin, this battle report came from Longzhou, but I remember that the Jiedu envoy of Longzhou has always been old and useless, why is it at this juncture?" To be able to defend the city and resist the enemy calmly, could it be that I misjudged him in the past?"

Yao Shaoqin shook his head and smiled wryly: "Your Majesty was not wrong. Hong Song, the governor of Longzhou, abandoned the city after the Yanyu army entered Hexi, and now the guard of Longzhou is General Wei Changxuan of Huaihua. Since Hong Song abandoned the city, Most of the defenders in the city have fled, and the 3 or [-] defenders are also assembled by General Wei."

Emperor Yong'an was very surprised: "I never gave him an order, why would he go to Longzhou? Also, it took only a few days for the Yanyu people to invade, and he was able to gather troops so quickly?"

"This, I don't know, but no matter how brave General Wei is, these 3 horses will never be able to resist 20 Yanyu cavalry," Yao Shaoqin sighed, "I'm afraid this battle will be more or less ominous."

Although Emperor Yong'an didn't know anything about war, he also understood the power of it, he slowly stroked the armrest of the dragon chair, and sighed: "Wei Qing is loyal, if he really dies for the country this time, when the war is settled, I will bury him with state ceremonies. "

After the servant of the Ministry of War also resigned, the fourth watch had passed, the servants came up and asked the emperor to move to the bedroom to rest, but the emperor didn't get up, he leaned weakly on the dragon chair, staring blankly.

The inner supervisor Huaixi stepped forward with the embroidered brocade robe in his arms, and put it on for the emperor lightly: "It's deeper and heavier, the emperor is worried about state affairs, and he must take care of the dragon's body."

The emperor didn't even lift his eyelids, he just brushed the brocade robe to the ground.

If it were any other palace servants, they would rush to avoid him knowing that Long Yan was unhappy.But since Huaixi was promoted to be a regular servant, he had more confidence in his heart than others. Taking the opportunity of picking up the brocade robe, he approached the emperor's legs and whispered: "Is the emperor worried about the deployment of troops?"

Yang Jie finally glanced at him: "Why, do you have something to say?"

Huaixi hurriedly lowered his head, not looking at the emperor: "I have low knowledge, if you say something wrong, please forgive me."

The emperor snorted coldly above his head as a response.

Huaixi lowered his head, and said slowly: "Your Majesty, ever since King Mu became the Protector of the Northwest, he has held the military power of the Eastern Hu in his hands. But now when he is in danger, he just pretends to be sick, neither dispatching troops, nor asking about the emperor's safety. That being the case, why doesn't the emperor use his illness as an excuse to take away his military power?"

Yang Jie's eyes turned cold: "Take his military power?"

"Exactly, isn't the military power in the hands of the emperor more secure than in the hands of outsiders?"

The emperor was quiet, and suddenly sneered in a low voice: "Okay, that's really good."

Huaixi couldn't help being overjoyed, and was about to kowtow, but was suddenly kicked out by a strong force, and when he got up from the ground dizzy, he saw Emperor Yong'an's face was ashen, as if moved by the wrath of thunder.

"Before, it was because of your slave's instigation that made me discord with King Mu, and now I want to seize King Mu's military power. If I am really stupid enough to follow your words, those Eastern Hu troops don't know how to make trouble, and they will be the capital city. The left and right guards in the middle are also troublesome. The foreign troubles of the Yanyu people are enough to give me a headache, and you still want me to add internal troubles? Don’t you think that my country is too secure! "

Seeing that the emperor was so angry that he was almost roaring, Huaixi trembled in panic and exchanged tears: "It's a slave talking nonsense, please forgive me, please forgive me."

But the emperor waved his hands mercilessly: "Drag this slave out and kill him with a stick!"

"Your Majesty, spare your life! Your Majesty, spare your life!" Huaixi begged for mercy with a high-pitched voice, but was quickly gagged by the servants and dragged out of the palace.

The screams outside the hall and the muffled sound of the court staff resounded throughout the Hanchen Hall. All the eunuchs and maids in the hall turned pale, and dared not even breathe out. Emperor Yong'an seemed to turn a deaf ear to it, and only handed it to Ma Liangshun who was at the side. wink.Ma Liangshun understood, and immediately followed the emperor into the corner of the side hall.

"This time, I probably really want to go all out and go to Prince Mu's mansion to invite him in person." The emperor put his hands behind his back, looking at the gradually brightening sky outside the window, said quietly.

Ma Liangshun was a little surprised, and quickly said in a low voice: "The emperor is the Ninth Five-Year King, and it is condescension to go to the mansion of King Mu. If King Mu still refuses to return to the court, it will be a blow to the face of the emperor. By then Regardless of whether the emperor convicts or not, both sides are unattractive, this move is really inappropriate."

The emperor was startled, and sighed heavily: "Then what do you think we should do? He can't be killed, moved, or coaxed now. Is it possible that I want to spend time with him here, waiting for the Yanyu people to hit the capital!" He turned his head, and said angrily, "You were always at his side before, and you know his temperament a little bit, so couldn't you think of any proper way?"

Ma Liangshun was afraid that he would also be angered, so he knelt down hastily and stammered, "Slave... I have an idea, but I don't know if it will work."

"speak!"

"Earlier, King Mu met His Highness the Crown Prince a few times when he was a council member in the Wenhua Pavilion. This servant felt that King Mu appreciated the Crown Prince a lot. Why don't you ask His Highness the Crown Prince to go to King Mu's Mansion and invite him once?" Ma Liangshun paused. After a pause, he smiled again, "To be disrespectful, the prince is a junior after all, even if he cannot be invited, it is not a loss of face."

"Is it a slave?" Emperor Yong'an raised his eyebrows in surprise, "I usually see him as obsequious and nothing extraordinary. He is not as smart as the third prince at all. How did he fall into King Mu's eyes?"

At this time, he didn't bother to delve into it, so he waved his hand and said: "Then pass on my order and order the crown prince to go to Prince Mu's mansion, invite King Mu to return to the court with the gift of Zhongfu, and discuss the strategy of retreating the enemy."