Half blood

Li Xiuqi changed his blood-stained white clothes and came out of the inner room.But Li Xuan was standing alone in the pavilion outside his house with his hands behind his back.Li Xuan seemed to have heard his footsteps, but without turning his head, he said softly, "It's snowing."

Li Xiuqi raised his eyes and saw fine snowflakes floating in the sky. The snowflakes melted in mid-air, turning into drops of water and falling on the long fur turned out of Li Xuan's fur coat.

"Yes, it's snowing..."

The winter in the north is violent, and a cold wind with ice particles ravages every inch of the land in the north. When seeking warmth is no longer the top priority, how to survive this dark cold is the number one problem in everyone's mind.

"What do you think I should do now?" Li Xuan murmured, "Even if Li Xuelin is dead, his goal has been achieved."

"No." Li Xiuqi shook his head, "His purpose was never to make His Highness feel bad, all he wanted was to avenge his father, if he didn't repay the revenge, it would not be considered as achieving his purpose."

"But I'm really having a hard time," Li Xuan wiped his face, and said with a wry smile: "Today, the ministers in the court said that if my mother is not abolished, the common people should not complain. They also said that everyone has tolerated this barbaric empress for a long time. , I really can’t bear it now. But I don’t understand, wasn’t it good before? Why have I endured it for a long time now?”

Li Xiuqi replied: "Nowadays is not the same as in the past. If they think about decades ago with their current emotions, of course they will get more and more angry. But what about you, Your Highness? What do you think?"

Li Xuan shook his head and said, "I don't know, what do you think I should do?"

Li Xiuqi said: "Your Highness, is your wish still the same?"

Li Xuan looked back, looked at Li Xiuqi, and asked, "Why do you keep asking about my wish?"

Li Xiuqi said: "If Your Highness's wish is strong enough, I have another way here."

"any solution?"

Li Xiuqi paused slightly, and said, "Attack Qingzhou."

"what?"

"Attack Qingzhou."

Li Xuan squeezed between the eyes with his hands, and said: "Why can't I understand what you mean? In the current situation, launching a war will undoubtedly make things worse. It will not solve the problem at all."

Li Xiuqi said softly: "War is the solution to many things... It just depends on whether His Highness is willing. Does His Highness really not understand?"

Li Xuandao: "I don't understand, I really don't understand."

Li Xiuqi sighed, and said: "There is nothing in this world that can't be solved by one war. If it can't be solved, two wars will be used."

Li Xuan's eyes suddenly became angry. He looked back at Li Xiuqi, who was calm and breezy, and said, "Why do you say that? Why do you have to make yourself sound so cold-blooded and ruthless? Nothing in this world is It can be remedied by war, because all the suffering before the war will only be aggravated by the war, the dead will not live, and more people will die."

Li Xiuqi said: "Do you know how many people have lived in this world?"

Li Xuan was taken aback, he didn't understand why Li Xiuqi suddenly asked him such a question, Li Xuan shook his head dumbly.

Li Xiuqi said: "I don't know, no one knows. But do you know how many people are recorded in the historical records?"

Li Xuan shook his head again.

"Seven virtuous ministers, four debaters, five military generals, two virtuous monarchs, five treacherous officials, two loyal officials, two hermits, and one hero."

Li Xuandao: "What are you talking about?"

"I want to tell Your Highness, you can't give up other people because of one person in this history. You feel sorry for the victims outside the city and let them enter the capital; but the five people who were killed by the victims Aren’t the ten people in the capital pitiful? Now you feel pitiful for the soldiers who died in the attack on Qingzhou, but when Wang Qing becomes queen and Wang Yuan covers the sky with one hand, don’t you feel pitiful for the people ruled by him?”

"Must it be that bad?" Li Xuan murmured, "For ordinary people, the sky is high and the emperor is far away, so it doesn't matter who is in power? All they want is food and clothing."

Li Xiuqi said: "But do you think that a person who has no 'virtue' in his heart and seeks to usurp the throne can do it?"

Li Xuan sighed lightly and said, "I can't."

Li Xiuqi took a step back, bowed to Li Xuan, and said, "Your Highness, you cannot represent the interests of everyone, you can only represent a part of them, and now you can choose the majority of people."

Li Xuan didn't speak.

Li Xiuqi went on to say: "I have been asking Your Highness, what do you want most. If what you want is your own life, then I will stop you; but what you want most is not that simple, what you want Everyone can seek stability in Yujin Kingdom. If this is your goal, then every step you take is correct, every decision you make is correct, and the last sacrifice is also It is necessary. If you personally lead troops to attack Qingzhou Kingdom, then Qingzhou Kingdom will become a part of Yujin Kingdom, and no one will be able to question your bloodline, and you can ascend to the throne smoothly. When you have such rights, you will Your wish can come true..."

Li Xuan laughed suddenly, the smile was hoarse and bitter, "You knew it from the beginning, didn't you? Ever since I begged you to help me find a way to get the victims into Beijing, you've thought that I would get to where I am today." Is it?"

Li Xiuqi didn't make a sound, he acquiesced.

"I'm tired," Li Xuan said sadly, then turned and walked outside the mansion.

Li Xiuqi quickly stopped Li Xuan and asked, "Where are you going, Your Highness? It's cold outside."

Li Xuan didn't answer, maybe he did, but the howling cold wind in his ears swallowed up all the words, leaving only a figure that was gradually drifting away and disappeared in the rain bit by bit.A feather-like snowflake fell from the sky, landed on the tip of Li Xiuqi's nose, and turned into a puddle of cold water.Li Xiuqi reached out his hand to touch it, and raised his face, only to see snowflakes falling from the sky.It really snowed.

The green tiles of the palace were flying, and submerged in the endless snow, Li Xuan walked towards the palace step by step.He has walked this road countless times, but today he can't see anything, only a little bit of gentle light in the misty wind and snow.

That light seemed to be Beichen above the fisherman's head, and a lamp in the wanderer's heart, leading Li Xuan forward.The little eunuch covered his face with his sleeve and shouted loudly to Li Xuan: "Your Highness, do you have to go so late? The empress may have fallen asleep." Shattered and shattered.Li Xuandao: "We must go."

When he got outside the hall, Li Xuan heard a cough, Li Xuan asked in a low voice: "Has the mother been like this these past few days?" The little eunuch nodded and said: "The weather changed a few days ago and I caught wind and cold, Then I coughed for several days."

Li Xuan hesitated for a moment, and asked, "Father, has Father ever visited the Empress?"

The little eunuch hesitated for a while, then said: "Um, Your Majesty, His Majesty has been so busy with the court affairs these days, that's why he didn't come to see Your Majesty."

Li Xuan nodded after hearing this, stretched out his hand and pushed the closed door open, and walked in.The cough became more serious, and Li Xuan could see the trembling figure behind the indistinct bed curtain.

His voice trembled unknowingly, he stretched out his hand to push aside the curtain, and asked softly, "Queen Mother, are you alright?"

There was a small person lying on the bed, the middle of the mattress was slightly protruding, and a shriveled walnut-like head was exposed outside the quilt. Seeing Li Xuan coming in, the queen smiled slightly and said, "Xuan'er, what's the matter? What's the matter?" so late?"

Li Xuan's throat seemed to be choked by a copper coin, and he couldn't say anything. His lips trembled for a long while, but he didn't say the last word, but tears fell down.

The queen stretched out a hand that was as old as a tree branch and gently pinched the back of Li Xuan's hand hanging on the bed, and said, "What's the matter? She even started crying."

Li Xuan murmured: "Mother, what do you think we should do now? It was my fault that caused such a big mess. If, if I hadn't been so self-willed and didn't open the city gate without authorization, there wouldn't be such a thing. Something happened... They, they were brought outside the city gate, and were frozen to death by the heavy snow..."

The queen sighed, and said: "Xuan'er, you have been like this since you were a child, and your heart is softer than anyone else. I was actually a little worried at that time. The emperor only has you as a child. This throne must belong to you, but you are so soft-hearted. , how to be an emperor?"

Li Xuandao: "Does one have to be ruthless to be an emperor?"

The queen said: "What do you think? Let's talk about your father, he gave his brother poisoned wine with his own hands. Besides, your grandfather, when he was about to abolish the crown prince, he also had murderous intentions. You can't even eat tiger poison Son, but how can it be a problem in the emperor's house to kill brothers?"

"I don't want to be that kind of person, I can't do it." Li Xuan clenched his fists, and the voice came from his chest, like a lonely echo in the valley.

The queen stretched out her hand, caressed Li Xuan's face, and said, "If you can't do it, you won't do it, okay? We won't do it..." The queen's hands were like the hundred-year-old trees in the mountains behind the palace, Just scrape on Li Xuan's cheek, "Don't force yourself, just don't do it if you don't want to, okay?"

Li Xuan nodded and responded.

The queen smiled slightly and said, "I'm a little tired and want to sleep for a while."

Li Xuan pressed the corner of the quilt for her, and said: "Okay." Then, like a child of a few years old, he held his mother's finger with one hand, knelt down in front of the bed, leaned against his mother's side, and fell into a deep sleep.In his sleep, Li Xuan suddenly felt a gust of cold wind, which made him shiver suddenly. The fire beside the stove was very hot, and Li Xuan fell asleep again. This night's dream was as sweet as a child's. .

If he doesn't want to do it, then don't do it; but what if he wants to do it?