Tang Dynasty

When Li Yuan came to the East Palace to visit Li Jiancheng, the other party had already recuperated in the East Palace for more than ten days, and the fact that the King of Qin intended to kill the crown prince, intentionally or not, had already spread throughout the court.

At that time, Li Jiancheng was sitting on the edge of the bed and drinking the medicine with his head down.After taking the antidote, although the poison in the body was discharged in time, after all this catastrophe, the body was weak after all, and still needed to rest and recuperate with the medicine.

Hearing that Li Yuan came, he was slightly startled, then put the pill in his hand into his mouth, and swallowed it with the medicine juice.Putting down the bowl, intending to get out of bed to greet him, but Li Yuan has already opened the door and entered.

"Jiancheng is sick, don't get out of bed and walk around." Li Yuan helped the man back to the bed, and sat down by the bed himself. Seeing that Li Jiancheng was pale and thin after a few days, he couldn't help sighing, and said, " How could I expect such a result for the banquet that day."

Li Jiancheng looked up at him, and smiled slowly: "Father, don't blame yourself, Jiancheng is already fine."

"Fortunately, it's okay..." Li Yuan sighed again, his expression seemed to have aged a little bit, "I still remember Shimin's impulsive and straightforward like a newborn calf, but I don't know when... it became like this That's it. Maybe, I really indulged too much."

Li Jiancheng didn't say a word, but felt Li Yuan's palm on the back of his hand, and said: "This matter... I will give you an explanation."

He had already hesitated for a long time in his heart, and finally made a decision, which was also the reason why he hesitated for ten days before coming to visit Li Jiancheng.

Even though Li Yuan didn't say it clearly, Li Jiancheng understood somewhat in his heart.He didn't ask any questions, just nodded very slowly.

----

However, only a few days later, there was an urgent report from the front that the Turks violated the border again.This time the opponent's troops were divided into two groups, led by Jieli Khan and Tuli Khan respectively. Under the menacing momentum, several states in the north were in danger.

After hearing the battle report, Li Yuan pondered for a long time, opened the edict before him and read it, and finally put it on the corner of the table.Then he summoned several internal ministers, and after a brief discussion, he decided on a countermeasure.

The next day, under the imperial decree, Li Jiancheng and Li Shimin were sent north to meet the enemy, Li Jiancheng to Youzhou, and Li Shimin to Bingzhou.At this time, only when the two guard their own cities and support each other can they build a secure line of defense.

They didn't dare to delay, so they prepared their soldiers and horses, and then they marched out.The rest were left behind in this situation of strong troops invading the country.

That day Li Yuan went to see him off in person, and the scene was quite grand.All the officials accompanied them, and they were at the back. Seeing the two princes going out on the same day but not at the same time, thinking about the open and clear struggle between the two of them the day before yesterday, I was secretly sweating.Some people even secretly looked at Li Jiancheng's face, trying to get a glimpse of his sick appearance after being poisoned.

However, the two people involved acted as if nothing had happened. They each drank the Jianxing wine, bid farewell to each other, and led the army away on horseback.

Li Yuan stood where he was, watching the figures of the two people walking away on horseback, and finally locked his eyes on Li Shimin.

—Maybe this should be the last time, Shimin.

----

Li Jiancheng stood alone in the tent, followed by the faint candlelight, bowed his head to the sand table and pondered.

A moment later, Wei Zheng lifted the tent and entered, and said in a low voice, "Your Highness."

Hearing the voice, Li Jiancheng raised his eyes and saw the decoction in the other party's hand, then smiled and said: "Just ask the servant to deliver it, sir, why do you have to do it yourself."

Wei Zheng didn't answer, just walked in front of him and said: "His Royal Highness please take it quickly, it might get cold if you wait for a long time."

Li Jiancheng nodded, took the soup in his hand, raised his head and drank it in one gulp.

Wei Zhengli watched quietly from the side, and after he put down the bowl, he sighed: "Your Highness has not recovered from his illness, so he shouldn't come here to eat and sleep in the open."

"Sir, you're worrying too much. Now that the poison has been cured, it doesn't matter." Li Jiancheng smiled lightly and said, "Furthermore, these two places in Bingzhou and Youzhou are the key points of border defense, so there must be no mistakes. Yuanji is not kind. Fighting against the Turks, so I have no reason to refuse the battle."

Wei Zheng looked at him, thinking that in the few days since he came to Bingzhou, no war had started, but Li Jiancheng kept his diary on the situation of the battle, either calling all the generals to discuss, or meditating on the sand table map alone, hardly a moment of peace .

Even though his face was always as calm as water, Wei Zheng could vaguely feel the restlessness in the other party's heart.It's just that he didn't know why and where this anxiety came from.But this feeling of uncertainty made him feel frustrated for a while.

So yesterday, Wei Zheng called the doctor again to diagnose and treat Li Jiancheng. Even though the doctor said that there was no sign of toxicity, Wei Zheng insisted on letting him add a few calming medicines, and continued the past prescription for a few more days, lest he stay behind. what a problem.

Li Jiancheng saw it, so he just followed his will.

At this moment, Wei Zheng lowered his eyes and looked into the sand table, and said: "I heard that after King Qin arrived in Youzhou, he fought with the little Turkic Khan under the city in a few days. got the upper hand."

"When it comes to things that have not been fought, the people of the world have experienced many battles, and the little khan is just a fledgling, so he is naturally not his opponent." Li Jiancheng also followed his gaze to look at the sand table, paused slightly, and said, " It's just this aggressive..."

Wei Zheng interjected: "The last time this Duobi suffered from King Qin's attack on the camp, he retreated for a while, and he must be fully prepared to make a comeback this time."

Li Jiancheng laughed lightly, and said: "Toughness is no less impatient than that little Khan. If he is determined to fight this battle, he must be able to endure it in order to be safe." He paused, but said, "And we will wait ...but try to lure him into battle."

Wei Zheng raised his eyebrows slightly, raised his eyes to look at him and said, "There is enough food and grass in the city, why doesn't Your Highness waste it with him?"

Li Jiancheng didn't raise his eyes, just laughed when he heard the words, and said, "It's not that I don't want to wait, I'm just afraid... the timing is no longer allowed."

Hearing his ambiguity, Wei Zheng sighed, "Your Highness can't let go of the affairs in Beijing."

Li Jiancheng was noncommittal, and only said: "If you procrastinate for a long time, you will lose sight of the other... This battle should be decided quickly."

Wei Zheng stared at him for a moment, didn't ask any more questions, just waved his hands and said goodbye.

When he was alone in the room, Li Jiancheng let out a long sigh, held up the candlestick and turned back to the wall, looking up at the hanging map.

On the map, Youzhou and Bingzhou [-] were clearly marked, and under the beating of the candlelight, it looked a little dim and fuzzy.Li Jiancheng watched it intently for a moment, then suddenly stretched out his hand, pressed his palm on Youzhou, and then slowly clenched it tightly.

Suddenly, his whole body trembled, and his back arched in an instant.

Turning around with difficulty, Li Jiancheng reached into his arms, fumbled out the small porcelain bottle, poured the last pill in the bottle into his palm, and swallowed tremblingly.

Then he supported the wall and slowly slid to the ground, curled up, feeling the sharp pain in his chest gradually disappearing in the cold sweat.

After enduring it for a long time, the tense consciousness suddenly relaxed a little.Unconsciously let go of the hand, and the empty porcelain bottle in the palm fell to the ground, and accompanied by a crisp sound, it rolled and stopped at the feet.

There are three pills in a porcelain bottle, one pill a day can relieve acute heartache.In case of a sudden attack, the pain can be stopped in time.Over the years, it has become a habit for Li Jiancheng.

It's just that the bottle at my feet was still full in the morning, but it was completely empty at night.

This disease happened three times in one day.

This has been the case since he drank that cup of poisoned wine and experienced life and death.

Occasionally I don't get sick for a day or two, but if I do, it's heartbreaking several times a day.

It seems that there is a snake hidden in the heart, dormant peacefully for many years, but it suddenly wakes up recently, becoming elusive.

The poisonous wine he drank that day did not take his life, but awakened the snake in his heart by accident.

When thinking about this, Li Jiancheng didn't feel any regret, but just smiled silently at the porcelain vase in his cabinet.

Maybe this is a kind of price, what I have planned for myself, and what is expected to happen; maybe it is also a kind of urging, I have thought about it thousands of times for myself, but I have never made a decision.

The feeling of pain has become blunt little by little, Li Jiancheng calmed down a bit, stretched out his sleeve and wiped the sweat off his face.Letting out a breath slowly, he still leaned on the wall and stood up with difficulty.

In any case, the matter has come to this point, and there is no turning back.Everything will eventually come to an end.

However, the world is changing, and when Li Jiancheng planned to lure the Turks to fight, news came from the front that Dao Jieli Khan was sick, and the Turks retreated in a hurry.

After staying in the city for another month, Li Jiancheng stood at the top of the city wrapped in thick fox fur, looking at the vast plains where the tents had already been evacuated.

"Send all the herbs I brought on this trip to the Turkic camp. You don't need to say anything." He sighed a long sigh and said to the principal, "Send the order, and withdraw the troops in three days."

Since he was sick, Little Khan would naturally not stay in Bingzhou any longer and fight alone.Li Shimin, I'm afraid he is also counting people and horses at this time, and he is going to go back.

Thinking of this, Li Jiancheng suddenly chuckled.

Even though I knew that this day would come eventually, for some reason, I still felt that it came a little suddenly.

----

In April of the eighth year of Wude, Li Jiancheng and Li Shimin returned to court.

As soon as Li Jianfang returned to Beijing, he was called into the Tai Chi Palace by Li Yuan.Entering the palace before noon, it was dusk when I returned home.

Wei Zheng was staying in the back garden of the East Palace. Hearing the sound, he raised his eyes and saw a slanted shadow under the setting sun, and immediately stood up.

Li Jiancheng looked a little tired, he nodded slightly when he saw him, and said, "Sir, come in and talk." After speaking, he pushed open the door and walked in.

Wei Zheng stood where he was, looking at his back, for some reason, he only felt that the man seemed a little thinner.

Sandalwood was lingering in the room, and the two sat silently facing each other for a while, Wei Zheng finally asked, "What do you think Your Majesty wants?"

"Father showed me the decree that was not yet issued." Li Jiancheng lowered his head and sipped a sip of tea, and said slowly, "'Qin King Li Shimin murdered the prince again and again, and ordered him to go to Luoyang to think about his mistakes,'" After a pause, Very slowly, he spoke the remaining half of the sentence clearly and audibly, "'...The people of King Qin's Mansion, Tiance Mansion and their palace guards all stay in Chang'an and are not allowed to accompany you.'"

Wei Zheng was shocked when he heard this, because he never thought that Li Yuan would make such a decision.If it's just "relocating to Luoyang to think about the past", it's not enough to say, but the following "... Qin Wang's mansion, Tiance's mansion and their palace guards all stay in Chang'an, and they are not allowed to follow each other", every word and every word has made up their minds To cut off Li Shimin's left and right arms, the roots are intertwined.

If Li Shimin really went to Luoyang alone, maybe he would never be able to recover.

If this was what Li Jiancheng expected when he drank the poisonous wine, then this strategy of showing weakness by retreating into advance, although extremely risky, really reversed the situation in an instant.

Li Jiancheng saw that he was silent for a while, and said again: "Three days later, this decree will be sent to the palace of King Qin."

Hearing this, Wei Zheng raised his eyes to look at him, and suddenly said, "Your Highness...would you allow King Qin to leave the capital safely like this?"

Li Jiancheng paused slightly with the hand holding the tea bowl, but there was no surprise in his expression, instead he smiled in a low voice and said, "Of course...it won't be possible."

Wei Zheng asked, "I don't know what your Highness's plan is?"

"I will make up my own mind on this matter." Li Jiancheng put the tea bowl aside, but he didn't seem to want to tell.

Wei Zheng was surprised, but he didn't make a sound.

The two were silent for a moment, and then they heard Li Jiancheng say: "What's the matter, have you ever done it?"

Wei Zheng replied: "I have sent people to investigate clearly. Chang He was transferred back to Beijing by the King of Qin in the seventh year of Wude. He was not very good at behavior when he was an official in the local area. It is not difficult to find fault."

"It's so good. Once the fault is found, this person will be demoted and released, and he will not be allowed to return." Li Jiancheng's face softened a little, and finally showed a little smile. He nodded and said, "Mr. It will be done in three days."

Wei Zheng bowed his hands to accept the order, but he didn't leave immediately, he only said: "I have something that I don't understand."

Li Jiancheng raised his eyebrows and said, "What's the matter?"

Wei Zheng raised his eyes to look at him, and slowly said: "I don't understand...why is Your Highness so urgent?"

Li Jiancheng was slightly startled, then laughed, and said, "I don't know what sir said?"

"The matter of King Qin...His Highness seems to have been hesitating before, but recently he seems to be so anxious that he can't wait for a moment." Wei Zheng looked into his eyes firmly and said, "I wonder if His Highness can tell you the reason for this? "

He could vaguely feel that Li Jiancheng had already planned something in his heart, but he hid this plan too deep in his heart, and he didn't want others to pry into it.

What kind of calculation is this?And why, don't you want to say a word?

He thought that since he knew about Li Jiancheng's hidden illness, Fang Fang would no longer hide anything from him.However, at this moment, he suddenly discovered that, at some point since then, a veil had once again been separated between the other party and himself.

Li Jiancheng looked at him for a moment, but he just looked away silently, turned his head to pick up the tea on the table again, and lowered his head to sip.

Wei Zheng waited patiently for a moment, looked down at the full cup of tea in front of him, and said slowly: "If your Highness has any difficulties in his heart, Wei Zheng is willing to listen attentively."

The voice fell, only to hear the "touch" of the tea bowl on the opposite side, and it was put back on the table heavily.

Wei Zheng raised his eyes, only to see Li Jiancheng pressed firmly on the table with one hand, clasped his clothes tightly with the other, bowed and coughed continuously.

And in the tea bowl on the table, half of it was green tea, and the other half was smudged with blood, which was dazzlingly red.