Chapter 387 The final contest (Part 2)

The morning light is just dewy, and the fresh morning breeze swept the dawn of Chang'an City. This is an ordinary day. Pedestrians are coming and going on the street. All the officials in the imperial city have already gone to court. The imperial city is very quiet. There are only occasional people who send official documents to ride on horseback on the street. The crisp horse's hooves hit the stone slabs and gradually travel farther.

More than a dozen servants in front of Chengtian Gate were cleaning the fallen leaves and dead branches, and several soldiers guarding the gate were talking and laughing, preparing to open the door. Today's lieutenant named Liu, who was a tall man. Early in the morning, he came to the duty room on Chengtian Gate to sign and approve the application for leaving the palace that day.

Every day, dozens of eunuchs have to leave the palace to do business, but there is no need. Many eunuchs have hidden things in the palace and stuffed some money to the soldiers guarding the city when they return to the palace. There are orders on them not to interfere, so everyone turns a blind eye and goes in and out.

But today, Liu Xiaowei was extremely cautious when he approved the palace, and there were also many people applying for leaving the palace today, with a hundred applications. He carefully saw the list and reasons of the palace one by one. He didn't care about visiting his family and purchasing supplies, and he signed them at any time. Suddenly, his eyes stopped at the last application and went to Dongshi to repair the palace carriages, with as many as fourteen. Generally speaking, the damage to the utensils in the palace were repaired by the craftsmen of Shaofu Temple. However, due to the decline of the imperial power, the imperial finances were relatively tight. During the tenth year of Qingzhi, most of the craftsmen of many temples, including Shaofu Temple, had been disbanded, and if necessary, they would be transferred to the craftsmen of Dongshi for repair.

Therefore, it is indeed normal for the palace to send the carriage to the East City for repair, but no matter what, there are too many fourteen vehicles delivered at a time. Liu Zheng knew that this was what the above repeatedly told him to pay attention to.

He did not dare to neglect the order, so he put away the approval form and asked for instructions. Before he could go out, Li Dingfang walked in towards him, "Why, did you find something abnormal?" Li Dingfang asked with a smile.

"Report to the general, there is indeed something wrong." Captain Liu handed him the last order of approval.

"Go to the East City to repair the carriage?" Li Dingfang sneered, "I thought they were going to plant trees or repair palaces today. It seems that she can't even bear the hardship."

Li Dingfang handed the approval form to Liu Xiaowei and said, "You can let it go! But you have to check it yourself to see which carriage she is in."

He paused for a moment and said solemnly: "This matter is of great importance, don't really slack off."

"Please rest assured, the subordinates must check it out with all their heart."

After the officials went to court, the imperial city returned to a brief tranquility. At this time, the Taimiao in the southeast corner of the imperial city became lively. Some people from Zongzheng Temple were simply setting up the venue. Due to manpower and time constraints, the so-called arrangement was to set up a long table in the square with yellow satin spread on it, and some essential offerings were placed on the table.

Half an hour later, royal families and royal families arrived at the Taimiao one after another, but Li Mian never showed up. He was conducting the final dispatch in his mansion. Nearly a thousand soldiers covered in armor were ready and could set off at any time. These were Duan Xiushi's personal guards, all of whom were loyal, had high martial arts skills, and were extremely combat-capable. They led the Empress Dowager and Li Qiu to the Daming Palace to ascend the throne.

According to the deployment, about 5,000 people composed of servants from various prefectures will block the troops garrisons from Chang'an City from the Daming Palace. Time is very tight. They must enter the Daming Palace in a very short time, otherwise they will end up in failure. Li Mian also knew that the possibility of success was not high, but he had no way out and could only use the prestige of the empress dowager to make the final bet.

Everything was deployed and just waiting for news from the imperial city. About half an hour later, a fast horse rushed over and reported to Li Mian, "The princes, princes, princes, princes, county dukes and other royal families have arrived. The prince of Xingyang invites the Minister of State to come over."

‘Sixty-four people’, Li Mian sighed slightly. It should be ninety-seven people. It seems that someone has repented, but it is already very good to be sixty-four people.

The time was almost here, and Li Mian finally sorted out the court ward, but he did not go out, but walked towards the inner house and entered a secret room from a small door in his study. There was no window in the secret room, and the light was dark. Li Mian lit a candle and walked into the secret room. He carefully closed the door. In the dim light, there was a coffin in the room, and a tablet stood on the altar in front of the coffin. If anyone came, he would be surprised. The tablet was written on this tablet, which means that this coffin was prepared by Li Mian for himself.

Li Mian put down the candle, bowed and bowed to the tablet, and murmured: "Mr. Li Mian, I'm going to set off. We may meet soon after this trip. May you bless me to succeed!"

After standing quietly for a while, Li Mian blew out the candle, resolutely walked out of the mansion, got into a carriage and drove towards the imperial city.

There are seven gates in the imperial city, with Zhuque Gate and Hanguang Gate on the south side, Shunyi Gate and Anfu Gate on the west side, and Jingfeng Gate and Yanxi Gate on the east side. The three gates on the south side are heavily guarded by the three gates, while Shunyi Gate and Jingfeng Gate are generally closed and there are no garrisons. According to Li Mian's prior arrangement, he will control Jingfeng Gate for soldiers to enter and exit, of course, it will not be too long.

Li Mian's carriage entered the imperial city from An's door and went directly to the Taimiao. The gate of the Taimiao was closed, and only a few young royal family members stood at the door. Seeing Li Mian coming, Li Shen's son Li Shun hurriedly came forward to greet him, "Uncle Mian, I have arrived at sixty-six royal families, all in the Taimiao."

Li Mian nodded and then asked again: "Where is your father? But did you go to Jingfengmen?"

"Yes! My father brought more than 800 guards from the princes to Jingfengmen with him."

"Has the Queen Mother arrived?"

"not yet."

Li Mian looked up at Tianse and said to Li Shun: "You go to Chengtian Gate to take a look, don't have any accidents."

Li Shun agreed and took a man to ride a horse towards Chengtian Gate.

The side door of Chengtian Gate had already opened at this time, and groups of eunuchs flocked out. The soldiers guarding the city did not even look at the approval form. They waved their hands and released them out of the palace. Captain Liu stood aside, staring at the avenue in the palace with a focused expression, "Here is here!" A soldier pointed to the distance.

Sure enough, a team of carriages slowly drove up. More than a dozen eunuchs next to the carriage looked nervous, so nervous that they seemed to not even ride a horse. Soon the convoy arrived in front of Chengtian Gate, and Feng Endao saw Captain Liu from a distance. He did not expect that the Captain was actually next to the palace gate, and a hint of panic flashed in his turbid old eyes.

"Eunuch Feng, do you still have to go to repair the car yourself?" Liu Xiaowei smiled without saying a word.

Feng Endao quickly bowed and smiled, "Yes! There are several golden carts that the empress dowager often rides. Others don't know the empress dowager's habits, so they ordered me to go to the scene to stare."

When he saw the soldiers coming up to check, he became even more nervous, "What! Does Captain Liu still need to check the carriage?"

"Just just take a look." Captain Liu smiled and walked to the golden carriage beside Feng Endao, and quickly glanced inside. Although the curtain was not closed, there was a thick curtain inside the carriage, and there was a small eunuch sitting next to him. Captain Liu looked at several carriages, all of which were empty, except for the curtain beside Feng Endao.

He thought about it and waved his hand and ordered, "Let it go!"

Fourteen carriages were swaying, leaving the Tai Chi Palace and heading towards the Zhuque Gate. As soon as the carriage left, Li Ding appeared. He stared at the carriage and walked away, murderous intent burst out in his eyes. He turned around and ordered without hesitation: "Order all brothers to gather at Chengtian Gate and prepare for battle!"

The atmosphere in Tai Chi Palace and Daming Palace immediately became tense. Three thousand soldiers were fully armed, and teams of murderous intent ran towards Chengtian Gate. Many court officials looked out from the window in surprise, not knowing what had happened.

But outside the towering palace walls, the atmosphere was still quiet and peaceful. Cui Xiaofu's carriage stopped in front of the Taimiao, and several eunuchs helped her out of the carriage. Cui Xiaofu's face was pale, but her eyes were filled with the resilience and stalemate that was rare among women. She accompanied her tall cheekbones, and her image as an iron woman with great desire for power was fully displayed. She had already carefully dressed up, wearing an embroidered crown on her head, a crimson robe, and black leather shoes. This was the emperor's outfit. In order to cover it up, Cui Xiaofu put on her shoulders and strode into the Taimiao.

On the empty Taimiao Square stood a group of elderly members of the royal family. Their background was the tall and majestic main hall and the vast square, which made them particularly small.

Li Mian took the lead in greetings and bowed to the Empress Dowager, "Can the Empress Dowager be in good health?"

Cui Xiaofu looked at the loyal minister and sighed slightly, "I won't say anything, let's start!"

With a crisp bell, today's emcee, Guangwu King Li Chenghong, walked out tremblingly. He walked to a large cauldron and unfolded a volume of the Tang emperor's replacement edict written by Cui Xiaofu, signed by the royal princes of various royal families, and said in an old voice: "Since the founding of Wude, the Li family has been passed down from generation to generation. It has been 169 years since the founding of Wude, and the country's cauldron has been repeatedly plagued by military disasters, and the royal family has gradually declined. Now there are wild wolves who are peeking at the national weapon, and the demonic spirit is filled with zimuth...."

Not far away from him, four eunuchs were holding gold plates in their hands, with national letters, jade seals, swords and red pens in the plates. Behind the eunuchs on all sides, two eunuchs supported Li Qiu, who had been replaced with a dragon robe. He wore a three-beam crown on his head, and a circle of pearls and jade drooped along the crown, covering his face, but a pair of extremely excited eyes could be seen from the gap between the pearls and jades.

"By the Empress Dowager personally, the royal family recommended it together, the Emperor Xuanzong is the legitimate grandson, virtuous and virtuous, and unparalleled in character, and can inherit the great throne..."

After reading this, Li Chenghong had no strength anymore. He suddenly choked, then bent down and coughed violently, almost shaking. Seeing that the royal families frowned, Li Mian then stepped forward and then announced loudly: "Please ask the Queen Mother to give the new emperor a national weapon!"

Li Qiu was already impatient. When he heard Li Mian's announcement, he immediately stepped on his eight-character feet and tried his best to pose a majestic demeanor to walk towards the giant tripod he dreamed of.

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Jingfengmen, more than 800 guards led by Li Shen finally opened the almost rusty city gate. Outside Jingfengmen is the road between Yongxingfang and Chongrenfang, which leads to Xingqing Palace. During the Tianbao period, Li Longji and Yang Guifei lived in Xingqing Palace for a long time. The ministers reported to the emperor that they all had to come out of Jingfengmen and go to Xingqing Palace. However, at this time, Xingqing Palace was sealed and not used. Ministers of the imperial city usually walked on a walk between the East Palace and Taiji Palace when they went to Daming Palace. From Xuandemen to Daming Palace, almost no one walked on Jingfengmen again. Therefore, the gate here was locked and there was no garrison guarding him. Li Mian discovered this defensive loophole and formulated his plan.

With the harsh creaking sound, the rusty door opened. A thousand soldiers who had already been waiting outside rushed in. The leader was a general under Duan Xiushi, named Wang Ziyi. He rode on a tall horse, holding a square sky painting halberd in his hand, bowed to Li Shan and said, "My commander, I will obey the order, please give the prince even if he orders!"

At this moment, Li Shen's son ran over and shouted: "Father, the Taimiao affairs have been completed. Li Shangshu and the Empress Dowager have come here and ordered the army to guard."

Before Li Shen could give the order, General Wang Ziyi waved his hand and shouted in an extremely majestic voice: "Brothers, follow me!"

A thousand soldiers immediately followed Wang Ziyi towards the Taimiao.

On Anshangmen Street, close to Taimiao, nearly a hundred carriages drove towards Jingfengmen. This is the most concentrated place for each government office. On the right is Shaofu Temple, on the left is Taifu Temple and the South Courtyard of the Ministry of Rites. Then go forward are Shangshu Province, Dushuijian, Guanglu Temple and other places. At this time, it was the busiest time of the court service. The street was empty. Occasionally, a low-ranking small official who delivered documents passed by. Seeing such a large group of carriages coming, the small officials quickly stood aside and looked at the strange royal family team in surprise.

The carriage of the new emperor Li Qiu was in the middle, next to it was the carriage of the queen mother Cui Xiaofu, surrounded by hundreds of carriages. At this moment, the new emperor Li Qiu was lying in the carriage with satisfaction. He was still immersed in the feeling of the emperor when he was kneeling down by the royal family. As for whether he could finally be recognized by the officials, he was not worried. That was Li Mian's business. He had many things to consider, such as the arrangement of the seventy-two concubines in the three palaces and six courtyards. There were too few palace maids in the palace, so it was time to choose the civil selection. The queen was naturally his Princess Luo, but he was very troubled to choose the candidate for the concubine. Who should he let the two beloved concubines be in front of him? Just let them draw lots, and the one who got the draw was the concubine, and if they couldn't get the draw, they would be the concubine.

He also considered the pomp of daily diet. The emperor must get anything, and nothing can be missed. During Zhang Huan's negotiations, these are the bottom lines that must be adhered to.

Li Mian was extremely nervous. Until now, Zhang Huan's army still had no movement at all, which was a little strange. Although he felt something was wrong, it was over, and the road ahead could only be hard-working.

At this time, an army turned out from the fork in the road fifty steps ahead, and Li Mian's heart was so shocked that he was about to jump out, but soon he recognized that the army was fighting the white flag, Duan Xiushi's personal army. Before his heart could return to his position, just as they and the army were about to meet, suddenly, a fierce sound of horse hooves sounded, and a cavalry appeared in the front of Anshangmen Street, raising their swords and spears, and rushed towards this side with murderous intent.

"Back!" A royal family shouted, and a large army also surged from behind. A general waved his halberd and shouted: "The thief who wanted to rebel kidnapped the Queen Mother! Brothers, save the Queen Mother."
Chapter completed!