Strange Tales from the Northern Qi Dynasty

Chapter 303 It’s broken, I really became Liu Gong
"Where to run?"

"boom!"

The little emperor kicked over the table in front of him and shouted angrily: "I am asking you a question!!"

Looking at the outburst of Gao Wei, Lu Lingxuan said helplessly: "Your Majesty, the general may be planning a rebellion. We must make arrangements as soon as possible to protect Your Majesty."

Gao Wei asked in disbelief: "But you once told me that the general is a loyal minister who can be trusted!"

"He used to be."

"But now, his authority is too great. Even if he is unwilling, the people under his command may not give in. They will try every means to get the general to the position."

Gao Wei was very anxious, "Then why not just order Liu Taozi to be dismissed?"

"If I dismiss him from his post, he will become a commoner. Who will be willing to follow him?"

Zhao Yanshen was immediately terrified, "Your Majesty, you absolutely cannot do this!"

"I am the Lord of the World. I gave him the title of General, so I can take it back!"

"It's just a matter of an imperial edict!"

Listening to Gao Wei's arrogant tone, Lu Lingxuan said calmly: "Your Majesty is right, but there are too many people deceived by the general, and there are many thieves on the road. Your Majesty's edict may not reach all of them. By then, some people will mistakenly follow him and come to rebel."

Lu Lingxuan stroked Gao Wei's hand, smiled and asked him to sit down, and whispered: "Your Majesty, please don't be angry. We have a few people to deal with this matter. We will definitely not let the general delay your majesty's good deeds."

Gao Wei gradually calmed down.

Zhao Yan looked deeply at the woman in front of him, and then continued the original topic.

“There are two places to run right now.”

"One is to run south."

"Liu Taozi's forces are all north of the river, and he killed people so ostentatiously that many people in Hebei fled to Henan, including nobles, officials, and many, many others. Because of what happened in the north, these officials and nobles in Henan would never dare to surrender to Liu Taozi and would do their best to stop him."

"If we can take His Majesty to the south and settle in Liangzhou or Yanzhou, we can use them to help the country and negotiate peace with Zhou and Chen, and perhaps stop Liu Taozi."

Lu Lingxuan pondered for a moment, then shook her head.

"The risk is too great. If we rashly abandon the capital and flee to Henan, we will be giving up everything. The officials in Henan dare not resist the Pseudo-Zhou, so how can they dare to resist Liu Taozi?"

"And that Zhou, Chen, cooperating with them is courting your own destruction."

Zhao Yanshen added: "The second option is to run to Jinyang."

"Jinyang??"

Zhao Yanshen said: "There has always been a precedent of an emperor settling in Jinyang in our dynasty, and Bingzhou is the only place that Liu Taozi dares not touch. Here is the King of Pingyuan, many nobles, and tens of thousands of elite Jinyang soldiers. The efforts of the Great Qi are all here."

"If we can get to Jinyang, Liu Taozi won't dare to act rashly."

"Even if he wants to attack by force, with Jinyang's strength, we can still hold him back for many years."

"It's hard to think about the future, but we can't hesitate about the present."

"Liu Taozi's troops are still advancing. I suspect that these two armies will eventually come to Yecheng. We must leave Yecheng before they arrive."

Zhao Yanshen provided two options but did not make a decision.

Lu Lingxuan suddenly asked, "Why did Mr. Zhao tell me this?"

"Hu Changren, just an ordinary man."

"To discuss state affairs with him is like playing the lute to a cow."

"The only way to save the world from disaster is to have Your Majesty take charge of the government!"

Zhao Yanshen saluted Gao Wei loyally, and Gao Wei couldn't help laughing.

Lu Lingxuan also smiled, "Mr. Zhao is righteous."

She said immediately: "Then we can only go to Jinyang. However, Hu Changren will definitely not agree to go to Jinyang. He is an old man who has always been arrogant. He dare not go to Jinyang. There are Gao Yanzong, Gao Yan and others in the city. These people are close to Liu Taozi. It will not be easy for him to go to Jinyang."

Zhao Yanshen lowered his head quickly. "I can think of ways to persuade people like Gao Yanzong, but I don't have any way to deal with Hu Changren."

Lu Lingxuan cursed in her heart, "Okay, I'll take care of Hu Changren's matter."

"But the other ministers' matters..."

"I will take care of it myself."

..........
Prince Pingyang's Palace.

Gao Yan has been living quite well these days.

However, Liu Taozi's sudden action in the local area made Gao Yan somewhat worried. No matter who looked at it, this seemed like a signal of rebellion.

But when he thought about the fact that his younger brother and several nephews and relatives were all under Liu Taozi's command, he wondered if he was overthinking it.

Just when he was struggling with this matter, Zhao Yanshen suddenly came to visit him.

Gao Yan and Zhao Yan were close friends, but not very close.

Zhao Yanshen is very similar to Gao Yan. In the court, he has always maintained the image of a good guy and has good relationships with everyone. He is low-key and good at protecting his life. Among the ministers who used to hang out with him, he is the only one still alive in the court. The rest have either run away or died.

Gao Yan was quite respectful to him, and quickly invited him to sit down and asked someone to bring him tea.

"I didn't know Lord Zhao was coming, so I failed to prepare. I was really rude."

"How dare you, how dare you."

Zhao Yanshen's face turned pale. After saying a few words, he suddenly covered his face and began to cry.

Seeing that he started crying without saying a few words, Gao Yan was very surprised and asked hurriedly: "Why is that?"

Zhao Yanshen's eyes were red and tears kept falling. He took out a crumpled letter from his sleeve and handed it to Gao Yan in front of him.

"Your Majesty, it's the Emperor Retired. The Emperor Retired is about to die."

"what?!"

Gao Yan hurriedly took the letter and after a look, he realized that it was a secret report from King Pingyuan, which stated that the emperor's condition had worsened and he had fallen into a coma.

Although Gao Yan didn't like his younger brother, he still felt indescribable grief when he heard about this.

After all, he was the little guy who followed behind me at the beginning.

All the events of the past came to his mind one by one, and Gao Yan could no longer hold back and began to sob softly.

Looking at the crying Gao Yan, Zhao Yanshen finally breathed a sigh of relief. As long as they still had feelings for each other, it was good enough.

He said again: "Your Majesty, the past few days since His Majesty learned about this, he has been crying and shouting that he wants to go back to Jinyang to see the emperor, and he doesn't eat or drink. It's heartbreaking to see him. I think he should be allowed to see the emperor for the last time, but, but..."

Zhao Yanshen started crying again.

"If the emperor is dying, your majesty should go and see him. Why is Lord Zhao hesitating?"

Zhao Yanshen said helplessly: "Your Majesty, there are many disturbances in Hebei today, and bandits are everywhere. Moreover, Your Majesty lacks an elder from the royal family to accompany you. Now Your Majesty wants to govern the world. I want to invite Your Majesty to go, but I am afraid that it will delay your important task."

Gao Yan pondered for a moment and said, "I am willing to accompany Your Majesty to Jinyang."

"King Ande can accompany you along the way."

Things went much more smoothly than Zhao Yanshen had imagined. The letter in his hand was indeed sent by Duan Shao, but not from now on, but from a long time ago.

Zhao Yanshen knew Gao Yan's character, so he decided to use the excuse of going to see the retired emperor for the last time and asked him to escort him.

Since Gao Yan wanted to go, Gao Yanzong would naturally go with him, so there was no question of stopping him.

Once they arrived in Jinyang, Gao Yan and Gao Yanzong were no longer that important.

Through the emperor, many nobles can be quickly won over.

Gao Yan did not think about all this. It was normal for the emperor of Da Qi to go to Jinyang. Moreover, since something had happened to the retired emperor, it was impossible for the emperor not to go. After Gao Yan sent Zhao Yanshen away, he hurriedly sent someone to find Gao Yanzong to inform him of this matter.

Although Gao Yanzong felt that the news was a bit sudden, he did not think much about it and began to prepare to escort the emperor to Jinyang.

At the same time, another thing was taking place in Yecheng.

Outside the city, there are gardens.

A chariot was moving forward rapidly. Hu Changren held a longbow and shot several times in succession, but the arrows failed to hit the prey every time and allowed the prey to escape. Hu Changren was very unhappy, but he could only keep chasing.

On the other chariot, the little emperor was also holding a bow and arrow, but his bow was much smaller.

He looked around and aimed at the people around him with a smile.

Everyone was shocked and frightened and pretended not to see anything.

The crowd ran and chased for a whole day, but caught nothing.

Finally, the chariot stopped at a fork in the road.

Hu Changren got off the chariot panting, dropped his bow and arrow, and cursed: "What are those hunters doing in front?! They are so incompetent and useless!!"

"Someone come and capture those people and give them twenty lashes!" Hu Changren yelled, and the knights on both sides rushed out in a hurry.

The emperor's carriage also stopped at the side. Gao Wei jumped out of the carriage with a smile, "Why is uncle so angry? The reason why he couldn't hunt prey is because of his poor archery skills. What does it have to do with the hunter?"

When people of their level go out hunting, they must have professional hunters to help. These hunters do not participate in shooting, but they are responsible for driving the prey and locking the prey. They act as hunting dogs and help their masters complete the hunt better.

Hu Changren has participated in many hunting trips, but today's hunt was definitely his most unsuccessful one.

The hunter this time was really incompetent.

They simply couldn't stop the prey. Several times, Hu Changren was about to shoot it, but those people let it run away. Hu Changren had no choice but to keep chasing them. He chased them into the depths of the dense forest, but the prey was still not caught.

Hu Changren ignored the emperor's sarcasm, lowered his head, and muttered to himself.

At this moment, Gao Wei looked at Luo Deva who was standing aside.

Luo Depo hurriedly took out the wine pot and wine cup and began to pour wine for the emperor and others.

Gao Wei took a big bite, trembled a little, and sighed with emotion.

“So refreshing, so refreshing!”

Hu Changren looked at the wine in the emperor's hand, swallowed, and looked at his own people. The knights hurriedly took off the wine bags.

"Uncle, if you want to drink, just come and have some. Why do you have to embarrass the servants?"

Hu Changren smiled, walked to Gao Wei's side and sat down, "Thank you very much for the wine, Your Majesty."

"You are Welcome."

Gao Wei looked at Luo Depo, who took out another wine cup and wine pot, and poured him more wine.

Hu Changren took the wine cup and drank it all in one gulp.

Gao Wei laughed.

"Uncle, I heard that the general rebelled. Is this true?"

Hu Changren took another bite and said with a smile, "That's not true. Your Majesty must have heard it from Gao Yuanhai. Your Majesty, don't believe it. This guy is always like this, talking nonsense."

"Then the general didn't rebel?"

"Of course not. The general is just governing his own people. The general is a warrior, a barbarian from the frontier. How can he know how to govern a country? He only knows how to kill and plunder."

"He killed people everywhere under his rule. This is immoral, but it cannot be called rebellion!"

Gao Wei nodded, "I see."

Luo Depo watched Hu Changren drink more and more, and hurriedly pointed to the distance and said, "Your Majesty! There is an auspicious sign!!"

Without waiting for Hu Changren to react, he pulled Hu Changren and Gao Wei into the car and asked the driver to drive away quickly.

The driver drove away immediately. Hu Changren's subordinates were stunned. Seeing Hu Changren rushing out with the emperor, they hurriedly got on the car and chased after him.

Hu Changren looked at Luo Deva and the emperor blankly.

"His Majesty….."

Gao Wei no longer pretended, and his face was filled with a sinister smile.

"After all, in your eyes, my family is also a frontier warrior, right?"

"But I remember that your family also came from the frontier and were warriors."

Hu Changren realized something was wrong at this moment. His abdomen suddenly began to hurt severely and he covered his stomach in pain.

"What about the wine??"

"What happened to the wine?"

Gao Wei looked at him and said, "This wine was originally given to the Prime Minister. He didn't want to drink it, so I took it back. What? It doesn't taste good?"

Hu Changren looked at Gao Wei in disbelief, "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, I am your uncle, I raised you, I..."

"so what?"

"Even if it's the Queen Mother, I dare to let her drink this wine, do you believe it?"

"You are the first one. You can't escape. Queen Mother, my lovely brother, my uncles, cousins, and everyone who has offended me, I will not forgive any of them."

Gao Wei laughed, and Hu Changren stretched out his hand towards him, his whole body trembling with pain.

Gao Wei looked at Luo Depo, who nodded and pushed Hu Changren out.

Hu Changren was seen flying out of the carriage, falling heavily to the ground, and was almost hit by the following carriage.

The soldiers shouted, "The King of Longdong has fallen!"

"King Longdong fell down!!"

The emperor's carriage also stopped. There was a panic here. People rushed over and someone took the emperor away. When Hu Changren's confidant came to take Hu Changren's pulse, he was completely motionless.

Zou Xiaoyu looked at Hu Changren in astonishment, whose mouth and nose were bleeding, and then raised his head to look at Luo Depo who was standing beside him.

Luo Deva's hand was on the hilt of the sword, looking at him coldly.

He asked, "What happened?"

Zou Xiaoyu's lips trembled, "The King of Longdong fell off the carriage and died."

Luo Depo loosened his grip, looked around, and shouted, "Hurry up and call the imperial physician!"

"Everyone, get out of the way, don't crowd around!"

There was a panic here. Some soldiers started shouting and surrounded the place.

Gao Yan, who was about to take the emperor away from Yecheng, was shocked when he learned about this and hurried to find out what happened.

The whole city of Ye was in a panic; several of Hu Changren's brothers and even the empress dowager came to pay their respects.

For a while, there was crying in Yecheng.

However, Gao Yan could not delay the more important emperor because of Hu Changren's affairs, so he immediately announced that he would take the emperor to Jinyang. With Hu Changren's death, his incompetent brothers and Empress Dowager Hu all lost their power in an instant, and the command of the imperial guards was seized by Luo Depo and others.

No one stood up to oppose Gao Yan's proposal.

Soon, the emperor led several important officials of the country and left Yecheng for Jinyang under the leadership of Gao Yan and Gao Yanzong.

The affairs within Yecheng were handed over to the Minister Gao Yuanhai.

Gao Yuanhai was overjoyed. He never thought that such a good thing would happen to him.

After seeing the emperor off, he quickly began his plan to govern Yecheng.

And first thing.

That is, moving into Hu Changren’s mansion.

.......
Liu Mansion.

Liu Taozhi sat in the house at a loss.

He never dreamed that there would be such a day that the head of the guard who had served several generations of emperors would now be abandoned in Yecheng and ignored by everyone.

The emperor, who had been particularly close to him before, now seemed to have forgotten him and simply refused to allow him to enter the palace. Before Liu Taozhi could react, the emperor followed Gao Yan and others and left Yecheng. Liu Taozhi was forced to stay in Yecheng and became a lonely man.

Liu Zhang looked at her husband's confused expression and couldn't help laughing.

"They don't dare to bring their husbands."

"My husband has great prestige among the imperial guards. Besides, Taozi is becoming more and more powerful now. They don't even dare to take my husband as a hostage."

Liu Taozhi's lips trembled, "I am a loyal minister..."

"Of course my beloved is a loyal minister, but Your Majesty does not trust me."

"My dear, we have finished what we need to do, and it is time to go to our king."

Liu Taozhi shuddered, "I won't go."

"Why?"

"I, him, I...I won't go to this traitor like him."

"My dear, are you afraid of meeting 'Mr. Liu'?"

"What Liu Gong? He's just a brat!"

Liu Taozhi held on, but her heart became more and more complicated.

In the past, he always mocked his son by calling him Liu Gong, but as he kept calling him that, it seemed as if he had really become Liu Gong. Now he was even a little afraid to see his son.

General, Prince of Pingcheng, General of the Ten States…
What can I do???
(End of this chapter)