Da Tang: Father, can I resign?

Chapter 225: Changes at Suzaku Gate

Li Ming stared at the fully-armed uninvited guest.

Su Dingfang stared at the confused young leader.

The air seemed to freeze.

After a long time, Su Dingfang shouted loudly in front of Li Ming:
"Li Ming is not here, go search somewhere else!"

After saying this, he bowed to the petrified Li Ming, shook his cloak, and led his soldiers away without looking back.

Li Ming didn't stay in a daze for long. He jumped up from his seat almost immediately and chased after him to the door.

"Your Highness!" Chu Suiliang hurriedly called him:
"Those people...seem to be rebelling!"

Do I need you to tell me this... Li Ming instructed the humanoid camera calmly:
"You stay here, don't move, I will keep you safe."

Having said that, under the surprised gaze of the attendant, Li Ming decisively left the study and chased after the group of suspicious soldiers.

Su Dingfang heard footsteps and subconsciously looked back.

As a result, when he saw the target of the assassination actually ran towards him, he was stunned.

No, Your Highness, do you know how determined I am to let you go? Could you please stop testing your officers like this...

Su Dingfang frowned and looked coldly at the kid who didn't know how to live or die.

"General Su." Li Ming suppressed his pounding heartbeat and said as calmly as possible:
"You and these loyal soldiers were almost killed by Li Tai."

The soldiers of Zuo Wuhou Guard all changed their expressions.

What nonsense are you talking about?! ...Su Dingfang almost wanted to refute out loud.

However, the words got stuck in his throat.

His Highness Li Ming mentioned the King of Wei.

How did he know that the King of Wei was behind this? !

Looking at Su Dingfang's unpredictable expression, Li Ming felt more confident:
"Only by following me can you survive."

Old Su's move really made Li Ming break out in a cold sweat.

He knew that Li Tai and Li Zhi were doing bad things behind his back, but he didn't expect them to act so quickly.

After all, I underestimated Li Shimin's five sons and was a step slow in running away.

Unexpectedly, before the official news about His Majesty the Emperor reached Chang'an, Li Tai had seized control of part of the army!
Fortunately, Su Dingfang had a high enough liking for him and let him go.

The reward for the friends' money given to the generals and soldiers of Wuhouwei was totally worth it.

As a little expert at taking advantage of others, Li Ming seemed to have smelled a cracked egg.

Since Su Dingfang can let him go, why not go a step further and directly recruit the other party into his army?

As a ruthless test-taking machine who had only a vague understanding of this period of history before traveling through time, Li Ming actually had an impression of the name "Su Dingfang", which means that this guy should have been a very powerful general in the later period.

The desire for talent is one of the reasons, but the more important point is that Li Ming is in urgent need of armed forces.

Li Tai dared to let his own troops in the capital take action, so perhaps his large army was already on the way to Chang'an.

Moreover, the fact that Su Dingfang's police force was able to enter the palace also shows that there must be a traitor in the palace.

Li Junxian, who is guarding Xuanwu Gate, is the most suspicious.

Because Li Junxian had already made it clear that he was against Li Ming, he rejected Li Ming's invitation.

That is to say, in the worst case scenario, Li Ming will have to fight against the Tunmen Guard led by Li Junxian, the Weizhou Military Governor's Office led by Li Tai, and perhaps the troops of other vassal kings.

With just his few imperial guards, I'm afraid they can't even get out of the Taiji Palace.

Therefore, it is necessary to find as many helpers as possible.

"Why do you say that, Your Highness?" Su Dingfang's tone was cold, as if he would immediately change his mind and chop him without hesitation if the brat said something wrong.

But his heart is more entangled than it appears.

"I have great prestige in the government and the country. If you kill me or imprison me, you will be a traitor.

"Li Tai will not hesitate to put all the blame on you and execute you and your men, just as Sima Zhao put all the blame for the murder of Cao Mao on Cheng Ji.

"And Li Tai usurped the throne legitimately in the name of a loyal minister who restored order."

Li Ming calmly analyzed for him:

"And if you let me go like this and betray your General Zuo Wuhouwei, then... do you think Li Tai will let you go?"

Su Dingfang remained silent.

What His Royal Highness Li Ming said is not without reason.

When the cunning rabbit dies, the running dog is cooked. This is the law of nature.

His Royal Highness the Prince of Wei has no military achievements and no achievements in domestic affairs. He wants to come to power by relying on the "righteousness" of clearing the court of corrupt officials. Naturally, he has to discard the blood-stained sharp knife of "Zuo Wuhouwei"...

“When it comes to the throne of the emperor, Li Tai will never show mercy.

"You're going to die either way. Apart from joining me, do you and your brothers have any other way to survive?"

Li Ming's mouth curled up, and his tone carried an inexplicable force of persuasion:
"General, you are extremely loyal and brave, and you will die for your master, that goes without saying. But you should also consider your brothers who have been through thick and thin with you, right?"

Su Dingfang frowned and looked around.

His fellow sufferers who had gone through life and death with him in the streets and alleys of Chang'an, catching thieves and receiving petitioners, were looking at him with burning eyes.

Li Ming was also secretly observing Lao Su's forced calm expression, and delivered the final blow:
"Do you want to be a police officer in Chang'an for the rest of your life, or do you want to follow me north to fight the barbarians and experience the exciting military career?"

Su Dingfang's eyebrows immediately raised:
"Are you tempting me?!"

…………

"It's all over, it's all over, how come we are facing a rebellion again..."

Chu Suiliang muttered fearfully, and his hand holding the pen was shaking.

Rather than being frightened, he felt more excited.

Your Highness is unfortunate and the historian is fortunate!
This ups and downs of the four sons' fight for the throne will inevitably leave a significant mark in history.

Now there is assassination added!

The assassin was actually intimidated by His Highness's power and gave up on his own initiative!
The drama is at its maximum!
This is even more legendary than Chuo Lu not killing Zhao Dun and the assassin not killing Liu Bei!

Being able to witness this ups and downs of history with your own eyes is worth it even if you die!

"What should I do, what should I do..."

While Chu Suiliang said this, his pen never stopped moving, and the tip of the pen almost wrote through the paper.

Just as he was immersed in recording, there was a sound of chaotic footsteps outside the door again.

Are they the imperial guards... Chu Suiliang raised his head and saw to his amazement that those Wuhou guards with ill intentions had returned again!
Among the assassins, Little Prince Li Ming swaggered out and gave a thumbs up to the door:

"Come on, follow me out of the palace!"

Oh no, Your Highness... Chu Suiliang stared in a daze at the target who was mingling with the assassin.

"What are you still standing there for?"

"I want to record this interesting historical event..."

"Remember your head, if you don't leave now we will become history!"

Li Ming led Su Dingfang, and Su Dingfang dragged Chu Suiliang, who was muttering something, and the group fled from Liangyi Hall at full speed.

As soon as I walked out of the gate, I saw a group of people rushing out from the direction of the harem, and their torches looked like a giant winding snake.

Su Dingfang put his hand on the hilt of the knife, and the others held their guns tightly.

Li Ming's heart sank.

Oh no, Li Tai’s gang has already broken in!

But the leader's voice sounded familiar:
"Your Highness, the suspicious people who broke into the palace are them!"

He is a loyal old eunuch in Lide Hall.

After he realized that there was something wrong with these people, he immediately went back and told Queen Yang.

Queen Yang did not delay for a moment. She immediately summoned all the imperial guards at hand and rushed to the Liangyi Palace where her beloved son was.

"How dare you, traitors, break into the palace? Who let you in?"

Yang had completely lost her usual gentleness and her voice became solemn and murderous.

Then, she saw a round little head popping out from among the suspicious people. "Mother! Li Tai rebelled ahead of time. Taiji Palace is no longer safe! Follow me and my brothers to fight our way out of the palace!"

Although Li Ming's tone was urgent, he was quite calm among this group of suspicious people.

Seeing that her eldest son was fine, Yang couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief and asked with some admiration:

"You had already figured this out, so you summoned General Su Dingfang to the palace for protection?"

Li Ming shook his head frankly:
"No, they originally came to take my head, but after I explained the pros and cons to them, they surrendered."

Yang: "..."

No, you bunch of stinky men, how can you be so cunning? ... Her admiration for her son reached a new level.

But no matter what, the imminent fatal disaster was avoided safely.

The two groups of troops joined forces and gathered the remaining imperial guards scattered in the palace.

"Where should we leave the palace?" asked Yang.

Li Ming pointed to due south:
"Suzaku Gate."

Because the northern gate, Xuanwu Gate, was guarded by Li Junxian's garrison, and this force had proven to be untrustworthy.

The east gate is close to the East Palace, the west gate is close to the Ye Ting, and there is only one way to go, heading south.

The group rushed towards the South Gate in a mighty procession. Along the way, Li Ming asked Su Dingfang:
"Without the order from the emperor, how could you obey Li Tai's orders and leave the camp and enter the palace without permission?"

Isn’t Li Tai just a figurehead leader?
Old Su looked at the new leader in surprise:
"Didn't you plot to murder His Majesty?"

Li Ming was speechless:
"These are all rumors. Is your army acting on rumors now?"

Su Dingfang shook his head:

"It's not a rumor, it's a secret letter from Li Shiji, the general manager of the army."

He handed the letter forwarded by Li Zhi directly to Li Ming.

Li Mingru was struck by lightning.

Is this true?! Li Shimin is really at the front line... and his life or death is unknown?!

Although he had heard the rumors before, he still felt irrepressible sadness, shock and worry after receiving reliable information about Li Shimin's misfortune.

However, this also meant that his own current situation had fallen into an extremely bad state and he could not afford to make the slightest mistake.

Li Ming swallowed his emotions and questioned Su Dingfang:
"As the regent, how come I didn't get a report from the military commander? How did this happen to you?"

"Because this is the secret letter that Li Shiji sent to His Royal Highness the Prince of Jin first." Su Dingfang sold out Li Shiji without hesitation.

You are a good Prince of Jin Li Zhi, you are a good Sima of the Prince of Jin’s Palace Li Shiji, you dare not do bad things in front of others, but you keep doing small things behind their backs, right... Li Ming's mouth twitched.

But now is not the time to get angry.

Li Ming quickly calmed down, and a word quickly emerged in his mind:
Leaderless.

The emperor's whereabouts are unknown, and theoretically, the Eighth Prince has already obtained military power.

In addition, the rumors were half true and half false, mixed with the rumor that "Li Ming framed his father"...

The Eighth Prince has probably already rushed to Chang'an and is on his way to kill him!
Li Ming immediately made arrangements in a concise manner:

"The rebels can't have only this one trick. After leaving the palace, we will immediately leave the city and head north to Liaodong as planned."

"I'll listen to you." Yang had no objection.

Ta-da-da, the sound of horse hooves.

The eunuchs, leading their horses, hurriedly joined them.

It's like handing over a pillow when you're sleepy. Horses are exactly what you need for long journeys.

"Mother, what are they doing?"

"I anticipated that things would develop to this point, so I asked the eunuch to go to the stable and lead the horses out in advance. Since the situation is urgent, I will not take the carriage."

It’s really great to have great teammates to help me... Li Ming thought to himself.

The group didn't care about the rule of "no riding horses in the palace" and immediately got on their horses.

Su Dingfang had just mounted his warhorse when he felt a small hand tugging at his trouser leg.

"I don't know how to ride a horse, you hold me." Li Ming stretched out his hands with confidence.

Su Dingfang: "..."

So, Li Ming sat on his own exclusive throne again, sitting safely in the arms of the assassin who almost took his life a quarter of an hour ago.

"Your Highness, that..." Holding the future of the entire Tang Dynasty in mind, Su Dingfang felt that he was a bit overstepping his authority.

"Don't be nervous, don't be restrained, just don't let me fall." Li Ming instructed wisely.

"The key is our mother."

Looking back, Yang was already sitting steadily on the saddle.

"You'd better take care of yourself. I often play polo with concubines and maids in the harem."

The Tang Dynasty valued martial arts, and both men and women were encouraged to learn horse riding, just like driving a car.

Li Ming was probably the only one in the audience who couldn't ride a horse.

So, the imperial guards and the rebellious Zuo Wuhou Guards joined forces and rushed all the way to the south gate of the palace.

"Who!" The gatekeeper saw a group of cavalry suddenly rushing out of the darkness and immediately felt like he was facing a powerful enemy.

Li Ming stuck his head out of the car and yelled:
"Someone is rebelling!"

The gate-guarding general on duty was none other than the "gate-keeping general" who had been exhausted both physically and mentally by Li Ming's bag of worms and a bubble of snot. He could be considered half one of their own.

When he saw His Royal Highness the Regent and the Queen knocking on the door in a hurry, he didn't think much about it and immediately ordered his men:

"Open the door! Open the door quickly!"

The heavy door slowly opened.

Successfully escape the first level. As long as you leave the palace and go south through the imperial city, you can escape...

Whoosh!
A whistling arrow rose up in the night sky, making a sharp whistle.

Li Ming's heart, which had just been put at ease, became heavy again.

"Someone has tipped off... I'm afraid there are enemy reinforcements nearby. Let's go!"

Su Dingfang ordered everyone to speed up.

Li Ming asked, "Weren't you on the other side before? Don't you know if there was any support?"

"Am I not a tool that the King of Wei used and then discarded?" Su Dingfang retorted with some self-mockery.

Outside the palace is the imperial city that looks like a nesting doll.

The south gate of the imperial city is the Suzaku Gate.

Just outside the gate is Chang'an's main urban road - Zhuque Street, which divides the city into two parts, east and west.

The gate guards of the imperial city did not dare to stop this special cavalry and hurriedly opened the gate.

As the chain mechanism clicked, the magnificent Suzaku Gate slowly opened.

Outside the Suzaku Gate, torches were lit continuously, making it as bright as day.

The third army is already waiting outside the Suzaku Gate.

Li Ming looked at Su Dingfang, then turned back to look at Yang, and could read surprise and solemnity on each other's faces.

Not one of our own...

“Whoa! … The steed neighed, and a rider jumped out of the army formation, holding his sword in hand.

This man wore an owl-feather helmet worn exclusively by generals, and the black horse under him was panting, as if it had just galloped from somewhere else.

The general was none other than the Xuanwu Gate garrison officer, Li Junxian.

"Your Highness, late at night..."

Li Junxian had a teasing smile on his face and was about to make a sarcastic remark.

But when he saw clearly Su Dingfang holding Li Ming, he was stunned.

(End of this chapter)