The Bad Guys: Playing the Fake Li Xingyun at the Beginning

Li Xingyun is the emperor of the Tang Dynasty. He has no queen and no brothers or sisters, so the marriage means that the Khitan will marry the princess to the Tang Dynasty and the two countries will reconcile. However, this matter still needs the approval of the court. Even if Zhang Zifan agrees now, he cannot make the decision. He can only promise to try his best to persuade the emperor.

Little did he know that Yelu Abaoji was waiting for this sentence.

Back then on the snowy mountain, he had not spent much time with Li Xingyun and his party, but he could see that the relationship between them was very good. This time, Li Xingyun sent Zhang Zifan over, which was enough to show his reliance and trust in him.

If Zhang Zifan agreed now, he would hesitate.

Yelu Abaoji smiled and said happily, "Okay, your words are enough. I have a daughter who is sixteen years old and in her prime. She is a perfect match for your emperor.

Don't worry, the pearls of my grassland are no worse than those of your Central Plains. You can tell your Majesty this."

Zhang Zifan still smiled bitterly. It had come to this. What else could he do? Even if Yelu Abaoji's daughter was ugly, he would accept it. Besides, good brothers should share the joys and sorrows together. He had the most beautiful girl by his side, so Li Xingyun couldn't be worse than him.

Thinking back, he clearly remembered Li Xingyun's boast of having three wives and four concubines with beauties on both sides. But it turned out that Zhang Zifan had three wives, but Li Xingyun had none, and Ji Ruxue was still nowhere to be found.

"I will convey the Lord's words to His Majesty."

After leaving the palace, Zhang Zifan returned to the posthouse and told Li Cunyi that Yelu Abaoji wanted to marry his daughter to Li Xingyun.

"What? You said that the Khitan leader wants to marry his daughter to Li Xingyun?" Li Cunyi spurted out the wine in his mouth and looked at Zhang Zifan in disbelief.

Zhang Zifan nodded and sighed, "Yes, if the marriage fails, I'm afraid the alliance will also come to an end."

Li Cun Yi frowned and opened his mouth, not knowing what to say. He could not help in this matter. With their abilities, they were not able to change the will of the Khitan leader.

"Well, let's wait until we get back and tell Xingyun about this matter and let him make the decision."

Zhang Zifan nodded, agreeing with him. No matter what, the most urgent task now was to get the Khitan's letter, and other things could be dealt with later.

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Imperial City.

Same time, same place, same people.

Ganlu Temple.

Su Ming summoned Li Cunli again and played chess with him here. Now all the officials in the court knew that the emperor liked to play chess with Prince Xue Li Cunli, and this was no longer a secret in the palace.

The officials have been watching to see how Li Siyuan would react. As everyone knows, Prince Xue Li Cunli has always been Li Siyuan's man. Although there were reports of their falling out not long ago, it is still unknown whether this is true or not.

Now, the emperor was openly trying to win over Prince Xue, and Prince Xue actually accepted the imperial edict to enter the palace many times. Now, everyone knew that there was something fishy going on. If Prince Xue was unwilling, he could just claim illness and refuse to enter the palace, and the emperor could not do anything to him.

But now, the two of them get together to play chess every few days. They are in love with each other, but Li Siyuan is indifferent. All the officials are confused and naturally dare not act rashly.

Su Ming sat on the couch, picked up a black chess piece and slowly put it down, "Thanks to Prince Xue for playing chess with me, my chess skills have really improved a lot in the past few days."

Li Cunli is no longer as confident as before. Ever since the news came that Zhang Zifan and his men had arrived at the Mobei royal court, Li Cunyi's impression of the emperor has improved a lot and he pays more attention to him.

He knew that Tongwenguan had a considerable force in Mobei, but he did not expect that Zhang Zifan and his men could arrive at the Mobei royal court safely. This really surprised him. What did this mean?

This shows that the emperor had anticipated this matter and had seen through Li Siyuan's intentions and methods and had taken precautions in advance. This alone was enough to show that the emperor was not an easy person to deal with.

However, I don’t know what kind of results Zhang Zifan and his team will bring back from this mission to Khitan.

In an instant, Li Cunli's mind turned to another, and he said respectfully, "Your Majesty is an extraordinary chess player, and I have benefited a lot from your chess."

At this stage, the situation is unclear and he has no intention of joining either side. Standing by and watching is the best option. His eldest brother hasn't contacted him for a long time. After leaving him alone for so long, it's time to give him some feedback. He can't really let him think that he has betrayed him.

Suddenly, Su Ming suddenly asked a question, "Does King Xue know Shi Jingtang?"

Shi Jingtang? Li Siyuan's son-in-law?

This man was Li Siyuan's most trusted confidant. He had saved Li Siyuan on the battlefield many times and given him advice. Now he is the regent of the troops of Shanzhou Prefecture and controls the troops of Shanzhou Prefecture. Shanzhou Prefecture is located at a strategic point. It is connected to the hinterland of the Central Plains in the east with Mount Xiao, and is connected to Tongguan and Qinchuan in the west, which is the main route of east-west transportation. It is bordered by the two lakes in the south, and faces Jin in the north, which is the throat of north-south trade. It has been a strategic location for military strategists since ancient times.

Moreover, there are three strategic passes, Xiaoshan, Hangu Pass and Yanling Mountains guarding the east, west and south sides of Sanmenxia respectively. To the north, a natural barrier - the Yellow River meanders eastward. Shanxi, Shaanxi and Henan provinces are governed by the river based on Shanzhou.

The fact that Li Siyuan placed it there was enough to show his trust in Shi Jingtang.

Chapter 59 He is so scary.

However, what Li Cunli did not understand was that Shi Jingtang was a low-key person who rarely went out. Even the officials under Li Siyuan might not have heard of this person's name, let alone paid attention to him.

Your Majesty, how did you know?

Although he was puzzled, Li Cunli still answered Su Ming's question honestly and placed a chess piece on the chessboard. "Shi Jingtang was the confidant of the King of Jin and had given him advice many times. If the King of Jin had not listened to Shi Jingtang's advice after the death of the previous emperor, he would not have been able to attack Luoyang so quickly and stabilize the government."

"What's even more rare is that Shi Jingtang was a very low-key person who rarely went out and did not like fame, so many people did not know his abilities."

Li Cunli's answer was exactly the same as the information that Su Ming asked the Embroidered Uniform Guard to find. As a famous "child emperor" in the long history of China, how could Su Ming ignore his existence?

Although Shi Jingtang had no choice but to offer the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun to the Khitan, history has already convicted him, and the blood and tears of the people of Yanyun cast his guilt. Since his beginning, the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun were separated from the Central Plains for hundreds of years until the rise of Zhu Yuanzhang, which ended this situation.

A trace of emotion flashed across Su Ming's eyes, and he said unintentionally, "The Prince of Jin is surrounded by so many talented people. I also heard that the Prince of Jin has an adopted son named Li Congke, who was a rare and powerful general during the time of the previous emperor." His words were full of envy.

At the beginning, Li Keyong and his son were wary of each other and hostile to each other, which resulted in Li Cunxu having no one to follow him. He had to rely too much on Li Siyuan, which led to Li Siyuan becoming too powerful to be removed after Li Cunxu became emperor.

When Li Cunxu and Li Keyong were successively killed by Yuan Tiangang, Li Siyuan grew up slowly and naturally took advantage of the opportunity to become the most powerful prince in the Tang Dynasty. Among them, he relied on Shi Jingtang and Li Congke the most, and the latter became Li Siyuan's successor.

At this moment, Li Cunli was not only surprised, but also a little frightened. He thought that Su Ming's attention was all on Zhang Zifan's mission to Khitan, but he didn't expect that Su Ming was actually investigating Li Siyuan's background.

How many cards does the emperor have in his hand?

What is he planning?

All of this is unknown. Now, he found that he was extremely wrong. He thought he had paid enough attention to him, but he did not expect that the emperor, who only lived in the deep palace, had done so many things that he did not know about.

For a moment, he actually felt a little chilly. Brother, facing such an opponent, do you really understand him? Are you really prepared?

He asked himself, if it were him, there was no way he could do this.

Suddenly, Li Cunli felt the hair on his body stand up, as if he was being stared at by a wild beast. When he came to his senses, he found Su Ming smiling and looking at him quietly, "King Xue, it's your turn."

Li Cunli finally realized that Su Ming had already made his move. "Oh... OK."

He observed the chessboard carefully, but found that he could not calm down. The emperor sitting opposite him seemed to have turned into a tiger waiting for its prey, staring at him intently, as if he wanted to devour him.

Li Cunli was holding the chess piece, which was suspended above the chessboard. Suddenly, his hand shook, and the chess piece jumped on the board, once, twice, and three times, as if dancing on his heartstrings, and finally landed in an unexpected position.

This move was a terrible one. The White chess piece, which should have had the upper hand, suffered a sharp turn for the worse because of this move. He sat on the couch, supporting himself, as if all his strength had been drained out. He lost this game.

After a long while, he came back to his senses, stood up and bowed to Su Ming, "I feel unwell, Your Majesty, please allow me to leave first."

Su Ming gave him a meaningful look and said, "Prince Xue has important responsibilities in the court, so he needs to take care of his health. There is an imperial hospital in the palace, do you want to go and have a look?"

Li Cunli shook his head and said in a deep voice, "Thank you for your kindness, Your Majesty. I am only suffering from a minor illness, so there is no need to trouble the imperial physician."

"In that case, I won't keep you here any longer. Go back and have a good rest."

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" After saying that, Li Cunli turned and left.

Su Ming picked up the teacup beside him and took a sip with a calm expression. This time he summoned Li Cunli just to give him a small warning. He secretly sent someone to contact Li Siyuan, thinking that he didn't know?

Although the Jinyiwei was just established, it has received full support from Huanyinfang and Xuanming Sect. Although the empress is not in Luoyang, the three holy ladies are in the palace. The three kingdoms of Qi, Jin and Liang have been entangled for more than ten years, fighting openly and secretly, and have been successful in everything.

Tongwenguan, Huanyinfang, and Xuanming Sect are like water and fire to each other. They go back and forth, infiltrate each other, and it is common for them to add sabotage.

With the nod of the Empress and the assistance of the Three Saints, the Jinyiwei integrated the intelligence forces of the Xuanming Sect and Huanyinfang in Luoyang, and no longer just set up a makeshift team like before. He collected intelligence based on the system of the Jinyiwei in later generations, which was much more convenient and faster than the forces of the underworld.

In the past, Tongwenguan, Huanyinfang and Xuanmingjiao were more like gangs in disguise as spies, combining assassination, intelligence gathering, and territory grabbing. Their internal system was corrupt and bloated, and although there were many people, most of them actually just lived for free and were paid wages.

There were even jokes like the division of the Bad People. From the very beginning, the Jinyiwei was established to serve as the emperor's eyes and ears. At this stage, it can only serve as the emperor's eyes and ears. When he has a greater say and controls a larger territory and army, it can become the emperor's henchman and bite whoever it is told to bite.

There is a world of difference between the two. Compared with organizations like the Jinyiwei, the organization established by the Three Kingdoms is not even worthy of being named.

This time, it was thanks to the intelligence capabilities of Huanyinfang that the Jinyiwei were able to discover the information that Li Cunli was secretly in contact with Li Siyuan.

At this moment, Li Cunli returned to the palace with a heavy heart. As soon as he entered the house, he locked himself in the room and did nothing, not even eating dinner. There was only horror in his heart.

As smart as he was, how could he not realize that the emperor was warning him, warning him that he knew about his contact with Li Siyuan.

The previous few times he entered the palace, the emperor only played chess and never talked about state affairs. Now that Li Siyuan and his subordinates were mentioned rashly, and they were such heavyweight ministers, he would certainly not make a fuss about it.

The only explanation was that he was hitting himself.

At this time, he had completely given up the idea of ​​leaning towards Li Siyuan.

They were able to set up such a big net in such a short time, and even he was caught silently. How many people are there who are trapped in this net without knowing it?

Is my elder brother Li Siyuan also among them? Is he aware of the existence of this network?

He had no idea about all this.

At this moment, Li Cunli only hoped that he would never become the emperor's enemy.

He is so scary.

Chapter 60 Chi Meng's Coquetry

Khitan, the royal court of Mobei.

After Zhang Zifan agreed to help Yelu Abaoji persuade Li Xingyun, the last obstacle disappeared. The Khitans were also very straightforward and quickly delivered the letter to them.

In order to avoid repeating the same mistake and being ambushed by Li Siyuan, Zhang Zifan even asked Yelu Abaoji to send soldiers to protect the Tang Dynasty delegation.

Since the letter of credence had been given, Yelu Abaoji would naturally agree to such a small matter.

At the same time, during his conversation with Zhang Zifan, he learned a lot about the Tang Dynasty court. He had to be on guard against Li Siyuan. Although they were friends with shared interests before, they were now enemies of the Khitan.

Of course, as long as Li Siyuan could afford the price, Yelu Abaoji could betray Li Xingyun and support him.

But he couldn't afford such a price because he was already strong enough. The Khitan would not keep a tiger as a threat. If they helped him further, wouldn't he want to unify the world and then turn his attention to the Khitan?

Over the years, the Khitans have swallowed up a lot of territory belonging to the Tang Dynasty. There is a lot of hatred between them and the Jin State.

Soon, after Zhang Zifan went to the palace to bid farewell to Yelu Abaoji, he prepared to leave. He had been away for a few months, and he was a little worried that something might happen in Luoyang City, whether Li Xingyun could support the overall situation, and whether Lu Linxuan was living well in the palace.

Therefore, he is now eager to return home and can't wait to fly back.

Upon learning that he was leaving, Yelu Abaoji did not try to keep him, but instead spoke with action and sent a cavalry team of a thousand men to escort them back to the Central Plains.

With the protection of the Khitan cavalry, Zhang Zifan and his party did not encounter any trouble on the way back. After Li Cunren's last sneak attack, a lot of people in the envoy group were injured. They were unwilling to stay in Mobei and followed him back to the Central Plains. Yelu Abaoji had already acquiesced to this.

After all, Zhang Zifan is also the current Heavenly Master of the Heavenly Master's Mansion. Taoism has a great influence in the Central Plains. He is more than qualified to be a match for the two stunningly beautiful sisters. Yelu Abaoji doesn't want to keep them in his hands. They have finally found a home, so how could he break up the couple?

But he hoped that the gift he gave him last time could make up for his apology to Zhang Zifan.

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In Qianqiu Palace, Su Ming was holding the intelligence sent by Xuanming Sect, his eyes full of smiles, "Yelü Abaoji is really a wonderful person, wise and decisive, worthy of being the great leader who established Khitan."

The information came from Zhang Zifan through the channels of Xuanming Sect. Some time ago, he divided Xuanming Sect into two, selected elite members to form the Jinyiwei, and he dispersed the rest to the grassland and established intelligence networks in various places in the south. The Jinyiwei was enough in the north.

Forewarned is forearmed, without prejudging the waste.

Even though he has not yet dealt with Li Siyuan and unified the forces in the north, this does not prevent him from sending his men to infiltrate the south and gather information. Only by knowing both oneself and the enemy can one be invincible in every battle.

Originally, he thought that if Yelu Abaoji agreed to the alliance, there would definitely be other additional conditions, and he was already prepared for a verbal battle with the court officials.