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

Seeing Li Xingyun disappear in the sea, Ji Ruxue smiled gently. This man hasn't changed at all. Then she got up and went back to the beach to prepare food.

This small island stores a large amount of food and daily necessities. In addition, as it is close to the sea, there is no shortage of all kinds of seafood. For the next three to five years, they will not have to worry about food.

Li Xingyun even opened up a reservoir and farmland in the center of the island, intending to truly settle down here. After all, he had been collecting herbs in the mountains since he was a child, so he was naturally very familiar with planting.

The wheat seeds he planted have already grown into seedlings. In a few months, he will be able to harvest the wheat, grind it into flour and make steamed buns.

Just as Ji Ruxue lit the stove, a hoarse and familiar voice suddenly sounded behind her, "Li Xingyun is the direct descendant of Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty. Do you really intend to let him spend the rest of his life on this island?"

She stood up suddenly and looked back, feeling dizzy.

She saw a figure that she hated, the evil leader Yuan Tiangang!

Ji Ruxue's memory has gradually recovered in the past six months. She also remembered everything she had experienced. She was naturally impressed by the Bad Commander, especially his voice.

"Bully Marshal, why are you here?" Ji Ruxue widened her eyes, her face pale with fear.

Yuan Tiangang put his hands behind his back and said coldly, "Have you forgotten the boat from half a year ago? The boat didn't come, but that doesn't mean the people didn't come."

With Yuan Tiangang's martial arts, crossing a sea of ​​hundreds of feet is not a problem for him. Even if he comes across the sea, Li Xingyun and the others will never be able to discover his existence as long as he doesn't want to.

Chapter 100 The Cause of Li Keyong's Death

Ji Ruxue looked nervous and looked at him warily, "Sir, what do you want to do?"

Hearing this question, Yuan Tiangang laughed, "What do I want to do? Don't you know it very well? Do you still need me to answer this question? Have you not recovered your memory yet?"

Restore the Tang Dynasty!

These four heavy words immediately floated to Ji Ruxue's mind, casting a haze over her eyes. "We have been on this island for half a year. Haven't you given up yet?"

Yuan Tiangang turned around and stared at Ji Ruxue with his dark eyes. "Give up? These two words never appear in my dictionary. I have given you half a year to experience a life isolated from the world. Now, I will give you another chance."

"Do you want to go back to Central Plains, or continue to stay here?"

Ji Ruxue didn't even think about it, and blurted out, "We want to stay here."

However, she regretted it as soon as she said it.

"I hope that your answer is the result of careful consideration rather than just speaking without thinking. You only have one chance to choose." After saying that, Yuan Tiangang disappeared.

On the beach, the fire was burning brightly. Ji Ruxue stood there blankly, dazed and dejected.

On the shore, Li Xingyun emerged from the water like a white shark in the waves, holding a large sharp-mouthed fish in his hand, and shouted excitedly, "Xue'er, look what I caught!"

Ji Ruxue shuddered, immediately came to her senses, and walked towards the shore.

On this day, they celebrated a harmonious and wonderful New Year.

But from that day on, Li Xingyun found that Ji Ruxue smiled less often, and often sat on the shore, staring at the sea in a daze, not knowing what she was thinking about. And Yuan Tiangang never appeared since that time.

Ji Ruxue did not tell Li Xingyun the news that Yuan Tiangang was on the island. She was afraid that after she told Li Xingyun, they would no longer be able to live such a peaceful life.

It's a pity that this was just her wishful thinking and self-deception.

The moment Yuan Tiangang came here, everything was no longer up to them. Yuan Tiangang never cared about their thoughts. It was just that the time was not right yet.

……

The end of the year was spent in heavy snow. The empress did not return to Qi. Except for the necessary garrison troops and normal order, she brought all the other troops to Luoyang, making it clear that she was determined to fight Li Siyuan to the end.

In the pavilion of the Imperial Garden, Su Ming, the Empress, and Li Cunli sat there admiring the snow.

There were tea sets and a heater on the table. Compared to the complicated method of brewing tea today, Su Ming preferred the later method of making tea, which did not require much attention and could be brewed with boiling water.

As long as the water quality is good enough and the tea leaves are of high quality, you can brew a pot of good tea.

Su Ming personally poured tea for the two of them. The boiling water poured out, and the tea leaves stretched and opened in the white porcelain cup, emitting fresh green. A faint tea fragrance filled the air. "Prince Xue, are you doing well in the Secretariat?"

Li Cunli was wearing a white Confucian robe, as if to blend in with the surrounding snowy scenery. He shook his head gently, "Your Majesty, you are joking. With Prince Qi here, how can I do my job in the Secretariat smoothly?"

The empress raised her eyebrows and said in feigned anger, "Oh? You mean I'm interfering with your official duties?"

When the tea was ready, Li Cunli picked up the teacup, blew on it a few times, and took a sip slowly. The warm tea tasted bitter at first, but after swallowing it, it tasted sweet. At this time, he said slowly, "Interfering with official duties is also a kind of official duty. Otherwise, why would Li Siyuan take the bait?"

Since Li Cunli has already surrendered to him, Su Ming will not be as wary of criticism as Li Siyuan was. Instead, he will treat him as a collaborator. Although he cannot be frank with Li Cunli, there is no problem in exchanging information and communicating in a timely manner.

Li Siyuan asked him to be an undercover agent, and Su Ming simply went with the flow and summoned him to the palace every now and then. However, in the Secretariat, Li Cunli was not trusted and had no access to core government affairs. In this way, Li Siyuan would believe that he had defected to him and was not trusted.

On one side there was an eager attempt to win him over, and on the other side there was the rejection of government affairs. Just like the previous fishing expedition, there had to be a gradual process. If he was entrusted with an important task right away, not only would Li Siyuan not believe it, even Li Cunli himself would not believe it.

When the people of Luoyang were reuniting with their families, Huanyinfang and Tongwenguan had another confrontation. In order to make Li Cunli be valued, Li Siyuan spent a lot of money and even exposed the Tongwenguan spies in Luoyang.

As he spoke, Li Cunli sighed again, "This time Li Siyuan was really cruel. He deliberately leaked information, causing the Tongwenguan to lose a lot of people. Although there were many spies from other forces among them, the Luoyang branch was wiped out and was temporarily unable to fight against the Huanyinfang. This kind of means, tut tut..."

Li Siyuan's cruel method really chilled Li Cunli. Although he was the one who passed on the news, he still felt chilled when it really happened. If he had not left Tongwenguan, he might have been one of the victims.

Hundreds of spies, plus a newly appointed leader of Tongwenguan, were abandoned by him without hesitation. Although Li Cunli was ruthless and ruthless, he felt sorry for himself when he abandoned hundreds of people just to complete an impossible task.

The empress smiled lightly and said nonchalantly, "It makes sense not to eat meat that is delivered to your door. Li Siyuan was able to kill Li Keyong back then, so what are a few hundred lives worth?"

Su Ming was stunned when he heard this, but Li Cunli was shocked. He looked at the empress in disbelief, "What did you say? Li Siyuan killed Li Keyong?"

When the empress saw his shocked expression, she realized that Su Ming had not yet told him about this matter, so she explained, "At that time, your second brother Li Cunxu died at the hands of the Mirror Heart Demon, and Li Keyong, who was hiding behind the scenes, wanted to settle accounts with Yuan Tiangang."

"But he didn't know that Li Siyuan had betrayed him and joined Yuan Tiangang in order to protect himself. When Li Siyuan and Yuan Tiangang were fighting, he attacked Li Keyong and killed him personally. I happened to be there at the time."

Finally, the empress added, "Not only was I present at the time, but the Witch King of the Ten Thousand Poison Cave was also there. Even if he didn't take action, Li Keyong would definitely not be a match for Yuan Tiangang, but such a miserable death is really not in line with his status."

At this time, Li Cunli finally realized that he had always thought that his adoptive father was killed by Yuan Tiangang. Although Li Keyong was his adoptive father, which made him be named King of Xue by the court, there was not much affection between them. (I wanted to write about his biological son before, but now I'll change it back to the original.)

He had no loyalty to Li Keyong, only gratitude and fear. Not only him, but also the Thirteen Guardians of the Tongwenguan, except Li Cunxiao and Li Cunxu, no one else was absolutely loyal to him.

Adoption only meant that they had value to be exploited, and there was not much real family affection. However, when he learned the real cause of Li Keyong's death, he still felt resentful and could not let it go.

Chapter 101 What a Silly Child

Li Cunli could accept that Li Keyong died at the hands of Yuan Tiangang, but he could not accept that Li Keyong was killed by Li Siyuan, or died from such a sinister betrayal by Li Siyuan.

After all, Li Keyong was the Prince of Jin and their adoptive father. It was a father-son relationship. How could Li Siyuan have the heart to kill him?

These days, being Lu Bu doesn’t end well.

Li Cunli knew that there was no need for the King of Qi to lie to him. They were all in the same boat now, so there was no need to use such tricks. And judging from the emperor's expression, he was obviously aware of the matter.

When the empress saw Li Cunli's disgraced expression, she realized that she had spoken out of turn. She didn't expect that Su Ming had not told Li Cunli about this.

Su Ming didn't care, but raised his teacup and said in a deep voice, "Prince Xue, I'm sorry."

Li Cunli sighed and took a sip of tea. The tea that had tasted sweet just now was now so bitter in his mouth that it was difficult to swallow. "Your Majesty, I am not surprised by the death of my adoptive father."

"At the beginning, when my adoptive father decided to meet Yuan Tiangang, he had already prepared for his funeral in advance. But I didn't expect that the person who killed him was not Yuan Tiangang, but Li Siyuan." Even though he knew that Yuan Tiangang was standing behind Li Siyuan at that time, Li Cunli still felt a sense of anger in his heart.

If Li Keyong died at the hands of Yuan Tiangang, he would not say anything. After all, in terms of martial arts, no one in this world could kill Yuan Tiangang.

This emotion is like two armies facing each other in an open battle. There is a huge disparity in strength between the two sides. One side fights with the determination to die, but is betrayed by the people around him when the battle is about to begin, and is unable to die a worthy death.

He believed that his adoptive father must have died with his eyes open and was very unwilling to accept it.

The dignified King of Jin fought in many battles throughout his life, but he did not die at the hands of a man like Yuan Tiangang, but died at the hands of a villain. How frustrating it was.

At this time, the empress asked, "Prince Xue, Li Siyuan has been hiding his intentions for several years and has long been rebellious. His rebellious intentions are obvious. You were his confidant before, so don't you know about this?"

Li Cunli shook his head and revealed some unknown secrets, "A long time ago, Li Siyuan was the Holy Master of Tongwenguan. He controlled all the spies of Tongwenguan. On the surface, he was the most loyal person under my adoptive father, but in fact, we brothers have always known that he had a plan."

"The reason why Li Cunxu dared to declare himself emperor was not only because of the guidance of the Mirror Heart Demon, but also because of Li Siyuan's instigation. In the battle to destroy Liang, Li Siyuan made a great contribution and reaped the most lucrative rewards. The troops under his command expanded rapidly."

"Tongwenguan has always been divided into two factions, one is Li Cunxu and the other is Li Siyuan. Later, for the Longquan treasure, I and several other sect leaders went out to search for it. We escaped the disaster and were not involved in the dispute after Your Majesty came down the mountain."

"Li Cunxu's faction suffered heavy losses in the fight between Xuanming Sect and Huanyinfang, and lost its influence on Tongwenguan. Later, Li Cunxu established Xilinglou, in addition to dealing with the Bad People."

"Because he had no one else to use, he had no choice but to use actors."

Just a few words surprised the two people present. Who could have thought that Li Siyuan was hiding so deeply.

The empress has always focused her attention on Zhu Wen and Li Keyong. When she was in power, Li Siyuan was not yet the leader of the Tongwenguan. He was just a general with less than a few thousand soldiers under his command and was not taken seriously by the empress at all.

Even when Li Siyuan later became the Holy Master of Tongwenguan, she did not take it seriously.

In other words, if the empress at that time had taken a little more care of Li Siyuan, he might not have ended up like this.

It only took him a dozen years to go from a small general to the powerful prince he is today. The troubles he experienced in the meantime are not something that can be told to outsiders. When the three of them recalled it carefully, they found it shocking.

Su Ming was also amazed in his heart. Don't think that Li Siyuan only knew how to stab in the back. As the sixth brother, in fact, in a sense, he could barely be regarded as a shrunken version of Sima Yi.

Sima Yi outlasted three generations of the Cao family, and Li Siyuan sent Li Keyong and his son away. He later became emperor. Although he was overthrown by Li Xingyun and Zhang Zifan just after ascending the throne, that was considered good, because his opponents were not only the Bad People, but also the deceased Yuan Tiangang.

If not for this, perhaps he could really unify the world and rebuild the Tang Dynasty.

……

The three-day holiday passed in a flash, and it was time to go back to work and attend court.

The snow in the palace had been cleared away by the imperial guards long ago. The civil and military officials stopped in front of the imperial city gate in their sedan chairs, entered the imperial city with their colleagues, passed through several city gates, and arrived at the Taiji Hall.

After the Spring Festival, all officials also looked brand new, because the court sent people to deliver new official robes before the festival to show the new dynasty and new atmosphere.

"Boom!"

The sound of bells and chimes rang out, and all officials entered the Taiji Hall and consciously divided into two rows, civil and military. After three bells rang, Su Ming walked out of the back hall and sat on the dragon throne.

"Long live my emperor! Long live!"

"Everyone, I love you!"

After the ceremony, the Minister of Rites Yan Suchen was the first to make a memorial, "Your Majesty, in order to bid farewell to the old and usher in the new, I implore Your Majesty to use a new reign title, Hongwu, to represent the new dynasty."

This was as it should be, and Su Ming would not object. "Okay."

Then, Yan Suchen continued, "Your Majesty, I think that since Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty began to use reign titles, the reign titles of successive dynasties have changed a lot, which has caused a lot of inconvenience to the writing of court documents and the recording of events."

"Sometimes the imperial court changes the year name, but the local prefectures and counties are still unaware and continue to use the new year name. This is undoubtedly damaging the reputation of the imperial court. Your Majesty, please think twice."

Yan Suchen dropped a bombshell right away. Not changing the reign title was a good thing for the court officials, but whether it was appropriate to change the ritual system was still a question of whether it was appropriate. The officials whispered to each other.

Li Siyuan stood there, looking calm. He knew without guessing that this was not Yan Suchen's intention, but the emperor's.

How could an old stubborn man like him come up with something so absurd and against etiquette?

What puzzled him was that Xiang Zhuang's sword dance was aimed at Pei Gong. What was the emperor trying to test? What was he going to do?

Before the officials from other government offices said anything, internal strife began in the Ministry of Rites.

Du Ziming held the tablet in his hand and said angrily, "Lord Yan, what exactly are you up to? Changing the reign title is in accordance with the will of heaven and the emperor, in line with the will of heaven and the will of the people. How can it be abolished just because of this inconvenience?"

"It has been thousands of years since the Han Dynasty. Why didn't the previous dynasties change the system because of this incident? They arbitrarily changed the etiquette and laws set by the sages. Can you bear this responsibility?"

Du Ziming was worthy of his background as a proofreader, and he put a big hat on him right from the start.