Return of the Swallow

"Your Majesty, I think this matter is inappropriate."

At the court meeting, the ministers were very surprised by Li Qitian's decision. The more upright ones had already argued with Li Qitian many times about Pang Xiao's appointment as the head coach of the Huben Army. After hearing this, they immediately stood up.

"The Tatars invaded my land and massacred my people. How can their sins be washed away by expelling them from the Zhou Dynasty?"

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Someone agreed, "I think now is the time to take advantage of the victory and pursue it to avoid future troubles. Since the Tatars have attacked the Great Zhou Dynasty, they must be aware of the revenge of our heroic soldiers of the Great Zhou Dynasty!"

"If all the evil-doing Tatars cannot be killed, how can the court explain to the people who were persecuted by the Tatars? The Tatars went all the way from Tianyu Pass to the outside of the capital. They burned, killed, looted and committed all kinds of crimes wherever they went along the way. After the massacre of the city, There was a lot of work done. Later, most of those who were willing to follow Prince Zhongshun to fight the Tatars did it for revenge. If the Holy Emperor did not agree, he would just return to the mountain and waste the advantage that Prince Zhongshun had gained this time. Secondly, I can’t explain it to so many people, and the discussion among the people will not be good. I ask your Majesty to think twice.”

"Please think twice, Your Majesty." Many ministers agreed in unison.

Li Qitian gritted his teeth and clenched his fists to prevent himself from yelling in front of the palace and losing his status as emperor, but the fire in his heart had already started a prairie fire.

Li Qitian didn't want to show his violent side in front of others, so it was extremely difficult to suppress his emotions and endure it.

Seeing that the emperor remained silent, many ministers who knew Li Qitian's temper well realized that today's topic was not what the emperor liked. Even the most upright minister knew there must be a reason when he saw the emperor being so silent.

There was silence in the main hall for a while. After a long time, Li Qicai said: "My dear friends, what you said makes sense. If I don't avenge the Tatar rebellion, I'm afraid everyone in the world will accuse me of being cowardly. I should also sympathize with those who regard revenge as their spiritual pillar. .”

Li Qitian's voice was extremely calm. But the ministers already heard something was wrong from his voice.

The emperor saw that he was not a soft-eared person who was easy to discuss. He showed no trace of desire for power and control in court affairs. At this time, he actually followed the wishes of his ministers, and everyone knew that there must be a trick behind it.

Sure enough, Li Qitian said: "My dear friends, is there a way to have both ends?"

This seems to be an unclear question, but Li Qitai, your supporters immediately understood what the emperor meant.

At that moment, someone stood up and said loudly: "Your Majesty, I have a different view from several of your lords. Prince Zhongshun has already had a history of uniting ministers inside and outside the court and wealthy private households to oppose the court.

If Prince Zhongshun hadn't ordered people to monopolize food and grass in order to determine the Duke's ability, why would the Tatars have been allowed to invade? "

"I second the proposal. Prince Zhongshun came with his troops privately, and it was so easy to retreat from the enemy. It is difficult to say that he and the Tatars did not have some shady deals secretly. It is impossible to say that all this is just an act. Now they have only defeated the Southern Army. More than 400,000 people have gathered, and if Prince Zhongshun wants to plot rebellion, he may be caught off guard!"

"Fart, fart! Big, stinky fart!" A military general couldn't bear to hear this man uttering slanderous words to maliciously smear Pang Xiao. He immediately jumped out and pointed at the ministers who were speaking in front of him and shouted angrily: "If there is no Prince Zhongshun, what will happen?" How can you stand here today to slander him? When he was fighting for the country, you were fed by the emperor like moths. What qualifications do you have to stand up and arrange for Prince Zhongshun!"

"Rude person! For a reckless man like you to talk in front of the Holy One, it is simply dirtying the Holy One's ears!"

"You are a traitor who spits shit! You villain!"

…

Li Qitian rubbed his temples, and he became more and more impatient when he heard the people below were arguing about Pang Xiao again.

On normal days, he would still be able to keep calm, but after a series of bad days these days, Li Qitian was already so angry that he wished he could just capture Pang Xiao and kill him!

Now, looking at the noisy Zhenghuan ministers below and those old and cunning ones who refuse to express their opinions, I feel a sense of boredom in my heart.

This is always the case no matter how you negotiate, but things never go smoothly when you encounter Pang Xiao.

Li Qitian covered his mouth and coughed.

Xiong Jinshui's forehead was covered with sweat. When he saw His Majesty's actions, he shouted loudly: "Quiet!"

The courtiers who had been expressing their opinions immediately stopped arguing and did not dare to say another word in front of the emperor.

Li Qitian said the second half of what he wanted to say with satisfaction.

"Prince Zhongshun's fierce battle against the Tatars is really hard. I can't bear to let him continue to risk his life on the front line. In addition, I really miss him after not seeing him for these days. Therefore, I have decided to give full authority to the pursuit of the Tatars. I leave it to Duke Ding to urgently summon Prince Zhongshun back to the capital to report on his duties. I wonder what you all, my beloved ministers, think?"

Everyone's heart skipped a beat when they heard this.

They all understood that the Holy One was planning to liquidate the heroes!

The straight-tempered military commander immediately shouted: "Your Majesty, I thought that replacing Prince Zhongshun before the battle would be a great disadvantage to our great Zhou Dynasty. The Tatars had already been frightened to the point of peeing, and now they called for help. I’m afraid that the Tatars will rise again!”

Some ministers who figured out the holy intention immediately retorted: "Isn't Duke Dingguo a brave and capable god of war? You are doubting Duke Dingguo's ability, and you are also doubting the decision of the Holy One!"

"You sour scholar is simply arrogant! The Holy One is for the stability of the imperial court, not for any one person! If you want to take this opportunity to use the Holy One's hand to eliminate dissidents, then you are wrong!"

Seeing the ministers quarreling again, Li Qitian's impatience was almost written on his face.

"Quiet!" Xiong Jinshui observed Li Qitian's displeasure and shouted loudly to stop the quarrel among the ministers below.

Everyone raised their eyes to look at Li Qitian, who was sitting on the imperial steps, and realized in hindsight that the Holy Emperor seemed not to want Prince Zhongshun to continue guarding the border.

It's just that the fighting is almost the same. Just when it was time to give rewards based on merit, the Holy Emperor stayed away and refused to let Prince Zhongshun finish the battle, as if he was afraid that he would get some credit.

But the emperor already looked displeased. Since they were willing to make such a request, they had already made a decision. No matter how much they said, they could not change the facts. On the contrary, they would anger the emperor, and they didn't know what would happen.

Even a reckless person knows that he cannot continue to anger the emperor.

Therefore, under the emperor's high gaze, no one dared to refute.

Li Qitian's decree was obviously compromised, and he urgently summoned Prince Zhongshun back to Beijing on the pretext of allowing Prince Zhongshun to take care of himself.

The decree was quickly sent to the border.

At this time, Pang Xiao, Ji Zeyu and others had just finished a battle. The Tatars set up tents in the distance, and the white tent roof on their faces looked like a sea of ​​foam in the city.

Ji Zeyu raised his eyes and looked into the distance, and then sighed in a low voice: "Thankfully we seized the opportunity and drove the people out, otherwise we really can't tell the difference between victory and defeat."

Pang Xiao nodded and said with a smile: "Yes. With Lu Heng here, it's really hard to talk about the battlefield."

Just as the two of them breathed a sigh of relief, Huzi led a young chamberlain over with a serious look.

It was also the first time for the young chamberlain to do something like conveying an order. When he saw Pang Xiao, he was immediately shocked by the cold aura all over his body. He was so frightened that his calves were so frightened that he was afraid that he would not be able to complete a sentence.

Pang Xiao knew that these eunuchs who delivered edicts would cause displeasure on both sides once they encountered the will of the Holy Master. The experienced eunuchs would never rush them out. Come to think of it, the little chamberlain in front of me is only sixteen or seventeen years old, so she is really young in the harem.

"Your Majesty, this servant is here to bring you the Holy Father's decree."

The little chamberlain handed over the decree with both hands, which surprised Pang Xiao. After all, every time Xiong Jinshui came to deliver a letter, he would read the imperial edict carefully. No matter whether what the Holy Spirit said was reasonable or not, he also had to be careful about his idle emotions and not let the little chamberlains see the clues. At that time, Xiong Jinshui would act condescendingly. Choose him based on his tone.

Pang Xiao unfolded the imperial edict, read it ten lines at a time, and raised his eyebrows.

Pang Xiao's abnormality was noticed by Ji Zeyu, and he couldn't help but ask in a low voice: "But did the Holy One have any instructions?"

"The Holy One announced that I should return to the palace. He said that he was afraid that I would be too tired here, so he asked me to rush back to the capital immediately to recuperate."

Ji Zeyu raised his eyebrows, took the letter, looked at it and asked, "What are you going to do? Do you really want to go back to Beijing?"

Pang Xiao lowered his eyes without changing his expression, "If I really go back this time, I'm afraid I won't be able to come out in the future."

Ji Zeyu's expression darkened, and he glanced sideways at the little chamberlain standing nearby, which frightened the little chamberlain so much that he couldn't help but take two steps back.

Ji Zeyu whispered in Pang Xiao's ear: "You also think this trip is not good?"

"Yes." Pang Xiao shook the imperial edict, "Changing commanders before battle is a taboo in the army. The emperor was also born in the army, so he would not be unaware of this, but he still made such a decree, which means he has made up his mind. I think something must have stimulated the emperor to make such a decision."

Ji Zeyu thought for a while and said, "Zuo is just jealous."

Pang Xiao smiled bitterly, "I don't have anything to make people jealous of."

"The emperor's temperament is like that. He doesn't look at what he owns, but only looks at what others have more than him. If nothing else, the emperor is selfish and weak, and your Qin family has just given birth to a pair of twins. The emperor has given birth to a pair of twins. You delayed the war for your own selfish reasons, but you led the troops to drive the Tatars out of the Zhou Dynasty. Such a comparison is enough to make the emperor feel resentful."

Pang Xiao had to admit that what Ji Zeyu said was right.

But he felt that even if Li Qitian was jealous, he would try his best to suppress it in front of others. He would not be so eager to change the coach and call him back to Beijing, without even caring about his face.

This shows the danger this time.

Ji Zeyu asked: "What are you going to do? Are you really going to accept the order?"

Pang Xiao hesitated for a moment.

If he doesn't go back, Li Qitian will have something to say. You can label him no matter how hard you want. Because he is not in the capital, he can't control his speech at all. If anything bad comes out, his reputation will be completely ruined. .

But if he goes back, Pang Xiao is also anxious to know that this time he may be in trouble.

"The Tatar war is now facing a critical moment. Seeing that we can drive the Tatars directly to their land, it would be a pity for me to leave now."