Three Kingdoms

"Your Majesty, have you gotten up?" Zhong Shao stopped a young Huangmen and asked.

Xiao Huangmen bowed and replied: "Back to the breeder... His Majesty is already up..."

Zhong Shaobian ignored the small yellow gate and walked straight into the hall.

Xiao Huangmen lowered his head. After Zhong Shao and his party passed by, he slowly raised his head and looked at Zhong Shao and his party. He stretched his chin forward, stretched his neck, pulled down the corner of his mouth, and winked secretly. tooth.

Zhong Shao didn't notice this, or even if he did, he couldn't take into account the emotions of these eunuchs...

The most important thing right now is how to protect yourself and then look for opportunities to make a comeback.

Over the past few days, Zhong Shao was so anxious that he lost countless hairs, blisters appeared at the corners of his mouth, and his face twitched in pain at the slightest movement.

Doesn't Zhong Shao know that he is at a disadvantage now, and procrastinating will only make his situation worse and worse, but he is unable to fight back, after all, the disparity in military strength is too great...

"Damn the son of the Liu family!" Zhong Shao murmured and cursed in a low voice. The anger in his heart completely obscured his mind for a while, and he did not even realize that the emperor he was about to meet also had the surname Liu.

Liu Xie also didn't have a good rest these past few days, which resulted in a dull pain in his head. This kind of headache is a little different from ordinary illnesses. It seems to be pain radiating from the inside of the skull, sometimes in the front, sometimes in the back, and seems to be in the back. Liu Xie was reminded all the time that the current environment was indeed a headache.

"Your Majesty..." The eunuch in front of the main hall came to report, "...the breeder wants to see you..."

Liu Xie closed his eyes, was silent for a moment, and said, "Please come in..."

The main hall of Changle Palace has not undergone large-scale repairs for a long time. The wooden boards paved in the hall will naturally become loose after being stepped on for a long time. When people walk on them, they make a rattling sound. Zhong Shao then came to Liu Xie with this grating voice and bowed to pay homage.

"Qing Zhong, why are you here?" Liu Xie said slowly. Although his nutrition has not kept up and his body is a little weak, his demeanor is still calm, even better than that of ordinary adults. .

Zhong Shao's eyebrows swept around slightly, and he lowered his head and said nothing.

"You all stand down..." Liu Xie agreed, pondered for a moment, and then ordered. In fact, there are not many people serving Liu Xie around now, just three or two people. However, seeing Zhong Shao's solemn look, he asked these attendants to stand farther away.

Whether Zhong Shao is trying to make up for it or he is frightened, anyway, although he now knows that the palace is still under his control, he still has to be careful and try his best to keep the information confidential and prevent third parties from knowing it. Nature is the best.

"...Your Majesty..." Zhong Shao lowered his voice when he saw everyone on the left and right retreating, "... Yang family is plotting rebellion and has the intention to kill the emperor. I heard that Yang family is sending an envoy to visit the King of Hejian..."

"What?!" Liu Xie straightened his back and widened his eyes.

Hejian is a good place. Naturally, like most good places, it was given to the Liu family's own children. Of course, Hejian is not close to Chang'an. Even if this happens, it will take a long time to come and go. Liu Xie does not have much risk for the time being, but such things make Liu Xie difficult to calm down.

Everyone needs to have some support. People who have no support or support often become the lowest cornerstone and become the target of being stepped on and bullied by others.

The same is true for Liu Xie. He knows that the only thing he can rely on is his identity as the emperor. If he is no longer the emperor, then he may take the same path as his brother...

No matter what, the emperor is still somewhat respected, but who would particularly respect a deposed emperor?

Strictly speaking, the King of Hejian is even more orthodox than the Han Ling Emperor. After all, although the Han Ling Emperor Liu Hong is the great-great-grandson of the Han Zhang Emperor Liu Jin and the great-grandson of the Hejian Xiao Wang Liu Kai, the Han Ling Emperor is My father is just a Marquis of Jieduting...

So if we just talk about blood, the current King of Hejian, Liu Bei, is much more orthodox than Liu Xie. In this way, if what Zhong Shao said is true, then Yang Biao sent someone to contact the King of Hejian. The implications of this will inevitably make people think deeply...

"...this matter..." Liu Xie suppressed his racing heart, tried to keep his voice as steady as possible, and said, "...how did Zhong Aiqing know about it?" Zhong Shao was the same as himself. Being enclosed within this palace wall, how could he know Yang Biao's every move outside the city wall? What's more, Yang Biao naturally couldn't do this kind of thing with great fanfare, so how could Zhong Shao detect it?

Zhong Shao lowered his eyelids, cupped his hands and said, "Although I am trapped, there are loyal and brave people outside the city... It's just that we are weak and the Yang family has rebel troops, so we can only spread some news..."

Liu Xie nodded, which made sense.

If it is really as what Zhong Shao said...

Liu Xie was thinking about it, and suddenly he frowned slightly and glanced at Zhong Shao with a bit of anger. That's right, if there hadn't been such a fight between Zhong Shao and Yang Biao, how could he have fallen into such an embarrassing situation!

Zhong Shao seemed to have noticed something, so he slowly knelt down on the ground, took off the beam crown on his head, placed it beside his body, and said: "...I am guilty, and I have implicated Your Majesty... If Your Majesty wants to punish me, Your Majesty, please place your ministers under the palace gate and hand them over to the Yang family. Maybe your Majesty will be safe, but the Yang family may not..."

Zhong Shao didn't finish his words, he just kowtowed and lowered his head deeply.

Liu Xie was silent for a moment, then stepped forward, helped Zhong Shao up, and said, "You don't have to be like this if you love me. Of course I can trust you..."

So what if I can’t believe it? There are people who commit crimes both inside and outside the hall. If you say something here to punish those who are cheating, maybe the next moment the cheating people will jump up and punish yourself...

Taking a step back, even if the seed certificate is handed over to Yang Biao, will Yang Biao give up the idea of ​​​​King of Hejian and assist him loyally?

We can only take care of the present!

Zhong Shao kowtowed again, then stood up and said: "...Your Majesty, there is no need to worry. Even if I sacrifice my body, I can still protect Your Majesty's safety! For the current plan... Your Majesty, all we have to do is break out of the encirclement!"

"Breaking through?" Liu Xie said in confusion, "...how to break out of the siege, and where can we go?"

Zhong Shao smiled slightly, not sure whether it was self-deprecating or something else. To have such an opportunity, he still wanted to thank the Xiliang thieves who caused trouble...

Originally, it was because of these Xiliang thieves that Zhong Shao was unable to take his soldiers back to Chang'an, giving Yang Biao a chance to breathe and gain a foothold. Now, these Xiliang thieves also brought Zhong Shao a glimmer of hope.

In the past, Yang Biao had been holding Zhong Shao and not clearing out the Xiliang thieves. In other words, Zhong Shao and the Xiliang thieves were colluding with each other, which was in vain to protect the tranquility of Guanzhong. But now Zhong Shao was besieged in the palace, and Yang Biao had control over it. Without knowing the overall situation in the periphery, these Xiliang thieves will naturally become Yang Biao's responsibility.

When the opposition party was in power, it was natural for them to spout wildly. Regardless of whether there was any, it was all the fault of the ruling party. However, now that the opposition party came to power, they suddenly realized that all the spit they had previously sprayed fell on themselves.

Ma Chao led a small group of troops all the way east, ruthlessly looting the surrounding areas for military rations. As a result, urgent reports for help flew like raindrops to Chang'an and landed on Yang Biao's desk.

As for Yang Biao, naturally the best strategy is to deal with Zhongshao first, but now to attack the palace city? Even if Yang Biao has that intention, these people under his command, including most of Guanzhong and Hongnong None of the soldiers have the guts, and they still have to take into account the issue of reputation, so for the time being they can only besiege them, but not take action directly.

Then we can only deal with this small group of Xiliang thieves first, and appease the fragile hearts of the Guanzhong gentry and right-wingers to some extent...

However, there are some problems with the general leading the soldiers. Although Xia Mou saw that Zhong Shao's momentum was not right at the time, he eventually switched sides, but Yang Biao was not at ease at all, so he could not hand over the team to Xia Mou. Therefore, after many calculations, only Liu Fan could be used for the time being. One use.

As soon as Liu Fan moved, the personnel originally responsible for Chang'an city defense could only be taken over by Yang Biao himself. However, some loopholes naturally appeared in this mutual handover and management. On the one hand, the personnel needed to be reorganized; Familiar with the process, so it is inevitable that there will be opportunities in front of Zhongshao...

"...Your Majesty!" Zhong Shao looked a little excited, and said with a white beard, "... Yang is not familiar with the defense of the city gate at the moment. His Majesty escaped from the thorny place while his troops were divided into two places and the defense was negligent. Great opportunity!”

That said, there is no problem, but...

Even if we can break through, where can we go?

Are you still going to Luoyang?

"...Your Majesty, the whole line of Hongnong is the land of the Yang family, so this is the plan...go north to Diaoyin, take Pingyang, and then make plans..." Zhong Shao suggested breaking out, and naturally he had already considered the direction.

Speaking of which, Zhongshao may not be willing to go north, but the problem is that there is no other place to go except this direction.

To the south is Lantian. The mountain road is rugged and difficult to navigate. Even if you finally cross Wuguan, you will basically be on Yuan Shu's territory. Will Yuan Jiazi treat himself well? Even if he treats himself kindly, will he still have a chance to regain control of the government?

Needless to say, going to the west, but going to the east is Hongnong. Isn't it like falling into a trap?

After thinking about it, the only option was to go north and seek help from General Zhengxi. At least there was a non-embarrassing alliance before. Even if General Zhengxi didn't care about it, according to Zhong Shao's judgment, Zheng On the surface, the Western Generals Fei Qian and Yang Biao were in harmony and raised the flag of justice, but in fact they were not on the same page, so there was still a glimmer of hope.

Most of the time, for people in difficult situations, the only option is the best option.

"To the north?" Liu Xie repeated subconsciously.

Zhong Shao nodded and emphasized: "...General Zhengxi is dedicated to serving the country, opening up frontiers and defending the territory, so he is naturally loyal to Your Majesty... Your Majesty will have no worries... and the distance from Chang'an to the north is also the shortest, so this way Even if Yang is aware of it and comes to chase him, we can reach Diaoyin before he comes... Furthermore, as soon as your majesty sets off, the old minister will send fast horses to General Zhengxi and order him to mobilize troops and horses to protect him. , it can also protect the safety of His Majesty..."

After Zhongshao Balabala finished speaking, he looked at Liu Xie.

"..." Liu Xie closed his eyes and pondered for a long time, then opened his eyes again, nodded and said, "...In this way, in accordance with the words of love for the queen... breakout, breakout is... just this breakout , how to act?"

Zhong Shao said: "I see that most of Yang's soldiers gather at Bacheng Gate, and most of them are lax outside Fu'an Gate... Then at the third watch tonight, we can leave through Fu'ang Gate with light carriages and simple obedience!"

"Leaving today?" Although Liu Xie said that he had already decided, he was still a little nervous and panicked when he heard that he was leaving on the same day.

Zhong Shao nodded solemnly and said: "Exactly! If we delay the time until the Yang family straightens out the city defense, we will be unable to do what we want to do!"

Liu Xie sighed slightly and said: "...what Zhong Aiqing said is true...that's all, tonight is tonight...then...how many people can I take with me?"

"This..." Zhong Shao paused and almost wanted to blurt out, saying that it would be better to leave Liu Xie alone, but after silently calculating, he looked around and said, "... Your Majesty, the number of people should not be too large... This Just three or five...after all, if there are more people, it will be more inconvenient to move..."

No matter what, we need to prepare a few people to serve Liu Xie, or else let Zhong Shao personally serve Liu Xie tea and water? Unexpectedly, Liu Xie said: "...then, where are the other people in the palace?"

Zhong Shaogong cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, this is an extraordinary period... not to mention that Your Majesty is a man of wealth, and the others... I don't think Yang will be in trouble..."

As for whether Yang Biao would vent his anger on these unlucky palace guys after knowing Liu Xie's escape, that was Yang Biao's business. Zhong Shao couldn't control it, and he didn't want to take care of these servants.

"...No, no, Zhong Aiqing..." Liu Xie turned around twice, and then said, "...the attendants should be taken as little as possible, but Fu...Queen Fu must accompany her!"

"Queen Fu?" Zhong Shao's eyes widened, "...Where is Queen Fu?"

Liu Xie said: "I have conferred the title of Queen on the Imperial Ancestral Temple a few days ago, and I was about to announce it to the Imperial Ancestral Temple, but unexpectedly..." Yes, there is still a formality to be canonized as the Queen, and the decree to ennoble the Queen has not been officially placed in the Imperial Ancestral Temple. go. However, Yang Biao and Zhong Shao were fighting with each other at that time, so even if Liu Xie wanted to place this imperial edict in the Ancestral Temple, there was no chance.

Zhong Shao nodded awkwardly and said: "...In this case, the queen will naturally accompany her..." Although Zhong Shao didn't say anything, he suddenly felt uneasy in his heart. With so many people, it would be difficult to cover up. Well, coupled with the fact that most of the female counterparts are still not up to par in terms of psychological quality, who knows what kind of trouble will happen...