Hello Chang’an

Chapter 647 Don’t doubt me, don’t trust me

Li Cong felt the same as Li Lu, and faced the same situation as Li Lu - full of anger and unwillingness, but unable to retaliate.

Their father raised them well, and the power given to them was only enough for their brothers to kill each other, but there was no possibility of shaking or endangering their father.

Li Cong's anger and hesitation were seen by his counselors.

What Li Cong didn't know was that the counselor had secretly surrendered to the Changsun family.

The Changsun family had already taken root in Qianzhou. After marrying She Kui, their power in the Qianzhong Road area became even larger and closer.

Li Cong's actions and changes have long been under the control of the Changsun family.

Therefore, Xiao Min found Li Cong at the right time.

Li Cong didn't have a good impression of this Lingnan Jiedu envoy who could not be eliminated or killed, but the other party's proposal really attracted him.

The proposal is very bold, but the world has already gone crazy and needs bold madmen.

Xiao Min proposed to him to kill She Kui, the envoy of the Central Guizhou Road, and let him lead his troops to the capital. He had more than 100,000 central Guizhou troops in his hands, and Xiao Min's 100,000 troops were behind him. With such a force, even if he was unprepared, he would be attacked. It's no problem to besiege the capital in one fell swoop!

The reason why Xiao Min made this suggestion was very simple. He knew very well that even if he expressed his surrender, Li Yin would definitely liquidate the Qiu Queen after he ascended the throne. Instead of sitting back and waiting for death, it would be better to choose another Ming ruler.

At that time, no one would think that there was a possibility that the princess would come back alive, and Li Cong was no exception.

He was moved by Xiao Min's proposal.

There is no need for him to be like a dog wagging his tail around his father and begging for mercy. He does not have to tremble to figure out his father's thoughts even though he has already developed hatred... Now he has the possibility to go beyond his father and get the treasure seal directly. Defeated, but at least he could severely inflict revenge on his father!

How can you not be tempted by such a temptation?

Of course, to judge whether something is worth taking a risk, you must not only look at the results, but also weigh the costs.

But the price to him is nothing more than death. He is destined to have nothing but this life... No, even his life is not his, but is still under the control of his father.

That means there is no price to speak of, right?

Since there is no price, why not?

Li Cong agreed to cooperate with Xiao Min, which was almost a matter of course.

But since it has to be done, it should be done as comprehensively as possible. Li Cong thought of what Li Lu said in the letter... He believed that Li Lu would be happy to help.

Therefore, Li Cong did not act recklessly, but marched to the capital as usual. With the secret help of Xiao Min, She Shao, and the Changsun family, the news of She Kui's death was temporarily sealed within a controllable range.

Li Cong originally planned to secretly send a message to Li Lu after approaching the capital, and then wait and see the situation. As for Xiao Min, he did not plan to cooperate with him for a long time. Once he took control of Xiao Min's army of 100,000, he would start to eliminate it.

But Li Cong didn't have this chance.

When the Central Guizhou Army was approaching the capital but had not actually arrived at the capital, Xiao Min personally killed Li Cong.

Even to his death, Li Cong could not understand how Xiao Min could suddenly attack him at this time. Even if the two of them were destined to devour each other, everything had just begun and it was clear that they were far from that time.

It's all about using each other, just to see who is better and who can take action first.

But Xiao Min did take action in advance.

He originally planned to at least let Li Cong survive to the capital, so that the other party's mission would be successfully concluded.

But he learned the news that it was not Bian Jun's remnants who were "making trouble" outside the capital, but the Crown Princess... The Crown Princess had returned from the north!

Xiao Min was extremely excited.

Their original complete plan was for the Grand Tutor to expose Li Yin in the city. Once Li Yin's crimes became known, the loyal and brave Marquis Changkuo and Princess Xuan'an would support the Holy Emperor to return to the capital and attack Li Yin in a justifiable manner—

Xiao Min's role is to control the central Guizhou army as much as possible.

It is imperative for Li Yin to mobilize troops from the Middle Guizhou Road. If chaos breaks out directly on the Middle Guizhou Road, even if Xiao Min uses the power of 100,000 troops to hold back the Central Guizhou army, it will definitely alarm Li Yin, and Li Yin will definitely fight back Deploying troops from elsewhere for defense will even increase suspicion and ruin the plan of the Taifu and others.

Therefore, by secretly killing She Kui and then using Li Cong's help to march to Beijing as usual, we could truly catch Li Yin off guard from the inside out.

But if you want to control the Central Guizhou Army, you can't just kill one She Kui and Li Cong. Xiao Min is destined to be unable to make all the troops available to him in a short period of time, but he can disrupt the morale of the Central Guizhou Army. , disintegrating their combat power from within is enough to open the way for Chang Kuo.

With the help of She Shao and Changsun clan members, Xiao Min has secretly subdued dozens of generals in the Central Guizhou Army.

But before Chang Kuo launched his troops, Li Suining arrived first.

She came from Luoyang and passed through Puzhou. Li Yin also set up troops to intercept the emperor in Puzhou. However, Puzhou Sima Song Xian persuaded the Puzhou governor who had worked with him for a long time, and the two jointly controlled the forces sent by Li Yin to intercept the emperor. The female military leader opened the way for the Crown Princess to go to Beijing.

On the day Li Yin ascended the throne, before dawn, when the central Guizhou army was deploying troops outside the capital, the deaths of She Kui and Li Cong were completely exposed, and the central Guizhou army was in complete chaos.

In the chaos, Xiao Min and She Shao coordinated within the Central Guizhou Army, and Li Suining broke through the Chunming Gate in one fell swoop.

That day, everyone in the city saw the Crown Princess descending from the sky, which was called a miracle. After this miracle, there were countless people's planning and blood paving the way.

After that, the news of Li Yin's defeat reached the ears of the central Guizhou army in chaos outside the city. Those soldiers who were still fighting for Li Yin finally lost their hearts. In the past three days, Xiao Min gradually controlled the situation and finally I went to the palace today to return my life to Li Suining.

Li Suining took out a few half-opened pink and white peony flowers from the flower basket, and the fragrance of the flowers was astonishing.

A palace maid bowed forward, took the peonies, and inserted them into the jade bottle on the desk.

After listening to Xiao Min's words, Li Suining straightened up and said softly: "The blood that should be shed will finally be shed."

She asked Xiao Min to invite She Shao into the city. She wanted to meet this man.

Later, he explained to Wei Shuyi: "Prime Minister Wei, please invite the head of the eldest grandson family to come to the capital - and the eldest grandson's wife."

Uncle Wei agreed.

Li Suining wanted to invite a lot of people to Beijing. After she returned to her desk, Wei Shuyi also sat down and drafted a list.

When Xiao Min came here, he also mentioned one thing - he had escorted some people into the city, including Li Cong's confidants. The other party had admitted that the camp roar that happened in Daozhou the year before last was driven by Li Yin. As a result, Bian's army revived and grew rapidly. Later, he acquired a large number of finely crafted ordnance, which was also written by Li Yin.

Li Yin's guilt was doubled.

During the interrogation, these two new charges were mentioned. While being tortured, Li Yin heard about the death of Li Cong, the death of She Kui... and what Li Cong did before his death.

There was no need for the interrogating officer to explain anything to him in such detail, but Li Suining had no intention of hiding it from Li Yin.

She kept him alive just to let him listen, let him see, and let him suffer all the judgment and punishment he deserved, whether it was body or soul.

Those who harm the people and treason must be treated in this way in order to deter people's hearts.

It was difficult to tell the time in the dark prison. Li Yin, who was being held alone, huddled in a small cell. His military uniform was removed and he put on prison clothes. The prison clothes had also been stained with blood and changed their color.

His hands and feet were tied with heavy chains, his broken hair was disheveled, his body was trembling slightly after being tortured, and there was a sinister look in his eyes that were half covered by the messy hair.

"Father, are you okay?" A voice suddenly sounded through a mud wall.

Li Yin did not answer, but this did not prevent the voice from continuing to ask: "Father, are you wondering why Li Cong suddenly chose to betray his father when he ascended the throne?"

Hearing this tone, Li Yin's expression finally changed.

He forced himself to sit up and staggered a few steps towards the wall.

On the other side of the earthen wall, Li Lu sat against the wall, listening to the sound of chains rubbing next door. He smiled silently, and then said, "I think my father and I should share half of the credit for this."

Li Lu talked in a casual tone and talked about the secret letter he sent to Li Cong a few months ago.

"Now that I know the reason for my broken body, after thinking about it, I should also remind my second brother..."

"Lest he still hold on to unrealistic illusions of love for his father. As a domestic animal that will be slaughtered sooner or later, he has to beg for mercy from his father at the last moment..."

"As an elder brother, I wanted to show him a way to live... but who knew he still died." Li Lu found it a little funny: "Instead, he died in front of a sick man like me. It's really unpredictable in the world."

"But fortunately, he died a worthy death... If he knew better, he would probably not regret his decision when he saw his father end up like this."

Li Lu tilted his head slightly, looked at the wall he was leaning on, and asked with a smile, "Is your father very angry?"

"My son and Li Cong should only kill each other... You must know that your father is heaven, how can we, ants, kill our father and heaven."

"But has Father ever thought that although the chess pieces cannot seriously injure the owner, Father's chess pieces may become other people's chess pieces, thereby disrupting Father's chess game..."

Li Lu's words gradually contained a cheerful ups and downs. His breathing was a little difficult due to the emotional fluctuations, and he slowly stood up.

Li Lu's frail figure was as thin as a piece of paper. He turned around, faced the wall, and asked with a breathless smile: "Father, how does it feel to be defeated without fighting?"

"My father was defeated without a fight, and my father's opponent was victorious without a fight..." "The blood shed in this last game was the blood of human hearts... But my father was defeated in this game, and his skin and bones were ripped out. Become the biggest laughing stock and the most shameful loser!"

"I don't know what my father is feeling..." Li Lu staggered back two steps and suddenly laughed out loud, making a hoarse voice: "But my son is really happy to watch this!"

On the other side of the wall, Li Yin's eyes were filled with murderous intent. He tried to stand up, but couldn't help but fell to his knees again. His hands and chains fell to the ground together, making a huffing sound.

On the other side, Li Lu could no longer maintain his balance and fell down in the dirty cell.

He was still laughing, but due to his poor breathing, his laughter was intermittent and sometimes hoarse and harsh.

The sound of chains hitting the wall sounded, as if Li Yin was trying to make him shut up, but the movement quickly attracted the jailer. Listening to the movement of his father being restrained, and imagining the embarrassing scene, Li Lu laughed even louder. .

Slowly, Li Lu's laughter gradually lost its sarcasm and became numb and hollow.

He thought that he should be relieved.

Before he died, he saw his father fall from the clouds into purgatory. This was an unexpected joy that he did not dare to expect...

Witnessing his father's complete defeat in this way, his hatred and unwillingness finally had an outlet. They suddenly poured out and were finally released in the laughter just now.

But he never knew that letting go was a terrible thing.

He had accepted the fact that he was going to die, and now that he had no hatred to support him, he was absurdly recalling his short life in this empty relief.

His life is a life full of calculations.

He calculated and used everyone, until one day he found that he was also being calculated and used by his father.

And in these memories full of calculations, the most eye-catching figure is undoubtedly Mrs. Chang, Li Suining, the Crown Princess.

He had also thought about using her, but she had been too alert from the beginning... Thinking of what she had now, and then thinking of the so-called position of the Crown Princess that he had promised, Li Lu couldn't help but laugh again.

In comparison, he is simply too shallow and ignorant.

He looked at her with admiration again and again, but it was still not enough.

Li Lu closed his eyes and thought of that night, when the girl stood on the bow of the boat under the moonlight and shot the marriage certificate back to him.

That was the last time he saw Mrs. Chang.

When they met again, she became the crown princess and cut off her father's crown.

Li Lu finally understood why he was deeply attracted to that woman... because of her "sense of control".

When I first met her, she was fighting the divine elephant in Dayun Temple. She was unyielding and no external object could break her.

That powerful sense of autonomy and control was something he had never been able to obtain in his entire life.

It's so normal for him to be attracted.

It is too normal for him to be rejected.

After being rejected, he settled for the next best thing and married another woman who had already been in his plans.

In comparison, she is much stupider.

He coaxed her, used her, and nearly killed her when he no longer needed her. Later, he changed his mind, but he only kept her as a cat or dog.

This is what he did to Ma Wan.

So in Ma Wan's eyes, he is probably even more terrifying and hateful than the father in his eyes, right?

Ultimately, he was just the same type of person as his father, but he didn't have the chance to live longer and do more.

Li Lu admitted this and laughed again.

He suddenly felt a little sympathetic to Ma Wan.

After an unknown amount of time, the cell door was opened.

Li Lu, who was lying on the ground, saw the woman's dress.

She was wearing a dark gray cloak, and her thin face still looked numb, but perhaps she had stopped taking medicine in recent days, and her eyes were less hazy.

She looked down at Li Lu who was on the ground. Li Lu met her eyes and his tone was the same as before: "Wan'er, you came to see me..."

"Don't call me that again." Ma Wan's voice said carefully: "I'm not here to see you, Li Lu."

"I know..." Li Lu looked at her with a smile and still shouted to himself: "Wan'er, I want to thank you very much."

"I underestimated you in the past." He said, "You actually hid such a big secret for your mother...even if you lost your mind, you never revealed a word."

"You should have told me earlier..." His voice was very soft and his breathing was very short, as if he was talking to himself: "I just realized that it turned out that my mother suddenly fell ill that year because she suddenly learned about such a big event, and she was not deliberately avoiding it. Leave me alone, ignore me, and let my father destroy me..."

"Suddenly I don't hate her that much anymore...what could she have done at that time."

After Li Lu whispered, he looked at Ma Wan again with a smile: "It's you, Wan'er, who surprised me... You are far more tenacious and smarter than I thought."

"So...you weren't really crazy at that time, were you?" Li Lu looked at her and said, "You are pretending to be crazy. You want to live. Even I was deceived by you. It's amazing."

What really made his wife lose consciousness was the bowls of medicinal soup that followed.

"Wan'er, although you were deceived by me, you are not weak at all."

At this time, Li Lu seemed to be sincerely praising his wife.

Compared with the gentle words he spoke a long time ago, he seemed particularly real at this moment.

He actually said: "Wan'er... Now, I really pity you and like you."

"If you and I were in an ordinary family, maybe we could really be a loving couple playing music and singing..."

Ma Wan's eyelashes trembled and her fingers dug into her palms.

"This sounds crazy, right..." Li Lu laughed: "I think so too."

"That's enough!" Ma Wan's eyes were filled with hatred: "What do you want to use me for again! Li Lu, don't ever think of using me again!"

Li Lu smiled: "Wan'er, you don't have to doubt me, I'm about to die."

"But Wan'er, you don't have to believe me." He said, "I have such thoughts only because I am about to die..."

He looked at Ma Wan and said frankly: "As long as there is still a glimmer of hope for me to survive, I will still use you at all costs..."

Ma Wan completely collapsed. She rushed to Li Lu, her eyes filled with tears of hatred: "Li Lu, you are a vicious and despicable lunatic!"

"Yes, I am a vicious and despicable lunatic..." Li Lu picked up one of her hands and slowly placed it on his neck.

Ma Wan suddenly grabbed his neck with both hands, tears streaming down her eyes, and a sound that was hard to distinguish between laughter and tears.

The hatred is real, and the soil of this overwhelming hatred was once trust and love.

Li Lu died in Ma Wan's hands.

Ma Wan's body was too weak to kill an adult man, but Li Lu's body was already exhausted, and asthma was easily caused in the cell. A slight obstruction in breathing would be enough to kill him.

No jailer stopped Ma Wan.

Ma Wan didn't know how she left the cell. She followed an officer and left. When passing by a path, her confused eyes fell on a well next to the path.

Ma Wan stopped unexpectedly.

The next moment, she suddenly raised her feet and ran towards the well.

At this time, a long-lost call suddenly reached her ears.

"—Girl!"

Five thousand word chapter update ~ Good night!

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