Chapter 3 Primer

Tang, Kaiyuan fifteen years, September fourteenth, the weather was fine. The skinny horse on the ancient road sneezed resoundingly, and the man who led the horse sighed and looked up at the sky.The sunlight was mostly covered by the leaves, repelling the scorching heat waves, and the coolness was cool, but the mood of this group of people was extremely gloomy. This is Maweipo post station in Xingping, Shaanxi. It is only a day's journey from Chang'an, the capital of Kyoto, but this horse team with low morale actually walked for three days. There are more than 300 people in the horse team, all of them are fully armed, their red armor is bright, and they are extraordinary, but these 300 people are very poor.Most people couldn't find horse feed in the station, so they had to put the fat and strong Maxima in the forest and let them find food by themselves.

The supposedly elite soldiers in red armor sat here and there under the shade of the trees, their faces turning blue with hunger. "I found it, I found it!" A beardless man with a high-pitched voice and long clothes approached excitedly from the distance of the ancient road. He carefully held the big bowl in his hand, as if he was holding his own life.Judging from his steps and voice, he turned out to be a eunuch. Why did the eunuch appear in such a remote Maweipo?It is doubtful.But his words didn't cause the red-clothed soldiers to overreact. Some people saw the big bowl in the eunuch's hand, their throats moved, they swallowed, and then turned their heads away.

The eunuch walked quickly into the station, put the big bowl on the simple table, knelt down and worshiped: "Your Majesty, I finally found some food in a private house, please satisfy your hunger." "That's great, thank you!" A man in his seventies was sitting on the wooden board opposite, with majesty looming in his eyebrows and full of dragon aura.It's just that now the man who should hold the power in his hands looks a little tired. He has been hungry for more than a day, and his spirit is also sluggish. Next to the man was a woman in her thirties who sat quietly on the edge of the bed, beating the man's feet gently.This woman is plump and naturally beautiful, and the corner of her mouth is always smiling.

Her expression was like that of a young girl, and her expression was like the warm current of spring. Even the flowers blooming in summer outside the post station lowered their heads in shame in front of the woman's face.The beauty of the woman is indescribable, even if she is described as the number one beauty in the Tang Dynasty, it would be an insult to her. There were a few old eunuchs standing beside the bed, and when they heard the man call "Shang", they immediately looked embarrassed.When they escaped from the palace, they didn’t bring much money with them. They thought that there would be officials along the way to greet and entertain them, but since the rebellion in Anlu Mountain, the officials with imperial salaries ran faster and faster one by one. , I haven't found food for two days.

The man seemed to have thought of the current situation, and a trace of embarrassment flashed across his face.The hunger in his stomach made him lose face, he got out of bed, took a look at the food in the big bowl, and suddenly turned pale with shock.I saw that there were no delicacies in the bowl, but a few ugly pancakes. "What is this, can it be eaten?" The man frowned and looked at the eunuch kneeling on the ground. "My Majesty, this is called sorghum pastry, and it is a rough folk food. An old man from a nearby family heard that the Emperor was passing by, so he specially offered it."

The eunuch was eloquent, and described the hard-earned food as a tribute.Conscience of heaven and earth, this is the ration of that old man for a whole day. But this kind of coarse grain, the emperor Xuanzong who is the king of a country, has never eaten it. Yes, this man is Tang Xuanzong, but the emperor who created the "Kaiyuan Prosperous Age" was obsessed with women for a long time and ignored the court. In fact, it is not a day or two since An Lushan wants to rebel.Over the years, some people reported to the court, but they were imprisoned and killed instead.The ministers around were only flattering and flattering, and Emperor Xuanzong couldn't hear anything about the situation outside.Otherwise, he wouldn't be in the embarrassing situation he is today.

Concubine Yang Gui looked at her husband with complicated eyes, not knowing what kind of mood she was having right now. "Sorghum pastry?" Emperor Xuanzong repeated the noun, and at this moment, his stomach made a series of sounds from his hunger again.The high-ranking king of a country no longer held back, pampered and pampered, he ate with his hands without seeing the chopsticks, and immediately ate a few pieces of cake. Finally feeling better in his stomach, he turned his head to look at Concubine Yang Gui. Yang Yuhuan smiled sweetly, and that smile filled the dim inn room with brilliance, "The emperor eats slowly, and my concubines are not hungry."

Tang Xuanzong said "um", and ate the last half of the cake in one go.The eunuch kneeling on the ground put away the bowl on the table and exited the door. Tang Xuanzong just looked at the hand that took the cake, and there was still powder on it. The more he looked at it, the more bitter he was, and he couldn't help crying. It’s too late to regret now.” "Your Majesty, the dragon body is important." Concubine Yang took out a silk scarf and wiped the corners of Tang Xuanzong's eyes clean. Tang Xuanzong sighed again: "Yuhuan, but you have suffered." "Being able to be with the emperor, the concubine will not suffer."

Yang Yuhuan still smiled beautifully, even with a bloodless face due to hunger, it was shockingly beautiful. Outside the post station, the hungry guards gathered at some point, sat on the ground and said something angrily. "We don't know who to blame when we end up in this situation." A black-faced soldier smiled wryly, "I can't stay in a good Chang'an, so I went into exile everywhere and suffered a lot." "In my opinion, if you want to blame, you have to blame Yang Guozhong and Yang Yuhuan, those two bastards, bewitching the sage, and bringing disaster to the country and the people. The bastard in An Lushan rebelled, if Yang Guozhong hadn't whitewashed the peace, the general reported that he was outside the palace, and that person Yang Yuhuan And seduce the Holy Majesty in the palace, so that the Holy Majesty will not go to court for a long time, and my hall will not fall into the current situation."

Another soldier said angrily. "That's right, it's all the fault of the treacherous Prime Minister Yang Guozhong!" All the soldiers agreed with enthusiasm. Some people even said: "In exile and suffering, this account must be settled with Yang Guozhong and Yang Yuhuan. Today, the Holy Majesty has been deceived by these two for a long time, and it is time to wake up." The three hundred forbidden soldiers became more and more annoyed as they thought about it, making a lot of noise.At this moment, a white-faced soldier ran over from a distance from ancient times, and shouted loudly: "Yang Guozhong just approached a group of foreign people, talking and laughing, I think it is very abnormal."

The black-faced soldier couldn't help but frown: "Is this traitor also wanting to rebel?" "Very likely, this bastard has probably wanted to rebel for a long time." Another soldier snorted coldly, "How could it be such a coincidence that just three days after escaping from Chang'an, he met a large group of foreigners. I think he arranged it long ago, and he is going to catch the present saint!" "You can't let the Holy Majesty suffer anymore!" The rest of the soldiers shouted, "Let's go and kill the treacherous minister Yang Guozhong." "Go, he rebelled, we will kill him!" Filled with righteous indignation, the three hundred soldiers grabbed the weapons in their hands, followed the soldiers who reported the news and ran towards the east of the ancient road in a swarm. About three miles away from the post road, more than 20 Tupan envoys stopped Yang Guozhong's horse, and the two teams did not know what they were talking about.Yang Guozhong kept laughing with him, his face could not hide his embarrassment, the Tubo envoy was aggressive, and he did not have the timid and submissive expression in front of the Golden Temple.As he spoke, cold sweat broke out on Yang Guozhong's forehead involuntarily. Sure enough, Huluo Pingyang was bullied by dogs. In the past, the majesty of the Tang Dynasty could not tolerate the invasion of these small mountain countries. Yang Guozhong could wipe out these foreign troublemakers with his words. But now, all he can do is smile. Seeing Yang Guozhong chatting and laughing with the Tubo envoy, the three hundred forbidden soldiers became even more angry.Immediately, someone drew out a bow and arrow and shot at the foreigner.One of the envoys screamed, and blood gushed out of his throat, spraying Yang Guozhong all over his face. The Tubo envoys who were still arrogant just now screamed in fear and fled in all directions, but the arrows of the imperial army seemed to have eyes, and they couldn't escape no matter how they ran.Not long after, more than twenty people all died in the woods. Prime Minister Yang Guozhong was stunned, and he didn't dare to wipe the blood on his face, but looked back trembling all over.The guard's face was solemn, his gloomy expression and murderous eyes made him puzzled. "What are you trying to do?" he asked tremblingly. "Yang Guozhong, you deceived the emperor and betrayed the country, the evidence is solid, and you still don't kneel down and plead guilty!" Someone in the imperial guard shouted. "I am the prime minister of the Tang Dynasty, how dare you say that I am a traitor?" Yang Guozhong said angrily. "You lied to the Holy Majesty in the court, which caused An Lushan to rebel, and the Holy Majesty fled Chang'an in embarrassment. You still say you are not guilty?" The soldier who brought the crowd shouted: "Everyone here has seen it. The intention is wrong, I just want to rebel!" "Joke, those Tibetans stopped me from asking for food, I..." Before he finished speaking, several guards shot arrows over.The tip of the arrow with a cold light pierced deeply into the soil, and Yang Guozhong was so frightened that he no longer dared to make a sound. "Stop trying to quibble, kneel down!" The imperial guards swarmed up, someone supported Yang Guozhong, kicked him in the thigh, and the Prime Minister of the Tang Dynasty immediately fell to his knees. "You can't kill me!" Yang Guozhong couldn't hide the fear in his heart. He wanted to raise his head to argue, but before the words left his throat, he felt a chill in his neck and he lost consciousness. The head of the Prime Minister of the Tang Dynasty drew an arc in the air and fell to the ground far away, blood spurting everywhere. The guard who chopped off Yang Guozhong's neck snorted coldly, put away the knife, and looked towards the post station. "Brothers, what's the use of killing the treacherous Prime Minister Yang Guozhong! There is still a witch who has not been dealt with by the Holy Majesty. She is a disaster for the country and the people. It is the scourge that makes the Tang Dynasty destroy the country. Don't kill her. When she bewitched the Holy Majesty, all of us They must all die!" There was a trace of cruelty in the guard's eyes, and he held up the blood-stained knife in his hand, the blade reflected a strange luster in the sun, "Kill Yang Yuhuan, kill that scourge I am a witch of the Tang Dynasty!" "Kill Yang Yuhuan! Kill Yang Yuhuan!" The three hundred guards were stunned, and they couldn't help shouting. Yes, Yang Yuhuan is the culprit that caused Shengshi Datang to fall into such a miserable situation. Only by killing Yang Yuhuan can the Holy One wake up and Datang can be saved!Kill Yang Yuhuan!All the people walked towards the dilapidated Maweipo post station in a mighty way, making a lot of noise and the momentum was astonishing. Tang Xuanzong, who was in the post station, frowned when he heard the noise outside. He asked the eunuch Gao Lishi to call Chen Xuanli, the leader of the imperial army, and ordered: "Xuanli, go out and see what is going on outside the post station. Disturbance?" Chen Xuanli went out after kneeling and saluting, and he saw three hundred guards surrounded the post station with murderous faces, each of them was holding the handle of the knife tightly with their right hands, he couldn't help being shocked, Gao He shouted: "What's wrong with you, want to rebel?" "General, we have killed the traitor Yang Guozhong!" One of the guards offered Yang Guozhong's head with both hands. Chen Xuanli was taken aback immediately. He looked at Yang Guozhong's dying eyes and fell into deep thought.Not long after, he raised his right hand, and even his expression became stern, "Since Yang Guozhong is dead, that woman Yang Yuhuan can't stay either." "That's right, general, please kill that witch for the sake of Tang's fortune, for the people of Tang, and for the sake of the present majesty." The guard who offered Yang Guozhong's head looked concerned about the country and the people, and spoke sonorously and righteously. But Chen Xuanli sneered and said, "The crown prince told you to say that, right?" The imperial guard was dumbfounded. Chen Xuanli patted him on the shoulder, "However, that demon girl really can't stay!" After speaking, he turned and walked into the inn. Tang Xuanzong was walking back and forth in the room, his mood was very restless, as if he had a premonition of something, and an anxious expression floated on his face. Concubine Yang Gui still sat quietly on the edge of the bed, did not speak, but folded a square scarf in her hand back and forth. After Chen Xuanli entered the room, Tang Xuanzong went up to meet him anxiously, and hurriedly asked, "Xuanli, what's the matter?" "Your Majesty, Yang Guozhong is dead." Chen Xuanli said in a strange tone, while sneaking a glance at Yang Yuhuan. When Concubine Yang heard the bad news, the square scarf in her hand suddenly paused, but she didn't raise her head, and remained silent. "What! How did Guozhong die?" "He conspired to rebel and was caught and killed by the imperial guards on the spot. Your Majesty, rebellion is a serious crime against the nine clans, and none of the Yang family can stay." Chen Xuanli looked at Yang Yuhuan, his gaze seemed to freeze, full of murderous intent, "Your concubine, of course you can't stay!" will not participate." Tang Xuanzong shouted. "Your Majesty! Please think twice, Your Majesty!" Chen Xuanli knelt down on the ground with a "swish", "Your Majesty, you must not stay." Tang Xuanzong's face was cloudy and uncertain. The general of the imperial guards in front of him was in charge of all the imperial guards outside. As long as he waved his hand, all the royal family members, big and small, of his Li family would be dead on this Mawei slope. Datang is no longer the original Datang. Seeing that the situation was wrong, Gao Lishi ran out of the post station to take a look. The guards were so aggressive and murderous that Gao Lishi's hands and feet went limp from fright. At this moment, he knew clearly that if he did not kill Concubine Yang Gui and could not appease the anger of the soldiers, even he would die in Maweipo!He had no choice but to go all out, and knelt on the ground when he entered the room, crying: "Your Majesty, the noble concubine is innocent, but the soldiers killed Yang Guozhong. If the noble concubine is kept, how can the soldiers feel at ease? I hope your majesty will consider it carefully, the soldiers will feel at ease, and your majesty will be safe." gone." Tang Xuanzong was silent, his hands were shaking, shaking constantly. When he walked outside the station, all the imperial guards immediately knelt down on the ground and shouted at the same time: "Your Majesty, please think twice. If you don't kill Yang Yuhuan, Datang, there is really no way out!" Tang Xuanzong stayed on the spot , He knew that he was caught in a conspiracy, a big conspiracy constructed by his own son.But what can he do?If he doesn't kill the woman he loves most, he will definitely die!Yang Yuhuan also walked out of the post station. She looked at Emperor Xuanzong and smiled faintly: "Your Majesty, please allow Yuhuan to dance for Your Majesty at the end." After speaking, without waiting for Tang Xuanzong's reply, she danced on the open ground outside the station.The dance steps are light and beautiful, the jet-black hair is fluttering in the air, and the corners of the skirt are flying. Concubine Yang's beautiful face made the surrounding flowers wither, the wind stopped, and the sun became gentle. In the whole world, only Yang Yuhuan was left dancing, and everyone stopped breathing. After the dance, Concubine Yang looked back at Tang Xuanzong and smiled. This smile was so charming that it was full of charms, and the six palaces were colorless. This smile dazzled everyone. "Your Majesty, the concubine has gone, please take care of yourself, Your Majesty." After Yang Yuhuan finished speaking, she walked towards the depths of the jungle on the right side of the post station road without looking back. Gao Lishi sighed and followed behind. Tang Xuanzong seemed to have aged countless years in an instant, and the emperor's aura was getting weaker and weaker. He reached out tremblingly and wanted to catch Concubine Yang who was leaving, but just halfway up his hand, he put it down slumpedly. The emperor's dignity and aura were gone, and there was nothing left. Standing outside the post station, he looked like an ordinary weak old man. Tang, Kaiyuan fifteen years, June 14th, the weather was fine, Yang Guifei died in Maweipo, Xingping County, at the age of thirty-eight.Later, Tang Xuanzong abdicated and was depressed all day long. And the story of summoning the spirit stone begins at this time...