Chapter 53 2. People's hearts

In the night of Chang'an, there are tens of thousands of palaces and palaces, and the beauty and strength of fate are silent. Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty sneered and pointed at the carved dragons and painted phoenixes on the prostrate bluestones: "The majesty of the emperor can only be carved on the bluestones by craftsmen, but some people use mountains as their palaces and rivers as their corridors. I cut open the earth with a canal, and they But a sword cuts open the history. The sword will corrode, the palace will be dilapidated, but the mountain in the heart will not be less than a rock."

In the first year of Daye, when Emperor Yangdi ascended the Great Treasure for the first time, all the officials knelt down to pay respects, and only Jun Wuyi was dressed in white. Bright yellow is the color of power, dark blue is the color of strategy, and blood red is the color of war. I'm afraid no one has ever told the young gentleman about this. At that time, Yang Guang had a suspicion that if Jun Wuyi grew up in the court of the Sui Dynasty, he would be like himself, insight into the heat of power, and inherit the noble bright yellow, instead of using a pair of clear eyes to hide the whole spring. magnanimous.

"The emperor may not trust the general, but he cannot trust the historian's pen and the courtiers' hearts." Concubine Chen smiled coquettishly, and she could smell the depression and jealousy in Emperor Sui Yang's words: "The emperor is a generation of British lords, and he is ashamed of internal and external troubles." Knowing the palm of your hand, letting the two ministers fight freely, does it depend on General Yuwen's ability—or, does it depend on General Jun's bottom line?" Emperor Sui Yang was caressing the warm and soft hands that had turned into water, but he suddenly tightened Concubine Chen's slender waist forcefully. The heavy hand made the beauty's eyes suddenly full of pain and anger.

"The generals and ministers have their own merits. I will not regret whoever exceeds my own standards and is destroyed. You are a woman——I will keep your duty." Concubine Chen turned her head away: "The concubine has given the best time to the emperor, what is left? A long time is also a long embers, and a concubine does not care about a long time." This is not a deep palace that can be nourished only with love. Emperor Sui Yang began to kiss her, and the black hair slowly spread out in the night like water. "Your Majesty, Concubine Shu is here." Eunuch Gui reported hesitantly in a low voice.

Yang Guang frowned and let go of Concubine Chen. At the door, Concubine Shu was wearing a moon-white dress, as graceful as riding the clouds in the moonlight, and she saw a bowl of soup in her hand: "The concubine sees the hot summer night, so make it for the emperor." A bowl of Qingxin lotus seed soup, I didn't know that my sister was here, disturbed the emperor and my sister, this concubine will leave now." Her demeanor was gentle and decent, her voice apologetic. Concubine Chen tied up her black hair with a jade hairpin, and stood up: "The emperor drank the lotus seed soup, and there are still many memorials to deal with, and the concubine has also retired."

Her posture seemed to carry the fragrance of roses, which contrasted with Concubine Shu's weakness like water. From the day they entered the palace, they lived under the shadow of power and struggle, confirming each other. Eunuch Gui flicked his whisk and bowed to see him off at the gate of the palace. After Xiang Ying disappeared into the darkness, Yang Guang tapped the lotus seed soup with his fingers: "Gui Quan, how is my emperor doing?" Eunuch Gui smiled apologetically: "This old slave dare not speculate on the emperor's difficulties." "These women of mine," Yang Guang's voice was a little empty in the palace: "They all care too much about me."

If there were not enough eyes and ears in the palace, how could they come so quickly after Long Yan was angry, with bold remonstrance, gentle care... Each showed their magical powers. "I'm tired," Yang Guang leaned back on the dragon chair, "find me a careless woman." Eunuch Gui was taken aback. "Not beautiful, not contentious, not attentive," Yang Guang narrowed his eyes with a smile that was not a smile: "Concubine Jungui also has her advantages. However, only a man like General Jun has enough patience for her structure and brains." Eunuch Gui shook his hands, Fuchen almost fell to the ground in fright, and looked at the dragon chair again, the emperor had already closed his eyes and fell asleep, as if he hadn't said anything just now.

The candlelight cast a cruel shadow and satisfaction on the emperor's face. In the palace, he must be deaf when he should be deaf, and he must be blind when he should be blind. Eunuch Gui retreated silently and walked out of the palace gate, only to find that his vest was completely drenched in cold sweat. The nights in early summer are not hot, especially in the harem. The two concubines walked side by side, Concubine Shu said with a smile: "My sister won't blame my sister today, right? If I knew that my sister was already serving the emperor, I wouldn't have come here."

Concubine Chen said arrogantly: "My Majesty has never belonged to Nalan Nanyue alone. Whether you come or not is your own business." She didn't take Concubine Shu seriously when she spoke. Concubine Shu smiled: "Among all the concubines, only my sister has always been the most considerate of the holy will." There was a rustling sound from behind the rockery, Concubine Chen shouted, "Who?" After a while, a cat came out tremblingly, its whole body was pitch black, only its four paws were white. Concubine Chen and Concubine Shu looked at each other, this is Princess Lanling's cat's "four hooves on the snow", obviously no one has fed food for a long time, the black hair stood up, legs and feet were long and thin, Concubine Shu carefully caught the cat, its bones were light pitiful.

Princess Lanling's mother concubine, Concubine Xiao, was loved by three thousand people when she was alive, but she died under the assassin's sword at the age of nineteen.Now the flesh and blood Princess Lanling she left behind has also gone. The women in the harem fight for favor to the end, and there are a few who can die well—— The night wind was even cooler. Along the way, the two women did not speak again. At dawn, the lobby of the Ministry of Justice was crowded with onlookers. There was a precedent for the trial of a first-rank general during Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty, but this time it was different.Because the person who was shackled and held in the hall was Jun Wuyi!

General Jun has made outstanding military achievements, and his reputation and prestige in the court for ten years is as high as Mount Tai. The people all looked at the hall in astonishment.Wei Zhanyi, the servant of the Ministry of Punishment, was sitting upright with a sickly face, and his pale face could not be reflected in the vermilion court clothes, and his kind and handsome eyebrows were pitiful. Wei Zhanyi covered his lips with a handkerchief, coughed a few times, his eyes seemed to sweep over the officials present and the people at the door. There are thousands of people on the third floor and the third floor outside the crowd. Such a battle made Wei Zhanyi's eyes misty with coughing seem to have no focus. He put away his handkerchief, as if he had also put away the hard work of these days. ——He knows very well what kind of person can be assassinated and what kind of person can only be destroyed under the sun. "General Jun." Wei Zhanyi's voice was weak, but it was very clear due to the silence around him: "You have committed the four major crimes of deceiving the emperor, dereliction of duty, murder, and colluding with Turks. Can you be convicted?" "—You suppressed the news of Zhuo Yun's assassination, and deceived the emperor and the enemy. You went down the mountain together with Ashina Yongyi, and conspired with the Turks at the Yingbin Inn. Because you were discovered by the shopkeeper, you brutally killed the unarmed shopkeeper Luo." The words were like stone words, which stirred up wild waves in people's hearts. When it came to the last sentence, there was a burst of unbelievable discussion among the surrounding people. Wei Zhanyi only said this, and then stopped appropriately, without any aggressive intentions, and his eyes seemed to pass down the hall.The personal master was surprised to notice that his eyes were always looking in the direction of the voice. Being invisible does not mean being blinded. What is exposed in the dark is often closer to the truth than the appearance in the sun; just as the shock brought by calm is often deeper than rage. Wei Zhanyi enjoyed the clear hearing in the dark.The sound from the crowd was like a crack in a solid wall. He never used brute force to destroy it, but carefully created this crack—once the trust of people's hearts starts to crack, it will only be a matter of time before the dike of a thousand miles collapses.Nothing is harder to build than trust, and nothing is more contagious than doubt. Killing Jun Wuyi, the legends among the people will still turn into fire; but letting the brightest people in the world fall into darkness is the real destruction. "General Ming." Wei Zhanyi said lightly. Ming Jingyuan responded. "What happened when you led the crowd to rescue under the cliff?" "General Jun rides with Ashina Yongyi and Fourteen Silver Shadows." "What happened in Chang'an West City last night?" "Three thousand people from the Zuoyiwei army went to the west gate," Ming Jingyuan said with a frown. And hand orders, is to act according to orders." Jun Wuyi raised his eyes when he heard this, "Where is Commander Zhang?" "It's in prison." Ming Jingyuan's cold eyes seemed to be facing each other with steel knives: "General Jun wants to explain the misunderstanding of yesterday's unauthorized deployment of troops, so you might as well show the general's order and prove it!" Jun Wuyi poked into his arms, startled for a moment. The general order is gone. Before Su Tong was arrested that day, he had already handed over the general's order to him, in order to prevent the army, which could affect the whole body by a single hair, from going out on business again. "Did you dig a hole like this and let others jump?" Hearing a clear "tsk tsk", Ye Fangting squeezed in from the outside with a large bag of walnuts, stuffed walnuts into his mouth and shook his head with a sigh: "Someone Mesmerizing my general with medicine, stealing his general order to dispatch troops, using his sword to kill people, and now turning around to ask him where the general order is, boring, boring..." "If it is true as you said, the important command of the general fell into the hands of others." Wei Zhanyi followed Ye Fangting's words and said: "In this way, not only will the army lose its prestige, but the thieves will take advantage of the situation to speculate. There will be chaos in the world. Is there any injustice for the crime of dereliction of duty by General Jun?" Ye Fangting was eloquent, but he turned against the general, and suddenly a walnut choked in his throat. "I did commit the crime of dereliction of duty, so I should ask the emperor for punishment." Worry appeared in Jun Wuyi's eyes, but it was obviously not because of his own situation, but because of the whereabouts of the general order and the city defense of Chang'an. "The general's crime is related to one person," Wei Zhanyi said with a faint smile, "because who took the general's order-someone knows." He covered his lips with a handkerchief: "Bring up the witness Zhao Ziyan." Several people escorted Zhao Ziyan with disheveled hair up. "You are in charge of guarding Zhuo Yun," Wei Zhanyi said softly, "What happened in the prison, you just need to tell the truth." "Zhuo Yun assassinated the Turkic prince at the Fengfeng Banquet. The general asked us to take Zhuo Yun into custody and not to reveal a word." Zhao Ziyan gritted his teeth and said, "Later, Su Zhuangyuan came to visit Zhuo Yun with the general's order. After he left, we found Zhuo Yun Yun died in prison." After saying these words, Zhao Ziyan's face was ashen, and his bloody and sweaty face was desolate and sorrowful: "I said I should tell the truth, but——I violated the military order." Before he finished speaking, he suddenly slammed his head towards the pillars in front of the hall!The man who weighed more than a hundred catties slammed into the pillar with all his strength, there was a loud bang, and the rafters shook slightly. "Zhao Ziyan!" Jun Wuxin pushed away the servants on the left and right and rushed over. From the place where Zhao Ziyan's head met the pillar, blood slowly covered the blue pillar, Zhao Ziyan slowly slid down, and his head dragged a shocking path of blood on the pillar. Jun Wuyi caught his dying body, his chest rose and fell. "General..." Zhao Ziyan's lips trembled weakly. Jun Wuyi lowered his head and heard Zhao Ziyan say in a voice that only one person could hear: "My mother... is eighty years old... and fell into the hands of thieves." ...Loyalty and filial piety cannot be both..." Before he could finish his sentence, his arm suddenly hit the ground without making a sound. Jun Wuyi slowly closed Zhao Ziyan's wide eyes. "Loyalty and righteousness cannot be both, Zhao Ziyan is also a man." Wei Zhanyi stood up and walked down from the hall himself.Only then did everyone see that he was holding a cane to explore the way when he descended the steps—a cane used by blind people! Wei Zhanyi groped his way to Jun Wuwu, squatted down, and slowly put down his cane. His invisible eyes and weak coughing made his posture look even lower. Wei Zhanyi stretched out his hand to help Jun Wuxin get up, but suddenly he couldn't help but fell forward.Before he fell to the ground, Jun Wuyi heard a faint voice: "Your brothers are willing to die for you, the next one is Su Tong." Jun Wuwu froze all over. Several yamen servants rushed up and shouted: "Master Wei! Master Wei!" All the officials pinched and swayed, and Wei Zhanyi woke up after a while, and the first sentence was: "Take Zhao Ziyan down, so that he can be buried." Seeing Minister Wei fainted in the lobby from exhaustion, and the first thing he said when he woke up was to bury the dead, they couldn't help but respect him. When the yamen servants began to carry the corpse out, Wei Zhanyi put his hand on Jun Wuwu's shoulder: "A loyal man, even if his eyes are blind and his whole body is paralyzed, the steel can't take away his ambition. Although the general made a mistake things, but loyalty itself is not wrong." Wei Zhanyi no longer needs eyes. Feeling the stiffness on Jun Wuwu's shoulders when he heard "blind in both eyes and paralyzed in the whole body", he knew that he had won this round. "What a rascal." A lazy voice came from the door. Ye Fangting stuffed the walnut bag in his hand into the hand of the person next to him, and rushed over: "Tsk tsk... Some people are getting lazy, and they have to lie down even when they go to the hall." I saw a few big men carrying a person in. The joints of the person's whole body could not move, his face was a little haggard, and his blind eyes were no longer full of energy. But that confident voice has not changed at all! "It turned out to be Su Zhuangyuan who was rescued by the Turks." Wei Zhanyi slightly hooked the corner of his lips: "I'll wait for a long time."