Chapter 29 Chapter Twenty Nine

Seeing that the road was not secure, Wang Jian almost desperately galloped forward madly. He pulled Li Xuan's mount through the thick smoke... The wooden boards of the plank road were already crumbling, and the horse almost stepped into the fire several times. gaps in the road surface.The billowing smoke made it difficult to tell the direction.Wang Jian tried his best to open his eyes wide, hoping to see the road clearly, but the thick smoke still made him cry.He pricked up his ears, as if he heard the voices of several soldiers running ahead.Wang Jian seemed to have grasped a life-saving straw, took a deep breath and pulled the horse straight forward.Every time you step on the plank road, you can feel the wooden boards shaking... When Li Xuan's mount suddenly jumped up and crossed the burning road, a string of almost carbonized wooden boards behind him fell precariously into the road. The bottomless cliff was left, and only the supporting holes dug out of the rock were arranged in a regular manner, telling the passers-by in the future about the thrilling things that happened here...

Wang Jian broke out in a cold sweat, thinking: "It's so dangerous, if you're half a step late, you and the emperor will be buried in this bottomless valley!" Before he had time to breathe out, his heart was pounding.When he looked up, he found that the plank road in front of him was on fire again! God!Wang Jian secretly groaned in his heart. "Father! Be careful!" Hearing Zongji's shout, Wang Jian turned his head, and several rebels brandishing simple knives had already approached him.He suddenly pulled out his treasured sword, turned around halfway, and cut down the frontmost soldier with one blow.Within a few steps, only he and Li Xuan were left, and a sense of sacred mission arose spontaneously, and he was not allowed to make any mistakes.

Li Xuan grasped the reins tightly with both hands, everything in front of him had already frightened the once pampered emperor to death.Suddenly, a soldier rushed at him viciously with a knife, and he yelled "Guangtu—" and was so frightened that he almost fainted. Wang Jian turned around in an instant, slashed the man to death with his backhand, and swung the sword like flying again. The precious sword drew a few faint shadows in the air, and several people beside him fell into a pool of blood one after another.When he raised his head again, he was dumbfounded—the last section of the plank road more than a hundred steps ahead had been completely burned: the road board had already fallen into the cliff valley, leaving only a row of rolling logs at the bottom of the guardrail connected one by one, looking like It's like a long single-plank bridge.

The horse is unable to pass.Wang Jian ordered the few soldiers around him to escort him in front and back, and he personally carried Li Xuan on his back and crawled forward on the rolling logs.Li Xuan accidentally looked down, and the bottomless valley made him feel dizzy.He hugged Wang Jian tightly, not daring to move, and let the general who carried him slowly crawl forward step by step... When he climbed over the last log, Wang Jian collapsed on the ground, and Jin Hui hurriedly ordered his guards, Li Xuan, to rest aside.At this moment, it is nearly sunset.Wang Jian rested for a while, stood up unsteadily, and only Jin Hui and Wang Zongji were left when he searched around. There were less than one hundred Shence troops around him, and everyone had burn marks and smoke on their faces. .He ordered Zongji to escort the emperor to the top of a mountain, and found a flat and open place to station. While resting, he waited for the lost teams of Tian Lingzi and Zhang Zao.

From time to time, the cold mountain wind blows, mixed with the primitive howling of wolves and the smell of mountain beasts.Only then did Li Xuan regain his breath, and his weak voice trembled: "Water..." Wang Jian managed to collect half a bag of clean water and handed it to Li Xuan: "Your Majesty, there is only this water. You rest first, and I will send it away right away." They went to find something to eat." Li Xuan took the water bag, took a sip to clear his throat, and the burning throat felt cooler and more comfortable.He shook his head: "No need. The soldiers have risked their lives and tried their best... Let them rest well. I will reward you heavily when they arrive in Xingyuan." After finishing speaking, he held Wang Jian's hand tightly, " If Aiqing hadn't given up her life to protect her today, I would have been buried under the cliff!" These words made Wang Jian bitter.He gritted his teeth, swallowed thousands of words, and only said: "As a minister of His Majesty, I have no complaints for His Majesty!"

It was completely dark.Wang Jian and Li Xuan sat side by side with their backs leaning on a piece of bluestone.Perhaps, right here and now, Li Xuan has forgotten that he is the supreme ruler of the empire. Only the existence of this insignificant military envoy beside him, who is now giving his life to protect him, makes him feel a little secure.When you look up, you can see the sky full of stars.Whenever facing the starry sky, people will always feel small, whether it is the king of a country or the people of the people. Li Xuan murmured unknowingly: "If I could understand the hardships of Gaozu's business at the beginning of my ascension, I would not end up in the end of subjugation..."

Wang Jian turned his face sideways, and vaguely saw the sadness on Li Xuan's face.Through this complex emotion, he was confused: Is the person sitting next to him in front of him the emperor of Tang Dynasty, or a confidant in adversity?Is it the Mingjun who is easy to approach, or Jie Zhou who makes the family and country difficult to protect?Wang Jian didn't want the glorious empire he was in to decline forever, but Jingyue's experience and feelings made him feel silently in his heart—it seemed that this was indeed the end of an era.He couldn't help feeling depressed that he was not born in a prosperous and powerful Tang Dynasty.These years of wandering and suffering earlier made him tired of the era of war and strife; however, he knew better than anyone else that if he hadn't been born in troubled times, he would never have had the opportunity to display his talents, let alone be alone Lucky to save you.At this moment, he is so close to the emperor, so close that he can clearly hear the breathing of the emperor; at this moment, he seems to have become the thigh of the court.But at the same time, the moment he looked up at the starry sky, he felt that he, like Li Xuan, seemed so insignificant in this troubled world, and he couldn't turn things around at all...

He shook his head hard, stopped these random thoughts, and said to Li Xuan in a low voice: "The world is still the world of the Tang Dynasty, and Your Majesty is still the Lord of the People..." Before he finished speaking, Wang Jian suddenly felt that his right hand was squeezed by two soft hands. Holding the soft hand tightly made him feel a little panicked, but another kind of warmth couldn't help but rise in his heart.I only heard Li Xuan slowly, with a slightly hoarse voice: "You are different from many people... I know that Tian Lingzi adopted you as an adopted son, but I can feel that your heart is not in this traitorous minister's heart." On me..." Li Xuan sighed, "Oh! At the beginning of my ascension to the throne, Tong Hun didn't know the rise and fall of the world, and ignored the honor and disgrace of the past, and let this eunuch control the court. When I awakened, Chang'an was no longer the imperial palace of Emperor Taizong. Half of the country is not Li Tang's surname. Since returning to Chang'an after the Huangchao subjugation, I dare not neglect state affairs day and night, wishing I could split it up and use it for five days. Read the historical records, and you will know the emperor's insensibility. However...the emperor still I can enjoy the dignity of the world, but I see that I will become the king of subjugation who will be reviled through the ages!" At this point, Li Xuan choked up.

Wang Jian hurriedly comforted him: "Why is your Majesty doing this? Wait until Xingyuan, clean up the mountains and rivers, and it will not be too late to plan for recovery!" Li Xuan slowly closed his eyes, and let out a long breath: "If Tang Zhi survives, may you, Wang Jian, be a minister to protect the country!" Wang Jian's heart was pounding, and he carefully chewed the words of the emperor.But tiredness gradually hit Li Xuan, and he fell asleep in the depths of the forest with Wang Jian's knees on his head... The emperor's heart and soul made it difficult for Wang Jian to fall asleep.For many years, people have been longing for the life of an emperor, and have always taken the glory of the Lord of the Peoples as a matter of course.That night, Wang Jian felt that while the emperor of the Tang Dynasty enjoyed the world, he also shouldered the responsibility of owning the world and protecting the people.The majestic emperor of the Celestial Dynasty had no choice of his own since he ascended the throne because of the monopoly of eunuchs, and when the mountains and rivers were broken, he could not save his family and lives, let alone save the people!Thinking of this, he began to hate those civilians who rose up, and even more hated the people who almost lost Li Tang's world—his adoptive father Tian Lingzi, and his infinite sympathy for the emperor in front of him...Thinking of this, he couldn't help crying ...

When the first ray of sunlight shone on Li Xuan's face from the gap in the forest in the morning, he seemed to have woken up, and he could clearly hear the melodious birdsong in the forest.But the days of running around made him exhausted, and he still lay his head on Wang Jian's knee and breathed steadily and peacefully.Wang Jian kept his body upright, not daring to move in the slightest.While listening to Tianzi's even breathing, he tried to open his tired eyes wide and looked around - he didn't close his eyes all night. When the sky was getting brighter, he suddenly saw two familiar figures from a distance: the two supported each other and limped towards the top of the mountain.Oh it's them!It's a blessing that they are safe and well!

It turned out that Zheng Xu and Zhang Qianyu were walking towards them.Wang Jian looked at the two of them, and saw that Zhang Qianyu was already dressed in rags, his formerly neat hair had been loosened, and his beard was obviously burnt by the flames, and it was scorched and curled together.Although Zheng Xu on the side was covered in mud, he was unscathed.It seems that Zhang Qianyu sacrificed his life to take care of him and fulfilled his general order yesterday. "My subordinates brought my husband here safely, and report to the general!" Apparently, Zhang Qianyu was full of joy and eager to report to Wang Jian.Wang Jian suppressed the joy in his heart, but "hush" to Zheng and Xu, and then pouted at his knee.Only then did Zheng and Xu realize that the emperor was sleeping sweetly on Wang Jian's knee. At this time, Li Xuan also heard the sound, he moved his body, rubbed his confused eyes, and sat up shaking his somewhat heavy head. "Your Majesty, are you awake?" Li Xuan nodded, straightened his sore waist, and when he opened his eyes, he saw that there seemed to be tears on Wang Jian's swollen eye circles. "Aiqing, did you cry last night?" Wang Jian quickly rubbed his eyes: "Oh, your Majesty's words last night hurt my heart. Your Majesty Wan Cheng endured such hardships, so I feel sad." Li Xuan was so moved by Wang Jian's words that he didn't know what to do. .He stood up with emotion, took off his imperial clothes and put them on Wang Jian, saying: "I deeply feel that you are loyal, and you can set an example for all officials!" The emotion in Wang Jian's chest brought out tears again, and he hurriedly knelt down and said: "Your Majesty loves you wrongly! But if there is Jian, I will be driven by His Majesty!" "Wang Guangtu accepts the decree!" Li Yan couldn't wait to return to Xingyuan to reward him, "Your loyalty is rare in the world! I will give you a gold coupon to exhibit, handed down from generation to generation as a treasure, and wait until Xingyuan to reward you!" In March of the second year of Guangqi (886 A.D.), Li Xuan, the emperor of the Tang Dynasty, drove to Xingyuan in a car.Later, Wang Jian was sent to lead troops to station in Sanquan, and Jinhui, Zhang Zao and other Shence troops sent troops to Sidu to station in Heishui to rebuild the plank road to get there. In order to honor the service of protecting the Savior, Li Yan invited Wang Jian to lead the governor of Bizhou for the first time, setting a precedent for inviting the leader of the state since ancient times.Afterwards, Li Xuan fulfilled his promise and gave Wang Jian a piece of rare precious jade handed down from generation to generation, and gave him a gold certificate for exhibition, and wrote "Give Wang Jianyu": "I have suffered from so many difficulties, and I am impermanent. And it’s more like protecting the world. If it’s won by my vassal, it’s expected to be given to Qing.” As far as Xingyuan was concerned, the root cause of the rebellion was that Tian Lingzi used troops without authorization to deceive the emperor to read it; therefore, the memorial to the treacherous minister Tian Lingzi was sent to Li Xuan like snowflakes.In his heart, Li Xuan wanted to kill Tian Lingzi a hundred times and a thousand times, but he couldn't make up his mind after all.And Tian Lingzi knew clearly that he was already hard to be tolerated by the world, not only all the officials and courtiers hated him, but more importantly, the powerful feudal clan headed by Li Keyong would not forgive him.After thinking about it, in such a big China, only Xishu can become a safe place.Therefore, Tian Lingzi recommended the privy envoy Yang Fugong to Li Xuan as the lieutenant of Zuo Shence and the envoy of Guanjunrong. He voluntarily gave up the command of the imperial army, and begged Li Xuan to give him a chance to survive.Thinking of calling him "Father", Li Xuan softened his heart, and acquiesced in his self-proclaimed title of Jiannan Xichuan Supervisor.Soon, Tian Lingzi embarked on the road to Chengdu again, to join his brother Chen Jingxuan.Perhaps at this time, he would relish the story of Li Xuan betting on Sanchuan when he hit the ball in his heart for the rest of his life. Just when Wang Jian was delighted to invite the governor and be able to walk in the Shence Army, he was forced to leave Li Xuan by an edict.It turned out that after Yang Fugong took over the military power of Tian Lingzi's Shence Army, what he was most worried about was Tian Lingzi's old party that remained in the court.Although Wang Jian, Jin Hui and other generals were all subordinates single-handedly promoted by his elder brother Yang Fuguang, when he thought that these five were also the adopted sons of Tian Lingzi, and they all made great achievements during the escape, he was afraid of these people who made their fortune by suppressing the rebels. Wufu takes credit for being proud and not attached to himself, and he is even more afraid that they will still work for the Tian family.Therefore, Wang Jian was appointed governor of Lizhou, Han Jian was appointed governor of Huazhou, Jinhui was appointed governor of Jizhou, Zhang Zao was appointed governor of Wanzhou, and Li Shitai was appointed governor of Zhongzhou. History finally separated Wang Jian and Han Jian.Han Jian stayed in Chang'an Jinzhou alone, while Wang Jian, Jin Hui, Zhang Zao, and Li Shitai stopped in Sanchuan after this transfer.Perhaps due to the arrangement of fate, Bashu Sanchuan became the starting point of their struggle for a lifetime, and Bashu Sanchuan was finally the place where they belonged for the rest of their lives.