Chapter 155 Escape
After hearing Li Mi's words, Li Jiancheng's first thought was not whether to persuade him or not, but to just kill him directly. Li Mi was not like Zhai Rang.

But on second thought, he had to do not only compete for supremacy in troubled times, but also govern the more difficult times. People like Li Mi would still be useful.

So he nodded and said, "Since Brother Fazhu has made up his mind, then let's do it this way."

Li Mi bowed solemnly and said: "I will remember your kindness in my heart."

Over the next few days, Li Jiancheng marched according to plan, and finally when he was near Hongnong County, he received news that Yang Xuangan had committed suicide and his body had been captured by Yuwen Shu and others.

However, the army was not in a hurry to go back, but continued to hunt down the remnants of Yang Xuangan. Yang Jishan and Li Mi were naturally the top priorities, and local counties were also conducting large-scale searches.

Li Jiancheng knew that the conspiracy would definitely find out about the matter in the army, so he arranged for someone to send Yang Jishan to Zhuo County first, and then let Li Mi disguise himself as a scout and go out of the country.

After the two men left the army, he personally reported to the emperor that the remnants had disappeared and might be hiding in the army. He asked His Majesty to order a search!

The emperor issued the decree without hesitation, causing panic among the people. After all, they had suppressed the rebellion for the country and finally won the battle, but instead of receiving rewards, they were met with suspicion.

With the help of Li Jiancheng, many remnants were found in Yuwen Shu's army. No one was too surprised. Yuwen Shu was extremely greedy for money. As long as the price promised was high enough, there was no one he would not help.

Moreover, Yuwen Shu had a very good reputation in this regard. Yun Dingxing, who was respected as his father-in-law by the deposed Crown Prince Yang Yong, was able to rise again with the help of him. However, Yun Dingxing was purged by the emperor to the point of being dismissed from office and exiled, and his wife and children were demoted to slaves.

Who would dare to help such a person? No one dared to pay attention to him even if he was pushing more than ten or twenty carts of gold, silver and land deeds. Only Yuwen Shu opened his mansion door wide to welcome him, and even called him brother regardless of past grudges.

Now, with the help of Yuwen Shu, Yun Dingxing not only turned things around, but was even promoted to the rank of General of the Left Tunwei in the imperial court, on the same level as Li Jiancheng.

Li Jiancheng had been trembling with fear for more than ten years and had never made any mistakes. He only got to this position because of Yang Xuangan's rebellion, while Yun Dingxing also got to this position by coaxing the emperor together with Yuwen Shu.

It can be seen that the current emperor does not need capable and virtuous ministers most of the time, he only wants obedient and compliant ministers.

.........

Li Mi, who was sent out of the pass, was captured by the county soldiers just two days after he escaped. Without Yang Xuangan's skills, even if he was skilled in archery and horse riding, he could not withstand the pursuit and interception of hundreds of cavalry.

Although he was captured, Li Mi was not injured or humiliated. The emperor could kill nobles of this level, but if they dared to do anything, they would have to wait for revenge from their relatives and old friends.

The emperor was in Gaoyang County at the time, preparing to return to Chang'an to deal with various matters, so Li Mi and other serious prisoners were escorted to the imperial court, and many of those who accompanied them were noble sons of various families.

People of ordinary status would have been beheaded long ago, and only this group of people with special status would need to go through so much trouble.

Li Mi did not want to die, and neither did the others. As the class closest to the emperor, they knew very well what fate awaited them.

"We are all like the morning dew, and will soon vanish."

Zheng Yan, the son of the Dali Temple Minister, said: "We can't just sit there and wait for death!"

Li Mi said in a deep voice: "Give me all the valuables you have."

They had only been stripped of their weapons, and there were too many things on their bodies that no one dared to touch, so they took out their accessories, all of which were inlaid with gold and jade and were extremely precious.

Among them, only Wei Fusi remained unmoved. He kept comforting himself that he could no longer follow these traitors, and the best policy was to wait until His Majesty came to explain his difficulties. Li Mi just looked at Wei Fusi sarcastically, then held the money and handed it to the generals who were escorting them: "After we die, please use this as a funeral rite, and the rest will be used to repay your kindness.

The general took a greedy look but did not dare to take it back: "I dare not, please take it back."

Li Mi sighed and said, "Well, then just consider it as the expenses for the journey. What's the point of keeping the material possessions?"

In the next few days, Li Mi would ask them to pawn their jewelry in exchange for wine and meat, and he would get drunk and cry with Han Shigao, Pei Shuangyuan and others.

He looked like he was indulging himself before death, and occasionally tried to commit suicide, but was always stopped. Gradually, he relaxed his vigilance, and every time he exchanged money, he would secretly take some.

But they are just wine, chickens and ducks from the counties. How could they be used as accessories every few days? Any one of them must be worth at least hundreds of strings of cash, otherwise why would they carry them with them.

Li Mi's confidant, whom he had arranged in advance, also led the rebel leader Hao Xiaode from Pingyuan County to come to the rescue. They cooperated internally and externally one night, but they still almost failed.

The biggest concern of the escorting soldiers was that they did not dare to kill these noble relatives, and according to Li Mi's instructions, these people claimed to be family generals of the Yu and Pei families.

Yu Shiji and Pei Yun, even the local soldiers knew what these two represented. Li Mi immediately said, "No matter whether we succeed or fail today, even if we are captured again, we will be dead in the future. How can Lord Yu and Lord Pei keep you!"

As the fighting slowed down, Li Mi advised: "You have risked your lives just to gain wealth and honor. You should all return home with your noble relatives. Since you have been saved, why don't you just be a poor soldier of the imperial court?"

Some people were persuaded by Li Mi, and the rest began to hesitate, and hesitation meant they lost the initiative.

Li Mi was eloquent, and the others also began to promise that they would go to sea with them to avoid disaster and return safely within a few years. If they took their families into consideration, they could also send people to take them away for protection.

In the end, the more than one hundred escorting troops had each chosen their masters and stared with cold eyes at Wei Fusi and the few soldiers in the middle who had not put down their weapons.

"It's better to kill him to prevent the news from leaking out."

Wei Fusi trembled with fear but still said nothing. Li Mi had wanted to kill Wei Fusi before, but now that he had to make the decision himself, he was a little reluctant.

"You don't know the character of the dictator?"

Wei Fusi said: "I did not betray the country voluntarily like you did. I was forced to follow the bandits, and I never planned for them sincerely. I did not flee when the Eastern Capital was defeated. Your Majesty is wise and will surely understand me."

Li Mi sneered and stopped looking at him. Instead, he said to the others, "Stay away from Chang'an and Luoyang, or the world will soon be in chaos!"

Of course, it was impossible for everyone to leave together. Li Mi wanted to do so very much, but he also knew that these people could submit to Yang Xuangan but not to him, Li Mi. It was like this before, and it was even worse now.

So everyone dispersed, and no one knew where each other's destination was, but they would definitely not return to their families, because if they went back at this time, they might very well become sacrifices of their families' loyalty to the emperor.

Even if they surrendered to Yang Xuangan, it was the clan's intention, but now that they were defeated, there was no reason to argue.

Li Mi looked at Hao Xiaode. He originally gathered more than 100,000 soldiers with Zhi Shilang and Wang Bu, but they were defeated by Zhang Xutuo and fled. Now he only has one or two thousand soldiers left. After hearing that Yang Xuangan and Li Mi had started the rebellion, he wanted to join.

…………

(End of this chapter)