Chapter 171 Bingzi
In the Liangguo Mansion in Chang'an City, Xiao Cong was expelled from Luoyang for advising the emperor. On the way back to Chang'an, he fell ill. All the relatives and old friends came to visit him. No matter what the emperor did, as long as the queen was still alive, the Xiao family would be the descendants of the Sui Dynasty.

Naturally, Xiao Chanyan also came to visit her father, bringing two carts of precious medicinal materials. The steward had been waiting for her early, looking at his own daughter with a distressed look on his face.

The Duke of Tang's Mansion is now extremely deserted. Originally, the ups and downs of aristocratic families were not a big deal, but it happened that the son-in-law was abducted to the Turks, and no one knows if he will ever come back.

When they arrived at the rear residence, the wife of the Duke held her daughter's hand with tears in her eyes. Although they lived in the same city, it was not possible for them to visit each other often.

After asking about her father's health, Xiao Chanyan felt relieved and there was no tension on her face. She told the steward to come and tell her after the guests had left, saying that her father was surrounded by only male guests and it was not convenient for her to see them.

There were many ladies in the rear house who had come with their husbands, but seeing that the Duke's wife had obviously lost her composure, those who were slightly more distantly related to her voluntarily said goodbye, while those who were closer to her stayed and surrounded Xiao Chanyan to ask about her well-being.

Xiao Chanyan answered in turn without any sadness on her face, which made everyone feel a little relieved. In fact, they also knew that no matter how bad the Tang Guogong Mansion was, as long as there was no imperial decree to confiscate the property, there would be food and supplies.

What's more, Xiao Chanyan brought so much dowry when she got married. She only cared about herself and it was enough for her to eat and enjoy for hundreds of years.

What he was worried about was nothing more than her thoughts. She was once the wife of the great general of the Right Guard and the future wife of the Duke of Tang. Now she has nothing. An ordinary person could not bear it.

As dusk approached, everyone left, and only the mother, daughter and sister-in-law Wang were left in the back house. After a while, Xiao Cong, who had been coughing, came over with the support of his son.

Xiao Cong looked at his daughter, and felt relieved when he saw that her face only showed worry for him and not much sadness.

"I'm fine. I'll be fine after taking some medicine and resting."

Xiao Cong waved away the servants who were serving inside. Although they were all trustworthy servants, they had mouths after all, so it was better not to let them know anything.

"Does the Li family have anything to say?"

Xiao Chanyan shook her head: "My mother-in-law is very worried about my husband, and my father-in-law is also very worried. He sent his clansmen to the Turks, wanting to spend a lot of money to redeem him."

"Then what do you think? If you don't want to stay in the Li family anymore, then don't go back. I'll beg your aunt to find a good husband to remarry in two years."

Xiao Cong's words immediately made his son and daughter-in-law frown. This was too offensive. Not only the Li family, but other relatives would also think too much.

Cai also felt that it was inappropriate. Even if she really had this plan, she had to make sure that Li Jiancheng would not come back. Why was she so anxious?

Xiao Chanyan blinked her bright eyes: "Father wants to test his daughter, please rest assured, I have no such intention."

Xiao Cong nodded and said happily: "Okay, my daughter is blessed. Those who cherish blessings will be blessed, and those who do not will suffer misfortune. This is the law of nature."

Xiao Chanyan's brother also said: "I have contacted my friends in Turkic. As long as we can get Jiancheng back, no matter what the price is, both our Xiao and Li families can afford it!"

"Ahem." Xiao Cong smiled and said, "I'm afraid we don't need to intervene. Over the years, Jiancheng's official position has occasionally risen and fallen, but when do you think about it, he has never suffered a loss? No matter how I think about it, I feel that something is wrong. Maybe he did it on purpose."

Xiao Xuan was stunned when he heard this: "Why... why is this necessary?"

Wang was obviously more perceptive than her husband: "You men are rich and powerful, so why would you take such a risk?"

Xiao Xuan's eyes widened, and his gaze finally fell on his sister along with his parents and wife. Xiao Chanyan smiled brightly: "Maybe, I can also take care of the family like my aunt."

Xiao Xuan's voice was a little tense, but his eyes brightened: "Did Jiancheng tell you?"

"No, but what else can a man like my husband do if he is not the emperor?"

"Traitor! Traitor!"

Yang Guang was breathing heavily. He could bear to give up Li Jiancheng, but he could not forget Liaodong City and the 100,000 troops inside. On the way back to Luoyang, he sent someone to convey his order.

As a result, the envoy was beheaded. This was a blatant rebellion. He originally thought that Li Jiancheng really had his own difficulties, but now it seems that he was right. This was a traitor who was as treacherous as loyal as possible, even worse than Yang Xuangan!
He immediately sent an imperial edict to the Turks, demanding that Shibi Khan kill Li Jiancheng and send his head back to the capital. Then he severely reprimanded those officials who spoke up for Li Jiancheng in front of the court officials.

The emperor originally thought that this incident would allow everyone to see Li Jiancheng's true face, but he did not expect the response to be so lukewarm. People in Luoyang thought that this was another act of the emperor to save his reputation, and they felt even more sorry for Li Jiancheng.

The emperor was furious and ordered the army to be prepared again. He wanted to attack the Turks, force Shibi to kill Li Jiancheng first, and then conquer Liaodong City.

But no court officials dissuaded him. After the emperor's decree was issued, not only the counties but even the generals in Luoyang ignored it, as if to say, "If you have the guts, you can kill us too."

Of course the emperor couldn't kill them. Without these soldiers, he would have trouble even protecting himself. He could only promote some of the Guanlong youths as a way of saving the situation, but there was still no obvious improvement.

This finally made the emperor wake up completely. He realized that the country he ruled was no longer the extremely prosperous and powerful Sui Dynasty. He had also lost his dignity as an emperor in repeated failures.

As a result, the emperor's temperament changed drastically. He had difficulty getting enough sleep at night and was always awakened by fear. Every night he had to have several concubines and women rock and comfort him before he could fall asleep.

One night, a fire broke out in the west courtyard of the Daye Palace. The emperor thought that the soldiers from Luoyang were rebelling, so he got up and fled in fear. He fled all the way to the Western Garden and hid in the bushes. He did not come out until the fire was out.

Since the emperor was like this, the civil and military officials could only report good news but not bad news, in order to appease the emperor and cheer him up. Although they all knew that the day of a change of dynasty might not be far away, those whose families were not powerful enough were still quite resistant.

The risk of changing dynasties is really too great, and it is easy to make a wrong bet if you want to follow the dragon, leading to the decline of the family.

Gradually, after hearing the good news from all over, the emperor gradually returned to normal, and even had the leisure to catch fireflies in Jinghua Palace with the empress, princes, and grandchildren.

After collecting several bushels of fireflies, he took his wife and children to hike in the mountains at night and released the fireflies, whose light filled the entire valley.

On New Year's Day of the twelfth year of Daye, the emperor inquired about the situation of the rebels throughout the country.

Yuwen Shu replied: "It is gradually becoming scarce, please rest assured, Your Majesty."

The emperor wanted to just let it go vaguely, but he also knew that always avoiding it was not a solution. He also gradually realized that he had made too many mistakes in the past few years.

………………

(End of this chapter)