Chapter 45

"Master, this matter is of great importance and is related to the safety of Daliang. I'm sorry to trouble you to take care of it!" Li Que said earnestly after talking with Guan Mou.

　　"Don't worry, I will keep a close eye on Fu Feipeng's movements for you." Guan Mou's mind was full of thoughts, but he nodded repeatedly on the surface.

　　It turned out that after Min Rou sent the army north, the defense of the capital was completely empty. Li Que had no doubts about Min Rou's ability and absolutely believed that she could pacify Kanteqin, but the only problem was time. During the time when Min Rou was away, could he suppress the jackals and tigers in various places? Li Que was very worried about this, so he asked Tong Mu to sneak into Nanzhou to secretly collect intelligence, and report to Li Que if Fu Feipeng made any unusual movements, so that he could be prepared in advance and not be caught off guard.

　　"Also, Master, please pay more attention to the matter of gathering people from all over the country. The country of Daliang still needs these righteous men who are willing to serve the country!" Li Que sighed.

　　"Well, I will not let this go!" Guan Mou nodded. He was already ecstatic in his heart. He was just worried about what conspiracy to use against Li Que, but he didn't expect Li Que to come to him. As long as he caught the opportunity to do something about these two things, it would be possible to deal a heavy blow to Li Que at the critical moment!

　　"With you here, Master, I feel like a lot of the burden has been lifted off my mind!"

　　At this moment, what Li Que never expected was that his always trusted master Guan Mou had already made up his mind to do something evil to him.

　　The reason why Li Que trusted Guan Mou so much was not that he was not vigilant, but that Guan Mou had shown himself to be pure and unselfish. Li Que could not think of anything that could make Guan Mou betray him. After all, there seemed to be no conflict of interest between the two of them. But what he never expected was that it was his peerless mother who had planted such a hidden danger for him.

　　After respectfully sending Guan Mou away, Li Que did not immediately return to his mother. Since he was busy with business, he also reviewed a few more of the memorials that were squeezed out. He suddenly remembered the matter of recruiting talents that he had asked Su Xinhong to do some time ago, so he took the opportunity to summon Su Xinhong to see him.

　　"Xinhong, I asked you to recruit talents from all over the world to serve the country in these troubled times. How is the progress?" Li Que lifted up Su Xinhong who was kneeling in front of him and asked with a smile.

　　"Your Majesty, there has been great progress!" Su Xinhong said with a smile on his face. Previously, he was worried that because of Li Que's reputation when he ascended the throne, there would be many obstacles in this recruitment work. But he did not expect that the series of actions taken by Li Que since he ascended the throne have basically stabilized people's hearts, especially among the scholars, he even has a good reputation. The issuance of this recruitment order has won applause from all sides. Ambitious people in the world are eager to compete in several examinations. All things are inferior, only reading is superior. Li Que can see clearly the desire of the children of poor families to become officials and stand out. This move to win people's hearts has also achieved satisfactory results. This also made Su Xinhong admire Li Que even more.

　　"Your Majesty, these are the best essays written by the candidates in the previous palace examination with the theme of "The Natural Law of Mother-Child Harmony". Do you think you should personally decide the order of the top three?" At this time Su Xinhong presented a stack of test papers.

　　Li Que took it and looked at it. It was indeed a hero selected from the whole Daliang through layers of screening. The handwriting on each paper was vigorous and unrestrained, light and unrestrained, or neat and dignified. The style was different, but it was always pleasing to the eye. After a careful look at the content, each of them discussed the legitimacy of mother-child intercourse in detail from various aspects such as ethics, morality, and practicality from different perspectives.

　　Li Que nodded frequently as he watched. As long as the talented people who wrote this article entered official career in the future and became the backbone of Daliang, he would not need to say much, as these people would defend the mother-son union themselves. After all, no matter whether they agreed or not in their hearts, the article they wrote was written in black and white, and they could not contradict themselves.

　　Li Que waved his hand and said, "Xinhong, the specific ranking issue will be left to you to decide. But there is one thing to note. Once the ranking is determined, the best articles must be selected and published so that they can be widely circulated among the people."

　　"Yes, Your Majesty." Su Xinhong lowered his head and took the test paper.

　　Li Que was now convinced that the opening of the mother-son marriage trend in Daliang was a foregone conclusion. When Su Xinhong finished the recruitment and publication, I am afraid that from now on, mother-son marriage will no longer be a taboo, at least in Daliang. As for how many incestuous mothers and sons in the world will benefit from this, that is another story. For Li Que, paving such a way for sons in the world who want to take in their beautiful mothers is already the best effort he can make.

　　"Your Majesty, I will take my leave now." Seeing that Li Que closed his eyes in deep thought and seemed to have nothing else to tell him, Su Xinhong took the opportunity to resign. After Li Que waved his hand, he knelt respectfully and left.

　　As soon as he left the Palace of Tranquil Longevity, Su Xinhong frowned.

　　The emperor gave him this task, which was naturally a manifestation of his trust in him, but he knew very well that this job was not so easy to do. He was entrusted with an important task by the emperor at a young age. Although it was glorious, it also aroused the jealousy of many people. If he could not judge a credible and convincing ranking, he would probably suffer a lot of criticism.

　　So when he got home, Su Xinhong didn't dare to rest. He lit a candle and went through the best papers he had selected at the beginning. He considered every word carefully, and finally decided that three papers were the best. But in the end, he couldn't tell which one was better.

　　The more Su Xinhong thought about it, the more annoyed he became. He felt a great deal of pressure and a thorn in his back. Before he knew it, the moon was at its zenith and the air was chilly, but he was sweating profusely. He had no choice but to put down the test paper in his hand and walk into the courtyard to pace. When he looked up at the bright moon, he somehow thought of his aunt, the Empress, who was as dignified and beautiful as the moon goddess.

　　Su Xinhong was not a lustful person. On the contrary, he was young and had never been very keen on the love between men and women. However, the shock of beauty brought to him by his aunt was indeed unforgettable. Especially when he saw the bulging belly of pregnant Su Yuexin and the more swollen and moist breasts with milk, the maternal beauty made all men willing to become her subordinates. Thinking of this, Su Xinhong was blessed and rushed back to the room to take out one of the test papers for a closer look. It turned out that among all the test papers, only this one spent a lot of words praising the beauty of the queen, and used this as a starting point to discuss the irresistible attraction of the beautiful mother to her son. Su Xinhong suddenly realized at this time: This article is a real masterpiece. It is precisely because of the mature and sexy body of the aunt that His Majesty is willing to give thousands of favors and even go to great lengths to enthrone his mother as the queen. If such an article is selected as the top, it will surely satisfy His Majesty and convince everyone.

　　So Su Xinhong made a prompt decision, picked up his pen and started writing down the rankings on the paper.

　　…

　　Nanzhou, royal palace.

　　A white-haired old man was concentrating on reading the article in his hand. Although his face was full of wrinkles, he did not have the sense of decline of an old man in his twilight years. Instead, he gave people an oppressive aura like a mountain. His thick eyebrows and several obvious scars under his neck were the glorious marks of his youth on the battlefield. This man was the King of Nanzhou who once dominated Daliang - Fu Hai!

　　At this time, Fu Hai put the paper in his hand on the table, raised his eyebrows, and said to his son sitting next to him: "This Li Que is really getting more and more outrageous. Not only did he marry the late emperor's empress, his own biological mother, but he even gathered such a bunch of crappy scholars to praise this matter. If he continues like this, my Daliang will be messed up by him." Although it was a private conversation between father and son, it was still obvious that the old prince disdainful attitude towards Li Que was called out by the emperor's name so impolitely.

　　"Yes, father, what virtue does Li Que have to sit on the throne? I think the Li family's kingdom is about to end!" Fu Feipeng raised his eyebrows grimly.

　　"But father, the time has come for us to launch our plan. Although Li Que is absurd, he does have some skills. Nowadays, the dislike for him among scholars and the people is waning. Marshal Min Rou, who rushed to Xintuo Pass yesterday, sent back the first battle report. Min Rou defeated Kan Teqin in the first battle and defended Xintuo Pass. Now he is going deep into the desert to pursue Kan Teqin!"

　　"What?!" The old prince couldn't sit still after hearing his son's words. He cried out, and slammed the table angrily after a while. "How could this young boy Li Que make the Grand Marshal so devoted to him and save him from danger so many times!"

　　"Father, don't worry. Although it was unexpected that Min Rou was able to repel Kan Teqin so quickly, she still couldn't escape our calculations. Our plan was to keep her away from the capital. Now that she has gone deep into the desert to pursue Kan Teqin, she is actually farther away from the capital. If a rebellion breaks out, it will be slower for her to return to help, which may not be a bad thing."

　　His son's analysis calmed the old prince down, and he took a sip of the hot tea beside him.

　　"But overall, Kante is smart and cunning, and it is impossible for him to work hard for us to hold Min Rou for too long. The defense of the capital is empty now, and the New Year is coming. It is the first year of the new emperor's accession to the throne, and there will be some personnel and military adjustments. It is a godsend opportunity for us to start a rebellion. Father, time is running out!" Fu Feipeng persuaded. In fact, the army of Nanzhou had already adjusted and assembled a few days ago. According to his idea, if the rebellion started earlier, they would have almost entered the capital by now. However, Fu Hai was old after all, and his ambitions had been worn down a lot. He was still a little hesitant to make this decision, which delayed it until now.

　　"Well, now that things have come to this, this is the only way we can go." After being persuaded by his son, the old prince finally made up his mind.

　　That night, the entire Nanzhou was like a huge military machine, running madly. The entire Nanzhou was under martial law, and no passing merchants, travelers, or refugees could leave or come in. At the same time, all the troops of Nanzhou gathered towards the border area under the leadership of Fu Feipeng, and the old prince stayed in the Nanzhou base camp, ensuring that the state was not lost and giving his son the greatest support.

　　Of course, Guan Mou could not hide what happened that night. In fact, if he was competent, he could have returned to the capital three days ago to report to Li Que with certainty: "The Fu family has rebelled." After all, with his ability, he could have known everything that happened in the palace. But the old Taoist who had been bewitched by Su Yuexin would not report this to Li Que honestly. He was still waiting for Fu Feipeng to pull Li Que off the throne, and then secretly take Su Yuexin away and fly away.

　　But that night, when the sound of horses' hooves and weapons' collisions echoed all night long, and torches burned all night long like giant beasts devouring the sky, Guan Mou knew that it was time for him to leave. As long as he could get to the capital a little faster than the spies from other states and counties to report to Li Que, Li Que would not suspect him of disloyalty. In fact, by that time, the army of Nanzhou might have already captured several important places.

　　…

　　At dawn that day, the soldiers guarding Boyang County City were still half-opened and dozing off. This is an important town in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, located in the heart of Daliang. The trade is prosperous, and there are countless literati and scholars. The soldiers here don't know when the last war was. Anyway, they are close to Nanzhou, a big backer, and it has never been their turn to bear any invasion by the southern barbarians. It has been too long since this place has been stained with blood.

　　"Kill!"

　　"Go!"

　　But at this moment, the deafening shouts of killing scared the defenders. The captain guarding the city stared in amazement at the silver-gray flags all over the mountains below the city. He only had time to say, "Hurry, go and report..." before he was shot through the heart by Fu Feipeng.

　　The next moment, the silver-gray torrent had already surged onto the city wall.

　　In less than an hour, Boyang City had changed hands.

　　The Nanzhou soldiers with red eyes entered the city, and someone shouted, "Brothers, we are one step closer to playing with the little emperor's woman!"

　　"When the time comes, we must let those slutty bitches serve us well!"

　　Someone took the lead, and corresponding voices came from all directions. The soldiers clutched several portraits in their hands, and frantic thoughts had already occupied their heads.

　　It turned out that Fu Feipeng had already thought of the slogan for this rebellion before the uprising, which was to punish Li Que and his women for their promiscuity. For this purpose, he came up with a genius idea. He recruited painters from all over Nanzhou and drew the faces of the four beauties in Li Que's harem, Su Yuexin, Min Rou, Li Yanlong and Dong Lihua, and distributed them to the soldiers. He even made up stories about each person's identity and promiscuous experience, and promised that the soldiers who performed well after entering the capital could play with these four beauties.

　　Although Fu Feipeng's idea was dirty, it had a miraculous effect. It turned out that the beautiful women in Li Que's harem not only had first-class figures and looks, but also had nobler status than the other. There were empresses of two dynasties, a grand marshal, the sister of the previous emperor, and the ex-wife of the prime minister. These soldiers of humble origins were able to play with these women, and they were immediately full of fighting spirit as if they had been injected with chicken blood.

　　However, this would make life difficult for the women in Boyang County. The soldiers were already aroused by lust, but since they had not yet reached the capital, they could only vent their lust on the women in the city. As a result, the city was filled with the cries of women that day.

　　The army of Nanzhou was the elite force of Daliang second only to the Min family army. In addition, the new emperor ascended the throne and the replacement of generals in various places had not been completed, which formed a huge defense loophole, allowing the Nanzhou army to be unstoppable. Within half a month, Fu Feipeng won consecutive victories and had captured 17 cities in Jiangnan. He crossed the Yangtze River two days ago and was about to approach the capital.

　　Li Que was under tremendous pressure during this period. He had not expected that his master Guan Mou would not be able to inform him of the situation in Nanzhou in time, so Fu Feipeng's sudden attack caught him off guard. But Li Que was not incompetent. After the initial panic, he responded calmly and took great measures to counter Fu Feipeng.

　　The core strategy is to strategically abandon some cities and concentrate troops for defense. Fu Feipeng's rebellion was aimed at the dispersion of the court's military power. His goal was to be able to attack the capital with thunder and lightning, so that great things could be accomplished. Therefore, the way to deal with him should not be to defend every city, but to find a way to defend at strategic locations and delay his attack. After all, the longer the time drags on, the more disadvantageous it will be for Fu Feipeng.

　　Therefore, the key point of defense planned by Li Que is the natural moat south of the capital - Kuidang Pass, which has always been the southern defense barrier of the capital. Li Que ordered the defenders in various places to retreat after a symbolic resistance, to maintain their manpower and concentrate on organizing defense at Kuidang Pass. Kuidang Pass is high and has sufficient food. As long as the defense is proper and there are enough people, Fu Feipeng will definitely not be able to capture it in the short term. Once the war situation is deadlocked, the defenders in various places will have time to gather in the capital, and other forces waiting and watching may also fall to the side of the royal family, which will be a fatal blow to them. What's more, once the war in the north is over, Marshal Min Rou will lead the army back, which will be a disaster for Fu Feipeng.

　　In addition, Li Que also asked Su Xinhong to organize a public opinion counterattack, firmly denying the dirty water thrown on him by Fu Feipeng, and taking advantage of his rebellious behavior to strike hard to set the record straight. This was also necessary, otherwise if his reputation as a tyrant was confirmed, the morale of his side would be hit hard.

　　Of course, Li Que also has high hopes that Guan Mou can organize more people from the martial arts world to serve the country, but Guan Mou's current attitude towards this is to work but not put in any effort. In this case, it seems that Li Que can no longer count on this kind of strength.