The righteous path punishes Heaven

Chapter 106 The An Lushan Rebellion

The Emperor's Banner, imbued with the power of faith offered by the court officials, radiated a dazzling seven-colored golden light, illuminating the entire court with its brilliance.

As Princess Yuzhen sang praises of the power and hope of the Emperor's Banner, she slowly approached Li Longji. When their hands touched, a barely perceptible glint of coldness flashed across Princess Yuzhen's face. She then broke off one of Li Longji's fingers and ripped off the gold ring he was wearing.

But by this time, Li Longji had been completely poisoned. His skin had turned purplish-black, his eyes were dim and he seemed to have lost consciousness. Even with his fingers broken, he could no longer scream.

Princess Yuzhen put the ring on her hand. Perhaps because she had pure direct royal blood, Princess Yuzhen was able to establish a slight spiritual connection with the Emperor's Banner.

The immense power of faith transformed into spiritual energy, which poured into her meridians like a river bursting its banks, eventually flowing into her dantian.

Influenced by the Emperor's Banner, it seems that everyone has overlooked Li Longji's death and instead placed all their hopes on this yellow banner.

Princess Yuzhen raised her fair right hand high, the gold and jade ring on it radiating a dazzling light, and shouted:

Where is General Guo Ziyi?

A general in armor stood up in the court and bowed, replying, "Your subordinate is here!"

Princess Yuzhen nodded and continued, "I appoint you as the Grand General of Pacification, to lead 200,000 troops along with other generals to suppress the rebels!"

"This humble general obeys the imperial decree!" Guo Ziyi shouted as if it were his due, then turned and walked out of the main hall.

Smoke and dust rise from the nine-layered city gates, as thousands of chariots and tens of thousands of riders head southwest.

Three days later, An Lushan's army besieged the city. Guo Ziyi led his troops to meet the enemy for the first time but suffered a crushing defeat, and An Lushan then stormed into Chang'an.

"Report!" A soldier rushed in from outside the hall. At this moment, Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, who had died of poisoning on the dragon throne, had disappeared. The person sitting on the dragon throne now was Princess Yuzhen, Li Xuanxuan.

Li Xuanxuan tried her best to calm herself down, while Yang Guozhong, Gao Lishi, and other ministers were also on edge. Then, the soldier reported loudly:

"The An-Shi alliance has captured the capital! An Lushan claims that as long as Yang Guozhong and Yang Guifei are killed and their heads are sent over, the An-Shi alliance will retreat without a fight and return to their homeland of the Turks!"

"Wh...what?!" Yang Guozhong shouted angrily at the soldier in disbelief, "How is this possible! An Lushan only has some knowledge of barbarian witchcraft and some troops, yet he dares to spout such nonsense? He really doesn't respect our Great Tang Dynasty at all!"

Li Xuanxuan pressed further, "Why didn't Guo Ziyi send troops to meet the enemy?"

The soldier replied, "General Guo suffered a defeat in the first battle and is reorganizing his troops for another fight!"

Upon hearing this news, Li Xuanxuan trembled violently, cold sweat streaming down her forehead. Although she had received some of the power from the Emperor's Banner and was recognized by the entire court, Emperor Xuanzong had previously neglected state affairs, allowing these powerful ministers to oppress the people. Now, the world was in chaos, the court had completely lost control of the local areas, and the popular uprisings were unstoppable. Moreover, she herself was only a mid-stage Golden Core cultivator, and ultimately, she didn't have the courage to confront them head-on.

"Guards! Arrest Right Chancellor Yang Guozhong and bring Yang Yuhuan from the inner palace as well!" Li Xuanxuan gave the order.

"Yes!" The soldier's voice trembled slightly. Two guards outside the palace gate rushed over upon hearing the commotion and took Yang Guozhong away.

Everyone ignored him, including his close associates who tacitly chose to remain silent. In the end, only the resentful roar of Yang Guozhong, who was being dragged away, echoed throughout the vast court.

“Your Highness…why don’t we use the power of that flag? How can An Lushan withstand such heaven-reaching power? Why don’t we…” the eunuch Gao Lishi said in a deep voice from the side.

Before he could finish speaking, Li Xuanxuan raised her hand to interrupt him, "The current situation is unfavorable to us. Since An Lushan has set conditions, we must try no matter what. The Emperor has only recently passed away, and I cannot fully control the power of the Emperor's Banner. If we are truly forced to take action, I will personally intervene."

At this moment, a minister suddenly advised, "Your Highness, the country is now in peril. Although the Emperor and the Crown Prince have both tragically died young, there is still a member of the royal bloodline who has survived. That is Li Lin, who has been enfeoffed as Prince Yong. What do you think of this matter..."

Upon hearing this, Li Xuanxuan's already displeased expression darkened even further. The minister, quick-witted as ever, immediately lowered his head and dared not speak further.

The An-Shi coalition forces captured dozens of towns and massacred all the inhabitants. Few were able to escape their clutches alive, and the once prosperous Chang'an City was now a ruin littered with corpses.

In the suburbs, a group of people were hurriedly fleeing in the opposite direction from Chang'an City. They were the people of the capital who had escaped from the hands of the An Lushan coalition.

They stopped to rest when they reached a small meadow nestled among the trees.

Before it got dark, the family collected a lot of branches and leaves, and rummaged through their luggage for some coarse linen shirts, and that's how they set up a simple tent.

As winter approached, we needed to gather firewood to keep warm. We lit a fire outside the tent, and as night fell, listening to the chirping of insects in the wild, the hardships of our journey finally found some peace.

"Alas... wild fruits fill our stomachs, low branches become roof beams, we walk on stones by the water at dawn, and roost in the smoke at dusk..."

Upon hearing this long chant and seeing the blazing fire, a dark mass of figures began to walk towards the source of the fire; they were disciples of Wudang Mountain.

The Grand Elder, Gu Changpeng, asked Chen Tianfan to go and negotiate, while the other disciples waited where they were. After all, Chen Tianfan was a true mortal, and among these disciples, he was the most skilled at communicating with the mortals here.

Chen Tianfan accepted the order and got up to walk towards the tent. Beside the campfire, a man was talking to himself. When Chen Tianfan approached, the man didn't even notice him at first.

After a while, when the fire had died down a bit, a few more pieces of firewood were added, and only then did the man notice Chen Tianfan squatting to the side.

"Who...who are you? When did you get here?" The man frantically grabbed a piece of firewood, his deep fear and hostility towards Chen Tianfan, who had suddenly appeared, a consequence of his suffering from the war.

Chen Tianfan took a step back and explained in a gentle and calm tone, "Brother, don't be afraid. I have nothing to do with those rebels. Our people just noticed the light coming from here and came to take a look."

Seeing that the other party was still wary of him, Chen Tianfan felt a little helpless. He took out some food from the storage bag at his waist and handed it to the man. This was food that he had collected before he came here.

Having learned of the peasant uprising against the imperial court, he, as a cultivator, did not need to eat. However, in order to build good relations with these common people, he still obtained some food from the towns of ordinary people and carried it with him, just in case it came in handy today.

Upon seeing the meat bun Chen Tianfan offered, the man, though still holding firewood and remaining vigilant, found his stomach rumbling involuntarily.

"Here, have these buns. We can chat after you finish eating." Chen Tianfan stepped closer and stuffed the buns into the man's hand, then stepped back. He watched as the man slowly put down the firewood and thanked him repeatedly. Only then did Chen Tianfan dare to approach again and squat by the fire to wait.

The man quickly distributed the meat buns to his family: his wife, two sons, and three daughters. The dozen or so buns were soon devoured, and only then did the man feel relieved. He sincerely said:

"Thank you for your generosity, my benefactor. I am Du Fu, and I do not know your name..."

Chen Tianfan smiled and nodded, then stood up and beckoned the Wudang Mountain group from afar to come over. Once everyone had arrived, he responded softly:

"No need to be polite. My name is Chen Tianfan, and I am a cultivator."