Chapter 654: The Return of Dali
Duan Xiaolin looked at the starry sky and said: I wonder what the situation is outside?
Brothers, have you stopped?
He felt heartbroken to see them killing each other like this. It was such a sin.
Zhao Sihan said that the two of them were trapped here and could only worry. It would not be a bad thing for the imperial guards and the palace soldiers to have a fight, so that everyone could wake up and figure out what kind of country this is.
In the hall, the ministers were already quarreling in chaos.
First of all, the Gao family and the Chai family demanded the release of the little imperial concubine, who was a woman from their family. They also wanted to imprison the Prince of Zhennan and the princess, and not let the evil son Duan Xiaolin and the vicious woman Zhao Sihan escape their guilt.
These old forces do not want to see Duan Xiaolin get close to the imperial power again, and want to take this opportunity to completely overthrow Duan Xiaolin.
The queen insisted: "At present, Duan Xiaolin and his wife have been detained by the imperial guards and imprisoned in the palace. They can't go anywhere. What are you worried about?" But the little imperial concubine harmed the emperor's health and caused unrest . She is unforgivable and should be executed by slow slicing.
The queen's family is the weaker Chen family, but now they have a group of ministers whose power has greatly increased. Seeing that the queen is ruling the country, they will definitely support her wholeheartedly and stand up together to support her.
The voices of the Gao and Chai families were obviously much quieter.
But they could not tolerate the Queen executing the little imperial concubine, because that would prove the Gao family guilty. The two families would rather let Duan Xiaolin go for now to offset the imperial concubine's guilt.
However, the Queen also wanted to collect the private soldiers of each family to be used for the current rebellion. The Chen family immediately seconded the proposal, as they did not have many private soldiers to begin with.
The Gao and Chai families refused to agree.
These two families handed over their military power when the emperor asked them to gather troops to quell the rebellion last year. The few soldiers they have just recruited are emergency life-saving troops organized in fear of the emperor's harm. If they are handed over to the empress again, it is hard to imagine that there will be no one to protect them in such a chaotic situation. If they are not killed by the empress, they may be wiped out by the chaotic soldiers.
How could these people be willing to hand over everything?
The two sides were still engaged in a verbal battle when they suddenly heard the sound of Buddhist chanting outside the hall: Amitabha, Amitabha.
Immediately after that, the palace gates opened wide, and the monks of Tianlong Temple filed in. Using sticks to separate the officials on both sides, the abbot of Tianlong Temple came to the queen, bowed his head, and asked for the return of Zhennan Prince Duan Xiaolin and Princess Zhao Sihan.
The Gao family and the Chai family immediately stood up to reason and listed all of Duan Xiaolin's sins.
The abbot shouted: Amitabha , and sighed: Forget it, forget it, you don't know: General Da Kui of the New Song Dynasty's Shenwei Army has come to my humble temple on a sky boat. The New Song Dynasty has sent troops to Dali from three directions, and the nearest one in the north is less than a hundred miles away from Dali City. What are you still arguing about in the court?
The ministers were immediately silent.
Just now, a soldier from the Imperial Guard came in to report: a large number of round balls appeared in the sky and flew from the north. These people, including the queen, were obsessed with power and did not think of the hot air balloons of the Shenwei Army. It turned out that the New Song Kingdom’s Heavenly Army was escorting their commander to Dali.
It turned out that when Li Dagui was anxious about how to ensure the safety of Zhao Yulin's sister Zhao Sihan in Dukou Town, he found that the north wind was blowing and the willow branches in front of the hall were swaying. He suddenly thought of the hot air balloon and immediately came up with an idea. He wanted to take a hot air balloon directly to Dali to deal with this emergency.
All the generals looked nervous and firmly disagreed.
Li Dagui is a man who is fearless and dares to use unexpected tricks. After thinking of this shortcut, he would definitely give it a try.
The girl laughed and said: What are you afraid of? The Third Young Master and the King of Feiyan dared to take a hot air balloon to travel between Chengdu and Xuzhou. Are we in military uniforms afraid?
He gave an order with a serious face: The Ministry of War should immediately organize hot air balloons to gather at Dukou Town.
Three days later, the spies of Shunfeng Division living in Dali and Shanchan Prefecture reported that Duan Xiaolin and Zhao Sihan were very likely to be under house arrest, and that the soldiers in Dali would have civil strife. Li Dagui immediately activated the emergency plan and sent three armies directly into Dali.
The progress of the various armies was also extremely smooth. The people living near the border of the New Song Dynasty were not afraid of the Shenwei Army at all. Many people even came out to welcome the Shenwei Army's arrival.
This is because the New Song Dynasty did not strictly control the exchanges between the people on the border, and allowed the Dali people to use the New Song currency. The border residents of the two countries were like a family and had long removed the psychological boundaries between them.
Seeing that the army was making good progress and worried about Zhao Sihan's safety, Li Dagui immediately boarded a hot air balloon and flew directly to Dali City. Dozens of hot air balloons gradually took off and formed a tight formation, blocking the sunlight wherever they went, attracting the people below to stop and watch, marveling at the sight of magical objects.
Da Kui rode the wind and quickly arrived above Dali City, but he did not choose to land in the Dali Imperial City. Instead, he flew directly to the Tianlong Temple and landed on the martial arts field in front of the temple.
The monks of Tianlong Temple saw huge spheres above their heads. They had no idea what they were and suspected that they were aliens. They surrounded the training ground in panic as if they were facing a great enemy.
Li Dagui landed first without any soldiers or weapons. He stepped forward, clasped his fists and informed the elders, explaining his purpose. Only then did the other hot air balloons land one by one.
The abbot was amazed at the hot air balloon and even more amazed at Li Dagui's courage. For the sake of Zhao Yulin's sister, Duan Xiaolin's princess dared to fly directly to Dali to rescue the demonstration. No one in Dali would have done this.
Li Dagui was not in a hurry at all. He talked to the abbot with emotion and reason, telling him that the Shenwei Army had been dispatched with the aim of bringing peace to the people of Dali Kingdom. Until now, the people have been welcoming them by offering them tea and water.
He hoped that the abbot would persuade the officials in the Dali court to accept the control of the Prince of Zhennan and save the people of the world. The Shenwei Army was willing to accept the command and dispatch of the Prince of Zhennan.
After listening to the abbot's introduction, the ministers in the court cursed the New Song Kingdom as shameless and shouted that the Prince of Zhennan was colluding with foreign enemies.
On the surface, the New Song Kingdom appointed a burly general as the Minister of Roads to specialize in road construction, but he turned out to be a hungry wolf in cow's clothing, who had been lurking on the border of Dali Kingdom, waiting for an opportunity to invade.
Haha, these Dali officials knew Li Dagui to some extent, knowing that he was a fierce general under Zhao Yulin of the Shenwei Army. They thought that the soldiers of the Shenwei Army would only do hard labor as porters after putting down their bows and arrows, but they didn't expect that these people would become a roaring lion after picking up weapons.
While everyone was still criticizing the Shenwei Army and cursing Zhao Yulin, bad news came one after another. The Shenwei Army entered Dali from the north, east and west. There was little resistance in the prefectures, counties and cities along the way. The troops in the north were less than a hundred miles away from Dali City.
It turned out to be true. These ministers were stunned. Some were even frightened to the point of incontinence. They were shocked and wondered what to do as the enemy army was about to attack the city of Dali.
The abbot was as still as a stone Buddha. He chanted Om Mali Ba three times and then said in a powerful voice: What are you panicking about? General Li of the New Song said that the Shenwei Army that came in would accept the command of the Zhennan King. As long as the Zhennan King was invited out, not only would the chaotic soldiers outside the city stop, but the Shenwei Army would also not harm Dali at all.
It's such a simple matter, why have you been discussing it for so long without any result?
Then the abbot turned to the queen and ordered the commander of the imperial guards to bring out his grandson and his granddaughter-in-law immediately.
The queen was so excited that she cried for joy. With the support of the abbot of Tianlong Temple, the queen immediately asked people to do it.
The abbot said calmly: Our Dali Kingdom has been passed down for hundreds of years, even though it was hundreds of years of fighting between ministers and the royal family, it was the common people who suffered.
Buddha is merciful, so just go with the flow and leave the rest to God’s will.
There were still ministers sobbing in the hall, but their voices were much quieter.
Later, Duan Xiaolin came out holding Zhao Sihan's hand. The abbot kindly invited them to sit next to the queen, and said with a smile that the future of Dali would be in the hands of Xiaolinzi.
Then he led the elders and monks of Tianlong Temple to salute them.
Duan Xiaolin was so terrified that he didn't know what to do, but the abbot said seriously that the people of Dali had suffered too much in recent years and he hoped that the King of Zhennan could lead the people of Dali to live a good life.
The queen also said with a smile on her face: The master wants my son to be kind and save the people from danger.
The Queen's family members took the lead in bowing to Duan Xiaolin, expressing their willingness to accept the orders of the King of Zhennan and follow him through fire and water, without hesitation. Then, a few ministers knelt down and bowed. Seeing that the situation was hopeless, the Gao and Chai families also came out to bow to Duan Xiaolin and acknowledged his success.
The abbot of Tianlong Temple saw that the ceremony was completed and asked Princess Zhennan to follow her to Tianlong Temple.
Duan Xiaolin was worried that Tianlong Temple was using Zhao Sihan as a hostage to threaten him, and he reluctantly kept calling out: Sihan, Sihan can't leave.
The abbot laughed and told him not to worry, that General Li Dagui of the New Song Dynasty lived in Tianlong Temple. He assured that the princess was safe and sound, then he chanted Buddhist mantras and walked out of the hall.
After coming out, the abbot asked Zhao Sihan to lead the way to pick up the little emperor.
The abbot came to the little emperor's bed and gently felt his pulse. He was immediately stunned. Then he chanted Buddhist scriptures and ordered the emperor to be carried away. The group quickly returned to the temple.
Seeing that Zhao Sihan was safe and sound, Li Da Kui happily went up to her and bowed respectfully, saying that he was glad that the fourth young lady was fine. He finally did a decent thing for the third young master this time.
Of course Zhao Sihan knew that Li Da Kui was still struggling with Ma Yuan's matter, so she smiled and thanked General Da Kui for his help from afar. The Zhao family must be very grateful.
Da Kui waved his hands repeatedly, asking her not to say that, otherwise it would be a disgrace to his subordinates. The Shenwei Army would always be the Third Young Master's soldiers, and no matter where Li Da Kui went, he would always be the Third Young Master's vanguard.
Seeing Da Kui’s embarrassed look, Zhao Sihan laughed and told him to stop talking. He thanked the general again and said, “Have some tea, have some tea.” He then personally refilled General Da Kui’s water bottle.
Seeing how Li Da Kui respected Zhao Yulin and the Zhao family, the abbot secretly admired him in his heart, with the Zhao family having such a loyal general, how can we not be victorious? What else can't we accomplish?
He sighed and said: The sky is about to change, and we don’t know where Tianlong Temple will go?
Zhao Sihan smiled and said: "Grandpa the abbot is a monk, why are you so entangled in this? He has changed from Buddhism to secular life. Grandpa believes in his grandson and granddaughter-in-law, and Dali will definitely get better and better."
Tianlong Temple is currently a Tianlong Temple in a corner of Dali. In the future, it will be the Tianlong Temple for all the people in the New Song Dynasty, and its popularity will surely increase more and more.
The abbot burst into laughter upon hearing this, and happily picked up the teacup to drink tea.
