Chapter 1077: Trouble Comes From the Mouth

"Wine, wine, bring wine! Bring wine quickly!"

In the bedroom of Jinyang Palace, it was late at night and people were still not quiet. Emperor Gao Yang's angry roars mixed with a few strands of pain continued to be heard.

Since the sixth year of Tianbao, when Buddhism was the only religion in Qi, Emperor Gao Yang's heart of worshipping Buddha became more sincere. He not only built temples and performed Buddhist rituals, but also practiced the precepts in person. Because eating meat was considered to be a break from compassion, since the seventh year of Tianbao, the emperor had to be a vegetarian for the whole month of May every year to respect the law and promote compassion.

But this May was a torment for Gao Yang. Because of the invasion of the powerful enemy of Western Wei, he had vowed in Yedu not to drink before defeating the enemy army. Since coming to Jinyang from Yedu, he has been abiding by this promise, and he seems to be in high spirits and working hard.

But more than a month has passed since the war began, and it is midsummer in May. Instead of ending the war, the situation has become worse.

The double torture of abstaining from meat and alcohol has made Gao Yang's mental state extremely unstable. As a result, bad news from the war on the front line came one after another, which naturally made him more and more anxious. Not only his mental state, but also his physical condition was greatly affected.

This morning, another memorial letter was delivered from Yedu. After reading it, Gao Yang's condition became worse and worse. He was drowsy all day in the bedroom and could not see the affairs. The imperial doctors and monks of Jinyang Palace came into the palace to see him, diagnose him, chant scriptures and pray for blessings. After tossing for most of the day, the emperor's physical condition gradually stabilized. In the evening, he was able to get up and eat a bowl of rice and a few eggs.

But after the evening, the emperor became manic again, shouting and running around in the bedroom, and no one could get close to him. The palace people were also terrified and gathered in a corner of the side of the palace, not daring to come forward.

"The wine is here, the wine is here! Please drink, Your Majesty!"

An eunuch rushed in from outside the palace, holding a lacquer tray with wine and wine utensils on it. He walked into the palace and presented it to Gao Yang, saying respectfully: "Your Majesty, the wine is here, please enjoy it!"

The familiar and haunting smell entered Gao Yang's nose, and the frenzy in his eyes was slightly restrained, and he regained some clarity. He swallowed the saliva in his mouth fiercely, and impatiently raised his hand to grab the rhino horn cup filled with wine in front of him.

Just when his finger just touched the edge of the wine glass, he suddenly shuddered, slowly retracted his hand, and said in a deep voice: "Gao Zijin, have you forgotten the shame of being oppressed by the Qiang bandits and restless day and night? If you can't keep your promise, how can you lead the masses and defeat the stubborn bandits!"

After saying this, the obsession and desire on his face suddenly turned into determination and perseverance. He drew his sword and knocked over the wine glass on the tray, letting the wine spill all over the floor. He took a deep breath, turned and leaned over with a fierce look in his eyes to look at the eunuch who offered the wine and said angrily: "The dog thief did not obey my order and offered wine to seduce me! Who asked you to murder the master? Could it be the remnants of the five surnames of the Qiang bandits?"

"I, I dare not... How dare I, how dare I murder the master! The master just called for wine, and I, I went out of the hall to look for it..."

The eunuch was so scared when he saw this scene that he collapsed on the ground and whispered in defense.

Gao Yang naturally ignored the eunuch's excuse. He had just overturned the wine that was delivered to his mouth with great willpower. His spirit was inflated and excited. Then he put the blade against the eunuch's neck and continued to shout: "I have already ordered that all wine utensils and drinks are banned in the palace. Where did the thief come from to harm me?"

"My Lord, please spare my life, Your Majesty, please spare my life!"

The eunuch was so scared that he was confused and just begged for mercy.

Gao Yang soon lost his patience with his begging for mercy. He stabbed the blade in his hand downward and directly cut the blood vessels on the side of the eunuch's neck. The eunuch's neck was bleeding like a spring. He was so scared that he hurriedly raised his hand to cover the bleeding wound and ran out of the palace. But he staggered and fell to the ground after running a few steps.

This fresh bloody smell further stimulated Gao Yang's ferocity. He stood with a knife in his hand and shouted loudly: "Liu Taozhi, come in! Take my order and quickly search the palace. If anyone hides wine and wine utensils, they will be severely punished. If they drink, they will be killed!"

After hearing this, Liu Taozhi and several other imperial guards who were guarding the palace hurriedly entered the palace to receive orders, and then led their armored soldiers to search among the palaces.

Let alone the turmoil in Gao Yang's bedroom, when the emperor returned to Jinyang a few days ago, because Jinyang's armored forces were insufficient, the noble families led their troops to serve as guards.

Although more and more troops are gathering inside and outside Jinyang City, most of them are frontier troops drawn from the surrounding areas, and naturally they are not suitable for guarding. Therefore, the guards of Jinyang Palace are mainly in charge of the noble families. Most of these nobles are ministers who have made contributions to the founding of the country and share the glory of the country, so they are loyal and trustworthy.

Although the duties of the palace guards are important, they are actually quite boring. Every day, they just stand with weapons, patrol along fixed routes, and communicate inside and outside. They can persist for a short period of time, but after a long time, they will inevitably feel boring.

Especially now that the border war is tense, most of these noble children are also martial and aggressive, hoping to kill the enemy and make meritorious deeds. As a result, they are trapped in this palace every day with nothing to do, so they can't help but complain frequently.

When there is no guard duty, these noble sons often gather together to discuss the current situation and express their own opinions. Just two days ago, another war report came from the south, saying that the Western Wei army successively occupied Qinshui and Jianzhou, and the front line advanced a big step eastward.

After learning about this, the noble sons were naturally anxious and indignant. On the one hand, they were surprised at the aggressiveness of the Qiang bandits, and on the other hand, they couldn't help scolding the front-line soldiers for their incompetence and burdening the country. When talking about the excitement, it is natural that they can't help but express various personnel opinions that they think can save the current disadvantage.

"Jinyang has gathered more than 100,000 armored soldiers. Why not fight out of Queshu Valley in one go? This way, we can rescue Jinzhou and hit the bandit army!"

In an empty palace, several noble sons who had finished their guard duty gathered here to rest for a while. When discussing the current border war situation, someone couldn't help but speak up.

Hearing this, someone else sighed and said, "Queshu Valley and Qianlijing Road have been lost one after another. It is not easy to attack southward! That is why the Qiang bandits dared to ignore the Jinyang soldiers and went east to capture Qinshui and threaten Shangdang."

"The King of Baishui is also a hero of the country and has made great military achievements. It is really disappointing that he was stopped by the bandits when he went south before!"

Hearing this, the sons of the nobles also opened their mouths. The topic was nothing more than that the heroes who were crowned kings suffered many setbacks in the war with the Western Wei Dynasty, which seemed to be a bit of a fraud.

"You crazy people, how can you know the strength of the bandits? You are just talking nonsense here!"

A general in his thirties came in from an outsider. After hearing the topic discussed by everyone, his face sank and he scolded, and everyone shrank their heads after hearing this and did not dare to refute, because this person happened to be the son of Houmochenxiang, the King of Baishui, who they were discussing.

After Houmo Chen Jingui stopped everyone from talking, he sat down and said, "In my opinion, the reason why this battle is not favorable is not that the front-line generals did not try their best, but that they made wrong judgments from the beginning and missed the opportunity. The first divisions and brigades all went to Heyang, and the defenses of key points were empty. My father went south to guard the important roads a few days ago, and the troops he brought were only a few thousand. How could he fight against the huge number of bandits?"

After hearing this, everyone nodded in agreement. It was not that they wanted to flatter Houmo Chen Jingui, but because the strategic mistakes of their Northern Qi in this war were obvious. Now as the war progresses and the situation becomes more unfavorable, these people will inevitably feel dissatisfied and complain about the decision-makers in higher positions.

At this moment, someone else said, "Now that the army has gathered, it is blocked from going south. It would be better to send elite troops south to rescue Jinzhou. After relieving Pingyang, the two places will join forces and unite with the Pingyuan King's army in Shangdang to the west. The bandits will not be as rampant as they are now!"

As soon as this was said, several people nodded in agreement, saying that the slow movement of Jinyang's military, Pingyuan King Duan Shao's hesitation in Shangdang, etc., were all one of the reasons why the bandits were rampant at the moment.

As the topic unfolded, even Houmochen Jingui himself could not help but admit: "The generals in the country are indeed old-fashioned and not as open-minded and enterprising as they were in the early years. For example, the Xianyang King attacked the enemy's rear, although he regrettably failed to win, but at least he did a great job and dared to fight!"

"In recent years, the most powerful and brave commanders of the army in the court, from the highest to the highest, are the Shangdang King! The Shangdang King has repeatedly led the army to fight north and south and won many victories. If he had not retired in recent years, his reputation and prestige would probably be no less than that of the Qiang bandit Li Boshan!"

Criticizing people and discussing their merits are topics that many people like to discuss. Now that it is a private gathering, everyone is relaxed and the topics discussed are naturally quite casual.

"Yes, the King of Shangdang is indeed a rare hero in the clan. Even the Supreme has not looked as good in recent years..."

However, at this time, someone else passed by the door. It was Xu Xianxiu who was on duty with his team. Hearing the discussion in the room, Xu Xianxiu frowned and said in a deep voice: "The guards are done, go back to the camp to rest, don't gather here to talk!"

Everyone was secretly shocked when they heard this, knowing that the topic could not be continued, and hurriedly stood up and dispersed.

After Xu Xianxiu drove these people away, he patrolled the left and then led the team back to his station. However, when he just returned here, he was captured by a team of armored soldiers who had been waiting here for a long time. The leader was Liu Taozhi.

"Excuse me, Commander Liu, what crime have I committed?"

Xu Xianxiu was shocked when he was captured, and hurriedly struggled to look at Liu Taozhi and asked in a hurry.

Liu Taozhi stepped forward with a cold face, signaled his followers to bring out a few jars of wine, and then said to Xu Xianxiu: "I was ordered by the Supreme to search for prohibited items in the palace. These wines were all found in General Xu's tent. Do you recognize them?"

"I just drank for fun, it's harmless, please spare me..."

Xu Xianxiu's face changed slightly after hearing this. He didn't realize how serious the situation was. He was still smiling and begging for mercy from Liu Taozhi, and winked at his subordinates, indicating that he would go forward and bribe Liu Taozhi.

However, Liu Taozhi turned a deaf ear to this and waved his hand and ordered: "Take him away!"