After saying this, Li Siyuan sat at the table and sipped tea quietly, ignoring whatever Li Congke said.

After shouting a few sentences, Li Congke also felt dry mouth and tongue, and his heart sank, so he ordered the soldiers to attack.

However, just as the soldiers shouted the order to attack, thousands of arrows were shot from behind the high walls of Prince Jin’s Mansion, so close that there was no room to dodge.

Screams rang out one after another, people and horses fell to the ground, and the narrow street suddenly became a dead zone.

Seeing this scene, Li Congke’s eyes widened and his heart was suddenly covered with a shadow. It turned out that he had been prepared.

Who, normally, would have so many archers in his own home?

But now that things have come to this, there is no turning back, so he can only continue.

After suffering some casualties, they finally reached the gate of Prince Jin’s Mansion.

It took a stick of incense time to blast open the gate with the battering ram, but before I could be happy, I saw a group of infantrymen in heavy armor standing behind the gate with spears in their hands, looking like a one-man-blockade against ten thousand.

At this moment, Li Congke’s heart had sunk to the bottom, but he still ordered an attack.

However, an hour passed, and the Prince of Jin’s Mansion was like an iron wall. No matter what they did, they could not take a single step forward.

At this time, there were cavalrymen running towards him from a distance. Looking at his scarred and bloodstained appearance, Li Congke had a bad feeling.

“General, we failed. The governor’s mansion and the granary are heavily guarded. Our people can’t break in!”

“How could this happen? Where did Li Siyuan get so many people?” Li Congke swayed a few times and almost fell.

As far as he knew, when Li Siyuan returned to Hedong, he only brought a few thousand soldiers and horses to defend important places such as the Prince of Jin’s Mansion, granaries, and the Jiedushi’s Office. The soldiers and horses should not be enough, so how could there be so many people left?

All the elite troops in Hedong were transferred away. They were Li Siyuan’s direct troops. The rest had long been bribed and divided up by the generals of Hedong, and they were just eating the empty salaries.

Suddenly, Li Congke’s eyes widened and he realized, “No, these are not soldiers from the city!”

There are limited troops in Taiyuan City, but it only takes one day to transfer troops from other cities to Taiyuan. If Li Siyuan had transferred troops before entering the city, the timing would be just right.

“No, let’s retreat!”

After realizing this, Li Congke reacted instantly.

This is a trap, a trap to force him into it!

As expected of a veteran who had crawled out of a pile of dead bodies, Li Congke decisively chose to sell out his teammates and fled with a few hundred personal soldiers around him.

On the street, Li Congke galloped on his horse, whipping the horse hard, and at the same time whipping his mind, “Li Siyuan, you have such a cruel heart!”

From the beginning to the end, Li Siyuan had no intention of letting him go. He stripped him of his military power and punished the generals in order to force them and make them rebel.

He thought that since Li Siyuan had been away from Hedong for two years, his control over Taiyuan must be inferior to his. Now it seems that he not only overestimated himself, but also underestimated his good adoptive father.

At this moment, he had only one thought in his mind, run, the farther the better!

As long as he left Taiyuan, he would have a great chance of escaping.

As soon as Li Congke ran away, the army besieging the Prince of Jin’s Mansion dispersed, and all the generals fled. “Damn it, Li Congke abandoned us and ran away!”

Chapter 275 Ke’er, go with peace of mind

Who could have thought that in just a few hours, the situation would turn out like this.

It would have been fine if Li Congke had launched a surprise attack, but Li Siyuan was actually well prepared. They were led by the nose from beginning to end and did not even have a choice.

After all, it was nothing but greed that was at work. If they had not become so ambitious and wanted to control Hedong and become independent from the imperial court, they would not have ended up like this.

For a while, the streets were in great chaos. The defeated soldiers fled in all directions, and the generals ran around with their personal soldiers. Some went to the city gate, while others simply returned to their own mansions, pretending that nothing had happened.

In contrast, inside the Prince of Jin’s Mansion, behind the corner of the wall, a group of soldiers were dressed in armor and holding sharp weapons, with solemn expressions. Li Siyuan was sitting in the courtyard, savoring delicious food and enjoying singing and dancing, not caring about what was happening outside at all.

He had just taken a bite of food when he noticed that the fighting outside had stopped. He said to Li Cunzhi beside him, “Seventh Brother, go check on what’s going on outside?”

Li Cunzhi nodded and left happily.

After a cup of tea, Li Cunzhi came back to report, “Brother, Li Congke ran away, and the other generals are also missing. Do you want me to lead a team to chase him? We can’t let him get away.”

“No hurry, let him have some fun first. He won’t be able to escape from Taiyuan today. We have been watching the show for so long, we should also show up, otherwise this show won’t go on.”

Li Siyuan drank the contents of the cup, stood up and walked towards the front yard.

At this moment, there were corpses everywhere in front of the gate of Prince Jin’s Mansion. The steps and stone lions in front of the gate were all stained with blood. The battle was very tragic. After Li Congke left, the army was in chaos and the generals fled with their personal soldiers.

Without a backbone, the remaining soldiers scattered, unwilling to continue to die.

When Li Siyuan arrived, the soldiers in front of the gate made way for him and bowed their heads in greeting: “Greetings, King Jin!”

Li Siyuan narrowed his eyes and smiled, “Everyone, get up. In three days, go to the military camp to receive your reward.”

“Thank you, King Jin, for the reward.” The voice rose several octaves and could be heard from far away.

Looking at the elite soldiers in front of him, Li Siyuan showed joy on his face, but he secretly sighed in his heart, what good soldiers, what elite soldiers from Hedong, it’s a pity that they no longer belong to him after returning to the court.

Life or power? This is almost an answer that does not require a choice. If you want to survive, you must honestly hand over power and become a rich man.

Only in this way can he enjoy his old age in peace. If he loses the threat, the emperor will not take him seriously, and a little wealth and glory will be nothing.

The feeling of loss flashed away, and Li Siyuan walked out of the door and looked at the scene of corpses everywhere outside without blinking. Compared with a real battlefield, these were only small scenes.

“We are all Hedong men, why do we have to kill each other?” Li Siyuan sighed hypocritically, with a look of pity on his face, and ordered his personal soldiers, “Bury these people properly, and don’t let their bodies be left in the wilderness.”

“As ordered.”

After saying that, he walked to the prepared warhorse, turned over and rode on it, “Now, let’s go meet my good boy.”

On the street, Li Congke galloped on his horse, throwing away his armor, just to run faster. At this moment, he no longer had the confidence he had before, like a frightened bird fleeing in panic.

“Li Siyuan had planned it out long ago. He put on an arrogant attitude as soon as he came back. His purpose was to force me to rebel.” At this critical moment, he figured out all the things that he had not been able to understand before.

“No, his target is not only me, but also other generals in the city. If he wanted to kill me, he wouldn’t have gone to such great lengths to set a trap for me to fall into.”

“Before, I laughed at Shi Jingtang for being spineless and having no backbone at all. Now I think he is a truly smart man!” Li Congke smiled bitterly in his heart, full of regret.

One step to heaven, one step to hell. Some things are hard to turn back once you take the first step.

At this moment, he only hated himself for not understanding it earlier.

Looking at the city gate so close, Li Congke encouraged himself, “As long as I can leave Taiyuan, I will go north and join the Khitan! I don’t believe that there is no place for me in this world!”

However, he was destined to be disappointed.

A figure appeared on the city wall. “Li Congke, King Jin has ordered me to wait here for a long time.”

As soon as the words were spoken, the open city gate slowly closed.

Li Congke’s eyes were bloodshot and he whipped the horse under him hard with the whip. However, the distance of dozens of feet seemed like an insurmountable chasm at this moment.

After only a few breaths, the city gate closed under Li Congke’s unwilling eyes.

Suddenly, the horse under him tripped over something and threw him out, crashing into the city gate. He touched the cold gate and roared, “No!”

At this moment, a gloomy voice sounded, “Ke’er, what’s wrong with you?”

Li Congke looked up suddenly and saw a group of people riding war horses walking towards him on the street in the distance. Leading them was his adoptive father, Li Siyuan.

“Li Siyuan! Did you plan all this?” He stared at Li Siyuan coldly.

Li Siyuan looked at him with a smile and said in a deep voice, “Don’t say such harsh words. I am your adoptive father after all. You chose this path yourself. I didn’t force you.”

“Haha…” Li Congke laughed sadly while sitting on the ground. “From the beginning, I had no choice. Whether I rebelled or not, you were going to kill me, wasn’t that right?”

The familiar smell of blood lingered in the area, and Li Congke discovered that all the personal soldiers he brought with him had already died silently. Only at this moment did he fully understand how powerful the power Li Siyuan wielded was.

Even if all his elite troops were transferred away, he would still be no match for him.

“Ke’er, go with peace of mind. Your father will let them be buried with you. With these people accompanying you on the journey, you won’t be alone in the afterlife.”

At this point, there is no point in struggling anymore.

“The winner is the king and the loser is the bandit. I have nothing to say. Li Siyuan, I will wait for you in the underground. I hope that you can really be the emperor as you said!”

After saying this, Li Congke closed his eyes.

“Seventh Brother, go and give him a quick death.” Li Siyuan glanced at him, then looked away and said to Li Cunzhi beside him.

“Understood sir!” Li Cunzhi’s eyes lit up immediately. He got off his horse, walked in front of Li Congke and slapped him with his palm, shattering the top of his head.

Li Siyuan turned his horse around and left, saying, “The rest of the matter is left to you and Lao Ba. Don’t let any of the Hedong generals who participated in the rebellion go.”

The departing figure looked somewhat listless, revealing a sense of loneliness and sadness.

He knew that once this order was issued, the foundation of his rule in Hedong would be destroyed, but he had no choice but to do so. For the sake of the rest of his life, he had no choice but to ask you all to die!

Chapter 276: He passed this level!

An era has come to an end!

Li Cunzhi and Li Cunxin looked at each other, and the excitement in their eyes turned into solemnity. As Li Siyuan’s right-hand men, they knew very well what the consequences would be after this order was executed.

But they also know Li Siyuan’s current situation better than others. If they are not careful, the emperor’s butcher knife will fall and they will not be able to escape. Many generals in Hedong are Li Siyuan’s old subordinates, and they also represent local forces of all sizes in Hedong.

Li Siyuan killed them in order to cut off their support and make his position clear to the emperor.

The deaths of these people are just the beginning. In the days to come, more people will die!

For Su Ming, it was just a few words. A clean Hedong was more important than their lives. As for how many people would die in the process, what did it have to do with him?

Anyway, he wasn’t the one who did the killing.

For those in power, they never need to kill people themselves. Often, a word or a look can decide the life or death of countless people at the bottom.

When Li Siyuan returned to the Prince of Jin’s Mansion, the broken gate had been repaired.

He ordered the steward to close the door tightly and not admit any visitors.

There was peace and tranquility in the Prince of Jin’s mansion, but in the city of Taiyuan there was a bloody storm. Li Cunzhi and Li Cunxin were arresting and killing people in the streets and alleys of the city.

Except for a few generals in Hedong who escaped this disaster, the rest were involved. Some smart ones also acted as Li Siyuan’s accomplices, hoping to bet on both sides.

But they didn’t know that Li Siyuan was determined to cleanse Hedong this time. These fence-sitters might be able to survive under normal circumstances, but now they were dead, and even Jesus couldn’t save them.

In front of the gate of Prince Jin’s mansion, many generals knelt on the steps and cried, “Your Highness Prince Jin, please spare my life. Considering that I have fought bravely on the battlefield, please spare my life. I am willing to give away all my wealth.”

“Your Highness, it was that villain Li Congke who forced us. We were all forced into this situation. Please forgive us, Prince Jin.”

“Your Highness, please spare me, please spare me!”

……

However, no matter how loudly he shouted, the door of Prince Jin’s Mansion remained closed, and Li Siyuan had no intention of showing up.

After a long time, these people became impatient and were about to start cursing when they heard a burst of orderly footsteps on the street. They turned around and found that it was a group of Tongwenguan disciples wearing white robes.