Chapter 314: The Love-Inducing Flower Fragrance

Yang Guozhong sought out Yu Chaoen this time partly to report on the Uyghur envoy and partly to inquire about Yang Guifei’s situation. Yang Guifei was the pillar of their family; if she lost favor, it would mean the end of the Yang family. Recently, Yang Guozhong had heard rumors that the emperor had returned to Daming Palace, while the Empress still remained in Xingqing Palace, which left him anxious. He wanted to know what was going on.

Some matters in the palace were confidential and could not be disclosed to Yang Guozhong, but considering the “Immortal Pillow,” Yu Chaoen became a bit less reticent. He waved his hand to send away a few eunuchs, and once there was no one around, he whispered to Yang Guozhong, “It’s all because of aphrodisiacs!”

Yang Guozhong was stunned; he didn’t understand what he meant. Yu Chaoen continued, “The emperor always takes a medicine called the Love-Inducing Flower Fragrance. The Empress refuses to let him take it, and they had a fierce argument. In anger, the emperor returned to Daming Palace.”

It was all because of aphrodisiacs. Yang Guozhong felt slightly relieved. He had thought it was related to Mei Fei and had been worried for a long time. Since it was just such a trivial matter, it wasn’t a big deal. But the Empress couldn’t stay in Xingqing Palace forever; some explanation was needed.

Yu Chaoen added with a smile, “The Prime Minister needn’t worry. It’s good for the emperor and the Empress to be separated for a while. See, early this morning, the emperor sent people to deliver ice dew to the Empress as a sign of reconciliation. Soon, within these two days, we’ll arrange for the Empress to move.”

“Then I must rely even more on your assistance!”

Yang Guozhong stood up to take his leave. Yu Chaoen saw him to the door before returning to Penglai Pavilion.

These past two days, Li Longji and Wu Xianyi had been staying in Penglai Pavilion, which was located in Taiye Lake, surrounded by water on three sides. With willows swaying in the breeze, it offered a stunning view and was Wu Xianyi’s favorite palace.

Wu Xianyi was a concubine once favored by Li Longji. She was beautiful and enchanting, skilled in dancing. Li Longji’s two youngest sons, Li Xuan, the King of Xiliang, and Li Qi, the King of Bian, were her children. If Yang Yuhuan hadn’t entered the palace, Wu Xianyi would have become the undisputed foremost concubine, showing how much Li Longji doted on her.

It was a pity that the Empress caused jealousy among the other concubines. With the arrival of Yang Guifei, all the concubines, including Wu Xianyi and Mei Fei, lost their luster. She had spent ten years in exile in the cold palace until this year, when she finally got a chance to shine. Although Li Longji was no longer in his prime, it was like rain after a long drought for the lonely Wu Xianyi, who was now completely satisfied.

It was already fully daylight, yet Li Longji still refused to get up. Wu Xianyi lay curled up beside him like a well-behaved cat, her snow-white arm exposed outside the green lotus-patterned quilt. She had long been awake, but she remained motionless, pretending to sleep in Li Longji’s arms. She didn’t want to get up, nor did she want Li Longji to get up. She wished he could keep holding her like this for ten years, making up for all the lost time.

At this moment, the dizziness in Li Longji’s head finally subsided a bit. He had taken the love-flower potion for three consecutive nights, and his body could no longer bear it. Half of his body was numb, leaving him unable to move. But that wasn’t the worst—what was truly fatal was the intense dizziness that left his mind blank for long periods, preventing him from remembering anything. He even forgot who he was and where he was.

“My beloved, are you awake?” Li Longji asked, his speech slurred. Wu Xianyi felt furious—whom was he addressing? Did he think she was Yang Yuhuan? Though angry, she dared not show it. With a soft murmur, she slowly opened her eyes.

“Your Majesty, I had a dream!” She cuddled against Li Longji’s arm affectionately and said in a coquettish voice, “I dreamed that I gave birth to another little prince for you. Now I have three sons!”

This was Wu Xianyi’s trump card. Even if Yang Yuhuan regained favor, what did that matter? She had no children—how could she compare to her? She had two sons, and she wanted Li Longji to remember that at all times.

But she didn’t realize that Li Longji’s mind was completely blank. He couldn’t remember how many sons he had or what they looked like.

“Your Majesty! Your Majesty!” At that moment, Yu Chaoyen’s faint cries came from outside. Wu Xianyi could no longer stay in bed. She couldn’t afford to offend Yu Chaoyen. If she wanted to win back Li Longji’s heart, she had to please him.

“Your Majesty, let’s get up!”

“I’m very tired. I want to lie down a little longer.”

Even Wu Xianyi was stunned. In her memory, the emperor always got up before dawn and worked on state affairs until late at night. He had never risen so late before. She gritted her teeth—that fox woman! She had drained the emperor of his strength.

“Your Majesty, Eunuch Yu seems to have something urgent to tell you.”

“What is it?” Li Longji asked, somewhat displeased.

“Your Majesty, Prime Minister Yang has submitted an urgent memorial. It seems there’s war in the north.”

War was a sensitive topic. Li Longji could no longer sleep. He said, “Very well! I’ll get up.”

Wu Xianyi quickly sat up and ordered the maids around her, “Your Majesty is getting up!”

The palace maids immediately got to work, helping Li Longji and Wu Xianyi get dressed, washing and combing their hair. As Li Longji had his hair combed, he asked Yu Chaoen, “What battles have taken place in the north?”
“Your Majesty, it seems the Khagan of the Uyghurs sent envoys to demand an explanation from the court, claiming that the Anxi troops suddenly attacked them and asking us to give a reason.”
“Demand an explanation?” Li Longji frowned in displeasure. “What right do they have to question me?”
Yu Chaoen was stunned. It had been his idea to use the phrase to emphasize the seriousness of the situation, but it backfired. For a while, he didn’t know how to cover up his mistake. Fortunately, Li Longji was more concerned about the attack on the Uyghurs, so he dropped the matter.
“Go and call Liang Chaoyi. Tell him I want to see the report from the supervisor of the Anxi forces.”
Yu Chaoen turned to leave, but Li Longji called him back. “I didn’t say you go. Send someone else. I still have things to order you.”
“Yes!” Yu Chaoen quickly instructed a young eunuch to find someone, while standing aside with his hands hanging down.
Li Longji said slowly, “That love-enhancing flower of mine seems to have lost its effectiveness after being used for so long. Send someone to urge An Lushan to send another box. Why hasn’t he delivered it yet?”
“Yes! I’ll handle it right away.”
“Go then!”
Yu Chaoen turned and left. Wu Xianyi beside him shook her head secretly. She had also realized that the flower caused severe harm to the emperor’s health. After taking it for nearly two months, the emperor looked years older. Yu Chaoen surely knew about such a potent substance, yet he didn’t warn the emperor at all; instead, he even encouraged him to use it. If it were Gao Lishi, he would rather die than let the emperor take it again. This showed the difference between loyalty and treachery—Yu Chaoen was not a loyal subject.
Although Wu Xianyi knew this, she didn’t dare say anything. She didn’t want to upset Li Longji and risk being sent back to the cold palace.
“Your Majesty, you said last night that you would accompany me for a boat ride on Taiye Lake today!”
“Don’t worry. I won’t break my word. I’ll accompany you this afternoon.”
After finishing his grooming, Li Longji took a palanquin to Linde Hall, his office in the inner palace of Daming Palace. It was located near the Jiuxian Gate on the west wall of Daming Palace, making it convenient for ministers to enter and exit. Banquets were often held here for foreign envoys, and meetings with subordinates also took place here.
Soon, Li Longji entered a side hall of Linde Hall and sat down in his private study. He was exhausted and utterly tired of court affairs. He only wanted to hear some uplifting news. If it weren’t for the incident with the Uyghurs today, he would never have come to Linde Hall.
“Where’s the report? Show it to me.”

Yu Chaoen quickly handed Yang Guozhong’s memorial to him. Li Longji opened it, and the dense handwriting made his eyes swim; he couldn’t see anything and, annoyed, threw the memorial onto the desk. “Read it to me!”
Yu Chaoen had benefited from Gao Lishi’s guidance since childhood and could read and write. For this reason, he had served in the imperial study and eventually became Gao Lishi’s top eunuch in power. He took the memorial and began to read, “Yesterday, I received a letter from the Honglu Temple forwarded by the Uyghurs. I was shocked to learn that the Anxi army had attacked them. I, as head of the Central Secretariat, was completely unaware of this. I do not know if Your Majesty is aware, but the situation is urgent. I urge Your Majesty to take action. If You Majesty is unaware, I request that Anxi explain this matter. I believe attacking the Uyghurs is a minor issue that can still be resolved, but sending troops without imperial orders is serious and must be thoroughly investigated…”
Attached to Yang Guozhong’s memorial was a letter from the Uyghur khan. Yu Chaoen opened it to read, but Li Longji waved his hand. “Enough, stop reading.”
Li Longji had initially thought the Uyghurs had launched a major invasion and engaged in fierce battles with the Shuofang army, which made him nervous. But it turned out it was merely the Anxi army attacking the Uyghurs, with the Tang Dynasty suffering no significant losses, so his concerns eased.
Having seen many storms, Li Longji immediately realized it was just a minor border conflict—a normal occurrence that didn’t warrant such alarm. He lost interest. As for Yang Guozhong’s mention of investigating Li Qing’an for acting on his own, Li Longji wasn’t very interested either.
If this had happened a few days earlier, Li Longji might have been annoyed, but Li Qing’an had promptly sent Abu’s head back to Chang’an, which somewhat eased his anger. More importantly, the war against Tubo was approaching, and Li Longji didn’t want any extra complications at this critical time.
Although Li Longji had taken aphrodisiacs, leaving him weak and dazed most of the time, he was firm regarding the war against Tubo—this matter was too important to him. If it could eliminate Tubo, a century-long threat, he could even tolerate Li Qing’an abducting Du Gu Mingyue, let alone a minor border conflict like this.
Still, he was somewhat curious about why Li Qing’an had attacked Beiting, but Yang Guozhong’s memorial made no mention of it, focusing only on accusing Li Qing’an. This annoyed him.
At that moment, the eunuch Liang Chaoyi rushed into the imperial study, knelt down, and bowed. “Your servant pays his respects to Your Majesty!”

Liang Chaoyi, like Yu Chaoen, was also an eunuch promoted by Gao Lishi. He was previously in charge of preparing food for Li Longji and Yang Guifei and held considerable power as an eunuch. However, unlike Yu Chaoen, who viewed Gao Lishi as an obstacle, Liang Chaoyi remained loyal to him. For this reason, before leaving Li Longji to go to the Eastern Palace, Gao Lishi recommended Liang Chaoyi to be in charge of coordinating with the military governors across the regions, and Li Longji agreed out of respect for Gao Lishi.

There was still one difference: previously, Gao Lishi was in charge of appointing the military governors, who were all under his authority, giving him great power. Liang Chaoyi, on the other hand, was only responsible for coordination and had no power to appoint or dismiss them.

Additionally, after princes were sent to oversee the regions directly, the role of the military governors diminished, and Li Longji did not pay much attention to them. He would only ask about them when he thought of it and otherwise ignored them. For example, today, if the Uyghurs had not come to report, Li Longji would never have known that Bian Lingcheng had sent a message.

Liang Chaoyi handed a booklet to Li Longji. The messages sent by the military governors were mostly in the form of pigeon letters, with very small handwriting, and it took several messages to convey one matter clearly. Therefore, one of Liang Chaoyi’s important tasks was to reorganize and transcribe these messages and number them into a booklet.

Li Longji also did not take it. Leaning back on the dragon bed, he said, “Read it!”

Liang Chaoyi opened the booklet and read, “Your servant Bian Lingcheng pays his respects to His Majesty. In April, the Anxi Hanjiang Army crossed Jinshan. I have conducted a thorough investigation, and the cause was the Uyghurs’ dissatisfaction with the Tongluo tribe defecting to Beiting. They first sent troops to invade Beiting, killing over a thousand Tongluo people. This incident provoked dissatisfaction among the Gelaolu, Tongluo, and Shatuo tribes. To protect themselves, the three tribes joined forces to confront the Uyghurs. At that time, Tang border guards intercepted Tibetan messengers and learned that Tibet and the Uyghurs were secretly colluding. The Uyghurs intended to take advantage of the Tang army’s southern campaign against Tibet to seize Beiting, thereby creating a situation where Tibet and the Uyghurs would attack Beiting from both sides. Seeing the urgency of the situation, Li Qing’an, the Anxi military governor, took the opportunity of the alliance with the Gelaolu and other tribes to send troops against the Uyghurs, pacify the border, and establish defenses north of Jinshan. I believe Li Qing’an’s actions were still part of the campaign against Tibet and not an unauthorized military move. I hereby report this to Your Majesty.”

Li Longji nodded. This was exactly the report he wanted—well-organized, fact-based, and well-supported. When the Tongluo tribe defected from Tang to join the Gelaolu, he had anticipated that this might cause turmoil in the grasslands, and indeed his prediction came true.

Since the matter was not serious and he did not want it to affect the upcoming battle against Tubo, he threw Bian Lingcheng’s report on the table and said, “Very good. Hand this report to the Crown Prince; let him handle this matter.”
……
The Uyghur envoy, Helumu Modagan, waited in Chang’an for ten days without ever meeting the Tang emperor. Eventually, the crown prince received him. Li Yu expressed his regret over the unfortunate events involving the Uyghurs, but he also firmly pointed out that it was the Uyghurs who first invaded Tang’s territory in Beiting and killed Tang’s subjects, thus triggering the conflict. Since the Uyghurs were at fault, he rejected their unreasonable demand for Tang to pay 300,000 bolts of silk as compensation.
The Uyghurs failed to achieve their goal of obtaining compensation. Helumu Modagan returned to the steppes in a fury. This incident created a rift in relations between Tang and the Uyghurs. Meanwhile, Li Yu personally wrote to Li Qing’an, urging him to withdraw his troops from the Uyghur region as soon as possible to prevent the situation from escalating. Additionally, Li Yu secretly wrote another letter to Li Qing’an, warning him to be cautious of Prince Qing Cong, as the emperor had already granted greater power to various princes, and it was likely he would also increase Prince Qing’s actual control.
……
In Youzhou, at the residence of the Fanyang military governor, An Lushan returned as usual. Since his defeat against the Khitans two months earlier, he had kept a low profile, which also made him feel deeply insecure. To preserve his position, he used every means possible, spending vast sums of money to bribe high-ranking officials in the court. Eventually, he managed to avoid punishment and retained his two positions as military governors.
Although he had narrowly escaped consequences, he was filled with disappointment. The Tongluo army he had worked so hard to secure went to Li Qing’an of Anxi, while the position of military governor of Hedong—his dream position—also eluded him. Moreover, Cheng Qianli, recommended by Li Yu, only served as an assistant. Unexpectedly, Li Longji appointed Prince Rong, Li Wan, as the military governor of Hedong, a result that surprised everyone.
It was common for princes to serve as military governors, but those positions were usually nominal, with the prince merely holding the title. However, it was the first time a prince actually took charge of a military governorship. This was a signal that Li Longji intended to centralize military power within the royal family. Faced with this change, An Lushan became highly vigilant and realized he needed to hurry up and secure his own backup plan.
As soon as An Lushan returned to his residence, one of his subordinates rushed over to report, “Commander, there’s an urgent letter from Chang’an.”
“Show it to me!”

An Lushan took the letter and was momentarily stunned—it came from the Daming Palace. He quickly tore it open and glanced at it. His small green eyes lit up immediately, and he turned around and ordered, “Go! Call Mr. Gao to my study, and also bring Doctor Luo.”

Back in his study, An Lushan read the letter carefully again. It was written by Yu Chaonen, asking him to prepare the Love-Enhancing Flower again. An Lushan’s heart pounded. Could this really be his chance? The Love-Enhancing Flower was something he had presented to Li Longji two years ago. It was a potent aphrodisiac created by a strange hermit from the martial world. Young people could take it as long as they controlled the frequency and dosage and took care of their recovery, but it was different for the elderly. Their vital energy couldn’t recover like that of the young, and taking this medicine regularly would severely damage their health, shorten their lifespan, and even cause addiction from which they couldn’t escape. Initially, An Lushan had presented this flower with trepidation. After passing the imperial physicians’ inspection, it won Li Longji’s praise, and he was even promoted to Prince of Dongping. Three years later, Li Longji was asking for it again, and An Lushan knew his chance had come.

At that moment, his advisor Gao Shang entered, bowed, and said, “Commander, did you call for me?”

An Lushan nodded and handed him the letter. “Take a look! It’s a private letter from Li Longji.”

In An Lushan’s hierarchy of advisors, Gao Shang had originally been second, after Yan Zhuang. But after Yan Zhuang disappeared, Gao Shang became An Lushan’s most trusted advisor, with almost all matters discussed with him. He lived up to An Lushan’s expectations by devising a series of excellent strategies for him. Just as Yan Zhuang had advised Li Qingan to declare independence, Gao Shang also advised An Lushan to gather troops and establish his own rule, on more than one occasion. He used the examples of military governors like Gai Jiayun, Fu Menglingcha, Wang Zhongsì, Huangfu Weiming, and Pei Kuan to persuade An Lushan that once he lost control of the military, everything he had done in Fanyang would be exposed immediately, leading to accusations, and his only fate would be death. To escape this inevitable doom, he had only one path: to gather troops, declare independence, and become a regional warlord.

Gao Shang finally convinced An Lushan, and since three years ago, they had begun their journey toward independence. The Love-Enhancing Flower was just one part of their plan.

After reading the letter, Gao Shang nodded and said, “It seems we can implement our second strategy now.”

“But I think it’s coming too soon. We’re not ready yet,” An Lushan said worriedly.

“General, what matters is opportunity. When it arises, we must seize it. We’re already 70% prepared—enough food, enough weapons. The only shortage is troops. But spring drought has already hit Hebei this year. I reckon a severe disaster will surely strike there. That way, we can recruit soldiers from the disaster victims to solve this problem. Besides, the effect of this Love Flower won’t appear so quickly; we still have time.”
At that moment, a bodyguard at the door reported, “Alchemist Luo has arrived.”
“Let him in!”
A moment later, a tall, fat old man in a blue robe with a rosy complexion entered. He was a remarkable figure in the martial world, skilled at crafting various extraordinary medicines. Three years ago, he had been taken in by An Lushan. He claimed his surname was Luo, and everyone called him Alchemist Luo. The Love Flower was his masterpiece.
Alchemist Luo stepped forward and bowed. “I pay my respects to the General!”
An Lushan quickly smiled and said, “Alchemist, no need for formalities. Please, sit!”
Alchemist Luo sat down carelessly and asked, “I wonder why the General has called me. What instructions do you have?”
“I want to ask if you’ve finished preparing the second type of Love Flower.”
Alchemist Luo laughed heartily. “I finished it last year. Its effect is extraordinary—twice as strong as the first type. The General may take it anytime.”
After a pause, Alchemist Luo asked in surprise, “Has the first type already run out? That was enough for five years.”
“They say its effect isn’t good enough, so they want a new batch.”
“The effect isn’t good?”
Alchemist Luo murmured to himself. Suddenly, he sneered and said, “If they follow my instructions, the effect won’t be poor. I guess they’re greedy, using double the dose all the time. Later, when they couldn’t tolerate it, they reduced the dose, which is why they claim the effect is poor.”
An Lushan frowned, worried. “If they keep using double the dose, will this new medicine not achieve the effect I want?”
“No! Don’t worry, General. I’ve tested this new medicine for two years. Its effect is very strong, and its side effects are more subtle—unnoticeable under normal circumstances. It will surely satisfy you.”
“Good! Give it to me right away. I need to send it to Chang’an immediately.”
“Yes! I’ll go get it right away.”
Alchemist Luo hurriedly took his leave. An Lushan watched his retreating figure before whispering, “General, this man knows too much. Keeping him around could bring trouble.”
An Lushan also smiled darkly. “I know. I won’t keep him.”
“Also, we should urge Liu Luogu in Chang’an to speed things up. We can’t afford to miss the opportunity.”