Tibet.

Chapter 1281 One step further

Under the cover of night, more than a hundred carts loaded with goods entered Chang'an from Chunming Gate and drove along the alley all the way to the Daming Palace. This convoy came from Fengxian County and was secretly escorted by the Internal Guards. Under the thick black oilcloth were the 700 large boxes of funerary objects transported from Qiaoling.

Qiaoling is a tomb of clothing and hat. There is no corpse in the tomb, nor any cats or dogs, so it is impossible to bury high-value works of art such as calligraphy and paintings. The main burial objects are gold, silver, copper coins and utensils, as well as some silk cloth.

There was no silk cloth in the 700 large boxes, as it had rotted away after decades. There were also not many copper coins, as they were too heavy and of low value, not cost-effective. The main items were gold, silver and utensils, as the gold and silver were no longer needed. The gold alone amounted to 500,000 taels and the silver 2.5 million taels.

Then there are porcelain, bronze, jade and jewelry, which are mainly these four categories, and there are also some lacquerware, glassware and so on.

According to the agreement reached between Li Ye and Li Lin, Li Yu's death had nothing to do with the Qiaoling tomb robbery. In fact, the Qiaoling tomb robbery was completely concealed. All those who participated in the tomb robbery were secretly executed, and the three tomb-keeping officials who colluded with Li Yu were also executed. This matter was extremely secretive, and even the imperial court did not know about it, and it became a secret file of the Internal Security Bureau.

The interior of Qiaoling was sealed again with stone slabs by the internal guards. If you are not an insider, you can't even find the tomb passage.

When the convoy arrived at the inner warehouse, all seven hundred large boxes of treasures were sent into the inner warehouse and sealed up in an empty warehouse. Even Li Ye thought it was unlucky and didn't want to open the boxes to count them.

It was not until a hundred years later that this wealth was seen again.

At noon that day, Li Ye finally met Empress Dowager Zhang, who looked resentful.

"I am so disgusting to you that you are only willing to come and see me now?"

Li Ye smiled slightly and said, "I've been too busy since I came back. Someone is plotting a rebellion, and I've been busy until now."

Empress Dowager Zhang waved her hand and said, "My heart is burning with anger right now. I don't want to hear your explanation!"

She looked at Li Ye with a smile, as if she was looking at Tang Monk who entered the Spider Cave.

She clapped her hands lightly, and several palace maids ran, pulling long curtains. Soon, a closed curtain space was formed around them.

Empress Dowager Zhang untied the ribbon around her waist and opened her robe, and a big white sheep appeared in front of Li Ye.

Li Ye sighed. "A man is like a wolf at thirty and like a tiger at forty. This saying could not be more appropriate for Empress Dowager Zhang."

Half an hour later, the curtain returned to its original state. Empress Dowager Zhang had a smile on her pretty face and her eyes were blurred. She was still savoring the ecstasy that left a deep impression on her.

Li Ye looked at the four running maids. Queen Mother Zhang came over again, sat in Li Ye's arms, put her arms around Li Ye's neck and said coquettishly: "You are willing to take Shen Zhenzhu as your concubine, why not me? I am a few years younger than her."

Li Ye sighed, "I didn't marry her. I just planted a seed in her. She wants to have another child. After giving birth to the child, she will move out to live."

"You treat me like a three-year-old child!"

Queen Mother Zhang snorted, "Will you let your son bear the reputation of being a bastard?"

Li Ye was speechless for a moment. This woman was too shrewd.

Empress Dowager Zhang twisted her body and said coquettishly, "I don't care. I want to have another child, either a boy or a girl. It's exhausting to face that silly son all day long!"

"You can find."

Before Li Ye could speak, Empress Dowager Zhang immediately blocked his words with her mouth and stared at him with resentful eyes.

Li Ye turned his face away and smiled bitterly, "Alright, I won't say anything more. When you are gradually forgotten by the ministers, I will sow seeds for you!"

Empress Zhang smiled and said, "That's better, but I can't wait any longer. How about I announce the abdication of the young emperor tomorrow?"

Li Ye slapped her in the face and said, "Stop talking nonsense!"

Empress Dowager Zhang twisted her body, her eyes almost dripping with tears, "You are so heartless, you are teasing me again."

Seeing that he didn't respond, Empress Dowager Zhang bit her lip in anger and whispered in his ear, "I still want it. What do you think I should do?"

Li Ye spread his hands and smiled: "You opened the curtain yourself, don't blame me!"

Empress Dowager Zhang's eyes lit up, and she waved to the little palace maid, and the curtain was drawn again. Li Ye failed to complete the business, so he had to let Zhang Li come to talk tomorrow. After having some fun behind the curtain, he left in a hurry.

In the afternoon, Zhang Li hurried to Li Ye's official room and bowed, "I am honored to see your Highness!"

Li Ye nodded, "No need to be polite, please take a seat!"

Sitting down opposite, Li Ye took out a memorial, which was the "Proposal on Abolishing the Current Emperor of the Tang Dynasty" drafted by the Council of State.

"I already know about the little emperor's affairs. Does Prime Minister Zhang think this is an imminent matter?"

Zhang Li nodded. "He is getting older and is indeed not suitable to be the emperor anymore. Although he is the grandson of a humble official, family affection cannot replace state affairs. Your Highness, the Tang Dynasty needs a true emperor. Your Highness is always the regent in name only, and many things are difficult to handle."

Li Ye walked a few steps with his hands behind his back and said, "I understand your intentions and everyone's expectations, but when it comes to ascending the throne, we must abide by the rules. No regent ascends the throne directly. There needs to be a step in between so that it can be done naturally. Otherwise, it will seem very abrupt. Prime Minister Zhang, do you understand what I mean?"

"I understand. I will discuss this with Prime Minister Wei, and then go to see the Queen Mother."

Zhang Li turned around and found Wei Jiansu, and told him about the idea of ​​the regent. Wei Jiansu nodded, "Actually, I've thought about it too. It's not right for the regent to take the throne directly. The title is a little bit off. If he ascends the throne as the heir to the throne, then it's legitimate."

"But calling him Prince doesn't seem right!"

Wei Jiansu smiled slightly, "He will be named the heir to the throne and the regent at the same time!"

Wei Jiansu was smart. Li Ye had no direct blood relationship with the young emperor, so it would be inappropriate to confer titles such as Crown Prince or Crown Uncle on him.

The term "royal heir" means the heir to the throne. It has a broad scope and is not necessarily a direct blood relative. As long as he is the heir to the throne of a royal family, he can be called the royal heir. It can be said that this name was tailor-made for Li Ye.

"Okay! I'll go find the Queen Mother later."

.........

Zhang Li thought he would have to waste a lot of time talking, but he didn't expect the Queen Mother to agree so immediately.

"Tomorrow I will issue an edict to enthrone the Prince Regent as the heir to the throne."

Zhang Li said happily: "I'm glad you can be so considerate!"

Empress Dowager Zhang sneered, "I am not being sensible, I just have no choice. I want to ask father, once the regent ascends the throne, will I still be the empress dowager?"

Zhang Li said after a while: "The Queen Mother is probably his mother. You followed the emperor and he changed his title to a king, so you should be changed to the title of Madam of the State."

"Can I remarry then?"

Zhang Li smiled bitterly and said, "Your sister remarried Prince Chen. Once you lose your title as Queen Mother, you should be able to remarry. Generally, you can only remarry into the royal family. But now the royal family has been demoted and has no status. It would be better not to marry them than to remarry them."

Empress Dowager Zhang hesitated and said, "What about the new emperor? Can I become his concubine?"

Zhang Li glanced at his daughter. He had heard some rumors a long time ago that the Queen Mother always summoned the Regent alone and drove out her personal maids. This made people think about it. Everyone consciously did not think in that direction.

Now that the Queen Mother asked this, Zhang Li understood.

He pondered for a while and said, "Do you know Empress Xiao of the Sui Dynasty? After Emperor Taizong brought her back from the grassland, she has been living in the palace. In fact, she has become Emperor Taizong's woman, but she has no status. As long as she has no status, I think many things will be easy to deal with, and no one will interfere in the emperor's private affairs."

Empress Dowager Zhang nodded, "I understand. Thank you, father, for clearing up my confusion!"

...........
Inside the carriage, Zhang Li was worried. He didn't expect that his daughter had an ambiguous relationship with the Regent. This was a big trouble. Once it got out, the impact would be very bad.

The best way is to let the regent ascend the throne as soon as possible, abolish his daughter's title of queen mother, and change her title to lady of the state. Then no one will pay attention to her anymore.

Zhang Li sometimes felt pity for his daughter. She was not even 30 years old, and her son was a fool. If she could have another child like Shen Zhenzhu, even if she had no status, she would have someone to rely on for the rest of her life.

(End of this chapter)