People in the early Tang Dynasty: I compete with Wu Zhao for the throne

Chapter 1034 Empress Wu’s methods are vicious and cruel

Chang'an, Daming Palace.

The emperor visited Luoyang eastward, and Prince Guangshun monitored the country.

In the Mingyi Hall, Li Xian was sitting in the hall, concentrating on reviewing the memorial.

There are countless courtiers, guards and servants inside and outside, all busy.

There was a sound of hurried footsteps, and Prince Xima Liu Nayan quickly walked in from the outside and delivered an urgent official document to Li Xian's desk with a solemn expression.

Li Xian opened the official document without paying much attention, took a look, and suddenly couldn't help but screamed: "He is missing!"

In an instant, countless eyes fell on Li Xian inside and outside the palace.

Li Xian frowned slightly and waved his hand. Liu Nayan immediately passed the official document in his hand to the ministers in the palace.

After seeing the contents of the official document, the ministers suddenly exclaimed.

"Ming Chongyan is missing."

Ming Chongyan, the real person of Shiyin, has disappeared.

What happened a few months ago was not a big deal, so many officials were unaware of the brutal struggle behind it all.

Therefore, when the news came out that Empress Wu's trusted minister, the famous Shiyin Master Ming Chongyan, had been missing for more than three months, many sensitive officials were already aware of the beginning of the storm.

Ming Chongyan died.

If you disappear for more than three months, there will be no other consequences except death.

Those who really knew the inside story carefully looked at Li Xian sitting in the center of the hall.

After Ming Chongyan died, there was no doubt that many people would immediately cast suspicious eyes on Li Xian.

After all, they fought some time ago, and even though they hid it from most of the courtiers, there were still many who knew the truth.

The closer people are to the highest power, the more they know, and the more they doubt Li Xian.

"The official document was immediately sent to Dali Temple, the Ministry of Punishment, Yongzhou Prefecture, and Chang'an Wannian County to conduct a comprehensive search for the whereabouts of Master Shiyin."

After a slight pause, Li Xian continued: "The official document is released to the world, and all states and counties are ordered to publicly offer rewards to those who know the truth, so that they can find information about the whereabouts of Master Shiyin as soon as possible."

"Here!" All the officials in the palace handed over their hands at the same time, and the suspicion in many people's eyes immediately disappeared.

"Let's continue working. There has been a lot of rain this year, so all aspects need to be stepped up." Li Xian glanced at the ministers in the palace, and everyone handed over their hands at the same time, and then bent down to work.

There was a trace of inexplicable irritability in Li Xian's eyes.

Now this is the Mingyi Palace. These subordinates in the East Palace cannot go to their own rooms and can only work in the palace like Li Xian.

It is precisely because of this that many of Li Xian's emotions cannot be released.

After the day's official duties were completed, Li Xian returned to the East Palace.

……

As soon as he sat down, Li Xian couldn't help but look up at Liu Nayan and asked seriously: "Nayan, are you saying that Shiyin is really dead?"

"I don't know." Liu Nayan shook his head slightly and said, "Since Ming Chongyan fled Chang'an that day, we haven't had any news about him..."

After a slight pause, Liu Nayan asked: "Your Highness, is there no news from Gao Qi?"

Gao Qi's father, Gao Zhenxing, was General Youwei.

Even apart from his personal guards, Gao Zhenxing has access to many retired right-guard soldiers.

Some of them were even soldiers of the right guard of the King of Nanchang who were injured or served after the battle in Qinghai.

Among these soldiers, a group of people quietly entered the Duke of Shen's mansion and became the princess's guards.

Duke Shen and Princess Gaoyang have the right to recruit guards.

But they will not do it privately and quietly, because it is too taboo, and the guards in their homes will register it with the relevant yamen.

But when many things fall into the hands of Gao Zhenxing, there is a lot of room for maneuver.

These "princess guards" have never met the princess at all.

I just met some of the princess guards and were quietly arranged to go out.

This is the group of people in Gao Qi's hands.

Li Xian shook his head slightly and said: "I only know that he went to Luoyang, and if I further investigate, I will meet the secret guards. But since he is missing, it means that even the secret guards have not found any trace."

"So, Your Highness, is this a conspiracy?" Liu Nayan looked at Li Xian carefully and whispered, "Will it be like last time?"

Helan Wan's matter is a game.

Ming Chongyan was used as bait to lure the people in the East Palace to take action. In the end, what the people in the East Palace found was something that almost killed them.

Fortunately, Empress Wu hid deeply and did not directly expose Helan Wan, otherwise Li Xian's position as crown prince would have been shaken now.

But many people understand that as long as that trump card remains, Li Xian's position as prince will always be threatened.

Although Li Xian now supervises the country, several prime ministers in the court have a relationship with him intentionally or unintentionally, even Liu Shenli. "You mean, it's the same this time, tempting us to look for Ming Chongyan, and what we find in the end must not be Ming Chongyan, but something else?" Li Xian instantly became alert.

"Your Highness, you can't make any mistakes now!" Liu Nayan persuaded with a worried look on his face.

"Here comes someone." Li Xian looked to the side and said directly: "Call Gao Qi to come over."

"Yes!"

A voice sounded from behind the door, followed by someone walking away as fast as possible.

"We don't care about this matter at this point." Li Xian looked up at Liu Nayan and asked, "What's the situation of those people sent to Changzhou?"

Liu Nayan smiled bitterly and said: "As soon as they arrived in Qugou, they were forcibly taken to Maduo. Since then, there has been no news, not even a reply to Chang'an. What the King of Nanchang did was really too... …”

"This is not quite right." Li Xian suddenly raised his hand to interrupt Liu Nayan, shook his head and said, "Although Uncle Wang is cautious, he will not prevent them from contacting Chang'an, unless..."

"Is this the palace?" Liu Nayan was shocked.

Li Xian couldn't help but stood up and said solemnly: "It should be like this. When they went to Changzhou, they originally planned to join several military positions, but they ended up in Dazhou, Quzhou, Laozhou, and Fengzhou. The governors of all the prefectures learned about wine offerings and teachings, and they all stayed away from the Governor's Mansion in Changzhou..."

"Perhaps these are not the methods of King Nanchang at all." Liu Nayan's face was extremely ugly.

If Li Xuan were here, he might really find it funny, because this was his advice to the emperor.

Li Xian turned to look at Liu Nayan and said: "From now on, don't worry about all related matters. Behind these people are their fathers and brothers. Go to Liubu, Shangshu Province and Nanchang Prince's Palace to ask about the situation, don't worry..."

There was a slight sound of footsteps at the door, and Li Xian stopped talking for an instant. At this moment, Gao Qi's voice sounded outside the door: "Your Highness."

Li Xian breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Come in."

"Here!" Gao Qi pushed open the door and walked in. When he saw Liu Nayan, he quickly raised his hands and said, "I've seen horses washed before."

Liu Nayan returned the gift with his hand.

Li Xian looked at Gao Qi and asked, "Do you know what happened to Ming Chongyan? What news do you have over there?"

Gao Qi glanced at Liu Nayan, and Li Xian waved his hand and said, "Speak directly."

"Yes!" Gao Qi cupped his hands and said, "He left the city from Chunming Gate in the east of the city that day. He left the city just before the curfew. Then he went to Luoyang overnight along the Weishui River. After staying in Luoyang for a night, he went to Yangzhou. But he got four or five substitutes, and we didn’t know which one they were for a while. Before we could investigate in detail, the secret guards came.”

"Now that the secret guards are here, we can no longer investigate." Li Xian looked at Liu Nayan and said, "The disappearance of Ming Chongyan may have happened in Jiangnan. He has always been involved in many things. Donggong , Secret Guards, Taoist Sect, and Demonic Sect..."

Liu Nayan raised his eyebrows, and everything went back to what happened that night.

Li Xian took a deep breath and received: "Let's not investigate Ming Chongyan's matter secretly. If there is any matter, investigate it according to the imperial decree. Whatever is found out will be whatever it is."

"Here!" Liu Nayan immediately handed over his hand.

Li Xian looked solemn and said: "The next thing this year, apart from flood control and people's treatment, is my father's birthday..."

……

The candles were dim, and only Li Xian and Gao Qi were left in the East Palace.

Li Xian walked to the window, looked at the garden outside, and asked softly: "Has Princess Xiang been to Nanchang Prince's Mansion recently?"

"Yes, I go there every ten days." Gao Qi said in a low voice, "As for what he is doing, Your Highness, we can't find out."

"No need to check, what else could it be? Shiro just wants to have a son as soon as possible." Li Xian sighed softly, raised his head,
Before we knew it, a cold wind started blowing. The water vapor in the wind was very heavy and it was about to blow down.

"Your Highness." Gao Qi's expression instantly became extremely solemn.

The emperor's eldest grandson is the most important trump card in the prince's hand. If the prime minister also has a son, then the weight of this trump card will suddenly drop a lot.

"It doesn't matter." Li Xian shook his head and said: "I have been thinking about this for a long time. It is only a matter of time for Shiro to have an heir. Let alone Shiro, even Sanlang will have an heir sooner or later. So now the only way to target this method is Yes, even Gu Ye will have a few more sons."

"Your Highness seems to have really grown up." Huangfu's righteous voice sounded outside the door.

Li Xian raised his head and looked at the door. Huangfu Zhengyi immediately pushed the door open and walked in. He looked at Li Xian with a complex expression, cupped his hands and said, "Your Highness, I have exceeded the rules."

"It doesn't matter." Li Xian waved his hand slightly, and then said: "Since that incident, I have already thought about it."

Huangfu Gongyi breathed a sigh of relief: "That's good. I came here after hearing about Ming Chongyan's incident. It's not appropriate for the East Palace to have any further involvement in this matter."

"I understand." Li Xian's expression was much calmer.

"The most important thing now is the affairs of the court. If the affairs of the court are properly handled, His Highness will stand in an invincible position." Huangfu Zhengyi warned again.

"Quiet and cautious, now I realize the beauty of these four words more and more." Li Xian smiled slightly.

"That's the best." Huangfu nodded righteously, and then said, "Now that His Majesty and the Queen of Heaven are patrolling the east, what I am most worried about is that Your Highness is thinking about Ye Ting."

Li Xian paused slightly, and Huangfu exclaimed "Sure enough" in his righteous heart. He took a step forward and said seriously: "Your Highness, this is a matter of opportunity. Your Highness can see it, I can see it, can't the Queen of Heaven not see it?" out……"

Seeing that Li Xian suddenly became vigilant, Huangfu Zhengyi continued: "Suppose someone breaks into Ye Ting and the last thing he sees is a dead body, but the suspected culprit is caught, and this person happens to be one of His Highness, And this dead body is His Highness... How will His Highness face the world then?"

"What Chang Shi means is that this is a killing game?" Li Xian suddenly felt a chill all over his body.

"Your Highness, do you still remember the story of the second princess of Yiyang and Xuancheng? Is it really an accident that I met the second princess when I was serving the emperor in Yeting?" Huangfu's face was filled with sadness.

Li Xian's eyes instantly widened in disbelief.

(End of this chapter)