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

Chapter 1361 Princess Fuchang, watching with all eyes

In the Zichen Palace, Zhao Gong solemnly raised his hands and said, "Reporting to the Queen of Heaven, Duke Zhou and Duke Zhao have already set off on their separate journeys."

Empress Wu put aside the thin bamboo and gold pen in her hand, sighed softly, and said, "Send someone to keep an eye on them and don't let anything happen to them."

"Here!" Zhao Gong immediately raised his hand, and the corner of his mouth twitched slightly as he lowered his head.

"Three thoughts have just entered the capital." Empress Wu looked up at Zhao Gong and said, "Cousin, please help him more."

"Yes!" Zhao Gong breathed a sigh of relief.

"Brothers, although Chengsi has some ability, he always does things inappropriately. Although Sansi is honest, his ability is always somewhat insufficient." Empress Wu shook her head slightly. Wu Chengsi had been in the court for so many years, and Empress Wu saw him very clearly. Even though San Si was at a local level, Empress Wu still saw him very clearly.

"Wulang is cautious and meticulous by nature. Comparatively speaking, it may be easier to survive in Chang'an than Chengsi." Zhao Gong lowered his head and cupped his hands and said: "As for the others, it depends on his position. I still have some connections that can help him." He adapts to the court as soon as possible."

"Yes!" Empress Wu nodded with satisfaction and said, "I'll leave this matter to my cousin. By the way, what has Prince Peng been doing recently?"

"We were playing in Chang'an with Princess Peng, Prince Jinchang, and Princess Fuchang. It was Prince Peng's chief historian Li Zhaode who went to see Duke Zhou off, and it was Prince Peng who joined the army to see Duke Zhao off, Li Zhu, who joined the army." Zhao Gong cupped his hands and sighed. Said: "He doesn't even play right back much."

"He is a smart man." Empress Wu nodded lightly.

"Queen of Heaven." Zhao Gong cupped his hands, looked at Empress Wu and asked, "I would like to ask if Princess Fuchang can be allowed to go to Fanzhou with Prince Peng?"

"Oh?" Empress Wu leaned forward slightly, looked at Zhao Gong with a half-smile and asked, "Prince Peng told you about this?"

"No." Zhao Gong shook his head and said, "Prince Peng seemed to care more about Princess Fuchang than Prince Jinchang. I was a little curious, so I asked casually."

"What did King Peng say?"

"Prince Peng just smiled and didn't say much." Zhao Gong couldn't help but sigh.

"Prince Peng is still sensible." Empress Wu looked sideways at Zhao Gong, narrowed her eyes and asked: "Cousin, what you said today is..."

"Queen of Heaven, I would like to ask you to find a scion of the Wu family to be engaged to Prince Peng's palace?" Zhao Gong raised his head carefully and looked at Empress Wu.

"You are really thinking about him, but he may not necessarily appreciate it." Empress Zhao Wu thought for a while and said: "Earlier, Your Majesty also talked about the engagement for Princess Fuchang, but this matter has changed. The king did not agree, because Princess Fuchang was still young, and he did not want her to be burdened with marriage at such a young age. Moreover, Prince Peng thought a lot about his future husband, and he was afraid that there would inevitably be various tests..."

At this point, Empress Wu paused for a moment, and then said: "In fact, Your Majesty also has an idea in mind about this matter. It is too early to tell what it is."

Zhao Gong immediately understood that neither the emperor nor Li Xuan would let go of Princess Fuchang's marriage easily.

"Princess Fuchang can't do it, but Prince Jinchang can give it a try." Empress Wu smiled, then waved her hand and said, "Although Prince Peng doesn't pay much attention to Prince Jinchang, Princess Peng treats him as a thorn in his side, and she doesn't think so. It’s easy to convince them, and Prince Jinchang is still too young. If there is a possibility in the future, please help me.”

"Yes!" Zhao Gong bowed seriously.

"Okay, I'm a little tired, please retreat." Empress Wu waved her hand slightly, Zhao Gong didn't say anything more, and retreated.

Empress Wu put the gold pen aside, her eyes focused, and after a long time, she sighed softly.

Standing up, Empress Wu walked towards the back hall.

Countless palace maids inside and outside followed them to the Penglai Hall. Empress Wu saw Wang Fulai standing in front of the hall, and immediately reacted: "Your Majesty, the breath adjustment has not ended yet?"

"Reporting to the Queen of Heaven, there is about a quarter of an hour left, the Queen of Heaven..." Wang Fulai looked embarrassed. The emperor was talking about who should be allowed in, but the person who came was Empress Wu. She had ignored the emperor's orders several times before. Yes, I walked in directly.

Seeing Wang Fulai's troubled face, Empress Wu smiled, waved her hand and said, "Forget it, I will go for a walk in the back garden."

"Thank you, Queen Mother, for your consideration." Wang Fulai breathed a long sigh of relief, then quickly bowed and said, "Best farewell to Queen Mother."

"Yes!" Empress Wu nodded, turned around and headed towards the back garden.

……

In winter time, everything dies.

Except for a few evergreen trees and plants, there are only dead branches and fallen leaves in the Imperial Garden, and there is also a glacial lake.

Deep in the Royal Garden, there is more ice and snow that has not been swept away.

Empress Wu walked casually on the gravel road, and her mind couldn't help but recall the scene when Li Xian, Li Xian, Li Dan, and Princess Taiping played together when they were children.

The corners of Empress Wu's lips lifted up into a slight smile, and then she couldn't help but sigh.

The past will never come again.

He raised his eyes to the northeast and saw that Li Xian was now imprisoned in the Forbidden Palace. Li Xian handled the affairs of the East Palace fairly well, and Li Dan acted cautiously.

Only Taiping and Xue Shao play together as a couple every day.

There is no telling when Taiping will have a child of his own.

They are all grown up, but they are also all old.

There was some deep coldness in Empress Wu's eyes.

No one knows more clearly what the emperor is doing these days.

He is making arrangements for the future as early as possible, and at the same time doing his best to extend his life.

Empress Wu was not unfamiliar with this situation, and it was also the case during the reign of Emperor Taizong.

Even in the case of the emperor himself, there was an incident ten years ago.

The defeat of Dafeichuan was the biggest blow to the emperor. After that, he was ill for several years.

Later, I slowly recovered, and I experienced some things in the middle.

Now it feels like everything has come full circle, only this time...

In the future, Empress Wu thought of Li Xian, smiled softly, and then sighed, Prince Peng was really a smart man.

A "Book of Han" can see everything clearly.

Empress Wu herself felt that she was not as ambitious as Empress Lu, but in fact, if you look carefully, even Empress Lu treated her son well. And what happened to Empress Lu later was because of Liu Ying's sudden death, which made everything go out of control.

Otherwise, Queen Lu is likely to leave a good reputation in history.

Why are some officials in the court so opposed to her? Isn't it because they are worried that she will one day imitate Empress Lu?

But following Empress Lu's example, the real unlucky person is not the royal family, but the aristocratic family.

Thinking about Li Xian, they were surrounded by children from aristocratic families, and they were all attacking the emperor's interests.

Li Xuan is much smarter. He has been clamoring for so many years to revise the "Book of Han", but until now, he has not moved at all.

In fact, she used her threats to win over the children of the aristocratic family, and at the same time used the children of the aristocratic family to oppress her.

The balancing act is well played.

But it was only good. If the emperor hadn't been supporting him, Empress Wu could have pulled off his skin at any time.

But then, Empress Wu shook her head, there was no need for her to target Li Xuan.

Li Xuan only stayed in the court for less than a month every year. As for Li Xian, despite the fact that he now has countless people helping him, the East Palace is stable, but this is all without her taking action.

If she really doesn't want to delegate power, Li Xian has no chance.

However, Empress Wu had no intention of putting herself on the opposite side of the world. If she wanted to continue to be in power after the emperor died of illness, her methods would need to be more clever.

As for Li Xian, he is her son after all, and compared to Li Dan, Li Xian is more weak.

Empress Wu sighed softly. She was older than the emperor. Although she was said to be much better than the emperor, in fact, she was older after all, and many times she would not be able to do what she wanted.

After all, people are old.

Maybe if she continues to be in power for a few more years, she will be able to retire with peace of mind.

Or maybe, she should also learn from the emperor...

Empress Wu walked slowly in the garden, the plum blossoms fell, and she gradually disappeared.

……

The long street was crowded with people.

Li Xuan was riding on a tall horse, looking around with vigilant eyes.

Behind him were more than a dozen cavalrymen in black, also guarding the rear, and in the middle of the crowd was a carriage.

The carriage slowly stopped in front of Daci'en Temple.

Li Xuan got off the horse and walked to the carriage.

The car curtain was opened, and Xia'er, who was wearing a bun and a bright red coat, had already thrown herself into Li Xuan's arms and shouted, "Aye, Aye."

Li Xuan immediately hugged Xia'er, pressed her face against hers, and said, "Be good."

"Oh!" Xia'er turned to look at the carriage. At this time, Zhao'er also opened the curtain and walked out, and was immediately hugged by Li Xuan.

"Aye." Zhao'er glanced at Li Xuan timidly, then looked at Xia'er: "Sister."

"Humph!" Xia'er immediately raised her head happily. At this moment, a hand slapped Xia'er on the back of the head.

Immediately, Liu Jinyu scolded in a low voice: "Don't bully your brother."

"Oh!" Xia'er suddenly became frustrated. Li Xuan held Xia'er and Zhao'er in his arms and took a step back. Liu Jinyu had already gotten off the carriage.

At this time, the car curtain was raised again, and Ouyang got out of the car with the help of the maid.

After glancing at her good grandson, Ouyang looked up at the entire Great Ci'en Temple, then sighed and said, "Let's go in."

"Yes!" Li Xuan and Liu Jinyu lowered their heads at the same time, and then accompanied Ouyang into the Great Ci'en Temple.

……

"Toffee, Prince, Princess, please come this way." Monk Huinuma led Li Xuan and others to the Tathagata Hall in the back hall.

Outside the palace gate, there are several old women in gorgeous clothes, accompanied by their children and grandchildren, waiting to offer incense one after another.

It was quiet in the courtyard. Li Xuan nodded slightly and looked behind the Tathagata Hall. He seemed to be able to hear the faint murmur of chanting sutras coming from the back of the hall.

Li Xuan immediately understood that the Tathagata Hall was actually behind the Main Hall.

No wonder these old nobles from aristocratic families can accept this golden Buddha that is inferior to the Mahavira Palace...

Li Xuan stood in the hall and was shocked when she looked at the Tathagata Buddha statue which was no less impressive than the Golden Buddha in the Main Hall.

It turns out that there is not only one truly magnificent Tathagata Golden Buddha in Daci'en Temple.

And this does not include the one Li Xuan brought back from Tubo.

Huinuma led Liu Jinyu, Ouyang, Xiaer and Zhaoer to kneel down and pay homage, while a young novice led Li Xuan to the back hall.

In the Zen room in the middle of the back hall, Monk Guiji was sitting cross-legged on the ground, chanting sutras in a low voice.

Li Xuan's eyes were attracted by the portrait on the wall in front of Monk Guiji, which was clearly a portrait of Xuanzang.

Li Xuan put her hands together, then the real person bowed and said: "Master."

"Your Majesty." Monk Guiji did not turn around and continued to speak: "Does Your Majesty know that Duke Guo of Song had his three daughters convert to Buddhism in his early years? I wonder if Your Majesty has such a wish?"

The daughter converted to Buddhism, and Li Xuan's eyes instantly became gloomy and menacing.

(End of this chapter)