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

Chapter 1490: I am the one in the world who most wishes Your Majesty to live a hundred years

In the bedroom, listening to Li Xuan's detailed account of what happened today, Liu Jinyu looked at Li Xuan with some confusion and asked, "Husband, if what you said was true, His Majesty and the Queen had already prepared for what happened today, then how did they know about it?"

"Of course it was Prime Minister Cui." Li Xuan sneered and said disdainfully, "Zheng Xuanguo couldn't give up his mother and daughter. While the body was in Dengfeng, he secretly went to take a look and met Prime Minister Cui at the same time."

Liu Jinyu's expression changed, and he immediately understood everything. He said with emotion, "I'm afraid the Duke of Tongan would never have thought that his uncle, whom he has always trusted, would betray him?"

"He thought of it, so he deployed the smoke bomb in advance." Li Xuan leaned his arms behind his head, looked at the darkness above the bed, and said softly: "But he didn't expect that Cui Xiang's speed in contacting the Queen was simply astonishing."

Even Li Xuan did not expect that Cui Zhiwen gave Zheng Xuanguo the Cui family token and then sold him to Empress Wu.

Empress Wu had plans in every aspect. With the help of the emperor, she even reached into Zheng Xuanguo's secret guards.

He didn't even think that all this was under Li Xuan's surveillance.

"Isn't Prime Minister Cui's changes a bit too frequent?" Liu Jinyu showed a trace of disgust on his face.

The three families of Cui, Lu and Zheng originally joined forces to attack Li Xuan, but Li Xuan easily solved the problem in Chang'an.

On the Wei River, Cui Zhiwen had already promised to obey the orders of the Crown Prince, but when he arrived in Luoyang and saw the opportunity, he hooked up with Li Dan again.

On the day of recommending the Minister of Rites in the Council of State, Cui Zhiwen originally planned to firmly support Li Dan, but when he heard the slightest rumor that something was wrong, he immediately abandoned Li Dan and turned to support Li Xian.

He and Zheng Xuan Guo had some kind of kinship after all, but at the critical moment, he chose to betray Zheng Xuan Guo and instead sold Zheng Xuan Guo to Empress Wu.

Yes, betrayed to Empress Wu.

He did not tell Li Xuan or Li Xian about this matter, so he was able to betray them again.

The changes were so fast that even Liu Jinyu was surprised.

"People from aristocratic families are often fickle, this is not surprising." Li Xuan shook his head calmly and said, "As long as we grasp their foundation, they will not be able to escape from our grasp."

"So, Prime Minister Cui's weakness is the Cui family of Boling." Liu Jinyu immediately understood that many of the things Cui Zhiwen had done before were to gain greater benefits for the family.

He was connected with the Eastern Palace, was close to the Prince of Xiang's Mansion, betrayed Li Dan, and betrayed Zheng Xuanguo.

“So even though Prime Minister Cui established a relationship with the Queen Mother by betraying Zheng Xuanguo, if one day he violates the Queen Mother’s interests and gets into trouble, he will seek support from other places.” Li Xuan’s eyes were indifferent. Aristocratic families were like that. For the greater benefit of their own family, they would sell out anything.

Li Xuan now finally understood why Empress Wu was able to remain firmly on the throne after deposing Li Xian and imprisoning Li Dan. It was because of the support of the aristocratic families.

Empress Wu gave them greater benefits and more official positions, so naturally they would not oppose her.

But if Empress Wu turned against them, they would immediately turn against her.

Li Xuan saw this clearly, and knew that the Cui family of Boling was already under his control.

……

"That's exactly what the noble families did." Liu Jinyu nodded in agreement, then said with a worried look on his face, "Then your Majesty, will there be any changes after taking those medicines and life-extending pills?"

Li Xuan lowered her head slightly, a trace of sadness on her face, and then she said softly: "In fact, in the whole world, I am the one who most hopes that something unexpected will happen, so that Your Majesty can live a long life and the Tang Dynasty can be more stable and peaceful, but unfortunately..."

Liu Jinyu leaned in Li Xuan's arms. She could clearly feel the pain hidden deep in Li Xuan's heart.

The emperor was kind to him after all.

Since Li Xuan entered the officialdom, his greatest reliance was actually the memorials that were sent back to the court every few days.

As long as he is selfless enough in his governance, the emperor will be the person who supports him the most.

From the fifth rank Shangyao Fengyu, to Wuzhou Beijia, to the Southeast Military Envoy, Zuo Qianniu Wei Zhonglang Jiang, Zuo Jinwu Wei Zhonglang Jiang, Honglu Temple Shaoqing, Right Guard General, Taohe Road Deputy Chief of Army, Changzhou Governor, Changzhou Governor, Prince's Junior Secretary, Luoshui Road Chief of Army, Right Guard General, Prince's Guest, and Successor to King Peng.

Although Li Xuan fought for every step, the emperor was watching him all the way, so it was difficult for others to hinder his growth.

The most important thing is that he has made contributions and the emperor can completely turn these contributions into rewards.

There is no need to worry that these rewards for your achievements will be swallowed up by others.

There has never been such a good thing in the world, both ancient and modern.

No one else treated Li Xuan as well as the emperor.

Li Xuan shook his head gently, suppressed the pain in his heart, and said softly: "Your Majesty's foundation has been destroyed. Now he looks more energetic, but in fact, the more his foundation is burning, everything will be clear in three to five days. As for the life-extending pill..."

Liu Jinyu suddenly became serious. Although the life-extending elixir was just a variation of the Five-Stones Powder, it utilized Xia'er's luck after all, so it was bound to have miraculous effects.

“Although the life-extending pill may have some effect, it is just a drop in the bucket compared to the huge damage. It may allow the emperor to live for a few quarters of an hour, but at most a few hours.” Although Li Xuan’s expression was gloomy, his words were firm and terrifying.

Li Xuan had done a lot of tampering with those pills.

The emperor naturally wanted to live longer, but others might not want him to have this opportunity. They would not even give him the slightest chance. And the person who was most likely to make a move was naturally the one closest to the emperor.

The person closest to the emperor in this world is no one else except Empress Wu.

Li Xuan was the person in the entire Tang Dynasty who understood Empress Wu's desire for power best. She would certainly not remain indifferent when the emperor was dying.

At that time, the few minutes the emperor can survive will be his most likely chance to leave a backup plan.

But unfortunately, not to mention then, even now, Li Xuan cannot reach into the palace, let alone be by the emperor's side.

Empress Wu will make sure everything is under her control.

……

"A few days." Liu Jinyu leaned against Li Xuan and said seriously, "Since the emperor only has a few days left, what should we do?"

"What should I do?" Li Xuan smiled bitterly and looked at Liu Jinyu, and said softly: "My identity as a husband is there. These days, I can't say that every move I make is monitored, but at least when I am outside, there are people watching me every moment. Even a big move is repeatedly scrutinized."

Li Xuan took a deep breath and said, "Mr. Yue once said that at this moment, if anyone dares to bet that the emperor will not survive, the emperor will first make him die. If I show any sign of being sure that Your Majesty will not survive, Your Majesty will immediately use thunder and lightning to deal with me."

Especially now that the emperor is rapidly consuming his essence, he is actually more shrewd than usual.

At this time, his suspicion was the strongest.

The test that the Emperor and Empress Wu put on Li Xuan today will fall directly on other people tomorrow.

Li Xuan passed the test, but others may not be able to pass.

As for the consequences of not passing the test...

Li Xuan shook his head slightly, dismissal from office was a light measure.

If you say something you shouldn't, you might end up in a life-or-death situation.

"But we can still do something." Liu Jinyu looked up at Li Xuan and said seriously, "After the death of the emperor, I don't know how many positions in the court will be vacant. We won't fight for the core positions in the central government, but in the local areas, there are great opportunities for some positions such as Changshi and Sima. It's nothing more than the Ministry of Personnel..."

"At most, we will show up at the Ministry of Personnel one step ahead of time." Li Xuan nodded and said thoughtfully, "The local authorities should prepare in advance. By the time we arrive in Luoyang, the emperor will have passed away and no one will care about what happened before."

"Yes, especially in the Jiangnan area. My husband has many trusted followers there, and my father has many old friends in the coastal areas as well."

Liu Jinyu looked at Li Xuan and said, "If nothing else, at least it can strengthen my husband's foundation. After four or five years, even if there is a governor among these people, it will be a great support for my husband. Given the relationship between my husband and the prince, this relationship will only become closer."

"You can do it, but you have to do it secretly. The people in the palace are hoping that I will make a mistake." Li Xuan gathered her thoughts a little, and then said, "In fact, the real action should be after His Majesty passes away. Whoever can react first and make arrangements in advance will gain the greatest benefit."

"No, the greatest benefit is to let His Majesty see his loyalty before he passes away..." When Liu Jinyu spoke to the end, he couldn't help but slow down, and then looked at Li Xuan in disbelief.

"A minister's loyalty to Your Majesty should be constant and consistent, and should not be mixed with anything else." Li Xuan raised his eyes and looked towards the darkness above.

Liu Jinyu looked at Li Xuan, his heart filled with horror.

At this moment, the person who showed the greatest loyalty to the emperor was her husband.

Once the emperor passed away, if he left any will, it would be of infinite benefit to them.

"Prince." Liu Jinyu almost moaned out these two words, and there was even infinite fear in his eyes when he looked at Li Xuan.

The emperor passed away and the prince ascended the throne. The best way is to please the prince in advance.

The three biggest things Li Xuan did after returning to the central government were to promote the Crown Princess's cousin Wei Daijia as the Minister of Personnel, to help the Crown Prince marry a daughter of the Zheng family from one of the five surnames and seven families as his concubine, and to strike at the power of Prince Xiang's subordinates who were capable of competing with the Crown Prince for the throne.

Others may not be able to see these things clearly, but the prince himself is clear about them.

The only problem was the taking of Zheng's daughter as a concubine, but this incident also indirectly hit Prince Xiang.

As for what happened afterwards, he simply used the opportunity of Zheng's daughter to stir up trouble within the Zheng family in Xingyang.

The most crucial thing was that Yuan Wanqing, the head of the Northern Gate Scholars, whom Empress Wu relied on very much, was killed by the emperor.

The job was done very beautifully and there were no consequences.

……

Li Xuan gently hugged Liu Jinyu and whispered, "Forget it, don't think so much. Tomorrow is a rare day off, so I will spend some time with you and Tong'er... You also know that after tomorrow, it will be difficult to have this free time again."

The emperor has passed away, so there is no time for people to relax.

(End of this chapter)