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

Chapter 1497: The Emperor is Critically Ill, and the Secret Guards are Strangled
Outside the imperial palace, the ministers walked out of Chengtian Gate in an orderly manner.

At this time in the past, the ministers who had already started whispering to each other now fell silent.

Li Xuan walked towards the Duanmen Gate calmly. At this moment, a light sound of footsteps sounded behind Li Xuan, and finally a voice called softly: "My Lord, the Crown Prince wants to see you."

In a word, all the ministers around looked at Li Xuan at the same time, and then looked at Crown Prince Li Xian who was further away.

Li Xian stood in the south of Chengtian Gate, looking anxiously at where Li Xuan was.

Li Xuan turned to look at the Prince's household official Wei Hongmin and said, "Brother Wei, please tell His Highness that we should call it a night and ask him to go back to the East Palace to rest. Tomorrow morning, when the palace gates are opened, he should go to the Zhenguan Palace to pay his respects.

As for other things, don't think too much, just calmly open your eyes and watch. "

Wei Hongmin glanced up and immediately understood the meaning of Li Xuan's words. At this moment, it is better to be still than to move.

If anyone makes any rash move at this moment, then after careful observation, report directly to the emperor for handling.

At this moment, if anyone dares to act rashly, the first person who will not let them go will be Empress Wu.

Of course, there is also the emperor.

Anyone who angers the emperor at this time will face an extremely cruel blow.

And there will most likely be no turning back.

This is true both now and in the future.

Wei Hongmin walked quickly towards Li Xian. When the officials around heard what Li Xuan said, their expressions became solemn.

The Emperor and the Empress are not easy to mess with, and King Peng is not easy to mess with either.

Li Xuan, the prince's guest, has made quite a few moves tonight.

However, few people know that although Li Xuan had a hand in tonight's events, the current outcome was more caused by the emperor's own ideas.

……

The moon was setting in the west, and the carriage was slowly moving towards Sigongfang amid the bustling crowd.

On the eve of the Chinese New Year, the city of Luoyang was much more lively than the day when the Crown Prince married the Concubine.

Xia'er and Zhao'er had already fallen asleep in their mother's arms.

As they traveled east, Liu Jinyu finally couldn't help but ask, "My husband, why did His Majesty suddenly change the era name tonight?"

Li Xuan looked at Liu Jinyu deeply. He knew what she was asking, but he couldn't say it directly.

Li Xuan raised his eyes, sighed softly, and said: "Your Majesty once said, Fuchang Yonglong, Yonglong Fuchang, without Fuchang there is no Yonglong, but without Yonglong how can there be Fuchang."

Now that the emperor wants to change the reign title from Yonglong to Hongdao, it will naturally have nothing to do with Fuchang anymore.

Promote the Dao, promote the Dao.

People can spread the Tao, but the Tao cannot spread people.

The emperor's meaning was clear: to seek the will of heaven.

But the sudden change of the era name still allowed more people to see his true colors.

"The time to change the era name should have been on the first day of the first lunar month, before the Fengshan ceremony. This would be in line with your majesty's way of doing things. Now it is suddenly advanced, which means that your majesty is aware of his own health." Li Xuan sighed lightly.

The emperor finally began to face up to his own physical condition and no longer held on to the dream of extending his life for another three or four years.

"So that medicine?" Liu Jinyu left the words unfinished.

Li Xuan nodded gently and said, "Your Majesty still has to take the medicine, but I hope that before taking it, you can prepare all the measures in advance, just in case... just in case, it will not delay government affairs."

After a short pause, Li Xuan seemed to have thought of something, and looked at Liu Jinyu and said, "Sanniang also knows that to take the medicine, you need to rely on the luck of Fengshan. Now it may be difficult to wait for Fengshan. Perhaps Your Majesty wants to rely on the luck of changing the reign... After all, changing the reign also requires amnesty for the whole country, and the whole world is boiling."

Liu Jinyu raised his eyebrows and suddenly understood.

After all, the emperor was still holding on to a lucky thought. While guarding against future changes, he also hoped to borrow the good fortune of the world brought by this Fengshan ceremony to help him take the medicine successfully and ultimately achieve the effect of the life-extending elixir.

"So what's the result?" Liu Jinyu looked at Li Xuan deeply.

Li Xuan forced a smile and said, "Perhaps it could have a surprising effect."

Liu Jinyu couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief. Although Li Xuan said so, his words and deeds had clearly indicated that the emperor's chances of success after taking the medicine were too slim.

"If tonight is like this, I'm afraid many people will understand. It's possible that Luoyang City will be very lively tonight." Liu Jinyu leaned forward slightly and whispered, "What about the prince?"

"The Crown Prince is naturally uneasy, but right now, the most nervous person in the whole of Luoyang is not the Crown Prince, but the Queen Mother." Li Xuan sneered and said softly, "Tonight, we want them to be in chaos. It will be good for us if they are in chaos."

Liu Jinyu frowned slightly. She didn't quite understand what Li Xuan meant, so she changed the subject and asked, "There's another matter, which is about Li Changshi. Li Changshi was suddenly transferred to the position of Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice, and the chief official in the family was replaced by Wang Changshi... They are too wary of my husband."

Hearing the dissatisfaction in Liu Jinyu's words, Li Xuan smiled lightly, then shook her head and said, "This is normal. My husband has a profound influence on the prince. As long as you can control me a little, the prince will not act too recklessly."

"Is that so?" Liu Jinyu looked at Li Xuan, blinked, and said, "My husband, aren't you worried at all when Wang Changshi is transferred to the palace?"

"There's nothing to worry about." Li Xuan's expression was extremely calm, so calm that it frightened Liu Jinyu.

As if he could see the worry in her heart, Li Xuan smiled faintly and said, "Whether it's the palace or Luosai, they are all my husband's territory. If they were your majesty's people, I would naturally give your majesty some face, respect them, and hand over all the rights of the outer palace to them. But now... everything has changed."

If the emperor were present, Li Xuan naturally would not dare to have any strange thoughts.

But with the emperor gone and only Empress Wu left, Li Xuan was indeed worried, but he did not have any more fears.

"If anything unexpected happens, the Queen's biggest enemy is not us, but the aristocratic families." Li Xuan looked outside the curtain and said softly, "In the past, with His Majesty's support, the world was clear and no one dared to act recklessly. But without His Majesty's support, the world is in chaos. If we leave Luoyang, I'm afraid the Queen won't be able to see anything clearly. At least she needs a lot of time to figure it out."

After a short pause, Li Xuan said indifferently, "Under this situation, even if there is an accident in the mansion, it will be difficult for the Queen to mobilize enough forces to deal with it. In this way, for me, everything is enough."

"But His Majesty is still here." Liu Jinyu couldn't help but grab Li Xuan's arm. She had a feeling that some kind of restraint that had been binding Li Xuan's body had completely disappeared.

Li Xuan patted the back of Liu Jinyu's hand and said softly, "His Majesty can't take care of it anymore. Even tonight, he can only take care of Luoyang City. He will have less and less time to take care of other things. But don't worry, my lady. I will endure it, at least until the most unacceptable day comes."

That day will not be too far away, only one day away.

Li Xuan's breathing became calmer and calmer. As the day gradually approached, he was calmer than he had expected.

Perhaps because of years of preparation, the gap between Li Xuan and Empress Wu was not as big as he had imagined.

However, Li Xuan still has a lot to do if she wants to achieve her goal.

……

The red lights are hanging high and the courtyard is quiet.

Li Bi walked into the study at a very fast speed. Inside the study, Li Xuan was writing a letter seriously.

Seeing Li Bi coming in, Li Xuan stopped writing, looked up and handed the letter in his hand to Li Bi, and said, "Tomorrow, after I enter the palace, I will immediately send a letter to ask Li Mo to rush to Chang'an."

"Yes!" Li Bi immediately bowed solemnly. He knew that things had begun.

Li Mo is a military officer in the Peng Palace, specializing in intelligence investigation.

He rarely appears next to Li Xuan, but when he appears next to Li Xuan, it means that Prince Peng's Mansion has begun to carry out the most thorough intelligence infiltration into a certain place.

At this time, the most suitable place to do this is Chang'an.

The emperor is in unhealthy health, and Luoyang is now the most seriously turbulent city.

Once Luoyang is in turmoil, Empress Wu and the emperor will focus their attention on Luoyang. As for Chang'an, they will ignore it or even forget it.

Empress Wu did not dare to return to Chang'an because if she did, she would not be able to control the situation.

If she were in Luoyang, she would only have to face half the problems, which would be easier for her to handle.

As a result, he couldn't see clearly many things in Chang'an.

The reason why Li Xuan and the Cui family had to compete for the position of Wannian County Lieutenant was not to bless Li Xian's throne, but his own control over Chang'an.

When the emperor was not in Chang'an, Chang'an was just an ordinary city.

There were only two counties, Chang'an and Wannian. When Wannian County fell into Li Xuan's hands, half of the entire Chang'an City fell into Li Xuan's hands.

Chang'an, the imperial capital of the Tang Dynasty.

Luoyang, the capital of the Zhou Dynasty.

There is only one Hangu Pass in between.

Especially Hangu Pass, which is open to the outside world but not to the inside.

……

After collecting his thoughts, Li Xuan continued, "Let our people begin to gather at the foot of Mount Song. Have you figured out the Secret Guard's deployment at Mount Song?"

"I figured it out." Li Bi lowered his head seriously and said, "Half of them are your Majesty's people, and half are the Queen's people."

"Kill them all." Li Xuan's eyes were cold, and he said softly, "The Crown Prince has no chance to control these people. They will only completely rely on the Queen Mother, and then they will become our opponents."

"Yes!" Li Bi continued to bow with a stern look on his face.

Empress Wu did not have full control over the secret guards, and at most she was only half successful.

Now, her confidant Wang Yinke has been transferred to Li Xuan's mansion to serve as the chief secretary, and he has no time to care about what's happening outside.

If we look at it from this point of view, the emperor transferred Wang Yinke to Li Xuan's mansion as the chief secretary, which was actually to clear the obstacles for Li Xian to control the secret guards. But in fact, it was extremely difficult for Li Xian to control the secret guards.

"Today, Luoyang City will not be quiet." Li Xuan raised his eyes, looked at the sky outside, and said softly: "I don't know how many people will move. Tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, if something happens to the emperor, the secret guards outside the city will definitely be transferred back. At that time, let our people take action on their way back and clear them out directly."

"Yes!" Li Bi bowed solemnly.

Li Xuan nodded calmly and said, "As for the people Wu Sansi has gathered in Luoyang, once the emperor dies, we should also clear them out."

"Yes!" Li Bi looked solemn.

He knew that Wu Sansi had gathered many of Wu Chengsi's former subordinates in Chang'an.

However, among these people, there were originally quite a few of Li Xuan’s people.

That year, Wu Sansi was in Luoyang, and he didn't know how many people had sneaked into Chang'an.

Of course, Wu Sansi also gathered a lot of people in Luoyang. However, once these people had problems, Wu Sansi would have to transfer them from Chang'an. Now, they have more opportunities.

"Tell Li Yan about Jiangnan's affairs and ask him to do something about it." Li Xuan raised his head calmly and said, "In recent years, those who are hostile to us but occupy key positions should be cleared out, so that the court will no longer pay attention to them."

"Yes!"

"besides……"

(End of this chapter)