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

Chapter 1515 Your Majesty, Why Can't You Die in Peace?

“This Prince Peng!” Empress Wu stood behind the palace gate, watching the eunuchs help the nearly crying Li Xuan out of the palace. She looked 30% shocked, 30% amused, and 30% suspicious. She leaned over and asked, “Wan’er, do you think Prince Peng’s actions were fake?”

Empress Wu just asked a question, but Li Xuan then cried for a full quarter of an hour in front of her.

At the beginning, Empress Wu just watched calmly, but as Li Xuan's crying became louder and louder and more contagious, some palace maids and eunuchs in the side hall could not help but cry along with her.

Empress Wu quickly sent people to pull Li Xuan away, but no matter how hard they tried, she couldn't stop crying. She cried for half a quarter of an hour before she finally stopped crying.

Only then did Empress Wu have Li Xuan sent away, and she could no longer ask Li Xuan the questions she had asked before.

He would burst into tears again, fearing that there was something wrong with the words.

Although Empress Wu was troubled by Li Xuan's crying, she was still suspicious.

After all, in history books, there are quite a few people who resorted to crying to solve problems.

For example, the famous Emperor Zhaolie of Han, Liu Bei, is one of the best.

But in fact, the other two people who competed with Emperor Zhaolie of Han, Emperor Taizu Wu of Wei, Cao Cao, and Emperor Taizu Da of Wu, Sun Quan, were also good at crying scenes.

Each one should not be underestimated.

Shangguan Wan'er, wearing white linen mourning clothes and with a beautiful face, stepped forward and bowed earnestly, saying, "My Queen, Wan'er didn't notice it at first, but later on, King Peng was really crying... After all, the late emperor had a great favor towards King Peng. Just as he said, although they are a king and a brother, in fact, they are as good as father and son."

Empress Wu thought of Li Xuan's look as if she was about to burst into tears, and could not help but nod slightly.

Over the years, when Li Xuan faced the late emperor, Empress Wu was often present.

He really did his best in facing the late emperor.

Especially the incident that happened back then...

The sound of light footsteps interrupted Empress Wu's thoughts. She looked up and saw the eunuch Qiu Huan walking into the hall with a solemn expression.

Seeing Empress Wu looking up, Qiu Huan immediately cupped his hands and said seriously, "Empress, something happened. Last night, a team of secret guards returned from the foot of Songshan Mountain, but they were ambushed and killed."

Empress Wu's eyes widened immediately, and she looked at Qiu Huan in disbelief and asked, "Kill them all?"

"Yes!" Qiu Huan bowed and said seriously, "Because there were many things going on last night, I didn't pay much attention to it. When I counted today, I found that the team of secret guards from Songshan had not returned. I sent people to search for them, and found their bodies in the valley at the foot of Songshan."

Empress Wu lowered her head slightly, squinted her eyes and asked, "Why did he die?"

"Died from a crossbow arrow." Qiu Huan's face was solemn, and he said in a deep voice: "There was no marked crossbow arrow, but it was very sophisticated... The scene had been cleaned up, but because it was dark, a broken arrow was found in the dry grass in the distance."

"In the army?" Empress Wu said, clenching her fists.

"No." Qiu Huan shook his head and said, "The secret guards have mastered the techniques and production procedures of the various foundries, the Ministry of Works, the General Works Supervisor, and other official craftsmen in the army, but the techniques used to break the arrows we found are a bit messy..."

"Aristocratic family!" Empress Wu nodded slightly. She knew that there was a huge underground black market in both Chang'an and Luoyang.

Such a black market not only trades various weapons, gold and silver, poisons, intelligence, but even population and other things.

Wu Chengsi once infiltrated such a black market.

But unfortunately, he was blinded and not only began to seek profits for himself, but also participated in the rebellion of the King of Yue, and finally could not escape death.

"Go check and see which family has been behaving strangely in the past few days?" Empress Wu's expression became serious.

Although the power of the aristocratic families in Luoyang is not very strong, it is definitely not weak.

Especially when the emperor was preparing for his Fengshan ceremony a while ago, I don’t know how many patriarchs of aristocratic families came to Luoyang.

Not to mention that there were hundreds of local governors, who had close and complex ties with the aristocratic families. The situation in Luoyang was already difficult for Wu Zetian to control.

Especially after the emperor's death.

"Yes!" Qiu Huan bowed, then quickly turned and left.

Empress Wu looked forward and said softly, "So, what happened last night has nothing to do with King Peng."

After saying this, Empress Wu subconsciously looked back.

Shangguan Wan'er had already lowered her head, as if she hadn't heard what Empress Wu was saying at all.

Empress Wu turned around and her expression became serious.

Your Majesty, what exactly did you write?
That night, the emperor was the only one in the Zhenguan Hall.

Empress Wu confirmed this with absolute certainty.

So as far as she knew, no one would enter the temple without avoiding her eyes.

So the emperor was the only one who wrote anything.

As for how the emperor suddenly recovered his spirit and wrote such a thing, it is meaningless to pursue it.

The key is what the emperor wrote and how it was sent out of the palace.

Empress Wu looked towards the main hall with an extremely solemn expression.

Ever since she had someone bathe and change the emperor's clothes last night, there has always been someone around the emperor's body.

No, now we should call him the late emperor.

Empress Wu had a solemn expression. If the emperor really had written something and had someone send it out, it would mean that the emperor had a force so powerful in his hands that she, his partner for decades, had no idea how powerful it was.

Your Majesty, how on earth could you hide such a force right under my nose?

Wang Fulai’s figure suddenly popped into Empress Wu’s mind.

Over the years, apart from Empress Wu, the person who was closest to the emperor and knew most of his secrets was Wang Fulai.

Empress Wu narrowed her eyes slightly. If she wanted to know the answers to these questions, she could only start with Wang Fulai.

In addition, there are other things that may be obtained...

A light sound of footsteps was heard from behind the hall, and then the leader of the black-clad secret guards, Wang Yinke, appeared behind Empress Wu and reported softly, "Your Majesty, someone came out of the Xuanwu Gate last night holding the late emperor's golden medal, and then went north to Mangshan." "Yes!" Empress Wu nodded slightly, her face unusually calm.

Although the late emperor had made secret arrangements, there were still clues to be found.

This is the imperial palace. Even if someone manages to sneak into the palace, it would not be easy to leave.

The man took the things from the emperor and wanted to leave immediately instead of staying in the palace.

Because of the investigation in the palace, it was difficult to track his whereabouts.

So running away is the best option.

Empress Wu did not turn around, but looked at Li Xuan who disappeared under the shadow of Qianyang Palace, and asked in a low voice: "Do you think what happened in the palace last night is related to what happened in Songshan?"

Wang Yinke was silent for a moment, then he bowed and said, "My Queen, in my opinion, they are related. They both happened at the same time and they echoed each other."

After a short pause, Wang Yinke said, "Although that person finally fled into Mang Mountain last night, in my opinion, he actually fled south."

"Make a feint to the east and attack in the west." Empress Wu nodded slightly. Although this trick was not new, it was definitely useful.

Although some of Wang Yinke's secret guards have begun searching southward, more of them are still searching in the north.

"In this case, if the person from last night was actually the contact person, then it would not be such a simple matter for them to kill the secret guards of Songshan." Wang Yinke bowed solemnly.

"Fishing in troubled waters." Empress Wu spoke softly. Invisibly, she had connected everything together.

"I regret this." Empress Wu raised her head, looked in the direction of Mount Song, and said softly, "Let King Peng handle the matter of Mount Song. If he discovers the secret, it will be troublesome."

What Empress Wu was more worried about was that Li Xuan would get the secret decree left by the emperor.

"You haven't gone to Prince Peng's mansion to take over yet, right?" Empress Wu looked up at Wang Yinke.

Previously, Li Zhaode was transferred to the position of Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice, and the position of Chief Secretary of King Peng was taken over by Wang Yinke.

But that happened the night before. Yesterday the emperor changed the reign title and died of illness. Today there were other events, such as the crown prince ascending the throne. Wang Yinke hardly saw Li Xuan at all.

Wang Yinke bowed and said, "Reporting to the Queen Mother, although King Peng has a villa in Luoyang, there is no official residence of King Peng's chief secretary in the villa..."

"Yes, Prince Peng's official residence is in Chang'an." Empress Wu nodded slightly.

Although Li Zhaode was also the chief secretary of King Peng before, he rarely saw Li Xuan when he was in Luoyang.

When the two met, they would occasionally say a few words and then say goodbye.

Li Zhaode also held the post of Imperial Censor, so besides Prince Peng's Palace, he had other places to go.

"You go to Songshan." Empress Wu raised her head calmly and said indifferently, "Replace Fan Lubing and go to Songshan to keep an eye on Prince Peng for me. If he makes any unusual moves, kill him."

"Yes, sir." Wang Yinke was solemn, then turned around and left quickly.

Empress Wu looked forward and said coldly: "The sixteen generals of the guards, the prime ministers, the princes, the ministers, and the chief officers of the four major military governors' offices, all send people to watch him to death."

"Yes!" In the darkness, someone bowed in response and then disappeared without a trace.

Empress Wu calmly withdrew her gaze, stood up and walked towards the main hall.

At this moment, there were still many people crying in the main hall.

According to local customs, when the emperor dies, mourning and sacrifice cannot stop.

Empress Wu walked to the front of the imperial bed and looked at the emperor lying on it through the curtains.

He was wearing a black dragon robe and a black crown with tassels on his head. His expression was calm and indifferent, with only his eyes slightly closed.

It was as if the emperor was just sleeping soundly.

It was as if he would wake up the next moment.

Empress Wu was inexplicably flustered. At this moment, a voice came from the side: "Your Majesty."

Empress Wu subconsciously looked up, and then saw Li Xian, Li Dan, Princess Taiping, the Crown Princess, the Princess of Xiang, the Princess of Dai, the Prince-in-law Xue Shao, the Crown Prince's concubine, the Prince of Xiang's concubine, and several children, all of whom walked in solemnly from the side hall.

There was a flash of relief in Empress Wu's eyes, but also a flash of disappointment.

Then she turned her head and looked at the emperor sleeping on the imperial bed, her eyes suddenly becoming extremely complicated.

Looking at this man who had once placed her life's hopes on, and who had once shared her joys and sorrows and gone through hardships together, Empress Wu asked in her heart, "Your Majesty, why can't you die in peace?"

……

"Mother!" Li Xian walked up the golden steps, stood beside the imperial couch, and asked softly, "Empress Wu, the food is ready. You have been tired these past few days, please take care of yourself."

Empress Wu turned around and looked at Li Xian, whose eyes were filled with infinite concern.

Empress Wu suddenly smiled. This was her son.

The new emperor was her son and she was his only mother.

Your Majesty, Mei Niang will definitely help our son protect this world.

Empress Wu nodded and said, "The food is fine. You should also take care of yourselves, especially the Crown Princess. She is pregnant now. How about this? She doesn't have to keep vigil every night to avoid being tired. And Taiping, you just gave birth and your health is not good. You can go back and rest after the palace gates are locked every day."

"Thank you for your concern, mother." Li Xian couldn't help but salute excitedly. Even though he was the emperor, if he was too partial to his wife at a time like this, there would inevitably be talk and nonsense.

"Thank you, mother." The Crown Princess, Princess Taiping and others bowed in gratitude at the same time.

Empress Wu nodded and continued, "Children, don't stay up at night. Sanlang and Silang, you two brothers will take turns to guard your father at night."

"Yes!" Li Xian and Li Dan bowed at the same time.

Empress Wu nodded slightly and looked at the emperor again. She glanced at Wang Fulai from the corner of her eye, with a hint of murderous intent lingering quietly.

(End of this chapter)