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

Chapter 1519 King Peng has always been the most sensible
The whole morning passed slowly, and in the Zhenguan Hall, Empress Wu turned and went to the east side hall.

After Li Xian and others respectfully saw Empress Wu off, they led people to the west wing hall.

The low table in the center was already filled with vegetarian dishes and soups.

Empress Wu was sitting down calmly.

Shangguan Wan'er stepped forward and carefully served Empress Wu during her meal.

At this moment, the eunuch Qiu Huan walked in from outside and bowed softly, saying, "Queen, Wang Yinke wants to see you."

"Pass it on!" Empress Wu nodded calmly.

Qiu Huan turned around and stepped aside. Wang Yinke then entered the hall and bowed, saying, "Your Highness, Wang Yinke, pays respect to the Queen Mother."

Empress Wu nodded calmly and asked, "How is it?"

"My lord, according to my investigation, King Peng knows nothing about what's going on in the palace." Wang Yinke bowed earnestly and said, "After King Peng left the palace yesterday, he stayed in the Zhongyue Temple to pray for the late emperor. Apart from talking to the crown prince's horse groom Tian Youyan, he never left again and didn't care about anything else."

Empress Wu frowned and looked up at Qiu Huan: "Tian Youyan?"

"Yes!" Qiu Huan bowed and whispered, "Empress Dowager, the Crown Prince's groom Tian Youyan left his resignation letter in the East Palace yesterday. After meeting with King Peng yesterday, he returned to Mount Mao."

Empress Wu fell silent, sighed, and said, "People of the Taoist sect have always been the most sensible about how to advance and retreat. Prince Peng...if nothing unexpected happens, after he leaves the capital in February, he will not be too involved in the affairs of the palace."

"Yes!" Qiu Huan bowed and took a step back.

Li Xuan has always rarely interfered in the specific affairs of the court, and it has been like this for many years. As long as he leaves Luoyang, he won't have to worry about it.

Empress Wu looked up at Wang Yinke and said, "You continue."

"Yes!" Wang Yinke bowed and said, "Yesterday I sent people to keep an eye on the Right Guard and the guards of Prince Peng's palace, as well as all other people related to Prince Peng. There was no movement at all. Even Prince Peng did not contact us to make any arrangements, and he only brought a team of Right Guard cavalry with him."

Empress Wu nodded slightly and said, "It seems that Prince Peng really knows nothing about that matter. However, if we don't find that person, he will inevitably go to Prince Peng in the end. Keep watching him. I will give you an imperial decree. If you find that person has contacted Prince Peng, kill him."

"Yes!" Wang Yinke bowed solemnly with a serious expression.

"Go." Empress Wu waved her hand, and Wang Yinke immediately bowed and retreated.

After Wang Yinke left, Empress Wu looked up at Qiu Huan and asked, "Where is that man now?"

"There were signs before that it seemed like he went to Jizhou, but later we found some signs in Shanzhou." Qiu Huan looked at Empress Wu with a worried look on his face.

Even the enemy officials found it difficult to track down that man.

Empress Wu nodded and said, "That person's identity has not been confirmed yet?"

"I feel ashamed." Qiu Huan lowered his head heavily.

Qiu Huan was not able to know the people the emperor had hidden under Empress Wu's nose.

"Do you have a target?" Empress Wu raised her eyebrows slightly.

"I have a guess." Qiu Huan cupped his hands, then said solemnly, "I suspect that the man is most likely one of the people who reported death while on duty in the Secret Guard in recent years, so he is out of sight. Or he is a similar general in the army, or he was exiled in his early years but reported death."

Empress Wu nodded slightly. No one knew what was happening to these people who were dead in public but still alive in secret.

We don’t know their identities, we don’t know their whereabouts, and we can’t even find out.

After all, the person who secretly controls them is the emperor. As long as the emperor writes a secret decree at random, they can get countless benefits.

And those who knew about it all kept their mouths shut.

"Keep investigating. There must be clues left behind." Empress Wu raised her head and said, "Everyone in the court who may be related to this must be kept under close watch."

"Yes!" Qiu Huan immediately bowed and then carefully retreated.

Only then did Empress Wu lower her head to eat, with Shangguan Wan'er serving her carefully.

After the meal, Empress Wu asked calmly, "Where did Fan Qing go?"

"Minister Fan has gone to the Ministry of Personnel." Shangguan Wan'er reported softly.

Fan Lubing went to the Ministry of Personnel to negotiate about rewards. This matter concerned Empress Wu's future foundation in the entire court and could not be taken lightly.

Although the Minister of Personnel Guo Zhengyi was born into the Guo family of Taiyuan, he also had his own opinions on some things, which was the most troublesome thing.

After all, Empress Wu is now the empress dowager, not the queen.

Although the late emperor had left a will allowing her to participate in the court meetings on the first and fifteenth days of the lunar month, the noble families and officials in the court might not necessarily want her to be too involved in state affairs.

After all, Empress Wu was much harder to fool than the emperor.

The most crucial thing is how Empress Wu, the Emperor, and the aristocratic families, these three hands that stir up trouble behind the scenes, play the game.

"Keep an eye on Pei Yan." Empress Wu raised her head slightly, and Shangguan Wan'er immediately bowed and said, "Yes!"

At this moment, Pei Yan, the Minister of the Central Secretariat, is the most critical.

……

Songshan, Zhongyue Mountain Temple, Junji Hall.

Li Xuan sat quietly in the hall, closing his eyes in deep thought.

Li Zhu walked in quickly from outside, stopped and bowed, saying, "Your Highness, the Chief Secretary has entered the palace."

"Hmm!" Li Xuan gently opened his eyes, looked up and said, "Move slowly with the matter at Songshan, don't be in a hurry."

"Yes!" Li Zhu immediately bowed and turned away.

Li Xuan raised his head and looked at the statue of the mountain god of Songshan in front of him with a solemn expression.

At this moment, the secret guards were staring at him. Although Wang Yinke had entered the palace, countless eyes of the secret guards in the entire Songshan Mountain were watching him.

A sneer flashed across Li Xuan's lips.

It was precisely because of the excessive actions of the secret guards that Li Xuan was completely certain that something must have happened in the palace.

Something must have happened in the palace on the night the emperor died.

That night, Li Xuan was also in the palace.

He clearly remembered that after the emperor took the medicine, the voices of the emperor and Empress Wu talking could be faintly heard from the Zhenguan Hall.

Afterwards, Empress Wu left the Zhenguan Hall, and the emperor was the only one left in the hall.

If the emperor's voice had not been heard from the hall more than once later, it would be difficult to say how the emperor died.

But after Empress Wu left the Zhenguan Hall, she asked everyone outside to stay away from the Zhenguan Hall, and even the guards in the hall were asked to stay ten feet away. Something must have happened in the hall, and judging from the current state of the secret guards, it was obvious that someone had come out of the palace.

Li Xuan let out a sigh, withdrew his gaze from the mountain god statue, and then slowly closed his eyes.

In an instant, his gaze turned to outside the Taoist temple.

A goshawk was flying high in the sky, and everything in and around Mount Song was within the goshawk's sight.

Teams of civilians and military officers carried the imperial belongings removed from the Taoist temple in Songshan down the mountain, loaded them onto horse-drawn carriages and sent them back to the palace.

At the same time, they also assisted the Taoist priests of Songshan to clean up Songshan.

Although the emperor did not perform the Fengshan ceremony, Songshan is still an important Taoist site. Now that Li Xuan is in charge here, due respect should still be shown.

Wang Yinke had a number of secret guards under his command, hiding among these soldiers and civilians, and their eyes were fixed on Li Xuan.

Outside the secret pool on the hillside of Songshan Mountain, there are always two secret guards keeping watch.

Afraid that Li Xuan would discover the secrets.

The goshawk flew high in the sky again, its gaze directly towards the depths of Mang Mountain north of Luoyang.

The secret guards' actions were indeed very covert, but that was within the city of Luoyang. Once they left Luoyang, any big move they made would immediately make it difficult for them to escape the surveillance of the soldiers.

Fifty to sixty thousand soldiers of the Sixteen Guards are stationed near Luoyang to protect the imperial capital. This is no joke.

The city of Luoyang is the territory of the Qianniu Guards, the Jinwu Guards and the Jianmen Guards, but outside the city of Luoyang is the territory of the Left and Right Guards, the Left and Right Xiaowei, the Left and Right Wuwei and the Left and Right Weiwei.

They may not act rashly, but that doesn't mean they won't know something.

The secret guards only found it deep in Mang Mountain, but once they searched towards the west of Luoyang, they would immediately fall into the sight of the surveillance right guard.

All this would naturally fall into Li Xuan's eyes.

Some people escaped from the palace, first fleeing to Mangshan, and then fleeing towards Chang'an.

Combining what happened on the night of the emperor's death and Li Xuan's earlier layout, Li Xuan already understood that the secret hand left by the emperor before his death had escaped from Luoyang.

The key now is where are the others?
……

The goshawk flew high and passed by Mangshan at a very fast speed.

Three hundred elite cavalrymen of the Right Guard were patrolling back and forth ten miles away from Mangshan.

At their speed, they can reach Songshan in a blink of an eye.

Li Xuan was the General of the Right Guard. He had the authority to mobilize less than 500 elite cavalrymen of the Right Guard, as long as he informed the Ministry of War afterwards.

Li Xuan only called them to protect his own safety. Even though Ouyang Tong was an upright and old-fashioned person, he would not say much about this matter.

Although the secret guards have a lot of manpower in Mangshan, as long as Li Xuan gives an order, the elite cavalry of the Right Guard at the foot of the mountain can kill them all at any time.

In Luoyang City, everything belonged to Empress Wu, but outside Luoyang City, it was hard to say who could control everything.

In Junji Palace, Li Xuan slowly opened his eyes with a pensive look on his face.

The secret guards tried their best to find the man around Luoyang, but looking at the current situation, they obviously found nothing.

Although Li Xuan didn't want to see that person fall into the hands of the secret guards, the problem was that he had no idea where that person was.

The fact that that person was able to escape the secret guards' pursuit meant that with the manpower Li Xuan had in Luoyang, it would be difficult for him to actually find that person's location.

But Li Xuan doesn't need to find anyone else.

With gentle breathing, Li Xuan's mind calmed down.

That man held something that could threaten Empress Wu, but it was difficult for him to make that thing work on his own, so he needed to find someone, hand the thing over to someone else, and then let that person make it work.

For example, Li Xuan is similar to Li Xiaoyi, and even Li Xian and Li Dan.

Li Xuan's expression became solemn. It was precisely because of this that Empress Wu sent Wang Yinke to keep a close eye on him.

Li Xuan took a deep breath and his eyes became solemn.

He must get that thing. He cannot let it be taken away by Empress Wu, nor can he let it fall into the hands of others.

Who, Li Xian, Li Dan, Li Xiaoyi.

No, at this moment, anyone in Luoyang would not be his target.

So, it could only be Li Xian.

Therefore, Mangshan and Chang'an were just a decoy, and his real destination was Bazhou.

Li Xuan shook his head gently. If Li Xuan could think of Bazhou, then Empress Wu could naturally think of it as well.

Now, whether he goes west to Chang'an or south to Shannan Road, his way is blocked.

So, if he was smart enough, he should go to Yangzhou.

Take the canal to Yangzhou, then go upstream along the Yangtze River. You can abandon the boat and wait for the south bank of the Yangtze River at any time.

That makes sense.

Yangzhou, Li Xuan smiled gently.

High in the sky, the goshawk was already flying eastward.

……

The twenty-eighth day of the twelfth lunar month was the fourth day since the late emperor’s death.

As usual, after getting up in the morning and crying and paying homage to the late emperor, Li Xuan waited outside Chengtian Gate.

At this moment, the prince's household official Wei Hongmin appeared behind Li Xuan: "Your Majesty."

Li Xuan turned around, looked at Wei Hongmin, nodded, and whispered: "But the reward issue has come to a conclusion."

"Yes, everything else is fine." Wei Hongmin said with a trace of worry on his face, "It's just that Yao Zhanshi's name is not on the list of rewards. Yao Zhanshi invites the prince to come over now."

"Yes!" Li Xuan nodded calmly and said, "Let's go and see how to take back the position of Prime Minister from Yao Zhanshi."

Li Xuan's voice was not low, and many people around heard his words and looked surprised.

Is another storm about to start?
(End of this chapter)