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

Chapter 1530 Murder of Wang Fulai

On the 20th day of the first lunar month, all officials take off their mourning clothes.

A hint of warmth had already appeared on the silent palace road.

spring is coming.

In a trance, a long time has passed.

It has been twenty-seven days since the late emperor passed away. All officials have stopped mourning and the people have returned to normal.

Li Xuan was dressed in black brocade, with a layer of white cloth covering the nine-beam crown on his head and a circle of white silk tied around his left arm.

When passing by the Zhenguan Hall, he couldn't help but take a look inside, and heard a faint and vague sound.

Li Xian was meeting with the local governor and asking about state affairs.

When the late emperor first ascended the throne, he also met with local governors in the same way. However, compared to Li Zhi, who was eager to seek talents, Li Xian was much more cautious.

He mainly inquired about local finances and people's livelihood, and did not interfere much in local governance.

However, even if Li Xian only paid attention to local finances and people's livelihood, it was enough to make the local governor sweat profusely.

Their new emperor didn't deal with it that well either.

This is completely different from people's earlier impression of Li Xian as the crown prince.

Local governors often said this when they communicated privately.

Li Xuan also noticed this. Since he was crowned as the empress on the first day of the first lunar month, Li Xian has demonstrated the abilities he has learned over the years under the guidance of Li Xuan, Su Liangsi, Yao Lingzhang, Xue Yuanchao, Liu Rengui and others.

Li Xuan's eyes suddenly turned gloomy. He raised his head and looked in the direction of Huiyou Palace.

When Li Xian summoned the prime minister, the secretary, the local governors, and the sixteen generals of the guards one by one, Empress Wu remained strangely silent.

This led to praise from both the government and the public.

The previous rumors in the court that Empress Wu was greedy for power completely disappeared.

But the more this happened, the more palpitations Li Xuan felt.

He didn't know what went wrong, but the more he thought about it, the more Li Xuan felt that there was a high possibility that some key figure had been won over by Empress Wu.

If you count these people carefully, there are actually not many of them.

But it is very difficult to really investigate.

Because at this time, anyone who can appear on Li Xuan’s list is someone with sufficient background and ability.

If Li Xuan investigates rashly, there might be backlash.

After all, this is not the time of the late emperor. Although Li Xian is quite capable, he is still far from the level of the late emperor in all aspects.

Calming his mind, Li Xuan headed towards the Dayi Hall.

……

As soon as he arrived at the door of the Dayi Palace, the eunuch Fan Yunxian was already standing beside him, and he bowed and said, "Greetings, Your Majesty."

Li Xuan was slightly stunned, looked at Fan Yunxian, and asked, "Why is it that Junior Supervisor Fan is here today? Where is the prince?"

Fan Yunxian bowed slightly and said with a smile: "The prince fell ill a few days ago, so I am here to serve Uncle Wang and give lectures."

"He fell ill." Li Xuan stopped walking completely, looked at Fan Yunxian, frowned and said, "If I remember correctly, the cold that the prince had caught a few days ago should have been cured. How come he suddenly fell ill again?"

Half a month ago, Li Xuan went to the palace to teach the prince, and Wang Fulai already had a cold. Later, Li Xuan taught him how to use medicinal materials from Shang Pharmacy.

After Wang Fulai took the medicine, he was completely cured in four or five days.

The last time Li Xuan saw him was five days ago, during the grand court assembly on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month. He looked in good health. How come in just a few days, he was so sick that he couldn't see anyone?
Fan Yunxian immediately cried out in grievance: "I don't know the details, but the prince is old after all. He has been working hard since the death of the late emperor. Now he finally relaxes, but who knew he would fall ill all of a sudden."

"Don't worry, Mr. Fan. That's not what I meant." Li Xuan waved his hand and said, "After all, the prince follows His Majesty every day and has a lot of contact with the Queen, the Crown Prince, and Prince Ping'en. In addition, the Queen is pregnant. If he is not careful and transmits any disease, it will be troublesome."

Fan Yunxian's face suddenly changed. She looked at Li Xuan and said nervously, "Your Majesty, what should we do about this?"

Li Xuan glanced at the Zhenguan Palace from the side, shook his head with a worried look, and said: "This matter is not suitable for Your Majesty to know for the time being. In my opinion, I will report it to the Queen Mother first, and then isolate the princes.

In addition, the Shang Pharmacy has the anti-typhoid medicine that I presented to you in the past. Except for the Queen, who needs to adjust the medicine, everyone else in the palace should take a bowl of it."

"Yes!" Fan Yunxian immediately bowed, then turned around and left quickly.

He did not forget that in the early years, there had indeed been a typhoid fever outbreak in Chang'an, and the condition had even critically affected Princess Wencheng.

At that time, it was Li Xuan who prescribed the medicine that brought the epidemic under control.

Looking at Fan Yunxian's leaving back, Li Xuan's face darkened slightly.

Wang Fulai, tired, sick?
This kind of nonsense may work to fool other people, but it has no effect on Li Xuan.

Don't forget, he once took Wang Fulai's pulse. Li Xuan knew very well the condition of Wang Fulai's health.

Wang Fulai had served Emperor Taizong, the previous emperor, and the current elders in the palace. His inexplicable illness immediately made Li Xuan alert.

If Wang Fulai was not sick but someone wanted to kill him, then all of this would make sense.

Wang Fulai has been in the palace for decades, from Emperor Taizong, to the previous emperor, to Empress Wu, to today's new emperor. He knows too many unknown secrets in the palace.

If he was killed, if nothing else, it would at least take Li Xian longer to obtain more secrets in the palace.

Thinking of this, Li Xuan already knew who had done it.

So the question now is whether Li Xuan should save Wang Fulai.

Although Li Xuan had argued with Empress Wu several times before, in fact, all he did was to consolidate Li Xian's authority. Even if Empress Wu disliked him a little, the methods she used would not be too harsh.

After all, the late emperor's last will is still there.

However, if Li Xuan intervened in the palace infighting now, it would easily arouse Empress Wu's deep murderous intention. Wang Fulai could be saved, but his identity could not be exposed.

If that happens, Wang Fulai will be dead.

But Li Xuan did some tricks to help him live a little longer.

As for how long it will be, it depends on whether he can bring some variables.

Retracting his thoughts, Li Xuan turned and entered the Dayi Hall. His class for the day was about to begin.

……

In Huiyou Palace, Empress Wu, dressed in white linen mourning clothes, lay casually on the couch, looking at the memorial in her hand.

If Li Xian were here, he would be able to find out that these were exactly what he discussed with the local governor yesterday.

All the contents were recorded in great detail.

These things have been sorted out today and appeared in Empress Wu's hands.

The entire court and all government affairs have never been out of Empress Wu's control.

In a short while, Empress Wu had finished reading the entire memorial, carefully pondering some of the details in it, and finally put the memorial aside.

Shangguan Wan'er, who was also dressed in white linen mourning clothes, carefully placed a bowl of lotus seed soup in front of Empress Wu.

Empress Wu looked up and said casually, "Xian'er still has some tricks. When he came up, he asked about the changes in local taxes over the past five years, where they increased and where they decreased. Those who can answer this question are basically useful people."

"Even if we know where the weight has increased and where it has decreased, it's useless. The best thing is to be able to take correct measures." Shangguan Wan'er smiled gently and nodded.

"At least he is a suitable steward." Empress Wu shook her head slightly and said, "If he really makes achievements, he will at least be a minister of six ministries."

There are not so many talented people in the world.

Being able to see the changes clearly under the erosion of the aristocratic families is enough to qualify as a governor.

Any problems that cannot be solved later will be reported to the court for resolution.

I am afraid of those idiots who can't see anything clearly but still think they are in control of everything.

There are always one or two people like this.

"It's not easy to be the minister of one of the six ministries." Shangguan Wan'er smiled. In the eyes of Empress Wu, a qualified housekeeper was not as simple as most people imagined.

"Yes, it's not that easy to be a minister of the six ministries." Empress Wu sighed and said, "Among the current six ministers, only Lu Yuanfang and Duan Baoxuan are truly qualified. Dou Lu Qinwang is not as good as them. Ouyang Tong should be the Secretary General and then transferred to the Ministry of Personnel. Wei Daijia is not suitable for the Ministry of Rites at all. Huang Rensu is just a craftsman after all."

Shangguan Wan'er said softly: "The people who are truly suitable for the six ministers are actually already in the three provinces."

Empress Wu was slightly stunned, then nodded slightly.

Liu Shenli, Wang Dezhen, and Pei Yan are all qualified candidates for the position of Shangshu, and they are all excellent.

This is even more true for Pei Xingjian.

The three prime ministers and the six ministers are one and the same...

A slight sound of footsteps suddenly sounded, interrupting Empress Wu's thoughts.

Empress Wu looked up and saw Qiu Huan walking in quickly. He then stood in the hall and bowed cautiously, saying, "Empress, something has happened."

"What's the matter?" Empress Wu was very calm.

Qiu Huan said seriously: "Wang Jian has been infected with a cold for a long time and has not been cured. King Peng suspects that he has an epidemic, so he is asked to be isolated. At the same time, the imperial physician is asked to be examined by the Queen Mother, Your Majesty, the Queen, the Crown Prince, the Prince of Yongping, and the Prince of Ping'en."

"Oh!" Empress Wu was slightly startled, then raised her head and whispered, "He is quite perceptive! Did he go to see Wang Fulai?"

"Not yet." Qiu Huan bowed and continued, "Prince Peng went to see the Crown Prince first, while Prince Yongping and Prince Pingen went. But fortunately, there is no problem for the time being."

Empress Wu nodded gently, knocked on the table, and said, "That's good. Let the imperial physician help transfer the people in the palace. After all, it has been almost a month since the late emperor passed away. They have been very tired in the meantime, and it is winter now. I don't know how many hidden dangers have accumulated."

"Yes!"

"As for Wang Fulai," Empress Wu sneered softly and said, "Since King Peng said he was infected with the plague, then he must be infected with the plague."

"Yes!" Qiu Huan breathed a sigh of relief, then turned around and was about to leave.

"Wait!" Empress Wu glanced at Qiu Huan and asked with narrowed eyes, "How is the situation in Yangzhou?"

Qiu Huan's face was slightly solemn, but he still spoke seriously: "Reporting to the Queen, after the secret guards arrived in Yangzhou, they quickly found the man's whereabouts. However, after searching for a long time, they found that the man had actually left Yangzhou. What they found was the enchantment array that he deliberately left behind."

"Where is he now?"

"He crossed the Yangtze River and went to Runzhou, then went to Suzhou from Runzhou, and finally to Hangzhou. After that, he went out to sea from Hangzhou. A letter came back saying that he went to Guangzhou." After Qiu Huan finished speaking, he couldn't help but feel a little tired. That man really could run.

"Runzhou, didn't you go to Maoshan?" Empress Wu raised her head and stared at Qiu Huan gently.

"No!" Qiu Huan bowed and said, "The Crown Prince's groom Tian Youyan has been at home taking care of his mother and has never left the house."

"He went to Suzhou, and it seemed that he was going to target Prince Ze." Empress Wu couldn't help but sneer.

"Empress, Prince Ze has not set out these days." Qiu Huan paused for a moment and said, "Prince Ze is still in mourning for the late emperor."

Prince Ze Li Shangjin was the third son of Emperor Gaozong after all. Although he was transferred to be the governor of Suzhou, he was still in Mianyang Prefecture to mourn the late emperor.

"That's Hangzhou." Empress Wu narrowed her eyes and said to herself, "Prince Huo is still the deputy governor of Hangzhou. Prince Peng must have stayed in Hangzhou for a long time. By the way, when did Jia Dunshi, the governor of Hangzhou, meet the emperor?"

"Reporting to the Queen Mother, it will be four days later." Qiu Huan bowed slightly.

Empress Wu nodded and said, "Let him come over when the time comes."

"Yes!"

(End of this chapter)