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

Chapter 1548: Heavenly Fire Descends, the Emperor is Reborn

It was late at night, Li Xuan was sitting in the study, with a few words written on each piece of paper in his hand.
“Knock, knock, knock!” There was a knock on the door, and Li Xuan looked up: “Come in!”

"Husband!" Pei Shitong walked in from outside, holding a tray with a bowl of lotus seed soup on it.

Watching Pei Shitong put the lotus seed soup on the table, Li Xuan smiled gently and said, "You came at the right time. I have something to tell you."

"Yeah!" Pei Shitong nodded gently. She was also a smart woman. As someone close to Li Xuan, she would definitely notice the abnormality he had been doing recently.

Li Xuan raised his head, looked at Pei Shitong, and said, "I'm afraid something is going to happen to Prime Minister Pei."

"Uncle?" Pei Shitong looked at Li Xuan in surprise, but then she understood: "Is it the Queen?"

"The only one who can threaten Prime Minister Pei in the Tang Dynasty today is the Empress." Li Xuan nodded and said, "You know Wang Fulai, the eunuch supervisor in the palace. He has been with Your Majesty since the death of the late emperor, but he died before we left Luoyang."

"Ah!" Pei Shitong was even more shocked.

She had been in the palace before, but she knew Wang Fulai's position in the palace. A person like him could die at any time.

"The news from the palace is that he was saddened by the death of the late emperor and accidentally caught a cold. He had multiple seizures and finally died, following the late emperor." As soon as Li Xuan said this, Pei Shitong immediately followed up with, "Impossible."

"Of course it's impossible. I have also met Wang Jian, and even took his pulse myself after he caught a cold. It was just a common cold. He then took the prescription I left for you at Shang Pharmacy, but he still died suddenly." Li Xuan couldn't help but sneer, his face full of disdain.

Pei Shitong looked at Li Xuan cautiously and said, "It was the Queen who killed Steward Wang."

"Yes!" Li Xuan nodded and said, "Wang Fulai is dead, the eunuch supervisor is out of balance, and your majesty has fallen into the hands of the Queen Mother in the palace. It won't be long before the Queen Mother will step into the foreground again and take charge of government affairs. At that time, her enemy will be Prime Minister Pei."

"Uncle." Pei Shitong's face immediately turned ugly. She trembled slightly and said, "Uncle is no match for the Queen."

"Maybe." Li Xuan sighed and said, "No matter what, our family must make preparations. If something happens to Prime Minister Pei, you and mother should stay at home and don't go out. Your husband will ask General Manager Su to prepare enough food for the family for half a year at any time at home. If..."

Li Xuan hesitated for a moment, then said, "If someone comes to look for you one day, you and your mother will leave with him."

"Leave." Pei Shitong's eyes jumped, and then she said, "Your Majesty... Third Sister?"

"Your husband has already made arrangements for Sanniang. If the Queen Mother summons Xia'er to the palace, Sanniang will take the children and leave Luoyang. Someone in the palace will send Xia'er out of the palace. At the same time, someone will also be in Chang'an to pick you and your mother up." Li Xuan's expression became solemn.

"Okay!" Pei Shitong did not hesitate, she already knew what was going to happen.

If something happens to Pei Yan, the emperor will not have an easy time either.

Empress Wu began to prepare to take action against Prince Peng's Mansion, so her target would naturally not be them, but Li Xuan who was far away in the Western Regions.

Li Xuan raised his head, looked into the shadows in the corner, and said, "You two, come out."

"Yes!" In the shadow of the left corner, Li Mo, dressed in black, walked out solemnly and bowed. In the shadow of the right corner, Su Lianyu, dressed in a black double-breasted long dress, bowed slightly.

Pei Shitong looked at the two of them in surprise. She had never noticed that there were such two people in the room just now.

Li Xuan said, "Li Mo, you have seen him."

Pei Shitong nodded. When Li Xuan first came to the capital in his early years, he was accompanied by Li Zhu and Li Mo.

"Su Lianyu was born in Pingkangfang." Li Xuan explained briefly.

Pei Shitong bowed slightly, and Su Lianyu bowed solemnly.

Li Xuan continued, "If something happens in the future, one of them will come to the mansion to find you. At that time, put everything aside and leave Chang'an with mother and Chang'er. They will send you to Hezhou, and your husband will meet you in Hezhou."

"Okay!" Pei Shitong finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Li Xuan patted her arm and said, "Okay, you can go out now. Your husband still has something to tell them."

"Yeah!" Pei Shitong nodded slightly, turned and left the study.

……

Li Xuan took out two pieces of paper from the table and threw them lightly.

The two pieces of paper flew in front of Li Mo and Su Lingyu, and they took them without any hesitation.

Fire from heaven descends upon the earth, and the emperor is reborn.

These eight words were written on the note.

Li Xuan said calmly: "One day in the future, the sky will fire and fall on the Big Wild Goose Pagoda of Da Ci'en Temple. The Palace Master will be responsible for spreading the prophecy throughout Chang'an City."

"Yes!" Su Lianyu bowed immediately.

"Before that, prepare three five-year-old children, two alive and one dead." Li Xuan looked up at Su Lianyu and said, "Take good care of the alive ones and make them plump and white. As for the dead one, find a five-year-old child who died of illness from a wealthy family in Yongluo, seal it in ice, and send it to the manor outside the city at the end of April. Someone will pick it up."

"Yes!" Su Lingyu bowed again.

Li Xuan raised his head, looked at Li Mo, and said, "In May, the sky will fire and a child will be sent to the outside of Ziwu Pass. After you receive the child, you will immediately lead people to Chengdu, and then send the child down the Yangtze River to Yangzhou and hand him over to Princess Wencheng."

Li Mo seemed to understand something and looked at Li Xuan in surprise.

Li Xuan smiled and said, "You guessed it right, it's the Crown Prince... You pick up the Crown Prince and go down the Yangtze River to deliver him to Princess Wencheng. Then you don't have to worry about anything else. When the Princess retreats from Luoyang to Yangzhou, you escort her across the river from Yangzhou to Hangzhou. After that, you return to Chang'an."

"Yes!" Li Mo looked solemn. He did not ask Li Xuan why he wanted to send the prince, such a valuable chess piece, to Yangzhou instead of keeping it for himself.

Li Xuan nodded and continued, "On the way back to Chang'an, spread this prophecy on both sides of the Yangtze River."

"Yes!" Li Mo bowed. Li Xuan looked up at Su Lianyu and said, "Prepare two groups of people. On the day when the skyfire descends, one group will take a child and flee to Bingzhou, and the other group will take a child and flee to Dunhuang."

"Yes!" Su Lianyu bowed seriously.

"Find four uninhabited houses in the four corners of Chang'an City. On the day when the skyfire falls, you will send people to set fire to them to attract the attention of the defenders in the city." Li Xuan continued, "People outside the city can abandon their children and escape on their own at the critical moment. Remember, don't let those two children find your traces."

"Yes!" Su Lingyu bowed.

Li Xuan sighed softly and said, "Are our people in Prime Minister Pei's residence all right?"

"Not bad." Su Lingyu nodded seriously.

"In April, ask her to send a message to Prime Minister Pei, saying that someone is spying on the house." Li Xuan raised his head and looked at Su Lianyu with a smile, who bowed indifferently.

When they sent that person into Pei Yan's mansion, they originally planned to plot against Wu Chengsi, but unfortunately, Wu Chengsi was too incompetent, so that person stayed in Pei Yan's mansion forever.

Over the years, she was treated very well in Pei Yan's mansion. Except for not giving birth to a son for Pei Yan, she spent almost the best time of her life there.

Now someone wants to ruin this beautiful time. Even if her heart has changed, she will fight hard.

As long as Pei Yan was prepared, it would not be easy for Empress Wu to capture him.

As long as Pei Yan does not have any conflicts with Li Xian, it will not be easy for Empress Wu to destroy both of them.

Li Xuan calmed down and said, "The rest will happen after I come back. Remember, if someone finds you with my token in the future, you must obey unconditionally no matter what they do."

"Yes!" Li Mo and Su Lianyu bowed and retreated at the same time.

They heard a lot of things very clearly, and there were other people besides them who were responsible for other aspects of the matter.

For example, how to bring the prince out of the East Palace did not involve any of their power at all.

Li Xuan lowered his head slightly and looked at the papers in his hand. There were more than a dozen pieces of paper with the eight words "Heavenly fire descends, the emperor is reborn" written on them.

Li Xuan whispered to himself, "Son of Heaven, Son of Heaven, who exactly is this Son of Heaven referring to?"

……

At dawn, Li Xuan had already gotten up.

Pei Shitong helped Li Xuan to tidy up his clothes, and finally stood in front of Li Xuan, looking at him, and asked directly: "Husband, this time, what will happen to my Wenxi Pei family?"

Li Xuan looked at Pei Shitong who was so close to him, shook his head slightly, and said, "For the Eastern branch, Tong'er can notify the direct lineage in mid-April to evacuate Chang'an and Luoyang. The Central branch does not need to worry. Duke Jiang is safe in Yangzhou, so naturally there will be no problem. The only trouble is Prime Minister Pei and Xima Pei."

"Queen, she...what will she do?" Pei Shitong's mouth twitched slightly.

Li Xuan sighed and said, "Prime ministers, especially regents, have always been so ignorant of the importance of their lives if they do not know how to advance and retreat. Your Majesty is a benevolent ruler. The relationship between the monarch and his subjects should be harmonious and the world should be stable. But the Queen Mother...I'm afraid she can't stand Your Majesty being too wise. Prime Minister Pei is afraid that things will be difficult for him."

"So what about Yangzhou?" Pei Shitong couldn't help but feel sad.

Li Xuan hugged her gently and asked in a low voice: "Can you keep the messages between the Dongjuan people secret?"

"Okay!" Pei Shitong raised her head and looked at Li Xuan with hope.

When it comes to life and death, the noble families have their own set of rules.

"Let Dongjuan pass the message to Xijuan. If Dongjuan and Xijuan take action quietly at the same time, and Xima doesn't notice it, then it means that God has destined them to die." Li Xuan smiled lightly and said, "At worst, let Dongjuan choose a clan member in the future to adopt Xima. After all, we are all family."

Pei Shitong could only force a smile.

Li Xuan hugged her and whispered, "Remember, mid-April, it must not be too early, otherwise, not only the relatives in the east and west, but also my family will not be able to escape."

"Yeah!" Pei Shitong's face turned pale, and then she nodded seriously.

"Let's go, it's time to say goodbye to our mother." Li Xuan let go of Pei Shitong and walked quickly towards the door.

……

Outside the Jinguang Gate, West City of Chang'an.

Pei Shitong sat in the carriage, holding Chang'er, looking at Li Xuan through the curtain, her eyes full of reluctance.

Li Xuan stood there, bowed to Wu Sansi who came to see him off, and said: "It is really a blessing for Xuan that the county lord came to see me off."

Wu Sansi was all smiles as he returned the greeting, "It is also a blessing for Sansi to serve King Peng in the name of the Crown Prince."

"What the Duke said is ridiculous. When the Duke marries the emperor in the future, you and I will be even more of a family." Li Xuan smiled happily.

Wu Sansi said helplessly: "Your Majesty, this matter has not been settled yet."

"It is a matter of time. With the Queen Mother here, and with our support, His Majesty will also be happy. Don't you think so?" Li Xuan turned his head and looked at the Minister of the Ministry of Rites Yuan Ming, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of War Cen Changqian, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice Li Zhaode, the Doctor of the Ministry of War Lai Sui, the Water Conservancy Commissioner He Yiqiu, and a dozen other officials, as well as many other envoys from the Western Regions who came to see him off.

Of course, there are people like Wang Yinke and Liu Yicong around Li Xuan.

The Right General of the Guard Cheng Wuting will set out one step later than Li Xuan, or in other words, he will follow behind Li Xuan.

Wang Yinke was listening at the side and couldn't help but frown slightly. When he glanced at Wu Sansi, there was a hint of pity in his eyes.

(End of this chapter)