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

Chapter 1559 Li Xuan: I am still watching you
In Jixian Hall, Li Xian sat behind a low table, looking at the lotus seed soup in front of him with a blank expression.

Yang Concubine stood aside in a rare meek manner, and said somewhat embarrassedly: "I personally cooked lotus seed soup for Your Majesty, I hope Your Majesty can have a taste."

Looking at the lotus seed soup whose lotus seeds were almost melted, Li Xian's mouth twitched slightly.

He raised his head and looked at Yangpin, and said softly, "My beloved concubine, you don't need to do this. I haven't come to see you these days only because I am busy with government affairs. Moreover, these days, I have to go back to Zhuangjing Palace to sleep every night. I don't favor one over the other."

Yang Concubine breathed a sigh of relief and bowed her head, saying, "Your Majesty is busy with government affairs, I know that, but I haven't seen Your Majesty for a long time... This time the late emperor passed away, and my father was unable to return to Luoyang, I feel guilty."

Li Xian was speechless.

Yang Bin's father was Yang Qing, the governor of Zhaozhou, and Yang Qing's father was Yang Shao, the former governor of Zhaozhou.

Yang Shao married the daughter of former Sui general Changsun Sheng, who was also the sister of Empress Changsun.

Yang Qing was not only Li Zhi's cousin, but also Empress Wu's cousin, and now he was Li Xian's father-in-law.

How could Li Xian possibly treat Yang Qing badly?

It was just because of the Fengshan issue that Li Zhi did not let Yang Qing come back. After Li Xian ascended the throne, he also did not let Yang Qing come back for the sake of local stability.

Of course, in the subsequent series of rewards, Yang Qing, like many others, was only promoted to a higher rank as a minor official, and received nothing else.

Compared with Gao and Zheng, whose fathers were both granted the title of governor, Yang Qing, who was already a governor, naturally had no need for promotion.

These were nothing in Li Xian's eyes, but in Yangpin's eyes, they were somewhat sad.

For people in the palace, it is instinctive to flatter the powerful and bully the weak.

Although Yang was not ignored, she was not taken seriously either. Compared with the other two, she naturally felt uncomfortable.

That's why I asked Li Xian for an official position today.

Li Xian looked at Concubine Yang, hesitated for a moment, and then said, "In June, my father will be buried. After that, there may be some changes in the court. At that time, I will let my father-in-law stay in the capital and never leave again. Is that okay?"

"Really?" Concubine Yang looked at Li Xian with surprise.

Li Xian lowered his head slightly, and Concubine Yang immediately smiled happily.

Li Xian sat there, a hint of deep thought flashing in his calm eyes.

Yang Qing was born into the direct lineage of the Hongnong Yang family. Logically speaking, if he entered the court, he would become a helper to his mother.

However, he is also Li Xian's father-in-law.

Yang Pin is only the Crown Prince's concubine now, but in the future she will be promoted to one of the four noble concubines.

Although it is a certainty, no one knows if there will be a chance of it happening.

This is why Concubine Yang is feeling uneasy now.

If she doesn't find a way to get one of the four imperial concubines today, once other people enter the harem in the future, who knows if there will still be a place for her.

There are now four concubines of the emperor in the palace. There is no need to say much about Queen Wei. Although Gao entered the palace early, she is arrogant and does not like to please the emperor, so the emperor is relatively cold to her.

On the contrary, Crown Prince Liangti Zheng happened to marry into the palace before the death of the late emperor, and happened to be pregnant. She would even give birth to a child in September this year.

Once she gives birth to a child, she will become the second concubine after the empress to give birth to children for the emperor.

No, there is no need to wait until September. After the late emperor is buried in June, the emperor will reward the harem.

At that time, the pregnant Zheng would immediately become one of the four noble concubines, and might even be the leader of the four noble concubines.

This seemed to have no effect on Yang Pin, but in fact, the more she thought about it, the more dissatisfied she became.

You know, she entered the Eastern Palace one year earlier than Zheng.

How could Zheng have become so powerful that even her mother was more fond of her?

"Your Majesty." Yang Concubine came over, walked to Li Xian's side, sat down next to him, and then whispered: "Your Majesty, please try this lotus seed soup. I have been making it for the whole afternoon!"

"Okay!" Li Xian forced a smile, picked up the spoon and took a sip. His face instantly became a little ugly.

It tastes so bad, it's nothing like what Concubine Zheng cooked.

Li Xian put down the spoon, and took Yang Concubine into his arms, and then whispered: "From now on, I will come to see you every day, but the time will not be too long, only half an hour, and I will also go to see Gao Concubine and Zheng Concubine..."

After a short pause, Li Xian said, "The situation in the palace is special now. After arriving in Chang'an, I will have to go hunting in Beiyuan. At that time, you and Concubine Gao will accompany me... You also know that the Queen doesn't like these things, and Concubine Zheng is not good at them either."

"Yeah!" Yang Bin's face was suddenly filled with joy.

As the daughter of a military officer, Gao was not unfamiliar with hunting. She even had a special attitude when doing so.

Although Yang Bin was not very good at it, she was active and lively, and riding and archery were not unfamiliar to her.

In her mind, she was already imagining herself riding horses with the emperor in Beiyuan.

It would be better if there was no Concubine Gao.

Li Xian continued, "You might as well communicate with your father more often. The palace is not a prison. Although foreign officials are not allowed to enter the palace easily, there is no problem with communication. If there are any good things in the palace, you can just give them to your family."

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Concubine Yang leaned in Li Xian's arms, her face flushed and her breathing became rapid.

"Okay." Li Xian gently patted Yang Concubine's shoulder and said, "You should have a good rest today. I will come to see you tomorrow."

Before Concubine Yang could react, Li Xian had already stood up and strode out.

For a moment, Concubine Yang was stunned and looked at Li Xian's back with resentment.

Then, Concubine Yang couldn't help but sigh.

She looked towards the front hall, which was the Xuanzheng Hall, where the late emperor's body was placed.

……

Outside the Jixian Hall, Li Xian left quickly and walked towards the Zhuangjing Hall.

In the dark shadows, Qiu Huan's face flickered slightly.

After stepping back a little, Qiu Huan had completely disappeared into the darkness. Inside the gate of Renshou Palace, Xu Lu calmly watched Li Xian leave without any fluctuation in his expression.

Before, the emperor went to Jixian Palace, he had already been to Renshou Palace and drank the lotus seed soup personally served by Zheng.

This is enough.

As for the emperor's visit to Jixian Palace, Xu Lu was not too concerned.

He knew that Empress Wu had extremely sinister intentions in the incident of Concubine Yang.

As for what the intention was, Xu Lu couldn't see clearly, but it was definitely not a good thing.

Xu Lu did not dare to go too deep into it, as he knew that Qiu Huan would definitely be keeping an eye on it all the time.

If he had any intention of intervening, he would be immediately caught by the enemy eunuchs and killed by Empress Wu with an excuse.

Prince Peng has now completely led his army into the Western Regions, and the strongest external pressure on Empress Wu has disappeared.

What remained was that Empress Wu would attack Li Xian with all her might.

The ultimate goal of Empress Wu was to seize power completely.

As for whether Li Xian was finally completely deprived of his power, forced to rule the country in another palace, or directly deposed, it had nothing to do with Xu Lu.

After taking a step back, Xu Lu had completely disappeared into the depths of Renshou Palace.

……

The crescent moon is like a hook, and the Mang Mountain is dark.

On top of a cliff, a figure calmly looked at the entire palace.

The moonlight flickered, and the moonlight was reflected in the eyes of the figure.

Under the moonlight, Li Xuan had a familiar look in his eyes.

The face was cold and the limbs were stiff. It was exactly the body of Li Miao.

Inside Li Miao's body is the yang spirit of Emperor Taiyin, and deep in the eyes of Emperor Taiyin is Li Xuan's beating consciousness.

The distance is thousands of miles away, and even Li Xuan himself cannot fully control it.

So basically, Li Xuan would wake up in this body only after his original body in the Western Region had fallen completely asleep.

Li Xuan looked back and saw that countless underground yin energies were constantly emerging from the depths of the deep Mang Mountain.

This also allowed him to hide deep inside without being discovered by the masters of Ziwei Palace.

The Ziwei Palace is located in the north of Luo River, in the northwestern corner of Luoyang, just under Mang Mountain.

Looking at the entire Ziwei Palace from where Li Xuan was, although not everything was clearly visible, he would be able to see clearly if there was any big movement.

In the original history, Empress Wu would depose Li Xian and enthronize Li Dan.

The excuse used was that Li Xian wanted to make Wei Xuanzhen, the father of Empress Wei, the prime minister.

But now, with the help of Li Xuan, Li Xian’s prestige in the court is quite high.

He even had already sensed Empress Wu's ill intentions in advance.

With Liu Rengui guarding Chang'an, Xue Yuanchao dying of illness, Duan Baoxuan going to Daizhou, and Wei Daijia going to Qianling Mausoleum, Li Xian had begun to realize that he did not have enough manpower. With Li Xuan's extremely subtle reminder, Li Xian had begun to win over Pei Yan.

The secret guards' surveillance outside Pei Yan's mansion in Chang'an was not something Li Xuan made up.

He could basically guess that Empress Wu would not let Pei Yan go easily.

As long as Pei Yan does a little investigation, he can find out everything.

Pei Yan, feeling the danger, would naturally choose to huddle together with Li Xian for warmth.

Since Li Xian did not let Wei Xuanzhen be prime minister and his relationship with Pei Yan was good, Li Xuan was really curious.

What means did Empress Wu use to depose Li Xian to achieve the point in history where no one, including royal family members, relatives by marriage, and court officials, would speak up for Li Xian?

Even the original Li Jingye used the name Li Xian.

He wanted to see how Empress Wu would depose Li Xian.

……

"Urgent news, urgent news!" A Qianniu Guard rushed into Luoyang from Dingding Gate frantically, and then rushed straight to the palace along Dingding Gate Street.

The guards at Duanmen did not stop the Qianniu Guard, and some even followed him to protect him.

They didn't arrive until they reached Yingtian Gate. Li Jingjia, the general of the Zuo Qianniu Guard who was on duty at the palace gate, walked down quickly, asked a few questions, and his face suddenly changed.

The next moment, Li Jingjia rushed into the palace with the Qianniu Guards who had reported urgently from 600 miles away and met the emperor in the Qianyang Palace.

Li Xiangao sat on the imperial throne. Pei Yan, Yao Lingzhang, Guo Daiju, Lu Yuanfang, Dou Lu Qinwang and Ouyang Tong stood on the left. Wang Dezhen, Liu Jingxian, Cui Zhiwen, Su Liangsi, Wang Jishan and others stood on the right. Countless servants and officials were busy everywhere.

Li Xian looked at the urgent report sent to him from six hundred miles away, and his face couldn't help but become heavy.

Finally, he slowly opened the memorial.

I, Zhang Ke, the Sima of Suzhou, have secretly reported to the emperor that Prince Ze Li Shangjin was plotting treason.

Li Xian's expression suddenly changed.

With trembling feet, he handed the memorial to Fan Yunxian, who immediately handed it to Pei Yan.

After reading it, Pei Yan calmed down very quickly. While handing the memorial to Yao Lingzhang, Pei Yan cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, Prince Ze is plotting treason. No matter what, you should send someone to deal with it immediately."

The ministers then understood what was going on.

Li Xian nodded slightly, then asked: "Who should we send?"

(End of this chapter)