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

Chapter 1610: Prison
Bazhong, at the foot of Nankan Mountain.

Looking at the lonely grave, Qiu Zhenmu felt cold all over.

Although there was no tombstone on the grave, Qiu Zhenmu was absolutely certain that this must be the grave of the deposed Crown Prince Li Xian.

Because the empty house opposite the tomb was the commoner's residence of the deposed Crown Prince Li Xian.

Three months ago, a great general from the court arrived in Bazhou.

After the officials of Bazhong Prefecture and Zongzheng Temple were driven away, half a month later, only a lonely grave was left.

Someone saw a carriage picking up a woman and two boys.

They were the deposed Crown Princess Fang, and Li Xian’s eldest and third sons.

Therefore, the person lying in this tomb now could only be one person, the deposed Crown Prince Li Xian.

Li Xian is dead.

……

Qiu Zhenmu stumbled across the graveyard and headed towards the empty house in the distance.

He felt extremely sad.

What kind of character does one have to kill one son and then kill another son so soon after killing one.

Without much hesitation, Qiu Zhenmu was absolutely certain that it must be Empress Wu who killed Li Xian.

The emperor was just a puppet in Luoyang, and compared to the deposed Crown Prince Li Xian, the Crown Prince Li Chongzhao of Yangzhou was the most threatening to him. Therefore, neither Li Dan nor the Dou family or the Dugu family behind him had any need to target Li Xian.

Only Empress Wu, only she needs to worry.

Yangzhou now has a crown prince, Li Chongzhao, of Emperor Zhongzong. If Li Xian goes to Yangzhou again, although it is impossible for him to become a crown prince, it is absolutely possible for him to be conferred a prince by Li Chongzhao.

A grandson and a son.

The two people standing together to accuse each other was enough to shake the legitimacy of Li Dan's succession to the throne.

Li Dan was a puppet, so he didn't need to care about these things, but Empress Wu did.

If Li Chongzhao and Li Xian both questioned the death of Emperor Zhongzong Li Xian, the whole world would be in an uproar.

Therefore, it is inevitable to control Li Xian.

Everyone in the world can understand this, but Li Xian is dead.

Not only is he dead, but up to now, there has been no news from Chang'an, Luoyang, or even the entire world.

There is no doubt that Empress Wu killed her own son and then covered up the news of his death.

Qiu Zhenmu wandered around Li Xian's abandoned house in a daze, his mind empty.

Since Li Xian died at the hands of Empress Wu, there would no longer be any doubt that Li Xian also died at the hands of Empress Wu.

Under the city of Lanzhou, Li Xuan’s crazy roaring questioning kept echoing in his ears.

How did Emperor Zhongzong die?

Qiu Zhenmu couldn't help but really suspect that Emperor Zhongzong was killed in a palace coup, and the person who led this coup was Empress Wu.

Qiu Zhenmu really regretted it now. Not long ago, he had just sent the current situation of Changzhou and Li Xuan’s future military strategy to Luoyang.

That’s right, he is the person hiding beside Li Xuan, and at the critical moment, he will cooperate with Fan Yunxian to seize Li Xuan’s military power.

But unfortunately, Li Xuan never gave him a chance, and he didn't even have a chance to escape from Li Xuan's sight.

Until now.

But it was at this time that he realized the true face of Empress Wu.

There was a good chance that everything she had told him before was false.

Perhaps my uncle did not die at the hands of King Peng, but at the hands of Empress Wu.

But now it's too late.

Qiu Zhenmu stumbled into the house, and a poem written on the wall suddenly caught his eye.

Under the stage, the ripe seeds are separated.

Pick the melon to make it good, then pick the melon to make it thin.

The three picks are still self-explanatory, and the picks must not hold the vine.

"What a great saying, 'Pick once to make the melons better, pick again to make the melons sparse; pick three times and it's still okay, pick all and hold the vines and go home.'" Qiu Zhenmu smiled bitterly, and suddenly he paused, his face darkened, then he gritted his teeth and left quickly. When he came back, he had a piece of paper in his hand.

Soon, Qiu Zhenmu completely copied out the "Huangtai Guaci" and then left quickly.

After Qiu Zhenmu completely disappeared in the distant mountains and fields, a figure in black walked out from behind the wall with an expressionless face.

After taking a look at the "Huangtai Guaci" on the wall, he sneered slightly, and the next moment, he had completely disappeared into the darkness.

……

Luoyang, dusk and sunset.

The Ziwei Palace is already filled with lanterns.

Empress Wu walked calmly on the palace road until she arrived in front of a remote courtyard.

Empress Wu stopped and asked sideways, "Have all of Prince Peng's spies in Luoyang been cleared out?"

"Almost all those who could be found have been imprisoned, but there are four people..." Qiu Huan hesitated for a moment, then bowed and said, "Minister Ouyang, Di Renjie, Yao Chong, and Song Jing, are all four of them going to be imprisoned?"

Empress Wu glanced at Qiu Huan indifferently, and Qiu Huan immediately bowed and said, "Yes!"

Empress Wu retracted her gaze and said, "After they are imprisoned, do not abuse them, just treat them well. When the matter of King Peng is resolved, I will still use them... King Peng is in Chang'an and Luoyang, there must be someone who is in charge of everything for him, and this person must be found."

"Yes!" Qiu Huan bowed solemnly.

Since Empress Wu knew that Li Xuan had already begun to plan for the future after Li Xian's death even before Emperor Gaozong died of illness last year, Empress Wu suspected that Li Xuan must have made many other arrangements in Chang'an and Luoyang. She wanted Qiu Huan to find out everything and destroy them all at the same time.

Qiu Huan spent a lot of effort, and countless middle and lower-level officials who knew Li Xuan were sent to prison.

Even though they had no relationship with Li Xuan and had only met her occasionally, they were all killed.

During this period, Empress Wu's fear of Li Xuan had reached its limit.

Empress Wu raised her head and walked towards the courtyard. Qiu Huan was about to catch up with her, but Empress Wu stopped and said, "You stay."

"Yes!" Qiu Huan stopped and stood aside with a solemn expression.

Then, Empress Wu walked into the courtyard.

Qiu Huan's expression was solemn. He knew that the person in this courtyard at this moment was Fan Yunxian who had just been sent back from Lanzhou.

Fan Yunxian traveled all the way from Chang'an to Fanzhou, from Fanzhou to the Western Regions, and then from the Western Regions to Anxi and Changzhou.

Although he still has not come into contact with Li Xuan's core, what he knows is still likely to be unheard of in the entire court.

……

After a long time, Empress Wu calmly walked out of the courtyard, followed by Fan Yunxian, who was still in shock.

Empress Wu turned sideways and looked at Qiu Huan and said, "From today on, let him serve beside the emperor."

"Yes!" Qiu Huan nodded seriously.

Empress Wu turned and headed towards Huiyou Palace, and Qiu Huan and Fan Yunxian hurriedly followed.

When passing by Qianyang Hall and Zhenguan Hall, you can see some craftsmen measuring something around Qianyang Hall and Zhenguan Hall.

Qiu Huan knew in his heart that Empress Wu was preparing to rebuild the Qianyang Palace and the Zhenguan Palace.

Fan Yunxian looked at it curiously for a few seconds, then he looked away, bowed to Empress Wu and Qiu Huan, and then walked quickly towards Zhuangjing Hall.

The emperor and empress now live in the Zhuangjing Hall.

When they saw Fan Yunxian appear, the palace servants and maids outside the palace were all extremely surprised.

Fan Yunxian gently shook the token on her waist, and the palace servants and maids guarding the palace made way.

Li Dan sat in the hall, calmly looking at various memorials. There were a lot of them on the table, but no one helped him choose.

He was the only one who was reading and organizing the text carefully, with red veins in his eyes.

Hearing the footsteps, Li Dan subconsciously looked up.

Seeing Fan Yunxian, Li Dan asked in surprise: "Fan Jian, you are back."

"Your Majesty!" Fan Yunxian suddenly knelt down in the hall, and then burst into tears for no apparent reason.

Li Dan stood up from behind the table, walked to Fan Yunxian, and helped Fan Yunxian up in a panic, then asked, "What's wrong with you?"

"I am guilty." Fan Yunxian bowed solemnly and said, "I was on a secret mission from the Queen Mother to travel west. If King Peng had any intention of not returning, I would have immediately contacted General Qiu Zhenmu of the Right Guard to remove King Peng's military power and escort him back to the capital. I never thought that he had already planned it. When he passed by the four towns of Anxi, he directly seized the military power of the four towns of Anxi..."

Li Dan couldn't help but raise his eyebrows, Qiu Zhenmu was actually his mother's man.

You know, Qiu Zhenmu has been following Prince Peng since Empress Wu.

Later, he inherited the position of Lieutenant General of the Jinwu Guard from his uncle Qiu Shenji, and was later transferred to the position of Lieutenant General of the Right Guard. He followed King Peng in his campaigns against Tuyuhun, Tubo and the Western Regions, and worked hard for many years.

This chess piece has been buried for a really long time.

"King Peng went from Changzhou, passed Shanshan, and directly attacked Western Tuyuhun. Finally, he destroyed Eastern Tuyuhun, attacked Changzhou, and then went to Shanzhou and Lanzhou." After a brief pause, Fan Yunxian bowed and said, "I just told the Queen Mother everything. The Queen Mother ordered me to continue to follow Your Majesty and serve Your Majesty in the future."

Li Dan digested everything Fan Yunxian said, and finally he shook his head calmly and said, "Then you will have to suffer in the future. Since I came to Luoyang, except for the first and fifteenth day of each month when I can attend government affairs in a side hall, the rest of the time, I can only stay in this hall."

"What?" Fan Yunxian looked at Li Dan in disbelief, and subconsciously said, "Prime Minister Fan, Prime Minister Dou, and the Minister of the Central Secretariat, don't they care?"

"I can't see them." Li Dan sighed, then smiled bitterly and shook his head, saying: "I am just a puppet. I know that you will inevitably suffer with me in the future. In addition, don't do many things that you shouldn't do. With what happened in Lanzhou, I am worried that you will die one day."

"Your Majesty, you mean, I...I..." Fan Yunxian suddenly felt a chill all over his body.

He originally thought that after he told Empress Wu in detail everything he knew, observed, and speculated about Prince Peng, Empress Wu would forgive him for all the wrong things he had done by letting him return to the emperor.

Who could have thought that the Queen's real purpose was to use him as a chess piece and let him face the doubts of the government and the public calmly.

Those rumors about Prince Peng were just written and directed by him. There was no such thing as truth in them, otherwise Empress Wu would not have allowed Fan Yunxian to show up again.

But in fact, Empress Wu was only using Fan Yunxian to appease the suspicion of court officials for a short period of time. After a long time, he would be purged.

At this moment, a commotion came from outside the palace: "Make way, make way, I want to see my brother, why are you stopping me, my brother..."

Li Dan turned sideways and looked at Fan Yunxian.

Fan Yunxian immediately bowed solemnly to Li Dan, then turned and left quickly.

A moment later, Princess Taiping finally appeared in the palace.

Fan Yunxian breathed a sigh of relief and stepped aside.

"Royal brother, the Lantern Festival is coming soon and the prince consort has not returned yet. Dalang hasn't seen his father for half a year. Royal brother, please think of a way to get the prince consort back." Princess Taiping shook Li Dan's arm vigorously.

Li Dan said helplessly, "You came to see me, it seems that my mother didn't allow it."

Princess Taiping suddenly became dejected and sat up aside with a bitter look on her face.

Li Dan shook his head slightly. When had they ever been in such a situation? Even when their elder brother was alive, they were not treated so badly.

Li Dan turned sideways to look at Fan Yunxian and asked, "Fan Jian, do you have any ideas?"

Fan Yunxian was slightly stunned, and after a moment of hesitation, he said, "Your Majesty, why don't you write a letter to King Peng and ask him to release the consort. I have been in contact with King Peng, and he still respects your Majesty's words."

"Oh!" Li Dan looked around subconsciously.

When all the palace maids and servants around him disappeared, he looked at Fan Yunxian in surprise, and Fan Yunxian bowed slightly.

(End of this chapter)