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

Chapter 1621: Kill the Emperor by the Queen's Order

Outside the city of Chang'an, under the mourning shed.

Ma Sizong raised his head and looked at the portrait of Emperor Gaozong in front of him. On the lifelike portrait, a pair of extremely majestic eyes were looking at him calmly.

For a moment, Ma Sizong actually felt as if the late emperor was really staring at him.

Ma Sizong shook his head vigorously.

He didn't know whether he was hungry, tired or really filled with fear and anxiety. At this time, Li Xuan's voice sounded beside him, as if the late emperor was questioning him.

Ma Sizong bowed his head solemnly and said, "Zhonghua is willing."

Ma Sizong, whose original surname was Guma, was courtesy name Zhonghua.

A Buyeo person from Baekje.

Li Xuan nodded calmly, a trace of sadness flashed in his eyes, and then his eyes became extremely determined. He looked at the sandalwood box in his hand and continued to ask: "On May 15th, the first year of Emperor Zhongzong's reign, the court began to discuss the witchcraft incident of the Crown Prince's concubine Yang. What was the result?"

Ma Sizong looked relaxed and said calmly: "The emperor, the ministers and the secretaries have agreed that the crown prince's concubine Yang has committed witchcraft and sorcery. She will be demoted to a commoner and imprisoned in the imperial palace. Her father and brother will be dismissed from office and exiled to foreign states."

Li Xuan raised his head and looked towards the mourning tent. The governor of Qizhou, Yun Hongyin, walked out quickly and bowed to Li Xuan, saying, "King Peng."

Li Xuan nodded: "Record it!"

"Yes!" Yun Hongyin bowed, then walked to a low table that had been set up nearby, picked up the pen, dipped it in the ink that had just been ground, and began to write quickly on the white paper.

Li Xuan looked down at Ma Sizong and continued to ask, "Who did the Crown Prince's concubine Yang curse when she was doing witchcraft?"

"Empress." Ma Sizong bowed and said, "In the palace of the Crown Prince's concubine, we found only a nameless witch doll wearing a Yiyi robe and a phoenix crown on its head."

"Wait." Li Xuan suddenly realized something, raised his head and looked at Xue Guwu on the city wall, gritted his teeth and said: "In other words, the so-called witchcraft incident has never started, and the so-called witchcraft doll is just a new thing that was made a few days ago?"

Ma Sizong was slightly stunned, and opened and closed his mouth for a long time without uttering a word.

The Empress Dowager deposed Emperor Zhongzong by using the excuse that Concubine Yang was cursing the Empress Dowager and that the Emperor was behind her to convince people like Ma Sizong, Wang Xiaojie and Xue Guwu.

In fact, all of them knew that the Queen Mother just wanted to take advantage of Concubine Yang's curse on the Queen to deprive her of her rights.

At the beginning, the Queen Mother did not want to kill Emperor Zhongzong.

Emperor Zhongzong's death was an accident.

But if even the voodoo doll at the beginning was fake, then the whole thing...

Thinking of this, even Ma Sizong couldn't help but feel a chill all over his body.

"Look up!" Li Xuan's hateful voice rang out. Ma Sizong subconsciously looked up at the portrait of Emperor Gaozong in front of him. His majestic gaze pierced straight into Ma Sizong's eyes like a long sword.

"Your Majesty!" Ma Sizong subconsciously bowed his head to the ground, and his whole body couldn't help but shiver.

Li Xuan gritted his teeth and continued to ask, "After Emperor Zhongzong and the ministers discussed the matter of Concubine Yang, what happened? According to the court system, Concubine Yang was demoted to a commoner, and her father and brother were dismissed from office and exiled. Should the matter be over?"

Ma Zongsi's expression changed slightly.

"Speak!" Li Xuan gritted his teeth and roared.

Ma Sizong suddenly felt endless voices echoing in his ears. He didn't know what was wrong with him and why he was so afraid of Li Xuan's voice.

Was it because he was hungry and tired, or was it that he was truly feeling guilty, or was there something else?
But at this moment, Ma Sizong could not help but recall what happened in Qianyang Palace that day. He could not help but speak: "That day, after the emperor and the ministers discussed the matter of Concubine Yang, they were originally going to discuss the matter of Emperor Gaozong's coffin returning to Chang'an. At this time, news came from the harem that Concubine Yang had changed her confession."

Li Xuan clenched his fists immediately and said through gritted teeth: "Continue."

"Concubine Yang changed her testimony and said that the voodoo doll was actually used by the emperor to curse... to curse the empress doll." After Ma Sizong finished speaking, he kowtowed heavily to the ground.

With a loud "boom", everyone behind the mourning shed, in front of the mourning shed, on the city wall, and under the city wall could not help but raise their heads and look at Ma Sizong with disbelief on their faces.

No one expected things to turn out like this.

At this time, everyone's attention was focused on Ma Sizong.

Even without the prestige of Emperor Gaozong, nearly 100,000 people inside and outside the city walls are very eager to know what will happen next.

After all, the truth about Emperor Zhongzong's death has never been truly made public.

The court either said that Emperor Zhongzong died suddenly, or that he was cursed to death by the Crown Prince's concubine Yang through witchcraft. There were all kinds of rumors, and it was not until today that people began to tell the whole story.

"As you said just now, there is no name on the voodoo doll, and there is no sign that it has been used."

Li Xuan turned sideways to look at Ma Sizong and asked softly, "What evidence is there to prove that it was the emperor who cursed the empress? Is it just based on Yang Concubine's words? If the emperor didn't say anything, did the officials admit this confession at the time?"

Ma Sizong fell silent, and finally he sighed and said, "At that time, Your Majesty believed that Yang Concubine was already a commoner, and all matters had to be decided by the three judicial departments, so he did not allow Yang Concubine to enter Qianyang Palace."

"That's a fair argument." Li Xuan sighed and said, "But if this is the case, the matter will be made public, which will damage the dignity of the royal family. However, the royal family is selfless, so it is fair."

"Your Majesty said so at the time, and the ministers also agreed, but the Queen Mother..." After a slight pause, Ma Sizong said, "Your Majesty and the ministers had just reached a conclusion when Concubine Yang rushed out from the side hall and shouted to Your Majesty that she was innocent..."

"Wait!" Li Xuan stopped Ma Sizong and asked, "Princess Yang appeared in Qianyang Palace. Wasn't it said that she was imprisoned in the harem? How did she get past the guards of Daye Gate and Zhulong Gate and enter the front court? Where are the General of the Imperial Guard Li Lingwen and the General of the Imperial Guard Li Yi?" Ma Sizong fell silent.

……

Li Xuan suddenly smiled bitterly and shook his head, "We all know the reason, don't we? Li Lingwen was captured, Li Yi was beheaded, so Yangpin was taken from the harem to Qianyang Palace.

Okay, let’s go on, what’s next?”

Ma Sizong took a deep breath and then said, "When Concubine Yang entered Qianyang Palace, she cried out that she was wronged. Your Majesty said that Your Majesty also knew that Concubine Yang was wronged, so she was placed in the Ye Ting first; as for her father and brother, although they were exiled to Fanzhou, they would be secretly taken care of by the prince, and Your Majesty would help Concubine Yang to redress her grievances in the future."

"Yes, there is no name on the voodoo doll, and there is no sign of having been used. An old hand at solving cases would know that there is a doubt. Emperor Zhongzong is extremely intelligent, so it is not difficult for him to see these things. But he originally did not think of revealing the contents of the doll. He wanted to keep some dignity. And then, continue." Li Xuan nodded.

"After hearing what Your Majesty said, Yang Concubine felt relieved and said that she had never intended to falsely accuse Your Majesty, but the Queen Mother..." Ma Sizong shook his head and smiled bitterly, "At this time, the Queen Mother suddenly interrupted Yang Concubine and said that there was Yang Concubine's previous confession as evidence that Your Majesty was disobedient and unfilial and practiced witchcraft. Then she ordered the Imperial Guard General Zhang Qianxu to take Your Majesty to the side hall to wait for the Queen Mother and the ministers to discuss the punishment for Your Majesty."

"What about the punishment of His Majesty?" Li Xuan's voice could not help but get louder. In the silence all around him could only be heard his disdainful sneer: "Who in this world is qualified to punish His Majesty?

Zhang Qianxu, the Royal Guard General of the Sea, if I remember correctly, he was in charge of guarding the Xuanwu Gate. Why could a Royal Guard General guarding the Xuanwu Gate pass through the Daye Gate and the Zhulong Gate and enter the former dynasty without an imperial edict?

By the way, it was he who captured Li Lingwen, the Imperial Guard General, and killed Li Yi, the Imperial Guard General, without an imperial decree, and then suddenly appeared in Qianyang Palace. "

Li Xuan turned around, stared at Xue Guwu and said, "Zhang Qianxu, yes, he was plotting treason... Oh, by the way, he was later killed on the charge of treason. So, this wasn't a murder to silence him, was it?"

Nearly 100,000 soldiers in the entire Chang'an City heard Li Xuan's words clearly.

There are too many doubts about the claim that Emperor Zhongzong used witchcraft to curse the Queen Mother of Heaven with her witchcraft doll.

Yang, the Crown Prince's concubine who slandered Emperor Zhongzong, repented at the last moment.

Zhang Qianxu, the imperial guard general in charge of guarding Xuanwu Gate, took control of the imperial guards after killing Li Yi and capturing Li Lingwen.

This is a palace coup.

A palace coup that couldn't be any rougher.

Especially now, Zhang Qianxu, who was deeply involved in the death of Emperor Zhongzong, was finally accused of treason and was killed to silence him.

Everything is now extremely clear.

Li Xuan suddenly turned his head to look at Ma Sizong, gritted his teeth and asked, "Go on, I want to know how Emperor Zhongzong died?"

Countless people inside and outside were all shocked and stared at Ma Zongsi.

Ma Zongsi bowed his head slightly, then raised it and said with a heavy breath, "Zhang Qianxu followed the order of the Empress to enter the Qianyang Palace and ask Your Majesty to live in another palace. But he never expected that Your Majesty had already made preparations. He even sent people to Chang'an, Jingzhou, Yangzhou and Bingzhou the day before. But unfortunately, all the people he sent were intercepted and killed."

"Who killed him?" Li Xuan's voice was very soft.

"I!" Ma Sizong gritted his teeth and said, "I am following the order of the Empress Dowager to kill the envoy sent by the Emperor."

"Ma Sizong!" On the city gate, Xue Guwu finally couldn't bear it anymore. He pointed at Ma Sizong angrily and said, "Your whole family is still in Luoyang. You slandered the Queen Mother like this. Do you want your whole family?"

"General, Zhonghua cannot live like this. He has done so many wrong things. Even if King Peng is willing to forgive him, Zhonghua is too embarrassed to go to the underworld to see the late emperor. It would be better for him to tell everything today, which would be worthy of the late emperor."

Ma Sizong turned his head and shouted loudly: "General, it is not just Zhonghua who has done something wrong. Today Zhonghua is on trial, and tomorrow it will be the general's turn!"

Xue Guwu gritted his teeth and looked at Ma Sizong. He didn't know what had happened to Ma Sizong and why he had told him everything today.

Li Xuan raised his head calmly, looked at Xue Guwu, and said, "Tell me, speaking of this, Emperor Zhongzong should still be alive. Then, how did he die?"

In an instant, everyone in and outside Chang'an City looked at Ma Sizong.

It's the most critical moment.

“Emperor Zhongzong was a brave and heroic man, so he secretly arranged secret guards in the Qianyang Palace. So when Zhang Qianxu rushed into the palace, the secret guards appeared and protected Emperor Zhongzong.

At the same time, Emperor Zhongzong also pointed his sword at the Empress Dowager, accusing her of going too far, so he asked her to return to the harem and no longer care about the affairs of the previous dynasty. However, he did not expect that the eunuch supervisor Qiu Huan beside the Empress Dowager was a good fighter. With just one move, all the secret guards around Emperor Zhongzong were killed. "

Ma Sizong paused, looked up at the portrait of Li Zhi in front of him, and said softly: "Emperor Zhongzong could not bear the humiliation, and finally rushed towards the guards under Zhang Qianxu, and was finally stabbed to death by the guards' long spears."

"So, Emperor Zhongzong was killed by the imperial guards in the end." Li Xuan clenched his fists and asked softly, "Whose orders did they follow?"

Ma Sizong fell silent. In front of him, the portrait of Li Zhi was looking at him calmly, and in the corner was Li Xian's imperial seal.

An inexplicable impulse rushed into Ma Sizong's heart. He gritted his teeth and said, "In the end, the order to capture the emperor regardless of life or death was issued by the Empress Dowager and executed by Zhang Qianxu. Therefore, it was the guards under Zhang Qianxu who followed the Empress Dowager's order to kill the emperor!"

By order of the Empress Dowager, he killed the Emperor.

So all the truth was revealed at this moment, and everyone looked at Ma Sizong in disbelief.

Ma Sizong finally said softly: "So, in the end, the Queen Mother killed Zhang Qianxu, covered up the truth, and ordered all the ministers that no one should mention the incident in Qianyang Palace that day, and anyone who violated the order would be put to death."

After saying this, Ma Sizong suddenly rushed forward and slammed into the corner of the table.

With a "bang", blood exploded.

(End of this chapter)