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

Chapter 1659: Mother and son turn against each other, and the court officials become disloyal

With a "swish" sound, the sharp candle thorn stabbed fiercely towards Empress Wu's chest.

In an instant, Qiu Huan, who was originally standing behind Empress Wu, appeared in front of her. He kicked forward with his right foot, and Li Dan, who was rushing towards her fiercely, was kicked away.

Empress Wu finally reacted, her face changed drastically, she pointed at Li Dan on the ground, gnashing her teeth and cursing, "Silang, are you crazy? I am your mother!"

Li Dan fell to the ground, feeling pain all over his body, but when he looked up and saw Empress Wu standing at the door of Zhuangjing Hall, he suddenly laughed strangely.

"Mother, mother." Li Dan looked at Empress Wu and spoke softly at first, but then he said with a crazy look, "Mother, are you the mother who killed three brothers and three daughters-in-law?"

Three elder brothers, Li Hong, Li Xian, and Li Xian.

Three daughters-in-law, Princess Ying, Queen Zhongzong, and Queen Li Dan.

Looking at Li Dan's appearance, he not only believed that Dou, Wei, Zhao, Li Xian and Li Xian all died at the hands of Wu Zetian, but he even believed that Li Hong died at the hands of Wu Zetian.

Empress Wu's expression changed instantly, and she turned aside and asked coldly, "Who told the emperor?"

Qiu Huan and many more people knelt down at the same time.

Qiu Huan quickly bowed and said, "Your Majesty came back yesterday and didn't see the Queen, so he has been frantically looking for her. I had no choice but to seal off the Zhuangjing Palace. After that, no one has entered the palace to see Your Majesty again."

After hearing what Qiu Huan said, Empress Wu turned and looked at Li Dan.

She already understood that Li Dan had guessed the deaths of Dou and Wei on his own.

In fact, it is not difficult. When Lai Junchen impeached Prince Yi Yang that day, the emperor was also there.

When everything is linked to Wei, it couldn't be clearer.

Prince Yi Yang was the grandson of Wei. Yes, Prince Ji Li Shen’s mother was Emperor Taizong’s concubine Wei.

When Prince Yi Yang contacted Wei, it proved that it was Jingzhao Wei who was trying to contact Princess Wei of King Ying through Prince Ji.

When Empress Wu sent people to arrest Wei, Dou happened to be nearby.

She thought she was the queen and had the support of people like Dou Xuande in the court, so naturally she thought she had some power.

But such power was not worth mentioning in the eyes of Empress Wu. In a blink of an eye, she had her killed.

……

Looking at Li Dan, Empress Wu said softly, "I'm sorry, Silang, I was a little anxious. Someone, bring Concubine Dugu here and let her take care of the emperor. Also, let's change the people outside the palace."

"Yes!" Qiu Huan immediately bowed and then waved his hand.

The palace servants around immediately walked out from the shadows outside the palace and left quickly, and were soon replaced by another group of people.

Dugu quickly arrived at Zhuangjing Palace. When she saw Li Dan lying almost motionless on the ground, she was shocked.

But soon, she found that Li Dan was still alive, so she breathed a sigh of relief, turned to look at Empress Wu, bowed and said, "Greetings, mother."

Empress Wu nodded slightly and said, "Take care of the emperor and don't let anything happen to him."

"Yes!" Dugu bowed.

Empress Wu turned around and left.

Dugu finally breathed a sigh of relief and quickly bowed and said, "Farewell, mother!"

When Empress Wu completely disappeared from sight, Dugu entered the hall, helped Li Dan up, and said with worry in her eyes, "Your Majesty."

Dugu called out several times before Li Dan came back to his senses and raised his head. He gently stroked Dugu's cheek and said softly, "My beloved, do you know how lucky you are? It is because you and I have no children that you are able to survive."

"Ah!" Dugu's face was full of shock!

……

"Tell Fan Lubing to imitate the emperor's notes and tone, write a letter to Prince Peng, and then treat it with the mixed medicine in the palace." Empress Wu stopped and glanced at the Daye Gate in front of her, and whispered: "Be careful, Prince Peng is also a great expert, don't let him find out the clues."

"Yes!" Qiu Huan immediately bowed.

Empress Wu nodded, then quickly walked towards the Qianyang Palace.

Now she is no longer qualified to rest.

Li Xuan had already reached the outskirts of Luoyang City. Empress Wu would not be able to rest well until the threat from Li Xuan was resolved.

She had to be extremely vigilant, lest one day someone would quietly open the Luoyang city gate and let Li Xuan into the city. If that happened, she would be finished.

And, just as Fan Lubing said.

It is unrealistic to expect the people in Luoyang City now to defeat Li Xuan. It is already extremely difficult to use them to defend Luoyang.

If you want to defeat Li Xuan, you have to rely on the troops from outside to support the king.

In recent years, Empress Wu has placed many of her trusted followers as provincial governors in Shannan, Huainan, Shandong, and Hebei.

In particular, many children from poor families are very loyal to her. As long as she can gather their military strength, there is still a chance.

Sitting on the imperial couch, Empress Wu looked up and asked, "Is there any news from Wang Guo?"

General Wang Guo of the Left Guard led an army of 20,000 to attack Hanzhong. Once Hanzhong was captured, Chang'an would be immediately within their reach.

Originally, Empress Wu hoped that Pei Shaoye would be able to fight Li Xuan to a draw on the Luo River Plain, and then wait for reinforcements from Shannan and Huainan to arrive.

Even if the situation is not going well, the stalemate can be maintained for a while. In this way, Wang Guo can rush into Hanzhong, kill into Chang'an, and then suddenly attack from behind to make Li Xuan completely collapse. This is the real wishful thinking of Empress Wu.

However, even she did not expect that Pei Shaoye, who commanded an army of nearly 50,000, would fail like this.

Empress Wu grabbed the teacup on the imperial desk and looked up at her enemy.

Qiu Huan shook his head and said, "The last time General Wang sent a message was three days ago. He was about to attack the mountain plank road. The message was not delivered clearly, and there is no message today."

Empress Wu's face became serious. She leaned back slightly, looked at the golden dragon above her head, and said softly, "Do you think Wang Guo is in Hanzhong and has been wiped out?"

"Impossible." Qiu Huan decisively interrupted Empress Wu and bowed, saying, "Empress, the one stationed in Hanzhong now is Qu Chongyu. Although he was the General of the Left Guard in his early years, it was only because of his ancestors' influence. Later, he relied on the power of King Peng to become the Governor of Hezhou. His ability is limited."

Empress Wu nodded and said reminiscingly, "You are right. Qu Chongyu is indeed not capable enough. He even wanted to succeed Prince Peng as the governor of Changzhou. No one with enough vision would do that."

"Not to mention, he only has 5,000 men." Qiu Huan added at the end.

"Okay, then let's wait for him." Empress Wu breathed a sigh of relief and continued, "Also, notify Wei Yuanzhong not to wait in Xuchang, but to go directly to Yique Pass to guard it. The reinforcements from Shannan and Huainan, all the people in Yique Pass, and everything south of Luoyang City will all be under his command." "Yes!" Qiu Huan bowed seriously with a calm expression.

Clearly, at the previous court meeting, Empress Wu had issued an edict in front of all the ministers to order Wei Yuanzhong to garrison Xuchang to guard against Wang Fangyi's army heading south. But less than two hours later, Empress Wu had changed her mind.

Qiu Huan was not at all surprised by Empress Wu's arrangement.

Because in his opinion, among the court and the public, the only person Wu Zetian could truly trust, besides Fan Lubing and Wu Sansi, was Wei Yuanzhong.

Even when Cheng Wuting led the Eastern Expedition, Wei Yuanzhong was also the military supervisor.

At the critical moment, Wei Yuanzhong could even use the secret order in his hand to directly behead Cheng Wuting and forcibly take over the entire army.

It was only because Wei Yuanzhong later stayed in Maoshan to track down Li Chongzhao's whereabouts that Cheng Wuting was allowed to lead the army alone.

If Wei Yuanzhong had been with Cheng Wuting, Empress Wu would not have had to worry about Cheng Wuting's rebellion, and she would not have killed him because of Pei Yan.

Even with Wei Yuanzhong on the battlefield, this battle would not have been lost so miserably.

Looking up, Empress Wu said calmly, "Go and look after Concubine Zheng. Don't let her and her child get hurt in the slightest. Think twice before they reach into the palace. Cut them off completely."

"Yes!" Qiu Huan's mouth twitched slightly, and then he bowed and accepted the order.

"And Shendu Garden, clear all traces inside." Empress Wu's eyes were slightly cold.

Prince Ji, Prince Yiyang, Prince Xu and others lived in Shendu Garden, but there has been no news of them since they were impeached by Lai Junchen.

Like a queen.

Qiu Huan bowed slightly, his face solemn.

Empress Wu waved her hand, and Qiu Huan immediately bowed and left the Qianyang Palace.

Behind him, people would run into Qianyang Palace from time to time to report the whereabouts of Li Xuan's army that had been discovered by the military.

The war is about to begin.

……

Twenty miles west of Luoyang City is Luoshen Island.

Endless black cavalry poured down from the north and south banks of the Luo River, and the fortress on the island was instantly cut off from all passages to the north and south.

Luoshen Island, Sun Island and Moon Island, the three islands in the center of Luo River, each have a bridge to travel between the north and south of Luo River.

Even standing on the bridge, you can clearly see the Luoyang city wall.

This place has always been an important transportation route to prevent enemies from the north from entering Luoyang.

There were 3,000 garrisons there, with fortifications, catapults, and crossbows as key points of defense, making them difficult to capture.

However, Li Xuan was too familiar with everything in Luoyang.

He remembered every tree and blade of grass in Luoyang and every checkpoint by heart.

As a checkpoint, it can defend both the north and the south, but once both the north and south sides are captured, this place will immediately become useless.

All the soldiers on the island would be exposed to attacks from the north and south in an instant.

This was the case with Li Xuan. After winning in the Luo River Plain, he did not rush eastward but instead let half of his men cross the Luo River directly upstream.

Moving eastward along both sides of the Luo River, all the defense lines above the Luo River became useless.

Li Xuan took out a small note from his arms and whispered a few words. Then with a "whoosh", a crossbow arrow shot into the barrier.

After a moment, the rampart suddenly opened the door.

Afterwards, Huang Ping, the left general guard who was guarding the fortress, whose home was in the fourth house of Datongfang in Luoyang and had two sons and one daughter, led his troops to surrender.

"From now on, you will be under the command of General Liu Dingyuan of the Left Guard." Li Xuan looked at Huang Ping calmly.

"Yes!" Huang Ping immediately bowed solemnly.

Li Xuan nodded, then rode directly onto the bridge.

Liu Dingyuan, who was following behind Li Xuan, stepped forward and said, "Leave half of the troops to guard, and the remaining half will follow me to attack."

"Yes!" Huang Ping bowed solemnly and instantly breathed a sigh of relief.

Although he didn't know when Liu Dingyuan was promoted from General of the Left Guard to General of the Left Guard, fortunately, they were all acquaintances and his own people.

At this time, Huang Ping couldn't help but curse in his heart, what is going on!
However, looking at the white silk tied around the bodies of the cavalrymen in black clothes and black armor crossing the bridge, Huang Ping couldn't help but sigh in his heart.

Why did Emperor Zhongzong die?

If he hadn't died, there wouldn't be so many things.

Although Emperor Zhongzong had not been in power for long and his wisdom was not yet apparent, he was definitely not a foolish emperor, and many people were happy to see him gradually govern the country.

But he died just like that, killed in the palace coup led by Empress Wu.

Later, in order to eliminate the hidden dangers, the Queen Mother massacred the Luoyang East Palace.

After Prince Yangzhou ascended the throne, she dispatched a large army to attack Yangzhou.

But yes, although he dealt with the prince of Yangzhou, King Peng led his army to fight back.

Revenge for Emperor Zhongzong.

Don't treat officials in the government and generals in the army as fools.

The fact that Wu Zetian staged a palace coup and killed Li Xian became a fact recognized by the vast majority of officials and generals as Li Dan became a complete puppet.

If Li Xuan had not come back, they would have accepted it. But Li Xuan came back and conquered them, so they turned to work for Li Xuan without any psychological burden, after all, it was all for the Tang Dynasty.

Moreover, Li Xuan is more orthodox and more powerful.

It will also be easier for the world to regain stability.

(End of this chapter)