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

Chapter 1692 Shangguan Wan'er, bowed her head and stabbed
Empress Wu stood on the golden steps, looking at the bodies of the two female bodyguards below, then glanced at the black-clad secret guard, and finally her eyes fell on the imperial edict in Su Liangsi's hand.

Finally, she nodded slowly and said, "So, the last will of the late emperor fell into your hands."

Su Liangsi looked at Empress Wu with hatred in his eyes and gritted his teeth and said, "Although Prince Peng changed the will, it was only to better rectify the chaos. Although he is a little ambitious now, he is still following the rules. As long as there are proper checks and balances, he can be guided back on track. But you, you killed the late emperor, so you deserve to die."

Su Liangsi clenched his fists tightly. If this will had not fallen into his hands, he would not have believed that the late emperor was actually killed by Empress Wu.

"If I tell you that it was just written by the late emperor in his madness before his death, would you believe it?" Empress Wu looked at Su Liangsi, sighed, and said, "You were also in the palace that day. The late emperor and I did have an argument, but after the argument, I left this Zhenguan Hall."

"Zhong Lu Life-Prolonging Pill." Su Liangsi spat out the most deadly thing with a cold expression.

Empress Wu's expression suddenly turned extremely ugly.

The Zhong-Lü Life-Prolonging Pill was what killed Li Zhi.

Li Zhi was indeed at the end of his life, so he did a lot of things to prepare for his funeral, but if the Zhonglu Life-Prolonging Pill was effective, then he could have lived a few more years.

Even if it was only a month or two, unfortunately, Empress Wu still did something and made Li Zhi die when he should have.

Empress Wu fell completely silent. After a long while, she looked up at Su Liangsi and asked, "When did you enter the palace?"

"Wei Yuanzhong brought me in. The Queen Mother may not know that he was a member of the secret guard from the beginning." Su Liangsi shook his head slightly. Wei Yuanzhong did not enter the officialdom through formal official channels. Instead, before Li Xuan's expedition against Tubo, Wei Yuanzhong made a public memorial as a student of the Imperial Academy, discussing the advantages and disadvantages of the court officials in the use of military forces in warfare.

Li Zhi was amazed by his accurate descriptions of most people except Li Xuan, so he appointed him as a clerk in the Secretariat and soon after as a Censor-in-Chief.

But in fact, Wei Yuanzhong was a talent cultivated by the Secret Guards from the very beginning, and there was even a high possibility that he would follow the path of the Northern Gate Scholar in the future. But before he could reach that step, Empress Wu had already deposed Li Xian, and the situation thereafter was no longer in people's control.

"Where is Li Zhaode?" Empress Wu looked elsewhere with a serious expression.

"Hahaha..." Su Liangsi couldn't help laughing. He shook his head and said, "I didn't save Li Zhaode. His affairs have nothing to do with me."

"Di Huaiying!" Empress Wu's expression changed slightly.

"Yes, it's Di Huaiying." Su Liangsi looked towards the direction of Renshou Palace and said softly, "They may have taken over Renshou Palace now. The only thing they are waiting for is to welcome Prince Peng into the palace at dawn."

Queen Wu fell silent. She now knew who had the problem.

Gong Siye, it can only be Gong Siye.

After Gong Siye went to Changzhou, he started to look strange.

Oh, and there is also Xue Shao.

Many things were connected in Empress Wu's mind in a very short period of time.

Empress Wu shook her head. She didn't want to talk about these things anymore. She raised her head, looked at Su Liangsi, and said, "You have said so much tonight. Are you sure that I will not be able to leave this Zhenguan Palace tonight?"

"The late emperor passed away in this Zhenguan Hall. In order to avoid any recurrence in the future, we can only ask the Queen Mother to pass away here as well." Su Liangsi bowed slightly.

repeatedly.

Su Liangsi couldn't help but glance at Wu Sansi.

Even though things had come to this point, Empress Wu was still able to find a way to delay her own death so that she could make a comeback later.

When Su Liangsi thought of this, he couldn't help but feel a chill in his heart.

"Su Qing, you are always unwilling to call me your subject." Empress Wu sighed softly, her eyes dim and quite calm.

"The Queen is no longer the empress of the previous emperor, nor is she the mother of Emperor Zhongzong and Emperor Ruizong." Su Liangsi gritted his teeth, looked at the man in black beside him, and said, "Go ahead. They have been hunting you for so long. Now, send the Queen back to heaven."

With a "clang" sound, as soon as Su Liangsi finished speaking, the long sword of the black-clad death guard suddenly rose up, piercing through a space of more than ten feet in an instant, and the sword had already stabbed in front of Empress Wu.

Empress Wu looked at the calm and dead look in the Death Guard's eyes, and she knew that the man in front of her could not be shaken by words.

Empress Wu stepped back slightly, and the female guard beside her stepped forward, wiping the black-clad death guard's throat with the sharp blade in her hand.

Blood suddenly burst out.

A flower of blood exploded on the shoulder of the black-clad death guard, and on the opposite side, the heart of Empress Wu's female guard had been pierced directly.

However, the black-clad death guards' movements were stopped for a moment.

At this moment, Empress Wu took a slight step back.

The next moment, the floor under Empress Wu's feet suddenly slid open, and almost in an instant, Empress Wu disappeared from the spot.

The black-clad death guard stepped on the floor that suddenly closed and looked up in surprise. At this moment, the entire Zhenguan Hall was suddenly filled with collapsing sounds from all directions.

The black-clad death guard's expression, which had been cold all along, suddenly changed. Not only him, but even Su Liangsi's expression became extremely ugly in an instant. He turned around and fled like crazy.

Only Wu Sansi, who was kneeling there, looked confused.

But, it doesn’t matter…

Countless densely packed crossbows shot from all directions like a storm, and in the blink of an eye, they had hit the black-clad death guards and Su Liangsi.

"Ding ding ding..." The sound of countless long swords swinging was heard, and it lasted for twenty breaths, but wave after wave of crossbows kept shooting over, and finally, the sound of the long swords stopped.

After sixty breaths, the crossbow also stopped completely.

There was no human figure on the ground, only three bloody corpses with crossbows piercing their bodies.

Su Liangsi, died in defense of Wu Sansi.

No, there are three more, they were the female guards originally under Empress Wu.

Even though they were dead, their bodies were still completely pierced by the crossbows.

Even every corner of the Zhenguan Hall was filled with crossbows.

Densely packed, layer upon layer.

It looks so chilling.

Finally, with a "bang", the floor was lifted up.

Empress Wu, dressed in a black robe with golden phoenix threads, jumped up from below, looking a little dusty. …

Looking at the corpses on the ground, Su Liangsi, the dead guards, Wu Sansi, and Empress Wu couldn't help but shook her head and said helplessly: "These were originally prepared for King Peng. Why do you have to fill them in?"

Although Empress Wu's face was full of emotion, she was very confident when talking about Li Xuan, as if she was sure enough that Li Xuan could definitely enter this hall.

There wasn't even a place to step.

Empress Wu raised her head, looked towards the West Hall, and shouted coldly, "Someone come."

With a cold shout, the sound of footsteps from the West Hall finally sounded.

Looking closely, Shangguan Wan'er, dressed in red and golden armor, appeared in the hall.

Both Empress Wu and Wu Sansi had previously instructed that no matter what happened in the Zhenguan Hall, no one was allowed to enter and they were even required to stay far away.

But Empress Wu had already made arrangements, and her most trusted Shangguan Wan'er was staying in the side hall.

Qiu Huan was actually also guarding the palace gate outside.

Now Wu Sansi seems to be in control of the situation, but in fact everything in the palace is under the control of Empress Wu.

Not to mention, Wu Sansi and the people he brought into the hall are now dead.

Shangguan Wan'er, dressed in armor, strode towards Empress Wu. Empress Wu waved her hand and said, "Don't worry about me. Go search Su Liangsi to see if he has a copy of the late emperor's will."

Shangguan Wan'er's eyes trembled slightly, and she instantly understood what Empress Wu was thinking.

Wu Sansi died. Perhaps this was not a good thing before, but now, Empress Wu had obtained a copy of Su Liangsi's will. With this will, which was different from Li Xuan's, Empress Wu had a way to abolish Li Xuan's power to control the army.

Naturally, Empress Wu now stood against all of them, and they would not let her go. But if Empress Wu issued an edict of repentance, changed the Zhou Dynasty to the Tang Dynasty, restored order herself, and then retired to the harem, vowing not to participate in government affairs and pretending to enjoy her old age.

Just because she was the mother of Li Xian and Li Dan, and the grandmother of Li Chongjun, no one dared to kill her easily.

Once she gets out of this situation, she can watch the political struggle between the Wei family, the Zheng family, the central government, the provincial governors of various states and Li Xuan.

The will taken out at this time would be enough to help other forces destroy Li Xuan.

As the Grand Marshal, Li Xuan had one-third of the Tang Dynasty's military power in his hands, and he was also the Minister of State Affairs. If Empress Wu was around, others could tolerate these things, but without her, I'm afraid everyone would target Li Xuan.

He wields too much power.

If he falls, and the people with him fall too, then I don’t know how many positions will be vacated.

Shangguan Wan'er could even smell the bloody rainy night approaching.

"Eh!" Shangguan Wan'er searched for a long time but still found nothing. She looked at Empress Wu in confusion and said, "Your Majesty, the Imperial Censor has nothing on him."

Empress Wu's eyes fixed, and then she suddenly realized, "He wouldn't bring such a deadly thing here at this time tonight. He should have given it to Wei Yuanzhong."

Su Liangsi was a meticulous person. In order to prevent failure at this time tonight, Su Liangsi had already made arrangements in advance.

"It's okay. I'll find Wei Yuanzhong later." Empress Wu breathed a sigh of relief, looked at Shangguan Wan'er, and said, "Bring the will in his hand."

"Yes!" Shangguan Wan'er bowed slightly, then picked up Emperor Gaozong's will on the ground, stepped on the crossbow arrows on the ground step by step, and walked towards Empress Wu.

At the same time, a path was cleared on the ground.

"Your Majesty!" Shangguan Wan'er bowed slightly, held up the edict with both hands and presented it to Empress Wu.

Empress Wu breathed a sigh of relief, took the will, and opened it. There were only five words on it: "Those who rebel against Wu and replace Tang will be beheaded."

There is also the emperor's seal below.

Empress Wu showed a trace of hatred on her face, and at the same time she completely relaxed. This was what she had been most worried about, and now she could finally rest assured...

With a "hiss" sound, a cold short blade firmly pierced into Empress Wu's heart and lungs at this moment.

Empress Wu's hand holding the imperial edict was completely frozen there. She looked in disbelief at Shangguan Wan'er, who was bowing her head respectfully with one hand and holding a dagger in the other, staring at her with deep hatred.

With a "bang", Shangguan Wan'er was kicked away instantly.

It slid across the ground very quickly, and then hit the wall behind it heavily. Shangguan Wan'er couldn't help but spurt out a mouthful of blood.

"Why." Empress Wu withdrew her foot with some difficulty, stood firm again, and looked at Shangguan Wan'er with disbelief.

"Hehe!" Shangguan Wan'er raised her head, blood from the corner of her mouth flowed into her neck, but she still stared at Empress Wu with a smug look on her face.

Empress Wu's eyes narrowed slightly, and just as she was about to say something, she suddenly turned her head and looked towards the palace door, and then the sound of steady footsteps was heard.

Then, two figures appeared at the door.

One was Xu Lu holding the head of his enemy, and the other was Ye Wanwan holding a white silk in her hand.

The two walked into the palace with their heads lowered. Empress Wu suddenly looked at Shangguan Wan'er angrily and gritted her teeth and said, "Zheng."

Shangguan Wan'er's mother, Zheng, was a Shanggong Bureau Shanggong Bureau and came from the Zheng family of Xingyang.

Li Chongjun's mother was also from the Zheng family of Xingyang.

In Empress Wu's eyes, Xu Lu and Ye Wanwan both belonged to the Zheng family of Xingyang.

Without Empress Wu's knowledge, Li Chongjun's mother and Shangguan Wan'er's mother had become connected.

This is how the scene today came about, where they joined forces to murder Empress Wu.

……

Xu Lu and Ye Wanwan stood at the palace gate, stopped and bowed, then raised their heads expressionlessly and said, "Please come to heaven, Queen Mother."

Empress Wu's face changed and she cursed in a low voice: "Damn it!"

Shangguan Wan'er, who was standing by the wall, smiled gently.

(End of this chapter)