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

Chapter 1700: The Wei Family is finally tempted (falling into the trap)
The thousand-mile Mang Mountain is cold and lonely.

On the low hill, there are wild grass, dead trees, white flags and yellow paper.

There were faint sounds of crying in the wind.

Li Xuan led a thousand black-armored cavalrymen and waited at the foot of the low hill. Lu Yuanfang, Wang Dezhen, Cui Zhiwen and others followed behind. There were also the ministers and vice ministers. Everyone could not help but look up at the low hill from afar.

There, a simple mausoleum was dug out in a very short time.

Empress Wu was hidden there.

Written by Ouyang Tong himself, Tomb of Commoner Youli.

Princess Taiping brought Xue Shao and her household servants to attend Empress Wu's funeral.

Li Chongjun and Concubine Zheng didn't come at all.

Li Xuan, Lu Yuanfang and others only sent them to the foot of the low hill and did not go up any further.

They came here just to see Empress Wu finally buried in the mausoleum, so that they could feel completely at ease.

From the reign of Emperor Taizong to Emperor Gaozong, and even to Emperor Zhongzong and Emperor Ruizong, countless people died at the hands of Empress Wu.

Even though she was confirmed dead now, everyone still felt uneasy and would not be satisfied until they saw her buried thoroughly.

Finally, hundreds of people slowly came down from the hill. They bowed to Princess Taiping, who was crying and almost fainting, and said, "Your Highness, please accept my condolences."

When the voice sounded, Princess Taiping's sad expression immediately disappeared. She looked at everyone, nodded indifferently, then got into the carriage and slowly drove towards the palace.

Everyone got on their horses or got in their carriages, and followed Princess Taiping closely.

"Your Highness, I really don't understand why Your Highness wants the princess to preside over the Eastern Palace?" Lu Yuanfang looked at Li Xuan with some confusion while riding his horse.

They all saw the look Princess Taiping gave them. Even though Empress Wu's death was confirmed by the late emperor's will, and even though the late emperor, Zhongzong, Ruizong, Prince Zhanghuai and others all died at the hands of Empress Wu, Princess Taiping was still dissatisfied with the fact that everyone buried Empress Wu with the rites for a commoner.

"Because the princess has no choice, she must ensure that Prince Wei grows up safely." Li Xuan looked at the carriage in front, shook his head, and said: "However, apart from her, who do you think the Prime Minister Lu should hand over Prince Wei to so that the Political Affairs Hall can be assured?"

Lu Yuanfang was slightly stunned and wanted to say Li Xuan's name, but he was unable to say it in the end.

Li Xuan now built the Taiwei Mansion at the side door of the East Palace, and the Council of State Affairs kept an eye on him every day.

Li Xuan is in charge of the East Palace, so forget it.

Today it is the Eastern Palace, tomorrow it will be the Harem.

They could still accept Princess Taiping staying in the harem, but if Li Xuan stayed in the harem, the rumor that Li Xuan was debauching the harem might spread throughout Luoyang before tomorrow.

Regarding this kind of things, not to mention others, even Li Xuan herself is very careful.

With the power he holds now, there are countless people inside and outside the palace who want to get ahead.

Countless people wanted to get closer to him and prepared countless banquets and sugar-coated bullets.

Li Xuan rejected them all.

If he really becomes arrogant and domineering, he will probably lose control of everything step by step under the instigation of people with ulterior motives.

"After returning to Chang'an, how about letting Princess Huainan share the burden for Princess Taiping?" Lu Yuanfang finally thought of a figure, the eldest princess of the royal family, the Princess Huainan.

"Okay!" Li Xuan thought about it and nodded, "Princess Taiping will come one day, and Princess Huainan will come one day. The two will take turns. If there is something, Princess Qianjin and Princess Changle can also take turns and come from the palace to the government hall..."

Lu Yuanfang waved his hand and said, "The Political Affairs Hall is in the Ministry of Personnel. After returning to Chang'an, Your Highness does not have to stay in the Taiwei Mansion. Your Highness still has the duty of Imperial College Jijiu. On weekdays, in addition to the Taiwei Mansion and the Imperial College, Your Highness can also stay in the Hongwen Hall or even the History Hall. When the time comes, Your Highness will supervise the national history."

Li Xuan listened to what Lu Yuanfang said. Sometimes it was the Imperial College, sometimes it was the Hongwen Academy, sometimes it was the Historical View, and sometimes he was supervising the national history. He felt that Lu Yuanfang wanted to push a lot of things onto him.

This is not necessarily a good thing.

But after a little thought, Li Xuan nodded and said with a smile: "Xuan, I will obey your command."

Hongwenguan and Shiguan are both just one step away from Zhengshitang, and the temptation here is too great for Li Xuan.

"We will set off for Chang'an the day after tomorrow. After returning to Chang'an, all matters will be decided by the Left Prime Minister. I can finally relax a little." Lu Yuanfang couldn't help laughing.

"Yes, I have to go back to Chang'an." Li Xuan looked at Luoyang City in the distance. Unknowingly, it was already the end of August, and he finally had to go back to Luoyang.

In Luoyang, Li Xuan could do many things under Lu Yuanfang's nose, but after returning to Chang'an, it would not be easy for him to get things done with Liu Rengui watching him all the time.

Once he returned to Chang'an, everyone in the world would understand that before Li Chongzhao returned to Beijing, Li Chongjun was regent, but the real person in charge of the world was Liu Rengui.

Liu Rengui had been prime minister for almost twenty years and was already in his eighties, with many students all over the world.

The world will be completely calm in the shortest possible time.

……

The night is hazy and Luoyang is under curfew.

On the long street, countless black-armored soldiers stood solemnly.

Li Xuan was riding alone in the middle. It was a rare occasion for him to come out of the palace.

Sigongfang, Yulong Garden.

The day before returning to Chang'an, Li Xuan showed up at Yulong Garden. Someone at home had packed everything up, but no one familiar with the family was in Luoyang.

Li Xuan didn't let them come.

The situation in Luoyang today seems calm, but in fact, undercurrents are surging beneath the invisible surface.

Countless forces and ideas are constantly colliding, and anyone who gets involved may be smashed to pieces.

Li Xuan is undoubtedly one of the driving forces behind this, but now he is qualified to sit on the shore, send the chess pieces to where they should be, and then take control of everything in Luoyang step by step.

Standing at the gate of Yulong Garden, Li Xuan couldn't help but look towards the direction of Songshan Mountain.

He closed his eyes slightly and his expression calmed down.

Now is not the time to reveal all his cards, he needs to wait patiently.

Waiting for others to go crazy.

With a "squeak" sound, the courtyard door closed.

Countless black-armored soldiers surrounded Yulong Garden and guarded it tightly.

Across the long street, corner of Taipei City.

A figure watched Li Xuan enter Yulong Garden from the top of the wall, then quickly slid down the wall, ran to the other side inside Taipei City, and then a carrier pigeon flew into the sky.

Not long after, the carrier pigeon finally landed at Wei's house.

In the study, Wei Juyuan looked at the letter in his hand and said to Wei Xuanzhen in surprise: "I thought Prince Peng would stay in the palace all the time, but I didn't expect him to come out."

"He is neither the emperor nor a general of the imperial guards, and he is not responsible for guarding the palace gate. Luoyang has just been captured, so we need him to guard the palace and calm people's hearts. Once he returns to Chang'an, with the help of the Left Prime Minister, all powers of King Peng will be quickly deprived. King Peng is nothing to worry about." Wei Xuanzhen couldn't help but waved his hands.

"Yes!" Wei Juyuan couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

To be honest, during this time in Luoyang, everyone was actually wary of Li Xuan, fearing that he would rely on his huge military force to force his way forward.

However, Li Xuan has always been very disciplined and resourceful in doing things.

When Prince Wei was handed over to Princess Taiping, for a moment, many people's attention shifted from Li Xuan to Princess Taiping.

"We must be alert to the Zheng family." Wei Xuanzhen raised his head, his eyes fell on the paper, shook his head, and said, "Zheng Xuankai has been entering the palace too frequently recently. I even heard that in Chang'an, Concubine Zheng's mother has made plans to enter the palace and even live there permanently."

Wei Juyuan's face darkened instantly, and he gritted his teeth and said, "They are too bold."

"They are gambling that Chongzhao will not come back." Wei Xuanzhen's face was a little gloomy, but then he shook his head and said, "Even if Chongzhao comes back, it is normal for him to die young at his age, so the Zheng family, Cui, Lu and Zheng families will invest more in Prince Wei."

"That incident a while ago." Wei Juyuan looked at Wei Xuanzhen carefully and said, "Uncle, was that incident really an accident?"

Wei Xuanzhen had just visited Prince Wei, and the next day Prince Wei caught a cold. That day, there were countless pairs of eyes outside their mansion.

If something really happened to Prince Wei at that time, they believed that Prince Peng would definitely massacre the Wei family.

"Do you know how many emperors of the Western Han Dynasty died at the hands of civil officials?" Wei Xuanzhen shook his head slightly, his eyes gloomy as he said, "They are better than us in calculating these things."

Wei Juyuan's eyes flashed with a hint of cruelty, and he said softly: "Uncle, the Dali Temple was reviewing the matter of Queen Wang a while ago. Because of Wu Shuren's crime, the Dali Temple, the Ministry of Justice and the Censorate are ready to restore Queen Wang to the position of Queen, and even bury her in Qianling Mausoleum."

"If King Peng promises and the Wang family makes efforts, this matter will be difficult to stop." Wei Xuanzhen's expression became solemn.

The Wang family, the Taiyuan Wang family, another great family will return to the court completely.

One could even say they already are.

The Shizhong Wang Dezhen, the Minister of War Wang Fangyi, and the Shangshu Youcheng Wang Yinke.

There was also Wang Bo, who was only a secretary of the sixth rank, but he had a very close relationship with Li Xuan.

Not to mention, Wang Fuzhi is preparing to come back. If nothing unexpected happens, he will be promoted to at least a fifth-rank or even fourth-rank official position.

Wei Juyuan said carefully: "My nephew heard something absurd. Someone said that since Queen Wang is the legal wife of Emperor Gaozong, can Emperor Xiaojing, Emperor Zhongzong, Emperor Ruizong, and Prince Zhanghuai all be adopted by Queen Wang..."

"This is impossible." Wei Xuanzhen couldn't help but stand up, staring at Wei Juyuan, and said in a rough tone: "It is impossible for such a big change to happen in the palace. The royal family and the government will not allow such a thing to happen."

"Of course it is." Wei Juyuan nodded, looked at Wei Xuanzhen and said, "But uncle, we still need to make preparations. I always feel that things in Yangzhou are very strange. Chongming has obviously left Yangzhou, so why has he been missing for so long? There must be news about his life or death..."

"Don't say any more." Wei Xuanzhen waved his hand and shook his head, saying, "Let the family send more people to Jiangnan to investigate and contact the Wang Clan of Langya. I think they are also willing to help with this matter. Do everything they can to find Chongzhao back... Even if they can't find it, they have to find out what happened."

"Yes!" Wei Juyuan bowed solemnly.

Wei Xuanzhen took a deep breath, looked at Wei Juyuan and said, "As for the palace, the Zheng family can send people in to guard the king, and we can also send people in to guard Princess Anle. After returning to Chang'an, the palace will extend its tentacles more."

"Yes!" Wei Juyuan's eyes lit up. After Li Chongjun returned to Chang'an, he would definitely live in Taiji Palace.

Most of the palace servants in Taiji Palace came from Chang'an. With the power of the Wei family in Chang'an, it was easy for them to extend their tentacles thoroughly into the palace.

By then, even if they really want to do something, no one can stop them.

"And Cui Zhiwen." Wei Xuanzhen raised his head slightly and whispered, "Remember last year, Prime Minister Cui presided over the imperial examination and admitted a lot of students. Most of these people were from aristocratic families. Go and investigate these people's illegal activities, and then hand them over to King Peng... The three families of Cui, Lu, and Zheng only have one prime minister in the center."

"Yes!"

(End of this chapter)