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

Chapter 1704: Murder of Concubine Zheng, Murder of Li Xuan
In the Taiji Palace, more than a dozen tall horses broke directly into the Taiji Gate from the Suzaku Gate, and then headed straight for the provincial government hall under the gate.

Li Xuan walked into the hall following the setting sun.

At this time, all the ministers in the Council of State had gathered.

Liu Rengui, Liu Shenli, Lu Yuanfang, Li Yiyan, Yao Lingzhang, Wang Dezhen, Liu Jingxian, Cui Zhiwen, and Li Xuan made a total of nine people.

"Left Prime Minister, Right Prime Minister!" Li Xuan saluted solemnly to Liu Rengui, Liu Shenli, and other prime ministers, and then asked anxiously: "I heard that the emperor has news, how is it, is it true?"

"It should be true." Liu Shenli nodded and said, "This is the news that Minister Wei found out in Huzhou, and the Imperial Censor Wei Fangzhi personally rushed it back over 800 miles."

Liu Shenli turned his head and looked at the thirty-year-old Imperial Censor Wei Fangzhi standing aside. He was the most outstanding young man of the Wei family and it would not be difficult for him to become an Assistant Minister or a Minister of the Court in the future.

"So it's Huzhou. No wonder the previous news was inaccurate." Li Xuan nodded in realization.

Cross the Yangtze River from Yangzhou and you will reach Runzhou. From Runzhou, enter Maoshan, and then go northeast to Tianmu Mountain, and then cross the mountain to Huainan Road. However, after entering Maoshan, go southeast and you will reach Huzhou. Huzhou has many large lakes, which are enough to accommodate you.

Before, they had been looking in the direction of Tianmu Mountain and had never thought of Huzhou, so they had no results.

"It's good that he can find it." Li Xuan breathed a sigh of relief and said, "When the emperor returns to the capital, the world will be stable. If you calculate the time, he will be back just before the New Year's Day court session. At that time, all the governors of the upper states in the world will be in Chang'an, and it will be a good time for them to pay their respects to the emperor one by one."

"Why are you rushing?" Liu Rengui waved his hand, glared at Li Xuan, and said, "Huzhou is vast, and it is not easy to find the emperor. Even if you find him, you should have a good rest in Jiangnan before returning to Beijing, so as not to have any problems with your body. In addition, Chang'an can also arrange someone to go to Jiangnan to pick him up."

"Yes!" Everyone bowed at the same time, their eyes flickering slightly.

Although the news that Li Chongzhao was in Huzhou was sent back by the Wei family, the person was not found after all, so there was no need to send someone to Yangzhou to pick him up now.

However, Liu Rengui had great prestige in the court, and no one dared to veto his decision.

Liu Rengui turned to look at Li Xuan and said, "One person from the royal family and two people from the government hall are going to Yangzhou to welcome the emperor. If we travel faster, 800 miles, we can reach Yangzhou in three to five days. Who do you think is suitable to go?"

"So urgent?" Li Xuan was a little surprised, but then he said: "Among the royal family, Han Wangbo and Huo Wangshu are all old, and there are not many people of their age who have this ability, except Li Rong and Xuan. But Li Rong...it seems that only Xuan can go."

"Yeah!" Liu Rengui nodded, then looked at the others.

"I'm one of them." Yao Lingzhang stood up and bowed to accept the order.

"Okay!" Liu Rengui nodded in agreement, then looked at the others.

"Let me go." Liu Jingxian also stood up.

"I'll go." Wang Dezhen stepped forward and looked at Liu Jingxian, who was young but a little frail. He shook his head and said, "I have at least fought with King Peng in the northwest. Traveling hundreds of miles in a day and night is a common occurrence for me."

"Then let the Prime Minister go." Liu Rengui nodded, made the final decision, and then said: "Send a message to the Palace Department, and have the Emperor's various ceremonial guards be prepared, and go south to Yangzhou with the King of Peng and the other two."

"The palace must also be prepared. After the emperor returns to Beijing, he will definitely live in the Taiji Palace, but it is best to clean up the East Palace and Daming Palace as well. The emperor will inevitably have to visit them." Li Xuan added a little, and the ministers nodded in agreement.

"The harem." Liu Rengui understood what Li Xuan meant and said with a little hesitation, "Let's go first and transfer two thousand right guard cavalry to go with us."

"Yes!" After a short pause, Li Xuan added: "We will transfer another 1,000 Qianniu Guards and 1,000 Jinwu Guards from Luoyang. The ceremonial guards must be properly prepared."

"Okay!" Liu Rengui looked at the ministers and said softly, "Hurry up and prepare everything tomorrow morning, and then set out directly from Daming Palace. Don't alarm Chang'an City. In addition, Wei Yushi will work harder and go to Yangzhou with us."

"Yes!" Wei Fangzhi bowed solemnly.

……

After leaving the Council of State Affairs, Li Xuan turned around and was about to leave the palace to mobilize troops from the Right Guard.

Across from him, Wang Jishan hurried over. Seeing Li Xuan, he quickly stepped forward and bowed, saying, "Greetings, Your Majesty. I heard that the Emperor has been found in Huzhou?"

Li Xuan stopped, looked at him seriously, and nodded, "The Wei family has confirmed that the emperor is in Huzhou, and has even sent someone to rush the message back to Chang'an over 800 miles. The Wei family is so confident that the emperor may have already arrived in Yangzhou while you and I are talking."

"Is that so?" Wang Jishan looked confused.

At the end of August, Duan Baoxuan sent a message from Yangzhou, suspecting that Li Chongzhao had gone out to sea by boat, and wanted to mobilize the Yangzhou navy and the Hangzhou navy to go out to sea for investigation. However, after several months, nothing was found at sea, but news came from Huzhou.

Everyone knows that Li Xuan has close ties with the Hangzhou Navy. Even if nothing can be found out, Li Xuan is still very sexy.

Li Xuan sighed and said, "From Xuan's point of view, the emperor should have divided his troops into several groups. One group went to the sea, and another group went into the mountains. After entering the mountains, they were divided into several groups again, and finally returned to Huzhou quietly. Therefore, all aspects were not investigated clearly... The Imperial Censor asked Wei Yuanzhong, and he is quite capable."

Wang Jishan nodded. Wei Yuanzhong was indeed quite capable. If it weren’t for his low qualifications, he might even have the opportunity to become the Vice Minister of the Ministry of War.

He searched for Li Chongzhao in Maoshan for several months, mobilized tens of thousands of soldiers, and found many clues that might be Li Chongzhao, but they were finally proved to be false.

After several months, nothing was gained except for wasting a lot of manpower and material resources.

The only one who could play tricks on Wei Yuanzhong like this was Pei Xingjian.

They are divided into more than a dozen routes, and you have to choose one of them, or even go the opposite way. It is too difficult to find them in a short time.

In addition, Li Xuan invaded Luoyang too hastily, and the states in the south of the Yangtze River were not very cooperative. Finally, under the edict of Empress Wu, they could only retreat temporarily.

"Anyway, now we finally have accurate news." Wang Jishan stepped back and bowed solemnly to Li Xuan, saying, "The emperor has returned, and the world is stable. I wish His Majesty to welcome the emperor back soon."

"Thank you for your kind words, Grand Censor." Li Xuan smiled and bowed in return, then said, "Xuan will be tidying up now. Goodbye."

"Take care!" Wang Jishan bowed and watched Li Xuan leave.

Only when Li Xuan completely disappeared from his sight did Wang Jishan narrow his eyes slightly. He always felt that something was wrong.

As soon as Duan Baoxuan arrived in Yangzhou, he suspected that Li Chongzhao did not go south across the river to Maoshan, but most likely went east to the sea.

Although the Dengzhou navy was chasing him from the sea, the chances of escape were still great in the vast ocean. But why did everyone think that Li Chongzhao had entered Tianmu Mountain?

Just because Li Xuan had already taken Chang'an, did they want to go from Tianmu Mountain, turn south, and pass through Jiannan to return to Chang'an? Was it that easy?

……

At Prince Peng's Mansion, as soon as Li Xuan entered the door, he saw Liu Jinyu standing under the central hall waiting for him.

"What's the situation?" Liu Jinyu waved his hand to dismiss the servants around him.

"Something is wrong." Li Xuan walked to the main seat and sat down. He looked at Liu Jinyu thoughtfully and said, "When Yangzhou fell, although Pei Guang, the governor of Huzhou, was from the same Pei family, he did not respect the emperor and sent people to search for the whereabouts of the emperor. Huzhou's efforts were very strong, so it was impossible for them to go to Huzhou."

"That's right." Liu Rengui nodded, sat down next to Li Xuan, and then recalled: "And at that time, the people in Hangzhou and Wuzhou had already evacuated. If the emperor really went to Huzhou, then that place would be a dead end. With Pei Xingjian's ability, he would not choose such a dead end."

"Moreover, with only a clue, the Wei family couldn't wait to send someone to rush 800 miles back to Chang'an to report the news, as if they would definitely find the emperor." Li Xuan narrowed her eyes slightly, and then said softly: "Also, Mr. Yue's attitude is not right. He just received the news and didn't check it carefully. He immediately asked me, Prime Minister Yao, and Prime Minister Wang..."

Li Xuan's hand paused, and Liu Jinyu added in a low voice: "My husband has a close relationship with Prime Minister Yao, Prime Minister Wang, and the Eastern Palace."

"After we leave, some people will be able to work in Chang'an." Li Xuan couldn't help but feel a little funny.

Liu Jinyu immediately understood what Li Xuan meant: "My husband, are you saying that Grandpa did it on purpose?"

"It's just a trap." Li Xuan stood up, looked at Liu Jinyu and said, "I have to make some arrangements here. Sanniang, unless it is something that Yue Weng asks you to do, no matter what news or what happens, don't pay attention to it."

"Yes!" Liu Jinyu immediately sensed a sense of urgency that a storm was about to come.

Something is going to happen.

Li Xuan entered the study and said, "Go and call Li Mo."

"Yes!" A figure retreated from the shadows.

Not long after, Li Mo, dressed in black, was already standing in the room.

“Go and check. Find out the whereabouts of all the members of the Wei family after I leave. No one should escape. In addition, all of the Wei family’s shops, land, and even properties hidden under other people’s names must be checked out. The more detailed the better.” There was a hint of ruthlessness on Li Xuan’s face.

"Yes!" Li Mo bowed solemnly, then looked at Li Xuan carefully: "Prince, are you going to confiscate the Wei family?"

"Yes!" Li Xuan nodded gently and said, "At least the Wei family's branches can't escape... In addition, all the illegal activities of the Wei family's children in the past few days have been handed over to the Imperial Censor Zhang Jianzhi... Everything happened too fast, he just arrived in Chang'an!"

"Yes!" Li Mo bowed. He did not ask Li Xuan why Li Xuan trusted Zhang Jianzhi, who had just arrived in Chang'an, more than Yao Chong and Song Jing.

……

Early in the morning, two thousand black-armored cavalrymen came from the north side of Chang'an, carrying all the emperor's ceremonial guards, each riding two horses, and then quickly headed towards Luoyang.

Sufficient horses and food have been prepared in Luoyang. They will not stay in Luoyang and will head straight to Xuzhou overnight.

After changing horses in Xuzhou, they finally headed straight for Yangzhou.

Try to reach Yangzhou within four days.

Two thousand two hundred miles, more than five hundred miles a day.

Extremely fast.

Historically, the more people there are in a march, the slower the march.

I'm afraid no one in the entire Tang Dynasty can achieve such a marching speed except Li Xuan.

On the second floor of Chang'an East Post Station, Wei Juyuan watched Li Xuan, Yao Lingzhang, Wang Dezhen and others leave, then looked at Wei Xuanzhen who was supposed to be lying sick at home, and said softly: "Uncle, they are gone."

"Yes!" Wei Xuanzhen nodded gently, his eyes fixed on him and he said, "Tomorrow, let the Supervisory Censor impeach the Jingyang County Magistrate for corruption. The day after tomorrow, impeach more of Prime Minister Cui's disciples. After three days, directly impeach Prime Minister Cui and make sure he can't take care of other things first."

"Yes!" Wei Juyuan looked extremely solemn.

"Four days later, your aunt will come to the palace to visit Princess Anle. After she comes back, your aunt will be seriously ill. Remember, don't panic and don't call a doctor in advance." Wei Xuanzhen turned and looked at Wei Juyuan with a heavy expression.

"Yes!" Wei Juyuan bowed heavily. Only he knew what price the Wei family paid for this time and for the future.

The emperor had news in Yangzhou. As the emperor's maternal grandfather, Wei Xuanzhen should have gone south with King Peng and others, but unfortunately he was ill, having fallen ill ten days ago.

Although my health has improved a little now, I still cannot withstand long journeys.

But it was also because of this that when his wife went to visit Princess Anle and meet Concubine Zheng a few days later, she had the opportunity to bring her illness to Concubine Zheng.

After that, his wife would fall ill when she came back and would blame all the illnesses on Wei Xuanzhen.

Afterwards, naturally someone would conduct an investigation, but after such an investigation, it was discovered that Wei Xuanzhen did not have any serious illness, and his wife was not infected with any serious illness either.

Not fatal at all.

At this time, in the palace, the person who actually tried to kill Concubine Zheng had completely disappeared.

"What about Prince Peng?" Wei Juyuan looked at Wei Xuanzhen and whispered, "Uncle, now we have Empress Hesi. If Prince Peng uses Empress Hesi to control Prince Wei, then wouldn't we be helping him?"

"So, he is going to die." Wei Xuanzhen narrowed his eyes slightly.

"Uncle, it's not easy to kill King Peng."

"The Taihu Lake is all water, and the army is scattered. It's too easy for one or two people to die." Wei Xuanzhen's voice was very soft, but the murderous intent was extremely strong.

(End of this chapter)