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

Chapter 917 Empress Wu counterattacks, direct and fierce

In the Zichen Hall, the scent of sandalwood lingers quietly.

Empress Wu sat alone behind the imperial court, calmly handling the memorial.

At this time, the chamberlain quietly entered the palace, stepped forward and said in a low voice: "The Queen of Heaven, the King of Nanchang has been summoned to see you."

Empress Wu breathed a sigh of relief, moved her shoulders, then raised her head and shouted loudly: "Pass!"

"It is said that the King of Nanchang has an audience!"

Amidst loud shouts, Li Xuan walked into the hall calmly.

"My dear King Xuan of Nanchang pays homage to the Queen of Heaven. May the Queen of Heaven be blessed and safe!"

Li Xuan bowed her hands in earnest and bowed her head in awe.

Empress Wu put the gold pen in her hand aside, raised her head, looked at Li Xuan with slight confusion, and then asked: "I heard that you are investigating the British Duke, but what does the matter in the Prime Minister's Palace have to do with him?"

The corners of Li Xuan's mouth twitched slightly, then she cupped her hands and said, "Reporting to the Queen of Heaven, I am not investigating the British Duke."

"Huh?" Empress Wu's eyes were stunned, and she subconsciously went to read the secret guard's report.

But before she could turn the page, Li Xuan immediately said: "Reporting to the Queen of Heaven, I am actually investigating the chief steward of the British Duke's Palace. He may be involved in the case of the Prime Minister's Palace."

"Oh, you should be cautious." Empress Wu stopped moving in a funny way and raised her head to look at Li Xuan.

Li Xuan was actually checking up on Li Jingye, but as long as he didn't directly say it was Li Jingye, no one could say what he was like.

After all, a steward has no weight at all in the court.

Of course, in fact, in the eyes of many people, what the manager does is what the master does.

In this world, there are too many cases where stewards take the blame for their masters.

Unfortunately, these things can be said in the law.

In this way, Li Xuan was just checking the housekeeper of the British government, and there seemed to be no problem.

The law says so.

The reason why Li Xuan is so cautious is because the case in the Prime Minister's Mansion has always been investigated by the secret guards, and he has not been granted the authority to investigate.

So he couldn't directly check on Li Jingye, but he could check on the steward of Li Jingye's family, but no one would pursue this.

"Continue, have you found anything?" Empress Wu raised her head slightly, she was already interested.

"Here!" Li Xuan bowed slightly, then took out a piece of drawing paper from his sleeve, and handed it forward.

The chamberlain on the side immediately took it and delivered the drawing paper to the imperial desk.

The faces of three young men standing side by side suddenly appeared clearly in front of Empress Wu.

……

"People say that King Nanchang's fine brushwork is first-class. Now it seems that he does have some skill." Empress Wu nodded, and then asked: "Who are these people?"

Li Xuan solemnly held up her hands: "Reporting to the Queen of Heaven, it was these three people who took the initiative to transfer several congratulatory gifts to the Prime Minister's Palace."

"Huh?" Empress Wu immediately looked at the three figures on the drawing paper coldly, then frowned and looked at Li Xuan: "The secret guard didn't find out anything, why did you find out instead?"

Empress Wu knew that night that the Prime Minister's Mansion was almost burned down.

However, after knowing that the matter was under control, she and the emperor chose to remain calm on the surface, but secretly asked the secret guards to step up their investigation.

But several days passed, but the secret guard found nothing. In the end, he reported Li Xuan's investigation of Li Jingye.

But who would have thought that the secret guard found nothing, but Li Xuan had already drawn and sent the portraits of the perpetrators.

This made Empress Wu couldn't help but question the secret guard's ability.

And of course, surprise.

How did Li Xuan find this out?
"Reporting to the Queen of Heaven, if I am right, the secret guards have already checked all the guests and found the original owners of the burned gifts." Li Xuan handed over his hand slightly.

Empress Wu nodded and said: "The gift that caught fire was sent to the Prime Minister's Palace by them, but after careful inspection, they seemed to know nothing."

Li Xuan nodded and said, "That's true. These people really don't know anything. Their gifts have been swamped on the way."

After a slight pause, Li Xuan continued: "Based on the guest list, I found out the original owner of the burned gifts, and then identified who among these people was easier to attack. Finally, when they went to the Prime Minister's Mansion, On the way, I found the place where their gifts were exchanged, and finally found three guys who were in a hurry, but happened to appear on the way to the Prime Minister's Palace for everyone who had been exchanged for gifts."

"So, it must be these three people." Empress Wu looked at the three heads with cold eyes.

It has to be said that Li Xuan's painting skills are indeed very high, and he almost completely reproduced the appearance and characteristics of the three people.

Li Xuan's method didn't sound special, it was just that he dug deeper than the Secret Guard, but the Secret Guard missed this point.

Empress Wu raised her head, looked at Li Xuan, and said, "Where are these three people now?"

Li Xuan cupped her hands and said: "Reporting to the Queen, it was found that these three people were all from Luoyang. They arrived in Chang'an the day before the Prime Minister's wedding, but they left Chang'an on the afternoon of the Prime Minister's wedding. I originally went to Qianniuwei , I just hope that Qian Niuwei can find these three people."

"By decree, Qianniuwei sent people to Luoyang immediately to search for these three people and find these three people at all costs." Empress Wu picked up the drawing paper and handed it to the side.

A white-faced chamberlain stepped forward silently, took the drawing paper and quickly walked out of the Zichen Palace.

Now in this case, the Prime Minister's Palace is involved, the Beimen Bachelor is involved, and the kings, the prince, and even several prime ministers are paying attention.

We all have been foxes for thousands of years, so we naturally understand what serious consequences will be caused if a fire breaks out in the palace on the night of the Prime Minister's wedding.

If you are not careful, the situation in the court will be in turmoil immediately.

Although everything is going smoothly this year except for the drought, what about next year?

There will be another big war next year, and if something goes wrong, it may even affect next year's war situation.

If there is another problem with the war situation, the entire Tang Dynasty will be in turmoil.

The defeat of Dafeichuan was only a few years ago. …

Empress Wu suppressed the anger in her heart, looked up at Li Xuan, and asked, "King Nanchang, how did you find out that the British Duke was involved?"

Li Xuan cursed in his heart, but then he suppressed his words to correct Empress Wu and said with his hands: "Wannian County found out where those three people stayed in Chang'an. I took out the portraits of several important figures in the British government and asked the nearby people to They identified them one by one, and finally they identified a figure who looked very much like a British official who had appeared nearby."

After saying that, Li Xuan took out a confession from his sleeve and stepped forward slightly to hand it over.

The chamberlain took it and handed it to Empress Wu's desk.

Empress Wu's eyes passed quickly, and for a moment, there was a trace of anger in her heart. However, she quickly suppressed her anger, looked up at Li Xuan, and asked: "King Nanchang, you seem to have deliberately found a job with the British Duke. If you want others to identify the portraits of others, have you already determined that it was the British prince who was doing the trick?"

Li Xuan knew that his presumption of guilt would definitely attract Empress Wu's attention, so he immediately held up his hands and said, "Report to Empress Tian, ​​yes."

After a slight pause, Li Xuan continued: "Actually, I was a little suspicious at the beginning. It seemed that Dugu Zhong intended to cause trouble in the Prime Minister's Mansion that day."

Empress Wu frowned.

When Dugu Zhong went to the Prime Minister's Mansion to cause trouble, he did it cleverly and Li Xuan calmed it down quickly enough, so it basically didn't attract much attention from others.

The same goes for Empress Wu. After all, it is an internal matter of the Prime Minister's Palace. Li Dan has already handed over the memorial inviting Dugu Nu to be a concubine, and Empress Wu also agreed.

But she didn't expect that there was something else inside.

"Although the Dugu family has been in recession in recent years, there were several concubines entering the palace during the reign of the late Emperor and Emperor Gaozu, not to mention that there was also a Queen Dugu in the Sui Dynasty. Logically speaking, even if there was It is quite an honor for a legitimate daughter to marry into the prince's palace and become a child, so why should she cause trouble at the prime minister's wedding?" Li Xuan earnestly handed over his hand. Although he did not finish his words, Empress Wu understood everything.

When it comes to palace matters, getting started is always just the beginning, and the struggle after that is normal.

Who knows, who may accidentally fall out of favor; who knows, who may accidentally rise to power.

Women from the Dugu family are no strangers to this kind of palace struggle, nor are they afraid of it.

Dugu Zhong went to the palace to cause trouble during the wedding of the Prime Minister. If something happened, the only one who would be unlucky in the end would be his own sister.

"So, someone is instigating this?" Empress Wu's eyes narrowed slightly.

She already felt an intense calculation appearing next to Li Dan.

Someone is using Li Dan for something. Dugu Zhong's trouble is one thing, and the fire in Prince Xiang's Mansion is another thing.

Even Empress Wu felt stung by this fierce calculation.

"I asked Dugu Zhong." Li Xuan cupped his hands, then lowered his head and said, "It was someone who suddenly instigated a few words in his ear after he had a few drinks."

Empress Wu asked directly: "That man is the British Duke?"

"No." Li Xuan shook her head slightly and said solemnly: "It's the British Duke's in-laws, and it's Du Qiuren who was involved in the matter."

Empress Wu's face suddenly became solemn. Du Qiuren was the son of former prime minister Du Zhenglun.

In his early years, Du Zhenglun was a bachelor of the Literature Museum of the Qin Mansion. During the Zhenguan period, he was already the minister of Zhongshu, the prince's concubine Zuo, and was granted the title of Marquis of Nanyang County.

It's a pity that the prince is Li Chengqian.

Du Zhenglun was later implicated in Li Chengqian's rebellion and was exiled to Huanzhou.

During the Xianqing period, Li Zhi recalled Du Zhenglun, paid homage to the Prime Minister, was appointed as the Secretary of the Imperial Guard, and became the Duke of Xiangyang County.

In the third year of Xianqing's reign, Du Zhenglun was falsely accused of forming a clique due to a disagreement with Li Yifu, and was demoted to the governor of Hengzhou. He died of illness soon after.

After Li Yifu's death, Du Zhenglun was rehabilitated. His youngest son, Du Qiuren, had been in trouble for many years but married his daughter to Li Jingye's son.

There is no doubt that without Li Jingye's intervention, Du Zhenglun would not have been involved in this matter.

Empress Wu squinted her eyes slightly, thinking through all the connections here.

Although the three people have not yet been found, and Li Jingye's chief executive has not been arrested, it is basically confirmed that Li Jingye is the one behind this.

Empress Wu turned slightly sideways: "Send the order, the secret guards are secretly arresting the chief steward of the British government."

"Here!" Behind the curtain, footsteps quickly disappeared.

Empress Wu gently knocked on the imperial desk, then looked at Li Xuan and said, "King of Nanchang!"

"I'm here." Li Xuan immediately handed over his hand.

"Tomorrow, the case of British official and private liaison with Tibet will be heard. The Dali Temple, the Ministry of Punishment, and the Yushitai will examine it together. You will accompany the Prime Minister to attend the trial."

Li Xuan looked solemn and attacked directly: "Here!"

Empress Wu's counterattack against Li Jingye was direct and sharp.

Empress Wu continued and said, "You only have three days. When the day comes, I want to know the final result of this case."

"I accept the order." Li Xuan bowed slightly, with a solemn expression.

In this case, he was obviously just a spectator, but he was asked to come up with the result.

You must know that Li Jingye is involved in the case, and the three departments will interrogate. Duan Baoxuan, the minister of Dali Temple, Pei Yan, the minister of the Ministry of punishment, and Cui Mi, the censor, will all be present.

When the time comes, let’s not say how much say Li Xuan will have. How can we guarantee the result?

Moreover, he was asked to take Yi Yi to sit in together. It can be said that he was asked to teach Li Dan through this matter.

Empress Wu ignored what Li Xuan was thinking and waved her hand directly: "Okay, please step back."

"Here!" Li Xuan bowed slightly and retreated slowly.

Just as he arrived at His Highness Zi Chen, a familiar old eunuch was already waiting at the foot of the steps.

Wang Fulai flicked the fly whisk and said with a smile: "King Nanchang, Your Majesty has a trick."

(End of this chapter)