After being dressed as Wu Zetian's daughter, she was favored by the group

On the other side, a carriage drove slowly past the execution ground in Dongshi.

The driver who was driving the carriage was a veiled woman with a graceful figure. The woman carried a long sharp sword on her back. Anyone familiar with her knew that she was Yan'er, the maid of the Xue Mansion.

There were two brothers from the Xue family sitting in the carriage. The eldest brother, Xue Yi, was sitting on the main seat, stroking his beard with his hand and staring at the tea cup in front of the case. He looked at it intently and never said a word.

Xue Shao, who was sitting at the bottom, was leaning against the window eaves, holding a tea cup on his slender fingers, looking at the scenery outside the window and sipping the tea silently.

There was no dialogue between the two brothers when they came out of the East Market. After all, they were not going to the market, but to practice for those colleagues who were executed.

Thinking of the colleagues who were drinking and chatting together a few days ago, they suddenly became the victims of Empress Wu's sword. At this moment, there was no mood to talk.

Not long after, the carriage stopped steadily at the door of Xue's mansion. Yan'er called out respectfully from outside: "Young master, we have arrived at the mansion!"

Xue Shao didn't answer, so Yan'er reined in the horse and kept the carriage parked outside Xue's mansion!

"Hey! Stop it! If we keep fighting, we will still lose!"

Xue Yi sighed heavily, stood up, and prepared to get off the carriage!

Xue Shao put down the teacup, looked straight at Xue Yi, and snorted: "Brother, we don't know who will win yet. It seems that we are passive now, but in fact, the Demon Queen is walking on thin ice!"

Xue Yi, who had just stood up, sat down again and asked with a pair of tiger eyes:

"All the ministers we can rely on have been killed by the Demon Queen. It is certain that the Demon Queen controls the court. If the East Palace is really capable, these ministers will not die in vain today. In the current situation, what can we fight against her?"

Xue Shao said calmly: "At least there is one person standing behind us. As long as this person is willing to take action, he will definitely be able to suppress the Demon Queen!"

"Who!" Xue Yi asked without thinking.

"Who else can it be? Of course it is His Majesty!"

Hearing this, Xue Yi looked surprised and quickly stepped forward to touch Xue Shao's forehead. Xue Shao opened his hand in disgust when he reached out halfway.

"Erlang, you must be crazy, right? Who can't tell now that Your Majesty is on the side of the Demon Queen? Your Majesty has avoided the fight in the court, so how can you stand up and help us suppress the Demon Queen? "

Xue Shao picked up the tea cup, took a sip, and then corrected him with a sneer: "Brother, you are wrong. Your Majesty is not siding with the Demon Queen. On the contrary, the person he is siding with is the Crown Prince!"

When Xue Yi heard this, he became even more furious: "Since Your Majesty is on the side of the Crown Prince, why do you favor the Demon Queen and order to get rid of the ministers who support the Crown Prince?"

Xue Shao shook his head, pondered for a moment, and explained with a chuckle: "It's not that Your Majesty favors the Demon Queen, but that we were too hasty and only wanted to control the court before the Demon Queen returned to the palace. As a result, we were too eager to help the prince gain power, but instead offended him. His Majesty!"

Seeing Xue Yi's confused look, Xue Shao continued: "Brother, don't forget that the master of the Tang Dynasty is still His Majesty. As long as His Majesty does not abdicate for one day, he will be the emperor of the Tang Dynasty. As the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty, The emperor will never tolerate his ministers supporting the prince to control the court while he is still on the throne. This is a taboo in the eyes of any emperor. In your majesty's heart, the throne belongs to him, and in the future He can give it to whoever he wants. When he doesn't give it, others can't covet it. What we did before is tantamount to forcing the prince to grab the throne. Therefore, I guess your majesty will borrow the hand of the Demon Queen. Kill him as a warning to others!" After Xue Shao finished speaking, Xue Yi's expression finally softened. He sighed and said apologetically: "It's my fault that I didn't listen to your advice and had to incite the ministers to suppress the Demon Queen. Now I've made His Majesty unhappy. , you will end up reaping the consequences! Alas!"

Seeing that Xue Yi was a little guilty, Xue Shao quickly comforted him and said, "Brother, why should you blame yourself? When the Demon Queen left the palace, we suppressed the harem and supported the East Palace. This was our strategy. We just didn't expect that the Demon Queen would return to the palace so quickly." So fast, and she took advantage of the Tiandaomen tragedy to bite back, and we were too public during this period, making His Majesty suspicious, so the loss is not unfair at all!"

Xue Yi nodded and asked in a deep voice: "In the current situation, how should we fight back?"

Xue Shao adjusted the belt around his waist, then stood up and said to Xue Yi: "It's very simple, force your majesty to do it!"

Seeing Xue Yi's confusion, Xue Shao explained: "Didn't I just say that the imperial court killed so many ministers at once, and the prince fell into a passive position, but the demon queen was also walking on thin ice, because if they continue to kill, the demon queen will Her power could not be hidden at all! She did not touch Hao Chujun and other East Palace veterans, indicating that she did not want to break the fight with the prince in front of His Majesty. Once the fight was broken, His Majesty would definitely take action to suppress it, so..."

When Xue Shao said this, a cruel smile appeared at the corner of his mouth: "Since the Demon Queen doesn't want to kill people, then let's help her kill them! If the Demon Queen doesn't want to break the window paper, let's help her break it!"

Xue Yi's heart trembled when he heard this. According to Xue Shao's intention, the people he would kill next would all be from his side. In order to anger Li Zhi, his brother would not hesitate to take advantage of his own people. Such scheming was not bad enough. ruthless.

"Erlang! You have to think clearly. The people who are attached to us now are all the Demon Queen's mortal enemies. Letting them take the initiative to die is a bit..."

Xue Shao interrupted with a wave of his hand: "Brother, those who plan for big things don't stick to trivial matters. If you want to defeat the Demon Queen, you must be more ruthless than her. Otherwise, everything will be empty talk!"

With that said, he opened the curtain and walked out half of the body. He turned back and smiled at Xue Yi: "Brother's current official position is not suitable for appearing in Chang'an. I will let Yan'er take you out of the city!"

After saying that, he got off the carriage alone. Xue Yi opened a corner of the curtain, glanced at the door of Xue Mansion, and then slowly lowered it.

……

In the evening, Yan Zhishan, the young minister of Taichang Temple, walked out of his study, called the housekeeper, arranged for the kitchen to kill chickens and sheep, and held a sumptuous family banquet.

Accompanied by his family members, Yan Zhishan finished his last dinner, returned to his study drunkenly, and locked himself up.

It wasn't until the next morning that Mrs. Yan and her housekeeper broke open the wooden door of the study room, and when they entered, they discovered that Yan Zhishan had already committed suicide by hanging from a beam. Before his death, there was a drafted memorial on his desk.

Overnight, more than 20 suicide incidents similar to Yan Zhishan's occurred in Chang'an City.

These officials in the DPRK seemed to have made a collective decision to commit suicide, either hanging from a beam, throwing themselves into a lake, wiping their necks, or taking poison...

Although their methods of death were different, the cause of death was the same. Each of them left a suicide note or memorial before his death, which listed the various crimes of Empress Wu usurping power and interfering in politics. They were using their deaths as remonstrances, hoping that Li Zhi could eliminate the empress. Power prevents the harem from interfering in politics. (End of chapter)