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

Chapter 174 Li Zhi’s wishful thinking (back)

The order to kill more than 20 ministers in Dongshi was made by Li Zhi himself!

Li Zhi's original intention was to calm the incident. On the surface, he wanted to execute these ministers to give Tiandaomen an explanation. In fact, it was to calm the fight between the harem and the east palace.

He thought that the matter had been resolved, but who knew that as soon as he went to court today and sat on the dragon throne, he found that the officials who went to court were scattered scattered, and many seats in the originally crowded court were vacant for no reason.

Just when he was wondering, the first prince Li Hong actually had a piece of white silk wrapped around his waist. Li Zhi's expression suddenly changed: How can it be unreasonable? The king and his ministers are father and son, and human relations are great. How can a king be filial to his ministers and a father to his son? The truth behind wearing hemp!

"Prince, what do you want to do with the white silk around your waist? Hurry up and take it off for me!"

Li Zhi glared at Li Hong and scolded him sternly, thinking that Li Hong was paying tribute to those guilty officials yesterday. Unexpectedly, Li Hong leaned over and prostrated, and said in tears:

"Back to my father, my mentor, Hao Chujun, hanged himself from a beam at home last night. I had a meeting with Hao Shaobao and his apprentice, and volunteered to observe filial piety for him for one day! Please atone for your sins, my father!"

"What!! Hao Chujun is dead?"

Li Zhi was startled, with an uncertain expression on his face. Li Zhi loved and hated Hao Chujun at the same time. He loved him because he was loyal to the Li Tang royal family, but he hated him because he was self-righteous and too pedantic!

Li Zhi was a little confused. How could a veteran of the East Palace who assisted the prince commit suicide so easily before the prince ascended the throne? Was it his own doing or was someone forcing him to do so?

Before he had time to think about it, Li Zhi coughed and continued to reprimand Li Hong: "That's ridiculous! Prince, you are the crown prince of the Tang Dynasty and a noble man. How can you take off the filial piety for your ministers?"

Not to mention that it was okay, but this statement actually stimulated Li Hong. I don’t know how much grievance he had suffered, but he actually vented it out in the hall in front of all the civil and military officials. He sobbed and contradicted Li Zhi:

"Father, my little sister is a princess, but she can observe filial piety for her relatives. My son, as a prince, can mourn for his mentor, so why not?!"

"You bastard!!!" Li Zhi's face darkened, he slapped the dragon chair, stood up angrily, pointed at Li Hong's figure and cursed:

"Your little sister is honoring filial piety for your mother as a Taoist nun. Who is Hao Chujun? Is it your turn as the prince to honor your filial piety? Do you still have me as your father in your eyes?"

"Your Majesty, please calm down!" Seeing this, all the ministers in the audience leaned down and kowtowed.

Li Hong raised his forehead, a decisive smile suddenly appeared on his tearful face, and shouted at Li Zhi in a choked voice:

"Then please ask my father to abolish my position as the crown prince, and my son is willing to enter the Taoist sect and observe filial piety for his mentor!"

After saying this, the entire hall seemed to be frozen, and fell into dead silence in an instant.

Who would have thought that His Royal Highness, a benevolent, filial and cowardly man, would ruthlessly kill Li Zhi's army in front of the civil and military officials of the court.

Li Zhi was so angry that he was trembling all over. He pointed at Li Hong with trembling fingers and was speechless for a long time.

At the same time, the second prince Li Xian, who was kneeling under the stage, couldn't help but have a proud smile on his lips. He secretly looked behind the dragon chair and found that the man behind the curtain had no intention of stopping him. He couldn't help but speculate in his heart: Could it be that the queen mother sincerely wanted to see the prince and his father at odds? If I rescue my father from the siege at this time, can I...

Thinking of this, he hurriedly stepped out of the queue, knelt in the center of the hall, and leaned over to persuade: "Father, please calm down. My brother was just overly sad and that's why he spoke rudely. He definitely didn't mean to offend my father. Please atone for your sins!"

"Yes, my father! My eldest brother...the emperor's mentor died. Maybe he was devastated, so he said something treacherous. Please calm down, my father!" Seeing this, Li Xian, the third child, also came out to intercede for the prince.

"Father, please calm down. As long as we are here, eldest brother will not become a monk!" Li Dan, the fourth child, immediately agreed.

With the support of Grand Eunuch Chen Li, Li Zhi slowly sat back on the throne, glanced at Li Xian approvingly, turned to look at Li Hong again, and reprimanded with suppressed anger:

"Prince, as the crown prince, you act recklessly and do not abide by etiquette. I will punish you by confinement to the East Palace for ten days and reflect behind closed doors! Are you convinced?"

Li Hong smiled dumbly and was about to continue arguing when he heard Empress Wu's voice coming from behind the curtain.

"Your Majesty, the prince has been humble and kind since he was a child, and his filial piety is sincere. He will never disregard the courtesy of a monarch and his ministers for the sake of a minister, let alone make a fuss in the court and contradict your majesty..."

At this point, everyone in the court pricked up their ears, waiting for Empress Wu's next words.

Hearing a slight cough from behind the curtain, Empress Wu continued: "So I would venture to guess that what the prince did today was just to ask for an explanation from your majesty. Hao Chujun committed suicide for no reason. Why did he die and who did he die for? It’s better to find out! Otherwise, even if the prince is grounded for a year, it will be difficult to untie the knot in his heart!"

As soon as the words fell, discussions broke out in the hall, and the ministers whispered to each other, trying to figure out the Queen's deep meaning in low voices.

Li Zhi looked at his wife behind him with satisfaction. The expression on his face suddenly became much better. He sat up straight and waited for Eunuch Chen to suppress the whispering minister before he spoke:

"You have all heard what the Queen said. Since we want to investigate, we must investigate thoroughly. I will now order the Minister of Dali Temple, the Secretary of the Ministry of Punishment, and the Yushitai to examine it together. Do you have any objections?"

As soon as Li Zhi finished speaking, the prince immediately took out a memorial from his sleeve, raised his hands above his head, and said in a sad and angry tone:

"Father, there is no need to bother people. The cause of my mentor's death is all in this memorial!" "Hey, why am I angry with you, a guy who can't hold his temper!" Li Zhi cursed secretly and winked at Eunuch Chen. The latter trotted up to the prince, took the memorial from him, and then handed it over to Li Zhi.

Li Zhi opened the memorial suspiciously, only glanced at it twice, and then heard a "pop" sound, and in front of the ministers, he smashed the memorial directly on Li Hong's head.

"You bastard, you should take a look at it for yourself. This Hao Chujun dares to confuse the public with his monstrous words, use the prophecies of the previous dynasty to attack the queen, and threaten me. The third generation of the Li family and the descendant of Wu. This old man deserves to die!"

As soon as these words came out, the court instantly exploded!

It's no wonder that Li Zhi was so angry, but since he ascended the throne, he has long banned the court and the people from talking about the prophecy of "the Wu family will replace the Tang Dynasty".

As early as the period of Taizong Li Shimin, the Taibai Star appeared frequently during the day. According to divination by historians, it was a sign of the Queen's accession to the throne. The general idea was that after three generations of the Tang Dynasty, the heroine King Wu replaced the Li family and occupied the world.

According to the ideology of the time, how could a woman be the emperor? Not to mention that there was no precedent in the past dynasties. The key point was that the Li family was the Tang Dynasty established by the Guanlong Group, and there was no way the Wu family could replace it.

Therefore, Li Shimin hated this prophecy deeply. It was not until the 22nd year of Zhenguan that at a palace banquet, Li Shimin played a drinking game with the military officers and asked the losing military commander to report his childhood nickname.

Among them is a person named Li Junxian, who calls himself "Five Niangzi"!

Li Shimin was just having fun at the time. When he woke up, he was suddenly startled. He immediately sent someone to check Li Junxian's official position. He didn't know if he didn't check. After checking, he found out that this person named Li Junxian was born in Wu'an County. He served as General Zuowuwei, was titled Wuchang County Duke, and guarded the Xuanwu Gate. All of his titles included the word "武", plus he was also called "Five Niangzi"!

Li Shimin was very suspicious of this, so he was dismissed from his military post. Soon after, he was found guilty and executed, and his whole family was confiscated.

At this point, the prophecy stopped and no one mentioned it again.

Now the old story of this village has been revealed by Hao Chujun again. His intentions are vicious and evil. It is reasonable for Li Zhi to be angry. If nothing else, he can't behead his queen for a prophecy. Bar.

It was obvious that what Hao Chujun was doing was to attack Empress Wu for interfering in politics and usurping power. He had to die early, otherwise he would definitely end up being executed.

Li Hong seemed to have read the memorial a long time ago. Faced with Li Zhi's angry rebuke, he acted a little calmly. First he put away the memorial calmly, and then said in a neither humble nor overbearing tone:

"Father, please calm down. I don't believe that the person mentioned in the prophecy is my mother. What's the use of believing in only one person? Nowadays, rumors are spreading among the people, and they are all talking about the mother's control of the government. My father wants to block Youyou." Mouth, what should I do?"

Li Hong's question sounded like a clarion call for counterattack, and the ministers below all stood up to echo:

"Your Majesty, what the prince said is true. Rumors are spreading among the people, saying that the harem is interfering in politics, and our country, the Tang Dynasty, is in danger!"

"Your Majesty, the Crown Prince is now an adult. It is time to help your Majesty solve your problems. Please think again!"

"Your Majesty, I don't know how serious it is. Since the prince is the crown prince, it is enough for him to assist you in the court. Why bother bothering the queen to listen to the government behind the curtain?"

Seeing that the situation was getting out of control, Eunuch Chen, who was standing by the dragon chair, jumped up anxiously and shouted "Quiet!" several times.

He originally thought that both Li Zhi and Empress Wu would be angry next, and today's court meeting would inevitably be a bloody disaster.

But when he looked at Li Zhi, he found that the latter was leaning on the dragon chair, his fingers tapping the guard regularly, looking so calm and relaxed.

Eunuch Chen quickly wiped his eyes, thinking he had seen it wrong...

Li Zhi, who was strong and calm, had his ears erect for a long time. He was waiting for someone's voice.

As long as this person softens his words, everything will fall into place, which is the result he is most happy to see.

　I'm back……

　　

　

(End of this chapter)