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

Chapter 175 Empress Wu takes the initiative to delegate power

Besides Li Zhi, Prime Minister Pei Yan should be the second person who has nothing to do with himself.

Before the court meeting this morning, he had already learned about the actions of many ministers who had killed themselves to remonstrate, without the need for Empress Wu to take action. "Destroying the Wu Sect" had forced him to a dead end.

What seemed like a move that was beneficial to Empress Wu actually contained murderous intent.

"When the water is full, it overflows, and when the moon is full, it wanes." How could an old politician like Pei Yan, who was well-read in poetry and books, not understand this truth? Once Empress Wu's power was too great, it would inevitably arouse the dissatisfaction of the entire court.

Although Empress Wu's faction currently has the absolute upper hand, it does not mean that it can control the court. Although Pei Yan is on good terms with Empress Wu, in the final analysis, he is Li Zhi's minister and a centrist independent of Empress Wu and the prince!

As the leader of the centrist faction, he would never allow demon queens like "Zhao Ji" and "Queen Lu" to appear again in the Tang Dynasty. Instead, he would rather see a situation where the snipe and the clam fight, and the fisherman wins. Therefore, he He didn't go out to be a peacemaker, but just like Li Zhi, he stayed on the sidelines.

The person who stirred up the most mood in the court was none other than Li Xian.

He looked pale, clenched his fists, lowered his head and said nothing! He never expected that the always pedantic prince would turn out to be a master at playing with power. With one blow, he not only defeated Empress Wu's army, but also deeply affected his desire to be the crown prince. !

He was envious that the prince had so many ministers supporting him. As long as the prince did not make a big mistake, he might never have a chance in this life.

The more he thought about it, the more frustrated Li Xian became. He looked at the bead curtain without hesitation. He expected that the woman behind the curtain that he respected and feared would show him her superb political skills.

But the next moment, he made a mistake.

Empress Wu, who was sitting behind the curtain, said to Li Zhi:

"Your Majesty, my concubine's surname was given by my father. Since it has to be said that the Wu family refers to me, even if I have great grievances, I can't argue with you! The prince is now an adult, and he should indeed be your majesty. In this case, I plan to marry him I would like to ask for your majesty’s permission to issue the red power!”

After Empress Wu finished speaking, the court fell into a brief silence, and then louder discussions broke out.

The ministers on Empress Wu's side came out to object one after another, asking Empress Wu to withdraw her order.

The ministers on the prince's side shouted in unison: "Your majesty knows the general idea, please give me your permission!"

Pei Yan stroked his beard with his hand, his eyes full of admiration and praise for Empress Wu.

Empress Wu so easily handed over the power of approving the red congratulations, not only surprised the prince Li Hong, but also Li Zhi.

You must know that not long after he took the throne, in order to get rid of the control of his uncle Changsun Wuji's power, when he could not review the memorial, he would rather let the queen do it for him than leave it to the prime minister.

The couple dealt with political affairs behind closed doors and cooperated with each other tacitly. They have been doing this for more than 20 years.

Now, in order to avoid suspicion, Empress Wu took the initiative to hand over the right to approve the red, which was equivalent to returning power to the prince. This move completely dispelled all Li Zhi's worries. He was no longer paranoid, slowly turned his head and comforted Empress Wu:

"Queen, you must not do this. I have become accustomed to you reviewing memorials. We will discuss this matter later!"

"Your Majesty, I'm tired. I really don't want to bear the slander brought by the prophecy anymore. The prince is benevolent and filial. In the future, your majesty will hand over the country to her. It's too late for me to be happy, because after all, he is the child of your majesty and me!"

These words immediately reached Li Zhi's heart: Yes, my four princes are all descended from the queen. No matter who becomes the emperor in the future, their mother will still be the queen. Even if the queen is obsessed with power, she will still be the queen in the end. If my son is not here to sit on the throne, why should I be worried?

Thinking of this, Li Zhi felt indebted to Empress Wu. Seeing that Empress Wu had made up her mind, Li Zhi stopped writing and announced that the prince would be in charge of daily memorials.

During a court meeting, Li Zhi tested Empress Wu's "loyalty", which made him very satisfied.

But Li Hong, who was obviously the biggest winner, couldn't be happy at all. When he presented Hao Chujun's memorial, it meant that he and Empress Wu were completely at odds with each other, and the two sides had a formal showdown.

In order to force Empress Wu to delegate power, he was even prepared to lead his ministers to remonstrate to death, but in the end, his mother was more generous than he imagined, and directly handed over the power of approval to help him secure his position as crown prince.

He still couldn't figure out why his mother suddenly changed her gender. She was obviously a woman who was greedy for power, but she suddenly turned into a mother who had no desires or desires!

On the way back to the East Palace, while sitting on the carriage, he felt more and more that the mother who had been with him for more than 20 years made him feel more and more strange, and the strange mother was the most terrifying thing. !

After the court dispersed in the morning, Empress Wu did not go straight back to Hanliang Palace, but took Cui Daizhao with her alone. The two of them strolled on the stone road of the imperial city towards Yeting Palace.

Along the way, Empress Wu, with her hands behind her back, saw Cui Daizhao opening his mouth to predict several times, so he simply stopped and turned to look at her.

"Are you going to ask, why should I give up my right to approve red awards?"

Cui Daizhao bowed and said softly: "The empress finally has the power. Even if she wants to avoid suspicion, she will not hand over the right to criticize red memorials. Once the East Palace has the right to review memorials, then..."

Cui Daizhao stopped here and did not say any more. The meaning is self-evident. Concession this time is tantamount to cutting off one's own arms and giving the East Palace a huge advantage! .

Empress Wu chuckled lightly, turned around and continued walking slowly, saying as she walked:

"So many ministers died overnight on the prince's side. After all, I can't hide it from your majesty. When these people were alive, no matter how many memorials they wrote, they couldn't shake me in the slightest. But once they became dead, they became so angry. It works a little bit... Your Majesty can ignore the memorial from a living person. Even if your Majesty trusts me again, you have to be suspicious of this memorial from a dead person! Giving up the red power today not only fulfills your Majesty, but also protects yourself. Now the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty , most of them are attached to the harem. As the saying goes, "The trees that are beautiful in the forest will be destroyed by the wind." Since we have to delegate power sooner or later, why not do it more generously and decently? Only in this way will His Majesty think of you!"

After saying that, Empress Wu stopped, looked up in the direction of the East Palace, and couldn't help but sigh:

"What I didn't expect was that in order to have a showdown with me, the prince would not hesitate to let ministers like Hao Chujun sacrifice their lives to help him seize power. It seems! I have underestimated him after all!"

Cui Daizhao saw a hint of sadness on Empress Wu's face, and hurriedly stepped forward to help her: "Mother, please relax. Over in the East Palace, the servants have sent extra manpower to keep an eye on her. If there is any trouble, we will definitely know about it!"

Unexpectedly, Empress Wu waved her hand gently: "Withdraw them all, and let him let go of the rest of the day!"

When Cui Daizhao heard this, he looked puzzled. He thought Empress Wu was in a decadent mood. He was about to say a few words of relief when he heard Empress Wu ask in a deep voice:

"By the way! Why is Xian'er present at today's court meeting? Didn't I ask him to leave for Luoyang to take over the post of "Eastern Capital Remainer" of King Yu? Why is he still staying in Chang'an City?!"

Cui Daizhao hurriedly explained: "I heard that His Royal Highness has been packing bags and entertaining guests in recent days, so that's why he has been unable to leave!"

"This useless thing!"

Empress Wu cursed and told Cui Daizhao: "You will go to the Prince's Mansion in person later and tell that unfilial son that if he is still staying in Chang'an City before Haishi today, there is no need to go again!"

Although there was no hint of punishment in Empress Wu's words, Cui Daizhao knew that once Li Xian heard this, he would run faster than a rabbit!

As Empress Wu's confidant, Cui Daizhao naturally knew the deep meaning of Empress Wu sending Li Xian to Luoyang to guard the eastern capital.

As the capital of the Tang Empire, Luoyang's political influence was no weaker than that of the Xijing Chang'an.

The reason why he was able to get the position of staying in the eastern capital was because of the political deal reached between Empress Wu and King Yu at the expense of the princess's interests.

Empress Wu, who had always doted on the princess, was actually able to spare her daughter's murderer Li Changxiao just for an official position. This shows that in her heart, controlling Luoyang is more important than upholding justice for her daughter!

Is it a blessing or a tragedy to have a mother like this?

Li Lingyue, who was far away in Luoyang City, had no time to think about this problem, because at this moment, she was worrying about a "Hongmen Banquet"...

(End of this chapter)