Early Tang Dynasty: forge ahead

Chapter 527 Don’t like eating fish?

Di Renjie could never have imagined that Empress Wu would murder her own son in order to control the future emperor.

Di Renjie had completely misjudged Empress Wu, and he also had a feeling that the whole thing was complicated, but it seemed that it had never been out of Chen Qingsi's control from the beginning.

Whether it is the suspicion towards Empress Wu, the prediction towards Li Yifu, or the attention towards Cui Zhao.

All these things show that although Chen Qingsi is not in Chang'an, he can still control the overall situation.

A top figure like Di Renjie has a certain degree of confidence in his abilities. He is not a conceited person, but he has his own pride and will not easily give in.

Di Renjie had more respect for Chen Qingsi before, but now he is truly convinced.

The two discussed for a while and made a plan.

They did not intend to give Empress Wu and Li Yifu any chance to react. They invited Dali Temple Minister Duan Baoxuan and Imperial Censor Li Anqi to their respective places and informed them of the case they had discovered that was enough to shock the world.

Duan Baoxuan and Li Anqi were so shocked when they heard that Zhang Jianzhi and Di Renjie had unraveled such a major case from the two cases of Li Chongde and Cui Zhe, that their jaws dropped.

The two big men, who were only one step away from becoming prime ministers, looked at each other and saw the struggle in each other's eyes, but in just a moment, they had made up their minds and immediately went to the palace to meet the emperor.

This is also where Zhang Jianzhi and Di Renjie are so smart. Duan Baoxuan and Li Anqi have reached this status and position, and they all have their own interest circles.

A lone man cannot sit firmly or climb to this position.

For example, Duan Baoxuan was the son-in-law of Li Tang and married Li Yuan's daughter. He had the support of the Li Tang royal family behind him. Li Anqi was promoted by Xu Jingzong and always regarded Xu Jingzong as his mentor.

They have their own interest groups. If Zhang Jianzhi and Di Renjie each went to see their superiors, the first thing they would do would not be to go to the palace to meet Li Zhi, but to inform the interest groups behind them first, prepare for the coming storm, and then rush to tell Li Zhi...

For some reason, many times, before a big storm comes, some people try to protect themselves in advance, most of them relying on information, and only a few rely on their own sense of smell.

No one can guarantee whether there are people from Empress Wu and Li Yifu in these two interest groups. If the news leaks out, there is a possibility that the other party will escape.

Empress Wu was in the palace and had no way to escape, but it was different for Li Yifu.

But when the two big guys, Duan Baoxuan and Li Anqi, are brought together, this problem no longer exists.

Although this matter is serious, it is also a great achievement. Moreover, it is a pie in the sky. Whoever reports this matter to Li Zhi first will be the first to gain credit.

Neither Duan Baoxuan nor Li Anqi wanted to be a step behind the other, so their only choice was to enter the palace together.

It would not be difficult for the two of them to meet Li Zhi, but at this moment, it would take some more effort to bring along two outsiders, Zhang Jianzhi and Di Renjie.

The four of them met Li Zhi smoothly.

Despite facing such a serious situation, Li Zhi remained calm, not the slightest bit different from usual.

It was not until Duan Baoxuan and Li Anqi told Li Zhi in detail what Zhang Jianzhi and Di Renjie had found out that Li Zhi showed signs of being moved, shocked and angry.

This expression was as if he was hearing the news for the first time.

"Impossible, how is it possible!"

Li Zhi slammed the table in excitement, glared at the four people below, and shouted: "You, what are you up to? How dare you slander the queen like this..."

"Your Majesty!" Duan Baoxuan said, "I didn't dare to believe it at first, but the evidence is irrefutable and I can't help but believe it."

If the evidence in the hands of Zhang Jianzhi and Di Renjie was not real and accurate enough, they would not dare to bring it to Li Zhi.

Li Zhi listened quietly to how Zhang Jianzhi and Di Renjie tracked down Li Chongde based on an old case from the Censorate, and then found Wan Guojun behind Li Chongde's case. Later, there was the drowning case of Cui Zha. They obtained the other party's secret letter before his death, and also found Andepeng and the mysterious man behind him.

Zhang Jianzhi and Di Renjie knew that the mysterious man was Li Yifu, but they did not say it out loud. After all, there was no evidence. They just said, "The person who controlled Wan Guojun and Andepeng should be a close confidant of Li Yifu in the past. He knew many of Li Yifu's secrets, which is why he was able to set up this situation."

Li Zhi asked, "Is it possible that it was Li Yifu himself?"

Li Zhi hit the nail on the head...

Just as Li Yifu was familiar with everything about Li Zhi, Li Zhi was also familiar with Li Yifu, his loyal dog.

He remembered that Empress Wu had made many attempts to get Li Yifu back from Nanzhong.

Li Zhi's purpose in cultivating Empress Wu was to support Crown Prince Li Hong. He could not give Empress Wu too much power to avoid the situation of external relatives interfering in politics, but he could not not give her power in case he suddenly died one day and the future crown prince of the Tang Dynasty was bullied by the ministers.

He has been weighing Empress Wu's strength, and someone like Li Yifu must not be given to Empress Wu.

Li Zhi had kept Li Yifu with the intention of using him at a critical moment. After all, knives were easy to find, but knives as handy as Li Yifu's were rare.

But Li Yifu was involved with Empress Wu, so Li Zhi had no choice but to abandon him.

Li Zhi didn't think too much about it at first, but until the incident happened today, when he recalled that Empress Wu's behavior over the years was consistent with his own thoughts, he felt a little strange.

Although they were husband and wife, Li Zhi seldom revealed his thoughts in front of Empress Wu. Even though they had been together for many years, there was no reason for them to have such a tacit understanding in the political arena.

It wasn't until today that I heard Zhang Jianzhi and Di Renjie talking about the case and said that there was a person who was in control of everything.

Li Zhi immediately thought of Li Yifu...

Li Yifu was his first official subordinate in name only. When he was still the Prince of Jin, Li Yifu followed Li Shimin's orders and served him as the Censor-in-Chief.

At that time, he was inconspicuous. All the civil and military officials in the court were either following Crown Prince Li Chengqian or Prince of Wei Li Tai. No one paid any attention to him.

Li Zhi suddenly realized that perhaps Li Yifu was not dead.

After all, the demoted Li Yifu was just an insignificant little character, and no one cared whether his death was real or fake.

Zhang Jianzhi said, "Your Majesty, it's not impossible, but Li Yifu has been in Beijing for many years and knows many people. If he returns to Beijing, no matter how secluded he is, someone will recognize him."

When Di Renjie heard this question, he understood what he meant and said, "Unless he changes his appearance. The thief used poison to harm the prince, which is a crooked way that ordinary people don't know. Li Yifu is well versed in classics and history, but I have never heard that he is proficient in this technique. I think he learned it when he was demoted. I heard that in the south, there are miasma and poisonous insects everywhere, and there are barbarian wizards who are proficient in the art of poisoning insects, so they may be able to change their appearance."

Zhang Jianzhi said: "If we can confirm his methods, we will have a chance to find him."

The two of them sang the same tune and tacitly followed Li Zhi's suggestion and talked about how to arrest Li Yifu.

According to their plan, there was still a certain probability that Li Yifu would escape. Now that Li Zhi had taken the initiative, Li Yifu was in great danger.

Li Zhi took a closer look at Zhang Jianzhi and Di Renjie. He had heard of their names before, but he didn't expect them to have such abilities and be of great use.

He pretended to be indignant and said, "This matter must be investigated thoroughly. We cannot let them do whatever they want..."

He suddenly froze, his face changing from gloomy to bright, then he sat down with a heavy face, shaking his head and said, "Not right, not right. Now is an extraordinary period, the court is fighting fiercely with the Arab Empire in the Western Regions, if this matter is spread, it will definitely cause an uproar. If the Western Regions are defeated, our dynasty's decades of management of the Western Regions will be ruined. Considering the overall situation, this matter should be investigated and must not be made public. Especially the Queen's murder of the Prince, it must not be spread out. I will handle this matter fairly, you don't need to ask." He paused and continued, "As for who is behind the scenes, you should investigate it clearly. The crime of murdering an important official in the court with such vicious means is enough to take his life."

He had no intention of discussing it with the four of them.

Duan Baoxuan and Li Anqi are old hands in the officialdom and would not go against Li Zhi's wishes.

Zhang Jianzhi and Di Renjie were both politicians with a long-term vision and did not say anything.

In fact, even if Li Zhi didn't mention it, Di Renjie would have given similar suggestions given his personality.

In the current situation, the overall situation is the most important.

Li Zhi immediately ordered Duan Baoxuan and Li Anqi to find out the person behind the scenes.

After the four men left, Li Zhi said to the eunuch beside him: "Go and capture Ming Chongyan and find a reason to kill him."

He originally wanted to use Ming Chongyan to find out the power behind helping Empress Wu.

It is not necessary now.

Since Ming Chongyan dared to murder the crown prince, Li Zhi never thought of letting him live.

Even if Ming Chongyan really helped him find the evil spirits behind the scenes, Ming Chongyan's crime was worthy of ten heads. Forgive him nine times, but he would still lose one head.

After the eunuch left, Li Zhi looked at the cold hall. Suddenly, his eyes were filled with darkness and a piercing pain exploded in his mind.

He squeezed his head with both hands and sat down with difficulty. After a long while of relaxation, the pain finally subsided, but the black hole in front of his eyes was still there and he could not see anything.

Suppressing the fear in his heart, Li Zhi had already prepared himself mentally for his physical condition. At this time, he did not send anyone to call the imperial physician, but was thinking about the future of the Tang Dynasty and how to find a way to survive and continue the future of the Tang Dynasty.

A ray of light gradually appeared...

Li Zhi also let out a long sigh, he had a headache and felt dizzy. This situation happened occasionally, but this time it was particularly severe.

Although he appeared indifferent on the surface, the occupation of the Western Regions and the complicated and chaotic court put him under extremely heavy pressure, causing his condition to worsen again.
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Chengqian Palace!
Empress Wu sat high on one side, carefully reviewing the memorial in her hand. Looking at the situation described in the memorial, a trace of anger appeared on her face. She wrote the word "behead" without hesitation, thought for a moment, crossed out the word "behead" and wrote the word "punish" again.

"Zhan" means to kill the leader of the bandits, and "Zhu" also means to kill, but the person being killed is not just one person.

This is a memorial submitted by the Ministry of Revenue, which states that local grain merchants are privately collecting rice with the intention of hoarding it and waiting to sell it at a higher price.

The war in the Western Regions could not be ended in a short time, and most of the grain taxes paid by the imperial court had to be transported to the Western Regions.

In recent years, the imperial court has not had any major wars and has stored a certain amount of grain, so it is not worried about food at the moment.

However, there is no end in sight for this battle, and no one knows how long it will last.

Some merchants with "foresight" bought the surplus grain in the market at a price higher than the court's, and hoarded it, waiting to raise the price when there was a food shortage in the future.

Empress Wu has indeed developed excellent political skills over the years, and as long as she is not worried about maintaining domestic stability, her abilities are still quite good.

Having seen the harmful effects of this emerging trend, if we do not set the record straight and set an example for all businessmen in the world, the country may very well be defeated by this group of unscrupulous businessmen.

We must show no mercy to such businessmen.

After closing the memorial in her hand, Empress Wu felt inexplicably uneasy. She looked outside the palace and saw no one there. Wrinkles appeared on her peach blossom eyes.

These days she smelled a strange smell and felt that something was wrong. She felt uneasy and had a sense of crisis.

I've had this sense of crisis before. This feeling often occurs when I'm being targeted for no reason or when things are going wrong.

But ever since Li Yifu faked his death and came to the capital to give her advice in secret, everything went smoothly.

Now the sense of crisis reappeared, especially when I knew that Cui Zhu was influenced by Li Hong, I couldn't sleep for several days...

Li Yifu sent someone to cast a curse on Li Hong, and this was approved by Empress Wu.

Without her approval, Li Yifu would not dare to act on his own.

Of course, Li Yifu put it very tactfully. It would hurt Li Hong's body but not his life. It would just cause abnormalities in Li Hong's body, giving the impression that the crown prince would die early and was unfit to inherit the throne.

In any case, Empress Wu believed it, but it only hurt her body and not her life.

When I succeed in my mission, I will compensate him well and invite famous doctors to treat him. For now, I can only bear with him.

Unexpectedly, Cui Zhe gave up, forcing them to use Ming Chongyan to continue the plan.

But in fact, Ming Chongyan was prepared by them for Li Zhi...

Li Zhi's illness was about to drive Empress Wu crazy. She had shown signs of being seriously ill and was on the verge of death. Even Li Zhi himself had no hope. He performed the Fengshan ceremony and arranged his funeral affairs in advance. As a result, while she was still alive, the usually obedient prince was dragged down and turned into a rebellious and disobedient teenager.

If Li Zhi continues to delay like this, they will be exposed sooner or later.

Rather than being noticed by the other party, it is better to strike first.

As long as Li Zhi deposed Li Hong and enthroned Li Xian, his existence would be meaningless.

Now that she was forced to use Ming Chongyan, Empress Wu felt uneasy.

"Queen!"

Just at this moment, Li Zhi walked in from outside the hall with a food box in his hand and called out affectionately.

Empress Wu quickly put away her sad expression and greeted them in unison.

"Thank you for your hard work, Queen!"

Li Zhi spared Empress Wu the gift, pulled her aside and sat her down, saying, "It is not easy to review so many memorials. Come, I have specially ordered someone to prepare a meal, Empress, please taste it while it is hot."

Li Zhi seemed particularly enthusiastic. He asked Empress Wu to sit down, opened the food box for her personally, and placed the dishes in front of her.

A plump fish.

Empress Wu looked at the fresh fish and her face turned pale with fear.

Li Zhi chuckled: "The Queen doesn't like fish?"

(End of this chapter)