Early Tang Dynasty: forge ahead

Chapter 533 "Last Will"

Chang'an, Chen's house.

Ever since Chen Qingsi was ordered to go to war, the Chen residence has been deserted for a while.

But with the birth of Li Hongqing's daughter, life became lively again.

Especially when little girls are learning to speak, they are bound to be teased by their elders.

Chen Qian, who already knows the situation, also shows his "responsibility" as a brother when facing his sister who suddenly appears. Seeing his sudden sister being bullied by her two mothers, he naturally has to stand up for her.

As a result, she became the object of ridicule. The appearance of the little girl brought joy back to the relatively deserted Chen residence.

On this day, Xiao Miaochen and Li Hongqing were teasing the two little guys again.

The one-year-old girl couldn't walk on her own yet. She held onto her brother's thigh and made all sorts of inexplicable baby sounds.

She has mastered a few simple words, and she will occasionally respond when you have simple conversations with her, but if you really talk to her seriously, the only thing she will say in response is "Your Majesty..." That was the most fun time, and she became the happy pill for the leisure and entertainment of the two ladies of the East and West Courtyards of Chen Qingsi.

Chen Qian knew that he was not as good as Xiao Miaochen in literary fighting, and even worse than Li Hongqing in martial arts fighting, so he angrily pulled the little girl aside to play.

The two smiled at each other and started chatting about family matters.

The topic, naturally, is their husbands.

"I don't know when he will be back!"

Li Hongqing muttered.

"almost!"

Xiao Miaochen responded, "Your Majesty is ill..." She lowered her voice, "He probably won't have much time left. Your Majesty advocates war, but the prince's faction advocates peace. Originally, Your Majesty dismissed Zhang Wenguan, and the government was back in the hands of the advocates of war. But now your Majesty is in poor health. If anything happens to him, the prince will succeed to the throne, and the prince's party will surely rise. It's not certain whether they will advocate war or peace at that time."

"Your Majesty has been suppressing the prime minister for many years, so that no one in the court can serve as prime minister for a long time except Prime Minister Xu. There is a lack of someone who can stabilize the overall situation. As long as Your Majesty does not want to give up all the previous efforts, it is inevitable to summon Prince back to the court."

Xiao Miaochen was originally a daughter of an aristocratic family, and had a certain political background. As the eldest wife of the Chen family, she had been in the circle of women of high rank, and most of the people she interacted with were women in high positions. She also had to deal with Empress Wu's hidden tricks, so she had a certain understanding of politics and the affairs of the court.

Especially when Chen Qingsi was away, Xiao Miaochen was always paying attention to any movement in Chang'an.

Xiao Miaochen knew that the most dangerous time for the Chen residence was when Chen Qingsi was not around.

As the eldest wife of the Chen family, I must take responsibility at this time.

Xiao Miaochen was still very concerned about the developments in Chang'an, especially after learning the news of Empress Wu's death and Li Zhi's serious illness.

Li Hongqing asked curiously, "Isn't there still Mr. Xu? He is the longest-serving Mr. Xu."

Xiao Miaochen said: "Mr. Xu is not good enough, his power comes from His Majesty. Without His Majesty, there won't be many people who truly obey him."

Like Li Yifu, Xu Jingzong served as Li Zhi's knife most of the time.

It's just that Li Yifu is a mad dog, and everyone hates him and wants to kill him. But Xu Jingzong knows when to stop and when to advance and retreat. He rarely takes the initiative to make enemies with others, and his reputation is not as bad as Li Yifu's...

But a knife is still a knife after all. Once the owner of the knife is gone, the value of the knife will be gone.

If Li Zhi really died, even if Xu Jingzong was not purged, he would not be able to keep his position as prime minister.

This was not something Xiao Miaochen realized on her own, but was a casual comment made by Chen Qingsi when he was telling her some trivial matters in the temple.

Xiao Miaochen kept it in mind.

Just at this moment, news came from the outer hall that Zhang Jianzhi wanted to see him.

Xiao Miaochen hurriedly said, "Tell him to wait in the hall, and call Manager Qing!"

The person in charge of Qing is Zhou Kui.

It is well known that Zhang Jianzhi was a student of Chen Qingsi.

When Chen Qingsi was not in Chang'an, he would visit him on the first and fifteenth day of every month to see if there was anything he could do for him. Unless he was on official business, he would visit him almost without interruption.

But I rarely visit him during my free time, and whenever I come during this period, there must be something to discuss.

Li Hongqing saw Xiao Miaochen's serious expression and said, "I'll go and listen too!"

Xiao Miaochen did not refuse and took Li Hongqing to the hall.

Zhang Jianzhi looked solemn in the hall, his already mature face tense. He saw Xiao Miaochen and Li Hongqing enter the hall one after another.

Zhang Jianzhi first bowed and then announced the shocking news: "Your Majesty may have passed away!" This simple sentence was undoubtedly a bolt from the blue.

Even though Xiao Miaochen knew that Li Zhi was seriously ill and might leave at any time, she couldn't help but turn pale and her body trembled unconsciously when she heard the news.

Li Hongqing also looked solemn. She didn't like to be involved in such things, so she was nominally the eldest lady of the West Courtyard, and her status was equal to that of the emperor. Xiao Miaochen was in charge of all external affairs, but even so, she knew what the death of the emperor meant in this era.

"The emperor has collapsed! The emperor has collapsed! It is no exaggeration to compare it to a landslide."

Xiao Miaochen quickly calmed down and asked, "Is this news true? Why hasn't it spread?"

The death of an emperor is definitely not a simple matter. He has to summon all the ministers and officials, inform the whole country, and the whole country is in grief...

That’s a huge thing…

Zhang Jianzhi used the word "maybe" here, which obviously has a deeper meaning.

If he dies, he dies. There is no way that can be confirmed.

Zhang Jianzhi said solemnly, "This is what I am worried about. The news of His Majesty's death was spread by Helan Minyue. She found me and said that her brother Wu Minzhi got the news. After His Majesty became seriously ill, there were only three people who could see him at any time, the Crown Prince, Prime Minister Xu, and Minister Pei. Wu Minzhi had the closest relationship with the Crown Prince, so the news he got should be true. His Majesty really passed away, but the palace did not issue an obituary in the first place, but concealed the matter. Wu Minzhi took great pains to spread this message, and it is obvious that someone in the palace is planning something."

Xiao Miaochen asked: "Does it concern my husband?"

Zhang Jianzhi said, "That's what I'm afraid of. I heard that your Majesty had someone urgently summon you back to the court a few days ago. It's obvious that he knew he didn't have much time left, so he made special arrangements. But your Majesty passed away before you returned... Now the palace is blocking your Majesty's information. I think he wants to take advantage of the opportunity to make plans. After setting the tone, he will announce it to the public."

Xiao Miaochen hurriedly said, "General Meng, my husband has praised you many times as his most proud student. The current situation is complicated, and women like me don't understand the affairs of the court. You might as well come up with an idea and help him deal with the current situation."

Zhang Jianzhi had thought it through on the way here, and said, "Mr. is of high status. Normally, even if someone plots against him, they won't go too far. But I'm afraid someone will not know the seriousness of the matter and act recklessly."

Many things in history were not carefully planned. Oftentimes, the more you calculate, the more likely failure is to happen in the end.

Because the plan was too careful, there were many irresistible changes that led to a complete failure.

Instead, it was the impulsive choice made in a moment of panic that changed the entire course of events.

Zhang Jianzhi was not afraid of deeper plots, but he was worried that Chen Qingsi came in a hurry after receiving the order, and would be careless and fall into the trap.

"Sir, you are extremely intelligent. As long as you tell me the current situation in the capital, you will make the right decision with your ability. I will also cooperate with you in making the decision in Chang'an."

Xiao Miaochen nodded and said, "Everything is up to General Meng..." He looked at Zhou Kui and said, "Manager Qing, you leave immediately, kidnap the young master on the road, and report to him the situation in Chang'an."

The Imperial Palace, the inner courtyard, outside Li Zhi's bedroom.

Pei Yan and Li Jingxuan gathered together to discuss the next countermeasures.

"Your Majesty's matter cannot be delayed for too long. The obituary must be issued tomorrow at the latest. If we delay any further, we cannot bear the responsibility. What does the Crown Prince say?"

When Pei Yan spoke, his voice was trembling a little, with fear, excitement, and some dread, all kinds of emotions coming together.

Li Jingxuan said angrily, "His Royal Highness is too kind. He said he would never get rid of Chen Qingsi. He said Mr. Chen could not possibly be Wang Mang... There must be a reason why my father trusted him so much. He didn't know that if Chen Qingsi was not eliminated, even if he was not Wang Mang, he would be the second Yi Yin or Huo Guang. At that time, all important matters in the court would be decided by him. Yi Yin and Huo Guang were both capable and talented, but what virtue and ability did Chen Qingsi have to compare with Yi Yin and Huo Guang, who were good at keeping the people safe and cultivating their lives..."

Li Jingxuan said this with deep sorrow.

Pei Yan frowned when he heard this, but he had to agree, "In this case, we can only take a step back. Your Majesty is seriously ill and his mind is unclear. It is not wise to entrust the affairs of the country to one person. It is the right way to have someone to restrain him."

If Li Zhi was still alive, Pei Yan would never dare to do this, but now his tone was full of resentment.

Li Jingxuan responded, "That's right. There should be three assistant ministers, one to guard the Secretariat, one to be in charge of the Ministry of Personnel, and one to be in charge of the Ministry of Shangshu. Checking and balancing each other is beneficial to the country. It is not to hand over the weight of the world to a person who only cares about his own fame and does not care about the lives of the people. If we really follow the instructions of the late emperor, I am afraid that our dynasty will repeat the mistakes of the Sui Dynasty."

Pei Yan agreed and asked, "What does the prince say?"

Li Jingxuan said: "The prince has no objection. Although His Highness is kind, he also knows what it means to be a monarch and a minister. He does not want to be suppressed in everything. Under our persuasion, he is willing to divide the ministers into three. Now the only one who knows the inside story is Minister Xu, and it is not easy for him to deal with it."

Now that Li Zhi was dead, Xu Jingzong's fall from power was inevitable.

But a skinny camel is bigger than a horse, especially since he is in control of Li Zhi's last will. Without his approval, all plans are just fantasies.

Pei Yan hesitated for a moment and said, "Let me talk to Mr. Xu..."

Li Jingxuan asked, "Are you sure?"

Pei Yan smiled and said, "It's a sure thing! Mr. Xu acted recklessly without the support of His Majesty. The Crown Prince doesn't like him, and he should pay the price."

On the second day, the court announced the news of Li Zhi's death, followed by Li Zhi's will, ordering Crown Prince Li Hong to succeed to the throne in front of the coffin. For the sake of the people's livelihood, the funeral should be kept simple. He also ordered Chen Qingsi, Pei Yan and Li Jingxuan to be ministers to assist the new emperor in handling state affairs.

(End of this chapter)