Tang Dynasty: The seventh rank of official residence, and you will be given the Ten Thousand People

Chapter 243: Falsely conveying the imperial edict.

Li Dan's arrival made Li Xian very happy, and he took out the carp raised in the lotus pond and stewed it for him.

The two brothers chatted very happily at the dinner table. When they heard that the emperor's brother was only grounded, Li Dan nodded happily.

After such a big thing happened, he thought that the queen mother would take action against the prince, but he didn't expect that it was just a false alarm.

"By the way, Lao Ba, why did the Queen Mother call you back to Luoyang?"

After three rounds of wine and five dishes, Li Xian put down his chopsticks and said.

Li Dan waved to the servants around him.

"The king and the prince have something to talk about. You can go down first."

"Yes, my lord."

The servants bowed and slowly exited the palace door. When only the two brothers were left in the hall, Li Dan took out a yellow imperial edict from his arms.

"Brother Imperial, my eighth brother doesn't have enough brains. Can you tell me what the queen means?"

"This is?"

After reading the contents of the imperial edict, the prince's expression changed slightly.

He raised his head and said in surprise.

"Lao Ba, the queen mother wants to call you to come and monitor you."

"Yes, such a big thing has happened to God. With my mother's character, she will definitely doubt me."

"So Yuan Shu has sent me to Luoyang."

"No way, you have already voluntarily abdicated in favor of someone more powerful, so why would you still doubt you?" Li Xian said in surprise.

Seeing that the emperor didn't believe him, Li Dan sighed.

"Brother Imperial, don't you still know what kind of person your mother is?"

"Who has she believed in these years besides herself?"

Li Xian fell silent after hearing these words. Li Dan was right. His eldest brother had died inexplicably for the throne in recent years, and his second brother Li Xian was forced to die in Bazhou by Qiu Shenji.

He and Li Dan were also in danger and were placed under house arrest and exiled several times.

Now that there is a coup, the mother's character will indeed cast doubt on them.

Thinking of this, Li Xian said melancholy: "I didn't expect that so many things happened while Gu was under house arrest. What are you going to do next?" "

Li Dan rubbed his head and said with a sad face.

"What else can we do? Of course we should be cautious and clear our suspicions."

Thinking of his third son's advice, Li Dan slapped his forehead.

"By the way, brother emperor, when my eighth brother came to Luoyang, he heard that the internal guards were using Wu Sansi's coup as an excuse to arrest courtiers on a large scale. What do you think we should do about this?"

Li Xian was extremely attentive to his question, thought for a while, knocked on the table and muttered.

"Lao Ba, you were an emperor before and your prestige is too high. If you rescue people rashly, it will inevitably arouse the association of the ministers and the suspicion of the queen mother."

"Brother Huang, I advise you to stay out of this matter and not get yourself into trouble."

"The most common minister who breaks the law is to be dismissed from office and seize a title. If you offend your mother, I'm afraid you will follow in the footsteps of Prince Zhang Huai!"

Li Dan frowned.

"I'll be honest with you, Emperor Brother. Before my eighth brother came to the capital of God, Sanlang suggested trying to save some ministers Li Tang. However, the Meihua inner guard belongs to the queen, so if she is angered..."

"Yes, you and Gu Gu have special statuses. If you don't do anything right, you will fall into a situation that is beyond redemption. But watching Minister Li Tang get implicated will lose people's hearts."

"It's really difficult to handle..."

Speaking of this, Li Xian rolled his eyes and suddenly said to Li Dan.

"Brother, there is a dangerous method here. I wonder if you dare..."

As he spoke, he whispered a few words into Li Dan's ear, which made the latter's expression change with gloom and uncertainty.

Finally gritted his teeth.

"Sure, just do what the emperor said, and the eighth brother will give it a try tomorrow!"

……

The next day, early morning.

Li Dan got up early and went to Lijingmen without even eating.

Legend has it that this is a place where the living come in and the dead come out.

In the middle of the night, not even the crickets dared to call.

Snapped!
  In the smelly cell, a bald man with a ferocious face beat the prisoner viciously. "Tell me! When Wu Sansi's coup failed, did you shake your head and sigh?"

"Bah! I, Wei, am worthy of heaven in the morning and earth in the future. How can I show mercy to the rebels?"

Wei Zao spat out a mouthful of blood and said loudly.

"Hmph! If you don't say so, come here and pour molten iron into his stomach!"

Two jailers brought a cup of boiling hot metal and were about to open Wei Zao's mouth and pour it into him when a figure hurriedly came over.

"The little pavilion can't handle it well. Your Majesty, Prince Xiang, has come to the prison and said he wants to see you."

"Prince Xiang?"

Li Dongxun's eyebrows were darkened: "What is he here for?"

After speaking, he glared at Wei Zao and walked out of the prison.

"Li Dongxun, the low-ranking leader of the small pavilion of the Internal Guards House, came to see His Highness the Prime Minister. What kind of wind brought you in?"

Li Dan frowned and said after glancing at this person.

"I heard that the inner guards arrested many ministers who went to petition my mother. I wonder if this is the case?"

"That's what happened. These ministers disobeyed the will and deliberately forced His Majesty. The internal guards could only capture them."

Li Dongxun wiped his hands and said nonchalantly.

"Just admit it." Li Dan sneered: "These ministers are the pillars of the imperial court in supervising state affairs. Let them go quickly!

Li Dongxun snorted disdainfully.

"I'm sorry, Your Highness. The inner guard is only responsible to Your Majesty. Without her will, no one has the right to interfere with the operation."

"Open your dog eyes and see what this is!"

Li Dan took out the imperial edict summoning him to enter the capital of the gods from his arms and said to the bald head.

Not to mention that as soon as the imperial edict was revealed, the inner guard's momentum suddenly dropped by three points.

Even Li Dongxun, who didn't take Li Dan seriously, looked a little unhappy.

He did not expect that His Majesty would ask the Prime Minister to handle the matter.

"Little Pavilion Chief, I just received a letter from above. The Prime Minister did have a conversation with His Majesty in the hall for a while."

"Then His Majesty ordered us to lift the surveillance on him."

One of the inner guards explained in a low voice.

"So it is."

Li Dongxun, who had originally suspected that the imperial edict was a fake, suddenly realized it.

A smile returned to his face.

"Since His Majesty has given His Majesty the will, I naturally dare not stop him."

"Come here, release all the ministers arrested in front of Guanfeng Palace!"

With an order, hundreds of internal guards rushed into the prison, opened the door, and dragged out the ministers who were covered in bruises.

When passing by Prime Minister Li Dan, Wei Zao vomited a mouthful of blood and said in a hoarse voice.

"Your Highness, it is not a pity for us to die as ministers of the Great Zhou Dynasty. You must save the innocent officials who are implicated."

"That's right, Your Highness, Liu Da doesn't dare to do anything to us ministers of rank five or above."

"On the other hand, those officials who are implicated are in danger. Please ask the inner guards to let them go."

Facing the pleading eyes of everyone, Li Dan felt ashamed.

Taking the risk of falsely preaching the imperial edict to rescue these people was already his limit.

How can I save others anymore?

"My dear ministers, this case is complicated and cannot be decided by me alone."

"Let's go back first."

No matter how much the ministers begged, Li Dan waved his hand and the servants who followed him lifted up the ministers and left, fearing to be left behind.

Looking at the backs of the ministers, Li Dongxun always felt that something was wrong.

Just when he was about to go back to rest, Liu Da came with his bodyguard Feng Fenghuohuo.

"I would like to ask you, where are the ministers detained at Lijingmen?"

(End of this chapter)