The Flourishing Tang Dynasty: Beginning with Marrying Yang Yuhuan

Chapter 133 Chain Plan

Li Heng stayed in Prince Ning's mansion for a whole day and did not return until night.

Li Heng felt both sad and helpless about Yuanshi's death.

The sad thing was that Yuanshi had been very good to him in the past few years, but he was ultimately unable to see her for the last time. As for the helplessness, it was that he could not change the outcome of many things.

Seeing that Li Ying was in a bad mood, Hongyue served him tea and swallowed back what she wanted to say.

Li Ying saw Hongyue's expression and knew that she had something to say, so he said, "Hongyue, just say whatever you want to say."

"Yes." Hong Yue bowed to Li Heng and said, "Recently, Prince Guang has taken away most of the money he secretly used to run his business."

"Oh?" Li Heng was surprised. "Any other unusual movements?"

Hong Yue said, “The Eastern Palace has frequent banquets and there was singing and dancing a few days ago because the prince was reprimanded by the saint during the funeral of Concubine Yuan.”

"Is it just the Crown Prince, Prince Guang, and Prince E having a banquet together?" Li Ying asked curiously.

Hong Yue said: "Sometimes there are officials from the Eastern Palace."

"Hmm." Li Ying thought.

"Recently, there have been reports of thieves in the palace." Hong Yue said with some confusion, "Normally, if there are thieves in the palace, it shouldn't be spread outside, but this time it's spread like wildfire."

Li Heng asked, "Thieves have entered the palace, which means the palace's defense is lax. Have the Longwu Army, Yulin Guards, and Jinwu Guards been mobilized?"

"Hongyue doesn't know about this." Hongyue smiled bitterly, "Hongyue can't find out the situation of the palace guards for the time being."

"Yeah." Li Heng smiled at Hong Yue and said, "You've done very well. I have my own plans for the situation in the palace. You should focus on safety."

Hongyue said: "Don't worry, Your Highness, Hongyue is not in danger for the time being."

"That's good." Li Ying replied, and said nothing more, falling into deep thought.

Hongyue retreated consciously.

……

The next day.

Li Heng went to the palace to pay his respects to Li Longji and Concubine Wu Huifei.

When Li Heng arrived at Xingqing Palace, Li Longji had just gotten up from Jiang Caiping's bed.

Li Longji chatted with Li Ying for a while and then let Li Ying go to pay his respects to Concubine Wu Huifei on his own.

Li Ying came to Wu Huifei's room. Wu Huifei asked everyone else to leave first, and then pulled Li Ying to the charcoal fire.

Concubine Wu Hui looked at Li Ying carefully and said, "The last time my mother and I had a deep talk, it was also in this weather."

"Well, a few years have passed in a flash." Li Ying looked at Concubine Wu Huifei and saw that she looked OK. He asked, "Has my mother been feeling down lately?"

"Some." Concubine Wu Huifei did not hide anything from Li Heng, "But in the past few years, I have gradually let go of the idea of ​​competing for the position of queen, and instead have some enlightenment."

Li Ying asked in confusion: "What do you mean?"

Concubine Wu Hui lowered her voice and said, "It's said outside that I slandered Queen Wang and killed her. I may have said one or two bad words about her, but your father is so wise, what effect can one or two bad words of mine have?" Queen Wang was deposed, and Li Heng was still very young, so he didn't know the details. He asked curiously, "Mother, can you tell me the whole story of this matter?"

Concubine Wu Huifei said: "Queen Wang has no children. Although your father conferred the title on her when he first ascended the throne, she has always been worried that her position will be lost. So she found a sorcerer to make a talisman for her."

"That talisman is made of thunderbolt wood, and has the names of heaven and earth and your father written on it. The sorcerer said that as long as Queen Wang carries that talisman, she will be able to give birth to a child and will be as wealthy and noble as Queen Zetian."

There are two levels of relationship between Concubine Wu Huifei and Wu Zetian: one is granddaughter-in-law, and the other is niece-grandson. However, Concubine Wu Huifei was not addressed according to these two levels of relationship. This is because Empress Zetian was the posthumous title given to Wu Zetian by Li Longji.

Li Heng didn't pay attention to this detail, but said, "So, it's about witchcraft again."

Concubine Wu Hui nodded and said, "Later, your father learned about this and personally interrogated Queen Wang. Queen Wang confessed everything. Your father personally issued an edict, saying that Queen Wang was not blessed by heaven, was flashy but not practical, fanned the flames in the court, seduced her cliques, had no intention of being a mother of the country, and had committed unspeakable crimes. How could such a woman be queen and honor the Li family temple? So Queen Wang was demoted to a commoner and placed in a separate courtyard, and all her brothers who had committed crimes were punished."

Li Ying said: "Then this has nothing to do with A Niang."

Concubine Wu Hui smiled when she heard this and said calmly: "Just like you said, I am the daughter of the Wu family. If the daughter of the Wu family does something bad, everyone in the world is willing to believe it."

Concubine Wu Hui sighed and said, "But after thinking about it for a while, I realized that Fu Yan was just an excuse. In the final analysis, it was Queen Wang who cultivated her family members and won over the ministers for power. Queen Zetian had ruthless means, Zhongzong was poisoned by Queen Wei, and Princess Taiping also had ambitions for the throne. Your father knew these things better than anyone else. How could he tolerate himself making the same mistake?"

"Yeah." Li Ying nodded.

Wu Huifei continued, "The book says that a general must die because his achievements are greater than his master's and he is not rewarded. In my opinion, a concubine must die because she is the master of the harem and it is difficult to reward her. Therefore, if I really become the queen, I will be one step closer to death."

Li Ying was happy for Concubine Wu Huifei when he saw that she had such an awakening. He said, "Buddha talks about letting go. Mother seems to have understood the true meaning of it."

Concubine Wu Hui shook her head and smiled, "It's because you pulled away in time and stopped my thoughts. Otherwise, I would have wanted you to be the crown prince even if I had to sacrifice my life."

Li Ying also smiled when he heard this, and stood up to pat Concubine Wu Hui's shoulders, saying, "It's good now, we are all safe and sound, which is more important than anything else."

"Yes, just like your mother, Yuan Niang, after she died, everything was over." Concubine Wu Hui sighed softly, and then remained silent for a while, and then said, "But you are also very capable. You have governed Anxi well and won battles one after another. The battle in Shibao City was not going well, and your father was often worried about it."

"It's all because of my mother's good teaching." Li Ying smiled and changed the subject, saying, "I heard there are thieves in the palace. This is true."

Wu Huifei said: "Everyone is talking about this, but I didn't see the bandits, maybe they are somewhere else."

Li Heng understood that this was most likely fake news.

Li Heng pondered for a while and said, "With such a big incident, have the Longwu Army and Yulin Army been mobilized?"

"No." Concubine Wu Huifei shook her head. "Your father said that he would transfer the position after your mother Yuan Niang was buried. He just blamed Chen Xuanli."

"This..." Li Ying was stunned.

In this situation, if Li Longji was not incompetent, then he did it on purpose.

Telling the lie that there were lax guards in the palace was like walking into a trap.

Don't strengthen the defense for now, and indicate that you will strengthen it after Yuanshi is buried. This is to tell others that this may be the only chance you have in your life.

Finally, he blamed Chen Xuanli and used a trick of inflicting pain on himself.

Li Longji really put a lot of thought into this combo.

But will Li Ying fall into the trap?

(End of this chapter)