Masterful appearance

Wu Zetian put her hands behind her back, with a melancholy smile on her face, looking at the blooming flowers in the garden, she sighed heavily, and Shangguan Wan'er next to her had already lightly covered her with a cloak.

"Your Majesty is still the same as you were back then. Even after a thousand years, you will not dare to disobey your imperial edict." Shangguan Wan'er bowed her head and said respectfully.

"Here again, how many times have I told you that I am no longer your majesty, you and I have supported each other all these years, it is no longer a relationship between master and servant, then you are my sister, why did you forget today?" Wu Zetian Wan Ran smiled and patted her hand.

The corners of Shangguan Wan'er's eyes were moist, and the tears were faintly visible in the snowy night, and she said in a choked voice.

"This year, I saw that you commanded a hundred flowers with exactly the same demeanor as that in Luoyang, and suddenly, I thought I was back in the Tang Dynasty, and I couldn't help feeling a little bit emotional."

"You, Tianci has seen you through. Tianci said that you are a person who lives in memory, and it happened thousands of years ago. Why don't you let go of it?" Wu Zetian whispered in relief, and suddenly raised her head to look at Chu Tianci. "Wan'er lives in memories, what about me? In your heart, what kind of person am I?"

Chu Tianci and Wu Zetian looked at each other, and couldn't help avoiding her eyes. She seemed to have an innate power, even when she was smiling, her eyes were always full of pride and majesty.

"You...you are a time-beating person."

"Hahaha, well said, well said." Wu Zetian raised her head and laughed loudly, then turned her head and said to Shangguan Wan'er. "Wan'er, you used to be in charge of drafting edicts. If God gave such an answer, what would I do before?"

"Wonderful speculation, rebellious offenders, unforgivable crimes, punished by being run over by carts, and the nine clans will sit together!" Shangguan Wan'er lowered her head and said it without thinking.

"Hahaha, did you hear that, Tianci, if you said such a thing when I was in office, I would kill you and implicate the entire family!" Wu Zetian asked meaningfully with a smile. "Wan'er, but what Tianci said is indeed the truth."

"Those who achieve great things don't care about trivial matters. The emperors and kings of all dynasties don't seem to like to listen to the truth." Shangguan Wan'er answered eloquently.

Wu Zetian pointed at Shangguan Wan'er with her finger, raised her head and said to Chu Tianci with a smile.

"Have you seen Tianci? This is your real Aunt Jing. This mouth is amazing. Even though she was a talented woman at the time, I'm afraid even I don't know how many heads fell to the ground with a swipe of the pen in her hand. "

Chu Tianci was dumbfounded and didn't know what to say for a moment.

Wu Zetian looked at Chu Tianci's embarrassed look and smiled kindly.

"I'm just kidding you. I'm just an ordinary person today. There's nothing to remember in the past. I'm afraid you still have a lot to ask me tonight. I haven't talked at night by candlelight for a long time. It's windy outside, so go into the house." explain."

Shangguan Wan'er lowered her head and said softly.

"It's rare that you are in such high spirits tonight. I'll make you a pot of tea again. Tea tasting and talking at night won't be a waste of the beauty of this beautiful day."

"Come here early after making the tea, Tianci probably can't hold the questions in his head now, and is waiting to ask us."

After Wu Zetian finished speaking, he returned to the room. Chu Tianci hugged the Chuanguo Yuxi tightly and followed cautiously. He suddenly felt very cautious, and he didn't even know how to walk. He only saw the phrase that companions are like companions in books After all, he did not understand the meaning of the words, but now Chu Tianci understands more or less.

Sitting on the opposite side is a generation of emperors who have stood out from time immemorial, and she is also the only empress in history.

Chu Tianci was unnaturally at a loss, and he didn't even dare to raise his head. Only now did he realize what it means to walk on thin ice.

Chu Tianci was not afraid of Wu Zetian, but facing him was an emperor who was supposed to have passed away thousands of years ago, but now he was looking at him alive, which was somewhat strange in this snowy night.

"Don't lower your head, your current appearance is worse than the courtier who once knelt in front of me." Wu Zetian smiled in relief, and said calmly. "Tianci, where are you going to start asking me?"

Chu Tianci regained his composure, hesitated for a long time before whispering.

"Qiu...Qiu Nuo is...who is she? Could it be that she is also from the Tang Dynasty?"

"No, Qiu Nuo is my adopted daughter, she doesn't know the identities of me and Wan'er."

Chu Tianci breathed a sigh of relief, and suddenly smiled bitterly involuntarily, thinking to himself, what kind of expression would she have if Qiu Nuo knew that the person facing him day and night was the talented Shangguan Wan'er, and the mother he had always respected However, it is Wu Zetian, the empress of a generation. I don't know if her ability to bear is better than mine.

"You...how...how do you live..." Chu Tianci really didn't know how to ask this sentence.

"You want to ask me why Wan'er and I have lived until today, yes."

Chu Tianci nodded awkwardly and said in a low voice.

"It is recorded in the history books that in the first year of Shenlong, Prime Minister Zhang Jianzhi and others launched a coup to force you to abdicate. You gave up the throne to Zhongzong Li Xian and restored the title of Tang Dynasty. In December of the same year...you...you died of illness in Luoyang Yang Palace."

"History is written by kings. What was right and wrong thousands of years ago, how much truth and falsehood can be recorded in a piece of history book." Wu Zetian said calmly, flicking the beads in his hand. "Zhang Jianzhi's ability to be the prime minister is not due to his high talents, but his mediocrity and stupidity. There is no coup at all, and everything is fabricated by Wan'er, and then let the historian record it and pass it down to future generations."

"But...but aren't you afraid that among these people, who will record the real situation and spread it?"

"Of course not!"

"For...why?"

"A dead man will never speak!" Shangguan Wan'er opened the door and came in, putting down the tea she had just brewed. "Everyone who knows the truth will be executed by my order, and no one will be left behind!"

Chu Tianci's back felt chills when he heard that, Shangguan Wan'er in front of him was an elegant and indifferent woman, but what she said was so cold and decisive.

"It is recorded in the history books that Zhang Jianzhi was exiled to Longzhou in the same year, and died of illness on the way. The court used the excuse of eliminating party disputes to cleanse the officials. It was Wu Ze... in the year when you died, there was a bloody storm in the court, It turns out...it turns out that you wanted to seal the mouths of these people."

"It is said that the mouth of the world can't be blocked, but in fact, as long as the method is used correctly, there is nothing that can't be blocked." Wu Zetian said very calmly.

"In order to keep this secret... how many people died?"

"The imperial edict to clear up the faction was written by myself. In three days, officials, big and small, and people related to the imperial court, a total of 790 people were killed!" Shangguan Wan'er said lightly while pouring tea for Chu Tianci.

Wu Zetian sighed, slowly raised his hand to look at the Buddhist beads in his hand and said melancholy.

"Although the imperial edict was written by Wan'er, and she supervised everything, but the person who ordered it was me. There was too much blood on my hands. I have been anxious for thousands of years. The more time passed, the more regretful I became. In the end, I worshiped the Buddha just for peace of mind, and sometimes I could think of everything that year when I closed my eyes, there were more than 3000 people...the moat of Chang'an City was stained red with their blood."

Chu Tianci frowned and said in surprise.

"Since you were strategizing at the time, why did you pretend to die of illness and abdicate? You can always be the empress?"

"Hehe, I have also thought this way before. I can govern the country, I can make the officials surrender, and I can make the common people live and work in peace." Wu Zetian smiled and exchanged glances with Shangguan Wan'er. "However, even though I have the supreme power and am honored as the Ninth Five-Year Supreme, there is one thing that I cannot keep concealing."

"What's the matter?" Chu Tianci asked curiously.

"Tianci, you said that I am a person who relies on time to overcome everything." Wu Zetian looked at Chu Tianci and said lightly. "Actually, I never lost to anyone, but to time!"

"Losing to time?" Chu Tianci didn't understand the meaning of Wu Zetian's words at all.

"Time can change everything, a person's experience, mood and personality, and of course appearance." Wu Zetian took a sip of tea and paused for a moment. "When I watched the gorgeous court ladies around me slowly age in front of time, I changed batch after batch of court ladies, until finally I found that I could no longer change, because... because of my appearance It hasn't changed!"

Chu Tianci suddenly realized, looking at Wu Zetian opposite, she should be in her 30s, but she took care of her so well, I believe that many people who saw her for the first time would mistakenly think that she was only 25 or [-] years old.

Wu Zetian, who was in her 30s, had just been canonized as a queen in the sixth year of Yonghui in the Tang Dynasty. That is to say, from Wu Zetian's empress to her final death of illness, her appearance has not changed during this period.

"For more than 50 years, your appearance has not changed. Has no one suspected it?" Chu Tianci asked curiously.

"Of course some people have doubts. I can change a batch of maids every three years, but I can't change all the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty every three years." Wu Zetian replied in a low voice.

Chu Tianci understood the meaning of Wu Zetian's words very well, and changed the maids around him every three years. Of course, these court ladies could only have one place to go, and the dead would keep secrets forever. For civil and military officials, this is indeed a bit troublesome.

"Then...then how did you deal with it? In the literature and history, there is no record of killing officials in large numbers during your reign, that is to say, you did not kill them, but how did you convince them that your appearance has not changed? ?”

"Why rumors can always spread quickly, and many people believe them, because rumors are always more unbelievable than the facts, the more mysterious and amazing things, the more people are eager to figure them out." Wu Zetian smiled meaningfully Laugh, pick up the teacup. "So, I arranged a perfect rumor for the civil and military officials. I believe that through their mouths, it will soon spread all over the world. I succeeded. In fact, this rumor is still there."

"Rumor?!" Chu Tianci rubbed his forehead with a surprised expression. "What rumors have been circulating until now?"

"Retaining face technique!"

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