People in the early Tang Dynasty: I compete with Wu Zhao for the throne

Chapter 1489 The Emperor's Life and Death, Just Three or Five Days
In the Zhenguan Hall, the Emperor and Empress Wu looked at Li Xuan coldly at the same time.

Li Xuan bowed his head solemnly and said: "Your Majesty, Queen of Heaven, the Fengshan Supervisory Commissioner is responsible for coordinating the Qianniu Guards, Jinwu Guards, the Ministry of Justice, the Dali Temple, Luozhou Prefecture, Henan, and Luoyang County to investigate local public security. This power is too heavy.

I also have the posts of Right Guard General, Prince's Guest, and Pacifier of Luosu. All these duties are too complicated for me to handle, so I would like to resign from the post of Supervisor of Fengshan. "

The entire Zhenguan Hall suddenly fell silent.

Li Xuan kowtowed to the ground. He could clearly feel the heavy gazes of the emperor and Empress Wu, but he had to do it.

The General of the Right Guard also contacted the Qianniu Guard, Jinwu Guard, Ministry of Justice, Dali Temple, Luozhou Prefecture, Henan, and Luoyang Counties to investigate local public security.

In Luoyang, this position is no more than the Minister of War and the Minister of Justice combined.

What's more, he was the prince's guest, which was simply fatal.

Tonight, Li Xuan was ordered to kill Zheng Xuanguo, which was the limit of what he could accept in this position. After this incident, he didn't want to take this position for even a moment.

After a moment of silence, the emperor finally spoke slowly: "Since you think so, then I will do as you wish."

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Li Xuan took out the imperial edict from his sleeve and handed it to Wang Fulai on the side. He then breathed a sigh of relief, but still kowtowed heavily to the ground.

"Since you have resigned from this position, please recommend a candidate. Be serious and don't be perfunctory." Li Zhi leaned forward slightly and looked at Li Xuan solemnly.

Li Xuan thought for a moment, then cupped his hands and said, "I think that General of the Left Thousand Bull Guards, Prince of Beiping, Li Jingjia, is the most suitable."

"Left Thousand Bull Guard." The emperor couldn't help laughing.

The duties of the Qianniu Guards include monitoring and guarding, and their authority is even greater than that of the Jinwu Guards.

Of course, it would be most appropriate to appoint General Li Jingjia of the Left Thousand Bull Guards to do this. Moreover, he is the Prince of Beiping, a member of the royal family, and has been guarding the emperor for many years, so he is the most reassuring person.

"Okay, let the Prince of Beiping take charge of this matter." The emperor waved his hand and said, "But don't expect to have an easy time. Become a deputy supervisor and help the Prince of Beiping to check for deficiencies. After all, he still has a legitimate job. You have also been a general of the Qianniu Guards, so you are familiar with it."

"I obey your order." Li Xuan kowtowed again.

"Okay, go away." The emperor raised his head calmly and looked outside the hall.

Li Xuan bowed: "Yes."

Standing up, Li Xuan bowed again and said, "I will take my leave. May your majesty and the empress be well."

The emperor nodded, and Li Xuan carefully stepped back.

……

Looking at Li Xuan's disappearing back, Li Zhi couldn't help but sigh: "What a smart man!"

In fact, no matter whether Li Xuan resigned from the position of Inspector today or not, the emperor would not let him stay in this position until tomorrow morning.

Li Xuan is the Inspector General. Adding an Inspector General over his head is enough to control him.

Just like when the imperial court is marching, there is a marching commander and also a marching grand commander.

This is often the method the emperor uses to control a person.

Li Xuan is now the Deputy Supervisory Commissioner, and there is an Supervisory Commissioner above him. It is the same as always.

The emperor turned his head to look at Empress Wu and said in a deep voice, "The matter of Zheng Xuanguo has been settled. The matter of dismembering the Zheng family is now in the hands of Mei Niang. In addition, there is the governor of Yizhou. Yizhou is adjacent to Anxi, so the governor of Yizhou must be taken immediately."

"You can consider the candidate immediately. As soon as Zheng Xuanguo's mourning letter arrives, I will immediately arrange for people to rush to Anxi overnight." Empress Wu nodded seriously.

Zheng Xuanguo sneaked back to Luoyang secretly, but before that, he had sent people back to Yizhou, pretending that he was in Yizhou and had just received news of a death at home.

Afterwards, “he” would write a funeral petition and request a period of mourning.

The emperor and Empress Wu could only appoint a new governor of Yizhou after receiving the memorial of mourning.

The order of this set cannot be messed up.

Although Zheng Xuanguo was plotting rebellion, in reality he was just seeking revenge.

If the reason for revenge cannot be brought to the surface, then the rebellion cannot be brought to the surface either.

So they could only pretend that Zheng Xuanguo was still alive, write a funeral letter, ask for mourning, and prepare to return to the court.

The Emperor and Empress Wu had arranged everything properly, which prevented Zheng Xuanguo from dying of illness on the road.

In this way, there will be no chaos between the government and the opposition.

Under such circumstances, Empress Wu could easily complete the transfer of many provincial governors of the Zheng family.

I wonder how much benefit the four provincial governors can bring to Empress Wu.

Li Zhi raised his head calmly and said softly, "The candidate for Yizhou must be chosen well. Next year, King Peng will put part of his forces in the Western Regions and begin preparing for the future war with the Arabs. He is in the Western Regions, but the Silk Road cannot be cut off. This candidate must be able to assist him and also be able to hold him hostage."

"I understand." Empress Wu nodded seriously.

Li Zhi turned around and looked outside again.

It was as if he had seen the whole world in his eyes.

……

The moon is bright in the sky, and the figure is lonely.

Li Xuan rode alone on a horse, slowly heading towards Sigongfang along the south bank of Luo River.

While holding the reins in his left hand, Li Xuan's right hand inadvertently grasped the long spear, ready to stab out fiercely at any time.

If a soldier coming down from the battlefield approached, he would be immediately shocked by the fierce murderous intent.

Fortunately, as Li Xuan walked along, no one came towards him, and no one followed him.

Before at the Dafuxian Temple, Li Xuan kept everyone behind and went into the palace alone to report.

As for Li Zhu, he had escorted Liu Jinyu back to Yulong Garden earlier.

So now Li Xuan is alone.

Under the night sky, the air was as cold as the tide.

The palace was left behind, and Li Xuan slowly let go of the spear in his hand, and the murderous intent in his heart gradually subsided.

Today, the emperor asked him to be an inspector, and this matter was a test from the beginning.

He was a close confidant of the prince, and when the emperor was seriously ill, he was just an inspector in charge of all public security in and outside Luoyang.

If he really did it, then tomorrow, countless imperial censors would immediately report him secretly for having evil intentions. That would be fine, but the real problem was the emperor's suspicion.

The emperor just wanted to see whether Li Xuan would really accept this so-called Inspector.

If he was really stupid enough to think that this was the emperor's bullshit trust, then before tomorrow the emperor's suspicion of him would reach its peak.

Even by next year, he would have no chance of returning to Fanzhou.

Back in Fanzhou, Li Xuan, who is in control of power, is the truly powerful one.

If he couldn't return to Fanzhou, then even if he was the General of the Right Guard, the Prince's guest, or the King of Peng, he would be nothing more than a fish on someone else's chopping board.

So in Luoyang, Li Xuan always demonstrated his infinite loyalty to the emperor.

Even if Li Zhi ordered him to kill the prince, he would grab the sword, turn around and kill Li Xian after doing his duty to persuade him.

The emperor at this time was the most suspicious of everyone.

Of course, the emperor was the least suspicious of Empress Wu.

And as for Li Xian, if Li Xuan had not come up with the strategy of acting in the open for him, I'm afraid the power of the Eastern Palace would have been reduced to an unknown degree now.

Fortunately, once the emperor died and Li Xian ascended the throne, these people's loyalty would be transferred to Li Xian.

However, if they were won over by Empress Wu in the future, that would be a different matter.

Empress Wu... Thinking of Empress Wu, Li Xuan's face darkened again.

Today, it was not only the emperor who was testing him, but also Empress Wu.

He returned to Sigongfang safely today. If it weren't for Empress Wu's arrangement, how could Wu Sansi happen to appear in front of Li Xuan.

Moreover, he was in crisis due to the assassin's attack.

It even seemed that if Li Xuan didn't rescue him, Wu Sansi would die there immediately.

But all this was just an illusion. All the arrangements were just Empress Wu's attempt to test whether Li Xuan would save Wu Sansi at the critical moment.

The root of all this was that Empress Wu was just testing Li Xuan's attitude towards her.

Fortunately, Li Xuan saw through the mystery of it all in a flash and took action at the last moment, otherwise he would really let Wu Sansi die under Zheng Xuanguo's calculations.

Wu Sansi will not die. Although Zheng Xuanguo's plan seems to be well-planned, in fact, there may be people of Empress Wu among his people.

Empress Wu may not know all of his actions, but in fact he has already been placed on her chessboard.

It was as if he had never left Li Xuan's sight.

Li Xuan couldn't help but look back in the direction of Ziwei Palace.

Although the emperor's health seems to be getting better on the surface, his foundation is being rapidly corroded.

The more he did now, the closer he was to death.

It is precisely because of this that Li Zhi is so suspicious of Li Xuan. This is the emperor's instinct.

Li Xuan noticed this, and Empress Wu also noticed this.

Everyone has started planning for the future.

Empress Wu's methods never stopped, and Li Xuan's methods also never stopped.

The post-Li Zhi era is about to come.

However, in the meantime, you must successfully overcome the emperor's death.

Before the emperor's death, after the emperor's death.

At this stage, all conflicts of interest are the most intense.

……

When we returned to Yulong Garden, it was already late.

Li Xuan first returned to the study, changed her clothes, and waited until she was a little warmer before returning to the bedroom.

At the same time, he also needs to think about his next actions.

At this moment, the door was pushed open with a "creak".

Liu Jinyu, wearing a purple waist-length skirt, walked in with a lantern in hand. Outside the door, the rustling sound faded away.

"Husband, have you dealt with today's matters?" Liu Jinyu put the lantern aside, then sat over and snuggled gently into Li Xuan's arms.

Li Xuan nodded and said, "Duke Zheng Xuan of Tongan is dead."

Liu Jinyu paused and looked at Li Xuan in disbelief: "Duke Tongan is dead?"

"Well, he died at the hands of my husband." Li Xuan nodded calmly.

"But my husband." Liu Jinyu couldn't help but raise her head in worry and said, "He is the head of the Zheng family in Xingyang. If the news that he died at the hands of my husband spreads, I'm afraid that all the noble families in the world will regard my husband as their enemy."

"No noble family in the world would know about this, unless His Majesty and the Queen deliberately spread the news." Li Xuan sneered and said, "This is also the important reason why they used me tonight. If Zheng Xuanguo had not died in my hands, how could they have entrusted him with important tasks in the future."

Everything tonight, in the end, is nothing more than a token of allegiance.

The emperor wants more letters of surrender.

Li Xuan killed Zheng Xuanguo. As long as Li Xuan disobeys in the future, as long as the news spreads, countless enemies of Li Xuan will immediately stand up and target him.

But if Li Xuan didn't kill Zheng Xuanguo, he might not even be able to return to Fanzhou in the future.

Staying in Luoyang will lead to death.

Only by returning to Fanzhou can he proceed to the next step.

"Entrusted with an important task?" Liu Jinyu leaned closer to Li Xuan's arms and carefully rejected these words. She looked up at Li Xuan and whispered, "So, your Majesty's health is completely failing, and your husband has already started to make plans for your Majesty?"

Li Xuan looked outside the study, his ears already pricked up to listen to all the sounds inside and outside, and at the same time said in Liu Jinyu's ear: "The emperor's life or death is only three to five days away."

Liu Jinyu looked up, his face full of horror.

(End of this chapter)