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

Chapter 1509 The Emperor is Dead

In the Zhenguan Hall, the emperor lay on the ground, stretched out his hands to grab forward, as if trying to grab something, and groaned with difficulty: "Mei Niang, Mei Niang, help me..."

There was no sound coming from outside the Zhenguan Hall for a long time.

The emperor finally collapsed to the ground in dejection, but...the emperor's eyes suddenly turned cold while he was lying on the ground.

Then he became infinitely sad again.

That medicine turned out to be fake.

No, to be precise, the medicine was replaced by someone.

The emperor never imagined that the person who replaced the medicine was actually Empress Wu.

He had not realized this at first, but Empress Wu's unconscious words made him suddenly realize that something was wrong.

People outside don’t know, but Empress Wu should know.

Although the emperor is in a difficult situation this time, with the Zhonglu Life-Prolonging Pill, he still has a good chance of surviving this disaster.

Although many of the things he had done before were arrangements made by the emperor himself to prevent accidents, and even had some flavor of testing people's hearts, the emperor had already prepared a backup plan.

It's nothing more than being bedridden day after day, letting the crown prince rule the country and the queen govern the country.

Now that's enough to account for the past.

Anyway, even if he finished all three pills this time, he could only live until the end of next summer, and his greatest wish was to be able to return to Chang'an.

However, he never imagined that the medicine had been swapped.

Li Zhi lay on the ground, the sadness in his heart gradually subsided, and he vaguely guessed the reason.

It’s still the same medicine.

That medicine can prolong his life, so naturally it can also prolong the lives of others.

Li Zhi himself was not young, and Empress Wu was more than three years older than him.

Just as he himself said, the pressure of government affairs was so heavy that even Li Zhi himself could hardly bear it.

Without him to provide protection, Empress Wu would have to spend more energy to control the government.

Now with those three pills, she can live longer, and with her abilities, she can do more and gain more rights.

If she gains more power, then their son Li Xian will naturally become a puppet.

But if it's just a puppet, it's not scary. What's scary is...

Li Zhi raised his head and looked outside the hall. There were few people outside and no sound at all.

He knew that the people outside had been driven away.

She stood outside the door, waiting for him to take his last breath.

Li Zhi looked down at himself. He didn't know what medicine he was taking now, but the medicine only had some effect on his body at the beginning, and then he felt nothing.

But here's the strange thing.

There was clearly endless coldness deep inside his body. Even though most of it had been released thanks to the acupuncture by Li Xuan, Zhang Wenzhong and Qin Heming, the coldness that was still spreading was still enough to make his entire body unable to move.

But in fact, Li Zhi’s current condition was not that he could not move his whole body, but that his whole body was numb.

The numbness and stiffness feel like taking Ma Fei San.

The situation isn't that bad, but it's actually not that good either.

Li Zhi looked up at the dark sky. He had a vague feeling that his current situation would not last long.

This means he has only his last breath...

……

Under the dim light, Li Zhi struggled to stand up.

Yes, at this time he actually stood up strangely.

Everything was like a last glimmer of hope, and the emperor suddenly smiled helplessly.

He raised his head and looked towards the palace door. As long as he walked forward, he would be able to walk out, open the door, and then expose the betrayal of the queen... his most beloved person at the last moment of his life.

Li Zhi opened his mouth, but in the end, he turned around gently.

He knew that even if he could get out, he might not be able to speak.

Because the person closest to him was Empress Wu, she could stop all his moves.

Besides... the emperor couldn't help but smile bitterly. So what even if she was exposed?

The Crown Prince Li Xian is a useless child. Although Prince Peng is capable, unfortunately he is a vassal king.

As for Pei Yan, what will he choose?
This is what is most difficult for Li Zhi to grasp.

What he was really worried about was that once he opened the door, what would happen outside would not be a good thing that would please everyone, but might even be the bloodiest massacre.

Things like this have happened too many times in history.

So he chose something else.

……

The emperor moved stiffly step by step to the back of the east column. Under the curtains were tables and desks.

There are all the pens, ink, paper and inkstone.

Even the emperor's private seal is there.

You just need to stamp it with the seal, and then you can travel around the world immediately.

But, this is not what the emperor wants now.

He picked up the pen with difficulty, stood up, and wrote five big words on the paper with force.

He rebelled against Wu and replaced Tang, and was beheaded.

The large seal placed next to it was picked up with great effort, and then slammed heavily on the paper.

With a soft "bang" sound, the emperor subconsciously looked up outside the palace door.

There was no movement outside the hall and it was even quieter.

The emperor lowered his head, put the seal back in place expressionlessly, put down the pen and paper, picked up the paper, and then walked difficultly step by step behind the curtain.

Finally, the emperor fell heavily on the imperial couch, and his body suddenly became numb.

He turned sideways, looked towards the palace door, and whispered, "Mei Niang, Mei Niang, Mei Niang..."

The figure outside the hall was no longer moving.

As if waiting in silence.

The emperor finally gave up, turned around, and rolled slowly into the depths of the bed.
He pulled the secret grid open with his fingers, and finally pressed hard deep inside the grid. The next moment, a secret door opened underneath the grid.

Li Zhi did not move again, nor did he jump into the secret door.

He is the emperor, and he deserves a dignified death.

At this moment, a black figure suddenly jumped out from under the secret door, looked at the emperor in surprise, and then bowed silently.

The emperor did not look at him, but raised the paper in his hand and said lightly: "Send it to Puzhou."

The black figure took the paper with a bow, then jumped into the secret door without any hesitation, and the secret door closed immediately.

The emperor tried hard to close the secret door, but in the end, he was not able to close it perfectly.

Because at this moment, he no longer had any strength.

Lying sideways on the imperial couch, Li Zhi raised his head and looked at the darkness above him. A hint of sneer flashed in his numb eyes.

Puzhou, Puzhou is in the center of Chengdu and Chongqing.

The governor of Puzhou was none other than the former crown prince's secretary Huangfu Gongyi.

Puzhou is next to Bazhou, where Crown Prince Li Xian lives.

This thing is naturally not for Li Xian.

Huangfu Gongyi naturally understood this truth, and he knew even more clearly that Li Xian was by his side. If people knew that this thing fell into his hands, he would have no way out.

Even three clans were exterminated.

There is no way Huangfu Gongyi could make peace with Mei Niang.

They could only send this thing to Pengzhou in the end.

But this stuff doesn't really work.

What's more, if the world is prosperous and the government and the people are harmonious, then this thing will be of no use at all.

This thing can only play the greatest role when there is a major change in the government.

There are very few things in the world that can be called major changes in the government and the country.

The throne changed and the imperial power was fought over.

Wu family replaced Tang.

Li Zhi never thought that this prophecy might come true in him.

He had already seen his father standing in front of him, scolding him with dissatisfaction.

He couldn't help but turn his head and look behind him. Faintly, he seemed to see two figures chasing after him.

They were wearing the same bright yellow dragon robe and had twelve white jade tassels on their heads. Looking at their faces, they were clearly Li Xian and Li Dan.

Behind them, there was a figure dressed similarly, chasing closely.

But for some reason, Li Zhi couldn't see the figure clearly for a moment.

Who is it? Who is it?
With a slight flash of his eyes, everything in front of the emperor seemed to become bright.

The gentle breeze, the crisp sound of birds singing, and the comfortable temperature made him relax.

Penglai Palace, Penglai Palace, am I back to Penglai Palace?

Li Zhi's face was full of smiles, but his eyes slowly closed in intoxication.

Closed forever.

……

Ten feet outside the Zhenguan Hall, Li Xuan knelt heavily on the ground.

Li Xian was sobbing softly beside him, and on Li Xian's right was Pei Yan who was silent.

Just like Li Xuan.

Perhaps he was also thinking about what to do tomorrow after today's incident.

Li Xuan's forehead was pressed against the ground, but his heart was filled with emotion. Emperor Li Zhi, who had ruled the Tang Empire for more than 30 years, would finally pass away today.

History will open a new chapter tonight.

Will there be any surprises tonight?
will not.

Not to mention that the essence of the so-called Zhonglu Life-Prolonging Pill is itself a variant of the Five-Stones Powder. Even if it really has any life-prolonging effect, it is nothing more than injecting the life-prolonging power into the emperor's body so that it can be integrated into the emperor's own vitality.

But the emperor's own vitality has been completely exhausted today.

No, or to be more precise, it was the various events that had occurred over the past month that had exhausted the emperor's last bit of strength.

If the emperor starts staying indoors from the beginning of November, regardless of any storms in the outside world, and holds out until the end of the year when he is enthroned, then naturally everything will be safe.

Unfortunately, since the beginning of December, when the provincial governors from all over the country entered the capital, various accidents have occurred one after another.

First, there were all kinds of fights surrounding the Minister of Rites, then the Prince of Xiang suddenly intervened in the fight for the throne, and there were also unusual movements by the Zheng family of Xingyang and the Cui family of Boling, and even the Duke of Tongan, Zheng Xuanguo, died because of it. More turmoil has affected the aristocratic families throughout the world.

The emperor, who had been in seclusion, was forced to come out and deal with everything quickly and decisively.

The hope of extending his life for three years was completely shattered, but even so, the emperor still had a chance to survive for another six months.

But unfortunately, there was a court meeting, the prince's wedding, Princess Taiping's birth, and various disturbances on New Year's Eve. On top of that, there was a sudden heavy snowfall, and the emperor changed the reign title at Chengtian Gate...

Too many things consumed the emperor's already limited life force.

So tonight, even if there is a Nine-Transformation Golden Elixir, it can't save the emperor's life.

……

The cold stone bricks made Li Xuan more sober, and also made him think more clearly about everything he had done.

With his medical attainments, he knew that the emperor needed peace and quiet the most during this period, but there were too many things that he had caused himself.

He killed the emperor.

No, it was because there were too many people with ulterior motives who took action at the same time and killed the emperor at the same time.

Including the scary woman on the golden steps.

Suddenly, light footsteps came from the golden steps, and then, with a "creak", the door of Zhenguan Hall opened.

Li Xuan's heart seemed to be tightly grasped by an invisible fist.

For a moment, he felt a sense of oppression and couldn't breathe.

He was afraid, he was afraid that the person who should have died the most in the Zhenguan Hall would come back to life.

Li Xuan stayed firmly on the ground, not daring to raise his head even a bit.

What was surprising was that Pei Yan also kowtowed to the ground.

Only Li Xian raised his head at this moment and looked straight towards the Zhenguan Hall, his eyes full of anticipation.

At this moment, a miserable cry came from the Zhenguan Hall: "Your Majesty!"

Li Xuan immediately shuddered all over, then bowed his head heavily, endless sorrow surged in his heart, and he couldn't help but burst into tears: "Your Majesty!"

The emperor is dead.

(End of this chapter)