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

Chapter 1532: Considering the present and the future

The night is deep in Huiyou Palace.

Candles are brightly lit.

Empress Wu lowered her head and carefully read the memorial in her hand.

Shangguan Wan'er walked lightly to Empress Wu's side and whispered, "Empress, after His Majesty comforted Concubine Zheng, he went to the Queen's bedroom to rest."

Empress Wu put down the memorial, nodded slightly, and said thoughtfully: "It can be seen that Your Majesty still knows the importance of things."

"Yes, after all, the Queen is pregnant." Shangguan Wan'er smiled gently.

Empress Wu glanced sideways at Shangguan Wan'er. Shangguan Wan'er was wearing the same white linen mourning clothes as her, but except for the two of them, everyone else in the hall had changed into green clothes.

"You have suffered a lot." Empress Wu sighed softly.

Shangguan Wan'er smiled calmly and said, "Wan'er can serve the Queen Mother for the rest of her life. This is the greatest blessing in Wan'er's life."

Empress Wu nodded in satisfaction and said, "Don't worry, I won't treat you unfairly."

"Thank you, Queen." Shangguan Wan'er bowed slightly.

Empress Wu suddenly looked up behind Shangguan Wan'er and saw Qiu Huan standing silently at the door.

"What's wrong?" Empress Wu asked calmly.

"My Lord, something has happened."

Qiu Huan bowed his hands solemnly, and then said, "Since the beginning of the month, people in Tianshui's secret guards have been dying unexpectedly. Three days ago, the leader of Tianshui's secret guards was assassinated, and the entire Tianshui's secret guard system has been completely paralyzed."

Empress Wu couldn't help but sit up straight, looked at Qiu Huan and asked, "How many of Tianshui's secret guards are still alive now?"

"Thirteen people." Qiu Huan cupped his hands and said, "But these people are all low-ranking. Only one deputy commander happened to be out of the city on business, so he was lucky enough to escape."

"Send someone over right now, from Lanzhou... No, wait." Empress Wu looked at Qiu Huan and asked coldly, "Do you know who did it?"

Qiu Huan was silent for a while, and finally said: "Reporting to the Queen Mother, they are from the Demon Cult."

"The Demon Cult?" Empress Wu frowned and asked in confusion, "The Demon Cult hasn't shown up for a long time, right?"

"Yes!" Qiu Huan bowed, and then said: "There are three forces of the Demon Cult now. One of them appeared under the command of Khan Ashina Nishufu in the eastern grassland. Another one is hidden in the Dangxiang area between Songpan, Changzhou and Fanzhou. Another one is in the southeastern border area between Min, Jiangxi and Zhejiang."

Empress Wu tapped the table gently and said, "So, the ones who took action this time were the disciples of the Demon Sect in Songpan and Changzhou... Are they related to King Peng?"

"Probably not." Qiu Huan bowed and said, "There are always people monitoring King Peng. King Peng has no signs of contact with the Demon Cult. In addition, in the past few years, King Peng has been fighting on the front line and later invaded Tibet. He had no chance to come into contact with the Demon Cult at all."

"It's good that it's not him." Empress Wu breathed a sigh of relief, looked forward, and whispered, "It's already late January. In a dozen days, Prince Peng will set off to return to Fanzhou, and he will inevitably pass through Tianshui. If someone wants to take advantage of the opportunity to keep him, it will be troublesome."

Empress Wu was not worried that Li Xuan would be assassinated by the Demon Cult, but she was worried that Li Xuan would stay in Tianshui because of the Demon Cult.

If he doesn't leave Tianshui, he will be able to return to Chang'an in a blink of an eye, which will be very detrimental to Empress Wu's future plans.

"Dispatch personnel from Chang'an and Lanzhou to completely eliminate all the evil cultists in Tianshui within 15 days. Also, track down their clues and completely root them out."

"Yes!" Qiu Huan immediately bowed, then turned around and left quickly.

Empress Wu raised her head, looked at Shangguan Wan'er, and asked, "Wan'er, what do you think these people from the Demon Cult want to do?"

Shangguan Wan'er pondered for a moment, then said carefully: "With the death of the previous emperor, the central government's control over the local areas will inevitably weaken. Among them, the most dangerous thing happens to be the battle of Anxi Protectorate. If Anxi is defeated, there will be a big chaos in the court."

“That’s why the late emperor asked Prince Peng to return to Fanzhou as soon as possible to stabilize the hearts of the people in Anxi through Fanzhou.” Empress Wu sighed softly.

To be honest, Empress Wu did plan to keep Li Xuan forever, but Li Xuan was always cautious and had not allowed Empress Wu to catch any evidence against him in the past month.

As for the accusation of frame-up, Empress Wu couldn't help but shake her head.

If it was really a frame-up, it would not be difficult to find the flaws given the experience of people like King Peng and Liu Rengui.

In that case, if Prince Peng chose to stay and be watched from all sides, even Empress Wu would feel uneasy.

Li Xuan only asked one question about Wang Fulai's matter today, but he already realized something was wrong. If he really met Wang Fulai, it would be really troublesome.

"We must not allow chaos in the Western Regions, and we must not let King Peng stop. The farther he goes, the better." Empress Wu narrowed her eyes slightly. She was not too worried about the four towns of Anxi. She had many means to deal with King Peng.

But if Li Xuan could come back at any time, it would be very disadvantageous for Empress Wu.

"The Demonic Cult, these people, they haven't shown up for a long time." Empress Wu narrowed her eyes. There were few people in the entire Tang Dynasty who knew the details of the Demonic Cult better than Empress Wu. After all, her subordinates controlled a lot of the Demonic Cult's power.

It's a pity that because of Li Xian's incident, the relationship between Empress Wu and the Demon Cult was completely discovered by the Demon Sect, and finally the Demon Sect completely closed and cut off all ties with her.

Even many innocent people were completely abandoned.

"Their core strength is definitely not in the Dangxiang, not in the grassland, and not in the southeast. Wan'er, where do you think they will hide?" Empress Wu raised her head and looked at Shangguan Wan'er.

Shangguan Wan'er hesitated for a moment, then said carefully: "Queen, if I were to guess, I think these people are likely hiding in Chang'an. Chang'an is too big, with millions of people, so it's not difficult to hide some members of the Demon Sect."

Empress Wu nodded, then shook her head and said, "Although Chang'an is easy to hide in, it is also very dangerous, especially if they encounter a skilled fighter like King Peng, they will definitely be wiped out. Moreover, people like them are more concerned about their own interests. Since they are targeting Anxi, they will inevitably do something in Dunhuang."

Dunhuang is where Yumen Pass is located. As the saying goes, there are no old friends west of Yangguan Pass, so you can imagine how important Yumen Pass is.

"What the Queen means is that they are in cahoots with the sand bandits outside Yumen Pass?" Shangguan Wan'er looked at Empress Wu in surprise.

"The sand bandits outside Yumen Pass are actually connected with the Longyou noble families in Ganliang and Shasu areas. They have had unclear relations with the Demon Cult for many years, so it is normal for them to have some connection...but at most they are just in a relationship of mutual benefit." Empress Wu shook her head slightly.

Shangguan Wan'er raised her eyebrows slightly, as if she had thought of something, but in the end she closed her mouth tightly.

Empress Wu raised her head slightly and asked, "Wan'er, do you think we should tell His Majesty about this?"

The Secret Guards have always been controlled by Empress Wu and the late emperor. Now that the late emperor has passed away, although Li Jingjia, Li Zhaode and Su Liangsi are still there, more of the grassroots power has been controlled by Empress Wu.

She has been hiding in the harem for some time, doing these things.

Shangguan Wan'er bowed slightly, then said, "Empress, let's deal with this matter first. If the secret guards can't handle it, then tell His Majesty."

"Yes, that's how it should be." Empress Wu looked at Shangguan Wan'er with eyes full of admiration.

"By then, Your Majesty will also know how difficult it is to handle state affairs." Empress Wu lowered her head slightly, as if thinking about something.

Suddenly, Empress Wu raised her head, looked at Shangguan Wan'er, and said, "Wan'er, please go visit Concubine Zheng on my behalf. After all, she is the daughter of the Zheng family, so you should take care of her."

"Yes!"

……

The streets of Luoyang were bustling with noise. Li Xuan rode his horse calmly on the long street, with a team of guards leading the way in front of him.

Li Xuan had just returned from a reunion with Di Renjie, Yao Chong, Song Jing, Lai Sui, He Yiqiu and others.

Regarding the recent series of events, these people, even He Yiqiu, who is the director of the Capital Water Conservancy Bureau, felt that their position was too low, let alone others, and they could not intervene at all.

In February, Lai Sui and He Yiqiu would return to Chang'an, while Di Renjie, Yao Chong and Song Jing would remain in Luoyang.

It has always been the case that Di Renjie was favored by Empress Wu.

Moreover, he is a person who can stick to principles when he should, and is also flexible when he should be.

With him in Luoyang, Li Xuan doesn't need to worry about the safety of Yao Chong and Song Jing.

As for Ouyang Tong, Liu Rengui and Lu Yuanfang, Li Xuan doesn't need to worry about them.

These people have their own support behind them and are smart enough.

Even with the exception of Lu Yuanfang, who was considered half-Prince's teacher, the others had little relationship with Li Xian.

But even Lu Yuanfang had a distant relationship with Li Xian, so even if something unexpected happened, he would not be implicated.

As for Liu Rengui, he was an old fox among old foxes, and Empress Wu would never touch him.

In fact, the ones who are really in danger are Li Xuan’s colleagues in the East Palace. I’m afraid none of them will survive...

As soon as he turned into Sigongfang, Li Xuan saw a special symbol carved on the corner of the wall.

His eyes suddenly narrowed.

The Tianshui matter was settled.

Li Xuan breathed a long sigh of relief, and then felt completely relieved.

If there was any sign of unrest in Tianshui, Empress Wu would immediately shift her attention there. Under such circumstances, she would no longer do anything to Li Xuan.

Li Xuan completely relaxed.

What remains is that he will set off for Fanzhou this year and then go to the Western Regions to fight.

……

In the study, Liu Jinyu carefully put down the lotus seed soup and looked up at Li Xuan who was standing by the wall looking at the map on the wall.

The map on the wall shows the entire Tang Dynasty.

The entire Western Region has been densely painted, but at this moment Li Xuan's gaze has turned towards the direction of Hebei.

"What are you thinking about, my husband?" Liu Jinyu couldn't help but ask.

"It's about the cleanup of hidden fields in Hebei Province." Li Xuan's eyes were still on the map, and then he said softly, "The original person in charge of cleaning up hidden fields in Hebei Province was Fan Lubing, but he has been transferred back to the center, and things over there are bound to come to a halt, so I was thinking whether I should tell His Majesty and transfer someone over there."

"Who does my husband want to go over?" Liu Jinyu asked curiously.

Li Xuan smiled and said, "My lady, what do you think of the Duke of Dang? Let him be responsible for clearing the hidden fields in Hebei Province?"

Liu Jinyu looked at Li Xuan in disbelief: "What are you thinking, my husband? Hebei Province is a key location. If the wrong people are used, not only will Hebei Province be in turmoil, but even the Eastern Turks that have just settled down will be in chaos again."

"Haha, forget it. That's Your Majesty's business. Let's talk about it when you leave." Li Xuan smiled and shook his head, his eyes serious.

(End of this chapter)