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

Chapter 1622: Confirming Pei Yan's Rebellion and Revealing the Emperor's Will

Under the city of Chang'an, in the mourning shed.

Before anyone could react, Ma Sizong bumped into the corner of the table.

Blood immediately flowed all over the ground.

……

Li Xuan took a look and ignored it indifferently. He raised his head and his eyes fell on the city gate.

On top of the city gate, Xue Guwu, who was about to do something, suddenly stopped.

He looked at Ma Sizong lying in a pool of blood in disbelief.

Ma Sizong died just like that.

Ma Sizong died today, paying for his sins against Emperor Zhongzong, but what about him?

Will he be the same tomorrow?

Xue Guwu's fingers kept trembling, as if he was really frightened by the situation before him.

So much so that for a moment he ignored the countless uproars on and below the city walls.

The imperial guards, following the Empress's order, killed the emperor.

Ma Sizong used his own life to guarantee that everything he said was true.

On May 15th of the first year of Sisheng's reign, a palace coup occurred in the Qianyang Palace in Luoyang.

Smart people have already connected everything.

From the witchcraft of the Crown Prince's concubine in the beginning to the forced accusation of witchcraft and unfilial piety on Li Xian in the end, the purpose was to depose the emperor and seize power alone.

They had also heard the rumor circulating in Chang'an these days that "The Tang Dynasty lasted for three generations, and Wu replaced the Tang Dynasty."

At that time, some people had already said that the Empress had begun to take charge of government affairs since the Emperor suffered from rheumatism during the Xianqing period.

It has been more than 20 years. How could such a person be willing to give up power so easily?

Don't treat the sixteen guards of Chang'an as fools.

The Empress had only been back to Chang'an for two months since the death of Emperor Gaozong, the death of Emperor Zhongzong, and the ascension of Prince Xiang to the throne.

He returned in June last year, and returned to Luoyang in August last year under the pretext of Emperor Zhongzong's burial in Gongling.

It was originally agreed that the Prince of Xiang would hold a coronation ceremony at the beginning of the year, but there was no news at all until the end of the year.

Later, news came that Crown Prince Li Chongzhao ascended the throne in Yangzhou and that Prince Peng had raised an army, and this matter became even less likely.

In fact, for the Sixteen Guards of Chang'an, they didn't care too much about who would be the emperor, but they were very concerned about one thing.

That is the huge reward that the emperor will give out when he ascends the throne.

When the emperor ascended the throne, he would always give large sums of money as rewards to the soldiers in the army, especially the Sixteen Guards who protected Chang'an.

However, Li Dan’s enthronement hall was not built at all.

This makes people wonder whether Empress Wu had no intention of holding a coronation ceremony for Li Dan.

Were the things we said in Chang'an last June meant to deceive people from the beginning?
It is even possible that even the ascension of Prince Xiang to the throne was subject to many tricks.

There are many smart people among the Sixteen Guards.

Many of them even had various complicated relationships with high-ranking generals, noble families, and officials in Chang'an City.

They had heard all kinds of rumors.

Especially for the sixteen guards, they usually have little time for leisure and entertainment in the barracks.

So the rumors they occasionally heard during patrol encounters would spread among them for a while.

It’s just that few people care about what these low-level soldiers are thinking, so no one ever cares.

But now, when all the truth came out of Ma Sizong's mouth and was completely connected together, everyone chose to believe it.

And this is indeed true.

The swords and bows that they had been holding tightly were completely loosened at this moment.

……

Li Xuan took a quick glance, then looked at Yun Hongyin on the side and said, "He should have one last breath left. Use his blood to stamp the confession and completely nail this matter down."

"Yes!" Yun Hongyin immediately stood up, took the confession and walked quickly to Ma Sizong's body. He dipped his finger in the blood and pressed the fingerprint directly.

At this moment, everything Ma Sizong said became a final conclusion.

Li Xuan turned his horse around, holding the sandalwood box containing the late emperor's will in his hand, and walked step by step to the Jin Guang Gate.

It’s only thirty feet away from the city gate.

He was already completely within the range of all the crossbows on the city wall, especially the Fuyuan crossbow.

However, Xue Guwu on the city gate looked at Li Xuan with a complicated expression at this time.

At this moment, he seemed to have forgotten that as soon as he took action, he would immediately shoot Li Xuan to death with a crossbow arrow.

Li Xuan raised his head, holding the sandalwood box, and looked at Xue Guwu, and said calmly: "General Xue, you were also present on the day Emperor Zhongzong died. Tell me if what Ma Sizong said just now is true... You were also present on that day. Were you a member of the imperial guards who, following the order of the Empress, killed the emperor?"

The soldiers, who were originally somewhat distracted, looked up at Xue Guwu on the city gate at the same time.

That’s right, on May 15th of the first year of Sisheng, he, Xue Guwu, was also in the Qianyang Palace.

Xue Guwu suddenly woke up.

For a moment, he regretted it immensely. In that moment, it was as if something had completely shocked his mind, making him completely immersed in what happened that day.

Xue Guwu looked at Li Xuan with a trace of awe, and looked at Ma Sizong who was killed in the collision further away, but he couldn't help but feel extremely heavy in his heart. Because he knew that Ma Sizong had just said so much, but he hid the last and most fatal thing.

If those words were spoken, the whole world would be shaken.

Hearing Li Xuan's question, Xue Guwu suddenly woke up.

But his mind was in a state of confusion, and he didn't know what to say for a moment.

Li Xuan frowned, then calmed down and nodded, "It can be seen that General Xue does have something to hide."

In a word, many soldiers under the city looked at Xue Guwu with a hint of disgust in their eyes.

No one is stupid.

On May 15th of the first year of Sisheng, Ma Sizong was promoted from General of the Right Guard to General of the Left Thousand Oxen Guard.

On the same day, Xue Guwu was promoted from General of the Right Jinwu Guard to General of the Left Qianniu Guard; Wang Xiaojie was promoted from General of the Left Guard to General of the Left Guard.

Now, Wang Xiaojie died in battle in the Western Regions, Ma Sizong was captured by Li Xuan, and committed suicide in front of the portrait of the late emperor.

There was also Zhang Qianxu, who had been promoted from General of the Imperial Guard to Grand General of the Imperial Guard earlier. However, that guy had already been labeled a traitor and his three clans had been exterminated.

Looking back now, Zhang Qianxu was, after all, stained with the blood of Emperor Zhongzong, so perhaps the Empress Dowager was a little afraid of him.

Now, Wang Xiaojie, Ma Sizong, Zhang Qianxu and others all met with a bad ending, so what about General Xue?

At this moment, people's hearts completely turned upside down.

……

Xue Guwu did not notice the change in people's hearts. He stared straight at Li Xuan and finally said, "Everything Ma Sizong said was his personal opinion. Although it is somewhat true, it is quite biased. Emperor Zhongzong was only bewitched by someone and became demented. In the end, he committed suicide. The Queen has already been chosen. It has nothing to do with others..."

"The Queen's affairs have nothing to do with me." Li Xuan seized the opportunity and interrupted Xue Guwu directly.

If he were allowed to continue talking, he would probably use all the tricks he had used to fool people before.

Li Xuan raised his head, looked at Xue Guwu, and said seriously: "The matter of the Queen Mother will be dealt with after the Emperor returns from Yangzhou, and it is not the Prince's business to deal with.

That is a royal family affair, and only the emperor can handle it, but I would like to inquire about the affairs of the ministers, generals, and ministers in the court."

"What does King Peng want to ask?" Xue Guwu narrowed his eyes and looked at Li Xuan.

Li Xuan's words and deeds seemed to indicate that he wanted to question everyone in a superior manner, but he happened to have the late emperor's will in his hand.

Clearly, he had fought his way to Chang'an from Changzhou, via Lanzhou, and Tianshui, but after several manipulations, the sixteen guards under the city no longer had any hostility towards him.

Looking at the sandalwood box in Li Xuan's hand, Xue Guwu knew in his heart that this was the power of righteousness.

"During the incident that day, the generals were only confused by the orders from the emperor and made a big mistake. Then what about afterwards? What did Pei Yan, the Minister of the Central Secretariat who followed the late emperor's will, assisted in the administration of the country and was in charge of the government affairs hall, do?" Li Xuan changed the subject and pinned all his goals on Pei Yan.

Xue Guwu couldn't help but frown. He didn't understand why Li Xuan asked Pei Yan.

At that time, Emperor Zhongzong had already died and was about to be executed. Even if Pei Yan was the regent, he had no other choice.

Not to mention that Prince Xiang is also the son of the late emperor, so there is nothing wrong with him inheriting the throne.

Especially so, Pei Yan has been under house arrest by the Empress Dowager. In essence, since the Empress Dowager came to power, Pei Yan has no real power in his hands.

He is not even as good as the Imperial Censor Su Liangsi.

But no matter what, Pei Yan was ultimately the chief minister of the world. He was the first to submit to the Queen Mother, and all the courtiers in the palace also submitted, so his responsibility could be less.

Looking up at Li Xuan, Xue Guwu said with a wry smile, "After that day, Prime Minister Pei was the first to kneel down and kowtow to the new emperor. Without a backbone, the other ministers could only kowtow one by one."

“I heard that Zhang Qianxu, the General of the Imperial Guard, was recommended by Prime Minister Pei and became a General of the Imperial Guard, guarding the Xuanwu Gate?” Li Xuan’s expression became more and more indifferent.

"Yes!" Xue Guwu already understood what Li Xuan meant and nodded without hesitation.

Li Xuan continued, "It is said that since Zhang Qianxu's rebellion last year, Pei Yan has been placed under house arrest."

Xue Guwu nodded directly: "Yes!"

"That is to say, Pei Yan was also involved in the death of Emperor Zhongzong." Li Xuan looked up calmly.

Xue Guwu suddenly began to wonder whether Pei Yan had anything to do with what happened last year.

It seems unrelated.

However, in reality, after the Queen Mother came to power, Pei Yan cooperated extremely well, which allowed the Queen Mother to smoothly take control of the government. Pei Yan was imprisoned last winter.

"Yes!" Xue Guwu nodded again.

Before they knew it, the attention of everyone in the city was drawn to the conversation between Li Xuan and Xue Guwu.

……

Li Xuan stopped his horse thirty feet away from the city gate, raised the sandalwood box in his hand high, looked at Xue Guwu and said, "In the second year of Yonglong, I received the will of the late emperor. This matter is known to everyone in the court, and General Xue should also know about it."

Xue Guwu narrowed his eyes slightly. He wanted to deny it, but he couldn't open his mouth.

Because many people knew that Li Xuan had the will, not to mention the officials in the court, half of the 300 provincial governors in the world knew that Li Xuan had the late emperor's will.

Xue Guwu nodded slightly.

Li Xuan looked to the side and said, "Governor Yun."

"I'm here!" Yun Hongyin strode forward, not afraid of the crossbows on the city wall, and bowed directly to Li Xuan's side.

"General Xue!" Li Xuan looked up at Xue Guwu and said, "This is Yun Hongyin, the governor of Qizhou. When the late emperor was enthroned at Mount Tai, Governor Yun was also in Luoyang. Later, when the late emperor passed away, he was also the one who saw him off. Today, I will talk about this will."

Li Xuan looked at the sandalwood box in his hand and said softly, "Before the late emperor died, he summoned me, Prime Minister Pei, the Imperial Censor, and Duke Jiang to give instructions to each of them. As for me, the late emperor told me that if Pei Yan colluded with others to disrupt the government, the government would collapse and the whole country would be in danger, then he would order me to lead the troops back to the capital to investigate the chaos."

Li Xuan raised his head and looked at the 100,000 soldiers around him, and said loudly: "This matter was witnessed by the Secretary of the Central Secretariat, the Secretary of State, and the Left and Right Historians, and recorded in the national history. Today, Emperor Zhongzong has passed away, Pei Yan is suspected of treason, and the world is in the midst of war. Today, I am going to open the last will of the late emperor, and who will disobey me!"

(End of this chapter)