Early Tang Dynasty: forge ahead

Chapter 567: Notorious Evil Deeds
Chang'an, wine shop.

"Did you hear that?"

"The late emperor was angered to death by Empress Wu."

"I've heard that there's more to it than that. Empress Wu, the evil queen, has colluded with Li Yifu to murder the current emperor?"

"That thief Li Yifu was really bold. When he caused the cholera in Chang'an, he was banished to Nanzhong. But he secretly came back and lived in Yongpingfang under a different name."

"Your Majesty is Empress Wu's eldest son. How could the Empress do that?"

"You don't know that, do you?"

"The previous emperor was weak and had little energy, so the evil queen took the opportunity to seize power. There is a saying that goes, 'A hen crows at dawn'... The evil queen wanted to seize power, but the current emperor was guided by wise ministers and was not close to the evil queen. That's why the evil queen took action against the current emperor, wanting to support an obedient prince and do the things that Empress Lü and Empress Dou did."

"Even a tiger won't eat its own cubs, but the poison of the demon queen is unprecedented in a thousand years."

In the streets and alleys, in taverns and teahouses, when the Tang Dynasty gained unprecedented martial arts, the secrets surrounding the late Empress Wu began to spread from Chang'an to all directions.

From gatherings of scholars to meetings of hawkers, the topic of conversation was all about the evil deeds of the "evil queen", and the rumor spread widely.

Chen family reception room.

Lanzhou Sima Xiao Guan looked at the grand hall around him and sighed secretly. He knew that he would probably return empty-handed today.

Given Chen Qingsi's current status, it is a great honor to be able to walk into his reception room.

But Xiao Guan's identity is different. As Xiao Miaochen's cousin, it is reasonable for him to enter the East Courtyard of the Inner Hall since they are from the same family.

But now he has been arranged to stay in the reception room, and the awkwardness between them is already clear on the table.

Xiao Guan sighed helplessly. This was all their own fault.

"Brother!"

Xiao Miaochen is now the princess of a first-rank county prince. She is dressed in formal attire and looks very noble. Qian Yan, who is following behind her, bows slightly to Xiao Guan.

"Meet the princess!"

Xiao Guan bowed politely.

Xiao Miaochen didn't say anything polite, just nodded and asked Xiao Guan to take a seat.

Xiao Guan looked at his cousin whom he had grown up with, and thought about her situation back then. He couldn't help but sigh, as he thought about how he had even had to flatter his best friend to ask her to marry him.

Xiao Miaochen asked, "Shouldn't my brother be serving as a Sima in Lanzhou? Why did you come to the capital?"

Xiao Guan said: "After checking by the Ministry of Personnel, my brother has been transferred to the post of Governor of Yuzhou."

Xiao Miaochen said: "Congratulations, brother. I have heard from my husband about you a long time ago. He praised your character and talent as the best among the nobles of the time, and said that you will become a great man. You have been promoted to the head of the prefecture today, which is well deserved."

What Xiao Miaochen said was not an exaggeration. Xiao Guan was the leader of the Lanling Xiao family and was known as a gentleman of the four virtues: benevolence to measure one's heart and give things, righteousness to follow the right path and benefit the faithful, filial piety to nourish one's will and comfort one's parents, and kindness to teach loyalty and cultivate virtue. In terms of moral conduct, he was the leader of the time.

The two chatted casually about family matters.

Xiao Guan suddenly said, "On my way to take up this post, I passed through the territory of Prince Yong. Prince Yong missed the princess very much, so he asked me to bring some local specialties for his aunt to taste."

Prince Yong was naturally Li Sujie, the son of Xiao Miaochen's sister, Concubine Xiao Shufei. From Li Sujie's title, we can see that Li Zhi valued his son. However, Concubine Xiao Shufei was too stupid, Empress Wu rose to power, and Li Hong won the position of crown prince by virtue of his advantage as the eldest son. Li Sujie was also excluded and went to the territory. But because of his uncle Chen Qingsi, Li Sujie was treated much better than in history.

In history, Li Sujie was directly deprived of his prince title of King Yong and demoted to King of Poyang, from a prince to a prince of a county. He was imprisoned for life and was finally strangled to death by Wu Zetian after she ascended the throne.

Now, because of Chen Qingsi's face, Li Sujie's title of King Yong was not deprived. He was just sent to Xiangzhou to serve as the governor and transferred away from Chang'an.

Xiao Miaochen did not respond, but just said: "Prince Yong is indeed a miserable child. The palace was in turmoil back then. My parents were implicated. If it weren't for you, I'm afraid I would have been exiled to Lingnan as well. You even caused your husband to be assassinated and almost died..." There was a trace of sadness in her eyes, but she smiled and said: "It's been so long, and the clan hasn't found the person behind it yet?"

Xiao Guan laughed awkwardly and said, "I have not been in the clan for these years, so I don't know much about the clan's affairs."

The two of them were tactful enough not to mention the matter until Xiao Guan said goodbye and left.

Xiao Miaochen sent his cousin to the door.

Xiao Guan wanted to say something but stopped himself. Finally, he sighed, bowed and left.

Xiao Miaochen turned and walked towards the inner house.

Qian Yan hadn't noticed anything unusual yet, so she asked, "It seems like Mr. Dalang has something else to say."

Xiao Miaochen smiled bitterly and said, "If he could ask, he wouldn't be my brother anymore."

Qianyan then realized that there were tears in the corners of his woman's eyes, and he was frightened for a moment.

Xiao Guan walked to the street with a worried look on his face. A man came quickly from the corner and asked hurriedly, "Brother Xiao, is this possible?"

The man who came was a middle-aged scholar named Jiang Tianji, who was a military officer in the warehouse department of Prince Yong's palace. At this moment, he was looking at Xiao Guan with expectation, hoping to hear the news he wanted to hear from him.

What Empress Wu had done was dug up by people. There was no doubt that as a witch, a vicious woman who angered the previous emperor to death, what right did her son have to inherit the throne?
How could the Tang Dynasty be handed over to the descendants of this vicious woman?
Li Zhi had few descendants. Apart from the son of the evil queen, the only ones still alive are Prince Ze Li Shangjin and Prince Yong Li Sujie.

Li Shangjin's mother was Yang, a palace maid with no background. But Li Sujie was different. His mother was the daughter of Lanling Xiao, and he had an uncle named Chen Qingsi.

In the current Tang Dynasty, as long as Chen Qingsi nods, relying on the evil Queen's deeds, Li Sujie will become the future emperor of the Tang Dynasty. Isn't that just a matter of a word?
There was a gleam in Jiang Tianji's eyes. If Li Sujie ascended the throne, then wouldn't he and the generals surrounding the Cangcao be close ministers in the palace?

Xiao Guan shook his head and said, "I am too embarrassed to speak up. I have done my best in this matter and will not interfere any more."

As he spoke, he ignored the shouts of surprise from the people behind him and walked away quickly.

The assassination of Chen Qingsi has always been an unsolved case in the Xiao family.

Xiao Guan always thought that it was not their family who did it, but as Chen Qingsi's status rose, the Lanling Xiao family remained indifferent, and Xiao Guan gradually came to his senses. If it was really done by the emperor's uncle's family, hand over the person behind the scenes and give Chen Qingsi an explanation, and their Xiao family can also benefit greatly from Chen Qingsi's influence.

But Xiao never mentioned the person behind the scenes.

Xiao Guan couldn't help but think too much. If sacrificing one person could obviously gain the upper hand, why wouldn't the Xiao family do it?
Unless you can't.

The person behind the scenes is his own uncle, Xiao Miaochen's biological father.

Both myself and my cousin were kept in the dark. From the beginning, my uncle had never looked down on Chen Qingsi's background and just wanted to protect his daughter in this way. What was the death of a commoner?
Who could have imagined that a commoner, a commoner who had been farming and joining the army for a living, could rise to this point?
What will happen if I hand him over?
The Xiao family didn't get any benefits, but was instead in a difficult situation both inside and outside, so they had to grit their teeth and swallow their anger.

If I can think of it, how can my smart cousin not think of it?
She brought up this matter deliberately, clearly standing on her husband's side.

(End of this chapter)