Guiyi Fei Tang

Chapter 274 People’s hearts are unpredictable
"Aye, you're back?"

That night, Wang Maoxuan, who was given the title of Tang Zhi Zhou Bo by the emperor, returned to his mansion.

Eunuchs basically have no descendants, and most of them adopt sons as their successor.

Therefore, among the eunuchs in the Tang Dynasty, there were also many hereditary families, such as the Wang family, the Yang family, the Ximen family and so on.

Wang Yanzhen is Wang Maoxuan's adopted son from within the clan. He is about thirty years old and can be said to have been raised by Wang Maoxuan alone.

Because of this, even after Wang Yanzhen got married, he still lived with Wang Maoxuan.

The father and son walked into the central hall of the mansion. After Wang Maoxuan sat down, Wang Yanzhen came forward and made him a pot of tea, smiling and saying:

"This is the best tea from Longyou before the rain. Please try it..."

"Who sent it?"

Ever since Wang Maoxuan tried the fried tea from Longyou, he no longer drinks matcha.

After all, at his age, those various tea ceremonies are not suitable for him. Instead, tea frying with fewer rules is more suitable for him.

He was not the only one who thought so. Therefore, the high-quality roasted tea from Longyou was very precious in Chang'an. It was said that one ounce of tea was worth one ounce of gold.

Of course, this is just an exaggeration, but the preciousness of Longyou roasted tea can also be reflected from this.

Just the cup of tea next to Wang Maoxuan is worth at least a hundred coins.

Wang Maoxuan drinks at least a dozen cups of this kind of tea every day.

Giving gifts requires giving what the recipient likes, so when faced with this gift from someone unknown, Wang Maoxuan already had an idea before meeting the person.

"It's Qi Yuanshi, the deputy commander of the Left Army."

Wang Yanzhen spoke in a low voice, and Wang Maoxuan frowned: "Didn't I tell you to stay away from them?"

"I wanted to do so, but Qi Yuanshi said he had something important to tell you. He is still waiting in the East Flower Hall."

Wang Yanzhen's words made Wang Maoxuan ponder for a moment, and then he asked: "Has anyone seen him?"

"No, he came under the pseudonym Liu Jiao." Wang Yanzhen explained.

Hearing this, Wang Maoxuan nodded and said, "Call him over."

"Yes!" Wang Yanzhen nodded quickly, and then sent someone to invite Qi Yuanshi.

Not long after, Qi Yuanshi appeared in the central hall, and Wang Yanzhen also dispersed the guards near the central hall and watched from outside in person.

"I have seen the prince..."

Qi Yuanshi bowed solemnly to Wang Maoxuan, who said calmly:

"I wonder why Deputy Envoy Qi is here?"

"I am here to help you, Lord Wang!" Qi Yuanshi's words were shocking, which made Wang Maoxuan couldn't help but laugh:
"Could it be that Deputy Envoy Qi is here to joke with me?"

"Does this situation still require me and Deputy Envoy Qi to explain?"

Wang Maoxuan originally thought that Qi Yuanshi had come to rely on him so that he could preserve his wealth and status.

As a result, Qi Yuanshi actually said this, as if he had lost his mind.

Wang Maoxuan shook his head, stood up and prepared to leave.

In response to this, Qi Yuanshi said calmly:

"As one of the Four Nobles, even if you support King Kui to ascend the throne, you can only stop there."

"Besides, compared to you, King Kui seems to trust Ma Gongru, Wang Guichang, and Wang Jufang more."

"Prince Yun has been neglected by His Majesty for many years, and has no ministers to rely on for help."

"Your support for Prince Kui is just icing on the cake, but if you support Prince Yun, it will be like a timely help, and Prince Yun will surely be grateful."

“Although Ma Gongru and others control the Privy Council, they only have military power to decide who will take the throne!”

"My lieutenant said that if you are willing to work with my lieutenant, when the time comes to divide the credit, you only need to split it equally."

"On the other hand, if you promote King Kui, not to mention that he is the legitimate ruler who ascended the throne according to the will, even when the credit is distributed, you will have to share it with the people in the inner and outer courts. It is unknown how much porridge will be left when it comes to you."

"Besides, from the perspective of risk, even if His Majesty supports you, if you want to take down my lieutenant, the left and right Shen Ce armies will inevitably fight. Even if you agree, it will only be a miserable victory."

"By then, the Shen Ce Army will have suffered heavy casualties. Do you think that with the behavior of King Kui and the Southern Court, they will still allow you to recruit soldiers to restore the Shen Ce Army?"

Qi Yuanshi finished speaking, and Wang Maoxuan's expression was no longer calm.

He had to admit that what Qi Yuanshi said made sense.

The left and right Shen Ce armies were equally strong, with a fifty-fifty chance of winning or losing.

If Wang Zongshi was desperate and really decided to launch a mutiny and was already prepared, the internal strife within the Shence Army would inevitably damage its strength.

Even if he won, he would probably be deserted by Nan Ya, Ma Gongru and others.

Even if they don't deal with me, I'm only one of the four nobles and still have to be suppressed by Ma Gongru and others.

In comparison, if he chose to cooperate with Wang Zongshi, with the military power in their hands, no matter how the emperor arranged it, he would not be able to stop them.

It is better to share the credit equally with Wang Zongshi than to be suppressed by Ma Gongru and others.

Therefore, whether from the perspective of benefits or risks, Wang Maoxuan finally made a decision.

He raised his head slowly, then bowed to Qi Yuanshi and said:
"Your Majesty will use a knife to remove the carbuncle on your back tomorrow night, but Li Yuanbo and other alchemists are not sure."

"That is why His Majesty summoned the officials from the Northern and Southern Offices who support King Kui to the Purple Palace tonight and told them about the will."

"If nothing unexpected happens, there will be an imperial decree tomorrow to depose you as lieutenant and send you to Huainan as a military supervisor."

Seeing Wang Maoxuan’s attitude, Qi Yuanshi had no time to be happy before he heard such bad news.

But before he could ask for help, Wang Maoxuan said:

"I will send people to take over Xuanhua Gate and Yinguang Gate, and Ma Gongru and others will also observe in secret."

"If your lieutenant does not accept the imperial edict, he will be executed by the Zuo Shen Ce Army."

"If you accept the imperial edict, you will be required to go to Huainan immediately."

"But in my opinion, Lieutenant Wang only needs to receive the order and leave the city, and then lie in wait outside the city."

"At that time, you will lead your men to replace the right army's armor and station them at the left Yintai Gate of Daming Palace."

"As for the rest, I don't think I need to say more..."

Wang Maoxuan picked up the teacup and took a sip. Qi Yuanshi did not hesitate, but knelt down and kowtowed:
"If this matter can be successful, my left army will treat you like a lieutenant. If you break this oath, I, Qi Yuanshi, will be punished by heaven and earth and die a miserable death!"

Qi Yuanshi swore a poisonous oath, and then, under Wang Maoxuan's arrangement, he left his house through the back door.

Li Chen, who thought he was infallible, probably never imagined that among the ministers he personally arranged to take care of his son, there was actually a traitor, and the most important one.

The other side rebelled before he died.

A carefully planned behind-the-scenes situation thus became confusing.

That night, Qi Yuanshi disguised himself and went to Wang Zongshi's house, while Wang Zongshi, Wang Zonghui, Qi Yuanjian and others had been looking forward to it.

As Qi Yuanshi arrived, Wang Zonghui was the first to lose his temper and stepped forward to ask, "How is it?"

Qi Yuanshi nodded in response, then looked at Wang Zongshi: "Lieutenant, I have fulfilled my mission!"

Without waiting for Wang Zongshi and the other two to be happy, Qi Yuanshi told them what he had talked about with Wang Maoxuan.

When everyone learned that Ma Gongru and others actually wanted to get rid of Wang Zongshi with the help of the imperial edict, everyone's face changed.

Fortunately, Wang Maoxuan's tip-off gave them the opportunity to prepare, and if Qi Yuanshi could control the Zuo Yintai Gate, it would give Wang Zongshi the opportunity to lead his troops into the palace.

"Is this a fraud?"

Wang Zonghui was a little timid, but Qi Yuanjian shook his head and said:

"If you stick your head out, you'll get a knife. If you hide your head, you'll get a knife too. Anyway, the situation is like this. How bad can it get?"

"As long as the lieutenant can leave Chang'an safely at noon tomorrow, and the Left Yintai Gate is indeed occupied by Deputy Envoy Qi, then even if Your Majesty is fine, we can still force Your Majesty to abdicate and establish Prince Yun!"

"That's right." Wang Zongshi agreed.
"But before that, we still need to guard against Ma Gongru and others who might become desperate."

"Prince Yun's safety is extremely important, so the soldiers in the Sixteen Princes' Residences must be replaced with people we trust!"

"This is not an easy task. The guards of the Sixteenth Prince's Residence are basically soldiers from the Southern Court."

"And if we choose those who are afraid of fighting, we will inevitably lose Prince Yun."

As Wang Zongshi was talking, he suddenly looked at Wang Zonghui:
"Among all the Southern Court officials, only the Right Divine Martial Army led by Zhang Yichao is worthy of my respect."

"However, Zhang Yichao is unyielding and never expresses his views, so if we want to gain the support of the Right Divine Army, we have to start with his descendants."

Wang Zonghui understood immediately and asked, "Are you talking about Zhang Huaiquan's brothers?"

"What do you think?" Wang Zongshi asked Wang Zonghui, and he also pondered:

"If we want to persuade Zhang Huaiquan, it may not be easy."

"However, the soldiers in the Right Shenwu Army are divided into three groups. In addition to Zhang Yichao and Zhang Huaiquan, there are also 500 soldiers under the command of Zhang Huaiding."

"Zhang Huaiding is obsessed with profit. If we can win him over, the five hundred elite soldiers in his hands will be enough to defend Prince Yun's Palace!"

"Don't worry, bro. Leave this matter to me!"

"Okay!" Seeing that Wang Zonghui agreed, Wang Zongshi nodded and looked at Qi Yuanshi and Qi Yuanjian.

"Tomorrow, Deputy Envoy Qi will lead his army to take over the Zuoyintai Gate. Courtier Qi will ask you to pretend to surrender to them in order to confuse them."

"After you convince Zhang Huaiding, Liu Lang, wait for news from the palace and support Prince Yun in time."

"As for me, after leaving Chang'an, I will gather the nearest troops and enter the palace through the Left Yintai Gate."

"If Your Majesty is still alive, I would ask Your Majesty to abdicate the throne to Prince Yun!"

"If His Majesty has passed away, you can spread the news that Ma Gongru is plotting to murder His Majesty and pass the throne to King Kui through a false edict, so as to muddy the waters of Chang'an and make Linghu Tao and others dare not act rashly!"

After Wang Zongshi had arranged everything, he immediately ordered everyone to go. The night was long, but the day finally dawned.

On the seventh day of the eighth month in the thirteenth year of Dazhong, the imperial edict was passed out of the palace.

An extremely strange atmosphere permeated the entire court.

"My disciples..."

Outside Xuanhua Gate, Wang Zongshi, who was urgently summoned to the Daming Palace, knelt in front of the city gate, holding the emperor's edict to depose and exile him, his face pale.

Ma Gongru, Wang Maoxuan and others gathered around Xuanhua Gate, all spying in the dark.

At this moment, Ma Gongru and others very much hoped that Wang Zongshi would disobey the order, and then ordered the Right Shence Army to execute him.

However, the reality disappointed them, because under their gaze, Wang Zongshi accepted the imperial edict and kowtowed, then staggered to his feet and reluctantly walked out of the Daming Palace, the center of power.

"Humph, I thought he would fight to the bitter end, but I didn't expect him to be so weak."

Ma Gongru sneered and left.

Wang Guichang and Wang Jufang had the same attitude and turned around and left.

Two hours later, the eunuch who was monitoring Wang Zongshi returned to the Daming Palace and reported to Li Zi and others that Wang Zongshi had led his family away from Chang'an.

"This way, there will be no obstacles to your highness ascending the throne!"

Ma Gongru congratulated Li Zi, while Li Zi in front of the Purple Palace looked inside the palace and said, "For this matter, we still have to look at Father Ye."

Hearing this, Ma Gongru and others looked towards the side hall. At this moment, Li Chen was suffering from several back abscesses. He was pale and weak and had fallen into a coma.

At the same time, Wang Zonghui, who was stationed at the Youshenwu Army’s headquarters, specially sent someone to invite Zhang Huaiding when Zhang Yichao and Zhang Huaiquan were leading their troops on patrol.

"Greetings to the military supervisor Wang. I wonder why the military supervisor asked me to come here."

When the two met, Zhang Huaiding spoke in a bad tone.

Wang Zonghui was also well aware of this.

Without their support, Suo Xun would not have been able to take control of Liangzhou, and Zhang Huaiding and others would not have had to go to Beijing.

Although Chang'an, the capital city, was rich and prosperous, Zhang Huaiding was just a minor official here.

But if he was in Hexi, Zhang Huaiding was only second to Zhang Yichao, Zhang Huaishen and Zhang Huaiquan, and was truly the "Little Zhang Hexi".

With such a huge gap, it would be difficult to expect Zhang Huaiding to have no complaints.

"Haha, please take a seat, Zhang Yaya."

Wang Zonghui stood up with a smile and personally motioned Zhang Huaiding to sit down.

Zhang Huaiding was also very wary of Wang Zonghui's show of goodwill and did not sit down.

"If General Wang has nothing else to do, I will take my leave first!"

He pretended to leave, but Wang Zonghui was helpless and anxious to be scolded, so he continued:

"I don't think I need to explain the recent situation in Gyeonggi."

"Now there is a merit in following the dragon in front of Zhang Yaya. I wonder if Zhang Yaya wants to seize this opportunity to soar to the sky!"

Wang Zonghui's words stopped Zhang Huaiding from leaving and he said mockingly:
"Not only do I know, I also know that Lieutenant Wang has been deposed and exiled!"

Zhang Huaiding showed a mocking expression, but Wang Zonghui smiled and said:
"If that's your vision, I'm afraid you'll miss this opportunity."

"Huh?" Zhang Huaiding frowned. He couldn't understand why Wang Zonghui dared to be so domineering.

His biggest backer, Wang Zongshi, has fallen, and next they will be liquidated by Ma Gongru and others.

In such a situation, Wang Zonghui remained calm and was not affected at all, which he could not understand.

In response, Wang Zonghui chuckled and said, "Tonight, the Right Divine Martial Army will patrol the Sixteen Kings' residences."

"If you can take this job, the great credit will go to you."

"If you have any worries, just wait and see. It won't implicate you, but you won't get any credit."

Faced with Wang Zonghui's full confidence, Zhang Huaiding became less confident.

He wanted to walk away, but he couldn't let go of the opportunity to soar to the sky.

"What if I go?"

Zhang Huaiding slowly sat down and spoke. Wang Zonghui knew that the matter was almost settled when he saw this.

"If you go, you will be promoted by at least two ranks afterwards."

"If you go there and take action, you will be on equal footing with your father if you stay in Beijing, and you will be in charge of observing and managing Lingnan, Fujian, and other places if you are sent abroad."

Wang Zonghui's words instantly whetted Zhang Huaiding's appetite.

It’s not that no one has looked for him these days, but they all want to lobby his father, Zhang Yichao, through him.

Wang Zonghui is the first person who looks for him and takes him as his priority.

Because of this, Zhang Huaiding was moved.

He did it for no other reason than to let his father see that he, who he said was incompetent, could also accomplish something great!
To do this, he can collaborate with his enemies.

"I will go to the Sixteenth Prince's residence tonight. I hope that Supervisor Wang will keep his word."

Zhang Huaiding stood up and walked out of the tent, and Wang Zonghui smiled and took a sip of his glass when he saw him.

Although he looked calm, his trembling hands holding the cup betrayed him.

At the same time, Qi Yuanjian, the envoy of the Northern Court of Xuanhui, also hurried to Ma Gongru's mansion with a group of Northern Court officials and gifts after learning the news of Wang Zongshi's exile.

As today's matter was of great importance, Ma Gongru and others had been waiting in the palace for the news that the emperor's back carbuncle had been removed. Therefore, they only learned about Qi Yuanjian's matter when people were sent from outside the palace.

"Humph, he has been following Wang Zongshi to deal with us for the past few years. Now that Wang Zongshi has fallen, he wants to join us?"

"late……"

Upon learning that Qi Yuanjian, the second-in-command of Wang Zongshi's faction, had defected to him, Ma Gongru mocked him without hesitation.

Wang Guichang also smiled and said, "It's enough to deal with the lost dog after Your Highness ascends the throne."

"But before that, Lieutenant Wang needs to take over the command of the left army."

He looked at Wang Maoxuan, who nodded and said:
"Qi Yuanshi came to see me last night and has already become my disciple."

"You don't need to worry about the military power of the left army."

"Very good, very good!" Upon hearing that the left army had also been captured, Ma Gongru, Wang Guichang and Wang Jufang were immediately happy.

Now that the military power is in their hands, even if Wang Zongshi wants to turn the tables, it will be impossible.

It was a foregone conclusion that King Kui would inherit the throne.

Thinking of this, everyone's faces lit up with joy and they relaxed their guard.

After Li Chen in the palace learned the news, he did not wait until midnight, but summoned imperial doctors Li Yuanbo, Yu Zizhi, Wang Le and others at 15 p.m.

The three imperial doctors stood nervously on one side, while Li Zi and others stood on the other side.

"Shiro..."

Perhaps it was because of too much pressure, or perhaps it was because of the carbuncle on his back, Li Chen motioned Li Zi to come forward.

Upon seeing this, Ma Gongru immediately signaled the attendant to record the situation.

The attendant took up his pen to take notes, and Li Chen also held Li Zi's hand.

"I have been on the throne for thirteen years, and have tried my best to recover Helong. However, I am still unwilling to give up."

"First, the rebellion in eastern Zhejiang has not been quelled."

"Secondly, Liangzhou was lost, and the imperial court failed to take advantage of the situation to bring Hexi under its control."

"Third, Liu Jilong has hundreds of thousands of soldiers, entrenched in Longyou, threatening Guanzhong at all times, and I have not been able to eliminate him."

"If you ascend the throne in the future, you must work hard to eliminate these three evils, so that we can protect our Li family's kingdom..."

"Aye..." Li Zi nodded repeatedly with red and swollen eyes.

"Remember?"

"I'll remember this, Aye, you'll be fine."

Li Chen asked and Li Zi responded.

After the father and son talked, Li Chen sighed and said, "Everyone, leave..."

"My son, please retire..."

"I'll take my leave..."

All the ministers withdrew, and only three imperial doctors, Li Yuanbo, Yu Zizhi and Wang Le, remained.

"let's start."

After everyone left, Li Chen's voice was heard faintly. Li Yuanbo and the other two looked at each other. Finally, Li Yuanbo gritted his teeth, stepped forward and lifted the silk.

What appeared before the three people was a carbuncle on Li Chen's back as big as a baby's fist.

The carbuncle on the back is red and swollen, and most of the top is festering. It will fester and ooze out if it is slightly touched.

"Your Majesty, please use the Ma Fei Tang..."

Li Yuanbo brought the medicine, and Li Chen took it with great effort and drank it all in one gulp.

In less than a quarter of an hour, Li Chen became drowsy and gradually began to snore.

Even so, Li Yuanbo and the other two did not dare to use surgery easily, because they were not sure they could cure the carbuncle on his back.

After a stalemate for a while, Li Yuanbo finally stepped forward with a knife. After swallowing hard, he stretched the knife to Li Chen's back and gently cut open the ugly carbuncle...

(End of this chapter)