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Chapter 1358 There is no two suns in the sky
As the most beloved daughter of both Emperor Gaozong of Tang and Empress Wu Zetian, Princess Taiping was indeed the best candidate to become the second empress, so the best education she received in the royal family allowed her to make the decision as quickly as possible.

Then, the mysterious Jinyiwei commander Liao Kai fled Chang'an with Princess Taiping and her confidants, and rushed all the way to Luoyang, the eastern capital of the Tang Dynasty. Naturally, this caused a huge sensation in the court of Chang'an.

Smart people naturally don't need to ask too many questions, as they can easily see that this means that Princess Taiping is already preparing to rebel against Chang'an.

At this moment, Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, Li Longji, was sitting in the Qinzheng Hall of Daming Palace. He looked at his ministers with a depressed look on his face. "My dear ministers, Princess Taiping suddenly left for Luoyang without an imperial edict. How should the court respond to this sudden event?"

"This..." At this time, the Tang Dynasty officials in the Qinzheng Hall were looking at each other in confusion, because the only way now was to send troops to Luoyang to quell the rebellion.

But they couldn't say such words now. After all, Princess Taiping had not yet officially raised the banner of rebellion, and as ministers, the more they spoke, the more mistakes they would make.

Li Longji naturally noticed the mentality of these ministers in front of him, and naturally continued to question them with an unhappy face, "Why? You don't want to say it? Or do you all not want to offend Princess Taiping?"

"..."

"Your Majesty, perhaps Princess Taiping is just in a bad mood and wants to go to the eastern capital Luoyang to relax. Maybe she will return to Chang'an in a few days?" Sure enough, the new prime minister Yao Chong stepped forward and comforted her.

"Oh? Prime Minister Yao, do you really think so?"

"Your Majesty, your servant Yao Chong is guilty."

"Humph! The situation is now very obvious. I can't wait until my aunt takes further action before responding."

"..."

At this time, Su Ning, who was among the generals, jumped up the stairs and looked at Li Longji and reported, "Your Majesty, your servant, Wuwei Marquis Su Ning, requests to fight."

"Oh? Marquis Wuwei, do you think I should send a large army to suppress the rebellion?" Sure enough, Suning's perversion made Emperor Xuanzong of Tang Li Longji feel better, and he realized that this weird court still had loyal ministers and good generals.

"Your Majesty, the current situation does not indicate that the princess has rebelled, but it is certain that she has been bewitched by a villain. Your Majesty should dispatch a large army to Luoyang to bring the princess back."

"Well, what Marquis Wuwei said makes sense." Tang Xuanzong Li Longji naturally couldn't help but brighten up his eyes. Suning's statement perfectly solved the embarrassment in Chang'an.

"Your Majesty, I will lead the troops to Luoyang to bring back Princess Taiping." Then Su Ning asked Li Longji on the dragon throne to fight again.

However, Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, Li Longji, rejected Suning's request for battle, as he did not believe Princess Taiping's actions were too fatal. "No! You should proceed to the Anxi Protectorate as soon as possible to take charge. As for leading the army to Luoyang to bring back my aunt, I will make the arrangements."

"Yes! Your Majesty."

Then Li Longji looked at Lu Tong, who was watching his nose and his heart, and said, "General Lu Tong of the Jinwu Guard, listen to your orders."

"Your servant Lu Tong will obey the imperial edict." Lu Tong immediately jumped up the stairs with an expressionless face.

"I order you to lead an army of 100,000 to Luoyang to bring back Princess Taiping."

"Yes! Your Majesty."

Suning didn't expect that Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, Li Longji, was unwilling to keep him. He realized that Li Longji still looked down on Princess Taiping, or thought that Suning would be more meaningful in the Western Regions.

Of course, Suning didn't really want to stay. After all, this civil war was enough to rewrite the history of the Tang Dynasty. It would be better for him to continue hiding in the Western Regions and develop for the time being.

The next day, Suning led his men out of Chang'an City, and then returned to the Western Regions without stopping. The main reason was that the conflict in the Central Plains had reached a dire straits.

Not long after Suning left Chang'an City, Princess Taiping, who had successfully escaped to the eastern capital Luoyang, declared herself emperor and once again used the country's name, Da Zhou, from the Wu Zetian period. She called herself the second female emperor of Da Zhou and changed the reign title to Kaiyuan.

Emperor Li Longji, who was far away in Chang'an, was furious. He no longer wanted to save face for his aunt and officially announced that Princess Taiping had rebelled against the court and committed a heinous act. He also directly appointed Lu Tong as the commander-in-chief of the army and added an additional 100,000 troops, totaling 200,000, to vow to capture Luoyang.

At the same time, the powerful people in the Tang Dynasty all thought that Princess Taiping had gone crazy. Lu Tong's 200,000 troops would definitely break through the eastern capital Luoyang, and the end of this empress would definitely be very tragic.

However, things in the world are full of magic. Lu Tong's attack on Luoyang resulted in heavy casualties, but also made the mysterious organization Jinyiwei appear before the world.

The eunuch Gao Lishi ran to Li Longji in the imperial study in a panic and said, "Your Majesty, something terrible has happened. Lu Tong's 200,000-man army has been defeated."

"Impossible! Where will Auntie get the troops to resist? Is she just relying on those lucky ministers?" However, Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, Li Longji, was also frightened by the news. Even if there were 200,000 pigs, it would be impossible to be defeated easily.

"Your Majesty, Princess Taiping claims that the Empress of Heaven left her an army of 200,000 men, and that this army is called the Great Zhou Jinyiwei. It was this mysterious army that defeated General Lu's army of 200,000 men."

"What? Jinyiwei? What kind of weird designation is this? Why is the Queen suddenly involved?"

"Your Majesty, Princess Taiping is now using the Empress's name to forge an imperial decree and proclaim herself emperor. Perhaps the Empress did leave some kind of backup plan for the princess."

However, the furious Li Longji blamed Lu Tong for being useless, "Damn it! It's all because of this useless Lu Tong that he misled me."

What he was best at was abandoning useless people. Anyone who he could not see any value in, Emperor Xuanzong Li Longji would not bother to even take a second look at. Perhaps this is what is called the most ruthless imperial family.

"Your Majesty, the most urgent task now is to organize a large army to besiege Luoyang. We must not allow the princess's situation to continue to escalate." At this time, the eunuch Gao Lishi carefully reminded Li Longji.

"Ah! I really regret not keeping Suning. If Marquis Wuwei were here, Luoyang would be easily destroyed."

"Your Majesty, it's actually okay to send someone to retrieve Marquis Wuwei now."

"Forget it! The Qianniu Guards and Lu Sian sent to the Western Regions haven't left yet, right?"

"Not yet! But according to the schedule, it's only in the next two days."

"Then leave these reinforcements behind. Depose Lu Tong as the Chief of the March and have him be replaced by General Lu Sian, the Thousand Oxen Guards' Great General."

"Yes! Your Majesty, but we can also transfer Lu Lingfeng back to the capital.

At this time, Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, Li Longji, was also stunned by Gao Lishi's proposal. "Huh? Do you think Lu Lingfeng is trustworthy?"

"Your Majesty, there is indeed a relationship between Lu Lingfeng and Princess Taiping, but Lu Lingfeng is also a talented general. When the mother and son fight, the princess will definitely be unable to focus on one thing and lose sight of the other." However, Gao Lishi had already seen through Lu Lingfeng's stubbornness.

"Hmph! Gao Lishi, aren't you worried about them joining forces?" "Your Majesty, you're worrying too much. Besides being Princess Taiping's illegitimate son, Lu Lingfeng is also a disciple of the Fanyang Lu family. Furthermore, Lu Lingfeng's loyalty to the court and Your Majesty is unquestionable. He would absolutely never betray the court."

"That makes sense! Then let Lu Lingfeng return to Chang'an and become Lu Sian's deputy general."

"Your Majesty, what about the defeated general Lu Tong?"

"Hmph! Just send him off to the Anxi Protectorate. There's a vacant position for the Grand Commander of Han Province."

"Yes, Your Majesty. However, if the Anxi Protectorate loses its reinforcements, it may affect the Marquis of Wuwei's battle plan."

"The war in the Western Regions is not urgent! Let Marquis Wuwei prepare in the Anxi Protectorate first. Once I have suppressed the rebellion in Luoyang, I will then send a large army to the Anxi Protectorate."

"Yes! Your Majesty."

At this time, Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, Li Longji, naturally did not know that he had spent his entire life trying to eliminate the Luoyang rebels. The law that there can be no two suns in the sky was broken during his lifetime.

The main reason was that the aristocratic families in the Tang Dynasty also felt the subtle changes. The Li Tang royal family's strategy of boiling the frog in warm water on them was very clever, but it did not mean that the aristocratic families did not notice it, so Princess Taiping's enthronement became their breakthrough.

When the Empress of Luoyang resisted the first wave of attacks from the court of Chang'an, the aristocratic families naturally couldn't help but become restless. They secretly filmed the contact between the envoys and the Empress of Luoyang. No matter who won or lost between the aunt and niece of the Li family, it would be a win-win situation for their aristocratic families.

You have to know that the aristocratic families are the best at doing such things. The multi-party bets during the Three Kingdoms period have proven successful, so there is no reason why they, as descendants of the aristocratic families, cannot be as good as their ancestors.

……

Just when the two emperors of Chang'an and Luoyang were fighting each other, Suning had already returned to the Western Regions smoothly, and then immediately went to Kucha City with his think tank Su Wuming to take office.

At this moment, Su Wuming looked at Su Ning in front of him with a look of shock and asked, "Grand Protector, has Princess Taiping really established a new court in Luoyang?"

"That's right! I originally thought His Majesty would keep me here to suppress the rebels, but I didn't expect His Majesty to not care too much about the rebels and still wanted me to return to the Western Regions as soon as possible."

"It's really unbelievable. I don't know what Princess Taiping is thinking."

"Hmph! I feel very uncomfortable being the butcher on the chopping board. Princess Taiping certainly won't just sit there and wait for death."

"Alas! What should we do? The people of the Tang Dynasty will be displaced again."

"When prosperity comes, the people suffer; when decline comes, the people suffer! Whether in prosperous times or troubled times, the people always suffer the most."

"Grand Protector, can't we change?"

"Su Wuming, when did you become so childish? Is this something we, as subjects, should worry about?"

"Eh? Grand Protector, don't you think highly of His Majesty Kaitian in Chang'an?"

"I was appointed the Grand Protector of Anxi by His Majesty Kaitian in Chang'an. Naturally, I have always been loyal to His Majesty in Chang'an. If His Majesty orders me to lead the army back to the Central Plains to quell the rebellion, I will immediately abandon everything in the Anxi Protectorate and go there."

"..." At this time, Su Wuming naturally understood the implicit meaning of Su Ning's words, and for a moment he didn't know what to say.

"Su Wuming, there's no point in overthinking. We're going to have to do something drastic in the Western Regions. After all, no matter what we do next, we need to be prepared."

"Yes! Grand Protector."

In fact, during the time when Su Ning went to Chang'an to report on his work, many things happened in the Western Regions. The first was the missing person case in Yunding County. If Su Wuming had not led his troops to Yunding County in time, Lu Lingfeng would definitely have encountered greater trouble in Yunding County.

With the support of the Hanzhou army led by Su Wuming in Yunding County, Lu Lingfeng unscrupulously wiped out Yunding Xian Street and brought a series of people involved in the human trafficking case to justice.

At this time, Lu Lingfeng had been sent to Dunhuang by fate, and the last case of "The Strange Stories of the Tang Dynasty: Journey to the West" also happened. On the contrary, Suning now has no interest in getting involved. You know, Suning wants to fight for a large territory for the Tang Dynasty this time. This time, the Tang Dynasty will definitely be a real prosperous age in Chinese history.

It was only after Suning arrived in Qiuci City, the seat of the Anxi Protectorate, that prominent families and wealthy businessmen from the Western Regions came to pay him a visit. You have to know that Suning, the Grand Protector of Anxi, was the real military and political leader.

What Su Ning didn't expect was that Cao Zhongda, the richest man in Shazhou Dunhuang, also came to visit with his little daughter Cao Xiaoxiao. "I, Cao Zhongda, the humble man, and I, Cao Xiaoxiao, come to see the Grand Protector."

Su Ning, however, raised his right hand as Cao Zhongda saluted him and said, "Mr. Cao, please stand up! Your Cao family is a wealthy and prominent family in Guazhou and Dunhuang. You don't need to be so polite when you come to the Protectorate."

"Thank you, Grand Protector."

Then Cao Zhongda's youngest daughter, Cao Xiaoxiao, also bowed to Su Ning and said, "I, Cao Xiaoxiao, bow to thank the Grand Protector!"

"Oh? Cao Xiaoxiao, why do you want to thank me?" Looking at the beautiful girl in front of him, Su Ning's eyes lit up.

"Grand Protector, the Su's Bank has made our daily business more convenient. As a merchant family, the Cao family is naturally very grateful."

"Haha, Miss Cao is indeed worthy of being Mr. Cao's right-hand man. Her speaking skills are different from those of ordinary women."

"Grand Protector, I am sorry to have embarrassed you."

"No problem! Mr. Cao, I heard something happened to your Dunhuang Cao family?"

"I'm sorry to have embarrassed you, Grand Protector. These are all messy family matters."

"Well, Yunding County Magistrate Lu Lingfeng happens to be in Dunhuang, Guazhou, right now. He's a true disciple of Di Gong in solving cases. If you have any problems that can't be solved, feel free to contact him."

"Thank you for your concern, Grand Protector! I will definitely do it."

Suning naturally knew that Cao Zhongda was the mastermind behind the Dunhuang "donor case". When he heard what Suning suddenly mentioned today, he naturally felt a little uncomfortable in his heart.

Then Su Ning didn't say much to Cao Zhongda. He just chatted with him for a few words and sent him away. After all, his current status did not require him to treat a businessman with too much courtesy.

……

(End of this chapter)