Li Chengqian of the Tang Dynasty: Please say long live His Majesty

Chapter 570 Fang Xuanling's Death, Damn Gao Yang (Part )
under night.

The guards stood at attention.

Changsun Wuji walked out of Chengtian Gate with a calm expression.

Involuntarily, he looked back at the palace inside the door.

Taiji Hall, Liangyi Hall, and Ganlu Hall.

The three palaces heavily suppressed the entire palace and also the entire world.

Zhangsun Wuji did not care about the Minister of Rites, the Governor of Luozhou, and the Chief Secretary of the Yangzhou Grand Marshal's Office, because these were originally in the hands of the emperor himself.

Now it is just the emperor himself who is making adjustments.

What Changsun Wuji really cared about was the Imperial Secretary.

Even Xu Jingzong couldn't say anything when he was promoted from Jieshizhong to Huangmen Shilang.

Xu Jingzong served as the Imperial Secretary and the Inspector of Records for almost ten years. According to the seniority hierarchy in the court, his promotion to the Minister of the Imperial Household was inevitable.

What made Changsun Wuji a little worried was that if Xu Jingzong became the Imperial Secretary, the power among the three provinces would once again tilt towards the emperor.

The Menxia Province, from Yu Zhining to Lai Ji to Xu Jingzong, were all the emperor's men.

In the Secretariat, Tang Jian himself was inclined towards the emperor, and together with the Secretariat Assistant Minister Ma Zhou and the Secretariat Assistant Minister Gao Jifu, the emperor controlled most of the power.

In the Secretariat, Li Ji was a fence-sitter, either neutral or leaning towards the emperor.

The other six ministers, the Ministry of Revenue, the Ministry of War, and the Ministry of Rites were all under the control of the emperor. Minister of Works Sun Xiang was also inclined towards the emperor. Minister of Justice Liu Dewei was mostly neutral, but he would still tend to the emperor when something happened.

Only the Ministry of Personnel was under the control of Zhangsun Wuji, but even so, the Vice Minister of Personnel, Li Qianyou, was inclined towards the emperor.

Of course, there is also his Changsun Wuji.

Changsun Wuji smiled slightly bitterly. He, Changsun Wuji, was the emperor's uncle, and he fully supported the emperor in everything he did.

What made Changsun Wuji feel a little uncomfortable was that the emperor's methods were becoming more and more mature.

Many times, it was done without even the intervention of Changsun Wuji.

For example, the deaths of Xiao Yu and Empress Xiao.

That was truly the culmination of the emperor's tactics.

Changsun Wuji was certain that even if the late emperor were still alive, it would be difficult to surpass him.

With a light sigh, Changsun Wuji looked up and continued to force his way forward.

The emperor's maturity is a good thing for his son Zhangsun Wuji.

The emperor was walking on thin ice, and so was his eldest grandson Wuji.

He is the most powerful official in the dynasty.

In this world, after a new emperor ascends the throne, the fate of powerful officials has never been very good.

Now the emperor is gradually digesting the power that fell into the hands of Changsun Wuji after the death of the previous emperor, while at the same time being very gentle in not touching Changsun Wuji's prestige.

Changsun Wuji could understand the emperor's thoughts.

This is enough.

As for those who hoped that he would turn against the emperor, Changsun Wuji's eyes were full of sneer.

His eyes looked forward.

The Tang Dynasty continues to move forward, striding forward in great strides. Anyone who wants to interrupt this process will be crushed by countless forces.

……

Early in the morning, in Lizheng Hall.

Wu Meiniang was wearing a yellow gauze skirt and light makeup. She couldn't help but look towards the East Hall.

His eyes were filled with resentment.

Cicadas chirped all night.

The crown prince, the two princes, and the princess all lived in the back hall and could hear nothing.

But Wu Meiniang stayed in the west wing hall last night.

All the sounds in the East Hall were clearly heard by her ears.

She is also a woman!

At this moment, a steady sound of footsteps finally came from the East Hall.

Then, a majestic figure walked out of the hall and came to the middle hall.

Wu Meiniang immediately raised her hand, and outside the hall, a dozen eunuchs brought more than a dozen trays of breakfast to the emperor.

Li Chengqian nodded gently to Wu Meiniang: "Thank you for your hard work, Concubine Wu."

"It's all my duty." Wu Meiniang immediately bowed and lowered her body.

Li Chengqian smiled lightly, with a hint of coldness in his eyes.

"Jieyu Wu, please stand up!" Li Chengqian gestured to the eunuch beside him to pick up some food, and asked casually, "How is Jieyu Wu's family?"

"Everything is fine!" Wu Meiniang nodded slightly and breathed a sigh of relief. Her brother knew that she could be with the queen at any time and treated her mother better.

Li Chengqian nodded. At this time, some light footsteps came out from the inner hall.

Su Shu, wearing a skirt with orchid patterns, walked out from the inner hall with a plump face.

The maids in the palace, including Wu Meiniang, all bowed and said, "Empress."

"Stand up." Su Shu walked to Li Chengqian's side, gave him a cold look, and then asked, "The Crown Prince, Erlang and Sanlang, and the Princess, are they still asleep?"

"They're on holiday today, let them get some more sleep." Li Chengqian smiled softly, then took an imperial edict from his hand and handed it to Su Shu, saying, "This is the imperial edict promoting my father-in-law to the position of Chief Clerk of the Yangzhou Grand Military Governor's Office. The court procedures have been completed, and it will be issued shortly."

"Huh?" Su Shu's face was immediately filled with surprise. She took the imperial edict from Li Chengqian's hand and began to read it. Wu Meiniang watched from the side, her face full of envy.

After Su Shu finished reading the imperial edict, Li Chengqian continued, "At the end of the year, I will grant my father-in-law the title of Duke. Empress, please consider which title is more suitable... Duke of Yong is not an option. If that happens, my father-in-law will be impeached."

"Although the Su family is a martial arts family, they don't have to be called Duke of Yong." Su Shu rolled her eyes at Li Chengqian, then pondered, "The Su family migrated from Jizhou in their early years. Your Majesty, what do you think of calling them Duke of Ji?"

Li Chengqian nodded in agreement and said, "Yes, the queen is a good choice."

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Su Shu smiled with satisfaction.

Li Chengqian continued, "And Su Gui, he's the Queen's younger brother, so he deserves a title and a reward. I think we should make him an Earl, let's make him the Earl of Wugong County. As for the rest, we can discuss it later."

"Yes!" Su Shu nodded, looked at Li Chengqian, and asked, "Your Majesty, are you thinking about Guidi's marriage?"

"Hmm!" Li Chengqian said with a serious expression, "In the future, the Crown Prince will need more family members to look after him, so I thought, why not let Su Gui marry Dou's daughter?"

"Dou!" Su Shu pondered Li Chengqian's words and nodded slowly, "Yes, but why do I feel that Your Majesty is considering marrying Dou's daughter to be the Crown Princess in the future?"

"The Queen truly understands me best." Li Chengqian nodded in satisfaction and said, "I do have this idea. Although the Dou family has declined in the past two years, its foundation is still very strong, even stronger than the Changsun family."

To be honest, although the Changsun family has become powerful in the past two years, its foundation lies only in Changsun Wuji.

Although Changsun Xiang had followed Li Chengqian for many years, Li Chengqian never thought of making him prime minister.

However, there are many people in the Dou family who can become prime ministers.

"But that's just my idea. We need to wait and see." Li Chengqian breathed a sigh of relief and said, "In two years, the army will invade Goguryeo. We can either arrange a marriage beforehand to stabilize the situation, or wait until after the war is won to celebrate the victory. Both are within those two years. We can find a queen first. If there are good daughters from other families, that's also fine. At worst, the Dou family's daughter can be left to Juer."

"Yeah!" Su Shu nodded seriously.

Li Xiang is now the crown prince. His marriage is not only his own business, but also the business of the entire royal family and even the Tang Dynasty.

"By the way, speaking of marriage." Su Shu looked at Li Chengqian with some helplessness and said, "The daughters of the six families in Guanzhong have been in the palace for more than a year. Your Majesty can't just leave them alone. If you continue to ignore them, the people of the six families will have objections."

"I understand. Isn't this because the court is busy?" Li Chengqian sighed and said, "Let Xu An take care of the arrangements."

"Yes!" Su Shu nodded.

At this moment, a burst of hurried footsteps suddenly appeared outside the hall.

Zhang Ananda appeared at the door of the hall with a serious expression.

Li Chengqian immediately became serious and waved at him seriously.

Zhang Ananda stepped into the hall and bowed earnestly to Li Chengqian, "Your Majesty, something has happened. Duke Liang suddenly fell seriously ill last night. The imperial physician said he is nearing death."

Li Chengqian's lips couldn't help but tremble. He took a deep breath and asked, "You mean to say that Prime Minister Fang is dying?"

"Yes!" Zhang Ananda lowered his head uncomfortably.

It had only been a year since the late emperor passed away, and from Gao Shilian, to Xiao Yu, to Fang Xuanling, each of them had reached the end of their lives.

"Let's go! To Duke Liang's Mansion!" Li Chengqian didn't care about Su Shu and stood up and walked out of the hall.

Su Shu stood in the hall and couldn't help but sigh slightly.

Many things about fate are not affected by human nature.

……

At the Duke of Liang's Mansion, Fang Yizhi led Li Chengqian into the backyard.

At the backyard gate, Li Chengqian looked at Fang Yize, Fang Yiyi, Fang Yizhi's wife, Du, and Fang Yize's wife, the Princess of Yiling, the daughter of Prince of Jing, Li Yuanjing. He stopped and asked in a cold voice, "Where is Gao Yang?"

Fang Yizhi quickly said, "Your Majesty, the princess is still on her way here."

Li Chengqian's face turned completely cold. He looked behind him and said, "Zhang Ananda, go and call Princess Gaoyang yourself. If she's even a little slow, you'll break her legs."

"Yes!" Zhang Ananda bowed calmly, then turned and left quickly.

Only then did Li Chengqian calm down and walk into the room.

Only Fang Yiai was serving by the bed in the room, and the imperial physician Zhang Baozang was standing on the side with a prescription written in his hand.

"Mr. Zhang, how is it?" Li Chengqian couldn't help but look at Zhang Baozang.

Zhang Baozang handed the prescription to Li Chengqian and said, "Do your best to delay for half a day."

Li Chengqian paused, turned around and handed the prescription to Fang Yizhizi, then walked to the bed and squatted down.

Looking at Fang Xuanling, who had white hair and dry lips, he felt inexplicably uncomfortable. He held Fang Xuanling's hand and said softly, "Prime Minister Fang, what's wrong with you? You need to get better soon. I'm just about to let Yizhi be the governor of Cizhou. If you really have something, he will have to stay here."

"Life and death are determined by fate. Let's delay it." Fang Xuanling smiled calmly. Looking at Li Chengqian with a pale face, he said, "I was relieved when I heard that Your Majesty was going to appoint Dalang as the Governor of Cizhou. Otherwise, I would not have been able to hold on for the past few years."

Li Chengqian didn't know what to say for a moment.

Fang Xuanling smiled, looked at Li Chengqian and said, "Your Majesty is different from the late emperor. The late emperor favored the second son for various reasons, but Your Majesty favors the eldest son. Du Gou and Dalang are both like this. I have to say that Your Majesty is right."

Li Chengqian turned sideways and glanced at Fang Yiai who was standing beside him.

"Erlang and the others grew up after the Zhenguan period. They did not experience the events at the end of the Sui Dynasty and during the Wude period, and do not know how difficult the world was. On the contrary, Dalang and Du Gou and the others have truly inherited the true teachings of me and Du Ruhui. If Your Majesty uses them in the future, the world will be governed without worries." Fang Xuanling looked at his eldest son.

The reason why he favored his second son was because his eldest son was capable of being independent and had the title left by him, so there was no need to worry.

"I understand." Li Chengqian nodded seriously.

"I have nothing to worry about. Your Majesty, there is no need to stay here any longer. Please go back to the palace." Fang Xuanling nodded calmly.

"Your Majesty, Princess Gaoyang has arrived." Zhang Ananda's voice sounded behind him.

Li Chengqian looked forward, but Fang Xuanling gently closed his eyes at this time.

Li Chengqian understood something and whispered, "Prime Minister Fang, please say something so that I can be prepared."

"Your Majesty." Fang Xuanling opened his eyes, looked at Li Chengqian and said, "If possible, let Erlang serve in the south for a longer period of time."

"I understand." Li Chengqian slowly stood up, looked outside the door, and his face turned completely cold.

(End of this chapter)