Tang Dynasty, my wife Wu Zetian

Chapter 14 The Battle for Succession
In less than an hour, the two most important court meetings were dominated by pro-military officials.

Xu Jingzong was in a very happy mood. He stepped out of the ranks with a square step and said with a bow, "Your Majesty, I have something to report."

"speak."

Xu Jingzong said, "The Empress has just been appointed and has children. According to the old system of appointing the eldest son as the heir, a new crown prince should be appointed. Your Majesty, please make your decision."

Han Ai hurriedly stepped out and said, "Empress Wu has just been appointed, and the prince is still young. I don't think there is any need to rush to appoint a new crown prince."

Xu Jingzong glanced at him and said, "This is a system passed down by our ancestors. During the reign of Emperor Taizong, the old Crown Prince Li Chengqian was deposed, and the new Crown Prince also considered the Empress's offspring. Does Minister Han also object?"

Han Ai snorted and said, "The princes at that time were all adults. Their circumstances were different and cannot be compared. Empress Wu's sons were no more than three years old at most. It's too early to make him the crown prince now."

Xu Jingzong said, "Regardless of the circumstances, the legitimate prince is still alive, but a concubine's prince is appointed as the crown prince. This is against the rules and will inevitably lead to public criticism."

Han Ai said, "If that's the case, we can depose the old crown prince first and not appoint a new one for now."

Li Zhi interrupted, "Then we will demote the former Crown Prince Li Zhong to the rank of Prince, and confer the title of Consort Liu on Li Zhong's mother."

Han Ai was startled and shouted, "Your Majesty, Liu's position is low, and her sudden promotion to the fourth lady is not in accordance with the rules."

The so-called four ladies are: Imperial Noble Consort, Virtuous Consort, Virtuous Consort, and Virtuous Consort. Their status is second only to that of the Queen, and they enjoy a relatively high status and honor in the palace.

Li Zhi said, "She is the mother of the eldest prince. Moreover, Li Zhong is a very filial man. It would be unfair to him to demote him to a prince for no reason. I canonize Liu as a concubine, which can be regarded as compensation. Why not?"

Li Yifu smiled and said, "Your Majesty is wise. The former crown prince is indeed innocent and should be compensated."

Han Ai said, "Even so, you can confer the title of Ninth Consort on Liu, but you cannot promote her to the Fourth Madam."

All the ministers came forward to oppose this matter.

Apart from Li Yifu, pro-Wu officials such as Xu Jingzong also did not speak out in support of Li Zhi, because this matter was not in the interests of Empress Wu.

Li Zhi glanced at them and was not surprised.

Just as he guessed, Wu Meiniang was very skillful and had already won over Xu Jingzong. Most of the other officials who supported Wu were recruited by Xu Jingzong, so they all followed him and favored Empress Wu.

In a sense, although Wu Meiniang had just become the queen, she already had her own power in the court.

Putting aside Xu Jingzong and others, it was Li Yifu who surprised him a little.

It seems that Emperor Gaozong of Tang Dynasty saved his official position, which made him more loyal to Emperor Gaozong of Tang Dynasty and slightly different from Xu Jingzong's party.

At present, Xu Jingzong and others are still needed to check and balance the aristocratic family factions, but they cannot be allowed to become too powerful. They need to cultivate their own confidants as soon as possible to prevent Wu Meiniang from becoming too powerful in the court.

These thoughts flashed through Li Zhi's mind. He smiled and said, "Let's follow Han Xiang's suggestion and confer the title of Nine Concubines on Liu. The specific matters can be discussed in the Council of State."

Xu Jingzong hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, since the old crown prince has been deposed, a new crown prince must be appointed immediately, otherwise the foundation of the country will be unstable."

Han Ai hastily objected, "Your Majesty is still in the prime of life. Why rush to appoint a crown prince? Why not wait until the Fifth Prince is a few years older? Then we can discuss it later!"

In an instant, the two groups of court officials began arguing again over the matter of the crown prince.

If Li Zhi had sided with Xu Jingzong and others at this time, he could have decided the matter directly, after all, there were ancestral rules there.

However, he did not want to appoint a crown prince for the time being, so as to prevent the military faction from becoming too powerful, so he did not say anything and allowed the two sides to argue.

When both sides were arguing fiercely, Yu Zhining suddenly stepped out.

"Your Majesty, Emperor Taizong appointed the Prince of Zhongshan as Crown Prince when he was eight. The previous Crown Prince, Li Zhong, was also appointed Crown Prince at the age of nine. Now your eldest son is only three years old, and Your Majesty is in good health. Why rush to appoint a Crown Prince?"

He glanced at Xu Jingzong and said, "Some ministers are saying that the foundation is unstable and they are in a hurry to appoint a crown prince. Are they hoping that Your Majesty will be ill?"

Xu Jingzong's face changed drastically, and he said anxiously: "Your Majesty, Yu Zhining's talk is nonsense. This old minister has absolutely no such intention."

Li Zhi saw that the time was almost right, so he waved his hand and said, "The matter of enthroning the crown prince can be discussed later. There is no need to rush now."

Han Ai, Lai Ji and others felt relieved when they saw that they had finally won back a point. They looked at Yu Zhining and nodded to express their gratitude.

At this time, Yuan Gongyu, the Chief Censor, stepped forward, holding up his tablet and saying, "Your Majesty, I wish to impeach Pei Xingjian, the Magistrate of Chang'an County. As a high-ranking official, he has been known to frequent the Sanqu area of ​​Pingkangfang, consorting with singing girls and dancers, bringing disgrace upon the court."

Li Zhi thought to himself, "Wu Meiniang's revenge has come." He asked aloud, "Where is Pei Xingjian?"

An official standing near the gate strode out, holding up a tablet and said, "I am Pei Xingjian, the magistrate of Chang'an County, and I pay my respects to Your Majesty." The magistrate of Chang'an County was of the upper fifth rank, which was just at the threshold for officials to enter the palace.

Li Zhi carefully examined him. Seeing that he was over thirty years old, with an upright figure and an elegant complexion, he secretly praised him and said, "County Magistrate Pei, is what Yuan Zhongcheng impeached true?"

Pei Xingjian whispered, "My behavior is absurd. Please punish me, Your Majesty."

Li Zhi was slightly stunned. He didn't expect that he would not argue at all. Even if he wanted to help him, he couldn't speak.

He pondered in silence, looking around the court. After waiting for a long time, no one came to plead for Pei Xingjian.

Logically speaking, even if Pei Xingjian was not a core member of the Guanlong Group, he was still a member of the Hedong Pei family, a prominent family.

Why didn't Han Ai and others speak up for him?

Li Ji suddenly stepped out and said, "Your Majesty, the wife of County Magistrate Pei died young. She often went to brothels to get drunk. Although she was guilty, she was not without reason. Please understand your majesty."

Seeing that he finally had a way out, Li Zhi said, "Pei County Magistrate, I will punish you by sending you to the front lines as a Lang Jiang under Cheng Zhijie, and you will be rewarded for your crimes."

Pei Xingjian was stunned at first, then he was overjoyed: "I obey your order!"

When the army goes out to fight, it is the time to make achievements. For someone like Pei Xingjian who has not been able to display his talents for a long time, it is simply a reward.

Yuan Gongyu hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, County Magistrate Pei is a civilian. If he were to suddenly take up a military post, it would be detrimental to the war effort. It would be better to have him serve as a chief officer at the Western Province Governor's Office."

Li Zhi waved his hand and said, "Civil officials are not necessarily incapable of leading troops, and military generals are not necessarily incapable of governing a region. There is no need to discuss this matter further, let's move on to the next topic."

Xue Rengui led a dozen Qianniu Guards, pulled a royal carriage, galloped at full speed, and soon arrived at Lu Botao's mansion.

Although Lu Botao was only an eighth-rank official, he was from the Fanyang Lu family and had a two-story courtyard covering eight acres in Pingkangfang.

Xue Rengui rushed into the mansion, conveyed the emperor's order, brought all of Lu Botao's wives, concubines, and children into the carriage, and then escorted the carriage back to the Daming Palace.

When he reached a crossroads, someone suddenly called him.

"Nephew Xue, what a coincidence!" An old man in gorgeous clothes walked over to the side of the road, with white hair and a face full of wrinkles.

This person is none other than Xue Daoshen, the head of the Xue family in Hedong.

Xue Rengui bowed and said, "Xue Li greets the clan leader. I have an imperial decree and cannot complete the ceremony. I hope the clan leader will forgive me."

Just then, a carriage came along the side street.

The horse, startled for some unknown reason, bolted and galloped away. The driver kept shouting, "Get out of the way! Get out of the way!"

Affected by the mad horse, the crowd at the crossroads was in chaos, and many people rushed towards Xue Rengui's cavalry, and the Qianniu Guards were unable to stop them.

Xue Rengui stretched out his hand and pressed the saddle, jumped into the air, ran to the mad horse, grabbed the reins, shouted, kicked the ground with his right foot, and pulled the mad horse alive.

He glanced around and noticed someone taking advantage of the chaos to approach the royal carriage. He shouted, "Guards, listen up! Capture the person approaching the carriage!"

The Qianniu Guards were trying to stop the chaotic people. Upon hearing what was said, they all drew their swords, shouted at the people to retreat, and ran to the carriage. However, the man had already squeezed into the crowd and disappeared.

Xue Rengui's eyes were as sharp as an eagle's, and he saw clearly that when the man left, he threw a ball of paper into the carriage and immediately strode over.

A hand grabbed his arm and said with a smile: "Nephew Xue, the court is dangerous. Being too rigid will easily lead to failure. Sometimes pretending to be confused is what a wise man does." It was Xue Daoshen.

Xue Rengui shook off his arm and said, "I only care about fulfilling my duties and being loyal to the emperor. I don't care about anything else."

Xue Daoshen snorted and said, "Don't you want to be included in the family tree again? This was your father's dying wish."

"I, Xue, don't need to return to the family tree to bring honor to our family." Xue Rengui left without looking back.

He walked to the carriage and opened the window. He saw Lu Botao's wife crumpling up a piece of paper. He snatched it away and said in a deep voice, "Get down."

After the family members got off, he asked the guards to search the carriage carefully to make sure that everything was safe before letting them get back on.

Not far from the cavalry, a fair-skinned man was observing them.

He said to himself, "I must report the situation to Her Majesty the Queen as soon as possible." He jumped on his horse and rode towards the Daming Palace.

(End of this chapter)