Sheng Tang: What is Liu Jianjun going to do today?

Chapter 204 Feng Xiaobao Arrives Victorious and the Burning of the Mingtang

My father-in-law didn't stay in Luoyang for long.

Wu Zetian had summoned him back with the intention of clearing his name and exonerating him. After the Wan Guojun incident was over, Wu Zetian transferred him to Muzhou as governor.

Compared to the impoverished Rongzhou, the superior Muzhou was infinitely richer, making it an excellent post to serve as its governor.

Before leaving, he held Li Xian's hand, hesitated for a long time, and finally said, "May you be safe and happy."

Li Xian certainly knew what his father-in-law was hesitating about. Liu Jianjun's "promising talent" had clearly provoked him again. "Peace and happiness" was probably a blessing he had thought about for a long time and came up with without any "side effects".

The father-in-law's brief visit to Luoyang did not bring about much change to the city.

"Liu the Martial Agent" was clearly misunderstood by Wu Zetian as "the Martial Agent School". Wan Guojun privately executed those hundreds of refugees. Although he was convicted for this, Wu Zetian herself seemed to feel much more at ease.

The court enjoyed a brief period of peace.

But beneath this tranquility, the cruel officials gradually disappeared.

The once tyrannical group of cruel officials has now dwindled to a mere handful of members, and these few have long since lost all connection with the tyrannical officials.

In Liu Jianjun's words, they had already successfully transformed their business long ago.

This included Ji Xu, who served as the Vice Minister of the Imperial Household Department.

Of course, only a few people like Ji Xu were able to transform themselves; most of the cruel officials were illiterate.

Li Xian only learned afterward how outrageous the ruthless official group was.

Take, for example, the illiterate and cruel official Hou Sizhi. He was an official in Luoyang. There was a place in Luoyang called Bai Sima Slope. Hou Sizhi mistook the character "slope" for the character "rebellion" and thought that a man named Bai Sima was rebelling. He was beheaded there.

In addition, there was a general named Meng Qingbang at the time, who thought it was a kind of torture instrument used to beat people.

Therefore, during the first interrogation of the prisoner, he said, "If you don't admit that you are Bai Sima, I'll make you eat Meng Qing's stick."

At that time, Wei Yuanzhong was also subjected to severe torture by Hou Sizhi. Unable to endure the torture, he said, "Hou Sizhi! If you want to kill me, then kill me. What do you mean by treason? You are a court official, yet you dare to talk about Bai Sima and Meng Qingbang. You will suffer the consequences eventually!"

Hou Sizhi didn't understand. He thought that Bai Sima and Meng Qingbang were taboo words, and he was terrified. He quickly untied Wei Yuanzhong and apologized, saying, "Sizhi deserves death. I am fortunate to have received your guidance, Your Excellency!"

It was because of this that the news spread that Hou Sizhi was illiterate.

The cruel officials made countless jokes like this, but thankfully, this era is finally coming to an end.

……

Just when Li Xian thought that such days could at least last a little longer, in the first month of the second year of Ruyi, another piece of news came back to Luoyang.

Feng Xiaobao has won another battle and is on his way back to the capital.

This is simply unbelievable.

Could Feng Xiaobao, who rose to power through the Empress's favor and was forced into the army to gain experience, really be able to thwart the Turks' arrogance again? Could he really be a capable general in resisting the Turks?

Li Xian couldn't help but wonder if this was the reason Liu Jianjun had Li Zhaode follow him.

In reality, was it Li Zhaode who truly fought against the Turks?
But soon, more news came.

Li Xian was speechless upon hearing this news.

It has to be said that Feng Xiaobao's luck is simply incredible. This time, before he even arrived at the battlefield, the Turks had vanished without a trace. So, his reason to Wu Zetian was: "The enemy was scared away as soon as they heard my name."

Having twice distinguished himself in the fight against the Turks, and being the abbot of the White Horse Temple, plus being the Empress's male favorite, Feng Xiaobao's life reached its peak at this moment.

When he entered the city, Chancellor Li Zhaode personally led his horse, and they rode all the way from the gate of Luoyang to outside the imperial city before he dismounted and walked.

Along the way, officials gave way.

Empress Wu Zetian also praised Feng Xiaobao generously in court, calling him a "pillar of the nation" and bestowing upon him countless gold, silver, and silk gifts.

For a time, Feng Xiaobao was incredibly popular.

Looking at the true battle report sent by Li Zhaode, Li Xian couldn't help but mutter to Liu Jianjun, "Could it be that we can't present this true battle report to the Empress Dowager and expose Feng Xiaobao's achievements?"

How do we expose them?

Liu Jianjun rolled his eyes and said, "He did go to the front line and he did lead from the front, but the Turks just happened to retreat. How can you blame him for not being a good leader?"

Li Xian said speechlessly, "Are we just going to watch him smugly like this?"

Li Xian harbored particular displeasure towards Feng Xiaobao, because he too had been summoned by Wu Zetian to greet this victorious general at the city gate.

If Feng Xiaobao were truly a general who had thwarted the Turks' arrogance on the battlefield, that would be one thing, but unfortunately, he's a guy who's had two strokes of incredible luck.

"What are you worried about? Have you forgotten what kind of person Feng Xiaobao is?" Liu Jianjun retorted.

Li Xian was stunned.

Liu Jianjun explained, "This man was capable of gathering nearly a thousand hooligans to freeload at Baima Temple back then just because of jealousy. Now that your mother has two more favored pretty boys by her side, how can he stand this?"

"You mean... the Zhang brothers?"

"Yeah, Feng Xiaobao will ruin himself sooner or later, we don't need to pay him any attention."

……

Just as Liu Jianjun had predicted.

Feng Xiaobao was genuinely jealous.

He had just returned victorious and was in high spirits, thinking that he would surely gain Wu Zetian's favor.
However, at the celebration banquet arranged for him by Wu Zetian, Feng Xiaobao saw the Zhang brothers and then spoke recklessly.

"Your Majesty, I have been away from the capital for several months and have missed you day and night. But I wonder when these two... unfamiliar young men have appeared by Your Majesty's side? They look so delicate and tender, I'm afraid they can't even ride a horse properly, haha!"

The Zhang brothers, Yizhi and Changzong, were so angry that their faces turned pale. They bit their lips, but dared not reply. They just looked at Wu Zetian with a wronged expression.

Wu Zetian did not disappoint the Zhang brothers either. Her tone was calm, but it also carried a protective meaning: "These are the Zhang brothers, Zhang Yizhi and Zhang Changzong. They are skilled in music and literature. They have been serving me recently and are quite understanding. It is normal that you do not recognize them because you have been in the military for a long time."

This time, Feng Xiaobao was indeed consumed by jealousy. He stormed out of the celebration banquet, leaving behind a group of bewildered officials.

The celebration banquet that Wu Zetian had meticulously prepared for him ended hastily in an unpleasant atmosphere.

Logically speaking, Wu Zetian should punish Feng Xiaobao for causing such a disturbance.

However, Wu Zetian did not punish Feng Xiaobao; she still gave him the same reward.

It's unclear whether they still had feelings for Feng Xiaobao or were concerned about his military achievements; if they were to deal with him carelessly, it would discourage others.

……

But the story is far from over.

Feng Xiaobao was extremely jealous. When he saw the Zhang brothers this time, he acted recklessly and hid in the White Horse Temple again, refusing to come out.

But this time, Wu Zetian had a new love interest and no longer paid attention to Feng Xiaobao, not even mentioning him again during the previous interrogation.

Feng Xiaobao stayed at the White Horse Temple for nearly ten days.

Nearly ten days have passed, and Feng Xiaobao is the first to get restless.

Liu Jianjun said that Feng Xiaobao is a bit of a jerk; if you ignore him, he'll become anxious and insecure.

Sure enough, Feng Xiaobao, who was anxious about gains and losses, suddenly realized that he needed to "compete for favor" with the Zhang brothers. So, on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, he made full preparations.

As the Lantern Festival, the Tang Dynasty attached great importance to this festival. The curfew was lifted throughout Luoyang, and people's homes were decorated with lanterns and colorful decorations. Civil and military officials held celebrations in the Mingtang Hall to wish for a joyous celebration for the whole country.

Li Xian also received an invitation from Wu Zetian.

This time, after asking Liu Jianjun's opinion, Li Xian brought him along as well.

"It's just a celebration, I can just treat it as a banquet, right?"

……

Inside the main hall, the lights were bright, music and singing filled the air, and civil and military officials sat in order of rank, clinking glasses and laughing and chatting.

On the throne, Wu Zetian, dressed in imperial robes, received the homage and congratulations of her ministers, exuding majesty. Beside her, the Zhang brothers, Yizhi and Changzong, served her wine attentively, their beautiful appearances and elegant manners captivating.

Li Xian's seat wasn't very close to the front, but his view was decent. Liu Jianjun was sitting to his left, with an aisle between them.

Strangely, in the center of the main hall, there was a silk carpet several feet in diameter. Nothing was placed on the carpet, and it was even fenced off with ribbons to prevent people from crossing it.

Li Xian watched for a while but couldn't figure it out, so he turned his attention to the guests at the banquet.

There were many familiar faces at the banquet: Di Renjie, Wu Sansi, Li Zhaode… even Wu Chengsi, Taiping, and Li Dan. However, Li Xian had not yet returned to Luoyang and was therefore not present. Li Xian wanted to strike up a conversation with Taiping, but she was seated among the women and chatting and laughing with several noblewomen. Li Xian secretly observed her for a while and noticed that she was holding an illustrated book. Li Xian glanced at the illustrations and blushed slightly.

"Didn't we agree to become monks? Why are you still watching such obscene things?" Li Xian muttered to himself.

"What?" Liu Jianjun leaned closer.

"It's nothing." Li Xian quickly looked away, picked up the wine glass in front of him, took a sip, and covered up his embarrassment.

That fleeting glimpse on the page was truly something to be avoided.

But Liu Jianjun was clearly not someone to be easily fooled.

Liu Jianjun glanced in the direction of his gaze and saw Princess Taiping smilingly close the illustrated book and hand it to the maid beside her, her movements natural and fluid.

So he clicked his tongue, leaned closer to Li Xian, lowered his voice, and said with a wicked grin, "Tsk, he's practicing 'Joyful Zen,' what do you know? It's high-level stuff."

Li Xian immediately choked on his saliva.

He found that after spending a lot of time with Liu Jianjun, his skin seemed to have thickened a bit, but he was still far from being as invulnerable as Liu Jianjun.

Liu Jianjun chuckled and stopped teasing him, his attention quickly drawn to the food on the table.

He picked up a delicate pastry shaped like a lotus flower and examined it from all sides: "The imperial chef's skills are quite good. Look how thin the petals are, they're almost transparent."

After saying that, he stuffed a mouthful into his mouth and mumbled his evaluation, "Hmm...too sweet, it hurts my throat. I'm starting to miss my sister-in-law's sesame cakes."

When Liu Jianjun mentioned the embroiderer, Li Xian felt a pang of longing.

I've been in Luoyang for too long.

But just then, Feng Xiaobao got up.

He walked into the hall and bowed to Wu Zetian.

Liu Jianjun immediately perked up, tossed the fruit pit in his hand into the plate, nudged Li Xian with his elbow, and exclaimed with shining eyes, "Here it comes! The main event! Look, his performance is about to begin!"

Li Xian was puzzled, but he subconsciously turned his gaze over.

The next moment, with the sound of a mechanism, the silk that was originally laid on the ground slowly rose and slid down, and then a golden Buddha emerged from the ground.

In an instant, exclamations of surprise and admiration filled the hall.

Liu Jianjun watched intently, muttering to himself, "Wow, the lifting platform... this transmission structure is interesting, it uses a pulley system, right? The load-bearing design is quite good..."

"Tsk, this gold paint is applied so thickly, it's dazzling at night, and it'd probably crumble in the daytime..."

"They're putting out smoke screens again? Trying to create an atmosphere, huh? That'll just go up the costs again..."

"Those guys pulling the ropes down there better keep their hands on it, or the Buddha statue will slip and fall back down, that would be a real mess..."

Li Xian was initially amazed by the enormous golden Buddha, but upon hearing Liu Jianjun's comments, he was instantly left speechless, his initial excitement at the spectacular scene completely vanished.

Liu Jianjun concluded, "Feng Xiaobao has really gone to great lengths to please your mother, the Empress."

Li Xian quickly kicked him under the table, signaling him to behave.

At this moment, Wu Zetian simply said, "I saw it. Master Xue, you've worked hard."

Li Xian saw that Feng Xiaobao's face visibly showed disappointment.

Li Xian glanced at the golden Buddha, which was five zhang tall. This meant that Feng Xiaobao had dug a five-zhang deep pit under the Mingtang beforehand, and with the addition of setting up mechanisms and preparing the golden Buddha, Feng Xiaobao had indeed put in a lot of effort to complete this project in just a few days.

Unfortunately, the Queen Mother only gave this one evaluation.

Li Xian felt that Feng Xiaobao was likely about to lose his temper.

Surprisingly, the usually unruly Feng Xiaobao did not embarrass Wu Zetian in public this time. Instead, he bowed respectfully and sat back down.

Liu Jianjun whispered to Li Xian, "See? No matter what position you're in, there has to be competition to create pressure. Feng Xiaobao is clearly feeling the pressure."

The banquet ended peacefully.

but……

Feng Xiaobao's quest for favor is far from over.

After Wu Zetian failed to appreciate Feng Xiaobao's method of creating a golden Buddha statue from underground, Feng Xiaobao started causing trouble again.

The next day, he used ox blood to draw a 200-foot-tall Buddha statue, hung it on the Tianjin Bridge, and then told Wu Zetian that he had cut his knee and used his own blood to draw it.

Li Xian burst out laughing when he heard this.

Such a large Buddha statue, let alone cutting your knee, you couldn't draw it even if you drained all the blood from it.

Feng Xiaobao was out of options.

As expected, Wu Zetian ignored Feng Xiaobao.

This really hurt Feng Xiaobao's feelings. He angrily tore the Buddha image off, then turned around and went back to the White Horse Temple.

Li Xian thought that once they arrived here, Feng Xiaobao would behave himself for a while.

But as it turned out, Li Xian was sound asleep that night when he was awakened by a series of urgent gong sounds and a faint commotion.

He put on his coat, got up, and opened the window. A night wind carrying the smell of burning rushed in. In the distance, towards the imperial city, the night sky was tinged with an ominous orange-red, and thick smoke billowed into the air.

"Fire! Fire! The Mingtang... the direction of the Mingtang!" The panicked shouts of the servants in the mansion grew louder as they approached.

Mingtang?

Li Xian's heart skipped a beat.

When the Mingtang was built, it cost trillions of dollars, and the treasury was depleted. How could it have been flooded when so much wealth was spent?

He hurriedly dressed and stepped out of the room when he saw Liu Jianjun running over from the side courtyard, rubbing his sleepy eyes. His hair was a mess, and his outer robe was tied incorrectly.

"What's going on? Why is there such a commotion in the middle of the night..."

Before Liu Jianjun could finish speaking, he saw the firelight that illuminated the night sky and instantly snapped to attention. "Holy crap! Isn't that... the direction of Mingtang? Who's so bold?!"

The two had no time to say more and hurriedly climbed to the top floor of the mansion to look out.

Flames soared into the sky where the Mingtang Hall was located. Fueled by the wind, the fire engulfed the magnificent building, and the booming sound of collapsing beams and pillars could be heard from afar.

The entire city of Luoyang seemed to be alarmed; the sounds of the watchman's gong, the soldiers running, and the people's cries of alarm mingled together, creating chaos.

Li Xian was deeply shaken.

The entire Mingtang Hall was nearly thirty feet high, and the flames that shot up were like a small sun, illuminating almost the entire city of Luoyang. Even standing inside the Prince of Pei's mansion, Li Xian could faintly feel the heat wave.

"How...how could the fire be so big?" Li Xian murmured subconsciously.

The Mingtang is a sacred place symbolizing the divine right of emperors. It is usually guarded by a large number of people. Even if a fire breaks out, it should be controlled in a very short time. But now the entire Mingtang has burned down. This is too inconceivable.

"How could that be? It was deliberate!" Liu Jianjun clicked his tongue and crossed his arms.

Li Xian was taken aback: "Man-made? Who would dare to set fire to the Mingtang?"

"Who else could it be? Yesterday, the 'Golden Buddha Emerging from the Earth' performance didn't receive any applause, and today the farce of painting a Buddha image with blood was ignored... Besides our jealous and desperate Master Xue, who else has the guts and the motive to set this fire?"

Li Xian's eyes widened: "You mean... Feng Xiaobao set the fire?"

Liu Jianjun shook his head, his tone tinged with sarcasm: "What else? I knew he was crazy, but I didn't expect him to be this crazy. He did contribute to the construction of the Mingtang, and now he's just burning it down? Has he completely given up on everything?"

Then, he waved his hand, yawned, and said, "Alright, go to sleep, it's so late..."

Then he turned and walked towards his small courtyard.

……

Just as they expected, news spread from the palace before dawn.

A palace servant witnessed Feng Xiaobao, who was drunk, rushing into the main hall with a torch in his hand before the fire started.

Furthermore, soldiers on night watch confirmed that they heard Feng Xiaobao's maniacal laughter and curses coming from inside the Mingtang, seemingly shouting things like "You are heartless, don't blame me for being unjust" and "Burn it all up."

The evidence is overwhelming; the arsonist is Feng Xiaobao!

……

(End of this chapter)