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

Chapter 66 Shangguan Wan'er visits
It's been three days, and Shangguan Wan'er still hasn't arrived.

Li Xian even suspected that Liu Jianjun's speculation was wrong.

For the past three days, Li Xian has been sending Li Guangshun and the others to Liu Jianjun's field every day. After sending them off, he even found a servant to keep an eye on them. If they dare to leave early, he would have the servant report to him.

In just three days, the children's attitudes had changed dramatically.

But things are not changing for the better.

At first, they were thinking about studying with Liu Jianjun, so they pretended to work, but when they found that no one was watching them, the three brothers started to slack off.

By the third day, the three of them had spent almost the entire time resting in the shadows, no longer even pretending.

Li Xian felt it was pointless, but Liu Jianjun said to just leave it as is.

So Li Xian stopped paying attention to them.

On the morning of the fourth day, just as Li Xiangan had sent the children to the South Courtyard, Liu Jianjun sent someone with a message: Shangguan Wan'er had arrived and asked him to come over.

Li Xian was startled. Remembering Liu Jianjun's instructions, he made an excuse to have Xiu Niang take Chang Xin to Shengpingfang to buy snacks, while he himself went to Liu Jianjun's courtyard.

Liu Jianjun and Shangguan Wan'er seemed to have just arrived. When Liu Jianjun saw Li Xian coming over, he quickly greeted him, "Xianzi, come and sit down."

Actually, Li Xian was a little embarrassed at this moment.

He knew why Liu Jianjun had called Shangguan Wan'er over, and he wondered if it was inappropriate for him to be there at this time.

Shangguan Wan'er seemed surprised by Li Xian's arrival as well. She glared at Liu Jianjun with a look of embarrassment and annoyance, then bit her lower lip and looked at Li Xian: "Your Highness Prince Pei, would you please leave for a while..."

"No, Xianzi needs to be here right now." Liu Jianjun sat down opposite Shangguan Wan'er casually. "There are some things that Xianzi needs to know."

When Li Xian heard Liu Jianjun say that, he sat down abruptly.

Liu Jianjun continued to tease Shangguan Wan'er, saying, "Miss Shangguan is a bit dumber than I thought; she arrived a few days late."

"I...I saw it a long time ago!" Shangguan Wan'er glared at Liu Jianjun.

There was a hint of embarrassment and annoyance in her eyes.

"Oh! You're shy!" Liu Jianjun gave an exaggerated look of sudden realization, then teased, "Why don't you just wait until the day the bet is almost over before you come over?"

"I don't want to be looked down upon!"

Shangguan Wan'er stubbornly raised her chin, as if she was insisting on maintaining her last bit of pride.

Li Xian thought to himself that Liu Jianjun was truly despicable.

“Alright, let’s not waste any more time. Let’s talk about what arrangements Empress Wu has made in the court during this period.” After Liu Jianjun finished speaking, he looked at Li Xian and said, “Xianzi, listen to this too. You don’t have to learn about political intrigue, but you have to understand it. Your mother is definitely the best teacher in this regard.”

Li Xian felt a chill run down his spine. So this was the reason Liu Jianjun had asked him to come over. He immediately sat up straight.

Shangguan Wan'er then spoke up, "Empress Wu first ordered that members of the royal family be granted additional titles..."

“This part can be skipped,” Liu Jianjun interrupted directly.

Shangguan Wan'er paused for a moment, then continued honestly, "Subsequently, the entire prime ministerial team was reorganized. The veteran minister Liu Rengui was promoted to the second-rank Left Vice Minister, and several newly promoted prime ministers were then promoted from the position of Chancellor to the third-rank Chancellor..."

Before Shangguan Wan'er could finish speaking, Liu Jianjun looked at Li Xian and explained, "It goes without saying that promoting a new prime minister is just your mother's way of building up her own power base in the court."

"As for Liu Rengui, he is an old minister from the late emperor's time. Your mother has promoted him to the highest rank of the second grade, which is the most powerful position. There will definitely be follow-up measures to completely sideline him, but he should not be touched in the short term."

“Miss Shangguan, please continue.”

Shangguan Wan'er nodded and continued, "There's also Pei Yan, who was transferred from the position of Chancellor to Grand Secretary. At the same time, a major adjustment was made: the Council of State Affairs, where the prime ministers collectively discuss state affairs, was moved from the Chancellery to the Grand Secretariat."

This time, Liu Jianjun interrupted again: "Xianzi, this step is crucial!"

Li Xian was puzzled: "Both the Attendant-in-Ordinary and the Chancellor are third-rank officials with equal status. What is the significance of this adjustment?"

Liu Jianjun explained: "The original prime minister system of our Great Tang Dynasty was a three-department system. The Secretariat issued orders, the Chancellery reviewed them, and the Department of State Affairs implemented them. Before the orders were implemented, the Chancellery was the final check, which is why the prime ministers set up the Hall of State Affairs in the Chancellery."

Li Xian nodded.

Liu Jianjun continued, "But it's clear that as the Tang Dynasty gradually developed, government affairs became increasingly complex, and the Central Secretariat's power to advise and issue orders became increasingly important. Your mother's move of the Hall of State Affairs from the Chancellery to the Central Secretariat at this time implicitly strengthened the Central Secretariat's power. "Furthermore, Pei Yan was promoted by your mother, wasn't he?"

Li Xian nodded.

He was one of the two prime ministers who initially tried the case of the crown prince's indecent behavior.

"Your mother transferred Pei Yan to the position of Grand Chancellor, and he presided over every meeting of the prime ministers. In effect, Pei Yan became the chief prime minister. Do you understand now?"

Li Xian felt a chill run down his spine.

He's not stupid.

The power of the prime ministers was concentrated in the Secretariat, and Pei Yan became the Grand Secretary, who was also the Empress Dowager's man.

and so……

The Empress Dowager completely controlled the prime ministers' team in the Tang Dynasty.

Such terrifying results were achieved through just a few regime changes; Li Xian felt for the first time just how terrifying Empress Wu was.

At this moment, Li Xian felt only gratitude, grateful that he had Liu Jianjun's help.

At the same time, he also looked at Shangguan Wan'er with newfound respect.

Shangguan Wan'er was able to see through these events that Li Xian was destined to lose, which undoubtedly shows that she was an extremely intelligent person.

Liu Jianjun then looked at Shangguan Wan'er and said, "Go on, Empress Wu should be taking control of the military next, right? At the very least, she should be able to take over the central imperial guards, right?"

Shangguan Wan'er glared at him irritably and said, "It hasn't even started yet! If I wait until Empress Wu takes that step before I come looking for her, won't you think I'm incredibly stupid?"

Li Xian fell silent again.

He realized that he was much dumber than Liu Jianjun or Shangguan Wan'er.

Liu Jianjun had foreseen this outcome from the day his father's edict was issued, while Shangguan Wan'er, upon seeing the changes in the prime minister's faction, knew that Li Xian was doomed to defeat and even guessed that Empress Wu would seize military power.

But if Liu Jianjun hadn't explained it, he wouldn't have even realized why his mother had adjusted the prime minister's team.

"Alright then." Liu Jianjun seemed a little unsatisfied.

Shangguan Wan'er hesitated for a moment before asking, "What do you plan to do?"

"What are your plans and how?"

"Empress Wu will definitely force His Majesty to abdicate. Are you planning to make your move then?"

"Are you crazy? Back then, Empress Wu had all the officials in the court under her control, and the central imperial guards all obeyed her orders. Anyone who made a move at that time would die!" Liu Jianjun rolled his eyes at Shangguan Wan'er in annoyance.

"So what do you plan to do?"

"Wait." Liu Jianjun patted his butt and stood up, turning to look at Li Xian: "Alright, Xianzi, you can go out now."

Li Xian was stunned.

"What are you still standing there for? You know what I'm about to do!"

Li Xian instantly realized what Liu Jianjun was about to do, glared at him irritably, stood up, and then noticed that Shangguan Wan'er was also blushing.

“Liu… Liu…” Shangguan Wan’er bit her lower lip tightly.

But Liu Jianjun suddenly leaned down, embraced Shangguan Wan'er's waist amidst her gasp, and then bit her lip.

"I've wanted to kiss those little lips for ages."

Li Xian felt he should avoid the situation.

……

(End of this chapter)