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

Chapter 80 Shangguan Wan'er is here again.

In the days that followed, Liu Jianjun indeed began to "wait".

He devoted most of his time to that piece of land, and would go out at dawn to urge the Kunlun slaves to dig irrigation ditches.

Those iron-clad Kunlun slaves had extremely strong endurance. At first, because they were not used to using farm tools, their speed in digging irrigation ditches was slightly slower than that of the servants in the royal palace.

But almost within two or three days, the speed increased more than twice as fast, to the point that Liu Jianjun eventually sent the servants of the Prince's Mansion back, leaving only the Kunlun slaves to dig.

Besides making those Kunlun slaves dig the ground, Liu Jianjun did several other inexplicable things.

First, it angered Liu Neyan.

The previous "unfounded accusation" seemed to have become the fuse for the discord between the two. Liu Nayan couldn't stand Liu Jianjun's lack of manners, while Liu Jianjun would frequently make sarcastic remarks to Liu Nayan.

Of course, Li Xian, who was familiar with the inside story, knew that Liu Jianjun must have his reasons for doing this.

It was just a pity for Liu Neyan. Li Xian saw that he had wanted to complain to him many times, but he had repeatedly endured it because he was afraid of Liu Jianjun's kindness to him.

The second thing Liu Jianjun did was to conspire with Wang Bo.

The two did not deliberately avoid Li Xian, so Li Xian overheard their conversation by chance.

It seems to be related to the folk song "One fire, two fires, a little boy in scarlet robes sits in the palace".

As for the third thing, in Liu Jianjun's words, it's about continuing to cultivate goodwill with Di Renjie.

The two men would make a special trip to visit Di Renjie every ten days or so.

Under Liu Jianjun's guidance, Li Xian would always ask Di Renjie for advice on issues related to people's livelihood and civil affairs. His words were impartial and unbiased, without any political stance, and he would not try to win people over or buy their hearts.

Liu Jianjun said that Di Renjie was a smart man, whose intelligence was even comparable to that of Empress Wu.

Therefore, if you want to "win him over", you can't show any intention to win him over.

Li Xian didn't understand, but he firmly followed Liu Jianjun's words.

……

Today seems like just another ordinary day.

Except that the weather has warmed up a little.

February is almost here, and the coldest days of winter in Chang'an seem to have passed. Liu Jianjun even wrote a poem, "The ducks are the first to know when the spring river warms."

But Li Xian arrived at Liu Jianjun's courtyard much earlier.

Today marks the end of the mourning period for the Emperor, and Shangguan Wan'er will come to inform Liu Jianjun of the latest developments in the court.

Li Xian, on the other hand, needs to listen in from the sidelines.

In Liu Jianjun's words, he needed to understand the meaning behind Empress Wu's arrangements.

You don't have to learn it, but you have to understand it.

The two waited until almost noon before Shangguan Wan'er finally arrived.

This time, Liu Jianjun didn't make sarcastic remarks to her; he simply frowned and asked, "Not going too smoothly?"

Li Xian sensed some concern in Liu Jianjun's tone.

"Not really. It was just that the court session took a little longer than usual on the first day of the new emperor's reign." Shangguan Wan'er's expression didn't show any change, except that she looked a little tired.

Li Xian thought to himself that infiltrating the side of such a shrewd person as his mother must not be an easy task.

"Well then, to make a long story short, what other tricks did Empress Wu take after you left last time?" Liu Jianjun asked.

"Just as you predicted, Empress Wu first took control of the central imperial guards, and ordered Generals Cheng Wuting and Zhang Qianxu to take charge of the left and right Imperial Guards respectively..." At this point, Shangguan Wan'er's face turned somewhat ugly. "You said last time that Empress Wu's backup plan to sideline Minister Liu has already come out. I suspect that Empress Wu... probably wants to move the government to Luoyang."

“Because Cheng Wuting and Zhang Qianxu have already led the Imperial Guards to Luoyang, if nothing unexpected happens…” But Shangguan Wan’er paused here, looking at Li Xian and Liu Jianjun with some surprise: “You…aren’t you surprised?”

Li Xian wanted to say that Liu Jianjun had already guessed this, but after looking at Liu Jianjun, he chose to remain silent.

Then I felt a warmth in my heart.

Even though Liu Jianjun and Shangguan Wan'er had already been intimate, he still didn't tell Shangguan Wan'er about it.

But I told myself that.

Liu Jianjun picked up the thread: "This is not unexpected. We have already made arrangements for Liu Rengui's side. Empress Wu's move of power to Luoyang is actually a good thing for us."

"Go on, another step Empress Wu took was to control the local areas, right?"

Shangguan Wan'er gave Liu Jianjun a deep look before continuing, "Yes, Empress Wu has dispatched some trusted generals to the four major governorates of Bingzhou, Yizhou, Jingzhou, and Yangzhou to strengthen local defenses..."

Before Shangguan Wan'er could finish speaking, Liu Jianjun waved his hand to interrupt her and looked at Li Xian: "Xianzi, let me tell you the significance of Empress Wu's arrangement."

Li Xian nodded.

Liu Jianjun continued, "Bingzhou is the birthplace of the Li Tang dynasty and the hometown of Empress Wu Zetian. At the same time, it is also an important military town in the north, and its importance is beyond doubt."

"Yizhou is rich in resources and easy to defend, making it the rear base of the Tang Dynasty; Yangzhou is the richest city in the world and an important source of revenue for the Tang Dynasty; Jingzhou is the metropolis of the central and southern regions and has been a strategic location fought over by military strategists since ancient times."

"Your mother controls these four important locations, with soldiers and money at her disposal, putting her in an invincible position. At this point, Xianzi is completely isolated and helpless, with no capable ministers in the court, no generals to command in the provinces, and no usable funds."

"In just twenty-seven days, your mother has completely sidelined Xianzi from the court to the local level, from military strength to financial resources."

Li Xian pursed his lips and asked, "Then... can this situation be broken?"

Although he had long anticipated this day, he still found it unbelievable to hear Liu Jianjun say this.

Li Xian really didn't last a month under his mother's control.

"It can't be broken. Your mother is now invincible. This is the result of her accumulating strength over most of her life. Unless your father comes back to life, no one can break this situation."

As if worried that Li Xian might be discouraged, Liu Jianjun smiled and patted Li Xian on the shoulder, saying, "Don't worry, it's normal for your mother to have achieved this level after managing for most of her life. We've only been in Chang'an for a short time, and you've already done a remarkable job."

Li Xian smiled with relief: "I'm not that fragile. I'm just a little worried about Li Xian. He must be in a very difficult situation right now."

Liu Jianjun nodded: "Don't worry, it will definitely be difficult, but your life is safe."

"At most, your mother will depose him. She won't risk the world's condemnation by murdering the emperor. Otherwise, her Wu family would become the second Sima family. She is a smart woman. She is willing to take risks to be the first in history, but she will never be the second to repeat the same mistakes."

At this moment, Shangguan Wan'er interjected, asking, "Then... what should we do now?"

"Didn't I say? No one can rival Empress Wu now, what can we do?" Liu Jianjun glared at Shangguan Wan'er and said, "You weren't this stupid before."

Shangguan Wan'er glared at him defiantly and asked, "You mean we still have to wait? How long are we supposed to wait then?"

“Whom Heaven wishes to destroy, it first makes mad. We just need to wait until she builds a tall building and then let it collapse.” Liu Jianjun paused here, then turned to look at Li Xian: “Xianzi, you can go now.”

Li Xian was stunned and hadn't reacted yet when Shangguan Wan'er blushed, but still stubbornly stared at Liu Jianjun and said, "Next time, you're not allowed to hide anything from me!"

"What are you hiding from me?"

"For example, this relocation of the capital!"

Liu Jianjun chuckled: "Alright, I only held back last time because you didn't perform well. Don't do it again!"

As he spoke, ignoring Shangguan Wan'er's still-arguing expression, he stepped forward, picked her up, and walked into the room.

"I've missed this girl so much!"

……

(End of this chapter)