The revitalization of the Tang Dynasty began with the Ganlu Incident.

According to the system in the early Tang Dynasty, the heads of the three provinces were all prime ministers.

However, as time went on, in order to reduce the power of the prime minister, it gradually evolved into a system where anyone who was appointed as the Chancellor of the Secretariat and the Chancellery could also become the prime minister.

After the mid-Tang Dynasty, things completely reversed.

Having the official title of head of three provinces is not enough to qualify someone as a prime minister. Only those who are also appointed as the Chancellor of the Secretariat and the Chancellery have the authority to enter the Hall of State Affairs to discuss state affairs.

Linghu Chu, who is speaking right now, is in this very situation.

Although he held the position of Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, he had long been marginalized and was only responsible for the affairs of the Minister of Ceremonies.

If not for a special summons, he might not even have been invited to this audience at Yanying Hall.

The reason for this situation lies with Li Xun!

Although Li Xun is known in history for the Ganlu Incident, in reality, the original owner of this body initially employed him to solve the problem of factionalism.

At that time, the Niu and Li factions were locked in a fierce struggle for power in the imperial court. Li Xun's solution was to take a complete and drastic approach.

Regardless of whether they were from the Niu faction or the Li faction, he demoted and sidelined them, and promoted his own people who were not affiliated with any party to new positions.

Linghu Chu was affected in this way.

He was an old friend and political ally of Li Fengji, one of the leaders of the Niu Party, and was naturally labeled as a member of the Niu Party.

Therefore, he was naturally among those targeted by Li Xun.

However, he came from a prestigious family and was upright by nature, refusing to associate with powerful officials. Therefore, Li Xun could not find any fault with him and could only send him to the Court of Imperial Sacrifices to do some miscellaneous work.

At this moment, he was the first to speak sarcastically to Li Xun, which could be described as enemies meeting and being extremely hostile.

However, Li Xun was prepared for this and immediately retorted.

"Minister Linghu, please be careful with your words. My promotion in my official career is entirely due to the Emperor's favor and the grace of the court. It has nothing to do with eunuchs. Over the years, I have eliminated countless eunuchs. If you say that I have connections with eunuchs, then I'm afraid there are no clean officials in the entire court."

"But you, Minister Linghu, have always had close ties with Li Zongmin's faction. Now that I have submitted a memorial to thoroughly investigate those who colluded with the outside world, you are the first to object. Could it be that you have something to hide?"

Li Xun was clearly not a good-for-nothing, given that he was valued by the original owner of this body.

On the contrary, he knew very well where his confidence came from; he was a knife, a knife that the emperor used to cut down eunuchs and his cronies.

Therefore, he is not afraid of offending people.

It could even be said that the more people he offends, the more it proves how capable he is at handling affairs.

Therefore, when Linghu Chu accused him of relying on eunuchs to advance his career, Li Xun immediately brought up his merits in eliminating Wang Shoucheng, Qiu Shiliang, and others, and in turn accused Linghu Chu of having something to hide.

However, what he didn't notice was that when he proudly mentioned his so-called "elimination of eunuchs," a cold glint flashed in Xue Jiling's eyes beside the throne.

Linghu Chu had long witnessed Li Xun's mad dog-like fighting style, and naturally knew that getting entangled with him at this moment would be the most foolish thing to do.

So he made a quick decision, stepped forward, and bowed.

"Your Majesty, now that Qiu and Yu have just been executed, there is much discussion and unrest throughout the court and among the people. There are even rumors that Your Majesty intends to order the prime minister to take command of the troops."

"In such turbulent times, it is most appropriate to stabilize people's hearts and soothe the court. Li Xun's talk of investigating his cronies is nothing more than using this as a pretext to eliminate dissidents and carry out the practice of implicating relatives."

"If that were the case, it would surely incite resentment in the court and among the people, and destabilize the nation. I urge Your Majesty to reconsider."

Linghu Chu was known for his integrity and uprightness.

To put it bluntly, the old man spoke rudely.

With just one word, he incited resentment in the court and among the people, and brought unrest to the nation. Even if Li Ang wasn't the kind of feudal patriarch the original owner of this body, he couldn't help but feel that the words weren't so pleasant to hear.

At this moment, Xue Jiling, the lieutenant of the Shence Army, seemed to have caught some key words and said.

"Everyone, this old servant is a palace servant and should not interrupt when discussing state affairs. However, just now, Minister Linghu said that there are rumors in the court that His Majesty intends to order the prime minister to command the troops."

"I am honored by your kindness and trust to temporarily take charge of the Shence Army. Therefore, I must say something: the Shence Army is the imperial guard, and there has never been a precedent in history for a prime minister to be in charge of it."

"Is the person who spread this rumor perhaps trying to emulate the likes of Dong Zhuo and Cao Cao, using the emperor to command the feudal lords?"

As he said this, Xue Jiling glanced coldly at Li Xun in the hall from the corner of his eye.

Clearly, he believed that the rumor was deliberately spread by certain individuals.

In fact, not only Xue Jiling, but all the ministers present also looked at Li Xun after hearing Linghu Chu's words, their eyes filled with a strange expression.

It's no wonder they overthink things.

If it were any other minister in the palace, they would have thought this was a slander by their political enemies.

But if it were Li Xun, he really could do something like that.

Especially when they recalled how Li Xun had repeatedly prevented Liu Hongyi and others from taking over the Shence Army in Hanyuan Hall that day, everyone became increasingly suspicious.

Seeing this, Li Xun's expression turned somewhat unpleasant, and he said.

"Your Majesty, this is nothing but a rumor. This was a summons to the Yan Ying Hall. These baseless and unfounded rumors are truly an insult to Your Majesty's ears. I implore Your Majesty to punish those who spread these rumors."

Despite saying that, a hint of regret flashed in Li Xun's eyes.

Clearly, he still felt somewhat resentful about what happened at Hanyuan Hall that day.

If he had known this would happen, he should have detained Liu Hongyi and the others immediately when they first came out.

In this way, the emperor would certainly not be misled into handing over the power of the Shence Army back to the eunuchs.

Yes, Li Xun had been recalling the events of that day over the past few days and finally came to the conclusion that the reason the emperor changed his mind must be because Liu Hongyi and others had taken the opportunity to say something to the emperor while he was out mobilizing troops.

Li Xun believed he had figured out the emperor's temperament: ambitious but lacking in decisiveness; to put it bluntly, he was easily swayed and prone to changing his mind after being persuaded.

Just like the Ganlu Incident, Li Xun was able to force the emperor to do something even when the emperor hadn't made up his mind. So, naturally, these eunuchs could do the same.

Given the chaotic situation at the time, and the fact that the emperor needed the help of Liu Hongyi and others to protect Hanyuan Hall, it is entirely possible that he was persuaded by them and promised to hand over the Shence Army to them afterward.

This conjecture would likely be true if applied to Emperor Wenzong in history.

However, Li Xun overlooked, or rather, refused to acknowledge, that Li Ang had already made a promise to become the Shence Lieutenant when he first took action in the palace that day, and was not persuaded by anyone to change his mind.

Therefore, people are sometimes like this; they easily get trapped in their past perceptions, only believing what they want to believe, and thus failing to see the true facts.

In Li Xun's eyes at this time, he was still a favored minister whom the emperor regarded as a confidant, and the greatest contributor and backbone of the plan to eliminate eunuchs.

This is the case for most people who rise to high positions suddenly.

Because of this, Li Xun was unaware that at least two forces were secretly approaching him...