Li Chengqi smiled slightly, his smile was gentle and elegant:
"Last night, His Majesty the Emperor issued a decree overnight, informing all the princes and royal families that he has adopted a new adopted daughter and has been canonized as a princess. Has your aunt heard about this?"
Taiping had an enigmatic smile on his face:
"Are you talking about Fang Mingzhu?"
"So, my aunt has also received the imperial edict?"
"Of course I received it," Princess Taiping looked at Li Chengqi and refused to miss the slightest change in his expression, "It's just that I didn't quite understand why Your Majesty mobilized so many troops so late at night for a princess with a foreign surname, but now, I
I understand somewhat."
"What do you understand?"
"This Fang Mingzhu must have some background, otherwise, how could it alert you to come to me all night long?"
Princess Taiping did not answer the question, and immediately forced Li Chengqi into a blind corner. Her meaning was very clear. No matter what your purpose is in finding me today, you must first explain the origin of Fang Mingzhu to me clearly!
Li Chengqi was not panicked, because he had known a long time ago that Princess Taiping was a very difficult person to deal with. So since he dared to come today, he was fully prepared:
"Aunt, to be honest, Fang Mingzhu comes from the Fang family in the Western Region!"
Princess Taiping was shocked. Although she had long suspected this, she was still very shocked to hear Li Chengqi say it himself, because in her mind, Li Chengqi had always been a very safe person, no matter what.
, he will never speak easily without being very sure.
Seeing that Princess Taiping didn't speak, Li Chengqi asked again:
"Auntie, have you ever heard of the Fang family in the Western Regions?"
Taiping's mind was racing, and she didn't know whether to admit or deny it. When she heard the name of the Fang family in the Western Regions, she was still a little girl. When she was studying with her brothers in the palace, the teacher told them about it.
It was a story about the past, but the story was very simple. Later, when Empress Zetian ascended the throne, she deliberately annihilated many things about the Li royal family, and no one mentioned it anymore. Later, as time went by, people also
I gradually forgot that in the far western region, there still existed a mysterious family that had some kind of contract with the Li royal family.
Princess Taiping didn't know what Li Chengqi's intention was when he came in the middle of the night and suddenly mentioned this matter. She also didn't understand why the emperor suddenly adopted a girl from the Fang family as his adopted daughter. This series of questions, in Taiping
It was going around in her mind repeatedly. After a while, she asked:
"How did you know that Fang Mingzhu is from the Fang family?"
Li Chengqi had been waiting for Princess Taiping to ask this question. Now that she had asked it, he took advantage of the situation and said the answer he had compiled long ago:
"The Fang family's visit to Beijing this time was originally a secret order from His Majesty the Emperor."
"What!" Taiping was really surprised this time, "Is there such a thing? How did you know?"
Li Chengqi remained calm:
"I also have some friends who can provide me with some information. However, we need to judge the authenticity of these information ourselves." Li Chengqi deliberately said it half-heartedly. He knew that Taiping also understood what he meant. They, the royal family,
They all have many spies in the palace, specifically to find out all kinds of news in the palace.
"Then did your friend tell you why the emperor summoned the Fang family to Beijing?"
"It is said that the emperor received a secret report that someone is trying to seize the throne." Li Chengqi said in a low voice.
"Who?" Princess Taiping pressed forward step by step.
"I don't know. I think such a major event must be buried in the emperor's heart alone. But I have an idea. Since the emperor will summon people from the Fang family into the palace, then the person who rebelled must not be
We Li family members, aunt, don't forget that in that legend, the Fang family will always protect our Li family."
If it's not that the Li family wants to rebel, it must be someone from the Wu family or the Wei family. Therefore, although Li Chengqi didn't say it explicitly, the effect is almost the same as if he did.
Princess Taiping suddenly waved her sleeves:
"Since you came to me today, you must have something on your mind or something happened again. If anything happens, just tell me clearly. We are aunt and nephew. Apart from your parents, I am the closest person to you.
I'm a human being, so if you have anything, I will definitely help you."
Li Chengqi knew that his words had achieved results, and Princess Taiping was a little anxious, because the last thing she wanted to see was that the Wu family or Queen Wei interfered with the throne.
"Okay," Li Chengqi's expression became serious, "Last night, His Majesty suddenly accepted Fang Mingzhu as his adopted daughter and announced it to all the royal family. This was obviously because he was worried that Fang Mingzhu would be killed. As far as I know, there was a sudden chaos in the palace last night.
The Imperial Guards are all searching for Fang Mingzhu!"
"It turns out she was the one being hunted!" Taiping blurted out.
"It's absolutely true! Think about it, Auntie, Fang Mingzhu is the person His Majesty ordered to protect, but he was searched so blatantly. What does it mean?"
Taiping's face suddenly changed color:
"You mean?" She didn't dare to continue talking, because what she was going to say next was too crucial. No matter how bold she was, she didn't dare to say that the emperor had been killed.
Li Chengqi shook his head slightly:
"A lot of things are my guesses, but I still want to ask my aunt to go to the palace with me. No matter what, the throne belongs to our Li family!"
Princess Taiping's eyes also glowed with blazing light:
'According to what Li Chengqi means, Empress Wei or Wu Sansi has already murdered the emperor. If this is true, then we can just take them all down in one fell swoop, and then get rid of them legitimately, and then the throne will be mine!'
Taiping thought of this and nodded slightly:
"Okay, then let's go to the palace."
Li Chengqi felt relieved:
'Mingzhu, no matter what kind of crisis you are in now, just hold on and I will come to save you.'
Mingzhu was really unlucky that night. First, she was trapped in the cave for a night, and then fell into the hands of Shangguan Wan'er. Fortunately, she also had good swimming skills. After Mingzhu dived into the water and swam a certain distance
, he threw off his outer clothes under the water, and then quietly sneaked away.
She hid under a duckweed and watched from a distance as the boat circled around her clothes for a while, then rowed away again. Then Mingzhu swam towards the lake cautiously.
This time, Mingzhu chose the direction facing the small cave where she had just hidden, which was also the farthest place from the Imperial Garden. Mingzhu didn’t know what the palaces of the Tang Dynasty looked like, but she had seen all the places in the world.
There are many famous palace buildings. Among these buildings, as long as there is a water source, the most secluded place of the water source will usually be close to the outermost wall of the palace, so as to facilitate the introduction of running water. If this custom also exists here
, then the place Mingzhu has chosen now should be the most secluded and desolate corner of the palace.
I hope I can hide there and escape for a while.
Mingzhu finally swam to the shore. She held her hands on the stones by the water and looked around. She couldn't see anyone. All she could see were moss-covered stones and messy weeds everywhere.
It is a desolate place, completely different from the wealthy scene in the imperial garden.
Mingzhu secretly breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that her judgment was correct. She pressed the stone, exerted strength with her arms, and lifted her body up, leaving the water. As soon as she came out of the water, she felt a biting pain.
It's cold. Her clothes are thin now, and if she lets the cold wind blow in this desolate place, she will inevitably shrink.
Mingzhu hugged her shoulders tightly, trying to find a place to hide, but just as she took a step forward, she heard a loud shout:
"stop!"
Mingzhu was startled and looked up. It turned out that from behind the stone closest to her, several guards holding steel knives walked out! They stood attentively and stared at Mingzhu.
Mingzhu's reaction was really fast. She only panicked for a second before she calmed down. Regardless of her current embarrassing appearance, she raised her head proudly, looked at the guard in front of her, and spoke in a louder voice than him.
Asked loudly:
"Who are you? What are you doing hiding here?"
The leading guard showed a very interested look on his face. He looked Fang Mingzhu up and down. After a while, he said calmly:
"Fang Mingzhu, no wonder you can run away five times and three times. You are really not simple. Your courage alone is very good. It's a pity that you have met me now and you can't escape this time.
"
Mingzhu called out her name as soon as she saw the other party coming up. She also knew in her heart that this time it would be more dangerous. She looked at the shining steel knives in front of her and sighed softly:
"It seems that I really can't escape this time. In fact, you really don't need to go to such great lengths to fight. My body has already been poisoned by two kinds of poison. When the time comes, I will naturally die from the poison." Mingzhu said,
She touched her forehead subconsciously. At this time, her face had turned as white as snow due to the injury and cold, and the thin blue-black line became even more shocking.
The leader looked at Mingzhu with an expressionless face:
"I have long heard that you are scheming, so you don't need to play tricks with me. I won't listen to anything and will just take you back."
Mingzhu smiled bitterly:
"I don't want to run away, I just want to ask my brother something."
Even now, Mingzhu has not forgotten the basic skills of building a good relationship with others.
"Don't ask, I won't say anything." The leader seemed to be afraid that Mingzhu would call her eldest brother again, so he interrupted her very abruptly.
Mingzhu smiled again:
"Brother, don't get me wrong. I know that you are a food errand. You have no control over what you do or don't do, so I don't mean to blame you at all."