As night falls, candles are lit in the dormitory, and at the same time, the huge cauldron emits the soothing aroma from the Western Regions again.
But the fragrance at this time was covered by the strong and bitter medicinal smell, but it still could not bring the saint back to his senses.
Li Zhi was lying on the couch with his eyes closed tightly. If he hadn't occasionally moaned in pain, he would have been sleeping in the imperial mausoleum.
Compared with that time when the prince brought hundreds of officials to the Eastern Capital, the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty had lost a lot of weight, his cheeks had obvious sunken spots, and the hair on his head had become sparser.
That's okay, Li Zhi's appearance used to look very old. The Empress Wu was obviously four years older than him, but she looked like an old man and a young wife. The most important thing was that all the imperial doctors in front of the bed remained silent.
The silence speaks.
Empress Wu, who was sitting on the edge of the collapse, knew that Li Zhi was really dying.
In fact, it is the same as Zampu of Tubo. Yang Zaiwei did not kill him when he assassinated him. He used his strength to seriously injure him. But for a person who has been ill for a long time, anyone who dares to touch him will die immediately. Tubo
Zanpu became the Tubo King Zanpu.
Li Zhi's body completely collapsed. It was also because of the poisonous smoke that pushed him down on the edge of the cliff. He suddenly fell ill like a mountain. If it weren't for the world's top imperial doctors and all kinds of medicinal materials,
He will definitely not be able to delay the nourishment until now.
But if we delay any longer, there must be a beginning...
There was deathly silence in the main hall, and even the sound of breathing almost disappeared.
Finally, Empress Wu's cold and stern voice sounded: "Everyone, stand down!"
The imperial doctors breathed a silent sigh of relief and hurriedly bowed and left. Eunuch Gao and other chamberlains also left the palace without saying a word.
When there were only two people in the hall, Empress Wu reached out and gently touched Li Zhi's old cheek, her eyes slightly red: "Your Majesty, when did we get to this point?"
This was originally a soliloquy, but the next moment, an old voice actually sounded in the empty palace: "This is the time when he breaks his promise and gets fat, not only wants to use you, but also refuses to give you the position of Queen of Heaven!"
Empress Wu's face changed slightly, and the sorrow in her eyes immediately disappeared, and instead she shot out a sharp light, staring in the direction where the sound came from.
A figure slowly walked out from the shadow that the candlelight could not reach.
His appearance and figure could not be seen, only his robes trailing to the floor, covering his entire body, and a bronze mask on his face, which was cold and ferocious. Even his chin was covered, with only a pair of eyes peeking out from behind the mask.
Empress Wu stared at this man and squeezed out a sentence through her teeth: "It's really you! Have you entered the Daming Palace?"
The visitor said: "What's the difficulty in entering this palace? In my original plan, as long as I instigated the rebellion of Bei Ya's Bai Qi, the South Ya's Sixteen Guards would be useless. Now that Bai Qi has gone to Luoyang, Li Zhi will guard the palace.
It is even more of a joke that the power of the city is secretly entrusted to the hands of Shang Gong!"
Hearing the visitor calling Li Zhi by his first name, Empress Wu's pupils shrank slightly: "Even Shang Gong was bribed by you?"
The visitor said: "This is even simpler. The Shang Gong sisters each stand on one side. The sister is indeed loyal to Li Zhi, but she also knows very well that as long as the saint knows that there are two of them and one of them has always been loyal to the Changsun family,
There is no room for them!"
While talking all the way, the visitor came closer, and his eyes behind the mask fell on Li Zhi: "This saint will never remember how many great contributions the minister has made. He only cares about whether the minister poses a threat to him now. Thanks to him
This ruthless and unkind character is why so many people finally chose to serve me!
Empress Wu sneered after hearing this: "Those people's secret dissatisfaction with the saint cannot be transformed into loyalty to you. The saint is the orthodox imperial power, and it is impossible for others to serve in vain, let alone you!"
The visitor looked at Empress Wu: "What about you? When did your dissatisfaction with Li Zhi begin?"
"Is he trying to kill Helan Minzhi? Or is he scorning the auspiciousness you have worked so hard to build, letting you know that if you no longer strive for it, the position of Queen of Heaven will never be reached?"
"When power reaches a certain level, it will often retreat if you don't advance. What's more, you are just a queen. The queen's participation in politics is inherently unfair, unless you become a queen like the previous dynasty documents!"
When she heard about the title of Queen of Heaven, Empress Wu raised her brows slightly and said with a cold expression: "There is no need to provoke me with words. I know what I want better than you."
The visitor's tone became solemn: "But you refused my most critical step. If the prince died, this situation would not be the same now! The prince's health has always been in poor health. If he died suddenly, no one would be able to notice it. Wait until Li
Xian Jie, with his domineering and domineering personality, is actually easier to deal with. I have paved the way for you, but you are worried and missed a great opportunity!"
"Shut up!!"
Empress Wu's eyes became extremely sharp, and her aura instantly overwhelmed the opponent: "Put away your ridiculous tricks! You want to cut off my retreat and let me be used by you. Are you worthy of it?"
The visitor laughed and swayed slightly in his robe: "This is just an excuse for your cowardice. If you want to get the supreme power, when will there be a way out? If you add the incense of loss to the cauldron, isn't it an act of rebellion?
Sin? You have no way out for a long time!"
The corner of Empress Wu's mouth raised: "Really? Do you think His Majesty will depose me? I think that the Crown Prince is not in good health, and His Majesty is worried that after he ascends the throne, he will follow his own old path, and his power will be controlled by his ministers, and he will ask me to treat him as the Queen Mother.
position to assist the new emperor in controlling the imperial power!"
The visitor said: "You know my medical skills very well, how about I revive Li Zhi?"
Empress Wu stood up and stepped aside without hesitation, raised her hand and said, "Please! I'll wait and see!"
The atmosphere in the hall froze for a moment.
After all, the visitor did not come to the couch, but stared at Empress Wu: "How are you doing?"
Empress Wu said: "It's not what I want to do, it's what you want to do?"
"You are making trouble outside, and I don't care. But now that His Majesty is gone, my future will fall on the Crown Prince. You want to use me to deal with the Crown Prince? It's just a daydream!"
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! "If you are really capable, the prince, hundreds of officials, the northern and southern imperial guards, and the inner guard Li Yuanfang are all in Luoyang, you can just go..."
When the visitor heard one of the names, his tone became even more gloomy: "It seems that you also know that the prince now firmly believes in the internal guards. I am afraid that your status as a queen is not as good as that of Li Yuanfang, who scolded you in person for harming the country!"
Empress Wu was very calm: "Li Yuanfang killed He Lan Minzhi, so the prince will naturally have a good impression of him, but when he ascends the throne and becomes emperor, everything will be different."
"People like Li Yuanfang must be suppressed and not given the opportunity to make friends with party members and form a powerful force."
"The prince is soft-hearted and is not a qualified ruler. It is precisely because of the presence of these ministers that I, the queen mother, can play my role. Without means, how can the ministers be willing to obey me?"
The visitor sneered: "Li Yuanfang, this person will have more surprises for you!"
Empress Wu squinted her eyes: "A mere minister, a person of your caliber, would care so much..."
Although she had been idle for several months, her daily work rhythm remained unchanged, and she still cared about the memorials sent from Luoyang to Chang'an, even those major events that the prince had already decided.
For example, the rewards for the first-ranked families, the allocation of housing for middle and low-level officials, the planning of the water transportation department, etc. In her mind, she still thinks about the overall situation of the hundreds of officials in the court. Li Yuanfang is only one of the more special ones at best. She impatiently heard this.
Fluttering his sleeves, he said, "No need to say anything more. If nothing happens, just step back and 'serve your orders'!"
Hearing the last title full of ridicule and sarcasm, the visitor's sleeves trembled slightly, and then disappeared, leaving only the cold voice echoing in the hall: "Secret Lady Wu, you will regret it!"
…
"Zuo Ming" was like lightning, and the scenery on both sides kept retreating. He crossed the Daming Palace at an extremely fast speed and arrived at the Tai Chi Palace.
This palace was established in the Sui Dynasty and was placed in the center of the northern part of Chang'an City. It was originally supposed to be located on the Ziwei Emperor Star. However, the overly idealistic design ignored the defects of the terrain.
Taiji Palace is located in the lowest depression in Chang'an City. It often rains in summer in Chang'an and the temperature is very high, making the place humid and hot. Li Shimin couldn't stand it, let alone Li Zhi, so the Daming Palace
It was quickly built and the place has been vacant ever since.
Now, the prince has taken hundreds of officials to Luoyang, and the Daming Palace seems empty, let alone the Taiji Palace where no one is paying attention.
But tonight, there were a large number of guards and maids guarding it, surrounding a palace with alert expressions.
"Zuoming" came all the way to the front of the palace, and an old woman came out with a strong posture. She looked exactly like Shang Gong in Luoyang, and she was his twin sister.
Facing Shang Gong's salute, "Zuoming" asked: "Isn't he still willing to speak?"
Shang Gong shook his head and said: "He wrote a line on the ground: The mouth is the door to the heart. When the mouth is closed, the heart sinks. When it is quiet, everything is beautiful. When the mouth is closed, all sounds are victorious. When the heart sinks,
Everything is lovely.”
"Zuoming" heard this and waved his hand: "You guys stand down!"
Everyone, including Shang Gong, left. "Zuoming" walked into the palace and looked at the man sitting on the ground: "When Xuanzang rescued you, he made a ten-year Buddhist agreement with you.
Now fifteen years have passed and you still haven't spoken, what do you mean?"
The man wrote on the ground: "I'm used to it and don't want to talk about it anymore."
Anger clearly appeared in the eyes of "Zuo Ming": "If you are really willing to give up the Qingdeng Ancient Buddha and end your life, then that's fine, but you killed my carefully prepared substitute for Li Zhi and ruined me.
So many things! You can neither advance nor retreat. Is this what you have gained from practicing Buddhism for many years?"
The man let out a complicated sigh and wrote: "Stop it, you can't accomplish anything."
"Zuo Ming" laughed angrily: "I was running for your eldest grandson clan, but you gave up on the blood feud of thousands of people in your clan, right? It's too late! You let Li Yuanfang be used by me, and the matter of Li Zhi's substitute was wiped out.
!”
The man shook his head and didn't even bother to write.
"I'm afraid it's not up to you!"
"Zuoming" dropped the last sentence and walked out. After adjusting his breathing, his mood calmed down.
The news I received on this day was obviously not very good. Fortunately, as soon as I left the palace, a confidant presented me with a carrier pigeon. After "Zuoming" read it, he chuckled:
"That good-for-nothing Ashina Huan has always had double-minded intentions. He actually dared to betray me. His courage is commendable. But he doesn't know that I have already asked Shang Gong to keep an eye on him, and there are two more loyal disciples here.