Li Zhen and Li Chengqi broke up, got on the carriage and went to Quanshanfang again, but his Quanshanfang was not looking for Gao Yanfu.
At this time, Gao Yanfu had fallen out of favor and was recuperating at home all year round. He rarely went to the palace anymore. He offended Zhang Yizhi's brothers by persuading Wu Zetian to preserve the dragon body and was almost killed. Wu Zetian thought of his old merits and arranged for him to return home for retirement. Gao Yanfu also felt sorry for him. Feeling depressed, I fish at home every day to recuperate my health.
Of course Li Zhen needed to visit Gao Yanfu, who was kind to him, but now was not the time. He came to Wu Chengsi's mansion next door to Gao Yanfu's mansion.
Wu Chengsi has also kept a low profile in recent years. He knew that the Holy Emperor did not want him to have an internal fight with Wu Sansi, so he tried his best not to provoke Wu Sansi. He drank and had fun at home and lived a happy life. However, Wu Chengsi also heard that recently Wu Sansi might be crowned a prince, and his heart began to become uneasy.
Seven or eight years ago, Wu Chengsi was extremely powerful and was only one step away from becoming the crown prince. However, it was the relic case and poison sutra case set up by Shangguan Wan'er and Wu Sansi that made him fall from heaven to hell. Wu Chengsi kept this deep-seated hatred in his heart.
Now Wu Sansi actually wants to be the crown prince, which makes Wu Chengsi have a murderous intention in his heart.
Although Wu Chengsi has kept a low profile in these years, he has not relaxed at all in his territory. In the Wu family, he still maintains a faction that follows him, that is, the moderate faction headed by Wu Youning and Wu Youji.
Although Wu Sansi racked his brains to unify the Wu family, with Wu Chengsi around, Wu Sansi never succeeded.
In the inner hall, Wu Chengsi was lying in the arms of two concubines, squinting as he watched a group of dancers dancing gracefully while drinking mellow wine.
At this time, the housekeeper rushed to the hall and reported: "Master, Li Zhen is asking for an audience outside the house!"
Wu Chengsi was startled at first, but then he realized what he was doing and said quickly: "Ask him to wait in my study outside. I'll be here right away."
He had no intention of watching the dance music anymore, so he stood up, changed his clothes, and walked quickly out of the study room. Wu Chengsi had always had complicated feelings towards Li Zhen. He killed him and caused him to be demoted to Lingnan, but when he secretly escaped back to the Central Plains, he was very kind to him.
It was this mixture of feelings of gratitude and hatred that made him not know whether he should hate or be grateful for Li Zhen.
Wu Chengsi quickly came to the outer study room and saw Li Zhen sitting in the room drinking tea. He coughed lightly. Li Zhen quickly stood up, held his hands in front of him and said with a smile: "Wei Gong, I haven't seen you for many years. How are you? ?¡±
Wu Chengsi was named the Duke of Wei the year before last, which could be regarded as regaining some status. He forced a smile and said: "Why does General Li have time to come to my place?"
"I'm here to visit Mr. Gaofu, and take a look at Mr. Wei's current situation,"
¡°That¡¯s it, general, please take a seat!¡±
Wu Chengsi was relieved. It turned out that Li Zhen had not come to see him specially. The two of them sat down separately. Wu Chengsi asked someone to serve tea. He smiled and asked, "Isn't General Li coming back to Beijing this time to report on his duties? "
"Exactly!"
Li Zhen smiled and said: "I haven't returned to the capital for several years. I found that Luoyang has changed a lot, and I don't even recognize it anymore."
"No way! General Li is really good at joking. I don't think Luoyang has changed much. Everything is the same as before."
Li Zhen smiled slightly, "I said it was the court, not the city of Luoyang."
Wu Chengsi said "Oh¡ª¡ª" and his face became a little unnatural. Although he was relatively stupid, Li Zhen told him about the affairs of the court straight to the point. How could he not understand such an obvious hint? He laughed dryly for a while. One voice said: "General Li is referring to the fact that Wu Sansi will be established as the crown prince!"
"Does Duke Wei think it's possible?"
Wu Chengsi shook his head, "I can't tell clearly. To be honest, I haven't seen the Holy Lord for several years. I don't know what she is thinking."
After a pause, Wu Chengsi asked again tentatively: "General Li seems to be very concerned about the fact that the Wu family will be crowned prince?"
Li Zhen smiled and said: "Although my surname is Li, I am not from the royal family. I am the Li family of Longxi, so I can accept the Wu family ascending the throne, but Wu Sansi makes me a little worried."
"What are you worried about?" Wu Chengsi asked again.
"Wu Sansi is a narrow-minded man. He will never let go of anyone who has offended him. He will also eradicate anyone who threatens his position as prince. I offended him in the first place, how could he forgive me?"
Speaking of this, Li Zhen looked at Wu Chengsi with a half-smile. </p
Li Zhen was talking about himself, but Wu Chengsi's heart jumped suddenly. Li Zhen's words hit Wu Chengsi's heart. He, Wu Chengsi, was the one who truly threatened Wu Sansi's position as the crown prince. If Wu Sansi really did itSon-in-law, the first person he will not let go is not Li Zhen, but himself.
Wu Chengsi's face turned red and white, and he became worried. However, Li Zhen stopped mentioning the matter. After chatting for a few words, he got up and left. As the saying goes, you don't need a heavy hammer to play a drum, the key is to knock it. When it came to the point, Li Zhen knew where Wu Chengsi's key point was, but he didn't know how to explain it. He let Wu Chengsi experience it for himself. As for what Wu Chengsi should do, he believed that Wu Chengsi would not be helpless.
In fact, Wu Chengsi was not one of his three strategies, but a surprise or ambush. Therefore, Li Zhen would not give specific guidance on what Wu Chengsi should do, and if he did not handle it well, he would alert the enemy.
Li Zhen said goodbye and left, Wu Chengsi fell into deep thought. He had been watching with cold eyes all these years. Although he did not provoke Wu Sansi, it did not mean that he did not know where Wu Sansi's key lies?
After pondering for a long time, Wu Chengsi immediately ordered the maid in the hall: "Go and find Sanniang to see me!"
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Wu Furong got married again four years ago, to Zhou Tong, a foreign minister of the Ministry of Etiquette. However, this marriage only lasted less than three years. Zhou Tong ended up depressed at the beginning of last year, marrying a woman who was too energetic and ended up either Close your eyes and pretend not to know anything, or you will be crushed to death by a cuckold. Unfortunately, Zhou Tong falls into the latter category.
Without the restraint of her husband, Wu Furong became more unruly and her private life was extremely chaotic. However, on the other hand, she was also a woman with a strong desire for power. Her father could not satisfy her with power, so she could only conquer men physically.
Not long after, Wu Furong hurried to her father's study room, wearing a long and wide dress, the blush on her face still lingering. Wu Chengsi glared at her with dissatisfaction, but did not complain about his daughter's chaotic life. He himself was similar.
"Li Zhen was here just now." Wu Chengsi said casually.
Wu Furong's eyes suddenly lit up. It was not that she was interested in Li Zhen, but that she knew that when Li Zhen arrived, he must have something important to ask his father. She asked anxiously: "What is he doing here?"
"He said he was going to visit Gao Yanfu and came to see me on the way. However, I just asked the concierge. Li Zhen did not visit Gao Yanfu. Instead, he came directly to me after entering the square gate."
"I understand, he just came to see my father. Does he have any intention?" Wu Furong asked.
"He didn't say it explicitly, but I understood his hint."
"What is he implying?"
"He said that if Wu Sansi becomes the prince, he will first eliminate those who threaten his status as prince. This is what he is talking about."
Wu Chengsi let out a long sigh, "Hit the nail on the head!"
Wu Furong's expression was a bit disapproving. She had said similar words to her father more than once, but his father never listened. Why did Li Zhen say that his father became so uneasy and attached so much importance? Is it true that foreign monks are good at chanting sutras? ?
"Then what does father plan to do?"
"I was thinking that since Li Zhen hinted at me like this, it means that he is going to take action against Wu Sansi, but this time I don't want to rush in front or become his pawn. At most, I will make some insinuations."
"Then what does father plan to do?"
Wu Chengsi took a few steps with his hands behind his back and said, "Wu Sansi has often gone to Taiyuan in the past few years. I remember that he had a large manor near Taiyuan. It was heavily guarded and no one was allowed to approach. If I guessed correctly, this There should be Wu Sansi's private soldiers and some shady things hidden in this large manor, so let this matter be made public so that he can't afford it. "
"But he will transfer secretly¡ª¡ª"
"Hmph! How can he move? He has not only 3,000 but also 5,000 private soldiers. As long as he moves, he will be discovered immediately. He is not Xue Huaiyi. He has 10,000 monk soldiers. The Holy One can turn a blind eye. As long as he takes these If the matter is made public, the Holy Emperor will know sooner or later that it will not be so easy for him to become the prince. "
After Wu Chengsi finished speaking, he glanced at his daughter, "Do you know what to do?"
Wu Furong nodded, "My daughter knows what to do."
She bowed, turned around and left quickly. Looking at his daughter's back, Wu Chengsi couldn't help but gritted his teeth and said: "Wu Sansi, if you make me unable to be the prince, don't even think about it!"
Li Chengqi rushed back to the Prime Minister's Mansion and found his father Li Dan. Like Li Xian, Wu Zetian's surveillance of Li Dan was gradually relaxing. In the past, she would replace a group of eunuchs every two months to prevent them from being bribed by Li Dan. Some of these eunuchs If he could write, he would be responsible for writing Li Dan's daily records and handing them over to the palace regularly.
Although there are still eunuchs responsible for writing the daily records of the Prime Minister, the eunuchs sent from the palace have not been replaced for two years. The eunuchs who serve the Prime Minister and write the daily records have long been bribed by Li Dan. Every time he writesThe daily living records will be handed over to Li Dan for review before being sent back to the palace.
In this way, Li Dan was naturally diligent and frugal, living deep in the palace, never going out, and never having contact with foreign ministers, which greatly satisfied Wu Zetian. Of course, Wu Zetian focused all his energy on going to Control He Mansion and discussing with Er Zhang. Apart from knowledge, it is doubtful whether I have the time and energy to read these daily records.
Despite this, Li Dan was still very careful, trying not to appear in public, and trying not to have contact with foreign ministers. He always conveyed news for him through his eldest son Li Chengqi.
In the study, Li Dan opened the plan written by Li Zhen and looked at both sides carefully. He nodded, "These three plans are good and should be effective."
Of course, Li Dan was extremely anxious about the news that Wu Sansi was going to be established as the prince. If his mother really ignored the Li Tang royal family and risked the disapproval of the world, then he would never sit back and wait for death. He would definitely raise his arms and call for righteous soldiers from all over the world. .
Although Li Dan himself did not want to be the emperor, he would rather be the emperor and give up the throne to his son, but he could not tolerate the Tang Dynasty falling into the hands of the Wu family. This was his unshirkable responsibility.
Li Dan thought for a moment and then said to his eldest son: "Go and find the emperor's aunt quickly. I want to discuss it with her."
Li Chengqi was startled and said quickly: "Li Zhen also told me again and again that this matter cannot be spread to outsiders. Only the child and his father know about it, not even the third brother."
The third brother is Li Longji. He is sixteen years old this year and is both civil and military. However, he is not mature enough. Li Dan believes that his main task is to study, so he is never allowed to participate in conspiracies.
Li Dan smiled and said: "It doesn't matter to your imperial aunt. Besides, she is very powerful. We really need her to take action in this matter. Let's go!"
"yes!"
Li Chengqi had no choice but to leave the palace to find Princess Taiping.