At dawn the next day, hundreds of courtiers gathered in the square in front of the Mingtang. They were in groups of five, each whispering to each other. It was already past the time for the court, but the court bell did not ring. No one knew what happened. Things, discussing uneasily. "There are rumors in the palace that the Holy One is seriously ill. I don't know if it is true or not?" "Don't talk nonsense. Yesterday, the Holy One issued an order to severely punish Princess Wei. Isn't it a good thing?" "Hey! It's a pity for His Highness the King of Luling. He was ruined by a woman. " "Shh - come out." A person came out of the hall, it was Li Zhi, the eunuch of the palace. Everyone gathered in front of the steps. Li Zhi coughed heavily and said loudly: "Your Majesty is ill and will take a leave of absence for five days. Everyone. Let's all go back to the court room!" When they heard that they were going to rest for five days, the courtiers suddenly started shouting, "Li Shijun, what happened in the palace?" Li Zhi said with a look of helplessness on his face. I don¡¯t know, let¡¯s all disperse!¡± Everyone got angry, but it didn¡¯t help, so they went back to the court room. At this time, Zhang Jianshang stepped forward and grabbed Li Zhi, and asked in a low voice: ¡°Shut up for five days. Is that what Er Zhang means?" Li Zhi looked embarrassed and whispered: "I haven't seen the Holy One. I heard that no one is allowed to enter the Changsheng Palace to recuperate. It was Zhang Yizhi who came out to convey the Holy One's wishes." Zhang Jianzhiqing. Sighing softly, "It's just as I expected." He shook his head and turned back to his official room. The Hall of Eternal Life was surrounded by heavily armed guards. General Wu Yizong stood in front of the palace gate wearing armor and a halberd. He looked coldly at Shangguan Wan'er and the large group of palace maids who turned away in the distance. Anyone is allowed to enter the palace, including Shangguan Wan'er, who has privileges in the palace. In the Yangxin Pavilion in the back hall, Wu Zetian was lying on the bed faintly. She was indeed ill, and very ill. In just two days, she looked like a forty-year-old woman who had aged forty years. , turned into an eighty-year-old grandmother in an instant, with sagging skin, wrinkles all over her face, and age spots that couldn¡¯t stop popping up from under her skin. Wu Zetian seemed unaware of all these changes. She closed her eyes tightly, and her withered, sallow face showed no trace of life, as if she was quietly waiting for death to come. There were no maids, eunuchs, or doctors around her. She could only stand at the door, her face filled with expressions. Zhang Changzong looked disgusted. At this time, Zhang Yizhi hurriedly walked in from outside and waved. Several maids standing in the corner quickly walked into the room and stood at the head of Wu Zetian's bed. Zhang Yizhi winked at Zhang Changzong, and the two of them turned around and came to the other side. quiet room. Zhang Changzong held a jade box in his hand, which contained the jade seal and ink pen of the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty, as well as the gold medal for troop deployment. The power of the Emperor was completely in the hands of their brothers. "How is the situation outside?" Zhang Changzong asked. "They are all gone. We will rest for five days. Even if they have any objections, they can't do anything about it." "What should we do now? The old beggar may not survive for a few days, but there is no way to stop the fire." Zhang Changzong said worriedly again. "The most urgent task now is to get rid of those who threaten us one by one. Wu Youyi has already led people to arrest Li Zhen. With the edict here, I forgive him for not daring to openly rebel. I think the key is Prime Minister Li Dan. We must get rid of him. There is no After losing their backbone, the courtiers can only accept our arrangement. "The Zhang brothers are very realistic. They will choose between Princess Taiping and Wu Sansi. Li Xian has been completely destroyed and imprisoned in Luling Palace. Li Chongjun. Although he escaped and disappeared, the impact was not big. The key was the Prime Minister Li Dan. Once the news of Wu Zetian's death came out, those courtiers would definitely support him as emperor. Zhang Yizhi was at his wits' end. At this moment, a palace maid hurriedly walked to the door and said: "Two generals, Your Majesty is awake." The Zhang brothers hurriedly got up and walked to Wu Zetian's hospital room. Zhang Yizhi glared at the palace maids. At one glance, the palace maids were so frightened that they retreated. Zhang Yizhi and Zhang Changzong sat on the bedside one by one, holding Wu Zetian's hand and asking: "How do you feel, Your Majesty?" Wu Zetian slowly opened his eyes and said with a weak breath: "I can't do it anymore. Come on, hurry up and tell the Prime Minister, II want to entrust the country to him." Zhang Yizhi and Zhang Changzong looked at each other, with shock in their eyes. It turns out that the emperor wants to pass the country to the Prime Minister, Zhang Yizhi said anxiously. : "The imperial doctor said that your majesty needs to rest, take good care of yourself, and take a good rest for more than ten days, and your body will slowly recover." "I know my situation. It won't work this time. Go quickly and summon the king." "Mi$ According to the order, I will send someone to summon the Prime Minister. " Zhang Yizhi winked at Zhang Changzong, and the two stood up and walked out of the room. They said to the palace maids: "The emperor needs to rest and recuperate. Feed the emperor the medicine soup. Go quickly! He quickly went into the house to serve Wu Zetian, drank a few sips of the soup, and Wu ZetianAfter falling into a deep sleep, Er Zhang breathed a sigh of relief and came to the quiet room again. Zhang Changzong said fiercely: "I'll just use the trick and call Li Dan into the palace to kill him." Zhang Yizhi was a little more thoughtful, and he sneered. He said, "What should we do if he refuses to enter the palace?" "Then what do you think we should do?" Zhang Yizhi rolled his eyes, "How about a two-pronged approach, first call him into the palace, and if he refuses to enter the palace, ban him For the sake of Bingzhou Mu, we will send him to another place. When we establish a new king, if he dares to rebel, we will send an army to destroy him directly." Zhang Changzong nodded, and banishing Li Dan to another place is also a way, "Okay! Prepare an edict immediately." The Thousand Cavalry Camp is the most powerful army in Luoyang, the sacred capital, and even in the entire Tang Dynasty. It has 25,000 cavalry, distributed in Luoyang, Chang'an and Taiyuan. Among them, there are 15,000 in Luoyang, and its military camp is also The largest of all the Forbidden Army barracks is located in the Western Garden of the Divine Capital, covering an area of ??several thousand acres. Last night, Li Zhen sent his family to Chang'an and ordered the Chang'an Qianqi Battalion to closely guard him. He himself no longer returned to his hometown. Instead, he lived directly in the military camp and took control of the army. At dawn, Yao Xi, the imperial doctor dressed as a eunuch, rushed to Qianqi Camp under the protection of several palace guards. He shouted at the gate of the camp: "I have something urgent to see your general, please inform me immediately! "It was also a coincidence that the general on duty today was Jiu Zhi. He saw Yao Xi on the camp wall and ran down quickly, "Xiao Xi, why are you here?" Yao Xi said anxiously: "Something big happened, I want to go. See Brother Li. " Of course there is no problem with Yao Xi, but Jiu Zhi glanced at several Qianniu Guard warriors, and Yao Xi quickly said: "These people were all my patients, and I saved their lives, so they helped. I escaped, but they can't go back. They will definitely die if they go back." "Okay! Come with me." Jiu Zhi brought a few people into the camp and asked his men to greet some guards. He hurried away with Yao Xi. Go to the Chinese army tent. Li Zhen was writing a letter to General Dou Xianyun of the Qianqi Camp stationed in Taiyuan in the tent at this time. Jiu Zhi reported at the gate of the tent: "General, Yao Xi has something urgent to report." "Come in!" Li Zhen put down his pen, he knew that Yao Xi had something urgent to report. When Xi comes, something big will happen in the palace. Yao Xi walked into the tent and said excitedly: "Brother Li, Your Majesty has fallen into a coma and is in critical condition." "Don't worry, I know she is in bad condition. Sit down and talk!" Yao Xi sat down, drank some water, and then said : "Your Majesty suddenly fell ill in the middle of the night last night and couldn't breathe. Several royal doctors and I rescued her until about five o'clock, and then she stabilized slightly, but she was already in a coma." "I heard that she was eating a secret drug "It's caused by the aphrodisiac drug in the pill." Yao Xi sighed, "It's a chronic poison that will cause hallucinations after taking it, and the whole body will be in a state of excitement. The Lord's desire is too strong, so the dosage is getting higher and higher. "It will eventually lead to today's disaster." "Don't you try to persuade her?" Yao Xi shook her head, "No one can persuade her. It's very easy to get addicted to eating that kind of food, so her spirit has deteriorated over the past year. His condition is getting worse and worse." "I have already caught that Hu Monk Huifan. He said that the Holy One can only live for ten days. Is that true?" Yao Xi nodded, "We had a private conversation with the imperial doctors last night. Everyone has the same opinion. The Holy Spirit has run out of energy and is lucky to live for ten days. " Yao Xi sighed again, "The Zhang brothers know better than anyone else, so a dozen imperial doctors were arrested last night. Fortunately, I escaped with the help of several guards." As soon as he finished speaking, a guard outside the tent reported: "General, the Lord has sent someone to announce that you should come into the palace to see me." Li Zhen laughed. Such a coincidence, he waved a soldier forward and said, "Take some brothers to explore the surrounding area to see if there are any ambushes." The soldier quickly left, and Li Zhen smiled and patted Yao Xi on the shoulder, " I was still worried about how to save you. It would be best if you came by yourself. Thanks to the news you brought, I know what to do." £® £® £® £® £® £® A group of more than a hundred Yulin Army guards came to the gate of Qianqi Camp. They were still a hundred steps away from the camp. A row of arrows were shot from a distance. Someone shouted: "Don't go near the military camp!" The eunuch shouted: "We have His Majesty's edict for the general!" After a moment, hundreds of cavalry rushed out from the military camp, each with a spear in hand, rushing towards him with murderous intent, and surrounded hundreds of guards. The leader was none other than Jiu Zhi. , he shouted loudly, "The army is not allowed to enter the camp!" The eunuch had no choice but to step forward and hold up the edict and said: "This is the Holy Majesty's decree. Please ask the general to come out to receive the decree!" "GeneralInside the barracks, go in on your own. " The captain who came to escort the eunuch was furious, "How dare you neglect the imperial edict? This is the crime of deceiving the emperor! " Jiu Zhi rushed up and whipped his head, and cursed angrily: "Fuck you, this is Qianqi Camp's territory, it's not your turn to speak. " In a dense forest two hundred paces away, General Wu Youyi of the Yulin Army led more than a thousand elite soldiers to ambush here. As long as Li Zhen left the military camp, they would not hesitate to rush forward and kill him, but it seemed that the situation was different. Fortunately, Li Zhen refused to come out of the military camp. The eunuch had no choice but to give the captain a wink and entered the military camp alone. When he came to the Chinese army's tent, the eunuch unexpectedly discovered that there were hundreds of soldiers guarding the tent next to him. , and built fences, and whether the security was tight. While he was wondering, Li Zhen had already walked out of the Chinese army tent with his hands behind his back, "It turns out to be Eunuch Zhao, what does the Holy Master want me to do?" " When the eunuch saw that Li Zhen had no intention of placing an incense case to receive the order, he had to hand him the edict, "General, read it yourself! " Li Zhen didn't answer, and still said coldly: "Just say it! Did the Holy One allow me to enter the palace? " "Exactly! The Holy Spirit has something important to do, so General Xuan enters the palace. " Li Zhen sneered repeatedly, "Isn't the Holy One sick? After five days of rest, how can you still have the energy to announce that I will come to see you? You must have made a mistake! "The eunuch whispered: "Your Majesty, General Xuan came to the palace because he has entrusted you with his funeral affairs. " Li Zhen suddenly laughed, "If that's true, how could the Zhang brothers allow you to come out? " Li Zhen stopped laughing and said coldly: "Go and tell Wu Youyi, don't think that I don't know if he is hiding in the woods. I don't want to kill each other, otherwise none of them will survive. Tell them to get out! " The eunuch was so frightened that he took two steps back, turned around and ran away. The soldiers did not stop him and allowed him to run out of the camp. At this time, Chang Shi Yangzhi asked in a low voice: "General, why didn't you kill Wu Youyi directly? " Li Zhen shook his head, "It's not time yet, let his head grow for a few more days. "The eunuch ran out of the camp and shouted to the soldiers outside the camp: "Go! He got it. " The captain's face turned pale with fright, and he turned and ran towards the woods. Wu Youyi stepped forward and shouted, "What's going on? The eunuch was out of breath and said: "He refused to accept the order. He knew that the general was lying in ambush in the woods. If the general did not retreat, he would send troops to destroy the general." " Wu Youyi's face changed, and he gritted his teeth and said: "What a great general of the Thousand Cavalry Battalion, let's go! " He waved his hand and led his men to quickly evacuate the woods and retreat into the palace.