"Princess, have you met Your Majesty?" As soon as Li Xiuming saw Princess Fenyang, he immediately stood up and asked, "How are you? Are you feeling better?"
Li Xi shook his head, sat down on his seat with a gloomy expression, and said to several close officials around him: "The recovery is not very good. I only chatted with the emperor for a few words, and he became dizzy and uncomfortable. The whole royal family was kicked out. I later asked several imperial doctors specifically, and they said that the poisoning had damaged the emperor's internal organs. In addition, the emperor had been busy with state affairs and worried and depressed over the years, and his body was already weak in qi and blood. , thus making the condition more serious.”
Li Xiuming frowned when he heard this: "Does the imperial doctor have any good ideas?"
"We can only take care of it first," Li Xi responded: "But it will definitely not be possible to go to court in the short term, and it will be difficult to even review the memorial."
Ma Xinqi, the minister of the Ministry of Personnel, said worriedly: "That's troublesome. The suppression of rebellion in Jiangnan, the suppression of bandits in Qilu, and this year's imperial examination. Many things require the emperor's approval. Isn't this all a delay?"
Guanglu Qing Xue Kui was slightly confused: "But, all the coupons I submitted in the past few days have been approved. What's going on?"
Li Xi frowned slightly and said in a deep voice: "That's the problem. The reply to the memorial should have been written by Cheng Wen."
"What?!" After hearing this, several ministers jumped up and were all dumbfounded.
Li Xiuming said anxiously: "Doesn't this mean that the harem is interfering in politics? How dare the queen?"
"Whether you dare or not depends on how you explain it." Li Xi said: "If these approvals are the emperor's own opinions and Cheng Wen just helps record and copy the family members, then no one can say anything."
"But the problem is, no one can prove whether those approvals are the emperor's holy will!" Li Xiuming said angrily: "If the queen contains personal goods in them, it is no different from treason!"
Li Xi suddenly sneered: "Maybe this is what she wants."
Li Xiuming was slightly startled when he heard this. After looking at each other for a moment with several other colleagues, he tried to ask: "Princess, do you mean that there is a conspiracy behind what Xin Zhong said?"
Li Xi twitched her hair and said calmly: "Xin Zhongshu is old and has not been in the palace for a long time. Why did he happen to be on duty at the imperial hospital that day? He often consulted dignitaries and left his handwriting It is available everywhere, and it is not difficult to get it. It is easy to find a master to imitate his font and write a new prescription. Dr. Xin spent his whole life treating diseases, but in the end he made a stupid mistake that even an apprentice would not make. Do you think is it possible?"
Xue Kui frowned and thought for a while, then said in a deep voice: "The princess's analysis is right! Xin Zhongshu has been tricked, and someone is plotting to assassinate His Majesty! This is treason!"
"Will she be the queen?" Ma Xinqi said hesitantly: "Although she has established a firm foothold in the palace, if your majesty has a problem, what benefits will the queen get? The courtiers will definitely not let her participate in government affairs."
"So the emperor was not poisoned to death by that medicine," Li Xi said coldly: "While your majesty is still here, no one can shake Cheng Wen's position. And since your majesty is unable to handle government affairs normally due to physical reasons, she can take advantage of this." Opportunity to intervene in the affairs of the court. Before Cheng Wen has given birth to a prince for the emperor, this is probably the most beneficial situation for her at the moment."
Li Xiuming couldn't help but said angrily: "The heart of a snake is extremely terrifying. No, we must stop the queen from doing anything wrong immediately!"
Ma Xinqi asked: "Master Li, how do you plan to stop it? Your Majesty can't go to court at all now, and our memorials will fall into the hands of the queen. The so-called stopping is completely out of the question."
"How about asking the Forbidden Army?" Xue Kui said: "Inform the Forbidden Army that the emperor is in danger and let them try to protect him."
Ma Xinqi shook his head: "There is no evidence and it is purely based on speculation. If you directly say that the queen murdered the emperor, we will be beheaded immediately. What's more, in the past half a year, the Forbidden Army's Hubao Cavalry and Beiya Nilin Division have all followed The Queen is getting closer, and they may have been colluding together.”
Li Xi nodded slightly: "Master Ma is right, Cheng Wen's younger brother is serving in the Forbidden Army, and his position is not low. Tian Mu, Ouyang Lin and others are also more or less related to the Cheng family. If we act rashly, the other party may take advantage of us and pursue us fiercely.”
"How about uniting the courtiers to protest together?" Li Xiuming asked: "Is it possible that the Queen and the Duke of Zhenguo have the courage to arrest all civil and military officials?"
Li Xi glanced at him: "Protest? Protest for what? Protest that the emperor cannot go to court because he was poisoned? Or protest that the queen was ordered to approve the memorial on the emperor's behalf? Do you have a valid reason for these things?"
Li Xiuming sat down frustrated and asked, "Princess, you have always been resourceful. Please tell me, what should we do?"
Li Xi looked at Ma Xinqi and Xue Kui, who also had concerned faces, and said in a deep voice: "First of all, don't worry, you guys. Let's break down and speculate. If it is really Cheng Wen who is behind the scenes, taking advantage of the emperor's poisoning, secretly Interfering in the government affairs of the court, what exactly does she want to do, and what can she do?"
Ma Xinqi stroked his beard and thought: "There are just two things. First, there are rumors that the Cheng family has a deep hatred for Li Daduhu of the Zhenjiang Army. I think the queen will use this opportunity to continue to embarrass Daduhu. Just and The current reward of Nine Tins has further intensified the conflict between the court and the military."
He paused and continued: "Both of them, the Zhenguo Government has always been the representative of the noble family. The children of the Cheng family have the intention to take charge of the government and monopolize power. If the Queen can issue decrees on behalf of Her Majesty, it is very likely that she will be in charge of personnel matters." There will be more actions to cultivate party members and expand power."
Xue Kui added: "Interfering with personnel appointments will inevitably involve the original officials. If we ministers who are not on the same side as them are removed first, there will not be enough seats for people from the queen's family. Therefore, we will also be targeted. .”
"It makes sense," Ma Xinqi nodded: "Because of the arrest of spies, Ouyang Lin of the Forbidden Army suddenly rose to the top and became the de facto security leader of the imperial capital. Now that there is a big case of the emperor being assassinated and poisoned, the queen will definitely make a big deal about it. Article, take the opportunity to eliminate dissidents. If Nilinsi completely lets go and acts recklessly, I don’t know how many courtiers will suffer."
Li Xiuming thought for a while and said: "These are still trivial matters. I'm worried that if the Queen reaches out to the army, it will be troublesome. Now the counter-insurgency war has reached the most critical moment. The three armies of Zhenjiang, Qinglong, and Phoenix have all Crossing the Yangtze River to march south, the rebels are about to be destroyed. However, the commanders of these three main legions are all thorns in the queen's flesh. Needless to say, Li Daduhu, Commander Ma and Murong Concubine, are connected with the two concubines Shufei Hui. , the queen and her family definitely don’t want to see them return to court in triumph.”
Xue Kui said worriedly: "If the army is not stable, the sky will fall. After ten years of war, our Holy Tang has been riddled with holes, and we can no longer withstand another war incident."
"Who says it's not?" Ma Xinqi said: "Master Li's worry is not unreasonable. It doesn't matter if I, the Minister of Civil Affairs, are replaced, but if Commander Ma and Commander Murong are replaced, the country may be on the verge of civil war. Think about it, if the Cheng family takes control of the Azure Dragon Army and the Suzaku Army, will they start a fight with the Zhenjiang Army?"
Li Xi nodded: "What the three of you said is similar to what I think. Cheng Wen's most likely starting point for acting for the emperor is to investigate cases and personnel, and her target is to protect Li Dadu. As represented by the military forces. Therefore, we have to deal with it, we must treat both the symptoms and the root causes, and attack in three ways."
"What does it mean to treat both the symptoms and the root cause, and treat all three at the same time?" Li Xiuming said, "I am stupid, so please give me some advice from the princess."
Li Xi explained: "The so-called standard refers to the various political orders issued by the queen in the name of the emperor; the so-called original refers to the emperor himself recovering as soon as possible, regaining control, and taking back Cheng Wen's power. And the three roads refer to Cha Cases, appointments and removals, and escorts.”
She motioned Ma Xinqi and Xue Kui to sit down, and then said: "Cheng Wen issued decrees on behalf of the emperor that were not conducive to the stability of the court and the army. We must do everything we can to delay the resistance, even if we have to be dismissed from office or lose our lives." No matter what, this is a temporary solution. Trying to secretly protect the emperor from being controlled by Cheng Wen and others, and help the emperor regain power and bring order to the chaos. This is a fundamental solution."
Xue Kui said: "What the princess said is true. However, we can do this temporary solution. Just like you said, we must resist chaos even if we lose our lives. As an official of Shengtang, there is nothing to say. But Fixing the root cause is very difficult. Your Majesty is in the palace, and as long as the queen doesn’t nod, the imperial army won’t be able to let us in. We don’t know what’s going on inside, so how can we protect him?”
Li Xiuming nodded: "What Master Xue said is what I want to say. The queen secretly controls the inner court. If she uses some means, your majesty will never recover, and even the dragon body will get worse. As foreign ministers, it will be very difficult for us to deal with it. Unless... ...Unless a coup is launched to rescue His Majesty. But this requires His Majesty’s will first, otherwise it will only be a tragic farce in the end.”
"I will be responsible for the affairs in the palace. You don't need to worry about it." Li Xi said firmly: "If Cheng Wen dares to harm the emperor again, I will find a way to collect evidence and then hand it over to you for discussion and disposal. But in Before that, the coming storm in the court will have to be borne by all the princes."
Li Xiuming said with emotion: "Eating the emperor's salary is a matter of loyalty to the emperor. As officials of the Holy Tang Dynasty, we have a duty. Princess, I have another suggestion. Should I contact the princes of Hejian County in advance and explain the current situation? Let’s talk about trying to get both parties to join forces to fight against the harem’s interference in politics?”
After hearing this, Li Xi agreed: "Okay, you can do it as soon as possible. Those who were allowed to enter the palace to visit the emperor today are all members of the Li family, including Li Maoxun. When he left the palace, he kept frowning, I sighed long and short, and I guess I have already started to have doubts. I'm going to find him now, and let's take precautions together. I don't think Prince Hejian will refuse."
