Princess Changping's roar made Zhang Changzong immediately realize that he had offended this wayward princess. He had always been afraid of the princess because she was deeply favored by Wu Zetian and was so powerful in martial arts that no one in the palace could defeat her.
The princess had scolded Zhang Changzong several times behind Wu Zetian's back. If Wu Zetian hadn't stepped forward in time to stop the princess, Zhang Changzong would have been severely beaten by the princess. Zhang Changzong knew that now that the queen was not in front of him, if the princess wanted to punish him, she might not be able to escape.
Zhang Changzong had no choice but to pretend that he had just seen the princess, and immediately stepped forward to salute and said: "It turns out that the princess has arrived, and I am humbled to pay homage to the princess!"
Shangguan Jian and the others were shocked when they saw Zhang Changzong being so obedient. In their eyes, apart from being respectful to Wu Zetian, Zhang Changzong had never shown weakness to anyone else. But they didn't know that if Zhang Changzong didn't act like this and resisted the princess, he would anger the princess even more. This princess only acts according to her heart. If she was really angry, she would definitely punish the other person directly.
At this moment, the princess is surrounded by two masters, Yanmei and Wu Ji, as well as eight maids with strong martial arts skills, such as Ruyun and Linglong, as well as the guards under Wu Ji. If there is a fight, Shangguan Jian and the others will definitely not be their opponents. In this case, Wu Sansi's big plan will fail. Zhang Changzong had no choice but to show weakness temporarily and deal with the princess first.
Zhang Changzong's approach was beyond the princess's expectations. She originally thought that Zhang Changzong would disobey, and she would have an excuse to deal with these people harshly. The princess looked at Zhang Changzong in front of her and said nothing for a moment. Princess Yanmei naturally understood the princess's intention, so she winked at the princess and pointed at Shangguan Jian and the others.
The princess understood immediately and shouted: "Zhang Changzong, you brought these people into the palace, right? Why don't they kneel down and worship me? How do you discipline them? If you are unable to discipline them, then I, the princess, will do it for you!"
Zhang Changzong looked back and saw that Shangguan Jian and the others were standing upright and motionless. He hurriedly signaled to the three of them and shouted: "What's going on with you three? Are you still not kowtow to the princess to apologize?"
Shangguan Jian and the others had no choice but to kneel down and kowtow, and said in unison: "The common people are paying homage to the princess. If I was offended just now, please forgive me!"
The princess snorted coldly and said to Zhang Changzong: "Master Zhang, according to the rules of the palace, what kind of punishment should they receive for being rude to this princess?" Zhang Changzong was shocked. It seemed that this domineering princess still refused to be lenient. Shangguan Jian and three others.
Zhang Changzong naturally did not want the princess to punish Shangguan Jian and the others, so he said: "Princess, please forgive them because they are new here and don't understand the court rules."
Princess Changping knew that he was defending these three people, so she said: "I didn't ask you this. Just tell me what kind of punishment they should receive according to the regulations."
Zhang Changzong was forced to do nothing by Princess Changping, so he had no choice but to say: "The worst case is beheading, the lightest case is punishment with a stick."
Princess Changping nodded and said, "In that case, I, the princess, must act in accordance with the law!" She turned to Wu Ji and said, "Commander Wu, please take down these three people and behead them immediately as a warning to others! "Wu Ji agreed and stepped forward immediately. When Shangguan Jian and the others heard this, they were shocked and looked towards Zhang Changzong in a hurry!
The princess asked Wu Ji to take action because she heard that Zhang Changzong had approached Wu Ji many times. She wanted to use this to observe whether Wu Ji had been won over by Zhang Changzong. Zhang Changzong and Wu Sansi did intend to win Wu Ji over to their side, because among the several deputy commanders of the palace guards, only Wu Ji could be won over.
Wu Wei and Wu Yuan were both loyal to Wu Zetian and were difficult to win over. Of course, when the overall situation has been decided, they will not object. After all, Wu Wei and Wu Yuan are both members of the Wu family, and they will only remain neutral when the situation is unclear.
The commander-in-chief of the palace guards is Wu Wei, who has always regarded himself as a loyal minister. It is certainly impossible for him to participate in Wu Sansi's conspiracy to seize power. If they learned about Wu Sansi and Zhang Changzong's plot, they might report them. Therefore, Zhang Changzong could not ask for trouble, did not dare to take risks, and did not think it was necessary.
As a result, Zhang Changzong seemed to be weak in the palace. In case of action, if these people support Li Xian or Li Dan, then even if Wu Sansi ascends to the throne, he may not be able to secure his seat. Wang Jien and Li Jilong discussed it and thought of Murong Zaiqi. They believed that Murong Zaiqi had just entered the palace, had no backstage in the palace, and had nothing to do with the prince. As long as they lure him with high-ranking officials and generous salaries, Murong Zaiqi will most likely fall to them. Murong Zaiqi has great martial arts skills and is a member of a well-known martial arts family. If he gets his support, he can undoubtedly strengthen his side.
So Wu Sansi deliberately approached and cared for Wu Ji as a fellow clan member and the king of Liang, but due to his status, it was inconvenient to speak clearly. Wu Jigang initially thought that Wu Sansi valued him, so he respected Wu Sansi very much. Soon after, Wu Ji learned that Wu Sansi and Li Xian were at odds, and he had other considerations in mind.
For Wu Ji, there is not much difference between Wu Sansi and Li Xian who wins the power struggle. Because his family is from Wu Zetian, they are very loyal. Wu Ji then adopted a wait-and-see attitude. After all, he was also a member of the Wu family.
On the one hand, Wu Ji maintained a relatively good relationship with Wu Sansi, and on the other hand, he often showed kindness to Li. Later, Zhang Changzong invited Wu Ji to banquets many times and tried his best to win over him. Zhang Changzong's identity is not as sensitive as that of Liang Wang, so he naturally speaks more casually. Intentionally or unintentionally, Zhang Changzong revealed that if Wu Ji defected to King Liang, he would definitely be a high-ranking official and well-paid in the future. Wu Ji did not make his position clear, but instead gradually distanced himself from Zhang Changzong.
Wu Ji was a shrewd man, and after sensing Zhang Changzong's intentions, he hesitated for a long time. In the end, he believed that the plot of Zhang Changzong and others was unlikely to succeed, because after all, Li Xian was justified and won the support of important ministers in the court.
Some time ago, Wu Zetian ordered Wu Sansi and Li Xian to recruit troops respectively. Li Xianshu summoned tens of thousands of people in one day, but Wu Sansi failed to complete the task. When Wu Zetian learned the result, she naturally knew that the people still wanted Li Tang. Wu Zetian changed the Tang Dynasty to the Zhou Dynasty. Because she was the daughter-in-law of the Li family, it did not trigger a rebellion.
After Wu Ji heard about this incident, he knew that Li Xian's position was very stable. Zhang Jianzhi was an important official in the imperial court. He had a close relationship with Di Renjie, and both openly and secretly supported Li Xian. Wu Ji learned through friends in the Jianghu that someone had attempted to assassinate Li Xian several times, but was defeated by Feiyun and others.
Wu Ji believed that Wu Sansi and others could not succeed, and he did not need to take risks with them. In addition, Yanmei and Liu Shui later became engaged, and Wu Qiong obviously chose Li Xian, which naturally affected Wu Ji's decision.
After Wu Ji made up his mind, he showed his favor to Li whenever he had the opportunity. He was also very polite to Feiyun because he knew that Feiyun had a special relationship with Wu Zetian and Li Xian. Of course Wu Ji hopes that Li Xian will be reused after he takes office.
Just now Wu Ji saw Chang Xian about to attack the princess, so he immediately stepped forward. In fact, he knew that with the princess's skills, Chang Xian couldn't do anything to her. But he can use this to please the princess, who has a very good relationship with Li Xian.
Wu Ji listened to the princess's order and walked towards Shangguan Jian and the others with a few guards. Just as he was about to take action, Zhang Changzong suddenly shouted: "Wait a minute! Princess, you must not do it."
Zhang Changzong knew that Shangguan Jian and the others would definitely not sit back and die, and would definitely resist. Once they do, the princess will have even more reason to get rid of them. Zhang Changzong had no choice but to break the boat and shout to stop.
Wu Ji and others couldn't help but looked at the princess and asked her for instructions. The princess waved her hand to signal them to stop temporarily, and then said to Zhang Changzong: "What else do you have to say?"
Seeing Wu Ji stop, Zhang Changzong breathed a sigh of relief, calmed down, and said: "Princess, they deserve to be punished if they offend you. But this requires an explicit edict from the emperor to behead them. They are now guards, so they should It’s only appropriate to inform him.”
The princess was stunned, Zhang Changzong was right. Although she is a princess, she does not have the power to directly order killings. The princess's thoughts turned and she immediately said: "Do you think it is still necessary? Do you think the emperor will not agree to execute them? I think it is not necessary, it is just unnecessary." Zhang Changzong had already thought about it and didn't care. Many, he couldn't let the princess kill Shangguan Jian and the other three.
Zhang Changzong didn't have many masters under his command. If the three masters of Shangguanjian were gone, how would they be able to deal with Li Xian's Feiyun and others. What's more, if he can't keep Shangguan Sword, he will definitely anger Shangguan Qi. When Shangguan Qi was angry, he might take his anger out on him. Therefore, even if Zhang Changzong completely offended the princess, he still wanted to save Shangguan Jian and the others.
Zhang Changzong immediately said: "Princess, you cannot kill without the emperor's order." The princess thought for a while and said: "You don't have to behead them immediately, but I have to imprison them first. I will go to the emperor to request an order." . So you have no objection?" Now it was Zhang Changzong's turn to be dumbfounded. It is reasonable for the princess to detain the person who offended her first, so that he has no right to interfere. But Zhang Changzong knew that once these three people were captured by the princess, they would definitely be in trouble!
Seeing that Zhang Changzong was silent, the princess was about to order someone to be taken away when she heard someone say: "Princess, wait a minute!" The princess looked up and saw a tall and mighty middle-aged man walking out of the palace gate. With several burly men. The person who came was not an ordinary person, but Wu Sansi.
It turned out that Wu Sansi was accompanying Wu Zetian inside. After learning about the situation outside, he knew that with Zhang Changzong's identity, he might not be able to stop the princess. So he made arrangements and came out to meet Princess Changping in person. As soon as he arrived at the door, he heard the princess's order to capture Shangguan Jian and the others, and he hurriedly stopped him.
Wu Sansi is Wu Zetian's nephew and the princess's nominal cousin. The princess had to give him some face, so she waved her hand and told Wu Ji to step back. The princess then said: "Your Majesty, you are here just in time. Are these three of your subordinates?" As she said this, she pointed at Shangguan Jian and the others.
