With a bang, the door of the emperor's dormitory was pushed open, immediately arousing a cry of exclamation, and everyone's eyes suddenly focused on the door. A man in full armor stood under the door arch, holding a pair of iron halberds, followed by five guards. The firelight shone on their armor and weapons, gleaming like lifeless steel golems. The maids and eunuchs carefully stepped aside so as not to block each other's path.
"Who are you, how dare you be so rude?" Xu Xuwen scolded sternly, but his trembling voice made his scolding unconvincing.
Li Bo bowed his head and said: "General, I have been ordered by General Wang to lead people to guard the emperor and queen to prevent them from being bumped into and disturbed by ignorant villains. Please forgive me for being rude!"
"How can you expose your sword in front of the emperor?" Xu Xuwen breathed a sigh of relief, and his tone softened a lot: "Don't put down your weapons yet!"
"Follow the order!" Li Bo waved his hand, and his subordinates quickly put their weapons aside. Li Bo himself also put the two iron halberds on the aisle. When Li Zhi and Empress Wu saw Li Bo's appearance, they couldn't help but heave a sigh of relief. At least it seemed that the traitor didn't intend to kill his biological father and mother tonight. As long as he could save his life, everything else was easy.
At this time, there was a sound of heavy footsteps outside. Li Bo and others stepped out of the way and stepped in to salute. Li Zhi and the Queen knew that the real owner had arrived, so they couldn't help but take a deep breath and try their best to straighten their spines.
"My King Wenzuo is wearing armor, so he cannot perform a full salute. Please forgive me, Your Majesties!" Wang Wenzuo stepped in to salute Li Zhi and the Queen who were on the couch.
"What do you want to do when you come to the palace late at night without an order?" the queen asked.
"I entered the palace on the order of the prince to eliminate the evil villains around the two saints! It is a death penalty to disturb your majesties!" Wang Wenzuo said in a deep voice.
"The villain around us!" The queen sneered: "You say that there is a villain beside the emperor, who is that villain? From what I see, it is clearly you who have caused trouble!"
"Awu!" Li Zhi stopped the queen, whose eyes were red with anger, and said to Wang Wenzuo: "Wang Qing, I know you are an upright person, so you will not bully me. I ask you, where is the prince? Who is the evil villain?"
"The prince is outside the palace, waiting for your majesty to summon him! As for the evil villain!" Wang Wenzuo paused for a moment: "The minister is Zhou Xing. He has been in the capital these days under the pretext of investigating the case, and arrested Deng Wang Li Jiong and Dongtai Minister. Dozens of ministers such as Hao Chujun, Si Wei Shaoqing Yang Sijian, etc. were imprisoned and tortured severely. These people were all well-known honorable and virtuous officials in the court, but they were detained by that guy without any evidence. In Chang'an City People are panicking, saying that there is a treacherous villain around the emperor!"
"What?" Regardless of whether it was true or false, Li Zhi at least had a look of shock on his face. He looked at the queen beside him: "Awu, is this true?"
"Yes!" The queen nodded reluctantly: "But these people are all involved in the death of Duke Zhou, and I suspect that there is something fishy involved, so I allowed Zhou Xing to investigate thoroughly!"
"The purpose of investigating the case is to find evildoers and scoundrels, how can we arrest the gentlemen of the court?" Li Zhi said angrily: "No one else dares to say that, Prince Deng and Minister Hao must be gentlemen, let alone Yang Shaoqing. If it hadn't been for that matter, he would have been your son or daughter, so how could he be detained and interrogated? Ridiculous!"
The queen lowered her head in dissatisfaction. Li Zhi turned around and said to Wang Wenzuo: "Wenzuo, tell the prince to come in!"
"I obey the order!" Wang Wenzuo responded and turned around to give a few instructions. A moment later, Prince Li Hong came in from the outside. As soon as he entered the door, he knelt down and kowtowed: "The child is innocent. Entering the palace with troops and disturbing your parents will be punished by death." capital offense!"
"Come, come!" Li Zhi waved: "Hong'er, come closer!"
The prince hesitantly raised his head and glanced at Wang Wenzuo. Wang Wenzuo nodded slightly. The prince then walked a few steps and came to Li Zhi, hugged his father's knees and cried bitterly. Li Zhi stroked his son's hair and sighed. He said: "Chi'er, Chi'er, you and I, father and son, are the closest relatives. If you have something to say, just speak up. Why do you have to do this?" His face was full of love.
The prince cried bitterly for a moment, then stood up and stood beside the queen and the emperor. Li Zhi said with a smile: "I often think that the prince is virtuous and benevolent, but I am afraid that he is not strong enough to be decisive and submissive. But when I see it today, I have misjudged him!"
"His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is kind and loving, wise and wise. Everyone in the world is fighting to die for His Highness. I am afraid that His Highness will not be able to inherit the throne as soon as possible. Is there any reason why we cannot submit?" Wang Wenzuo said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty is worrying too much!"
"Yes!" Li Zhi nodded: "Yes! It is true that I have too many worries, Young Inspector Xu!"
Xu Xuwen, who had already hid aside, heard the emperor asking him, and quickly responded: "My slave is here!"
"I want to pass on the throne to the prince, and go to the throne of thousands of chariots to seek the happiness of the forest and springs for my whole life. What do you think?" Li Zhi said with a smile.
Xu Xuwen has been in the palace for decades and has long been regarded as a veteran. How could he not know the situation tonight? Li Zhi has to pass whether he is passing or not. It is better to take the initiative to pass and still be decent. It's a pity that the only official beside Li Zhi besides the empress is himself, and he doesn't even have a political official. He actually has to discuss national affairs with himself, an eunuch, whether to pass the throne or not. I'm afraid it will be a bit ugly in the history books of future generations. But now that the matter has come to this, I have to respond and make things right no matter what.
"Your Majesty abandons the honor of thousands of chariots like a pair of worn-out shoes, just like Xu You and Chao Fu in ancient times, now today! The history books of future generations will definitely write a big book and write a special book, thinking it is a good talk!"
"Yes!" Li Zhi nodded: "You are right, Mr. Xu. Which gentleman is on duty at the Political Hall tonight?"
"It should be Zhang Wenguan!"
"Okay, then you go and pass the imperial edict for him to enter the palace, and I will pass it on to the crown prince!"
"My servant obeys the order!" Xu Xuwen responded after hearing the words, but did not move. His eyes turned to Wang Wenzuo. The political affairs hall of the Tang Dynasty was in Zhongshu Province, which was in the imperial city, separated from the Daming Palace by the entire Between the imperial garden and the palace, there are a lot of things to do in such a long stretch of road. If Wang Wenzuo thought that the emperor wanted him to find an opportunity to run away to report the news, wouldn't he be in trouble?
"Captain Cui!" Wang Wenzuo said.
"The general is here!" Cui Hongdu came in from the door.
"The emperor ordered Xu Shaojian to go to the political hall to invite Zhang Wenguan and Zhang Xianggong to come here to draft an edict and pass it on to the crown prince! You will escort fifty people on the road. There must be no mistakes!" Wang Wenzuo said.
"The general will obey the order!"
Wang Wenzuo bowed to Li Zhi and said, "Please ask the emperor to send you an edict as soon as possible to summon Mr. Zhang to the palace!"
Li Zhi saw that Wang Wenzuo was doing everything right, so he had to ask the palace maid to get paper and pen. After finishing the handwriting, he took the personal seal for use and gave it to Xu Xuwen. After Wang Wenzuo checked and confirmed that it was correct, he returned it to Xu Xuwen. He walked out of the house with him and bowed to Xu Xuwen as a gift: "Mr. Xu, I have troubled you with today's affairs. As long as the crown prince ascends the throne, I will not forget your great achievements today." !”
"How dare you do this!" Xu Xuwen was about to be humble, but Wang Wenzuo grabbed his arm and lowered his voice: "I said I can afford it, then I can afford it. Mr. Xu, have you forgotten that when you visited the prince yesterday, the prince once asked Live in the residence of the Queen and the Emperor?"
"Is it difficult? Is it possible?" Xu Xuwen's face changed drastically and his whole body trembled. Wang Wenzuo smiled and nodded: "It's good that you know. If you hadn't told the two saints to stay in Qinghui Pavilion tonight, the prince's affairs tonight would not have been so easy. So as long as the prince ascends the throne, you will naturally have done a great job. "If the prince fails, think about what would happen if the two saints knew about it."
Hearing what Wang Wenzuo said, Xu Xuwen's face was as pale as a dead man. Of course he knew that if the prince failed, the two saints would definitely send people to investigate strictly. Then there was a very important issue. Where did the queen and the emperor usually live? In Hanyuan Hall, how did the prince know that the queen and the emperor had moved in the past two days, and how did he hit them? At that time, the prince and Wang Wenzuo would definitely not keep the secret for him, and his fate could be imagined.
He nodded: "Don't worry, General Wang. I will obey Colonel Cui's orders in everything!"
"That's good!" Wang Wenzuo said with a smile: "As soon as the crown prince ascends the throne, you will be promoted to eunuch of the chamberlain immediately!"
"Thank you, General Wang!" Xu Xuwen said.
"You don't need to thank me, just thank the prince!" Wang Wenzuo smiled and walked to Cui Hongdu: "Tonight's success or failure depends on this, I don't need to say any more. You just need to remember one thing, Don’t let this guy out of your sight, not even for a second!”
"Don't worry, Sanlang, I've remembered it!" Cui Hongdu's face was as solid as iron, and his whole body was like a taut crossbow, ready to go off.
"Okay!" Wang Wenzuo patted Cui Hongdu on the shoulder: "The night is long and there are many dreams, so go and come back quickly!"
Back inside the house, the atmosphere had become a little weird. The queen was still leaning sideways, looking out the window without saying a word. Li Zhi smiled and chatted with his son, and Li Hong kept chatting with her, but his eyes kept coming. Glancing toward the door, it wasn't until Wang Wenzuo returned to the house that he breathed a sigh of relief. Wang Wenzuo walked to the window and was still one step away from the prince. He stopped and stood with his hands down.
"Wang Qing!" Li Zhi said with a smile: "You just said that I have treacherous ministers around me, but you only mentioned Zhou Xing, and he is just a minister. These small officials should not be considered treacherous ministers around me, right?"
Although Wang Wenzuo is in the house, his thoughts have long been outside. Although everything has gone smoothly tonight, as long as Li Hong's butt does not sit on the big seat, it will not be considered a success. If there is a slight mistake in the middle, all the efforts will be wasted. , all the original hard work was in vain, and life was not saved. Therefore, according to Wang Wenzuo's own thoughts, he should control the overall situation outside. However, Li Hong's character is not decisive enough. If he is not in the house, he may be influenced by Li Zhi and Empress Wu and do something stupid. Then he will regret it. In time.
"This -" Wang Wenzuo hadn't come back to his senses yet, his expression was a little dull. The queen saw it and snorted coldly: "Wang Wenzuo, you said there is a traitor around us, then tell us who it is? Could it be that you are just making it up? Are you here to trick Hong'er?"
"No!" Li Hong quickly defended Wang Wenzuo: "How could Sanlang lie to me!"
Wang Wenzuo coughed: "Your Majesty the Queen, according to the laws of the court, if you want to detain the prince or a minister of sixth rank or above, where should you go?"
"It has to go through the Three Laws Division!" the queen replied angrily. She already regretted asking Wang Wenzuo this question.
"Do we want to tell the two saints?" Wang Wenzuo asked.
"Of course I want it!" Li Zhi took over the topic: "I understand what Wang Qing means. It is true that there are traitors around me, not just Zhou Xing!"
Wang Wenzuo's meaning is very clear. Since ancient times, punishments have not been extended to officials, and courtesy has not been extended to common people. The Tang Dynasty is also a place where laws are respected. Ministers and kings at the level of Deng Wang Li Jiong, Dongtai Minister Hao Chujun, and Si Wei Shaoqing Yang Sijian, without your two nods, it is not possible for a mere ruthless official like Zhou Xing to arrest, imprison, and torture them severely. I said that there are treacherous villains around you who deceived you to do this kind of thing. This is a step for you to step down. If you insist on asking me to read out the list of treacherous villains one by one, then I'm afraid it will be you who lose face next. Li Zhi was so smart that he immediately understood what Wang Wenzuo meant and admitted that there were treacherous villains around him, Zhou Xing was not the only one. He wanted to give Wang Wenzuo dignity as well as himself.
"Young Master Liu Yuanzhen is a treacherous villain!" The queen suddenly said angrily: "This is the person who recommended Zhou Xing to me!"
"Young Master Liu Yuanzhen?" The prince didn't care about the name. It was the same to him anyway. He turned back to Wang Wenzuo and said, "Sanlang, if you remember this name, I will take him to the Sanfa Division tomorrow for trial!"
"I obey!" Wang Wenzuo agreed, but secretly complained in his heart. As expected, this woman had ice water flowing in her veins and had no human feelings at all. Liu Yuanzhen had done a lot of things for her, but she just casually threw him out as a scapegoat. No, not even a scapegoat. After all, even if she remained silent from beginning to end, the prince would not do anything to her after he took the throne. After all, they were still close relatives, mother and son, so Liu Yuanzhen's stabbing was completely in vain.
While talking, Zhang Wenguan had been invited by Cui Hongdu. Wang Wenzuo breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly invited him in. After performing the ceremony as expected, Li Zhi said with a smile: "Mr. Zhang, I want to pass on the throne to the crown prince, so please draft an edict!"
Zhang Wenguan looked normal. Apparently he had been reminded on the way here. He bowed to Li Zhi and said, "I obey the decree!"
"Okay, Mr. Xu, let's grind the ink for Mr. Zhang!"
"My slave obeys the order!"
At the moment, Xu Xuwen was grinding ink beside a few cases, while Zhang Wenguan sat beside the cases and meditated for a moment, then picked up the brush and finished writing in just half a meal. Xu Xuwen presented it with both hands. Li Zhi looked at it and said with a smile: "Xianggong Zhang has a good article. Come and get the seal!"
Fu Baolang took the seal, Li Zhi took the "Emperor's Seal" and put it on the seal, and Zhang Wenguan put the seal of "Zhongshu Menxia" on it. In this way, the imperial edict of passing the throne was already there. Potency. Li Zhi picked up the edict and handed it to the prince Li Hong: "Hong'er, you are the emperor now!" His words were filled with joy, sorrow and emotion.
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