"What the hell, why did you even take away my seat cushion?" She snorted coldly, "Going to the Wancheng Supreme is like throwing away your old shoes." Pheasant slaves are really damned. If I were a man, I would rather die that night. After leaving the throne, Wang Wenzuo should also die. The Queen Mother thought gloomily: The same goes for Pheasant Slave and her children, and the Li family should all die.
There were bursts of laughter outside the window. She walked to the window and saw a eunuch walking with dozens of servants on the palace road not far away. Looking at the utensils and furnishings in their hands, she suddenly realized that it was the Mid-Autumn Festival soon. Festival. Thinking of this, the Queen Mother couldn't help feeling sad. If it had been in the past, how could this place be so deserted? Half a month before the Mid-Autumn Festival, the palace maids and eunuchs around her were already busy, thinking of new things to please themselves. . But now the thoughts of those palace maids and eunuchs have probably already gone to the Tai Chi Palace, which is the imperial palace - where the power is, the wealth, glory, smiling faces and hearts have gone, leaving only the coldness and deathly silence.
The Empress Dowager returned to the palace irritably. The gold-plated throne still stood high above everyone, but it no longer had the glory of the past. Yes, everything in front of me has lost its inner life, leaving only an empty shell. The same goes for myself. The queen has become the empress dowager. There is only one word difference, and the difference is more than thousands of miles.
A few minutes later, the Empress Dowager reluctantly left Hanyuan Hall. Maybe she was just like the hall in front of her, only an empty shell, still alive.
On the chariot, Wu put his right elbow on the armrest, dragging his chin, holding a jade ruyi in his left hand, tapping his thigh gently, his eyes wandering, thinking about his own thoughts. The palace maids and eunuchs around were all stern, and they held their breath, lest they speak louder and become the target of Wu's anger. Although the other party has lost most of its power, it is still effortless to kill him.
"Stop, stop!" The eunuch who was leading the way suddenly shouted, and the eight eunuchs who were carrying the chariot hurriedly stopped. The sudden stop made Wu's body sway, and the jade Ruyi in his hand slipped down and fell on it. It suddenly fell into pieces on the ground.
"This slave is punished by death!" Before Wu could get angry, the eunuch on duty knelt on the ground, trembling all over.
"What's going on?" Wu frowned and asked.
"There's an extra wall ahead, blocking the usual road!"
"Is there an extra wall?" Mrs. Wu stood up from the chariot. Just as the eunuch said, there was an extra wall not far in front of her. From behind the wall, there were sounds of ping-ping-pong-pong-pong-pong-pong-pong-pong. In my memory, it was indeed the same road here.
"That's all, go over and ask what's going on?" Wu asked.
"I obey the order!" the eunuch responded, and walked over quickly with small steps. He came back a moment later: "Your Majesty the Queen Mother, I heard from the young man on duty that the emperor issued an edict to renovate a building in front of me a few days ago. In the side hall, in order to prevent the sand and gravel from hurting people, we raised a cloth wall first, and then everything will be restored after repairs are completed!"
"Renovate a side hall?" Mrs. Wu's heart was moved, and an ominous thought suddenly flashed through her mind: "Isn't this the traitor who plans to use this to house us? When the side hall is repaired, he will put me I rushed inside with the pheasant slave, and built a high wall outside to separate it, leaving only a small door for entry and exit. In this way, it would take a month or two at most, or a dozen or twenty days at the least, and the pheasant and I would The slave will die!"
Wu's hands and feet couldn't help but feel cold when she thought of this. If you look at history books, one of the largest causes of death in ancient Chinese imperial palaces was "death from claustrophobia." That is, a good-natured person would die inexplicably soon after being locked up in a place isolated from the inside and outside. Of course, among them Part of it may be that the person involved was depressed and lonely, and his living conditions were much lower than before, and then he became seriously ill and died. But there is a greater possibility that on a dark and stormy night, the person involved was strangled, poisoned, suffocated, or died in some other way. Anyway, his political life was over at this time, and he was killed again. Isolated from the outside world, it was tabooed in the history books of later generations, and they usually just said "died in claustrophobia". As time went by, naturally no one went to delve into the truth.
"This traitor has such a vicious heart! He actually managed to do this to his biological parents!" Mrs. Wu's body trembled slightly and her eyes became red. Although there is no concrete evidence yet, women are instinctive creatures. She The more I thought about it, the more likely it became, and by the end I was in tears and looked ashen.
"The Queen Mother, Your Majesty the Queen Mother!" The eunuch on the side thought that a disaster was about to happen, but he didn't expect that the Queen Mother took one look at the cloth wall and sat there and started crying. He didn't know what to do for a while, so he just Neng asked cautiously: "What's wrong with you? But the imperial doctor needs to be sent!"
"That's all!" Naturally, the Wu family would not tell the eunuch what she was thinking, so she paused and said, "Let's go back to Qinghui Pavilion first!"
Wu returned all the way to Qinghui Pavilion. As soon as he entered the inner hall, he heard bursts of laughter coming from inside, and it was vaguely Li Zhi. She suddenly felt so angry that she took three steps at a time and entered the inner hall. She saw Li Zhi sitting on the couch, and two artists were playing shadow puppets on the side. Li Zhi was watching with great interest and heard Wu's footsteps. He turned around and said with a smile: "Awu, look at this juggling, there are only two artists and a curtain, one is playing shadow and the other is singing. It is really interesting!"
"Pheasant slave, you still have the heart to look at this thing, you are really arrogant!" The Queen Mother snorted coldly: "Don't you know that a disaster is approaching and your death is imminent?"
"Awu, where did you start talking about this?" Li Zhi looked at his wife inexplicably: "What did you hear and see outside again?"
Wu didn't say anything. She waved her hand to signal the jugglers and palace maids to leave the house, and said coldly: "I just passed by Hanyuan Hall, and on the way back, I saw an extra cloth wall blocking the road. After asking, I found out that the emperor ordered the renovation of a side hall!"
"What's going on?" Li Zhi frowned: "The Daming Palace is so big, and the side hall is damaged. It's normal for Hong'er to order renovations. How did I offend you?"
"You, even with the knife on your neck, you don't know anything!" Wu said angrily: "The Emperor lives in Taiji Palace now, and he may not come to Daming Palace once every ten days and a half. How could he let anyone go? Build a side hall? Unless he has other uses!"
"Hey!" Li Zhi sighed: "Awu, stop thinking about nothing all day long. This world belongs to Hong'er. He wants to renovate a side hall in the Daming Palace, even if he burns down the Daming Palace. It is also his business to rebuild the house. Now that you are finally free, can't you do something interesting to entertain you for the rest of your life? "
"Pheasant slave, do you really think he will let you live comfortably here?" Wu Shi paused and said: "If he locks us into a side hall and builds a high wall outside, leaving only a small door, How many days do you think we can survive inside and outside?"
"Awu, are you crazy?" Li Zhi frowned: "Why do you miss Hong'er so much? No matter how much he says, he is our biological flesh and blood, how could he do such a thing?"
"He is our own flesh and blood, but he is the one who sent troops to seize power and forced you to give up your position to him, not someone else!"
"How is that the same?" Li Zhi said: "Since ancient times, it is not uncommon for the Tian family to fight for power and throne. In many cases, it is not that the father and the son are ruthless, but that the situation is unavoidable. People do not want to hurt the tiger's heart, but the tiger has the intention to hurt others. The same goes for Hong'er. So, after all, he was forced too hard by you, even his fiancée was forced to rape to death, but you still let people investigate behind his back, and arrested Yang Sijian and others in jail; and Wu Sansi He was transferred back and divided Wang Wenzuo's military power in the East Palace. When things have reached this point, no matter how kind and filial Honger is, he has to fight hard. But now you and I are just people waiting for death, and we don't pose any threat to him. Why should he rush to attack us and leave a bad name in the history books?"
"Okay, okay, I did all the bad things. Your son is a benevolent and filial gentleman, okay?" Mrs. Wu was furious when she heard this: "My nephew died inexplicably. I sent a few people to find out the truth; To transfer your nephew from the remote southern frontier back to Chang'an and inherit his father's title would be to force him too hard. Don't forget, it was you, a good son, who drove you from the throne and ended up like this. Just forget it. No matter how much you say good things about him, he will never return the throne to you!"
"Awu, Hong'er is the child you and I have watched grow up. You know best what kind of person he is!" Li Zhi said: "As for letting me abdicate, this is not a good thing for me. Anyway, these years of national affairs It's mostly up to you to deal with it. With my body, it would be a relief to abdicate!"
"That's right!" The Queen Mother's face became more and more ugly: "This Tang Dynasty belongs to your Li family after all. I have worked hard these years. I get up early and go to bed late. It's me, named Wu, who is sowing discord among your father and son's closest relatives. I am in vain to be a villain. "
"You can't say that!" Seeing the sorrow on his wife's face, Li Zhi could only comfort him: "How could I not know your hard work over the years? It's just one moment and another. Now that Hong'er is old and can handle state affairs, naturally This world should be left to him. We can't let you, a woman, always stand in the way, right? I also know that you can't get around this problem for a while, which is normal. Just get around it slowly. Besides, You can't fight with heaven or fate, don't you think?"
When the Queen Mother heard Li Zhi's words, she felt increasingly angry and bitter. Although Li Zhi's words sounded comforting, the meaning was very clear: I was not in good health at the beginning and my son had not grown up yet, so I asked you to step in for a while. , to support the situation; now that my son has grown up and is capable of managing state affairs, you, the mother, just give up the throne and spend your old age with me! If it were another woman of the same generation, Li Zhi would not be able to listen to what she said. However, this woman is the only strange woman in the ages. To her ears, Li Zhi’s words sounded like: You are our old Li family. The tool man has no use value now, so just go away!
"Okay, Quan Dang, what you said is right. Hong'er's benevolence and filial piety will not be detrimental to us!" The Queen Mother said: "But have you ever thought about Wang Wenzuo? Hong'er obeyed his words and did nothing. Yes. Hong'er Renxiao, what about Wang Wenzuo? What can't a warrior like him from Baekje Liaodong do? Doesn't he want to kill our couple as soon as possible to avoid future troubles? "
This time it was Li Zhi's turn to fall silent. As Wu said, as the real planner and executor of that armed coup, Wang Wenzuo had sufficient motives to kill Li Zhi and Wu in order to eliminate future troubles as soon as possible. , and Wang Wenzuo is also capable enough to do this. After all, he can even make the prince Li Hong, who is known for his benevolence, filial piety and honesty, carry out such things as a palace coup. It is not a big deal to put the empress dowager and the emperor under house arrest, who have lost their power. Yes. Li Zhi may still have confidence in his son, but he has no confidence in Wang Wenzuo's moral integrity.
"So, Awu, what you said makes sense!" Li Zhi nodded: "Well, it will be the Mid-Autumn Festival in two days, and the emperor should come to the Daming Palace. We can just ask him in person. !”
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It turned out that Li Zhi's guess was right. Sure enough, at noon the next day, an eunuch came to report that the prince would come to visit his two majesties in the afternoon. After learning the news, Li Zhi acted very calmly. He asked the palace ladies to tidy up the Qinghui Pavilion and wait for his son's visit.
"Children, pay homage to Aye and Aniang!" Li Hong entered the palace and bowed to his parents on the brocade couch. Before he could bow down, Li Zhi stood up to support him and said with a smile: "You are already the emperor, how can you do this? If you want to pay your respects again, please sit down and talk!"
"Although I am the emperor, I still have parents, how can I not worship you?" Li Hong insisted, and Li Zhi smiled and said: "Since you recognize me as your parents, it's fine. As for whether you worship me or not, it's a trivial matter. Governing the country well is a sign of great filial piety!"
"My child, please obey your instructions!" Li Hong bowed his hands, sat aside and sat down. The three members of the family chatted about Chang'an affairs, and the atmosphere was much more lively than usual.
"Saint!" Li Zhi said with a smile: "I have something to ask for, and I hope you will agree to it!"
"What's the matter, sir? Please speak frankly!" Li Hong replied quickly.
"That's what happened!" Li Zhi pointed to Wu on the side: "Your mother and I are old, so we simply want to move out and leave the Daming Palace to you. After all, this is the new palace. That Tai Chi Palace is the old palace, and it’s not appropriate for you as the emperor to live in the old palace!”
"Where do you start talking about this?" Li Hong's face changed slightly: "Isn't it already agreed at the beginning that the two adults will rest in the Daming Palace after abdicating the throne? Why did it change?"
Li Zhi coughed twice and looked at his son's face carefully to confirm that the other party was not lying: "Haven't you heard about that?"
"What's the matter?" Li Hong asked in confusion: "What are you two adults talking about?"
"A few days ago, I heard that Saint you were going to confine our couple into a claustrophobic room!" Wu said.
