After Wu Sansi sent off Princess Taiping, he stood in front of the mansion and pondered for a moment. He then called over a trusted family member and ordered: "Go to the Jin Wu Guards and invite the King of Hanoi to see me. I have something to discuss with him!"
That family hurriedly left. Wu Sansi was just about to turn around and return to his residence. Just as he turned around, he saw Princess An Le dressed up gorgeously. His good-for-nothing son was also blindly following behind his wife. Wu Sansi frowned and asked unhappily: "Where are you going?"
Although Princess Anle was arrogant, she did not dare to be presumptuous in front of this eunuch. When she saw him standing at the door, Princess Anle immediately stopped and obediently bowed to him. She said in a sweet voice: "Eunuch, Duke Huan Yanxiu is holding a banquet at the Qu Chi and has invited Chongxun to attend. Daughter-in-law wants to accompany husband to the banquet."
Yesterday was the birthday of Wu Sansi's wife, so Wu Chongxun and his wife rushed back and stayed at the Liang Mansion. Although Wu Sansi was dissatisfied with his daughter-in-law's enthusiasm for socializing, he knew that his son and daughter-in-law had other places to stay. Out of sight, out of mind. Also, he knew how obedient his son was to his daughter-in-law.
Wu Sansi originally wanted to call his eldest son to the study to discuss this important matter together. Seeing that his son was happily accompanying his wife to leave, he was too lazy to call him. This son of his really didn't live up to his expectations. But thinking about it carefully, which of his sons had accomplished something in the world?
For a moment, Wu Sansi could not help but feel disheartened: "Forget it! Don't say that I have already lost the qualifications to fight for the throne. Even if I have the ability to fight for it, which of these children has the ability to protect it? This old man is already close to seventy years old and can only help them for a few more years. It is better to ensure their wealth and glory. "
Thinking of this, Wu Sansi was even more determined to cooperate with Princess Taiping.
Princess Taiping's sudden visit today surprised Wu Sansi. Generally speaking, unless it was a family banquet and Wu Youji was accompanying her, this sister-in-law would not visit. But today, not only did Princess Taiping come, but she did not have Wu Youji by her side. Wu Sansi was a little surprised.
When Wu Sansi invited Princess Taiping to the main hall to sit down, he asked her the purpose of her visit. Princess Taiping probed him a little bit, and then she told him the purpose of her visit, which startled Wu Sansi.
To be honest, Wu Sansi also felt that the current situation was tricky. Wu Zetian was bedridden and had not seen her ministers for a long time. She did not trust her children and nephews at all. Instead, she treated the second Zhang as her family. Wu Sansi was also quite worried.
He did not believe that Er Zhang would dare to pretend to be the emperor. How could Er Zhang be so stupid? However, this did not mean that Second Zhang would not do anything. Wu Zetian was so old and sick. It was obvious that things were not looking good for her. At this time, would the second Zhang consider his own future?
Second Zhang had already become enemies with both the Wu and Li families. Would they obediently wait for Wu Zetian to take her last breath, then obediently scram back to the Zhang Mansion, and wait for the Wu and Li families to settle old scores with them for Li Zhongrun, Li Xianhui, and Wu Yanji? Impossible! Even if Second Zhang was willing, the people at their side would not be willing.
They would definitely seek to protect themselves, and if they wanted to protect themselves, there were many methods. They could fake an edict and have the Prince of Xiang, Li Dan, ascend to the throne. They had caused the deaths of Li Xian's children and the people of the Wu family. If they performed the meritorious service of ensuring that Li Dan became the emperor, Li Dan would return the favor and naturally protect their riches and honor.
If they were unwilling to part with their power, they could also fake an edict and bypass Li Xian and have Li Xian's youngest son, Li Zhongfu, ascend to the throne. Li Zhongfu was only seven years old. If they made Li Zhongfu emperor and then used the posthumous edict to appoint the two brothers as appointed ministers, they would be holding the Emperor and ordering the vassals around.
Would the Wu and Li families definitely obey the posthumous edict if Second Zhang had Wu Zetian's' posthumous edict '? Of course not. The Wu and Li families could completely claim that the posthumous edict was a fake edict and refuse to accept it. But if they did this, they would have to bear the name of rebels who did not obey the edict, and it would be extremely difficult to wash away this crime.
Moreover, it was very difficult to determine the position of the Great General of the Featherwood Guard, Wu Youyi. He had always been loyal to Wu Zetian and had always remained uninvolved in the conflict between the Wu and Li families and the conflict between the Wu and Li families and Second Zhang. If he believed in Wu Zetian's posthumous edict, or if Second Zhang used the military power of the world as bait to win his support, then it was hard to say whether the Wu and Li families would be able to overturn the fake edict.
If Second Zhang was smart enough, he could grant Yang Zaisi, Su Weiwei, and the other Prime Ministers positions and even promise them the title of King. He could also vigorously rope in some of the feudal officials who held important military power. In the palace, he also had Wu Youyi to support him. After first establishing the young emperor and then using the Son of Heaven to order the vassals around, it was not impossible for Wu and Li to achieve greatness in the future.
During this process, what would Wu Sansi do? It was true that he also had the possibility of being roped in, but what could Second Zhang use to rope him in? He was already an extremely high official and could not be promoted any further. Second Zhang could not possibly give him any more power. If he did, then Second Zhang would just be making a wedding dress for him.
Therefore, as the head of the Wu family, he had to seriously plan for himself, his descendants, and the Wu family from a long-term perspective. The result of his choice was to ally with the Li family. He and Li Xian were relatives by marriage, and Li Xian had always been mediocre and incompetent. If he also had the merit of establishing a new emperor, he would not be affected.
As for his aunt, he also took Princess Taiping's words to heart. Princess Taiping bluntly told him that after the military remonstrance was carried out, it would urge the Empress to hand over her power. Although Wu Sansi was very dependent on his aunt, he also knew that his aunt would not be able to hold on for much longer. He would have to face this matter sooner or later.
Then, he might as well kill Second Zhang. According to the arrangement that his aunt had been working on for the past few years, the Wu and Li families would jointly rule the world. No matter who tried to change this arrangement, they must be eradicated, regardless of whether this person was Second Zhang or Wu Zetian herself who had created this situation!
The alliance of Wu and Li to overthrow Zhang was officially formed from this moment on.
…
In the deep night, Yang Fan slowly walked to the west mountain wall of the study, followed by Xiao Man and A Nu. A Nu was carrying a lantern. The snow glowed, so the ground was relatively bright, and the lantern was not conspicuous.
Under the mountain wall was a wall carving of five bulls, and in front of the wall carving was a water jar. The water jar was originally planted with water lilies, but since it was winter, only milky white ice could be seen spilling out of the jar.
Yang Fan reached out and hugged the big jar, and with a hard turn to the left, the big jar began to rotate, and the surrounding snow was flipped up. Yang Fan forcefully rotated the big jar three times, and then walked to the wall carving. He grabbed the protruding stone horn of a bull in the middle and pulled it forward. The stone wall rumbled, and a hole appeared in the middle with a creaking sound.
Yang Fan looked back and asked, "Did you two see it clearly?"
Xiao Man and A Nu nodded lightly, and Yang Fan took the lantern from A Nu and walked in first.
The stone passageway extended all the way into the rockery. Yang Fan's voice was a little hollow in the grotto, "Do you see this handle? After you come in, as long as you pull here, the entrance will be sealed. If the people outside want to dig it out, it will not be a matter of time.
Go straight from here, there are a total of three paths. The one on the left leads straight to a lake more than two miles away, and the exit is in a family's well. The one on the right leads to the side and back of our house, and the exit is in the vegetable field of a house outside the back wall of Princess Anle's Mansion. The one in the middle leads to Madame Zheng's house, and it is usually closed, so you don't have to worry about it. "
Yang Fan's introduction was very detailed. Xiao Man and A Nu looked at each other, and there was a faint trace of worry between their beautiful brows. How could they not be worried when their husband suddenly called them over and took them to walk along the secret passageway of their home, and introduced it so seriously?
They knew that there was a secret passageway in their house, but they had never walked through it or understood it. Today was the first time they had entered the secret passageway with Yang Fan accompanying them.
Yang Fan said, "This secret passageway was carefully designed by the skilled craftsmen of Xian Zong, and the designers were each responsible for a section. The same was true for the people who built it, so only the three of us know the details of the entire secret passageway. As to the secret room that Huang Yuanbao helped us build, that was just a pretense, and I never thought to use it. After all, he had built palaces for the Imperial Family … "
Yang Fan slowly walked at the front with the lantern, and his voice was very clear. "If you need to use this secret passageway, the situation will be very dangerous. You can lead your entire family to hide here. You can choose left, you can choose right, and you can also leave from one of the two exits.
The people at the exit are all people I have arranged. As long as you go out from here, they will know what to do. The people at the exit on the left can arrange for you to go to the Western Region or the Southern Frontier, and the people at the exit on the right can arrange for you to go to Fusang or the South Sea. As to where to send you, it will depend on the specific situation at the time. "
Xiao Man said with a trembling voice, "Langjun, what happened?"
Yang Fan turned around and smiled at her. "Don't worry, nothing happened. Otherwise, would I have brought you here to talk about these things slowly? I would have taken you and escaped long ago. Haha, telling you this today is just in case. "
Xiao Man did not let go of her doubts and persistently asked, "Langjun, you and I have been husband and wife for a long time, do you think I don't know your personality? Don't hide it from me. What happened? What do you want me to be on guard against? "A Nu did not speak, but gently held Yang Fan's hand. Her little hand was cold.
Yang Fan secretly sighed. He also knew that with the shrewdness of these two women, it would not be easy to deceive them. Now that he had given them an explanation, he was afraid that they would not give up if he did not tell them the truth. But after telling them everything, would they not be worried?
Yang Fan didn't want to give up. He deliberately said in a relaxed tone, "I do have something important to do now, but … it won't be too dangerous. Do you think I don't know the principle of a noble son sitting under the eaves? Haha, if you really want to talk about risks, everything has risks. Walking on the road, you will encounter a frightened horse, sitting at home will collapse the beam. I always think about failure before thinking about victory, that's why... "
"Langjun!"
Xiao Man rudely interrupted him. She raised her eyebrows and gradually showed her heroic spirit. "Li Tang's princess and Wu Zhou's marquis, Langjun has never cared about them. In the Tubo Kingdom, Langjun played tricks on Zanpu and the Prime Minister. In the Turkic Xue Yantuo City, Langjun dealt with the 100,000 troops with ease. This time, who is it that made you so cautious? "
Yang Fan was silent for a long time and softly replied, "The Empress!"
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