In Princess Taiping's mansion, Mister Mo said to Princess Taiping with a face full of guilt, "Princess, this is all my fault. I never thought that the Emperor would react like this when he heard about the catastrophe of the comet. I was careless and ruined Your Highness's plan. I really …"
Princess Taiping waved her hand disappointedly and smiled bitterly at him, "Forget it. I can't blame you for this. I didn't expect that my brother would make such a choice … Alas! My Li family has always produced strange people. I can't blame you, can't blame you … "
Mister Mo stepped forward and said, "Princess, when San Lang was the Crown Prince, he already had a righteous reputation. Now that he is going to ascend the throne and become the Emperor, he will have the hearts of the people. Your Highness, you should seriously consider your future now … "
Princess Taiping slowly turned to him with a gloomy face, "What advice does Mister Mo have?"
Mister Mo said, "In my opinion, San Lang's fate is already unstoppable. If Princess can stop in time and hand over all the power in your hands, ask the Retired Emperor to mediate and ask for the Crown Prince's forgiveness, you may be safe. This is the so-called best plan. "
Princess Taiping's eyes suddenly sharpened. Her voice softened and she slowly asked, "Then what is the worst plan?"
Mister Mo said, "The worst plan is to take advantage of the fact that San Lang has just ascended the throne and hasn't had time to clean up the Princess's followers. We should mobilize the five Prime Ministers of the Political Affairs Hall, the ministers of the court, and the generals in the army to immediately carry out a mutiny. Otherwise, even if it is delayed for one more year, the new Emperor's throne will be stable. "
Princess Taiping was silent for a while and said sternly, "I won't admit defeat!"
Princess Taiping suddenly turned around and said in a trembling voice, "In my life, I have only bowed my head to someone twice. The first time, it ruined my whole life! The second person, it was that person who betrayed me! From now on, I will never bow my head to anyone, never! "
Princess Taiping hurriedly left the mansion and entered the palace. She knew that it was impossible but she still decided to persuade Li Dan to retract his order. Li Dan had finally obtained his freedom and he was not willing to go back on his word. This was the first time he firmly refused his sister's request, "Lingyue, I have made up my mind to pass the throne to avoid disaster. You don't have to persuade me anymore!"
Princess Taiping saw that Li Dan was determined, so she settled for the second best option. She tried to persuade Li Dan that even though he would abdicate to become the Emperor Emeritus, the affairs of the country should still be handled by him personally. Li Dan was still unwilling, but he couldn't resist his younger sister's persuasion again and again. In the end, he could only take a step back and decided, "The appointment of officials of the third rank and above, as well as the major criminal cases, will still be decided by the Emperor."
Taiping secretly let out a sigh of relief. As long as the appointment and removal of officials above the third rank still depended on her brother, then even if Li Longji became emperor, he still wouldn't be able to touch the prime minister and the six ministers. In this way, her main staff wouldn't be affected, and she would still have the strength to fight.
Since he had achieved his goal, Taiping did not say anything more. He immediately took his leave and went back to prepare for any changes.
Three days later, Li Dan officially passed down the throne to the crown prince. After another eight days, all kinds of rites were prepared. Li Longji ascended the throne and proclaimed himself emperor, honoring his father, Li Dan, as the Emperor Emeritus. The Emperor Emeritus called himself "Zhen" and issued an edict "Gao". Once every five days, he received the morning court in Taiji Palace Hall and was still in charge of the appointment and removal of officials of the third rank and above. The Emperor called himself "Yu" and issued an edict "Zhi". Every day, he would sit in Wude Palace Hall and listen to the affairs of the court.
It wasn't that Li Longji's faction didn't notice Princess Taiping's strange actions. However, because the Emperor Emeritus favored Taiping, Li Longji had to consider his father's feelings and couldn't make up his mind to deal with his aunt. The new prime minister, Liu Youqiu, who had relied on Li Longji's support to ascend the throne, had failed to obtain permission to remonstrate several times. Thus, he wanted to execute Taiping and purge the emperor's side, creating an established fact. Presumably, he was wholeheartedly thinking for the Son of Heaven. After the matter was completed, the Son of Heaven wouldn't blame him.
Thus, Liu Youqiu secretly met with the Right Yulin General Zhang Wei and discussed mobilizing a group of Yulin Guards to attack Princess Taiping's residence. As long as Princess Taiping died, the Taiping party would naturally collapse. Unexpectedly, Zhang Wei didn't keep this matter a secret. After getting drunk, he actually leaked the plan to Imperial Censor Deng Guangbin. Deng Guangbin had recently been in close contact with Princess Taiping's residence. Liu Youqiu was shocked when he heard the news. In a panic, he could only seek help from Li Longji.
Li Longji, who had just become the Son of Heaven, was also extremely panic-stricken when he heard the news. Helplessly, he could only seek an audience with his father and tell him the truth. Li Dan was furious when he heard the news. All along, for the sake of glory, splendor, wealth, and rank, the lower ranks instigated the members of the imperial family to kill each other. Li Dan deeply abhorred this. He didn't think that this Liu Youqiu would also do something like alienating the flesh and blood of the imperial family. This was simply preposterous!
Li Dan immediately ordered Liu Youqiu, Zhang Wei, and the others to be arrested and imprisoned. All the participants were to be executed. Li Longji couldn't bear to kill Liu Youqiu, so he pleaded with Li Dan. He listed Liu Youqiu's achievements in killing Empress Wei and establishing his father as the Emperor. After much consideration, Li Dan pardoned Liu Youqiu alone and exiled him to Fengzhou (Guangdong's Fengkai County).
Li Dan's resolute decision prevented Princess Taiping from taking the opportunity to make trouble for him. However, after hearing this, Princess Taiping also felt a great sense of crisis. Today, there was a Liu Youqiu who tried to send troops to destroy her entire family. Who knew that tomorrow, there would be another Zhao Youqiu and Sun Youqiu who would repeat the same trick?
Princess Taiping immediately secretly made an appointment with Dou Huaizhen, Xiao Zhizhong, Cen Xi, and several other Prime Ministers, as well as the Left Yulin General Chang Yuankai, the Left Yulin General Li Ci, the Left Yulin General Li Qin, as well as the Crown Prince's Junior Protector Xue Ji, Yongzhou's Chief Scholar Wang Jin, and Hu Seng Hui Fan.
Although Cui Shi was also part of Taiping's party, he had too many subordinates. His character could not be trusted. Therefore, Princess Taiping had always been suspicious of and used him. Therefore, he was excluded.
After a round of discussion, they initially decided to poison the Emperor. This way, they could complete the succession of the Emperor with the least amount of chaos. However, the people around Li Long were originally brought by the Prince of Lin Zi. They could not infiltrate them in such a short time. Moreover, the situation was very urgent. Therefore, they decided to use force instead.
Another coup in the Tang Dynasty was about to begin!
…
At this time, Li Longji still knew nothing about Princess Taiping's actions. Although he had already seen his aunt's yearning for power, in his opinion, his aunt only wanted to support a relatively weak emperor to ensure her position. He had never thought that his aunt had the ambition to become the emperor, and would brazenly decide to use force.
Since the incident with Liu Youqiu, Li Longji had repeatedly strictly restrained his subordinates. He was also courteous to Taiping. He did not want to incite his aunt's anger and incite Taiping's party to go against him. Once he ascended the throne, he would cause the country to deteriorate. However, his concession did not result in reconciliation. Taiping had already made up her mind. Who in the world could stop her?
On this day, Assistant Minister of the Secretariat Wang Ju returned from a banquet and returned to his residence. He had someone prepare hot water and was taking a bath when suddenly there was a few knocks on the door. The housekeeper of the Wang residence, Old Yao, reported from outside the door: "Ah Lang, someone has suddenly sent in a letter from the front yard. The letter clearly states that it is to be opened by Ah Lang personally. This old servant does not dare to act without permission."
"Oh? Bring it in. "
Wang Ju was very puzzled and had the old housekeeper bring the letter in. She saw that the letter was wrinkled and looked like it had been wrapped in stone before. On the envelope were the words' For Assistant Minister Wang '. Wang Ju opened the letter in astonishment and immediately turned pale with fright. She jumped out of the bathtub with a' Teng 'sound, but her feet slipped and she almost fell.
The housekeeper hurriedly rushed forward to support him and asked in surprise: "Ah Lang, what happened to you?"
Wang Ju's face turned green. Without a word, he broke into a run naked. The housekeeper anxiously called out from behind: "Ah Lang, you have not put on your clothes."
"Oh, oh!" Wang Ju suddenly came to his senses and hurriedly turned around. "Quickly help me change." Wang Ju had no time to summon the maids to serve him and had the housekeeper help him quickly put on his clothes. Not caring whether his clothes were neat or not, he hurriedly said, "Quickly prepare the horse!"
A moment later, Wang Ju rode a fine horse and rushed out of the Wang residence with four attendants, heading like a gust of wind for the Imperial Palace. In a small alley on the opposite side, an old man in linen robes had his hands behind his back and seemed to be taking a leisurely stroll. Seeing Wang Ju hurriedly leave the residence, the old man in linen robes smiled slightly and quietly disappeared.
A letter was spread out in front of Li Longji's imperial desk. Li Longji stared at the wrinkled letter in a daze, his eyes suddenly brimming with tears.
To the side, Wang Ju said in surprise: "It is not impossible. Why is His Majesty so sorrowful?"
Li Longji was full of resentment. "I don't understand. Why does Aunt treat me like this? Just why? Father only has this one sister. If I harm her, I'm afraid Father will be sad. I have been enduring silently, but she has put a butcher's knife to my neck. What should I do? What should I do? "
At this point, Li Longji fiercely punched the table, causing an inkstone to fly up and fall to the ground, shattering into pieces. At this time, Zhang Shuo, Cui Riyong, Wei Zhigu, Wang Maozhong, and a group of trusted ministers had all rushed over after receiving Li Longji's summons. Li Longji showed them the secret letter. After reading it, everyone's expression changed.
The letter stated that Princess Taiping would raise troops to revolt on the fourth day of the seventh month. At that time, Li Yuankai and Li Ci would lead the Yulin Guard to break into the Wude Hall to kill the Emperor. Dou Huaizhen, Xiao Zhizhong, Cen Xi, and the other prime ministers would come to the Southern Office and use their power to control the Southern Office's guards to respond. The contents were very detailed.
Zhang Shuo asked in surprise, "Your Majesty, where did this letter come from? Who reported it? Is the situation true? "
Wang Ju continued, "Master Zhang, this letter was sent to my residence by someone, but I don't know who it was. However, the plans in this letter are very clear and can't be doubted. Furthermore, tomorrow is the fourth day. Just now, Your Majesty had already sent people to investigate. Li Yuankai wasn't supposed to be on duty tomorrow, but he used the excuse that he had to take a leave of absence in a few days and had already switched shifts with someone else. In the past two days, the prime ministers have also visited the Southern Office many times. "
Zhang Shuo's expression changed. "In that case, the situation is urgent. Your Majesty should make a decision as soon as possible!"
Li Longji was still hesitant. Cui Riyong persuaded, "Princess Taiping is already on the verge of rebelling. When Your Majesty was the crown prince, you had a righteous cause, so no one dared to harm Your Majesty. Now that Your Majesty has ascended to the throne, Princess Taiping actually has the intention to rebel. Your Majesty only needs to give a decree, and who in the world would dare to disobey? Why are you so hesitant? "
Li Longji said dejectedly, "You guys don't know, High Emperor has deep feelings for Taiping. It's easy to kill Taiping's rebels, but I'm just worried that it will alarm High Emperor and make him sad."
Cui Riyong stomped his feet and said, "Your Majesty is muddle-headed! Wouldn't High Emperor be sad if Your Majesty was killed by Princess Taiping? The filial piety of the emperor lies in the stability of the four seas. I earnestly request Your Majesty to immediately give a decree to control the North Gate Imperial Guards before subduing the rebels! "
Li Longji hesitated for a moment before saying, "This … Let's wait a little longer. Quickly invite my four brothers over to discuss this matter."
Before Li Longji ascended to the throne, he had already brought his two elder brothers back to the capital. Now, the four brothers were all in the capital. The fourth and fifth brothers were in charge of the East Palace Guards, while Li Chengqi and Li Chengyi were the Great Generals of the Left and Right Palace Guards respectively.
Not long later, the four brothers arrived one after another. After reading the letter, Li Longji said hesitantly, "Brothers, I, San Lang, am not an indecisive and cowardly person. It's just that the person who wants to rebel isn't an ordinary person. I'm worried that if I deal with aunt, it will make father sad, which is why I can't make up my mind. What do you guys think I should do?"
Li Chengqi sneered, "San Lang, you don't want father to be sad. When Taiping starts, father will inevitably be sad. If Taiping can do it, why can't we? Do you want the story of Ze Tian to repeat itself in the current dynasty? Do you want us brothers' families to be destroyed and Li Tang's royal family to suffer another calamity? "
Li Chengyi, Li Longfan, and the rest also rubbed their palms together. "San Lang, if you don't make a decision, you'll end up in trouble. You are a hero of the present age, so why are you being so soft-hearted? Let's make our move. The first to make the move has the advantage, and the last to make the move will suffer! "
Seeing the four brothers speaking in unison, Li Longji's wavering heart gradually calmed down. Killing intent filled his eyes. "Alright! You are heartless, and I'll be unjust. Let's make our move now! "
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