In Wan'er's eyes, Wu Zetian was always the one with the pearl of wisdom in her hands and full of confidence. She had a tough personality that caused everyone in the world to shrink back. She had never seen her so haggard and so sad.
Shanghai Wan'er panicked and hurriedly said, "Everyone..."
Wu Zetian gently shook her head and said in a low voice, "Wan'er, do you think Wei Fangzhi, Cen Zhangqian, and the others are really planning a rebellion?"
How could Wan'er answer this question? She could not express her opinion. She could only quietly say, "Wan'er is stupid..."
"Haha..."
Wu Zetian laughed a few times, and there was a rare hint of benevolence in her laughter. "Child, you're not stupid. You're just too smart, so you don't want to get involved in this matter. It is a pity that there are too few smart people in this world and too many stupid people! Or perhaps, it is because they are too greedy. They want more, so it is hard to avoid doing stupid things. Wei Fangzhi is like this, Cen Zhangqian is like this, Wu Sansi is like this! Although their goals are different, what is the difference between them? "
Wan'er lowered her head and felt a bit panicked.
The Emperor was willing to confide in you. This was an honor, but knowing too many of the Emperor's secrets was not a good thing. The Emperor's weakness was only temporary. She needed to maintain her mysteriousness and strength in front of everyone. At that time, the people who knew her true colors would become a thorn in her side.
However, Wu Zetian did not have any intention of stopping. She probably had too many secrets buried in her heart. Her emotions had been suppressed for too long. She needed someone to talk to.
Wu Zetian did not wait for Wan'er's reply. She continued, "Maybe... they are not planning a rebellion. But they are not of the same mind as the Wu family. This is for sure. Otherwise, why would Chengsi attack them? If I am still here, they cannot do anything. If I am not here, at that time, what will they do? There is no act of rebellion, but there is the intention to rebel. Perhaps this intention has not yet germinated, and even they do not know it, but the root of this rebellion has long been buried deep in their hearts. They are only waiting, waiting for me to grow old, waiting for me to return to heaven! "
When Shanghai Wan'er heard this, she couldn't help but be startled, "Could it be that everyone has decided to pass the throne to the Wu Clan?"
Wu Zetian saw her expression and couldn't help but smile, "No! I haven't made up my mind yet. The reason I haven't made up my mind yet is because there isn't a single person in the younger generation of my Wu Clan that I can rest assured of and satisfy! "
She sighed and said, "However, I hope that no matter what decision I make, it will be up to me to decide. A loyal official should only follow the orders of the Emperor. When the Emperor is alive, he should be loyal to the Emperor. When the Emperor is dead, he should serve the Emperor appointed by the Emperor with all his might! It is not up to them to influence me and choose a suitable Crown Prince! They had crossed the line! Therefore, their deaths are not to be regretted! "
At the beginning, Wu Zetian's tone was still low, but as she spoke, it became more and more impassioned. Wan'er's head drooped even lower.
Wu Zetian was silent for a moment, then her voice became low again, "Something happened to Wei Fangzhi, Cen Zhangqian, Zong Qinke, and Fu Youyi. There are some people who do not approve of a woman like me becoming the Emperor. If they are only saying strange things behind my back and ridiculing me, then let them be. I am not afraid of others talking about it.
However, the one who said this is the Prime Minister, so I cannot ignore it. These people, even if they do not rebel today, they are only afraid of my power. What will they do when I grow old and weak and can no longer see things? One can imagine! There are some people who support me as the Emperor, but what is the reason for their support? "
Wu Zetian's voice carried a trace of bitterness, "I thought that they would be loyal to me, right? But that is not the case. They only want to climb higher, become more officials, and get more money! "
Wu Zetian slapped the table and angrily said, "The Zhou Dynasty that I built with my own hands! The civil and military officials in the court are either plotting and plotting, waiting for me to die early so that I can restore Li Tang's empire! Or they are corrupt, selling official titles, and now they are the so-called loyal officials who are destroying my empire!
My Zhou Dynasty, there are so many loyal officials! Some are digging my grave right now, and some are patiently waiting to dig my grave in the future. Tell me, with so many loyal officials, if I don't kill them, when will I do it? "
"Everyone …"
Wan'er heard the sadness and helplessness in Wu Zetian's voice, but she only softly called out, not knowing how to comfort her.
Wu Zetian gently closed her eyes. After a moment of silence, she quietly said, "Greedy, selling official titles, if that is all, then it is fine. But there are still some loyal officials who, in order to control the military and become the Crown Prince, betrayed my empire and invited the wolf into the house! "
"Everyone is saying?"
"Lou Shide is very diligent in governing the Western Region. With him, I do not need to worry too much about the Western Region. Qiu Shenji, in order to get rid of this stumbling block, controlled hundreds of thousands of elite troops and leaked the secret to the Turks, inviting the enemy to invade my empire! "
Wan'er, "Ah!" She softly exclaimed. On the contrary, Wu Zetian was still calm, probably because she had just vented her anger, as if she was talking about something unrelated. At this time, Xiao Hai suddenly appeared at the door and carefully said, "Everyone, King Di requests an audience!"
"Hmm?"
Wu Zetian slowly sat back on the table and ordered, "Invite the King Di in."
By this time, her face had miraculously recovered its former composure, confidence, loftiness, and nobility. The higher one's status, the more masks they wore, living under a mask for the rest of their lives. The high and mighty Emperor wore no fewer masks than they did.
"Subject Di Renjie greets Your Majesty!"
Di Renjie held a bag in his hand, his expression grave.
Di Renjie saw the prime ministers go to jail one after another and became anxious. But now, he was riding on the back of a tiger, unable to advance or retreat.
Zhou Xing greatly expanded the prison. Every prisoner he caught was subjected to indiscriminate torture, forcing criminals to accuse even more officials. Perhaps within a few days, he would be accused of being an accomplice in the rebellion. The Emperor's attitude towards this was rather warm, as if he was indulging in it. Di Renjie could not even protect himself, so how could he save his colleagues?
Helplessly, Di Renjie could only use the bag of evidence that Yang Fan had given him about Qiu Shenji framing Blacktooth Chang Zhi.
He knew that Wu Chengsi was powerful at the moment, and it would be difficult for this evidence to implicate Wu Chengsi. Qiu Shenji might even find some excuse of misbelieving others or wrong judgment to absolve himself. Now was not the best time to use this evidence, but it was the only weapon he could use at the moment.
He no longer hoped to use this evidence to bring down Wu Chengsi. Now, he only hoped to use this case to shift the focus of the court's attention to this matter, thus cooling down the current heated political struggle.
But no matter what, he did not expect that Wu Sansi would present another piece of evidence against Qiu Shenji today. And that was something the Emperor could not tolerate no matter what: to attack a political enemy, to betray the Emperor's country!
Wu Zetian calmly finished looking at the evidence, gently put it to the side, and gently closed her eyes.
Wu Zetian's behavior was beyond Di Renjie's expectations. Di Renjie couldn't help but say, "Your Majesty …"
Wu Zetian raised her hand to stop him and said in a low voice, "I know. I will let Lai Junchen investigate this matter. I am very tired now. You can leave first. "
When Di Renjie heard that he would let Lai Junchen investigate, he knew that Wu Zetian believed at least seventy percent of the evidence, which saved him a lot of trouble.
He knew that Qiu Shenji was a confidant cultivated and promoted by Wu Zetian, and he trusted him very much. Every time Wu Zetian went out, it was Qiu Shenji who was responsible for the important guard duty. Originally, he was worried that it would take a lot of effort to get the Emperor to accept this evidence, so he let out a sigh of relief and said, "Your Majesty, take care of yourself!"
After Di Renjie left, Wu Zetian smiled as if she had lost something. She said to Wan 'er, "I am old. Without your help, I don't have the energy to deal with the affairs of the state! Haha, Xue Huai Yi wrote the Great Cloud Scripture and said that I am a Buddha, but I am a Buddha. I don't have a thousand hands and a thousand eyes to see everything in the world and manage everyone in the world. I also don't have a pair of eyes to see the hearts of the people in the world. My eyes, ears, and feet are the civil and military officials, but the civil and military officials are not of the same mind as me. What do you think I should do? "
Wan 'er lowered her head and didn't speak. Wu Zetian slowly stood up with a cold smile on her lips. She said coldly, "Then, I will use human blood to wash their hearts! I will see if their hearts are black or red! "That voice was like metal and stone, with a hint of murderous intent!
Ye An was secretly brought from Wu Sansi's residence to the palace. Ye An's days in the Liang Palace were not bad, except that he couldn't have freedom. Every day, he ate, slept, slept, and ate. His meals were provided according to the standards of the Liang Palace's second steward. After a period of time, he had actually grown fat.
Fortunately, his appearance had not changed. Lou Shide had personally interrogated him three times, so he was still able to recognize him when he saw him.
When Wu Zetian saw Lou Shide looking at Ye An in shock, she said, "Minister Lou?"
Lou Shide came to his senses and hurriedly turned around. "Your Majesty, this person is the Turkic spy that escaped from this subject's main army camp?"
Wu Zetian said, "Minister Lou, you are not mistaken?"
Lou Shide said without hesitation, "This subject is definitely not mistaken!"
Wu Zetian slowly nodded and smiled. "Good. I have troubled my beloved minister. Go back to the residence and rest."
Lou Shide had been inexplicably summoned to the palace today. On the way back, he had been anxious and worried, thinking that something had happened to him. This was because far too many officials had been inexplicably thrown into prison recently, and he had never imagined that he had been summoned to the palace to identify a criminal.
Now that the criminal's identity had been confirmed, the Emperor had immediately told him to leave. Although Lou Shide was rather surprised, he glanced at the calm Lai Junchen, who had been standing solemnly at the side this entire time. He said nothing, only deeply clasped his hands, and then left the hall.
Lai Junchen had coldly watched from the sidelines. He knew that someone was about to suffer, but he wasn't sure who it was. When he had seen Lou Shide enter the hall, he had believed that the 'guest' he was about to receive was Lou Shide. Thus, he had been observing this fat man for a long time, wondering what torture tools he should use to make the best use of his fat.
Now that Lou Shide had left, Lai Junchen immediately restrained the bloodthirst in his eyes and respectfully and eagerly said to his master, "Your Majesty, what orders do you have for this subject?"
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