Yang Fan did not watch the fire for the whole night. Although it might be a rare grand scene in his life, it did not seem fun to watch the fire with his wife and children. When his son began to feel sleepy and closed his eyes to play with the donkey, he took his family back home.
After returning home and putting the children to sleep, he stood in the courtyard with Ah Nu and Xiao Man and sighed together for a while before returning to his room to sleep. Even if the palace was burned to the ground, it had nothing to do with him, and he did not associate the fire with Xue Huaiyi.
The next morning, he dealt with some matters in the study and casually inquired about the situation of the fire last night. He could not help but sigh when he learned that Ming Tang and Heaven had been burned to rubble. Near noon, Ren Wei came to report: The people escorting the illusion artists to the capital had arrived.
Yang Fan could not help but frown. With such a big thing happening in the palace, a series of celebration activities must be canceled. If he could not let these illusion artists, who could expose the fraud of the swindlers, appear in front of Wu Zetian in a natural way, Wu Zetian would definitely be more vigilant.
In this case, even if he could use the Empress to settle the score with the three swindlers and successfully eradicate Young Master Jiang's important power, it would also bring great losses to himself. The Empress would not be unaware that someone was using her. With her strong character, she would not hesitate to obliterate those who used her.
Yang Fan was still hesitating whether to let these artists stay in Luoyang and wait for the opportunity, or to forcefully expose the tricks of the three swindlers regardless of the risk of exposing his own power. Another message was sent to his residence. After receiving this news, Yang Fan decisively ordered to first settle the illusion artists and wait for changes.
The fire last night, which had nothing to do with him, suddenly made a major turn in his plan.
The news Yang Fan received was: "The so-called reincarnation of Pure Light Buddha, the Shennui of Hanoi, has been expelled by the Emperor!"
It turned out that after the fire in the Palace, the old nun of Hanoi also heard the news and rushed to the Palace to express her condolences. At that time, Wu Zetian had just sent away the civil and military officials and the members of the Imperial Family. She returned to Lichun Tai and lay down on her bed. The news of the old nun from Hanoi suddenly ignites Wu Zetian's suppressed anger at this moment.
"You are known as the reincarnation of the Pure Light Buddha and can see the past and the future. Why didn't you explain to me why Heaven and Ming Tang were on fire?"
As soon as the old nun saw Wu Zetian, she was frightened by her roar. She was so scared that her knees went soft and she knelt on the ground.
"Lies! It was all a lie! It was all a lie! You liar! You swindler! "
Wu Zetian's voice could not help but tremble. Back then, in order to build Ming Tang and Heaven, the treasury had been exhausted. That magnificent building was her pride, it was her symbol, it was her sacred palace that commanded the world. But now, there was only a pile of rubbish that had not been completely burned.
The old nun from Hanoi said in a trembling voice, "Your Majesty, I … I …"
"Scram! Scram! I don't want to see you. Scram back to Hanoi. I don't want to see you anymore! "
Wu Zetian roared and grabbed a vase and threw it at her. The old nun from Hanoi covered her head and fled like a rat. Zhang Changzong contemptuously glanced at the back of the old nun from Hanoi. Since these swindlers talked nonsense about Xue Huaiyi being the reincarnation of the Skanda with a stick and the protector of the Maitreya Buddha, he had already hated these swindlers. Now, he finally vented his disgust.
Wu Zetian was still angry. She seemed to regret that the old nun from Hanoi fled too quickly and could not let her continue to vent. Ming Tang was destroyed in a day. Her heart ached, but she could not immediately execute the culprit. The anger in her heart was really indescribable.
"The old nun from Hanoi was sent back to Hanoi, removed from the position of abbot of Linzhi Temple, and confiscated the bestowed property?"
Yang Fan listened to the urgent news sent by his subordinate and could not help but frown.
If the true colors of the three swindlers had been seen through by the Emperor himself, the illusionary master he had invited from thousands of miles away would be useless. The Emperor's punishment for the swindlers was to send them back. It was probably because the Empress had misgivings and did not want to use a clear method of punishment. Thus, the world would laugh at her, a dignified Emperor, for being played by a few swindlers. But in this way, the method he had planned for a long time to deal with Young Master Jiang would be useless.
Yang Fan thought for a long time and suddenly raised his head. "No! If this matter is resolved like this, all our plans will be useless. Immediately start the impeachment. We must take the initiative! "
…
Liu Rui, the chief of the ancestral temple, rushed into Zhu Ti's office and reported the news of the old nun from Hanoi being sent back to her superior. "Ming Tang was on fire. The old nun from Hanoi, who claimed to know everything in the past and future, did not give any warning. The Emperor is furious and has already sent her back."
Zhu Ti immediately twirled his beard and coldly reprimanded the old nun from Hanoi for bewitching the Emperor, misleading the public with her lies, and using small tricks to swindle people. He had completely forgotten how he had fawned over the old nun from Hanoi when she was in favor.
Liu Rui shook his head and smiled. "Does Doctor still not understand the intention of this subordinate mentioning this matter to Doctor? We, the ancestral temple, should understand the Emperor's will and share His Majesty's worries. "
Zhu Ti said blankly, "Understand the Emperor's will, Chief Liu means …?"
Liu Rui secretly twitched his mouth. If this Doctor Zhu had not offered his daughter to Wei Wang and received Wei Wang's favor to become a side wang fei, with his brain, how could he be fit to sit in the position of the ancestral temple's Doctor? But Liu Rui did not dare to show the slightest contempt on his face. Instead, he earnestly guided, "Aiya, my Doctor Zhu, you only care about the matters within your responsibility. Your conduct has always been honest and simple. No wonder you cannot understand the crux of this."
Zhu Ti smiled awkwardly. "Yes, yes. Please enlighten me, Chief Liu."
Liu Rui repeatedly waved his hand. "Doctor Zhu is too polite. I do not dare to enlighten you. This subordinate is Doctor Zhu's subordinate. These matters should be handled by me on Doctor Zhu's behalf."
Seeing that Zhu Ti was getting impatient from waiting, Liu Rui said, "Doctor Zhu, the Emperor has always been wise. When has he ever been deceived like this? Especially the Ming Tang and the Great Fire of Heaven. Years of hard work were destroyed in one day. The Emperor's heart aches! Now he hates this swindling old nun from Hanoi to death. He wants nothing more than to hack her into a thousand pieces. "
Zhu Ti blinked his eyes and said blankly, "Then why did the Emperor not behead her and only chase her out of the capital?"
Liu Rui said, "Doctor Zhu, think about it. If the Emperor wanted to kill her, what crime would he use? Accuse her of swindling and deceiving the Emperor? The Emperor is wise. How could he be deceived by a swindler? If he were to punish her, wouldn't that implicate the Emperor as well? Wouldn't he be the laughing stock of the world? "
At least Zhu Ti was not hopelessly stupid. When he heard this, he finally understood. He blinked his eyes and suddenly became excited. "Chief Liu, you mean … we … we …"
Liu Rui said, "That's right! The Emperor wants to punish the old nun from Hanoi but has no reason. He can't say the real reason. What should he do? As officials, we should share the Ruler's burdens. We have this reason. If Lang Zhong were to help His Majesty find a reason, do you think His Majesty would not look at Lang Zhong in a different light? "
Zhu Ti slapped the table and stood up. He said excitedly, "That's right! Chief Liu, this official did not rely on you as a confidant for nothing. If the Emperor appreciates me, I will definitely return the favor. "
"I don't dare, I don't dare. I should work for Doctor Zhu!"
The old nun from Hanoi fled back to Linzhi Temple. Thinking about it carefully, the Emperor only chased her back to Hanoi. As for taking back the Buddhist property, she couldn't take the Buddhist fields with her anyway. She didn't want to rely on Wu Zetian to live in the capital for the rest of her life. This result was not unacceptable.
She calmed down and planned to run away as soon as she returned to Linzhi Temple, but now she was reluctant.
These days, she had collected a lot of money in Linzhi Temple. These were all floating wealth and could be taken away. However, a lot of the money had been loaned and needed to be collected immediately. In addition, to take so much money away, she needed to load it and hire guards. This was not something that could be solved in a short time.
So when the old nun from Hanoi returned to Linzhi Temple, she pretended to be calm and didn't reveal the news to her disciples. While she was busy arranging the transportation of the treasures, she also hosted the tonsure ceremony for three prostitutes and distributed spies. From this, she earned another 180 strings of coins.
That afternoon, Zhu Ti, the Minister of the Ancestral Department, sent a memorial to the Palace. It accused the abbot of Linzhi Temple, the old nun from Hanoi, of eating wine and meat every day and corrupting the rules of Buddhism. She also distributed spies wantonly, causing many prostitutes to seek shelter in Buddhism and evade taxes. What's more, she simply turned Linzhi Temple into a brothel and seduced customers, making the peaceful Buddhist land unbearably filthy.
Zhu Ti didn't make up the things mentioned in the memorial. Every word and sentence was the truth. When the old nun from Hanoi was favored, not only did he not dare to submit the memorial, but he also had to cover for her. At this time, he only reported what other Buddhist disciples, especially the original cultivators of Linzhi Temple, had reported.
Shangguan Wan'er was in the palace to take care of things. After learning that the memorial was ordered by her Langjun, the impeachment memorial, which would take at least seven days to reach the Emperor in the current chaotic situation, was delivered to Lichun Tai after the time it took for a stick of incense to burn in front of Shangguan Wan'er's desk.
The person in charge of reading the memorial to the Emperor in Lichun Tai was Zhang Yizhi. The Zhang brothers hated the three swindlers who flattered their rival in love, Xue Huaiyi. As soon as they saw such a thing, they immediately read it as the most important memorial to Wu Zetian. Then they added oil and vinegar to the story of the influence these Buddhist scum had on the Empress's reputation.
Wu Zetian wanted to cut the old nun from Hanoi into pieces. However, it was difficult to find a crime. She would never admit that she was deceived by the old nun from Hanoi and flew into a rage out of humiliation. Now that there was such a crime, she would not be polite anymore. She immediately ordered angrily, "Arrest the old nun from Hanoi and hand her over to the Ancestral Department for trial. Therefore, in order to evade taxes, all the women who bribed the old nun from Hanoi to become spies are arrested. They will not be official servants! "
That night, the Linzhi Temple was surrounded by the people sent by the prefectural magistrate of Luoyang, Lai Junchen. Not only did they catch the old nun from Hanoi, more than a hundred fake nuns who were eating and drinking, but they also caught more than fifty whoremongers who came to the nunnery to visit prostitutes. It could be said that the results of the battle were impressive.
That was not all. Lai Junchen had also obtained a list of all the monks who had been tongued by the old nun of Hanoi from the temple. This could be found from the records of the spies. Lai Junchen began to launch a vigorous arrest operation throughout the city.
It was the sixteenth of the first lunar month. The curfew in Luoyang was still lifted, and the people in the city were still celebrating. Last night, they had witnessed the grand fire of the Imperial Palace, and this night, there were countless young and beautiful nuns with shaved heads, as well as gorgeously dressed prostitutes who were caught from various brothels and alleys.
This night, it was another exciting night.
…
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