In the time that Yang Fan had left the capital for Fangzhou, many things had happened in the capital.
With Wang Xiaojie's death, the four garrisons of Anxi no longer had a Great General standing guard, and Wu Zetian placed great importance on the greatest military achievement of the Wuzhou Dynasty. Helpless, Wu Zetian could only appoint the Western Turkic Khagan Husero as the Grand Supervisor of the Western Pacifying Army to guard Suiye.
Ever since Husero had settled in Luoyang, his greatest hobbies had become fine wine and beautiful women.
He had recently obtained a Japanese beauty called Ah Chan, a girl whose smile was as dazzling as the sun. Unlike the beauties of the Central Plains and the Western Regions, her candid personality and bright and beautiful face had quickly made her Husero's new favorite. But just as he was enjoying his time with this beauty, he suddenly received an imperial decree ordering him to take up his post in Suiye.
Husero had spent many years in the capital, causing his prestige among his tribesmen to drop by the day. He had not been able to contend against Wuzhile in the past, and it was even more impossible now. But he could not defy an imperial decree, so he could only brace himself and take up his post.
He was well aware that he would be ostracized by Wuzhile. Fortunately, he was going to Suiye on the imperial decree as the Grand Supervisor of the Western Pacifying Army. Wuzhile would never dare to kill him, so he did not have to worry about his life. But it wouldn't be long before Wuzhile would push him out of the post.
Therefore, he didn't even bring his favorite Japanese girl, Ah Chan. Anyway, it wouldn't be long before he had to pack up and come back, so he went alone. Now that he had become a beauty collector, he didn't know if he would bring back another Slavic beauty or another beauty from another ethnic group.
Meanwhile, the surrendered Khitan generals, Li Kaigu and Luo Wuzhen, deeply trusted by the Imperial Court and moved to tears of gratitude, had transformed from the vanguard of the rebellion into powerful figures in suppressing the rebellion.
The Khitans were now divided into three groups. One had defected to the Turks, one had surrendered to the Imperial Court, and one had remained neutral. In addition, there were also a few people who had participated in the rebellion who had become bandits. Li Kaigu and Luo Wuzhen were currently in charge of mopping up these bandits.
They were familiar with the Khitans and the terrain of the north, so they won repeatedly. Wu Zetian received the news and praised Di Renjie and Yang Fan for their foresight. These two scourges in the past had indeed become pillars of the imperial court.
However, Di Renjie, who had protected these two surrendered generals for the imperial court, was not doing well now. He was sick.
Di Renjie's body had always been strong and healthy, and he rarely suffered from headaches or fever. However, once someone like him who didn't get sick often got sick, it wasn't easy for him to recover. Di Renjie had been bedridden for many days, and Wu Zetian was very worried. She specially sent an imperial physician to treat him, but Di Renjie was already very old and couldn't be cured by medicine.
During this period, Wu Zetian also changed the Crane Administration to Fengchen Residence, with Zhang Yizhi as the Fengchen Magistrate and Zhang Changzong as the Fengchen Supervisor. After the name change, the Zhang brothers began to search for a large number of handsome youths in the capital to fill the residence. The second Zhang brothers took this opportunity to bring many elegant youths who were on good terms with them into the palace. They became Wu Zetian's concubines and obtained various official positions for them, further expanding their own power.
At the same time, in terms of internal affairs, the "ban on slaughter" that the court had implemented for seven years was also stopped. In the past seven years, those with power and influence always had fish and meat. The truly unlucky ones were those fishermen who lived in peace and kept to themselves. Most of these pitiful people were concentrated in the Jiangnan water villages. When the edict to lift the ban arrived, they had long been exhausted.
Another thing was related to Yang Fan. After the magistrate of Fangling reported to the capital that the 'footprints of God' had been found in the prison, for some reason, Wu Zetian actually attached great importance to this auspicious sign. Perhaps it was because no one had reported auspicious signs in the past two years.
After sending people to investigate and confirming that the footprints of Giant Foot had been found, and after questioning the two prisoners, Wu Zetian was overjoyed. She announced that the next year would be the first year of Dazu and the year would be changed. However, at this time, Yang Fan still did not know that in Fangling, he came up with an idea in order to get out of trouble, which actually prompted the country to change the year name.
In terms of personnel, another thing happened in the court. Ji Xu, who had just been promoted, was demoted to be the county lieutenant of Angu. The reason was that he quarreled with Wu Yizong, who had just returned from Hebei, in the court over a matter.
Wu Zetian did not say anything in the court, but she was very unhappy. She was considering making her son the crown prince, and Ji Xu also supported the idea of making the Li family the crown prince. No matter how bad Wu Yizong's performance was in Hebei, he was still a member of the Wu family. Now Ji Xu dared to confront Wu Yizong in the court. After she became famous, how would Ji Xu treat the members of the Wu family with his contributions to the Li family?
Thinking of this, the next day Wu Zetian found an excuse to demote Ji Xu to the county lieutenant and kick him out of the capital.
After this incident, the pig-riding general Wu Yizong, relying on his aunt's trust and the power to station troops in Jingdou, became even more unscrupulous and arrogant.
…
On the sickbed, Wu Chengsi's cheeks were sunken and his eyes were lifeless. He looked very haggard.
He covered his hand with a handkerchief and coughed hoarsely for a while. Panting, he said to Zhang Jiafu, "Yizong is now the commander-in-chief of the troops stationed in Jingdou and can be of great use. We have to recruit him. It is his birthday in three days. I have already prepared a generous gift. At that time, my son will go with you to celebrate Wu Yizong's birthday. My son is slow-witted and can't be of great use. I still need you to mediate and explain my intention to recruit him … "
Zhang Jiafu said worriedly, "I will naturally serve Your Highness! However, I think that the most important thing now is to cure Your Highness's illness. Your Highness's health has been getting worse recently. "
Wu Chengsi waved his hand and said disapprovingly, "It's nothing. It's an old illness. When I was exiled, it was too hard and left behind. Now that I'm getting older, the illness has come back. I won't die."
The door was knocked a few times. Without waiting for a reply, the door was opened. The head steward hurriedly walked in and handed Wu Chengsi a bamboo tube about the length of a finger.
Although Zhang Jiafu didn't know what had happened, for the steward of the manor to dare to barge in without permission, it was clear that he had long received Wu Chengsi's orders, telling him what kind of situation he could immediately report without permission. This meant that something big had happened. Zhang Jiafu couldn't help but become nervous.
Wu Chengsi saw that it was a bamboo tube. At first, he was at a loss, as if something had happened too long ago and he had forgotten about it. Then, his expression tightened as if he had suddenly remembered something. He snatched the bamboo tube and hurriedly opened it. There was a line of small words written on it, "The bird in the cage has stolen away. Its whereabouts are unknown!"
Wu Chengsi paled in shock and tightened his grip on the slip of paper. "How can it be? How can it be? It's been more than a decade and he's always been well-behaved. Why would he run away for no reason? Something's wrong! In the Palace, something must have happened in the Palace! Cough, cough, cough … "
Zhang Jiafu hurriedly asked, "Your Highness, what happened?"
With a gloomy face, Wu Chengsi said, "The Prince of Luling has escaped from Yellow Bamboo Ridge!"
Zhang Jiafu was shocked and blurted out, "How can that be? Where could he have escaped to? How could he have escaped? Who helped him escape? Ah! Unless it's … "
Wu Chengsi resisted the urge to cough, his face flushing red. "That's right! There's only one possibility! This is this prince's aunt's doing. "
Zhang Jiafu panicked. "Your Highness, what should we do?"
Wu Chengsi sneered. "What should we do? Of course we have to kill him! Once he's dead, nothing will happen! "
Wu Chengsi turned to the chief steward and said, "Immediately send out five groups of people, no! Ten groups of people, send all of our people out. Regardless of whether it's by land or by water, investigate all the roads leading from Fangzhou to the capital. Find them and kill them! "
The chief steward was clearly one of Wu Chengsi's trusted aides and knew a lot of inside information. He wasn't surprised by these words and calmly nodded before quietly withdrawing.
Wu Chengsi thought for a moment, then threw off his blanket. Zhang Jiafu hurried over to support him and asked, "Your Highness, what are you planning to do?"
Wu Chengsi said, "I am going to see Wu Sansi immediately. I still have to call for a clan meeting. This matter doesn't just concern me. We need to mobilize the strength of the entire Wu clan to prevent him from returning to the capital!"
…
Wu Sansi's face was flushed. He let out a burp, and the smell of alcohol assailed his nostrils. Wu Chengsi frowned and coughed uncontrollably again.
Wu Sansi said in a strange tone, "Did the sun rise from the west? I heard that His Highness King Liang has caught a cold and isn't feeling well. What are you doing here instead of recuperating at home? "
Wu Chengsi looked at the singers who had just retreated to the side with disgust and said fiercely, "Dismiss them!"
Wu Sansi waved his hand in an unconcerned manner, and the singers and musicians immediately retreated like a receding tide, leaving the hall empty.
Wu Sansi said lazily, "Alright, speak. What's the matter?"
Wu Chengsi covered his mouth and coughed a few times. With a hoarse voice, he said, "Li Xian … escaped from Fangzhou's Yellow Bamboo Ridge!"
Wu Sansi stared blankly. "What?"
Wu Chengsi was infuriated. He slammed the table and roared, "Are you deaf? Li Xian escaped! The Prince of Luling, Li Xian … cough, cough, cough … escaped! Tell me, how could he dare to escape? How could he … cough, cough … escape? This was clearly Aunt's idea! Aunt has changed her mind, changed her mind! "
Wu Sansi seemed to be petrified. He sat there with his eyes wide open, not saying anything.
Wu Chengsi said, "This matter doesn't just concern me, it also concerns you and our entire Wu clan. Cough! I came here personally just to tell you this. Do you understand? "
Wu Sansi nodded blankly. Wu Chengsi said, "What to do? Do as you see fit!" With that, Wu Chengsi stood up and left. When he reached the door, he stopped and said without turning his head, "I am going to call for a clan meeting. I hope that this time, you will not obstruct your people from participating, and … that you can come as well!"
After saying this, Wu Chengsi left while coughing. Wu Sansi stared at his back, still not saying anything. A figure quietly flashed out from behind the screen. Gazing at the door where Wu Chengsi had disappeared, he smiled and said, "That tuberculosis ghost, he really is something to worry about."
The person who spoke was shockingly the General Wu Yizong who had stirred up trouble in Hebei, forcing the State of Xi to defect to the Turks, establishing a country of its own, and forcing half of the Khitans to surrender to the Turks. After returning to the capital, he had been appointed as the commander-in-chief of the capital's troops!
… …
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