"Why is Taiping here?"
The dukes with the surname Wu and Li were all surprised. The most surprised was Princess Taiping's husband, Wu Youji, who was now both a duke and the emperor's son-in-law. However, they didn't have time to think. Seeing the imperial carriage in front of them, they could only kneel and greet loudly, "Greetings, Your Majesty!"
At this time, it wasn't a grand ceremony or worship of heaven and earth. The officials only needed to bow when they saw the emperor and didn't need to kneel. However, the dukes present were all relatives of Wu Zetian. The most senior ones were Wu Zetian's sons and nephews. The rest were her grandchildren and nephews. Naturally, they deserved their greetings.
The imperial carriage stopped. Wu Zetian sat lazily in the imperial carriage and looked down at the dukes kneeling below the steps. There were ten dukes on the Li Family's side. On the Wu Family's side, there were twenty dukes other than the unlucky Junwang Wu Yanxiu who happily rushed to make peace but was held captive by the hateful Moche.
On the Li Family's side, all the dukes only had one title. They didn't have an army or a horse, and they didn't hold any official positions. On the Wu Family's side, at least ten of the twenty dukes led the army. Wu Zetian had never seen the difference in power between the Wu Family and the Li Family so directly. At this moment, she saw everything. Even she felt that she had suppressed the Li Family too much in the past.
The hearts of the world were on the Li Family's side. To ensure her inheritance, the Li Family had to stand firm. Otherwise, if she died and the Wu Family usurped the throne, her empire would fall apart. She would repeat the mistakes of Emperor Qin and Emperor Wen of Sui. At that time, it would be difficult for her tomb to be peaceful.
"We must weaken the Wu Family's dukes. We must ensure that under their supervision, my son doesn't dare to restore the surname Li or restore the empire of Li Tang. However, we can't let the Wu Family dukes have enough power to overthrow the imperial power …"
Wu Zetian's scrutinizing gaze swept across the princes one by one, and finally stopped on Wu Chengsi. If she had to choose a nephew among her nephews who could replace the Li family and sit on the throne, only Wu Chengsi's ability barely had a 30% chance. However, this nephew with only a 30% chance would probably walk ahead of her. The others … were all useless!
Wu Zetian lightly sighed and lightly said, "All of you, get up!"
…
"The Emperor summoned the two princes with the surname Wu and Li to swear an oath to the Heavens and Earth that they would never betray each other and would never fight with each other. The oath was engraved on an iron coupon and hidden in the Hall of History! Taiping also participated and signed his name. In addition, An Le has been pregnant for three months. After the vow, the Son of Heaven will personally preside over the ceremony and marry An Le to Chong Xun. "
Wan 'er's note, which was only two fingers wide and had only three lines of words, had already told Yang Fan everything that was going to happen in Heaven Palace today.
"Oath of alliance? The Emperor actually placed the future stability of the Empire on a piece of paper. It seems that she really has no other way. " Yang Fan sneered. Although he knew the news one step earlier than the princes with the surname Wu and Li, the news did not shock him. He only cared about one thing. "Taiping also participated."
Yang Fan let out a long sigh of relief. He rubbed his chin and thought, "The Emperor … finally opened the ban and acquiesced to Taiping's involvement in politics?"
This was an important political agreement between the Wu and Li families. The man was in charge of external affairs and the woman was in charge of internal affairs. Princess Taiping should not have participated. Wu Youji, as the head of the family, should have full authority to represent his wife. However, Princess Taiping was also able to attend and sign her name on the agreement. This was somewhat unusual.
The Wu and Li families had many marriages. Princess Taiping was not the only daughter-in-law of the Wu family. If it was only because she was a daughter of the Li family and a daughter-in-law of the Wu family, then Princess Taiping should not be the only one who could participate in this meeting.
It was clear that in Wu Zetian's eyes, her daughter was independent. Not only was she a link between the Wu and Li families, but she was also an independent political force.
The Emperor increased the number of cavalry from one hundred to one thousand and increased the proportion of old Li Tang officials in the court. These were all to adjust the balance that was heavily tilted to the Wu family's side to a state of balance. However, these forces were obviously not enough. Now this political balance depended on Wu Zetian's finger to strongly press on the Li family's side, which ensured the temporary peace between the two sides. As long as she withdrew her finger, this balance would fall heavily on the Wu family's side. The Li family's power was too weak, and Taiping was undoubtedly a person who could play a balancing role.
Princess Taiping was both the Princess of the Li Family and the daughter-in-law of the Wu Family. From her standpoint, she would not want either side of the Wu Family or the Li Family to completely fail. No matter which side was completely eradicated, she would be put in an extremely embarrassing position. Therefore, Princess Taiping was undoubtedly the most suitable person to serve as the mediator between the Wu and Li families. But all along, Wu Zetian had never thought of using her. Even when Yang Fan put him in an important position, she still did not consider her.
An emperor who usurped the throne most worried that others would imitate him and usurp the throne. This female emperor was Taiping's mother. She knew her daughter's scheming and wisdom, but she had always strictly restrained her and forbade her from getting involved in politics. Obviously, she was worried that her daughter would imitate her.
She had usurped the throne from her son. Because of the constraints of filial piety, even if her son was brave and resourceful, he could not rebel against her. In addition, most people thought that even if she usurped the throne, she would return it to the Li family sooner or later. Because her biological sons all had the surname Li, she was already in her sixties when she ascended the throne. It was impossible for her to have another child, so she could ascend the throne relatively smoothly.
But if Taiping also had this ambition, she did not have the advantages that her mother had. If she became ambitious, it would only cause chaos in the world. Therefore, Wu Zetian had kept her daughter tightly in prison and did not allow her to show her fangs and claws. But now she had changed her mind. Obviously, she had realized that if she did not let her daughter do anything, her two sheep-like sons would not be able to achieve great things even if they were righteous.
Yang Fan's brain worked quickly. "Taiping is a woman, so it is difficult for her to directly intervene in the army. It seems that the emperor intends to let Taiping have a role in politics and further strengthen the Li family's control over politics. If that's the case … "
As for the news in Wan 'er's note that An Le was already three months pregnant and had been hastily married, he did not pay any attention to it. He just swept his gaze over and gave a cold laugh in response. In his eyes, that woman was like a strange flower that grew on the island he had lived on for many years. She bloomed in the most beautiful colors but gave off the stench of corpses that could suffocate people to death.
…
After the oath of alliance in the Ming Tang, there was, of course, an Emperor's family banquet.
Many of the members of the imperial family who had not appeared in the Ming Tang before came, including the brides who had just become the daughter-in-law of the Wu family and An Le who was about to become the daughter-in-law of the Wu family.
Princess Anle was dressed abnormally coquettishly. The feather dress she was wearing was the most popular style in Luoyang. However, the popular feather dresses were sewn with the feathers of birds like golden pheasants. As for her dress, it was decorated with expensive peacock feathers. However, even such a gorgeous dress could not take away her charm.
There was no doubt that she was the most beautiful among all the people present. Princess Taiping's beauty was like a dazzling sun; Shangguan Wan 'er's elegance was like a gentle ray of moonlight; Princess An Le was like a seven-colored rainbow that stretched across the sky. Out of the three, she was the younger, the livelier, and in high spirits. She stole the light of all the other women in the hall.
But when Wu Zetian's gaze swept over her body, she would unconsciously frown with a faint trace of loathing. This girl was originally the one Wu Zetian liked the most in his grandson's lifetime. But now, she had completely lost Wu Zetian's favor.
The peacock dress wrapped around her slender waist. Even though she was three months pregnant, her slender waist was still graceful. But there was no need to doubt that she was already pregnant. Wu Zetian was very unhappy about this. An unmarried princess of the Imperial Family actually did such a shameful thing. It was truly a disgrace to the family!
People were always like this. When they made a mistake, they could find a thousand reasons to forgive themselves. But when their children made the same mistake, they would hate iron for not becoming steel and fly into a rage.
Wu Zetian was like this. There was no need to talk about the matter of being a cairen in the Taizong dynasty. After all, in theory, all the women that entered the palace were considered wives in preparation for the Emperor. But this did not mean that she had definitely served the Emperor. Every palace maid had the duty to offer their chastity to the Emperor. Wasn't it the same after being released from the palace still married?
Cairen was a rank for concubines and also a title for female officials. How many female officials had served on the Emperor's pillow? Female officials could be chosen because of their background. For example, they could be chosen from the family of a minister. The Emperor had never favored them, but he still had to give them a title to pacify the officials. It could also be because of qualifications, meritorious service, or being used in front of the Emperor, but it did not necessarily mean that they had slept with the Emperor.
Other than the Empress and the four consorts, the other nine concubines, nine jieyu, nine beauties, nine cairen, twenty-seven Bao Lin, twenty-seven Yu Nu, twenty-seven Cai Nu, and the six ministers were all wives in preparation for the Emperor. Some of them would never have the chance to see the Emperor in their entire lives, let alone serve on the Emperor's pillow.
However, it was an indisputable fact that she kept a gigolo. So when she found out that her daughter had an affair with Yang Fan, although she was furious, she could not display the dignity of a mother to her daughter who followed suit. It was the same now. Although An Le was unmarried and pregnant, she could not righteously reprimand her. Furthermore, she had to care about the face of the Imperial Family. She could only quickly let An Le and Wu Chongxun marry.
However, not being able to reprimand her did not mean that she did not loathe her. In the beginning, she liked An Le because An Le was lively and beautiful, just like her when she was young. But she was born into a wealthy family. Before she was chosen to enter the palace, her father was a Duke. She had received a good education from a young age, which was different from An Le.
Lively and boorish, naive and shallow, there was only a wall separating them. At first glance, they seemed the same, but with Wu Zetian's experience, she could quickly tell them apart. So, she was no longer as surprised as she was when she first saw An Le. Because of this, she felt even more disgusted with him.
… …
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