They did not go directly to the Daming Palace. They first went to the Taiji Palace from the Imperial City, passed through the Xuanwu Gate to the West Inner Garden, and then entered the Daming Palace through the Right Yintai Gate.
After a long circuit, we came to the Cixin Hall in the harem. The outside of this Buddhist hall was surrounded by the Habayashi Guards.
After entering the Buddhist hall, I saw a petite palace maid standing next to a wall with an expressionless face. She turned out to be Shangguan Wan'er!
Next to her, there was a man in black standing.
The man had a white cloth taped on his face. He looked like a zombie, but he was actually the leader of the bad guys, Bad Handsome.
King Pei smiled slightly and said: "You two have made great contributions to the success of this plan. I and my eighth brother have promised you something, and they will definitely not break their promise."
The bad handsome man just nodded, Shangguan Wan'er said softly: "Thank you, Your Highness."
King Pei smiled and said: "Okay, hurry up and open the mechanism. I can't wait to see the Queen Mother's expression at this moment!"
The bad handsome man came to the left wall of the Buddhist hall and turned a wall lamp.
There was a sound of "kazikaz", and the stone wall moved laterally and retracted into the side wall. An inward passage appeared on the side wall of the Buddhist hall.
King Pei strode in, turned a corner, and suddenly saw an exquisite and gorgeous secret room in front of his eyes.
This secret room was fully furnished, and there was a famous woman lying on a brocade couch. The woman was lying on her side. She got up when she heard the footsteps. Her majestic face was slightly haggard. She was none other than the missing Empress Dowager Wu Mei.
After seeing the person coming in, she raised her eyebrows and stared at King Pei: "It's really you!"
King Pei clasped his hands behind his back, walked slowly, smiled slightly and said, "Not bad." He didn't look at Wu Mei and glanced around the secret room.
I saw only two murals hanging on the left and right walls, each with a man in it.
The man on the left has a heroic face and a confident look in his eyes that he is in control of everything. He is Emperor Taizong Li Shimin.
The person on the right is smiling and elegant, but it is Emperor Gaozong Li Zhi.
King Pei laughed and said: "I didn't expect that a woman like you would secretly hide in a secret room and confide her feelings to Emperor Taizong and the late emperor. This surprised me."
Wu Mei's face turned green and white. This was her biggest secret, and she felt so ashamed and angry that it was exposed to the public.
But she was not an ordinary person after all, so she quickly suppressed her emotions and her face lost any expression.
He looked towards the people behind King Pei, and when he saw Dou Wenming, he sneered: "So he is yours."
King Pei said: "Wu Mei, don't underestimate Wen Ming. Do you know why your precious nephew Wu Sansi suddenly encouraged you to become emperor?"
Wu Mei was shocked.
King Pei sneered and said: "When we built the monument, did you think I would leave no backup plan?
It turned out that he had asked Dou Wenming to join Wu Sansi early on, so that he could use Wu Sansi's mouth to encourage Wu Mei to become emperor.
As a result, as soon as Wu Sansi mentioned the matter of becoming emperor, Wu Mei favored him greatly. From then on, King Pei confirmed Wu Mei's ambition!
He originally wanted to wait until Shibei's plan was successful, and then think of ways to get Wu Sansi to confess, one step after another, to prevent Li Zhi from being soft-hearted and allowing Wu Mei to escape.
Unexpectedly, Wu Chengsi took advantage of the stone tablet plan and got himself into it.
Wu Mei was quick-thinking and quickly figured out the key, but there was no trap.
King Pei showed a happy smile on his face and said: "You are suspicious by nature, so I asked Wen Ming to create a conflict between Wu Sansi and Wu Chengsi. Wu Sansi must have said a lot of bad things about Wu Chengsi in front of you."
Not only was Wu Mei not angry, she actually nodded and praised: "Being able to take advantage of my weaknesses has really made me a lot better."
Seeing her calm expression, King Pei felt a burst of anger in his heart, and said coldly: "Wu Mei, you are just a woman, do you really think you can be the emperor?"
Wu Mei did not answer and glanced at Li Dan.
Although she was in a bad situation, she still had great power. Li Dan felt a little uncomfortable when she looked at her and said loudly:
"Mother, you don't have to look at me like this. You have never cared about Brother Qi and me. It's you who doesn't treat me as your son and wants to steal the country. Naturally, I will rebel against you!"
Wu Mei said lightly: "Dan'er, I don't blame you, I'm just a little worried about you."
Li Dan hummed: "What are you worried about?"
"According to Li Xian's plan, I will definitely get rid of this palace, the emperor and the King of England. He can't be the emperor at the moment, so you will naturally be the emperor, right?"
King Pei was secretly shocked that Wu Mei could guess his plan in an instant.
He was worried that Li Dan would be deceived by Wu Mei's words, so he hurriedly said: "Old man, there is no need to talk to her."
Wu Mei smiled and said: "That's right, it's better that you don't know anything."
Li Dan said angrily: "I know what you want to say. You think Fifth Brother will kill me and take away my throne, don't you? But I tell you, in the future I will take the initiative to give the throne to Fifth Brother. You want to provoke
Don’t even think about our relationship as brothers!"
Wu Mei sneered and said: "Dan'er, you are still so naive. Although you have no nostalgia for the throne now, but when you experience what it's like to be an emperor, do you think you will still think so?"
Li Dan felt a chill go down his back.
Wu Mei continued: "Look at Li Hong, has he changed much since he became emperor? Do you think you will not change? You will not give up the throne when the time comes. You know Li Xian's temperament, what will he do?
"
King Pei suddenly raised his head and smiled: "Baby, our mother-in-law is really good at making you and I suspicious of each other with just a few words. It's a pity that a suspicious person like her will never understand our brotherly feelings."
Li Dan felt a little relieved, remembering how Li Xian took care of him when he was young, and smiled and said: "Yes."
Wu Mei secretly cried out that it was a pity. If King Pei's reaction just now was to get angry and tell her to shut up, then the thorn in Li Dan's heart would be buried.
She continued to look behind King Pei and said calmly: "If there were no traitors, just a few of you would never have put me in this situation. As for the person who betrayed me, why not let her come in to meet me?
?”
King Pei smiled and said, "Of course I want you to see clearly." He clapped his hands and said, "Come in."
Not long after he finished speaking, Shangguan Wan'er slowly walked in.
Wu Mei stared at her closely, with a cold light in her eyes: "I thought it was Xie Yaohuan, but I didn't expect it to be you!"
Shangguan Wan'er glared at her, gritted her teeth and said, "When you falsely accused our Shangguan family of treason, killed all the men in our family, and sent all the women into the Yeting Palace, did you ever think that today would happen?"
Wu Mei said coldly: "That's because Shangguan Yi insists on going against me! Shangguan Wan'er, I didn't tell you the secret of the Buddhist hall. How did you know that there is a secret room here?"
"Hmph! I have long noticed that every time you come to the Buddhist temple, you don't let anyone in except Xie Yaohuan and Hu Ping. There must be something weird inside.
Later, I would give Xie Yaohuan a hint every other month, and through her answers, I could tell that there was something else going on in the Buddhist hall!"
Wu Mei nodded and said: "It's really all deliberate. I released you from Yeting Palace and treated you well, but I didn't expect to raise a wolf!"
Shangguan Wan'er said loudly: "It was His Highness King Zhou who saved me, not you! You are being nice to me just to win over His Highness King Zhou, do you think I don't know that?"
Wu Mei sneered and said: "You also know that Chengsi saved you, but now you are helping others deal with him. If he knew, I don't know if he would regret saving you."
Shangguan Wan'er's face turned pale and she gritted her teeth and remained silent.
King Pei suddenly smiled and said: "Mother, you are wrong to blame this girl. Although she is young, her scheming is very deep and terrifying. If the bad handsome man hadn't reminded me, I would have almost been tricked by her."
Shangguan Wan'er's face changed drastically, she turned her head, glared at King Pei, and said in a trembling voice: "You...you..."
King Pei said calmly: "It's true that you want to cooperate with me to kill Wu Mei, but you don't really trust me. In your plan, after Wu Mei dies, Wu Chengsi will lead the army back to Beijing to clean up the mess, right?
"
Shangguan Wan'er's face turned paler and paler, she bit her lip tightly and hissed: "So you already knew it!"
King Pei's face turned cold and he said in a cold voice:
"You, a despicable sinner from the Yeting Palace, do you really think you can play with me in the palm of your hand?
You secretly sent a letter to Wu Chengsi, asking him to leave the capital and return with his army a few days later. You really killed two birds with one stone. You could eliminate both the Queen Mother and me. It's a pity that your letter has been transferred by a bad commander.
!”
Shangguan Wan'er's eyes turned red, and her eyes were filled with tears. She took out a dagger from her waist and said angrily: "I will fight with you!" and stabbed King Pei.
Li Dan stretched out his hand to pull her hair and hit her waist with his knee. Shangguan Wan'er screamed and fell to the ground.
Li Dan pulled out the knife and pointed the tip at Shangguan Wan'er's chest.
Wu Mei looked on with cold eyes, silently watching without saying a word.
King Pei kept observing her expression, and when he saw that she showed no fear, he felt unhappy and said coldly: "Li Shuai, I heard that you bad guys have a lot of torture drugs."
The bad handsome man said in a hoarse voice: "Yes, there are four kinds in total."
King Pei smiled and said: "Which one is the most powerful?"
"Black ant blood-eating pill! This poison has no cure. The person who takes it will be tortured for three hours before death. The whole body is like a thousand ants eating it, and they just want to die quickly!"
King Pei straightened his sleeves and said calmly: "Suppress this sinful girl."
The bad handsome man took out a black bottle, poured out a dark green pill, and stuffed it into Shangguan Wan'er's mouth.
Wu Mei seemed to have nothing to do with her, and her expression did not change at all.
King Pei hummed: "Wu Mei, don't you want to ask why a bad handsome man works for me?"
Wu Mei said calmly: "I know this without asking."
"oh?"
Wu Mei said slowly and calmly: "What this old ghost is most concerned about is the survival of bad people. Li Hong has a simple and cowardly character, so he is rarely used. Over time, the bad people will disappear."
"But you are different. You are scheming and like to use intrigues. You are the most suitable monarch for him. He will naturally join you!"
King Pei laughed and said, "The Queen Mother is too generous." He changed the topic and said, "But you are still wrong. It is thanks to you that Li Shuai is willing to join me."
Wu Mei said lightly: "Oh?"
King Pei said coldly: "Li Hongjue can't fight you. Li Shuai has seen this clearly a long time ago. As long as you become the emperor, you will definitely kill all the bad guys. He is just trying to protect himself."
Wu Mei remained silent.
At this moment, Shangguan Wan'er, who was on the ground, was trembling slightly, and she let out a low moan.
King Pei narrowed his eyes and said, "Your Highness the Queen Mother, look at the appearance of this sinful girl. Isn't it ridiculous?"
The implication is that if you take poison later, you will end up like her.
Wu Mei showed no fear and said calmly: "She deserves it. Anyone who has offended me should not die easily!" Her tone was filled with murderous intent.
King Pei was startled and thought to himself: "Isn't she leaving behind some backup plan?" He turned to Li Dan and asked: "Where are Wu Chengsi's troops from the west?"
Li Dan said: "The latest report said that we have arrived at Liang Mansion. Even if we return to Chang'an immediately, it will take five days."
King Pei turned his head to look at Wu Mei again, and saw that her expression remained unchanged, and he was filled with surprise and uncertainty.
He was defeated repeatedly at the hands of Wu Chengsi and Wu Mei, and was extremely wary of them. Although Wu Mei was now in his hands, Wu Chengsi, who held military power, was still outside.
He snorted coldly and said, "I heard that Mrs. Wu Chengsi gave birth to a son for him."
Dou Wenming replied: "Your Highness, this is indeed the case. I just gave birth today."
King Pei said coldly: "Li Shuai, I'd like to thank you for your hard work and lead a team of Yu Lin guards to Wu Chengsi's mansion to capture his wife and children."
The bad guy said in a hoarse voice: "The bad guys in my hands are enough to catch them, and I don't need the Habayashi Guards."
King Pei insisted: "Wu Chengsi is the one who leads the army. The guards in his palace must be brave and good at fighting. It is better to take the Yulin Guards!"
The bad handsome man had no choice but to agree, turned around and went out.
At this moment, Quan Zhijie entered the secret room and said with a smile: "His Royal Highnesses King Pei, King Yin, and Wu Youji have led the Jinwu Guards into the Daming Palace, intending to rescue the generals of the Sixteenth Guards who are under house arrest by the emperor."
Wu Mei glanced at Quan Zhijie. Although her expression did not change, her heart suddenly sank.
King Pei praised: "This man has some foresight. As long as he rescues the generals of the Sixteenth Guards, he can control the Sixteenth Guards army, and then the overall situation will be back under their control."
Quan Zhijie said lightly: "It's a pity that he is daydreaming. Even if the Jinwu Guard can break through the Qianniu Guard, it will be my Yulin Guard waiting for them."
King Pei said solemnly: "General Quan, this matter is of great importance. You should go to the imperial city in person to guard it."
Quan Zhijie took the order and left.
King Pei said again: "Wen Ming, Li Hong is timid. After learning that the Jinwu Guards have come in, he will definitely hide in the harem. You take Lao Ba's team of Jinwu Guards there and be sure to kill him!"
It took Li Dan half a year to conquer this group of Jinwu Guards. There were only 500 people in total, just for today's plan.
Dou Wenming made a promise.
King Pei then ordered a Yulin Guard general: "Go to the Prince of Ying's Mansion and escort the King of Ying to the Governor of Qinzhou."
Li Dan showed an unbearable look and said, "Fifth brother, do you really want to exile seventh brother?"
King Pei said solemnly: "I can't do anything about it. If he doesn't leave, Wu Chengsi will definitely make him emperor when he comes back. After we get rid of Wu Chengsi in the future, we can take him back!"
Li Dan sighed and did not object again.
…
Xuanzheng Hall.
The huge palace was as noisy as a vegetable market.
Not long ago, Li Hong summoned all the ministers and issued an imperial edict, transferring almost one-fifth of the officials from the three provinces, six ministries and nine ministers.
Li Ji was removed from the post of Zhongshu Ling, Wu Yizong was removed from the post of Yushi Dafu, Su Dingfang was removed from Situ, Wu Youji was removed from Jinwuwei General, Qiu Shenji was removed from Weiwei Siqing, etc.
Although Liu Qixian, Pei Yan, Li Jingxuan and others opposed it, Li Hong was extremely tough this time, and Li Chongyi, Dai Zhide, Cen Changqian and others also used full firepower.
Many originally neutral parties saw that the emperor took the lead in attacking and seemed to have the situation under control, so they all turned to the emperor's side, which made Li Hongda happy.
However, before he was happy for a while, the Qianniu Guards came to report that Wu Youji had escaped from the palace, ran to the Jinwu Guards Office, and mobilized the Jinwu Guards to attack the palace.
Li Hong was frightened and frightened. He believed that the Queen Mother was behind the scenes. He was so frightened that he ran away from the side door of the hall.
The remaining officials immediately became hyped.
Li Chongyi, Dai Zhide, Dai Liangshao and other officials wanted to pursue Li Hong, but they were surrounded by Liu Qixian, Pei Yan, Li Jingxuan and others, who loudly questioned the Queen Mother's whereabouts.
Cen Changqian hurriedly sent a team of Qianniu Guards to chase Li Hong, and asked a team of Qianniu Guards to guard the minister. Then he led the other Qianniu Guards towards the imperial city to resist the Jinwu Guards!
Li Hong's Long Hu was walking all the way towards Langya Palace. On the way, he suddenly saw Dou Wenming coming in a hurry.
"Wen Ming, didn't I ask you to protect the imperial concubine? Why are you here? Did something happen to the imperial concubine?"
Dou Wenming said hurriedly: "Your Majesty, don't worry. Your Royal Highness is fine. I heard that the Jinwu Guards had entered the palace and was worried about your safety, so I wanted to protect you."
Li Hong's face turned pale and he gritted his teeth and said, "This must have been arranged by the Queen Mother. She must have planned everything! Wen Ming, I... what should I do now?"
Dou Wenming said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, don't worry. The Qianniu Guard is more powerful than the Jinwu Guard and will definitely be able to guard the palace gate. However, you also need to find a safe place to hide first in case the Queen Mother sends someone to assassinate you."
Li Hong nodded repeatedly and said: "I also have this plan, but I have to bring the imperial concubine with me first."
Dou Wenming advised: "Your Majesty, the situation is extremely urgent right now. The people sent by the Queen Mother are probably on the way. The Qianniu Guards alone cannot protect you. You need to find a safe place to hide immediately!"
Li Hong shook his head and said: "No, I must take the imperial concubine with me!" After giving the order, he ordered the dragon to march towards Langya Palace. Dou Wenming had no choice but to follow.
When they arrived at Langya Palace, they saw Yaruo wearing a red hunting suit. There were two rows of palace maids and eunuchs in the palace, all holding weapons.
She was also worried that this matter was a conspiracy by the Queen Mother, and had already prepared for a fight to the death. When she saw Li Hong coming, she quickly asked: "Your Majesty, how is the situation?"
Li Hong grabbed her hand and said anxiously: "My dear concubine, the Jinwu Guards are coming to the palace. We need to find a place to hide first."
Yaruo said angrily: "What are you afraid of? In the worst case, we will fight with them!"
Dou Wenming hurriedly said: "Your Highness, you don't have to worry, the Jinwu Guard's combat power is not as good as that of the Qianniu Guard. We only need to wait for General Cen to quell the Jinwu Guard's rebellion and then we can regain control of the situation!"
Li Hongdao: "Then... I'll just wait in Langya Hall. Wen Ming, what do you think?"
The Qianniu Guards general who was sent by Cen Changqian to protect Li Hong suddenly said: "Your Majesty, in view of the last general, you should go and join the general immediately."
Dou Wenming scolded: "Nonsense, there is a war going on there. Your Majesty is a man of gold, how can you go to such a dangerous place?"
He turned to Li Hong and said:
"Your Majesty, let's go to the East Palace. You are most familiar with it, and no one else would have thought you would go there!"
Li Hong's eyebrows lit up and he shouted: "Yes, just go to the East Palace. There is also a group of East Palace guards there. Although there are not many people, they can protect me!"
At that moment, Long Hu headed towards the East Palace of Tai Chi Hall. Along the way, eunuchs and maids sent by the Queen, Concubine Cen Shu, and Concubine Liu Def came to inquire about the situation from time to time.
Li Hong ignored him and walked directly towards Tai Chi Palace.
After passing through a corridor and arriving at Xuande Gate, Dou Wenming quietly slowed down and fell to the last place, then ducked and hid behind a pillar.
After passing this gate, you will find the West Inner Garden.
Dou Wenming squinted and looked ahead. Just as Li Hong's dragon chase passed Xuande Gate, he heard a burst of sound in the air, followed by the screams of the palace maids and eunuchs.
The Qianniu Guards shouted: "Protect Your Majesty!" The Qianniu Guards immediately surrounded Li Hong and retreated in the direction of Dou Wenming.
However, the enemy was hiding in the dark and kept firing arrows. There were only 300 Qianniu Guards, and they retreated less than 20 feet before more than half of them were shot to death.
Other palace maids and eunuchs were even worse, and almost none of them was spared.
At this time, a group of Jinwu Guards were seen rushing out from Taixuan Gate and charging towards Qianniu Guards.
Qianniu fought bloody battle in the bathroom, Yaruo pulled out a scimitar and protected Li Hong.
Not long after, the Qianniu Guards were outnumbered, with only a dozen people left. The general was shot twice, but he still refused to retreat and stood in front of Li Hong and Yaruo.
"Puff puff puff", more than a dozen spears pierced the general's body and lifted him into the air.
Li Hong was so frightened that he shouted loudly in the air: "Mother, I realize that I am wrong, please spare me!"
However, in this situation, how could anyone respond to him?
I saw the Jinwu guards approaching with guns drawn, and the smell of blood became stronger and stronger.
Yaruo said sternly: "The emperor is here, who of you dares to be presumptuous!"
What answered her was dozens of spear points with cold gleams.
Yaruo tried her best to push away several spears, but other spears were stabbing straight at her. Fortunately, at the critical moment, several Qianniu Guards stepped forward to block her, and she was finally saved from death.