While Li Ye and his father Li Dai were talking about Li Huai, in the palace, the emperor Li Heng, who was lying on the sickbed, secretly summoned the fourth prince Peng Wang Li Ji.
Of course, this summons could not be hidden from Queen Zhang or Li Fuguo. It was just that they were the only two people in the room.
Pei Min controlled the situation outside the door to ensure that no one eavesdropped on the conversation between father and son.
At this time, Empress Zhang rushed over like a gust of wind. She had just been listening to Prime Minister Pei Zunqing's report on Zhu Tao's death. Unexpectedly, at this critical juncture, Peng Wang Li Yue actually took advantage of the loophole.
This made Empress Zhang very angry. Anyone who wanted to see the emperor had to go through her. Why could Prince Peng and Li Ji make an exception? Who let him go?
He rushed to the emperor's quiet room, but Pei Min blocked her way, "Queen, the emperor is meeting with Prince Peng, and no one is allowed to come in and disturb him!"
Queen Zhang was furious, "Get out of my way!"
But Pei Min remained motionless, "This humble position is for the good of the empress. If the emperor is offended, the empress's divine dragon order will not be preserved."
Queen Zhang gritted her teeth and said, "How dare you threaten me?"
"I don't dare because of my humble position, but the empress should first understand how the emperor summoned Prince Peng. Only then can the empress make a rational judgment."
Empress Zhang was stunned. She heard something in Pei Min's words and asked, "How did the Holy One summon King Peng?"
Pei Min whispered: "The emperor first asked what the empress was doing. When he learned that the empress was meeting with the ministers, he ordered the humble minister to find King Peng."
The anger in Queen Zhang's heart suddenly disappeared without a trace, and she was more shocked. The emperor deliberately summoned the prince behind her back. What did it mean?
The emperor clearly doesn’t believe in himself!
"Why did the emperor summon the fourth prince?" Empress Zhang asked nervously.
"Maybe the fourth prince was asked to take over the Longwu Army. Dugu Jinyang resigned due to the death of his grandmother."
At this time, Peng Wang Li Ji came out with red eyes. Li Ji was about thirty years old, of medium height, and looked exactly like his elder brother Li Yu. He stepped forward and bowed and saluted, "My son, please see your mother and queen!"
Empress Zhang said coldly: "The next time you see your father, you must go through me. Your father's health is in danger, and his emotions should not be too high. If your father has any shortcomings, you cannot bear this responsibility!"
"My son, I remember!"
"Go for it!"
Li just lowered his head and hurried away.
Empress Zhang just walked into the ward. Emperor Li Heng had already closed his eyes. Empress Zhang knew that he was just tired, so she sat next to the emperor, held her husband's hand and said: "I just met with Pei Xiangguo and listened to
Report on the death of Zhu Tao."
Li Heng's eyes slowly opened, "Zhu Tao is dead?"
"He was killed by the King of Qi early this morning on the official road east of Luoyang. More than a hundred people were all killed by random arrows."
"The assassin that night was Zhu Tao?"
Empress Zhang nodded, "Pei Xiangguo said that when Zhu Tao sent assassins to Luoyang, the old lady Dugu was not dead. Their target was not the King of Qi. Their target was the Prime Minister and important civil servants. Du Hongjian was assassinated by them, which happened to be
When King Qi came to Beijing, they changed their target, but failed to assassinate King Qi. Zhu Tao tried to escape, but was intercepted and executed by King Qi. Pei Xiangguo said that if Zhu Tao did not die, he would come back soon."
Li Heng said for a long time: "What else?"
"Pei Xiangguo said that the poison in the case of Emperor Changsun, Du Hongjian and the assassination of King Qi was all the same."
Li Heng snorted, "He's already starting to go crazy!"
"Your Majesty, are you talking about Li Fuguo?"
Li Heng nodded lightly, "This is why I summoned King Peng!"
Li Heng waved his hand and asked Pei Min to look outside. He then said slowly: "Dugu Lie and I had an agreement before. If the old lady dies of illness, Dugu Jinyang must resign. This is a decent dismissal."
"It turned out to be an agreement in advance. I also said, why do you still need Ding You after my grandmother passed away? Is it unreasonable? Your Majesty wants to hand over the Longwu Army to King Peng?"
Li Heng said in a low voice: "Quan Huan has the Shence Army and the Plum Blossom Guards in his hands. I no longer dare to remove their military power. I don't even dare to show my distrust of them. I made Li Fuguo the prime minister just to make him think that I still trust him."
, otherwise once they find out that I want to deal with them, they will definitely launch a palace coup. Now you understand why I gave you the Dragon Order!"
Empress Zhang nodded silently. Only then did she realize that the emperor had already launched a murderous intention against the Quanhuan Group, but it was a little too late to take action now.
Empress Zhang thought for a while and said: "Your Majesty can gather them all together and catch them all in one fell swoop!"
Li Heng sighed, "You are thinking too simply. They have already controlled the palace, and their eyes and ears are everywhere. The Shenlong Order can only mobilize some of the guards. Most of the guards have unclear attitudes. They cannot act rashly without absolute certainty."
"I know it!"
"You have to remember that you only have one chance. If you can't kill them, we will all die. Don't act rashly. Don't trust anyone except Pei Min, including your sister!"
"Ah! She can't believe it either?"
"Why don't you think about what if she wanted to replace you?"
Empress Zhang nodded lightly, "Your Majesty's words will be engraved in my heart!"
Li Heng sighed again, "King Peng can control the overall situation by controlling the Longwu Army. Even if there is a coup in the palace, he can turn things around and save the Tang Dynasty. He is the last line of defense."
"Your Majesty, is there no way to deal with Li Fuguo and the others?"
Li Heng nodded lightly, "There is a way, which is to provoke internal strife among them. If I am not mistaken, Cheng Yuanzhen has long wanted to replace Li Fuguo."
"But your Majesty gave the Plum Blossom Guard to Cheng Yuanzhen, but he didn't dare to take it, and then gave it back to Li Fuguo. He seemed to be very afraid of Li Fuguo."
Li Heng snorted, "This is what he is pretending. The fear on the surface just shows the hatred in his heart!"
Li Heng's worries were not unnecessary. The palace was indeed filled with spies from Li Fuguo and others. The news that Li Heng met King Peng in private reached Li Fuguo's ears through the palace maids and eunuchs.
Li Fuguo became nervous, and he immediately secretly sent his men to summon Yu Chaoen, Cheng Yuanzhen, Dong Xiu and others for emergency discussion.
Li Fuguo gritted his teeth and said: "The emperor probably wants to establish King Peng and Li Wei as his heirs. Dugu Jinyang resigns. The emperor wants to hand over Longwu Army to King Peng. King Peng has an army and will kill us in the future!"
Yu Chaoen frowned, "Then why not take action first and send a glass of poisonous wine in."
"no!"
Li Fuguo shook his head, "The emperor must die normally, otherwise Li Ye will find an excuse to send troops to Luoyang, which would be even more terrifying!"
Cheng Yuanzhen said: "We still have to cooperate with Queen Zhang to put King Ding on the throne. The Queen Mother will come to the court with a legitimate name. Neither King Qi nor King Peng can find any excuse."
At this time, Yu Chaoen asked Li Fuguo, "What is the agreement reached between eldest brother and Queen Zhang? Only her father can become the prime minister."
Li Fuguo said slowly: "After King Ding ascends the throne, he will respect me as his father-in-law, and I will serve as Zhongshu Ling!"
"What about us?"
"Imitate the establishment of the Privy Council in Chang'an, Chao En serves as the Privy Envoy and controls the military power of the world, Yuan Zhen becomes the general manager, and Dong Xiu serves as his deputy!"
Several people gave thumbs up and said, "Brother is wise!"
Li Fuguo was not proud. He squinted his eyes and said: "But we must also be prepared to bribe all the guards. Once the emperor wants to attack us, we must immediately attack first!"