It was the end of the fifth year of Zhengxing, and it snowed heavily in Luoyang.
There are two braziers placed in the east pavilion of Ziwei Palace. They are not very warm, but just enough to prevent people from catching cold.
"Your Highness, it's time to wake up." The young chamberlain Liu An called out several times, then stretched out his hand to push the quilt, "If you don't wake up, you gentlemen should be scolded again."
Li Zuo, who was huddled in the warm quilt, opened his eyes and muttered: "But I'm so sleepy."
If we count the missed years, he would be seven years old after the Chinese New Year. It is the age when he loves to sleep, but he has to get up before dawn every day to learn various etiquette, articles, martial arts, and the way of governing the country.
Not only compared to other children, but also compared to most adult men, he was very hardworking.
Liu An felt distressed when he saw it, but it was his duty, so he had to say: "Your Highness, you'd better get up. I also want your Highness to sleep for a while, but if you are late, I will be punished."
"Okay, get up."
Li Zuozhen sat up and did not need Liu An to serve him. He dressed, washed, and tidied himself up. Breakfast had been served, and after eating, he went to Chongwen Pavilion to study.
Pushing open the door of the dormitory, a gust of cold wind blew, and Liu An shivered, but Li Zuo was not too afraid of the cold, which he had practiced since childhood.
When walking on the road, if anyone passed by, Li Zuo would behave very calmly, like a little adult.
Only when no one was paying attention would he whisper to Liu An.
"The snow is so thick, it would be fun to have a snowball fight."
"I'm afraid Your Highness doesn't have time to play."
"I know, so I say 'if I can' to you."
After all, he is still a child at heart.
After passing through the Daye Gate, I saw a tall figure standing there. It was Yan Zhenqing, wearing a cloak and standing in the snow.
When Li Zuo saw him, his eyes immediately lit up with joy and he ran for two steps happily. Thinking that he still had to observe etiquette in front of his grandfather, he slowed down his pace and went over to see him politely.
Although Yan Zhenqing was very strict with him, he also loved him very much. Li Zuo was a very sensitive child and could feel that his grandfather had a special and deep affection for him, so he reciprocated the same deep respect and love.
When outsiders are around, they speak strictly, but in private, they speak just like ordinary grandparents.
After Riping retreated from the others, Li Zuo couldn't help but ask: "Why is Aweng standing in the snow? There is snow on his head."
He stood on tiptoes and reached out to brush the snow off Yan Zhenqing's head, but unfortunately it was not high enough to reach it.
Yan Zhenqing then squatted down a little.
Working at a desk for many years has severely strained his waist. This movement was very strenuous and his waist hurt severely, but a smile broke out on his face.
"The common people cannot live a warm winter. It would be unseemly for officials to go to court and be unable to withstand the cold." Yan Zhenqing patiently answered the question and said, "Today I have a day off from school. You go to the morning court to listen to politics and announce your return to Chang'an."
"You're going back to Chang'an now?" Li Zuo said, "But my father hasn't returned from his tour yet."
"Go back to Chang'an and wait."
Although Li Zuo is young, he doesn't seem to know everything.
He looked up at his grandfather, hesitated for a moment, and then asked: "Aweng, is it because the people in Luoyang said bad things about my father?"
"Really?" Yan Zhenqing reacted very calmly and said, "Did you hear anything bad?"
"Say that my father is not a descendant of the Li family."
After hearing this, Yan Zhenqing was in a trance for a moment. He had been trying his best to prevent Li Zuo from hearing these rumors, but he didn't expect to face them so soon.
But when he opened his mouth to answer, his voice was still very calm, as if he was denying a ridiculous trivial matter.
"That's nonsense from others. In heaven, you will hear countless doubts and accusations in your life. Don't doubt it. You have to always believe in yourself."
In fact, Yan Zhenqing had thought about it countless times in her mind, what she would do if this happened.
Li Zuo seemed to understand but struggled to understand for a while, and couldn't help but ask: "But some people say that my father's surname is not Li, but Xue."
Yan Zhenqing said: "Do you remember the story I told you about Liu Bingji?"
"Remember." Li Zuo responded crisply: "Han Xuan Emperor Liu Xun, formerly known as Bing Ji, was the great-grandson of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. He was plagued by witchcraft when he was young and grew up among the people."
Seeing that his memory was so good, Yan Zhenqing nodded happily and said: "Yes, today's emperor's experience is similar to that of Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty. He encountered the case of three commoners when he was young and grew up among the people."
"I understand, we can learn from history and know the ups and downs."
"Okay, okay, okay, do you know where this comes from?"
"It's Emperor Taizong's imperial words!"
Yan Zhenqing looked around and saw that Li Zuo's eyes were bright, as if he was proud of being the descendant of Emperor Taizong. He knew that his teachings over the years had not been in vain. He felt relieved and turned his head to wipe his eyes.
The current prince's surname is Li Mingzuo. This is the name given by Emperor Xuanzong. It is written in the royal jade certificate. No one can deny it, and Yan Zhenqing will not let anyone deny it.
~~
In the early morning, the prince announced that he would return to Chang'an.
The officials were not surprised, but had expected it.
After all, the current situation is undercurrent, and the things that can be announced in this hall are all things that have already taken a basic direction.
After the morning court, Yan Zhenqing returned to the political hall, where Yan Quanming was already waiting anxiously.
"Uncle, Li Chengji broke his promise. They still caused rebellion and are building momentum in Zhengzhou to attack His Majesty..."
"Let's talk later."
Yan Zhenqing raised his hand, stopped Yan Quanming first, turned to his subordinates and asked, "Is Liu An here?"
"Go back to Alang, he's already inside."
Yan Zhenqing then entered first, met Liu An, and said straight to the point: "Where did your Highness hear the rumor?"
Liu An was very frightened. He raised his sleeves to wipe the sweat from his face and said, "I don't know this either."
"How could you not know that you follow His Highness every day?"
"It should be that when His Highness was walking in the palace, he overheard someone chatting. Although the servant followed His Highness, he was probably distracted and did not notice it."
With that said, Liu An gave himself a hard slap in the face first, making it difficult for Yan Zhenqing to deal with him.
Yan Zhenqing stared at him deeply, waved her hand, and asked him to go back and take care of Li Zuo. After he left, there was a look of thoughtfulness in his eyes.
After a while, he called Yan Quanming over.
"Keep talking."
"Yes, the Li family did not directly raise an army, but instead instructed the slaves who had been released before to gather in crowds to cause trouble..."
The Li family mentioned here refers to Li Kui's family power, with Li Chengyu of the Longyou Li family as the clan leader, and Li Chengyu is Li Kui's father.
The branch of the Li family in Longyou is called Guzangfang. They are the descendants of Guzanghou in the Northern Wei Dynasty, and their ancestral home is in Chengji County, Longyou. In Li Chengyu's generation, he was given the title of Duke of Chengji County, and he was promoted to Secretary Supervisor.
The Li family occupies a large number of acres and slaves in Zhengzhou. Since the imperial reform, more than 20,000 hectares of fertile land and 30,000 slave households have been seized from other families. The number was exaggerated. At that time, Yan Zhenqing could not believe it. It should be noted that Yu Wenrong had seized the land.
There are a total of 800,000 households in the world.
However, the Li family was not willing to free all the slaves. They secretly colluded with the local officials in Zhengzhou to make it very difficult for these 30,000 households to return to their hometowns to farm.
The slaves who returned began to starve and freeze.
As a result, with further instigation, they were led to rise up, and with the help of the Li family, they captured the arsenal and granary in Zhengzhou, and their momentum suddenly increased.
They are all farmers, so they are definitely not capable of fighting, but what the Li family wants is for the court to retreat, as long as they make enough noise.
When Li Kui died, it was not only the Li family in Longxi who were frightened, but all the high-ranking families in the world. When they saw someone making a fuss, they would naturally indulge in it, causing the chaos to get bigger and bigger.
Yan Zhenqing had expected this, so he sent officials to appease him. Unfortunately, because Xue Bai killed Li Kui, the situation was still beyond his control.
"When Li Qijun arrived, the news of His Majesty's murder of Li Kui had reached Zhengzhou. Li Qiyun failed to appease him. Now the Zhengzhou government office has been captured by 'rioters'. Li Jiaming did not participate on the surface, but he must have given a lot of support.
.There were several scholars among the 'rioters' who wrote a petition to attack His Majesty..."
"A message?" Yan Zhenqing asked, "What did you say?"
Yan Quanming hesitated for a moment and then said: "They compared His Majesty to the Wu family who usurped the Tang Dynasty."
Although he had expected this, Yan Zhenqing still frowned. In the past few days, the wrinkles between his eyebrows had become much deeper.
What he hates most is that they always attack the emperor's life experience.
They are obviously a group of people who put personal interests first. If they oppose the reform, they oppose the reform, but they insist on talking about irrelevant old things.
Originally, it was just about whether the reform could succeed. If it failed, it would mean that the problem of land annexation could not be solved. But in this way, it became the orthodoxy of the Tang Dynasty and would shake the foundation of the country.
"Is Li Qijun back?" Yan Zhenqing asked.
"We have entered Luoyang City."
"Why didn't you come to see me?"
Yan Quanming said: "He first went to meet many officials from well-known families."
"Go and summon him."
"Here."
After waiting for a long time, Li Qijun arrived. When he rushed into the political hall, there were still a lot of snowflakes on his body, bringing with it a gust of cold wind.
"The lower official has met the right prime minister."
"You didn't persuade Li Chengyu?"
"Yes." Li Qijun said calmly: "When the official arrived, His Majesty had already killed Li Kui. There was really nothing he could do."
"So what?" Yan Zhenqing asked: "Do they really want to kill the king?"
Li Qijun said quickly: "Of course they don't dare. Li Chengyu said that he has tried his best to restrain the rioters. However, now the rioters are no longer his tenants, but have become tenants of the imperial court, and they have suffered harsh treatment from local officials.
Angry and rebellious, he cannot suppress it and is powerless."
"This is a threat, Your Majesty."
"I don't dare to be a lower-ranking official. These are Li Chengyu's exact words."
Yan Zhenqing asked solemnly, "Isn't he afraid that the imperial court will mobilize an army to conquer him?"
Li Qijun said: "He did not participate in the rebellion, and he has been claiming that a son was unjustly killed. The court is only afraid that he will be unknown. What's more, if the states and counties in the world regard the new law as a man-eating tiger, if the court wants to mobilize troops, I'm afraid...
OK."
As he spoke, he added: "These are also Li Chengyu's exact words. The lower official believes that once the troops are launched, it means that the imperial court will fight to the death with these high-ranking families, which will intensify the conflict and cause turmoil in the society."
Yan Zhenqing remained silent, seeming to be hesitating whether to use troops.
From his perspective as a teacher, father-in-law, and prime minister, he would have long wished to raise troops to rescue Xue Bai; but considering the stability of the Tang Dynasty, raising troops was the worst outcome.
Li Qijun said: "I think it is not difficult to solve this problem."
"explain."
"As long as the imperial court issues an order and the inspection has been completed, there will be no more inspections." Li Qiyun said: "In addition, I have met many officials before I came here today, and they all support the crown prince's ascension to the throne..."
~~
In the evening, Li Zuo, wearing a military robe, was practicing riding and shooting.
He was carried on a horse and played with when he was four years old. Now he can barely touch the stirrups with his feet, but his riding skills are already very good, and he can walk on the horseback as if he were on the ground.
"Your Majesty, slow down." Liu An did not ride a horse and trotted behind.
"Just wait here, I'll be back after a quick run."
Li Zuo shouted, his little feet pushed on the horse's back, and the horse quickly ran towards Lugongyuan.
This is the place where Wu Zetian used to raise deer, but now it has been vacant for a long time. It can be regarded as a small paradise for Li Zuo.
He was small and light, and the horse on him was obedient. He ran very fast, and soon left behind the guards behind him.
After that, he pulled the reins, left the horse path, and entered a small forest in the palace courtyard. He saw a woman standing in front of the house in front of him.
Li Zuo couldn't help but be overjoyed and said: "Stop the horse."
The foal obediently slowed down and reached the woman.
"Godmother." Li Zuo smiled and said, "Why did you come to the palace today?"
It was Du Jin standing there.
In the past, she often went to the palace to see Li Zuo, but now that Xue Bai and his wife were away, Yan Zhenqing didn't like her having too much contact with Li Zuo, so she came secretly instead. Anyway, she could come and go freely, and no one could stop her.
Du Jin took Li Zuo off the horse and said, "Let's see if you are tired?"
"Aren't you tired?" Li Zuo asked, "Has your godmother brought me the little book today?"
The little book he talks about is a popular kind of story with illustrations, and it is one of his biggest hobbies after reading.
"It seems you didn't think about me, you only thought about the little book."
"No, I come here every day to see if my godmother is here."
After hearing this, Du Jin took out a little book from his sleeve and patted Li Zuo on the head, saying, "You're still good, so I'll give this to you."
"Thank you godmother!" Li Zuo was very happy.
Apart from his parents, the two people he is closest to in the world are Yan Zhenqing and Du Jin. The difference is that he respects and loves Yan Zhenqing, while getting along with Du Jin is more relaxed and comfortable.
The two talked for a while, and then Du Jin asked, "Did you come here two days ago?"
"Yes." Li Zuo couldn't wait to look through the little book, and after listening to the question, he nodded repeatedly.
After sending Li Zuo away, Du Jin called Qu Shui behind him and said: "The person who is just talking nonsense and letting Zuo'er hear is in the Lugong Courtyard. Find out who he is and deal with it."
"yes."
~~
Yan Zhenqing was also checking how Li Zuo heard people say that Xue Bai's life experience was different, but two days later he learned that two palace ladies accidentally fell into the water and died.
After hearing the news, he asked: "But the palace servants of Lugongyuan?"
"yes."
Yan Zhenqing's face darkened and he ordered, "Let Yan Quanming come see me."
After a while, Yan Quanming arrived.
"I asked Liu An to come here last time, do you know why?" Yan Zhenqing asked.
"I don't know, nephew," Yan Quan said clearly.
"Your Highness heard that someone was slandering the saint." Yan Zhenqing asked: "Now, the two palace officials who spoke have been silenced. Is this also an accident?"
Yan Quanming felt very embarrassed. He hesitated for a while and said, "Didn't my uncle find out? Nowadays, many people deliberately kill people to silence my uncle..."
Yan Zhenqing had asked him similar questions before, and this was how he answered. But this time it was obviously different. The matter was more secretive. Yan Zhenqing heard Li Zuo talk about it in private, and within two days, someone died.
"You lied like this. It seems you know who did it." Yan Zhenqing asked: "Could it be His Highness?"
"No." Yan Quanming had no choice but to say, "My nephew ordered the killing of those two palace men."
"I just asked you, if you don't know about this, how can you give the order?"
"My nephew just lied."
"Is it Du Erniang?"
Yan Zhenqing seemed to have known this for a long time. He shook his head and was quite dissatisfied with Du Jin's methods.
~~
Luoyang Daodefang, Duzhai.
When Du Wulang entered the house that day, he saw that Du Jin's horse was also there, so he hurriedly ran to find her.
After searching around, he found someone in Du Youlin's study.
Opening the door, Du Jin was reading the letters on the desk, and he had the aura of a prime minister more than Du Youlin.
"Second sister, do you know that the south is in chaos? Liu Zhan rebelled, and there was a rebellion in Zhengzhou. Now His Majesty is caught in the middle of the rebels and cannot come back. Why are you not in a hurry?"
"Who said I'm not in a hurry?" Du Jin said.
"Are you in a hurry? Then why don't you go to escort me?"
"You are still stupid." Du Jin glanced at Du Wulang with disgust and said, "Your Majesty is not in Dongdu. If I don't guard him at this time, what's the use of running to Jianghuai?"
"But I feel very uneasy." Du Wulang whispered, "When I came back, I felt someone was staring at me."
"Someone is watching you?" Du Jin said, "How did you know?"
"I have a good nose, and I can vaguely smell the smell of that person, like rotten eggs, following me all the way."
"Maybe he's just a rogue."
Du Wulang said: "Is there going to be trouble in Luoyang?"
"No." Du Jin said casually, "The imperial troops are here, and those people don't dare."
"But the new law has touched so many..."
"Shut up."
Du Jin stopped, took a few letters and left.
Only then did Du Wulang realize that she had pried open a locked drawer of Du Youlin. He was very surprised and shouted: "No, how could you steal grandpa's things?"
Du Jin ignored him and left the study. He went to find Du Jin and handed over the letter in his hand.
"Sure enough, the Jingzhao Du family is not clear either. If these people cannot beg me, they must be on the opposite side of us."
Du Mei took the letter and read it, and saw that it was a letter from some tribesmen to Du Youlin, some of which contained threatening words, vaguely indicating that if they were forced to open up the old case, there would still be a way to ruin Du Youlin's reputation.
Such disputes among clan members are much more troublesome than conflicts with outsiders.
Even when they saw it, they felt a headache for Du Youlin.
"Er Niang, please don't kill them all." Du Si took Du Jin's hand and persuaded them with worry: "They are all our tribesmen."
"In the eyes of eldest sister, have I become a murderous demon now?"
Du Jin was just thinking about how to deny it, when someone came to Du Jin, but it was Yan Zhenqing who invited her to talk to the observatory of the palace tomorrow afternoon.
After thinking for a moment, Du Jin agreed.
She knew what Yan Zhenqing was doing, and believed that at this juncture, we should cooperate to stabilize the situation.
The next day.
Du Jin's carriage left Daodefang and walked along the Luoshui River for a short distance before preparing to cross the Tianjin Bridge.
To the north of Tianjin Bridge is the Imperial City, so there are not many people on the bridge, only some officials are walking in a hurry.
When the carriage got on the bridge, an official turned his head and took a look. Many documents he was holding fell to the ground and scattered all over the floor. He quickly bent down to pick them up, blocking the way.
"Wait a moment."
"Hurry up..."
Before the coachman finished speaking, he was suddenly startled.
"boom!"
The bridge deck suddenly exploded, and Du Jin's carriage was blown to pieces. As the collapsed bridge deck was lifted up, it fell heavily into Luoshui.
Pedestrians on both sides of the strait were immediately frightened and panicked, running away with their heads in their hands.
Some people reacted too slowly. When they came to their senses, they looked towards the bridge again and saw only the broken bridge and the big hole left on the ice. The carriage and the people on the bridge were gone.
In this situation, it is obviously impossible to survive.
Gradually, those who had escaped crept back, looking around and talking.
"Which important official of the imperial court was assassinated?"
"It seems to be the carriage of Prime Minister Du Gong."
On that day, news of Du Youlin's assassination spread throughout Luoyang.
Only a few people knew that the person who was assassinated was Du Jin, who was more powerful than Du Youlin...
~~
Nanshi, Fenghui Bank.
Du Jin bit her nails unconsciously and stared blankly at the body that was carried back, with a murderous aura lingering about her body.
"It's so dangerous. How did Er Niang know that someone was going to assassinate you?" Da Xi Yingying asked.
"I have no idea."
"I don't know?"
"Yes." Du Jin said, "I only know that someone is secretly following Wu Lang. I thought there is no point in following that idiot. He must be trying to find out my whereabouts, so I used a cover-up when I went out today."
Da Xi Yingying was confused and murmured: "Following Wu Lang and assassinating Er Niang... What is the connection between these two things?"
She thought about it and said, "I don't think anyone can know Er Niang's whereabouts by following Wu Lang."
"Yes, I can think of one person who can grasp my whereabouts today, has the ability to obtain explosives, and has a motive."
"Mr. Yan?"
"Um."
The two were silent for a while, then Da Xi Yingying said: "So it seems that Mr. Yan is determined to give up on Your Majesty?"
Du Jin said: "Today, I originally wanted to discuss this matter with him."
While talking, there was a knock on the door outside.
Da Xi Yingying was very surprised and asked: "Since I have been told not to disturb you, who dares to come?"
She immediately became vigilant, thinking that even Fenghui was not safe anymore, right? Then she picked up a dagger for self-defense.
"It's me."
Suddenly there was a voice outside the house.
After hearing this, Du Jin was stunned for a moment, then quickly stepped forward to open the door, and saw Xue Bai standing outside.
She was so surprised that she immediately rushed over and hugged Xue Bai.
"Why is Your Majesty here?"
Xue Bai patted Du Jin on the back and said, "I heard that you were assassinated. I was very worried."
"Well, you have to be careful about your father-in-law. He is not a bad person, but he has too much to protect and may have abandoned you."
When Da Xi Yingying saw the two people being intimate, she couldn't help but lower her head, but something came to her mind.
Someone followed Du Wulang and then decided to assassinate Du Jin. There may not be any connection between them.
"May I ask, has your majesty met Du Wulang first? If so, today's assassination is probably aimed at your majesty..."