Li Hong could be considered very satisfied during this period. After some discussions with his confidants, he finally determined the strategy to deal with Empress Wu. In fact, he not only had a sharp weapon like Dali Temple in his hands, but also Yushitai, the newly-appointed
Censor Zhongcheng Cui Mi was also appointed directly on his recommendation and after consultation with the prime ministers of the Political Affairs Hall. The cooperation between these two departments was so sharp that in just two months, the number of members of the rear party decreased.
One-third, even Shanye, the chief lord of Dali Temple, was dismissed. In this way, he completely held the entire Dali Temple in his hands.
Not only that, it would also frighten the officials towards him, causing them to seek refuge with him one after another. This would naturally form a huge talent pool, spreading the prince's party throughout the court, slowly squeezing Empress Wu's power.
Living space.
"Mother, when my father is sick in the future, it will be enough to have his sons take charge of the affairs. Now my sons have grown up, and my mother no longer needs to worry about it."
Li Hong once wrote this when he wrote a letter to Empress Wu. Because he now has great power and his reputation in the court is at its peak, there is no need to compromise with Empress Wu anymore, and there is no need to let her assist the government.
So now I just ask her to let her go.
If Empress Wu had never been in power before, or had not been through the incident of abolishing the empress, or had not been bewitched by Ming Chongyan's prophecy that "after three generations of the Tang Dynasty, women would dominate politics", she might not have really let it go, with peace of mind.
The empress dowager went to be her queen, but now Empress Wu has set her goal to seize the supreme position. Now let alone Li Hong, even if Gaozong persuades her to stop, she will never give up.
of.
Therefore, after seeing Li Hong's resignation, Empress Wu, who was still hesitant about whether to kill Li Hong, no longer had any worries.
"Now is the moment of life and death. Either you die or I die. It is impossible for us to stop now. In this case, there will be no buffer between us. You are not my son, and I am not yours."
Queen Mother, there is only life and death between you and me, just like the Queen Wang Fei, Concubine Xiao Shu, Changsun Wuji, Shangguan Yi, He Lan Minyue and others were no different."
Empress Wu gently put down the memorial and ordered her confidants to summon Ming Chongyan. The two discussed secretly, and then wrote a letter to summon the prince to Hebi Palace in Luoyang on the grounds that the emperor was seriously ill.
When Li Hong heard that the emperor was seriously ill, he naturally rushed to Luoyang immediately because he was worried that if the emperor died unfortunately and he was not around, the throne might be usurped by Empress Wu.
When Li Hong rushed to Luoyang in a hurry, he heard that the day before he received the edict, which was also the second day after Empress Wu wrote the edict, Gaozong's condition had indeed worsened, but now it has basically stabilized, and he only needs
Just rest and relax.
Li Hong wanted to see Gaozong to ask for safety, but Empress Wu refused on the grounds that Gaozong's condition had just stabilized and it was not appropriate to overwork himself.
When Li Hong said goodbye to Empress Wu in disappointment, saying that he wanted to return to Chang'an the next day, he was suddenly stopped by Empress Wu: "Hong'er, I have nothing to do tonight. I want to invite you to have a meal with me. I don't know.
Will Hong'er give me this face?"
Li Hong was startled when he heard this, but he also knew that it was time to have a good talk with Empress Wu, so he readily agreed: "Since the empress has a destiny, how can I dare not obey it? Tonight at dusk, my son will
I must come and listen to the instructions behind the scenes."
At dusk, Li Hong came as expected. By this time, Shang Gong Dugu Ruoxue, a confidant in Empress Wu's palace, was already waiting outside the palace.
"I am here to see His Highness the Crown Prince." Dugu Ruoxue was respectful and polite to Li Hong and did not dare to neglect him at all.
"Aunt Dugu doesn't need to be polite, but the queen mother is in the palace?" Li Hong did not dare to be disrespectful to Empress Wu's confidant, at least on the surface. He returned the courtesy and then asked.
"Yes. Your Highness the Queen has been waiting for a long time. Your Highness, please." Dugu Ruoxue guided Li Hong to the palace with a smile.
After some bowing and hearing the news, Li Hong finally sat on the mat.
"Hong'er, my mother knows that you, the crown prince, have done a great job over the years, and that you have been very successful recently, but shouldn't you consider the situation of your mother? If there were no people like Hou Shanye raising flags and shouting, how could I have done so well?
Queen? And how can you be a prince? As the saying goes, drink water and think of its source, Hong'er, even if Hou Shanye and others have some minor faults, why do you have to kill them all? "
Empress Wu first got straight to the point and talked about how Dali Temple and Yushitai jointly attacked her officials in the past few days. The purpose was naturally to start today's topic, but on the other hand, it had a deeper purpose, which was to show weakness to Li Hong.
, to reduce his wariness.
Li Hong's experience in this area was still far behind that of his wily mother. As expected, he was fooled. After thinking about it for a while, he said: "Actually, I don't have to kill all my sons. It's just that the government is corrupt and villains."
As the Crown Prince, I can only do this in order to uphold law and order. Mother, please forgive me for saying that you have been busy for most of your life and worried about your son and others. Now the government is finally stable, and everything is stable.
Jing Yanran, now that your father is ill, you can accompany him to recuperate and enjoy wealth and wealth. This troublesome matter can only be dealt with by your sons and ministers. If your sons and ministers can't handle it, you can always ask your mother for advice.
.”
"Hmph, it seems that you, Hong'er, are determined to push the queen mother to a dead end. In this case, it is useless to talk about it anymore. You and I drank this glass of heartless wine today. From now on, we don't care about mother and son, we only talk about enemies.
From now on, I will use various methods in the imperial court and will never give up until there is a clear winner."
After Empress Wu finished speaking, she waved her hand and saw Dugu Ruoxue coming to them with a wine flask, pouring a glass of wine for Empress Wu and Li Hong respectively, and then placing them in front of them respectively.
"Huh, Hong'er, you've also seen that these two glasses of wine came from the same pot. In order to prove to you that the wine is not poisonous, my mother drank it first. After this glass of wine, there is no more affection between you and me."
After Empress Wu finished speaking, she slowly raised her glass and drank the glass of wine.
Li Hong was indeed worried that the wine would be poisonous before, but now that he saw that Empress Wu drank it first, he had no doubts, so he also raised the wine glass and sighed slowly: "Although the queen mother has given birth to her son, the Tian family does not
There is no family affection. I think back then, Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty killed his biological father to seize the throne. Emperor Taizong's Xuanwu Gate incident, killing his brothers and enemies, forced Emperor Gaozu to pass on the throne. This is a precedent. Today, since the mother has made it clear, please forgive me.
If you are unfilial, you will inevitably have a fight with your mother in the future, but please rest assured, no matter what, you are also the biological mother of my son. Even if my son wins in the end, he will let his mother enjoy his old age in peace. But if he loses, I am afraid it will be like
It is the deposed crown prince who inherits the throne, like Li Zhong, who has to die in the end. Therefore, the mother and queen can be defeated, but the sons and ministers cannot be defeated."
After finishing speaking, Li Hong also drank the wine in the glass, then saluted to Empress Wu, stopped talking, and left without seeing the sneer in Empress Wu's eyes behind him.
Li Hong felt very uncomfortable because of the banquet with Empress Wu. Although he knew that he was born in the Tian family, he could not avoid all kinds of overt and covert fights, but now he was fighting with his biological mother, and it was a life-and-death fight. He couldn't help but feel a little bit in his heart.
depressed.
Therefore, Li Hong did not eat anymore, but returned to Qiyun Palace where he lived, sat on the couch,
"Well, the character of the Queen Mother is really beyond the comprehension of ordinary people. She is a woman, so why is she so keen on power? Could it be that she wants to be the second Queen Lu in history? This is also due to the temperament of the father.
She is cowardly, even letting her do such a thing, but since I have made everything clear today, I don’t have to worry about anything in the future. All I need to do is fight her with a real sword and a real gun. Anyway, I have the control now.
The three key departments of the Ministry of Revenue, Dali Temple and Yushitai, no matter how powerful the people under her are, can be uprooted by me. Moreover, I also have two prime ministers, Dai Zhide and Zhang Wenguan, in the political hall, and also the minister of Zhongshu.
Hao Chujun and others are upright people, and they can't stand her style. They are considered allies with me. I really don't know why she is so confident? Is there some back-up plan?"
Thinking of this, Li Hong felt very uneasy. Since the other party was so sure, it seemed that he had indeed overlooked something, but what exactly he had overlooked could not be remembered for a moment.
Later, Li Hong felt even more uncomfortable. Later, he gradually discovered that this discomfort was not emotional discomfort, but physical discomfort. Specifically, it was heartache, and this feeling became stronger and stronger.
, in the end I couldn't bear it anymore, and I kept spitting out bright red blood, which was also accompanied by violent coughing.
"Your Highness, Your Highness, what's wrong with you? Call the imperial doctor quickly. Your Highness has a lung disease." When Zhang Aquan, the young chamberlain who was accompanying him, saw Li Hong in such a state, he was so frightened that he immediately ordered someone to come.
Shang Yao Bureau asked Shang Yao Bureau Dianyu (the chief imperial physician, the fifth grade) to diagnose the prince's illness.
But when Na Dianyu came to Qiyun Palace, Prince Li Hong was already dead.
"Please give me my condolences to the Emperor. I am incompetent and the prince has passed away." Qin Minghe, the emperor, knelt on the ground and said with sweat and tears on his face and his beard trembling.
"You, what do you mean?" Gaozong, who had rushed over after hearing that the prince was suddenly ill, burst into tears and cried loudly: "Hong'er, my son..." Then his eyes darkened and he fainted.
On the ground...
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, Qin Minghe, please diagnose your Majesty quickly. If your Majesty makes any mistake, I will kill you!" Empress Wu was really panicked when she saw Gaozong fell ill. She could do it now in the court.
It can be said that her foundation is very shallow. If anything happens to Mr. Gao at this time, her dream of becoming the world's supreme being can only be a dream, so she showed such a furious side. (To be continued.) This chapter has been completed!