Shangguan Yi is worthy of being a famous literati in the Tang Dynasty. Not only did he create his own "Qicuo Wanmei" Shangguan style, leading the trend of poetry in the early Tang Dynasty, but his articles are also famous all over the world, and he is especially good at various imperial edicts. Since the Taizong Dynasty, all kinds of edicts have been drafted by his hand. But this kind of ordinary post-abolition edict really takes no effort on his part, and he can write it almost instantly.
"We have drafted the edict. Please read it to your majesty." Shangguan Yi held the edict he had just drafted, bowed slightly, and handed it to Gaozong.
Emperor Gaozong read the edict carefully and remained silent. After a long time, he sighed.
"Is it possible that there are some errors or omissions in the edict written by me?" Shangguan Yi asked hurriedly when he saw Gaozong's expression.
Gaozong shook his head and said slowly: "You are a genius in the world, and the edicts written by you are every word, and there are no mistakes or omissions."
"In that case, why does Your Majesty sigh so much?" Shangguan Yi was not satisfied with Gaozong's attitude and continued to ask.
"The relationship between husband and wife, which lasted for more than ten years, broke up today, and I couldn't bear it."
"Haha, your majesty should know that if you continue to break up, you will be disturbed. As a king, your majesty is not only the husband of Empress Wu, but also the emperor of the world. How can you ruin the affairs of the world because of personal feelings..."
"Hmph, what a man who ruined the world because of his personal feelings."
Before Shangguan Yi could finish his sentence, he heard the study door being banged open, and then he saw Empress Wu barging in with a frosty look on her face.
"Ah? Her Royal Highness the Queen."
"Mei, Mei Niang."
Shangguan Yi and Gaozong suddenly became flustered when they saw Empress Wu suddenly burst in. Gaozong immediately hid the edict that Shangguan Yi had just written in his sleeves.
Unexpectedly, Empress Wu had seen all this, walked up to him quickly, looked directly at him and asked: "What is your Majesty hiding?"
"No, not hidden."
"I have seen it."
"Ah? Haha, this is an edict written by Shangguan Aiqing." Seeing Empress Wu asking, Gaozong looked extremely embarrassed, but he still did not take out the edict, but continued to hide it inside, and then explained with a dry smile.
"What is the content of the edict?"
"No, it's nothing serious, just some normal personnel appointments."
"Humph." Empress Wu was very dissatisfied with this explanation. She snorted coldly, snatched the edict from Gaozong's sleeve and read it carefully.
Empress Wu read it very slowly, almost word for word. It took her a cup of tea to read this edict, which was only a few hundred words long.
Suddenly, Empress Wu knelt down in front of Emperor Gaozong and cried sadly: "It has been fourteen years since I met Your Majesty when Emperor Taizong was seriously ill. During these fourteen years, I have worked hard and raised children for Your Majesty. , taking care of the harem, I did what I should do, and I even gritted my teeth and shouldered the tasks for Your Majesty who shouldn't have done it. However, today, His Majesty is so cruel that he wants to abandon my concubine. In fact, if Your Majesty doesn't like my concubine, With just one word and a white silk ribbon, I can disappear from His Majesty's eyes forever, so why bother asking an outsider to write such an abolition edict?"
"This, this, Mei Niang, please listen to my explanation..."
"Hey, what else can be explained? In fact, I understand all this. Although I am a woman, I also know that the dog will die and the dog will be cooked, and the bird will be hidden. Your Majesty spent so much time on setting up a queen for me. I am grateful to you for your hard work, but your Majesty dares to say that it is not for your own benefit? Your Majesty deposed Changsun Wuji, Chu Suiliang, Yu Zhining, Han Yuan, Lai Ji and others, and returned all power to the top. It can be regarded as a complete victory. However, I don’t know how much bad reputation I have brought for Your Majesty. I don’t know how many grievances I have suffered. Your Majesty just doesn’t care about the grievances I have suffered. Today, I am so heartless and issued an edict to depose my concubine. Your Majesty, please tell me. What crime did I commit? Why should I depose my concubine?"
"Well, I heard what people said. The queen led the Taoist priests into the palace to practice the art of being tired of winning. She wanted to control me and obeyed before the court. She was so impatient that she did such a thing. Haha, thank you Mei Niang.
Arrive in time, otherwise I will regret it later."
When Emperor Gaozong saw Empress Wu, he burst into tears. His previous heroic spirit had long been forgotten, and now he was so weak even in describing the other party's crimes that he could only use dry laughter to cover up his embarrassment.
"Hmph, I wonder who made such nonsense and slandered me? What's even more hateful is that Your Majesty actually believed it. Poor me, I only thought about the Tang Dynasty and recruited the Taoist priest Guo Xingzhen into the palace to pray for Your Majesty's illness.
I hope that His Majesty's dragon body will recover soon, and that I can relieve the burden on my shoulders and enjoy the blessings of being a mother to the world, but I didn't expect that it would end like this. Your Majesty is so heartless and unlucky, and I am already disheartened.
Come to think of it, it's really better to just die."
While Empress Wu was crying, she took out the walking stick from her head and stabbed it into her throat.
When Emperor Gaozong saw that Empress Wu was seeking death, she was already in chaos. He quickly stopped Empress Wu, took the pacifier from her hand, and said with tears: "Meiniang, Mei Niang, you can't do this. I was just confused for a moment and was fooled by the villain."
I'm deceived, all this was taught by Shangguan Yi and Wang Fusheng. In fact, I didn't believe that Mei Niang would harm me. Mei Niang doesn't have to worry, I will tear this edict into pieces now, and I promise you that it will never happen again in this life.
Things like this happen.”
After seeing Empress Wu finally stop to think because of his explanation, Gaozong was slightly relieved, and then he tore into pieces the colorful edict written by Nayi as promised.
"My concubine and your Majesty have been married for more than ten years, but they are not as good as outsiders. It seems that your Majesty's soft-eared problem should be corrected. However, Shangguan Yi and Wang Fusheng did not abide by their duties as ministers and framed my concubine.
, destroying the relationship between my husband and wife, how should your majesty deal with it?"
Empress Wu was unyielding, and now that her crimes were being avoided, she began to counterattack and forget about it. This time, in order to avoid similar incidents from happening, she must completely surrender to Emperor Gaozong, and at the same time, ruthlessly attack those who dare to oppose her.
How did Emperor Gaozong know what Empress Wu was thinking? Now that Empress Wu proposed to punish Shangguan Yi and Wang Fusheng, he just thought that the other party was just looking for a way out, so he discussed: "It is better to demote Wang Fusheng to serve in the cold palace and see how he behaves in the future."
How about using it instead of Shangguan Yi and directly demoting him to Longzhou as the governor?"
But I heard Empress Wu sneer and say: "Your Majesty has made a holy judgment. I did not dare to have any objections. However, I thought that there was something fishy about this matter. This matter was originally reported by Wang Fusheng and later instigated by Shangguan Yi. Therefore, I think that there are two thieves."
There must be a connection. Your Majesty, why don't you order the important ministers of the court to join forces with the Si Xing Temple, the Censor's Platform, and the Xing Xing Temple for a joint trial. I expect that the cause and effect of this matter will definitely be revealed, and my grievances will be made known to the world."
Upon hearing Empress Wu's words, Shangguan Yi, who had known that something was going wrong, couldn't help but secretly complain in his heart: This soft-hearted emperor has a weak mind, ruining the power he is about to gain, and also blaming his loyal subjects. Now the side of justice is on the side.
However, they were interrogated by an unjust party and were tortured to extract confessions. What good outcome could they have? But now they are like lambs waiting to be slaughtered. What right do they have to say? I only hope that the emperor can stick to his principles and leave them some time.
If they only have one life, they will be considered lucky in three lifetimes.
But now that Empress Wu is completely victorious and Gaozong is completely at the mercy of the other party, how can he still find a way to exonerate them at this time?
The fact turned out to be as Shangguan Yi expected, Gaozong actually agreed like a yes man, and then asked: "Who can be the chief judge?"
But I heard Empress Wu say: "I recommend someone. Xu Jingzong is a veteran of the three dynasties. He is upright, talented, and has a long history of prestige. I think he is the most suitable person to be the chief judge. I believe that with Xu Qing's ability, he will be able to investigate soon."
To clarify the right and wrong, neither wrongly accuse good people nor omit evil people."
"How can this Xu Jingzong be called upright? If even this person can be called upright, how can there be a villain in this world? In this case, my old life may not be saved. Your Majesty, please do not agree.
." Although Shangguan Yi no longer had the right to speak, she was still there after all, so she quickly signaled to Gaozong with her eyes, hoping that Gaozong would change the case to someone else, but Gaozong happily agreed without even looking at him.
"Oh, I really regret that I didn't listen to my son Tingzhi and participated in such a major event as deposing the queen. Now I regret it beyond words. I only hope that the emperor will spare my son's life for the many years of service I have served."
Shangguan Yi burst into tears and silently remembered what his son Shangguan Tingzhi conveyed to him before going to court today: "Father, in recent days, the relationship between the Holy Emperor and the Queen has been very bad. I know that
My father has always been upright, but the affairs of the emperor's family are not something that we, the ministers, can interfere with. If the emperor and the empress fall out of harmony, I hope that my father will follow the example of Li Sikong in the court and not get involved in it, so as not to harm himself."
However, Shangguan Yi at that time disagreed and reprimanded loudly: "Confused, as human ministers, we should be loyal to the Heavenly Family. Now the Queen interferes in the affairs of the court. This is a chicken minister and is not good for the country. As an important minister of the imperial court,
If one day the Holy One needs it, I should sacrifice my life to fight against the Wu clan for the world."
"Father, have you forgotten the eldest grandson Taiwei, Chu Suiliang and others? Although my father is noble now, how can he compare with these people? Even if these people confront the Empress Wu, they will inevitably die in death and the family will die. If my father wants to forcefully resist,
, what is the result, how can I use it as a reminder?"
"Humph, the eldest grandson, Taiwei, and Prime Minister Chu are my role models. I am willing to imitate the sages for the sake of the Tang Dynasty. I swear to fight against the rebellious ministers and traitors to the end. Even if I die a hundred times, I will have no regrets. What's more, at this time and that time, the eldest grandson Taiwei was
The reason why Wei, Chu Xiang and others suffered a disastrous defeat was that the Holy Emperor deliberately indulged Empress Wu in order to seize power. Now that the Holy Emperor and Empress Wu are divided, I rely on the Holy Emperor's support to deal with a woman, isn't it a sure thing? You don't need to say more, I think this matter
Determined..."
Shangguan Yi now thinks about what he said at the beginning, and feels how ridiculous and pathetic they are. Even though he is loyal, the emperor has such a cowardly temper and sells himself to others at the beginning of the confrontation. This is simply
It was a losing battle with no suspense. I only regretted that I was loyal to the wrong person. If it were Emperor Taizong back then, I would definitely become a direct minister like Wei Zheng. This chapter has been completed!