Tang Zhen, who is nearly eighty years old, has loose skin, cloudy eyes, and his originally tall body has also shrunk seriously, but the majesty of his face has not diminished as it was back then.

The old man's fingers tapped on the armrests of the dark brown Taishi chair, making a banging sound, facing Tang Qi's arrival, he felt a trance for a while, and he even thought that it would be great if his two sons also had such ambition and courage. It's a pity that they didn't think about those things, which made Tang Zhen a little disheartened.

The house was as silent as death, only two white ashes, burning quietly, Tang Qi raised his eyes and looked at Tang Zhen, and couldn't help but feel sad, Tang Zhen is old, really old, since he came back from playing Sangla, his body is not as good as day by day, like a towering tree, under the erosion of the years, it can't escape the fate of depletion and decay.

Although he looked old, it was impossible to fool him easily.

Tang Qi has made all the preparations for a showdown with Tang Zhen, if she can win Tang Zhen's support today, she will have a glimmer of life, if not, her life may come to an end.

Instead of waiting to die in the palace, it is better to fight to the death.

Facing Tang Zhen, who has begun to retreat, now she must show some sincerity in order to impress the old man in front of her who holds half of the Liang Dynasty, only with his support can she compete with the Empress Dowager Cao, otherwise the Empress Dowager's hand has reached out to the queen's life.

Now the queen can't wait to grow her own vegetables, she doesn't even dare to eat the food in the palace easily, she drinks the water that Hu Orchid draws from the fish pond in the back courtyard, and she only says to outsiders that she wants to raise fish in her own house; Eating the emperor's leftovers, it is called the order of respect and humility to outsiders, which is really a precedent for women's virtue created by the queen's mother.

"Cao Sheng?"

When Tang Zhen heard this name, a flash of light flashed in his cloudy old eyes, and he never imagined that Empress Dowager Cao's own uncle could unite with the Empress Dowager to rebel against the Empress Dowager.

He fell into deep thought, for a long time, and said in a deep voice: "Why does Cao Sheng want to help you? ”

Tang Qi said: "Cao Sheng said, since ancient times, women in power without exception in the end are the destruction of their mother's family, whether it is Empress Lu or Wu Zetian can not escape such a fate, he Cao Sheng does not want to end up like that, he told me that he can help me overthrow the Empress Dowager Cao, but afterwards he wants to be the next Huainan Gong and control the power of the Tiger Ben Army." ”

Tang Zhendao: "He wants to be the next Simon Mason, very good, this is the Cao Sheng I know." However, I believe that you can't be the master in this matter, and it is not you who promised him the conditions, but Zhao Ce. ”

"Yes, Cao Sheng is still Zhao Ce's uncle and grandfather after all."

"If I'm not mistaken, it was Zhao Ce who found his uncle and grandfather and discussed depriving his mother of his military power and giving it to him, and Cao Sheng took this opportunity to develop his local power, stay away from the capital, and listen to the tune and not listen to the announcement, is this the case?"

"I can't hide everything from my father-in-law."

"Hehehe, Zhao Ce and Cao Sheng have a good calculation. …… However, it is also a path. ”

Tang Zhen still had a lot to say in his heart, but he didn't say anything. He was thinking, if he was in Zhao Ce's situation, what would he do?

He will have two choices, either endure and be a good son for the Queen Mother, or kill the Queen Mother with a knife, if the emperor wants to sneak attack the Queen Mother, it is simply too easy. After all, the Queen Mother is a woman, and her figure is weak, even if there is a master like Li Wantang by her side, she has no time to stop her.

But Zhao Ce didn't choose to do that, Tang Zhen believed that with Zhao Ce's character, even if he deprived Empress Dowager Cao of military power, he would not be cruel to his mother.

"Tang Qi, besides Cao Sheng, what other hands do you have?" Tang Zhen suddenly changed the topic, it seems that he chose to believe Tang Qi's words, and at the same time, it is equivalent to choosing to believe Cao Sheng.

Tang Qi didn't answer directly, but chatted about the speed of homely speech, and said in a slightly apologetic tone: "I heard my father say in the early years, he was very entangled, he was one of the most powerful generals under you at that time, and he was also your most trusted general, and then the queen mother grabbed his handle, either listening to the queen mother, or pushing the whole family into the abyss, at this time my father chose the former." However, his father did not completely betray the Tang family, he did not attack the Tang family from beginning to end, never. ”

"Well, I'll admit it." Tang Zhen nodded: "This is also where I feel gratified, the reason why Qi Dongyang is willing to die in Hebei is actually the result of his active choice, he would rather die than frame me." ”

Tang Qi continued: "After my father's death, the Queen Mother had already relaxed her control over our family, but suddenly she was eyeing me again. At that time, I was only seventeen years old, and when Zhao Ce was still the prince, she arranged for me to meet the prince and Zhao Ya, the princess of Chang'an, that is, at that time I knew the truth, and the queen mother asked me if I would like to serve her, and I promised her at that time. ”

Tang Zhen said in a deep voice: "Oh, so early, you were the Queen Mother's secret pile. ”

"I didn't want to play for her, but I couldn't." Tang Qi said embarrassedly.

"I don't understand why, your family is in my house, what are you afraid of? Worried that I won't be able to keep your family? Tang Zhen was puzzled: "This has always been something I don't understand, could it be that Qi Dongyang has a home outside the Tang Mansion?" ”

"Yes."

"Oh..."

"And my grandfather and grandmother, and my mother are in the hands of the Queen Mother."

"It seems that Qi Dongyang still lied to me, and he lied to me very early." Tang Zhen smiled bitterly: "It turned out that everything was fake, it was used to fool me, but in the end, he was used by the Queen Mother, so that he was not a human being inside and out, and he suffered the consequences of his own evil, and even affected his children." However, now that you have become a queen, you have reached the pinnacle of being a woman, even if you are in the midst of a struggle, it can be regarded as a place of glory. Even if the struggle is not successful, it will not be in vain. ”

"But I don't want to lose, I want to win." Tang Qi raised his head suddenly.

"You can't fight the Queen Mother." Tang Zhen sneered.

"I will definitely not be able to fight the Queen Mother on my own, but I have helpers, at home, Emperor Zhao Ce is with me, and outside, I have Tang Yuan's strategy." Tang Qi said quickly.

Tang Zhen said indifferently: "Zhao Ce only controls half of the six departments, that is, he has half of the power, and has no military power, and Tang Yuan's 10,000 men can set off any waves?" That's not enough. ”

"If my stepfather is willing to support me, that's enough."

Tang Zhen thought for a while and said, "Not necessarily. ”

"Why?" Tang Qi was stunned.

Tang Zhen said: "Because you can't even control the only soldier in your hand, how can I trust you?" ”。

Tang Qi said: "Tang Yuan will definitely listen to me, if I give him a letter, he will even dare to disobey." ”

"Okay, then you can give it a try." Tang Zhen slapped the table and said, "If Tang Yuan is willing to give you a letter and a holy order, I will believe you." ”