Time flies, and it has been more than a year in the blink of an eye.

In the past year or so, many major events have also taken place, and several of them revolve around the struggle for power between the emperor and the queen.

First of all, in March of the third year of Longshuo, the army led by Qibi He Li won a complete victory. To say that this Qi Qi He Li can also be regarded as a famous general, for the courage of others, after the edict to go out, only led the light cavalry 500 galloped into the Tiele tribe, Tiele people were shocked when they saw this. But he saw Qi Bi He Li said: "The court knows that you are my beloved people in the Tang Dynasty, but they are mistaken by some careerists, so I am appeased, and persuade you to reform your ways, and the court has an edict, this rebellion The court only asks about the first evil, and does not listen to coercion, as long as you lay down your arms, you can get forgiveness from the court." ”

When the people of the various tribes heard the words of Khibi He Li, their hearts were overjoyed, and they took action one after another, capturing the puppet Ye Hu and Teller and other 200 people set up by the thieves and coming back, and Khibi He Li announced the crimes of these leaders and beheaded these people, so they pacified the Tiele tribes.

At this time, the Chinese of the Wuhou Dynasty had Xu Jingzong, Li Yifu, Wang Dejian, Yuan Gongyu, Hou Shanye and others, and Wu had Qibi He Li and other generals faintly compared with Emperor Gaozong, known as the two saints in the palace.

The powerful power possessed by Empress Wu caused Gaozong to be uneasy, so Gaozong tried to cut down the power of Empress Wu, first of all, he tried to personally review the folds and take the power into his own hands. Secondly, he also paid attention to supporting the crown prince Li Hong, as early as the fourth year of Xianqing when he visited the eastern capital, he appointed the crown prince Li Hong to supervise the country, and now it is even more delegated to it, some small matters are directly handled by the crown prince to make decisions, no need to report to the eastern capital, Mr. Gao did this one is to cultivate the prince's ability to govern, and the second is naturally to cultivate the power of the prince, trying to balance the martial arts, he will take advantage of the matter.

This is not the end, Gaozong also decided to take action against the important ministers of the Empress Wu.

Originally, in October of the second year of Longshuo, Gaozong took advantage of the case of hunting and murder by the son of Xu Yushi, the left minister, demoted Xu Yushi and Yang Deyi and exiled, giving a heavy blow to the Empress Wu, which basically maintained the balance, but he did not expect that Qi Bi He Li won a big victory, and was rewarded by the Empress Wu, and made him in charge of the Southern Ya Zhujun Guard, at the same time, the right minister Li Yifu also became more and more disrespectful to himself, and even a few days ago Li Yifu's son and son-in-law did illegal things, Gaozong warned, this person disregarded Gaozong's face, and walked away. All this made Gaozong feel deeply threatened, so Gaozong decided to use Li Yifu as a breakthrough to deal a heavy blow to the power of Empress Wu.

And things are so coincidental, one morning in April of the third year of Longshuo, Li Yifu actually asked the warlock Du Yuanji to look at the qi, and this matter happened to be bumped into by Li Xian, who had gone to the city early to practice light skills, Li Xian saw that Du Yuanji was pointing, and what he said was all reactionary remarks, and hurriedly wrote down these things and sealed them, so that Zhang Wuchen used his superb light skills to send them to Liu Xiangdao's mansion.

Liu Xiangdao read what Li Xian wrote, and was shocked, and hurriedly played the matter to Gaozong. And at this time, Yang Xingying, who joined the army of Cao Wucang, also impeached Li Yifu to Gaozong, saying that this Li Yifu actually violated the ban of the imperial court and asked for 700 yuan from Changsun Yan, the grandson of the eldest grandson Wuji, and was ready to grant him the post of Sijin Supervisor.

Gaozong was furious when he heard the news of the case, and immediately issued an edict to put Li Yifu in prison, and at the same time ordered Liu Xiangdao to be tried together with Yushitai and Shenxing Temple (Dali Temple), and ordered Sikong Li Ji to supervise the trial.

Thirteen days later, the results of the trial came out, Li Yifu was exiled to Shanzhou (Xichang, Sichuan) for a long time for corruption, and his eldest son and son-in-law were also exiled, but the youngest son Li Zhan was able to remain in his original position because of Li Xian's long-term service to Li Xian and was not guilty of corruption.

In October of that year, due to the appearance of unicorn footprints (lintoes) in front of the Hanyuan Palace, all the ministers thought that this was a good omen, and Gaozong thought that he had eradicated the traitors and provoked the good omen of heaven, and immediately decided to change the Yuan Linde in the second year.

In the second year, that is, the first year of Lin De, a major event occurred in the palace, which directly led to the irreconcilable contradiction between Gaozong and Empress Wu.

It turned out that since Gaozong disposed of Xu Yushi and Li Yifu, Empress Wu felt that the emperor was going to seize power, although the power of the state itself should be the emperor's, but who is Empress Wu? Although she is a woman, her desire for power is no less than that of a man, especially after handling political affairs for Gaozong over the years, she has personally felt the benefits of power, so when facing Gaozong's counterattack, her heart is even more uneasy.

Just when Empress Wu was hesitating in her heart, suddenly one day, her personal palace maid Haruka handed her a sealed letter. Empress Wu opened the letter and looked, it turned out that the letter writer turned out to be an acquaintance, this person is named Guo Xingzhen, claiming to have cultivated for more than 200 years, and was a Taoist priest in the Dajiao Temple of the Royal Taoist Temple at that time.

The Empress Wu was naturally overjoyed when he heard this, and secretly cited him as a confidant, and then received several help from Guo Xingzhen, and the relationship between the two became closer, but later Taizong collapsed, and the Empress Wu became a monk in the Ganye Temple, and the two broke off contact from then on, and later the Empress Wu returned to the court, and also secretly looked for this Guo Xingzhen, but found that this person had no news, and thought that this person would never appear in his life again, but he didn't expect this person to appear again, and it was at the moment when he needed people the most.

Empress Wu immediately retired from the attendants, read the letter quietly, and then burned the letter, and the next day on the grounds of praying for blessings, came to the Haotian Temple in Chang'an City, and then secretly met a Taoist, according to Li Xian's eyeliner report, the two talked freely for nearly an hour, but they didn't know anything about what they were talking about.

Li Xian then sent someone to investigate the Taoist priest, but only found out the name of the Taoist priest, but that was enough, because Li Xian knew that a major event would happen in the imperial court later.

So then Li Xian mobilized his forces and stepped up the surveillance of the palace, because although this matter had nothing to do with him on the surface, it could not but be related to him, because it involved an important person and an important family.

"It seems that I need to prepare everything in advance so as not to be caught off guard when things do come in the future." Looking at the secret report sent to him by the informant, Li Xian couldn't help but ponder and think about how to deal with it.

At this time, Empress Wu was also actively pondering, and today's words with Guo Xingzhen really touched her, because if she didn't agree, she could only watch the power in her hands be deprived little by little, and then she could only be a woman living in the palace like a traditional queen.

"No, I must not be like this, who can be able to plan hard for more than ten years, how can I give up because of this small setback? At the beginning, the words of the Xiangshi are still in my ears, the words of the heroine Wuwang are still in my ears, and the words of Guo Xingzhen are still in my ears, my life is from heaven, and even the original Taizong can't stop it, not to mention that it is far inferior to Taizong's Li Zhizai? Hehe, this Guo Xingzhen's plan is also bold, but if this move is successful, it will definitely be able to do it once and for all, and I will always be in power. ”

There was a coldness in Empress Wu's eyes, and this coldness was exactly the same as the expression she had when she strangled her own daughter to frame Queen Wang, but she didn't realize it herself, or although she realized it, she didn't care at all.

After that, Empress Wu transferred the relationship and secretly invited Guo Xingzhen to enter the palace, and then the two sides talked secretly for more than an hour, but this time their secret was not kept.

At that time, Empress Wu and Guo Xingzhen had a secret conversation in a side hall in the harem, and the matter would not be leaked at all, but where did I think that a little eunuch who had just entered the palace in order to chase a cat, actually broke into this side hall by mistake, and when he just wanted to push the door and leave, he heard footsteps not far outside.

It turned out that the Empress Wu conspired with Guo Xingzhen to control the emperor through the technique of disgust with victory, so that the emperor's mind was blinded and completely obeyed by the Empress Wu.

The little eunuch who heard this conspiracy was already shocked into a cold sweat, but fortunately he still maintained a trace of sanity, and did not dare to make the slightest move, until Empress Wu and Guo Xingzhen left for a long time before slowly coming out from under the table, and then quietly left the side hall and ran away.

After this little eunuch returned to his residence, even if he told his father-in-law Wang Fusheng this news, this was the emperor's most favored eunuch, and it was also the best way to tell the emperor.

Wang Fusheng was also shocked when he heard the news, but fortunately, he had experienced decades of ups and downs in the sea and was calm, so after hearing the news, he hurriedly pulled the little eunuch aside and told him seriously that if he wanted to live, he would not talk about it to anyone again, and then he hurriedly found Gaozong and told Gaozong to tell him.

"Are you serious? This person is so bold that he wants to murder me? Gaozong was also shocked when he heard this, and his face turned green with anger.

In fact, you don't have to think about it, how can Wang Fusheng, a little eunuch, dare to joke with his life and falsely accuse the lord of the harem and the powerful queen of the world?

"What should I do about this?" After confirming the news that Empress Wu was plotting to rebel, Gaozong had lost his square inch under extreme shock, and couldn't help muttering: "Wang Fusheng, let's talk about it, how should this matter be handled?" Quickly help me get an idea, if I do it well, I will definitely not forget the benefits of you, and I will be crowned the prince of the country. ”

"Your Majesty, the old slave has heard that the Xitai squire Shangguanyi is loyal and resourceful, Your Majesty might as well discuss with this person, as for the thief Guo Xingzhen, he will hand it over to the old slave, and he will definitely let him die quietly." After Wang Fusheng got Gaozong's promise, he suddenly became bolder, turned his heart sideways, and took Gaozong's hand and said.