Zheng Hong and Wang Da's speeches did not arouse the echo of the courtiers, and the Xuanzheng Hall suddenly became silent.

Nonsense, this is against the prince, it's the rhythm of looking for death! The brains of the ministers in the Xuanzheng Hall have not burned out, how can they be people and play with guns? Even Helan Minzhi, who gritted his teeth at Li Hong, chose to remain silent.

But Zheng Hong and Wang Da are imperial histories, and their powers are impeachment and admonition, and what they say at the court meeting carries a lot of weight. Therefore, as soon as they opened their mouths, the ministers remained silent, and Gaozong had to say something.

Gaozong glanced at Empress Wu, and when he saw that Empress Wu was looking at everyone in the hall and ignoring him, he moved his gaze to Xu Jingzong and asked, "Xu Aiqing, hasn't Zhang Deyu ever written a piece about the Huaxian tragedy?" ”

"Back to Your Majesty, no." Xu Jingzong bowed and replied.

Gao Gao nodded slightly, and moved his gaze to Empress Wu again, seeing that Empress Wu was indifferent, he continued, "What do you Aiqing think about this?" ”

"Your Majesty, the Huaxian tragedy involves His Royal Highness the Prince, Zhang Deyu, the young secretary of Dali Temple, is cautious in investigating the case, and the minister feels that there is nothing wrong." Le Yanwei came out and said, "Therefore, the minister thinks that we can't listen to other people's slander because of this, so he questioned Zhang Deyu's investigation process." ”

As the newly promoted prime minister, Le Yanwei's words can be described as heart-wrenching, and in one sentence, Zheng Hong and Wang Da were villains who slandered him.

"The minister also thinks that he can't send someone to supervise Zhang Deyu in vain!" Dai Zhide also came out and said, "Your Majesty, Zhang Deyu has been in the position of Shaoqing of Dali Temple for a long time, and he has rich experience in investigating cases. ”

"The minister agrees with Dai Xiang's meaning." Sun Chuyue also spoke.

As the prime minister, he knew that he couldn't help but choose between Empress Wu and Gaozong, and after thinking about it for a long time, he finally chose Gaozong today.

Gaozong saw that Sun Chuyue echoed Dai Zhide's words, and a faint smile appeared in his eyes, didn't he want to restrain the excessive power of Empress Wu when he promoted Sun Chuyue and Le Yanwei and others as prime ministers? Now that Sun Chuyo has made his own choice, he is very happy in his heart.

As for Empress Wu, because the distance was a bit far, none of the ministers below noticed the change in the expression on her face, only Li Hong was a little closer to her, and clearly saw the haze that flashed in her eyes.

If you want to say that Le Yanwei supports Zhang Deyu alone, and Zheng Hong and Wang Da can still be very light, then now that Dai Zhide and Sun Chuyue have also come forward to say that Zhang Deyu said good things, Zheng Hong and Wang Da are a little panicked.

Because there are only seven prime ministers in Datang now, three of the seven have already expressed their support for Zhang Deyu, even if the remaining four do not express their opinions, it is enough for the courtiers to make their own choices in this matter.

Just when Zheng Hong and Wang Da glanced at each other and were about to continue admonishing Gaozong, Jiang Ke came out and said, "Your Majesty, the minister thinks that Zhang Deyu's investigation is too slow, and there has been no progress so far, and there must be hidden secrets to be found, and I also ask Your Majesty to send someone to Huaxian County to supervise Zhang Deyu's investigation of the case." ”

Jiang Ke is not only the secretary of the military department, but also the position of prime minister, his words are quite weighty in the court, and he suddenly saw that he supported Zheng Hong and Wang Da, as if he was already standing on the opposite side of Li Hong.

However, Li Hong noticed one point, that is, before Jiang Ke came out to speak, Empress Wu's gaze fell on his face intentionally or unintentionally. Obviously, the reason why Jiang Ke supported Zheng Hong and Wang Da was obviously instructed by Empress Wu.

According to Li Hong's judgment, if someone really wants to frame him, the Empress Wu will definitely not sit idly by, because his position is threatened, and the position of Empress Wu may not be able to sit safely.

But now, Empress Wu has let his prime ministers support Zheng Hong and Wang Da, so there is only one reason that can explain the meaning of Empress Tongwu's move, that is, today's court meeting is no longer Zheng Hong and Wang Da against him, but has become a competition for power between Gaozong and Empress Wu.

Sure enough, just as Li Hong guessed, as soon as Jiang Ke's words fell, Dou Dexuan immediately came out and said, "The old minister also feels that Zhang Deyu's investigation has been delayed for too long, and he needs to send someone to urge him." ”

As soon as Dou Dexuan finished speaking, the number of prime ministers who supported and opposed suddenly became two to three.

Now it's Xu Jingzong's turn to speak, he is a hardcore confidant of the Empress Wu, and he will naturally support Zheng Hong and Wang Da according to the will of the Empress Wu, so that the number of people who support and oppose will become three to three, so Li Ji, as the only prime minister who has not spoken, his words have become the key to whether to support or not.

It's just that what everyone didn't expect was that the person who spoke this time was not Xu Jingzong, but Li Ji.

Li Ji came out and said in a calm tone, "Your Majesty, the minister also thinks that the Huaxian tragedy can't be delayed for too long, and he has to send someone to Huaxian County to supervise Zhang Deyu." ”

At this moment, not to mention that the ministers were stunned, even Li Hong was dumbfounded. This, is Li Ji sick? Or did you provoke him yourself? Why do you keep going against yourself?

Gao Zong also frowned when he saw Li Ji say this.

In the past, he used Li Ji to get rid of the eldest grandson Wuji and Chu Suiliang and other noble and powerful ministers, and made Wu Mei the queen. Since then, Li Ji has become his confidant. Even if he had a dispute with Wu Mei because of power later, Wu Mei forced him to have to let her listen to the government, during this period, even if Li Ji was a little inclined to Wu Mei, his position was not obvious.

But today, Li Ji suddenly took the initiative to stand up for Zheng Hong and Wang Da, and his attitude was clearly on Wu Meihe's side, openly to show his support for Wu Mei.

This caught him a little off guard!

And Empress Wu, who was sitting next to Gaozong, saw that Li Ji was on her side, even if she was very deep in the Chen Mansion, a faint smile appeared between her eyebrows at this moment. Because she knows that from today on, Li Ji, the first person in the Datang military, will be her confidant in the future, and with Li Ji's support, it is equivalent to getting the support of the Datang military, so what else can she worry about if she wants to continue to stand up for Gaozong in the future?

Li Ji's statement made today's court meeting lose its suspense.

Because, at today's court meeting, Gaozong was defeated again in the confrontation with Empress Wu!

The confrontation with Empress Wu fell again, and he lost such a confidant minister as Li Ji, Gaozong looked a little impatient, so he asked lightly, "What does Xu Aiqing mean?" ”

"Your Majesty, the minister agreed to send someone to Huaxian." Xu Jingzong said slowly, "But it's not to supervise Zhang Deyu's investigation of the case, but to assist Zhang Deyu in investigating the case. ”

Gaozong nodded slightly.

In fact, when the ending had already been decided, he asked Xu Jingzong, naturally he wanted Xu Jingzong to give specific suggestions to send people one by one.

"It's just-" Xu Jingzong said this, paused, and continued, "The Huaxian tragedy involves the prince, just like the British public saying that the longer the case drags on, the more unfavorable it will be to His Royal Highness the Prince, so the minister suggested that the person sent to Huaxian County to supervise the investigation of the case should be recommended by the prince's East Palace!" ”

Li Hong heard that Xu Jingzong finally didn't perfunctory himself, and a faint smile appeared on his face.

Empress Wu was not surprised by Xu Jingzong's words, and did not show any dissatisfied expression, just like he knew that Xu Jingzong would say this, in fact, today she got Li Ji's support, and she won a big victory in the face of Gaozong, and she didn't want to care about the rest anymore, and she would be so open-minded again.

And Gaozong was already impatient, and when he saw that Xu Jingzong still wanted to chatter, he was a little displeased, but when he suddenly heard Xu Jingzong say this, he calmed down and asked Li Hong again, "Prince, is there such a person in the East Palace?" ”

As soon as Gaozong's voice fell, before Li Hong could speak, Yan Liben, the secretary of the Ministry of Works, came out and said, "Your Majesty, the minister recommends one person to enter the East Palace as the prince's family Ling Temple, let him enter the Dali Temple, and go to supervise Zhang Deyu's investigation of the case on behalf of the East Palace." ”

Because Yan Zhuang is the prince's family order, and Yan Liben is Yan Zhuang's uncle, no matter how Yan Liben supports the crown prince Li Hong, the ministers in the Xuanzheng Palace will not be surprised, and Gaozong is naturally too, so he asked lightly, "Who?" ”

"And the state governor's mansion Cao Di Renjie." Yan Liben replied.

"What ability does he have to go to Huaxian County to supervise Zhang Deyu's investigation on behalf of Donggong?" Gaozong asked puzzled.

"Back to Your Majesty, Di Renjie passed the Ming Jing Examination during the Taizong period, and when he served as the governor of the state governor's office, he was honest and honest, did not enforce the law, and was conscientious, and the minister believed that his ability was enough to take on this great task." Yan Liben said loudly.

Because he knew Di Renjie's ability and appreciated Di Renjie's talent very much, he dared to say it so boldly. Otherwise, even if Li Hong instructed him, Yan Liben would not dare to stand on Li Hong's side so obviously and get along with Empress Wu.

"Prince, have you ever thought it through?" Suddenly, Empress Wu asked. This was the first time she had spoken at today's court meeting.

"Queen Mother, since she is the person recommended by Yan Shangshu, the sons have met with each other again, and asked him to go to Hua County to supervise Zhang Deyu's investigation of the case on behalf of the East Palace, and the sons have no objections." Li Hong naturally would not object.

"Then promote Di Renjie to the prince's family to order the temple, and then promote him to the Dali temple, and then you can rush to Huaxian immediately with the people sent by the Criminal Department and Yushitai." Empress Wu said in a loud voice.

"Weichen Command!" Xu Jingzong hurriedly bowed down to receive the order.

Gaozong quietly watched Empress Wu give his order, and he didn't say a word.

After that, the ministers discussed some government and military affairs, and Gaozong ordered to withdraw from the court.

After the court meeting was over, the prime ministers had to go to the Zichen Hall to discuss specific government affairs with Gaozong and Empress Wu, but Li Hong could not participate due to physical reasons, so he left the Xuanzheng Hall and walked alone.

"Your Highness, I heard that in the past two days, you have checked the taxes of the eastern and western cities, do you have eyebrows?" At this moment, Helan Minzhi suddenly approached him and asked in a low voice. However, the arrogance on his face made Li Hong very annoyed.

"Why are you so concerned about Lone's actions?" Li Hong asked rhetorically.

"Because I like to see His Highness busy for a long time, but in the end it still doesn't work, I think it's funny." Helan Minzhi laughed proudly. Li Hong was angry, it wasn't because of the Yang family, otherwise how could he not continue to investigate, how could he let Helan Minzhi go so easily?

Seeing Li Hong's angry face, Helan Minzhi was overjoyed, and said even more proudly, "Your Highness, if you feel aggrieved, you can continue to investigate." But Wu Er is dead, the clue you got is broken, and without Wu Er's confession, I don't know if His Royal Highness wants to continue to investigate the tax issues of the East and West Cities, will it be a little inappropriate? After all, His Royal Highness has no conclusive evidence now, and if he investigates the imperial court officials privately, if the imperial historians of the Imperial History Observatory know, he will have to impeach His Highness again. ”

"Haha, Your Highness is a king, and I'm just a minister, but this is also a little advice I give to Your Highness, and I hope Your Highness will adopt it!" After Helan Minzhi finished speaking, he laughed arrogantly and left.

Li Hong watched Helan Minzhi's back disappear from his sight, and there was murder in his eyes.