Early in the morning, when a new ray of sunlight was sprinkled in the dust, Li Hong had already entered the palace to meet Empress Wu. Today, because there is no early dynasty, the Zichen Hall is very deserted, and the Empress Wu has long known that Li Hong will come to see her, so she is waiting for him.

When Li Hong stepped into the Zichen Palace, he felt that the Empress Wu was in a very good mood today.

"Hong'er is here so early?" Empress Wu said with a smile.

"Sons see the queen mother!" Li Hongshi said, "Erchen arrived so early, he just didn't want the queen mother to wait." ”

Now although Li Hong still has the initiative, the chips are gone, and his confidence is insufficient.

"Last night, this palace heard that Mr. Zhao and Wu Youzhi were poisoned, and the person who poisoned them was Cui Yuan, the commander of Chang'an County, and he also committed suicide in fear of crime?" Empress Wu asked nonchalantly.

"Yes. It's the son's mishandling of things, and he asks the queen mother to punish him! Li Hong said in a low voice.

"Without the confessions of Mr. Zhao and Wu Youzhi, what do you think of Helan Minzhi's case?" Empress Wu asked straight to the point, her eyes a little more playful.

"What does the queen mean?" Li Hong asked rhetorically, he wanted to know the bottom line of the martial queen.

"Death crimes can be avoided, but living crimes cannot be escaped." Empress Wu said lightly. Empress Wu's answer was ambiguous, and she kicked the ball to Li Hong's body again.

"Retain the title of the Duchy of Zhou, be imprisoned for another year, and be fined 10,000 catties of copper." Li Hong said.

This is the condition he gave to Empress Wu.

Because since he knew that Empress Wu was going to die to protect Helan Minzhi, he didn't want to fight to the end with Empress Wu, as for imprisoning Helan Minzhi, it was to let Helan Minzhi cause trouble for himself.

And the punishment of copper, to put it bluntly, is to squeeze Helan Minzhi more.

"Wei Ling's case, you should hurry up and end it!" Empress Wu said. She was talking about Wei Ling's case, but in fact, she made a condition to Li Hong, that is, to ask Li Hong not to investigate the tax corruption case in Dongshi again.

Because Li Hong knew very well that Helan Minzhi dared to embezzle in the commercial tax of the West City, it cannot be ruled out that he had not been involved in the commercial tax of the East City. The corruption case in the West City has not been resolved, and if there is another corruption case in the East City, it will be a little difficult for the Empress Wu to protect it when the time comes.

That's why Empress Wu will stop Li Hong from continuing to investigate!

"Chang'an County ordered Cui Yuan to die, the county Cheng Zhang Bo is guilty, the son recommended the lord Bo Luo Bin Wang to serve as the county commander, and Fan Lubing, a direct bachelor of the East Palace Chongwen Pavilion, was appointed as the chief Bo, and asked the queen mother for permission." Li Hong said loudly. He also took the opportunity to prescribe his own conditions. Of course, he was not very greedy, and he did not take the position of county Cheng for himself, which left a vacancy for Empress Wu.

Empress Wu was slightly stunned, she thought that Li Hong would talk to her about the prince and the young protector, but she didn't expect Li Hong's purpose to be in Chang'an County, but she thought about it a little, and thought that it was to give Li Hong a county order and a lord, and he couldn't make any big waves, so she agreed, "Just do it with Hong'er's intentions!" ”

"Thank you, Queen Mother!" Li Hong said.

Being able to win these two positions for Luo Bingwang and Fan Lubing is not a big deal for him to give up some personal grievances with Helan Minzhi.

"If it's okay, go down!" Empress Wu said, "By the way, the Tibetan mission will arrive in Chang'an City in the afternoon, and you must receive them well." ”

"Erchen understands!" Li Hong said, and bowed down and exited the Zichen Palace.

Leaving the Zichen Palace, Li Hong came to the Lin De Hall to ask Gaozong for peace, and he told Gaozong about the results of discussing with the Empress Wu to deal with Helan Minzhi, and Gaozong nodded slightly after listening to it, and did not express any opinions.

However, after chatting for a while about Sun Simiao's medical skills and Gaozong's recent physical condition, Li Hong said goodbye and left.

As soon as Li Honggang returned to the East Palace, Prime Minister Le Yanwei and Liu Xiangdao, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, and Zhao Renji, the Shaoqing of Honglu Temple, came to see him.

"In the afternoon, is the Tibetan mission about to arrive in Chang'an City?" In the study, Li Hong asked Le Yanwei.

"Yes." Le Yanwei replied, "We only got the news in the morning. ”

"The Tibetan mission arrived outside Chang'an City so silently, they want to catch us off guard!" Liu Xiangdao sighed.

"How many people are in their mission?" Li Hong asked softly.

Zhao Renji recalled for a moment and replied, "In addition to the ambassador An Lai, the deputy envoy Sang Ying, and Princess Gesang, the sister of Mangsong Mangzan, there are also six hundred cavalry. ”

"Hmph-" Li Hong sneered, "One mission will bring six hundred cavalry, they are so big!" ”

"In recent years, Tubo has become more and more powerful, and its arrogance has become more and more arrogant. Liu Xiangdao said.

"Your Highness, how should the six hundred cavalry in the Tibetan mission be arranged?" Zhao Renji asked.

"Arrange An Lai, Sang Ying and Princess Sang outside the pavilion, and let the six hundred cavalry be stationed in Nanya!" Li Hong said. Nanya is the camp of the sixteen guards of the Tang Dynasty, which has the left and right prison guards and the left and right Jinwu guards, and their combat effectiveness is strong, and they can suppress 600 Tubo cavalry.

Le Yanwei and Liu Xiangdao had no objection to Li Hong's arrangement, and Zhao Renji didn't say anything anymore.

When the four of them finished discussing the reception work, it was noon, and Li Hongliu and the three of them had dinner in the East Palace, and the three of them did not refuse. After lunch, Li Hong and the three of them drank tea in the side hall, and saw Yan Zhuang hurriedly walk in and said, "Your Highness, the Tubo mission has arrived thirty miles outside the city, and it is about to arrive outside Chang'an City. ”

"How long will it take for them to enter the city?" Li Hong asked.

"There is still an hour." Yan Zhuang replied.

"You ordered Li Duoqi to mobilize a thousand cavalry guards to wait outside the city." Li Hong said to Yan Zhuang. Yan Zhuang bowed down and took the order to leave. He moved his gaze to Le Yanwei, Liu Daoxiang and Zhao Renji and said, "Let's take a look?" ”

Le Yanwei, Liu Daoxiang and Zhao Renji nodded, and left the East Palace behind Li Hong.

……

……

Outside Chang'an City, on the banks of the Weishui River, the willows are still around.

A thousand-strong iron cavalry wearing black armor and carrying a horizontal sword at the waist lined up in two rows, standing on both sides of the official road, waiting quietly. They are the 1,000 Xiao Cavalry Guards led by Li Duoqi.

They were ordered by the crown prince to wait here for the Tibetan mission.

After waiting for nearly half an hour, I suddenly saw dust at the end of the official road in front of me, and then there was a rapid sound of horses' hooves, and as the sound of horses' hooves approached, a cavalry of six hundred people appeared at the end of the official road.

"Woo-"

The horses of the cavalry guard were uneasy when they heard the sound of horses' hooves coming from the end of the official road.

"Keep calm!" Li Duoqi also noticed Xiao Cavalry's uneasiness, and immediately shouted and reprimanded.

At the same time, he moved his gaze to the front, staring curiously at the cavalry that appeared in front of him. The distance between the two sides was so far that the six hundred cavalry of the other side could unleash such a powerful murderous aura.

It can make the horses of the Xiao cavalry feel uneasy, the combat effectiveness of this Tubo cavalry is very strong!