When Li Hong arrived at the Zichen Palace, he found that in addition to the Empress Wu, Gaozong was also present, and the Yang family was sitting next to the Empress Wu and crying in a low voice, but what surprised him was that Helan Minyue was also in the Zichen Palace.

In the past, Helan Minyue and Gao Zongqing would turn a blind eye to each other, provided that Helan Minyue couldn't be too obvious when she served Gao Zong, so that she could see it.

That is to say, Empress Wu does not wait to see Helan Minyue, and she usually does not want to see her niece. But now Helan Minyue, Empress Wu and Gaozong are in the Zichen Palace, which makes it a little difficult for Li Hong to figure out Empress Wu's thoughts.

"Sons, see father, emperor, and mother." Li Hong walked quickly to Gaozong and Empress Wu to salute, he paused, and then said, "There are also grandmothers and Mrs. Wei Guo." ”

Empress Wu's face was gloomy and she didn't say anything, while Gaozong on the side said with a loving face, "Hong'er, get up quickly!" ”

"Thank you, Father!" Li Hong hurriedly got up and said, he could see that the Empress Wu was very indifferent to him today, and his consequences would be very serious!

As soon as Li Hong got up, Yang opened his mouth and cried, "Niangniang, you have to be the master of your mother!" ”

Yang had already told Empress Wu and Gaozong about Li Hong's actions in the Zhou State Mansion with a handful of snot and tears, so she shouted. Helan Minyue on the side also shouted, "Your Majesty, Niangniang, please save your brother!" ”

Although the two complained to Empress Wu and Gaozong at the same time, the nature of what they could say was different, Yang wanted Empress Wu to punish Li Hong, while Helan Minyue interceded for his brother Helan Minzhi.

"Prince, what's going on?" Empress Wu asked in a cold tone, "Why did you search the Lady of Wei Mansion and the Principality of Zhou's Mansion privately?" Do you want to put Helan Min in prison? ”

Li Hong has evidence in his hand, so he is naturally not afraid of the martial queen's questioning, so he said righteously, "Father, mother, Helan Minzhi, as a scholar of the Principality of Zhou, a bachelor of the Hongwen Pavilion, and a regular attendant of the Zuo Sanqi, not only did not think about serving the country, but used his power for personal gain, and used Ding Wuer, the Duke of Zhou, to collude with Wei Ling, the West City, to embezzle the commercial taxes of the West City, and the sons found the evidence of his guilt through the cause of Wei Ling's death, so they went to the Lady of Wei Mansion and the Principality of Zhou's Mansion to search for stolen silver and arrest him in prison." ”

"Embezzlement of commercial taxes in the West Market? Do you have proof? Empress Wu asked as if she didn't know.

"More than that." Li Hong saw that Empress Wu listened to the complaints of the Yang family and Helan Minyue, and pretended not to know anything, so he said in a stern tone, "In addition to embezzling the commercial taxes of the West Market, he is also related to this Lone's assassination, and he also let his subordinate Wu Youzhi keep dead soldiers in captivity outside the city, and the number has reached as many as three hundred..."

When Li Hong said this, Empress Wu didn't want to listen to it anymore.

Today, when he got Li Hong to lead his troops to search Helan Minzhi's residence through his eyeliner, he already knew what Li Hong wanted to do. Because she is the queen, she has been acting as an agent for Gaozong for many years, and she has been operating in the secret guard for many years, how can she not know that Li Hong is investigating the commercial tax issues in the eastern and western cities?

It's just that she didn't expect that the prince, who has always been gentle and elegant, cautious and cautious, and did not hesitate to use troops, would make such a resolute move today. That's why she couldn't stop Li Hong by half a beat, and by the time she wanted to stop it, she had already found it too late. Therefore, when Li Hong left the Principality of Zhou's mansion, she took the Yang family to the palace and asked what Li Hong had done in the Principality of Zhou's mansion before summoning Li Hong to the Zichen Palace.

Originally, such a major event needed to be notified to the prime ministers, and everyone should discuss it together.

However, because Empress Wu asked Yang about everything that happened in the Duchy of Zhou's mansion, she knew that Li Hong had enough evidence, and if she consulted with the prime ministers, Helan Minzhi would only be executed. Therefore, he did not convene the prime ministers, but summoned Li Hong alone, in order to protect Helan Minzhi.

Now when she suddenly heard Li Hong say this, she couldn't let Li Hong continue to speak, but said, "Needless to say, take your evidence to the palace!" ”

Gaozong attached great importance to Li Hong's safety, seeing that it had been several days, Xu Jingzong and Li Ji had not made much progress in finding the prince's murder, and he was also very angry, and now he suddenly heard that Helan Minzhi had something to do with this matter, so he ignored Empress Wu's attitude of wanting to calm things down, and immediately asked, "Hong'er, what you said is true?" Is Helan Minzhi really related to your assassination? ”

"Yes, Father!" Li Hong replied, "His advisor, Mr. Zhao, can testify that it was he who revealed Lone's whereabouts to the Assassins. ”

After speaking, he took out the confession given to him by Zhang Cambodia from his sleeve, presented Mr. Zhao's confession to Gaozong, and presented the charges of Zhang Xiancheng, Hu Shang, and Helan Minzhi to Empress Wu.

Because this matter involves his own safety, Li Hong is afraid of contradicting with the Empress Wu, and he can't stop compromising. Therefore, when he presented Mr. Zhao's confession to Gaozong, he also pretended not to see it when he saw the anger in Empress Wu's eyes when he looked at him.

Li Hong knew very well that if he handed over Mr. Zhao's confession to Empress Wu, Empress Wu might not show it to Gaozong, so that no matter how much he explained, Gaozong would not believe that he was assassinated by He Lanmin. And hand over Mr. Zhao's confession to Gaozong, and Gaozong will be able to clearly see the great crime committed by He Lanminzhi on the confession. In this way, the Empress Wu wants to pardon Helan Minzhi, and when he bargains with the Empress Wu, Gaozong will definitely support him and will unswervingly stand on his side.

After reading the contents of Mr. Zhao's confession in a hurry, Gaozong scolded angrily, "How can this be reasonable, how can this be reasonable, he, he is simply going to rebel!" He's so bold. ”

Gaozong, who was kind and pleasant on weekdays, suddenly shouted like this, and the Yang family, who was pretending to be aggrieved on the side, was also taken aback, Helan Minyue was even more frightened and pale, she had served Gaozong for a long time, so she naturally knew that Gaozong was extremely angry when he yelled like this. Because Empress Wu wanted to read the three confessions, she was not as fast as Gaozong could read them, so she was still browsing the contents of the three confessions, and when she suddenly heard Gaozong's angry scolding, she couldn't help but raise her head and asked, "Your Majesty, what's wrong with you?" ”

"Humph!" Gaozong snorted coldly, handed Mr. Zhao's confession to Empress Wu, and said in a cold tone, "Empress, take a look for yourself!" Look at the good things your nephew has done! ”

Since the power of Empress Wu has increased dramatically since the "Two Sages Coming to the Dynasty", Gaozong has never made a face to Empress Wu again. Now for the sake of Helan Minzhi's matter, Gaozong not only said him coldly, but also complained in a complaining tone, which made Empress Wu very unhappy. But in front of everyone, she didn't dare to do anything to Gaozong, so she could only hold back the anger in her heart and take Mr. Zhao's confession from Gaozong's hand, but she couldn't stand it after just a few lines in a hurry. There is not much content on the confession, but every crime written above is enough to kill He Lanmin once, not to mention the eight major crimes about He Lanmin mentioned in the confession...

And the most important thing that Empress Wu didn't dare to face up to was the fact that Helan Minzhi asked Wu Er to reveal the whereabouts of the prince to the traitor Liu Ju's eyeliner... Empress Wu knew very well how much the traitor Liu Ju threatened in Gaozong's heart, how could Gaozong not be angry when he saw this piece of criminal evidence?

"Your Majesty, Wu Er is dead, and it seems a bit inappropriate for us to conclude that this matter is related to Helan Minzhi based on Mr. Zhao's words alone!" Empress Wu said slowly. Suddenly thinking that Wu Er was dead, and now there is no proof of death, her heart relaxed a lot.

"Huh! Then he kept dead soldiers in captivity outside the city, what does this say? Gaozong said angrily, "This is the country of the Tang Dynasty, this is the world of the Li family, what does he want to do with the dead in captivity?" Is it a rebellion? ”

This hat is very big, and once it is buckled on Helan Minzhi's body, it is a crime against the Nine Clans.

Therefore, as soon as Gaozong said this, the Yang family and Helan Minyue were all stopped, and they no longer dared to sit in a dignified manner, but got up and knelt on the ground with a "plop", and shouted loudly, "Please also ask Your Majesty and Niangniang to investigate in detail, Brother Ah will not do such a rebellious thing——"

Yang also cried on the side, "Your Majesty, Niangniang, although Minzhi is a little willful, but he is the nephew of His Majesty and Niangniang after all, he will not do such a rebellious thing, and please Your Majesty and Niangniang to be aware of everything!" ”

As long as Empress Wu's expression is still the same, she is indifferent.

But Li Hong could see that when Gaozong said "The Tang Dynasty, the Li family's world", a cold light flashed in the eyes of the Empress Wu.

"Is this true?" Empress Wu looked at Li Hong with a cold gaze and asked.

"Li Duoqi has led a thousand iron cavalry to exterminate 300 dead soldiers, and also captured the thief leader Wu Youzhi, and he was locked in the prison of Chang'an County Ya, and his sons have already let Zhang Khan Zhi and Li Qiao interrogate overnight, and they will be able to get a confession tonight." Li Hong said calmly, "Because the incident happened suddenly, I was afraid of startling the snake, so I didn't report to my father immediately, and asked my father to forgive me!" ”

He is only the crown prince, just the prince of the Tang Dynasty, or not the Son of Heaven, just like today, he privately mobilized a thousand iron horses, although this is his pro-army, but in the eyes of Gaozong, it is a big taboo, so he will ask Gaozong for guilt.

"Hong'er, you handled this matter very right, for these people who dare to subvert the Tang Dynasty, and the thieves who dare to take away my Li family's world, you have to kill them, you didn't do anything wrong, how can I blame you." Gaozong said in a tough tone.

Others won't have any thoughts when they hear what he says, but the martial arts queen is very harsh when he stands up.

"Can Helan Minzhi admit that this is his captive dead soldier?" Empress Wu asked, seeing that Li Hong was about to answer, she didn't give Li Hong a chance to answer, but continued, "Since the thief leader Wu Youzhi has been captured, let's wait for his confession!" ”

"Your Majesty, Helan Minzhi's case, except for his embezzlement of commercial taxes in the East and West Cities, there is a lack of strong evidence for other crimes, but Mr. Zhao and one side, with the meaning of the concubine, it is better to investigate in detail and then make a decision!" Empress Wu continued, "Min Zhi is the nephew of the minister, naturally your nephew, and the cousin of the crown prince and the elder brother of Min Yue, he can also be regarded as our family. And if this matter spreads, it will affect the reputation of our royal family, and the concubine means that it will be handed over to the concubine and the crown prince to be responsible! ”

When Gaozong saw Empress Wu say this, he didn't know how to refuse for a while, just like his eyes moved to Li Hong and asked, "What does the prince mean?" ”

Li Hong listened to Empress Wu's suggestion, and knew what Empress Wu meant by such an arrangement, she wanted to negotiate with herself to pardon Helan Minzhi! This was exactly what he intended, so he bowed down and replied, "Return to your father, and obey the arrangement of the queen mother!" ”

Gaozong didn't want to get into trouble with Empress Wu, and besides, Helan Minzhi was still Helan Minyue's brother, if Helan Minzhi was really cleaned up, how would he face Helan Minyue!

Now that Li Hong has also made a compromise, he also took the opportunity to say, "Then listen to the queen!" ”