Regarding the emperor's poisoning and distress, Tian Mu, the head of the Reverse Scale Division, and Ouyang Lin, who had just been promoted to the Forbidden Army, had completely different reactions.

Tian Mu's thinking is basically similar to that of Queen Cheng Wen.

The first thing he thought about was not to find out the ins and outs of the case, to find out why Xin Zhongshu wanted to assassinate the emperor, and who was behind it. Tian Mu's first feeling was that his opportunity had come.

The so-called opportunity, of course, is to eliminate dissidents and make steady progress.

Ouyang Lin was different from him.

Li Bing was poisoned and injured, which made Ouyang Lin blame himself very much. When Li Bing was still the crown prince in the Eastern Capital, he had the grace of saving his life, and now that Li Bing is the emperor, he has the grace of knowing him. So no matter what, Ouyang Lin didn't want to see Li Bing hurt.

As a forbidden army tiger and leopard rider, since he failed to protect the emperor, he must find out who is behind the scenes and get rid of those terrible enemies who pose a threat for the emperor.

Because of this, Ouyang Lin did not fully accept the list provided by Queen Cheng Wen, but agreed on the surface, but secretly launched an independent investigation.

Tian Mu originally had a dislike for him, seeing that Ouyang Lin decided to do his own thing, of course, he was also happy to have one less person next to him to be verbose and noisy, so no matter what the forbidden army tiger and leopard rode did, he only led the Northern Ya Reverse Scale Division, grabbed the ministers designated by the queen, and attacked wildly.

In just four or five days, more than 20 court officials were implicated and convicted, and all of them were invited into the Anti-Scale Division and tortured.

These people involved in the case can be said to be completely wronged, many of them don't even know Xin Zhongshu, just because they were named by the queen's mother, the reverse scale division did everything possible to forcibly associate them with clues, and even imagined the context of the case out of thin air, and directly deducted basins on their heads.

For example, Xu Zhao, a doctor of Taixue, was targeted by the Reverse Scale Division just because he was Li Xiuming's classmate, and he was worried about his old mother's medical treatment at the beginning of the year, and he once came to the door to give gifts to the old lady, insisting that he colluded with the traitor Xin Zhongshu and secretly plotted to assassinate the emperor.

There is also the secretary Lang Dou Xuhan, who purely belongs to the kind of unlucky guy who doesn't know Xin Zhongshu at all, but is still involved. Reverse Scales insisted that Dou Xuhan once praised a work of Xin Zhongshu at the Imperial Capital Poetry Conference, and also gave poems and harmony, obviously conveying some kind of code and conspiring to rebel.

By the way, Dou Xuhan's cousin-in-law is the old rival of the Cheng family, Chen Ziling, the Duke of Fuguo.

Although the Reverse Scale Division acted quickly and arrested a large number of officials within a few days, this was only the beginning, and most of the people involved in the case were petty officials below the fifth grade. As the arrest area of Beiya became larger and larger, and more and more confessions were made into confessions, many big figures in the court also reached a precarious point.

And for this absurd situation, the courtiers were very depressed and helpless.

There is only one reason for this: there is no phase between the DPRK and China.

The political sequence of the Holy Tang Dynasty originally had extremely clear and solid rules. Generally speaking, the governance of the empire is carried by the emperor, the royal family, and the ministers. When an unexpected situation occurs in the emperor, such as illness, injury, emotional breakdown, etc., which makes him unable to govern normally, the imperial family and ministers will follow the rules of the court and take over the government according to their respective duties.

The so-called royal family mainly refers to the crown prince and the prince with real power; The so-called ministers refer to those important ministers from the second rank and above, including Taishi, Taifu, Shangzhuguo, Shangshu Ling, Zhongshu Ling, Shizhong, Shangshu left and right servants, Dadu Governor and other military and political dignitaries.

Among them, the leading role is played by the prime ministers of Shengtang.

Shang Shuling is the prime minister, Zhongshu Ling is also the prime minister, and the left and right servants of the monk Shangshu are also the prime minister. As the head of a hundred officials, these people are equivalent to the ballast stone of the big ship of the imperial court.

However, it is a pity that the current Shengtang has no prime minister.

At the bloody wedding between Murong Xue and Li Xi before, the prime ministers of the dynasty were killed by Ashina, almost extinct, and in the end, only one Shangshu left servant shot Wei Zixuan, and this guy was later taken down by Ouyang Lin because of his identity as a rebel spy.

After that, for unknown reasons, Emperor Li Bing did not promote new officials to supplement the phase, resulting in the Shangshu Order, Zhongshu Order, Shangshu Left and Right Servant Shooting and other positions have been vacant.

In this special situation, under the premise that the emperor can manage the government normally, it can barely operate, but Li Bing suddenly became bedridden, and the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty suddenly became leaderless.

There are no prime ministers, and there is no Shengtang court of the prince of the East Palace, who should listen to at this time?

Of course, you can only listen to those who are qualified to speak on behalf of the emperor. In other words, it is to listen to Queen Cheng Wen.

To put it mildly, the Shengtang court, which lacks the backbone of the backbone and is like a plate of loose sand, was pinched and flattened by the queen at will, and there was no temper at all.

Of course, the courtiers were not completely incapable of countering.

Tongzhongshu Menxia Sanpin and Tongzhongshu Menxia Pingzhangshi, these two positions also have the status of a prime minister to a certain extent. It's just that they are all officials of the three grades, and the scope of their jurisdiction is relatively narrow, so their appeal and influence in the court are far less than that of the serious prime minister.

However, if the three products under the Tongzhongshu Sect and the Pingzhangshi under the Tongzhongshu Sect dared to take the huge risk of confronting the inner court, stood up to lead the civil and military officials, and temporarily took over the right to govern the country when the emperor could not govern normally, then the Beiya Reverse Scale Division would not be as arrogant as it is now, and he could arrest whoever he wanted and do whatever he wanted.

Even more powerful, they can directly ignore the queen's barrier, enter the palace to meet the emperor, and accept Li Bing's holy will face to face.

And Li Xiuming is now planning to do just that.

Of course, in order for his idea to become a reality, one condition must be met: the ministers are willing to buy his account, accept and support him to represent the hundred officials, and ask the emperor for the right to rule on his behalf.

Once Li Bing nodded and agreed to authorize, then Li Xiuming could immediately become the de facto prime minister, responsible for convening qualified royal families and ministers to discuss state affairs and make decisions together.

Correspondingly, Li Bing will no longer govern for the time being, nor will he issue holy decrees to the outside world, and will not officially announce his return to imperial power until he recovers.

It is not difficult to see from this that the condition that Li Xiuming needs will become very difficult to achieve because it touches the interests of Empress Cheng Wen and poses a threat to the political enemies of the DPRK and China.

At the very least, the officials of the queen's line and the traditional nobles must be vehemently opposed.

In the past few days, Li Xiuming has been racing against time, secretly meeting with various factions in the DPRK and China in succession to persuade them to support him. He believed that as long as he could win the approval of most of the courtiers, he would have the opportunity to challenge the inner court and end the farce in front of him as soon as possible, which put everyone in danger to himself.

However, it is a pity that his movements are still a step slower, and in this speed race related to life and death, Cheng Wen, who has the upper hand, finally seized the opportunity - several arrested officials related to Li Xiuming failed to withstand the torture and torture, and confessed against his will that he also participated in the plot to assassinate the emperor.

Without waiting for Li Xiuming to connect with the civil and military officials, the Beiya Reverse Scale Division had already come to the door.

Faced with the holy decree stamped with the jade seal and ordering his arrest, Li Xiuming roared angrily: "You guys are a coup d'état!" It's a naked coup! I want to see the Emperor! I want to see the Emperor! ”

The wolf-like anti-scale division didn't care about him shouting and protesting, and directly stepped forward to tie up Li Xiuming, dragged him back to Beiya, and served him as severely as those people before.

The news of the arrest of Ping Zhangshi under the Tongzhong Shumen immediately frightened those civil and military officials who held a neutral position. Everyone has already understood at this time: this posture is probably really going to change.

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"Princess, there are more forbidden troops on the street than yesterday," the butler said in a deep voice, "I have heard from the little servants that several miles of the city are now completely sealed, as if they are arresting people. ”

Li Xi's face was calm, and he asked calmly, "Have you heard about Lord Li's situation?" ”

The butler frowned and sighed, "Alas, there is no news. Mrs. Li cried and wiped her tears at home, and the whole house was in chaos. The Beiya Reverse Scale Division is overcrowded these days, and it is almost impossible to fit, but it is still impermeable. What's going on inside, no one knows. ”

He paused for a moment, and then said, "Yesterday, the Hejian Mansion sent someone to deliver the letter. Li Maoxun, the king of the county, said that the concubine has been quelling the rebellion in the south, and he must have missed the princess, so he suggested that you go to the south of the Yangtze River to visit the commander of Murong to relieve the pain of lovesickness between the husband and wife, and hope that the princess will leave early. ”

Hearing this, Li Xiyan smiled: "The king of the county has a heart, he is persuading the palace to flee for his life." ”

The old housekeeper shook his head: "It doesn't matter if you visit or run for your life, princess, you better leave the imperial capital first." They are already crazy, even Master Li dares to arrest them, what else can't be done? Only an army of horses can protect you right now. ”

"Joke! I am a dignified Li family, can I still be afraid of that slut of the Cheng family? Li Xi smiled coldly: "This palace will stay in the Horse Mansion, if the Reverse Scale Division has the guts, then come and arrest me!" ”

The housekeeper persuaded: "Princess, why bother with those villains? As the saying goes, a good man doesn't suffer immediate losses, since the inner court is strong, then it is not wise for us to avoid its edge for the time being. ”

"This palace is not simply a battle of will," Li Xi's eyes flashed with coldness, and he said in a deep voice: "Now that the emperor is controlled by Cheng Wen, the civil and military people of the Manchu Dynasty are panicking, if there is a new change in the imperial court at this time, the Holy Tang will fall into disaster again." I insisted on staying in order to observe the situation, look for opportunities, and hope to help those loyal ministers at a critical moment. ”

The old housekeeper nodded in understanding: "Since the princess cares about state affairs, then I won't persuade and help." If there is anything to do, ask the princess to tell you. My old bones can still withstand the toss. ”

Li Xi pondered for a moment and said in a deep voice: "I want you to work hard and go to Jiangnan to report the news in person." ”

The butler was slightly stunned: "Are you looking for help?" ”

"No, in this situation, Murong Xue can't do anything about it." Li Xi said solemnly: "You go to find the Zhenjiang Army!" Go find Dadugo! ”