Long Yuan walked slowly on the avenue in the palace, in the colorful cloud gauze tent in the dragon chariot, Wu Zetian's face was extremely gloomy, she never imagined that the hundred officials would put such a heavy pressure on her, which made her feel depressed.

In fact, she didn't want to protect Lai Junchen, but because killing Lai Junchen was tantamount to admitting the injustice of the cases handled by Lai Junchen.

At this time, a palace maid whispered: "Your Majesty, the princess is here." ”

Wu Zetian also saw her daughter standing at the foot of the steps not far away, surrounded by a group of palace maids, and she hurriedly ordered: "Stop driving"

Long Yuan slowly stopped, Princess Taiping had been waiting for a while, she saw her mother Long Yuan stop, and hurriedly walked forward slowly with the support of the two palace maids

"The child sees the mother"

"Come on"

Wu Zetian knew that her daughter was pregnant again, and she also took great pity on her, and ordered the palace maid to help her daughter sit down beside her, and asked with a smile: "Is the reaction serious?"

"Fortunately, there has been no response recently, so I can go out for a walk, so I want to come and see my mother. ”

"It's so hot, don't come out if it's okay. ”

The mother and daughter said, Long Yuan entered the Taichu Palace, Wu Zetian saw Long Yuan going to the imperial study, and hurriedly ordered: "Go to the Imperial Garden"

Long Yuan turned around and headed towards the Northwest Imperial Garden, Wu Zetian smiled and said, "Let's go for a walk together, you can talk to me." ”

Princess Taiping was secretly happy in her heart, she just wanted to find a chance to talk to her mother, and after a while, Long Yuan came to the Imperial Garden, which is just a corner of the royal garden covering an area of 10,000 hectares, Wu Ze naturally does not like to play around, and even less likes to hunt, last year it was because of Xue Huaiyi's repeated requests that he agreed to hold an autumn hunt.

This garden is called Begonia Garden, because there are two precious begonias planted at the door, and in fact, this garden is planted with Wu Zetian's favorite lotus, the mother and daughter walk slowly along the cool tree-lined path, on both sides are lotus leaves that cover the sky and the sun, among the lotus leaves, the lotus leaves have appeared, and the buds are about to bloom, followed by a large group of palace maids and guards.

"The child heard that the court meeting hundreds of officials asked for their lives today, and the mother must be in a bad mood," Princess Taiping asked cautiously.

Wu Zetian smiled faintly, "Okay, I was very angry at the time, but then I thought about it, if all the ministers were submissive, such a country would not be stable, and the ministers would have character and assertiveness, and the society would have vitality, so I wouldn't be angry." ”

"My mother has a big heart, and my daughter is ashamed of herself, and if someone provokes me, I will definitely hold a grudge for a long time, and sometimes I know that others are for my good, but I can't help but hate him. ”

Wu Zetian laughed and patted his daughter's hand gently, "You can be so frank, I am very happy, Ling Yue, everyone's environment is different, and their hearts will be different, and when you are in my position in the future, you will understand my difficulties." ”

Wu Zetian's words were unintentional, but Princess Taiping had a pounding heartbeat, what does mother mean by this, is she hinting at herself?

She became nervous in her heart, began to think about it, and walked silently for a while, Wu Zetian sighed and said, "Ling Yue, do you think I should accept their suggestions?"

"Mother means the petition of the ministers?"

Wu Zetian nodded, Princess Taiping saw that the time was ripe, so she said: "Mother and father have taught their daughter since childhood, the gentleman does not stand under the dangerous wall, the daughter has always remembered it, Lai Junchen is actually a dangerous wall now, there are too many people killed by him, and the soul is all over the field, the daughter heard that he embezzled money piled up, * There are countless wives and daughters, and the crimes are innumerable, and now the hundred officials and Li Min all think that the mother was deceived by Lai Junchen, but now everyone is exposing the sins of Lai Junchen, even three-year-old children know, But my mother still turns a blind eye, I'm afraid everyone will think that Lai Junchen's sin is related to his mother-"

Wu Zetian was silent, she heard other people's words harshly, but her daughter's words touched her heart, the gentleman did not stand under the dangerous wall, and her determination to defend Lai Junchen finally began to waver.

Back in the imperial study, Wu Zetian pondered for a moment and asked Shangguan Wan'er: "If I want to eradicate Lai Junchen, where should I start?"

Shangguan Wan'er knew that the saint couldn't bear the pressure anymore and decided to do something to Lai Junchen, but she knew Wu Zetian's thoughts very well, so she said: "Your Majesty must separate what Lai Junchen did in the past from his current crimes, although he used too radical methods in the past, the result was not wrong, and his crimes have nothing to do with the case he handled."

Shangguan Wan'er's words reached Wu Zetian's heart, this is what she wanted, the crimes committed by Lai Junchen had nothing to do with her, she smiled with relief: "Wan'er said it well, and then what?"

Wan'er felt that she couldn't execute Lai Junchen vaguely, she had to find out his specific crimes, she had to convict him with specific crimes, and she couldn't say who he had killed in the past? ”

Well said, keep going. ”

Shangguan Wan'er thought for a while and said: "Two days ago, Wan'er heard that Li Zhen talked about the matter of Lai Junchen forcibly occupying the minister's wife, it seems that Li Zhen has some evidence, Your Majesty might as well ask him." ”

Wu Zetian thought about it and immediately issued an order: "Spread my will, and pass on the internal guard Li Zhen to come to see me quickly."

The will was passed on, Wu Zetian looked at Liu Guangye's exposition of Lai Junchen's corruption and stolen goods with an expressionless face, her phoenix eyes gradually narrowed into a slit, hundreds of thousands of dollars, and the Liaodong military expenses that had been making her anxious were solved.

Not long after, the eunuch reported outside: "Your Majesty, Commander Li is waiting to see you outside"

"Announce Him In"

"Your Majesty has a decree, Xuan Neiwei Li Zhen will meet you"

Li Zhen hurriedly walked into the imperial study, he was waiting in the internal security office of the imperial city today, there was a fierce minister's request for orders in the court today, he knew that the time was gradually ripe, he stepped forward and bowed to salute, "Weichen Li Zhen, see my emperor Your Majesty"

"Commander Li, I heard from Shangguan Sheren that you have evidence of Lai Junchen's crime in your hands, but is it true?"

"Back to Your Majesty, when Weichen was investigating the assassination of King Xiang, he accidentally learned that Lai Junchen forcibly robbed Qiao Zhizhi's wife in the right Shilang, and learned that Lai Junchen did not succeed, so he killed Qiao's wife and buried her body in the back garden. ”

"Are you sure?"

Li Zhen nodded, "On the night when Lai Junchen went to arrest King Yifeng, Wechen had already sent a powerful general to sneak into the Lai Mansion to search, and sure enough, the female corpse was found, but Wechen did not startle the snake, if His Majesty needs it, Wechen can provide the necessary human and material evidence." ”

Wu Zetian showed a knowing smile on his face, what he wanted, what this Li Zhen could provide, it was very intimate

She nodded and said: "The ministers all asked me to execute Lai Junchen, but I felt that Lai Junchen was meritorious to the country, and killing him like this would not convince the public, but if he did commit a capital crime, I would not tolerate it, Commander Li, I will give you two things, and you have to do it for me." ”

"Your Majesty's Command"

Wu Zetian walked a few steps with his hands in his hand, and said slowly: "First, if you want to have conclusive evidence of Junchen's crime, both human and material evidence is needed, and the plaintiff also needs it; Second, I need all of Lai Junchen's property to be used for military expenses, and this matter must be done in secret. ”

"Wechen obeys the order"

After a pause, Li Zhen said again: "To deal with the black officials who came to Junchen, the internal security force is insufficient, and Weichen implores His Majesty for support." ”

Wu Zetian took out the gold medal for troop transfer, handed it to Li Zhen and said with a smile: "You should be able to use this gold medal, and I will write another edict." ”

In the council hall of the Internal Defense and Foreign Affairs Bureau, Li Zhen and the eight lieutenants, as well as Changshi Yang Xin and the new head Bo Zhang Zhiping were discussing tonight's action, but in fact, night had quietly fallen, and they had to act in an hour at the latest.

Due to the importance of the matter, Li Zhen was afraid that the news would leak out, so he delayed the deployment until before the operation began.

"Tonight's action was personally arranged by the Holy One, and it is a top-secret operation, and I hope everyone here will be strict and not leak anything. ”

Li Zhen glanced at Jiuzhi sternly, and continued: "Tonight, the Thousand Cavalry Battalion will assist us, we will divide our troops into two routes, and go straight to Luming Mountain Villa with the Thousand Cavalry Battalion, according to reliable information, now Lai Junchen and his hundreds of black officials are living there, there will be a fierce battle there tonight, and the internal guard warriors will be led by me personally." ”

Li Zhen's eyes fell on Zhao Qiuniang again, "And there are not many people in the capital to come to Junchen's mansion, and Zhao Xiaowei and Jiu Zhi are responsible for taking it."

Zhao Qiuniang Huo Di stood up, Jiu Zhi saw this, and hurriedly stood up, Li Zhen instructed the two of them: "Dali Temple will work with you to handle the case tonight, mainly to exhume the corpse and control the witness, remember my words, the exhumation of the corpse is done by the Dali Temple, they have a special job, we don't interfere, we are only responsible for controlling the witnesses and protecting the safety of the Dali Temple." ”

Zhao Qiuniang nodded silently, "I understand." ”

Li Zhen said to Jiu Zhi again: "You still have one more task, starting tomorrow, if you want to publicize the case of Qiao Zhizhi's wife, you must know all over the city about the murder of Junchen, and apply to Yang Changshi for the required expenses." ”

Everyone knew that tonight would be the final blow to Lai Junchen, and they were all gearing up and eager to try, Li Zhen saw that the time was almost up, and immediately ordered: "Everyone go and prepare, let's set off in a quarter of an hour, Captain Zhao and Jiu Zhi must wait until the hour to make a move." ”

Li Zhen made arrangements one by one, and everyone went to find their own team and prepared to act.

A quarter of an hour later, Li Zhen led 400 warriors of the internal guard to leave Luoyang City on horseback, and joined up with 2,000 cavalry battalions outside the eastern city.

Time passed little by little, and it was almost time, and a large group of black-clothed warriors appeared around the mansion of Lai Junchen, in addition to the hundred elite internal guard warriors led by Zhao Qiuniang and Jiuzhi, there were also fifty Dali Temple officials led by Sun Li and Gao Jian, and even Qiao Zhizhi in the right Shilang was among them.

Qiao Zhizhi has officially submitted a complaint to Dali Temple in accordance with Li Zhen's instructions, and Sun Li has also filed a case on the disappearance of his wife, and he needs to find evidence and witnesses tonight.

Gao Jian saw Qiao Zhizhi's gloomy expression and knew that he was sad in his heart, so he patted him on the shoulder and comforted him in a low voice: "People can't be resurrected after death, as long as we avenge our younger siblings, she can also be blind under Jiuquan." ”

Qiao Zhizhi sighed, "I'm afraid that the Holy Lord will not execute him, and today the court will be willing to kill Lai Junchen, but she didn't pay attention to it, I'm really worried." ”

Gao Jian smiled slightly, "You can rest assured, Commander Li is carrying out the Holy Lord's order, otherwise how could they act?"

Qiao Zhizhi suddenly woke up to the fact that the internal guard belonged directly to the saint, if there was no consent from the saint, how could the internal guard be dispatched to arrest Lai Junchen, and there was a glimmer of hope in his heart, hoping that his wife's revenge would be avenged.

At this time, an internal guard warrior ran over and whispered: "The hour has come, Dali Temple can enter the house through the back door"

Sun Li immediately ordered: "Follow me"

Fifty officials of Dali Temple followed Sun Li to run to Junchen's mansion, at this time, a hundred internal guard warriors turned into Lai Junchen's mansion from all directions, and there was a scream in the mansion, Lai Junchen was not in the mansion, and there were only a dozen black warriors in the mansion to protect his father, wife and children.

The inner guard samurai first took control of the back garden, and then slaughtered into the inner house and the front yard, several black warriors resisted, but were soon hacked to death by a large group of internal guard samurai, and their bodies were lying on the ground, only a moment, Lai Junchen's father and wife Wang were caught by the wolf-like inner guard samurai and dragged to the courtyard and tied up.

In the backyard, Sun Li led dozens of Dali Temple officials to carefully excavate the corpse, the kitchen steward and several family members involved in the burial of the corpse showed them the place, several of them were experienced, they quickly found the corpse, and excavated it together with the surrounding clods.

Qiao Zhizhi didn't dare to face his wife's corpse, and when Sun Li asked him to identify a golden phoenix hairpin placed in a copper plate, he immediately cried out loud, which was the jewelry he bought for his wife.

A servant stepped forward and said to Sun Li: "Qiyu Temple, the deceased is about a twenty-year-old woman, and her clothes are basically intact, and her identity can be determined. ”

Sun Li nodded, "Bring the corpse and all the physical evidence back to Dali Temple." ”