Early in the morning, officials came to the noon gate one after another, waiting to enter the palace to participate in the court meeting.
The officials who arrived chatted and laughed in groups in front of the palace gate, and no one noticed that the city was more heavily guarded than usual, and there was a tense atmosphere.
On the Wufeng Tower, Wu Zetian was neatly dressed and restored the majesty of the emperor.
She condescendingly looked down from the upper floor at the hundreds of civil and military officials gathered in front of the noon gate, although she was dazzled and could only see a piece of vermilion, and could not see the faces of those people clearly, but she still looked at them very seriously.
"Wan'er, you can see clearly, Di Renjie is here" "Yes, everyone, Di Renjie is here, and he is standing with Pei Xingben and Ren Zhigu talking and laughing."
Pei Xingben and Ren Zhigu were added after Wei Fangzhen, Su Liangsi, and Cen Changqian, the prime ministers, were killed in prison or died of illness, and now they are also Tongping Zhangshi.
Although Wan'er is a close minister of the Son of Heaven, she has always respected the prime ministers, except for public occasions in front of the emperor, according to some special etiquette requirements, she will call the prime ministers by name, and they have always been honored to call them a certain minister.
"Well, Pei Xingben and Ren Zhigu are also here" Wu Zetian breathed a sigh of relief and muttered to himself: "It seems that the news has not leaked out yet" Wan'er comforted: "That person failed to surrender the letter, although he was able to successfully hide his whereabouts, but the palace is strictly forbidden, and it is difficult for him to escape from the palace, and these people must not know that the matter has been revealed." ” "Well, Wan'er is right" Wu Zetian showed a relaxed smile on his face, and suddenly remembered something, and asked a little nervously: "Pei Xuanli, Lu Xian, and Wei Yuanzhong have also arrived."
The group on the side hurriedly said: "Everyone, they arrived earlier than Di Renjie, Ren Zhigu and others. ” Wu Zetian reprimanded: "You are often in the inner palace, how can you recognize these ministers of the court."
Wan'er" Tuan'er closed her mouth in disagreement, Wan'er confirmed it carefully, and said to Wu Zetian: "Everyone, they have arrived" "Good" Wu Zetian closed his eyes and said, "I'm a little tired, help me sit down."
Wan'er and Tuan'er left and right, carrying Wu Zetian back to their seats and sitting down, Wu Zetian gasped for a while, stabilized his breathing, and asked, "How are Wu Youyi and Wu Youji preparing over there?"
Wan'er said: "General Wu Youyi led the army of Yu Linwei to ambush on the north side of the palace, just waiting for His Majesty's order. ” Wu Zetian said: "Wu Youji" As soon as she said this, a military attache dressed in the uniform of the commander of the internal guard brigade hurriedly ran up to the Zetian Gate, and Xiao Hai, the attendant who was standing at the door of Wufeng Tower, inquired carefully, and led him in a hurry.
"The last general Sheng Long, sent by General Wuyouji, to report to Your Majesty, the right guard has been assembled and can act at any time" "Everyone" Wan'er looked at Wu Zetian, waiting for her will.
Outside the noon gate, more and more officials rushed to participate in the court meeting, usually at this time, the palace gate has been opened, and the officials were asked to wait in the court room, and today the palace gate is still tightly closed, many officials began to be surprised, gathered together to discuss, some people also looked up to the city tower.
At this time, a ray of sunlight broke through the clouds on the horizon, shining on the glorious Wufeng Tower of the Golden Wall, and the officials suddenly found that the bells and drums that can be heard every day did not sound, although they did not have accurate timekeeping tools, but seeing that the sunlight shone on the Wufeng Tower, it stands to reason that the bell and drum of the dawn should have sounded.
The officials who gathered to chat all found out that something was wrong and rushed to the palace gate, and some anxious officials had already begun to bang on the palace gate and shout to the palace.
The commander of the Left Guard Brigade Sheng Long still knelt on one knee, holding his sword and hanging his head, Wu Zetian subconsciously rubbed the armrest of the dragon chair, and Wan'er asked again: "Everyone" Wu Zetian's figure shook slightly, and he said in a deep voice: "Let's start" Wan'er breathed a sigh of relief and waved her hand to the door of the hall, Xiao Hai immediately swept the dust, and the two little attendants rushed to the bells, drums and drum towers on the side.
The eunuch of the Drum and Bell Division raised his voice and said: "Mingjing Cloud Bell" "When, when, when" Eight small chamberlains worked together to pick up the big wooden bell and slammed it into the huge bronze bell hanging in the bell tower.
"Rumming the Drums" "Knock Knock" Eight fat and fat eunuchs also struck a row of drums in the drum tower at the same time, and the eight people moved in unison, and each hammer was struck with a neat and uniform rhythmic beauty.
The servants who are responsible for beating the drum and raising the bell in various parts of Luoyang City have been waiting there for a long time inexplicably, and the bells and drums on the Tianmen and the side of the Wufeng Tower rang, and the bells and drums of the whole city should be harmonized at the same time, and for a time the bells and drums echoed over the entire Luoyang City.
"When, when, when" "Knock Knock Knock" The doubts of the officials in front of the noon gate disappeared, and they sorted out their clothes one after another, arranged them neatly, and prepared to wait for the noon gate to open and enter the palace to see the driver.
"When, when, when" "Knock Knock Knock" On the north side of the palace city, the Yulin army in ambush in Yuanbi City, Yaoyi City and the warehouse cellar poured out and swooped down in front of the noon gate along both sides of the palace.
"When, when, when" "Knock Knock Knock" The right guard soldiers in ambush in the Shangyang Palace were like a forest, the sword light reflected the sun, the right guard general Wu Youji was fully clothed, pulled the saddle on the horse, pulled out the long sword and waved forward, and countless soldiers and horses poured out from the Shangyang Palace like a tide.
Wu Zetian, who was sitting on the throne, listened to the continuous sound of bells and drums, her cheeks suddenly twitched a few times, and her fingers clenched the secret letter tightly until it was clutched into a ball, and suddenly threw it to the ground.
This secret letter was written by someone to present a mutiny with the crown prince, forcing the Son of Heaven to abdicate and supporting the crown prince Wu Dan to restore Li Tang Jiangshan.
There are many people involved in the secret letter, and there are three prime ministers alone, Di Renjie, Pei Xingben, Ren Zhigu, and Si Liqing Pei Xuanli, Zuo Cheng Lu Xian, Zhongcheng Wei Yuanzhong and others.
Whether she believed it or not, she had to take precautions immediately, and she believed it Wei Fangzhi is dead, Su Liangsi is dead, Cen Changqian is dead, how can these prime ministers not have a sense of sadness for the death of a rabbit and a fox In order to protect themselves, in order to avoid the footsteps of Bu Wei Fangzhen, Su Liangsi, Cen Changqian and others, they are not unable to take risks.
What's more, Di Renjie, Wei Yuanzhong, Ren Zhigu and others were originally interested in Li Tang.
Wu Zetian is a generation of empresses, an unprecedented empress, although she has her wise and wise, domineering and powerful side, but behind this powerful that everyone looks up to, there is a strong lack of self-confidence, and the reason is still: she is a woman Ji Si Chen, something that has never happened since ancient times, is this Manchu Dynasty really convinced These men are really willing to prostrate at her feet Di Renjie, there was no him among the officials who persuaded him at the beginning, and there was still no him among the officials who went to the court to congratulate him when he ascended the throne as the emperor, is he really loyal to himself Ren Zhigu, when Cen Changqian was the secretary of the military department, he was Cen Changqian's deputy, and the relationship between the two has always been friendly, this time Cen Changqian died tragically in prison, he didn't have any ideas There is also Wei Yuanzhong, the last time Xu Jingzhen's case was involved, he was involved, Zhou Xing once said that Wei Yuanzhong was also an accomplice to the traitorous party, although Zhou Xing did some rebellious things for his own selfish interests, but his talent is still very strong, but what he said at the beginning was true Wu Zetian from a talented person, step by step to the queen's throne, has been obstructed by the officials of the court and the central government, in the process of her ascending the throne and the emperor, but also encountered the Li Tang clan and the ministers of civil and military violence fiercely, those clan princes, those officials who boast of Li Tang's loyalty, those Xu Jingye and others, made her heart like a frightened bird.
Behind the fact that she is far more powerful and domineering than those male emperors, there is a fear and lack of confidence that she is far stronger and more sensitive than these male emperors.
When Xu Jingzhen defected, Gong Siye and Zhang Siming, who were picked up by her and regarded as confidants, actually secretly gave convenience, plus she was assassinated in the palace, it was obvious that the generals of the forbidden army secretly cooperated, and so on, making her more and more sensitive.
She has always been known for her shrewdness and wisdom, and she is often used by some treasonous information, which is a strong reflection of her mentality.
Especially in the past two years, her body has deteriorated, and her old age can no longer be concealed, and this fear is even more obvious.
She was well aware that there were many officials waiting to peck at her corpse like a dead vulture waiting for its dying and struggling prey; She knew that those surviving Li Tang clans, even including her two biological sons, were waiting for her to return to heaven as soon as possible; The nephews of the Wu clan who relied on her for glory and wealth were also impatiently calculating the time of her death, and they were bent on grabbing greater power, even her throne.
She feared death, of the loss of power, of betrayal by her courtiers, of abandoning her in an instant, and that the only way she could hold on to it was to slaughter, to shed blood and die, that everyone could remember that she was still the ruler of the empire If she feels frightened, she has to make others more afraid than her, because she is Wu Cao, and she is an unprecedented generation of empresses In front of the noon gate, the civil and military officials were stunned when they saw the three prime ministers and many ministers arrested one by one.
Jingyun Bell and Wentian Drum rang eight hundred times, this was a long process, and the civil and military officials watched in amazement as Di Xiang, Pei Xiang, Ren Xiang and Wei Zhongcheng and others were arrested one by one in the sound of bells and drums, and watched the dust in the distance, and the thousands of troops and horses that suddenly appeared from the Shangyang Palace were killed into the distance.
Lai Junchen also opened his mouth to see it, and it was the first time he saw such a dramatic scene: "I just killed three prime ministers, and in just a few days, I have arrested three more prime ministers, and I am still Your Majesty's mastery" Lai Junchen thought with admiration.
At this moment, a gap opened in the noon gate, and the servant Xiaohai came out, glanced at the crowd, and said loudly: "Your Majesty has a decree, and you will come to Junchen Wufeng Tower to see you in the history of Xuanyu."
"Obey the Order" Lai Junchen was in good spirits, and immediately knew that his business had come to the door, so he quickly agreed and squeezed out of the crowd.
After Yang Fan, who was guarding the noon gate, waited for Xiaohai to bring in Lai Junchen, he immediately ordered someone to reclose the noon gate and put a huge stone on top of it.
This earth-shattering change made him feel at a loss, but he still didn't know what was going on, Yang Fan thought heavily: "I have to find a chance to ask Wan'er and find out what happened."
Lai Junchen saw that Yang Fan was slightly worried, and his heart suddenly moved: "This time the matter seems to be very serious, if I can get him into that enchanting and charming little lady of the Yang family" Lai Junchen's heart was hot, and his legs that stepped towards the city suddenly gained a little more strength.
To be continued: