The emperor and the queen only stayed in Zongsheng Palace for one night. Early the next morning, they took Prince Li Hong down the mountain and returned to the royal manor in Taiyi City again.
Along the way, Li Hong's firm attitude on the issue of Bai Chun left Li Zhi and Wu Mei helpless. This assassination incident seemed to cast a shadow over the three of them.
The weather in Taiyi City was gloomy, but there was no sign of rain. Li Zhi led Li Hong and walked slowly in the garden of the manor.
"Sometimes it will rain on a cloudy day, just like sometimes there will be showers on a sunny day. So, some things will not necessarily have the imagined consequences just because of their antecedents. Hong'er also thought Doesn’t make sense?” Li Zhi asked Li Hong calmly as he took Li Hong to an octagonal pavilion and sat down.
"It's nothing that I can't figure out. It's just that I feel aggrieved and sorry for my mother and the two maids who died." Li Hong said unhappily.
Along the way, I begged for a long time, hoping that my father would leave this matter to me, not to kill the Turks, and to give the Jinyang Wang family a lighter sentence, but my father firmly refused.
"I heard that you have been emotionally unstable during this period, Hong'er, do you think my father rushed to Taiyi City just to prevent you from taking revenge on them? My father also shares my father's difficulties. Isn't your mother aggrieved? But For the sake of the stability of the Tang Dynasty, my father has to choose to be patient for the time being," Li Zhi said, patting Li Hong on the shoulder.
Li Hong sighed silently. He knew this better than anyone else, but the fact that he lost two palace maids in this incident made him feel like there was a lump in his throat and he couldn't spit it out.
Moreover, the psychotic mood in the past two days was not only due to the deaths of Bai Lu and Xiao Han, but also because he had already guessed in his mind who the possible mastermind of this incident was, and he also had a vague feeling that the matter might not go away.
There is no record in the history books whether the queen mother was assassinated, but it is true that the queen mother had an enmity with the Jinyang Wang family. Therefore, when he woke up that day, he already guessed who the murderer might be.
When Wu Wen and Wu Tian told him yesterday, he endured the pain in his shoulder and went forward, just because he wanted to settle the whole matter before his father arrived. At that time, he only had to learn from Wang Kang, Wang Jing and others. After obtaining a confession, whether to kill or imprison him, even if my father wanted to change the result, it would be difficult to change it.
But unfortunately, Yang Wu arrived and stopped him at the last moment. Not only that, when his father sent Yang Wu to stop him, he also thought about what to do if he couldn't stop him
So I put Bai Chun in it as a bargaining chip for negotiating with myself, that is, Li Hong, if you want to investigate, you must investigate. That’s ok too! Let's investigate together with Bai Chun, even if Bai Chun has nothing to do with this incident.
But Wang Kang, Wang Jing, and the great monk Weiying who were present were all the same group of people who had conspired with Baichun back then. How many Tang craftsmen were sold back then? It just so happens that new cases and old cases will be tried together. As long as you, Li Hong, are willing, then investigate.
Bai Chun did not come to the Zongsheng Palace to report to him, but sent Welfare and Wutian back to report to him, indicating that at that time, Bai Chun had completely guessed that those people were Wang Kang and others.
It is even possible that Wang Kang and others interceded with Bai Chun after being besieged! These are the reasons why Wu Tian hesitates when reporting to himself.
And I was angry because the two lawless idiots rushed back to report to me, but left Bai Chun there, just following Bai Chun's wish.
Bai Chun never thought about continuing to live. She was afraid that she would implicate the prince because of herself, so her plan was to get the confession she wanted from Wang Kang and Wang Jing, and then die in their hands. In this way, His Royal Highness will be able to handle this matter without any scruples.
Bai Chun blamed herself for Li Hong's injury, and also blamed herself for the deaths of Bai Lu and Xiao Han. Although this matter had nothing to do with her, those people had a deep relationship with her back then, so Bai Chun always felt that she could not face Li Hong again. .
Moreover, the person they assassinated was the Empress of the Tang Dynasty. If His Majesty was angered by this incident, Bai Chun was afraid that the prince would be implicated because of him. If another great change in the royal family was triggered and the prince's position was turbulent, he would be even more sorry for the prince.
"Bai Chun did the right thing. If she dies, you, the prince, will not be implicated in anything." Li Zhi said, looking at Li Hong, whose mind was wandering and his eyes were empty.
"What benefit does Bai Chun's death do to you? I don't think what she did was right. Only stupid people would do this." Li Hong said angrily.
Li Zhi ignored the unkindness in Li Hong's tone, shook his head and said: "Bai Chun can have such a good master like you, and he will have no regrets even if he dies. It's a pity that his master had too much tenderness in his heart, and the two palace maids died I can't recover for several days."
"So what..."
Just when Li Hong was about to retort, he saw Li Zhi looking outside the pavilion, waving his hands with his back to him, and sighed: "Hong'er, this is the helplessness of being an emperor. As a prince, didn't you give up for Bai Chun? Instead of being determined, you chose to compromise?”
Li Zhi turned around, his eyes were bright and full of wisdom at this moment, he looked at Li Hong and said.
Li Hong curled his lips disdainfully. Li Zhi naturally knew what he was thinking. This boy's character was to retaliate for his anger. He was still young and too impulsive. It was impossible not to beat him.
There are wars on both sides now. If the East Turks are angered by this incident, Liu Rengui, who is in Baekje, will be attacked on both sides.
He sighed and walked forward, put his arm around Li Hong's shoulders and said: "Back then, Jieli and Tuli came to the Wei River with 200,000 iron cavalry. Your grandfather had no choice but to accept an alliance with them and gave them a large number of gifts. The two of them had a lot of gold and silk. At that time, the Tang Dynasty was not as prosperous as it is now. Your grandpa devoted all the wealth of the palace to people. I chose to stay dormant for a while, and after working hard for many years, I finally defeated them and the humiliation of the Weishui River. Hong'er, as the future emperor of the Tang Dynasty, can't you be like your grandfather?"
At the window on the fifth floor, Wu Mei stood in front of the window, watching the father and son conversing in the garden. Suddenly, she felt that it would be an extremely happy thing for the royal family to have such a harmonious picture.
"Don't say that. I have no intention of imitating Grandpa Huang. Besides, you are in your prime now..."
"Haha..." Li Zhi couldn't help but look up to the sky and laughed twice, and said: "My father's body is clear to me. When you become emperor in the future, you will know that it is not that easy to sit up in this seat."
"well… ."
Li Hong could only sigh helplessly. The emperor had taught him this. If he didn't know what he was doing, his butt would really be itchy.
And in order to stop himself from being depressed, his father even compared himself with Grandpa Huang, which was enough to show how much his father cared about him.
Moreover, for so many years, the person that the emperor respected the most was the emperor's grandfather who took him to and from court when he was a child. After the emperor's grandmother passed away, he left him by his side and raised him personally.
"What about the Jinyang Wang Family? Don't you think that the Jinyang Wang Family also..." Li Hong asked.
"You don't need to ask more about this. The Jinyang Wang family was blinded by lard. It's really their own fault. I will never forgive you lightly. How about I give you an explanation to your mother?"
Li Hong glanced at Li Zhi and said with a smile: "It's actually easy to handle. The Wang family tree in Jinyang has deep roots and is intertwined. It's not a bad idea to use this incident to divide them. Moreover, I have a good idea. The Ministry of Husbandry did give them several permission orders in Taiyi City this time. Although the Jinyang Wang family is dominant, it is not without opponents... "
"Keep your balance, and don't take advantage of your power as Minister of the Ministry of Revenue to overdo things, especially now that the autumn harvest is about to begin, and then the cold winter will begin. Every year in the Yunzhong Protectorate, this time We need a lot of food and property every time, so don't do anything about it." Li Zhi glanced at him sideways and knew that he must have bad intentions.
The Yunzhong Protectorate now governs the entire Eastern Turks. Every winter, when they don’t have enough food to eat, they will always reach out to him to ask for food. If Li Hong is allowed to do what he wants, who knows whether the entire Yunzhong will be destroyed. It was a mess.
"Don't worry, how could my son behave like this? By the way, don't you need to accompany your mother?" Li Hong looked at the window on the fifth floor. He saw his mother who was standing in front of the window waving to his father just now. I don’t know where I went at this time.
"What's wrong?" Li Zhi asked strangely.
"It's okay. If you don't have to accompany your mother, how about my son taking you out for a walk? Since you came here, Taiyi City has been crowded with courtiers every day. It's rare to have some leisure time today, and my son will be filial to you. "Li Hong looked around the garden. There were guards from the Jinwu Guards, but there were only two of them in the whole garden, so he had no worries about speaking.
"Okay, okay. If your mother asks about it then, remember to say that you took me out." Li Zhi glanced at the window on the fifth floor hesitantly, also full of yearning to go out for some air.
What's more, he also heard from Wu Mei how wonderful the Thousand-Hand Guanyin dance was and how prosperous Taiyi City was. I have been busy these days and have no time to appreciate it. I just took advantage of my free time today to go out and have a look.
"Okay, then it's settled." Li Honghun responded nonchalantly.
But when the father and son looked at each other, they both saw the betrayal in each other's eyes when Wu Mei asked: "There is no way, it was the father who asked the son to take him out."
And Li Zhi would definitely say: "Li Hong said he would take me to see the people's sentiments. Since I am not very familiar with Taiyi City, I naturally asked him to take me out to see it."
Li Zhi was dressed in casual clothes, so he didn't need to disguise himself. He walked to the entrance of the garden and summoned Yang Wu. Li Hong also asked Welfare, Wu Tian and others to follow him secretly. As for Hua Meng and others, they naturally had to follow closely. about.
(End of chapter)