"right!"

"This is what I meant by 'putting oneself in a life-or-death situation'!"

“If the Crown Prince is still the Crown Prince, the Xueyantuo will definitely make exorbitant demands, which His Majesty will never agree to, given his temperament. But if the Crown Prince is no longer the Crown Prince, he will lose his value in threatening the Tang Dynasty and His Majesty. In that case, the Xueyantuo will have no choice but to squeeze out the last bit of value from the Crown Prince and sell him for the best possible price!”

"As long as His Highness the Crown Prince returns, we'll find a way to pin the fall of Shuozhou on the Hu merchants. As for who's behind the Hu merchants, I'm sure Lord Changsun knows better than anyone."

"I know?"

Changsun Wuji was completely stunned when he heard this, thinking that the Hu merchant must be backed by the Khan of Xueyantuo. But when he saw Wu Zetian's mocking expression, he immediately realized that he had guessed wrong, or rather, that his thinking was wrong.

However, after a moment's thought, Changsun Wuji understood that Consort Wu wanted to pin the blame on Li Jue!

"You mean, Li Jue secretly instructed the Hu merchants to gain Zhi Nu's trust and then take the opportunity to seize Shuozhou City?"

"right!"

"That's exactly what I meant!"

"However, this is not entirely unfair to the eldest grandson. After all, in the entire Tang Dynasty, only the eldest grandson was closest to the Hu merchants. In earlier years, there were rumors that the eldest grandson traded with the Hu merchants privately and reduced or exempted commercial taxes for them in Xiazhou City."

"Therefore, pinning this crime on the eldest grandson will not only arouse suspicion among the court officials, but even His Majesty will not..."

Upon hearing this, Changsun Wuji immediately clapped his hands and laughed.

"wonderful!"

"In this way, no one will mention the Crown Prince's defeat and national humiliation anymore. Everyone will only sympathize with him, pity him, and even His Majesty will take pity on him!"

Wu Meiniang echoed this.

"That's exactly what I meant!"

"However, if we want His Majesty to dislike the eldest grandson, we need to add other charges."

"I've heard that His Majesty has already come of age and is arranging his marriage. If the eldest grandson returns in the future and has an affair with one of the concubines in the palace, do you think His Majesty will still tolerate him?"

"This...this..."

Changsun Wuji always prided himself on being ruthless, but compared to the woman in front of him, he felt he was still too kind.

"May I ask if Lady Wu has any suitable candidates?"

"The candidate..."

"Consort Xu is one option; if all else fails, this humble woman is willing to risk her life!"