"ah?"

"Father... Father is so good to Li Jue?"

Upon hearing this, Wu Zetian sighed inwardly. Compared to the three brothers Li Chengqian, Li Tai, and Li Zhi, His Majesty was being excessively kind to his eldest grandson.

Not only was he granted the title of Prince of Qin at a young age, but now he has been personally appointed as the Crown Prince.

As for other rewards, they go without saying. When Li Jue was just a minor military officer, His Majesty confiscated the property of the retired emperor's princess and bestowed it all upon this grandson as his private property.

"You'll never be able to compete with Li Jue in terms of imperial favor. From now on, you should try your best to play the victim and act pitiful..."

"yes!"

“However, your strength is still too weak. I have an idea. You can use the defeat in Shuozhou to repair a temple, and then use the shame of the defeat to find a military general in the court to become his disciple.”

"Take Xue Wanche for example. He was unjustly implicated by His Majesty this time, and he must be resentful. If you ask him to be your apprentice and take the initiative to admit the mistake of the defeat in Shuozhou, he will definitely have endless goodwill towards you!"

"When we have no other choice in the future, he can be our greatest help!"

Li Zhi's heart skipped a beat when he heard this. He wondered if "having no other choice" meant treason.

"Sister Wu, can we really go that far?"

Wu Meiniang shook her head upon hearing this.

"It's hard to say!"

"His Majesty's health has deteriorated significantly recently, and he hasn't visited any of the concubines in the harem for several days..."

After saying this, Wu Meiniang immediately realized something was wrong and quickly spat twice.

"Ptooey! Ptooey! Ptooey!"

Why would I tell you this?

"You mustn't spread this around. If it gets out, His Majesty will be furious!"

Li Zhi smiled awkwardly upon hearing this, then his eyes suddenly lit up.

"Sister Wu, what if this news gets out from Li Jue..."

Wu Meiniang's eyes lit up upon hearing this.

"Great idea!"

"I'll go back and make the arrangements right away!"

"Oh right, I'm out of money. Could you prepare a few tens of thousands of strings of cash for me?"

"good!"