Chapter 192 Rebellion

Ming Huashang was not surprised to hear what Wei Zhu said. She sighed and said in an ambiguous way, "How many times have we said that we just want to live a peaceful life, but these people are endless. What did he say?"

Princess Yong's emotions of fear, anger and terror that Wei Zhu had expected did not appear. She was surprisingly calm, and when she said the word "endless", there was a strange coldness in her annoyance, which made Wei Zhu even more frightened.

Wei Zhu lowered his head, not wanting to understand the intrigues within the royal family at all. He said in a serious tone, "After getting the money, Old Lady Feng wanted power and wanted to change the Feng family. He originally wanted to bet on Prince Yong, but Prince Yong did not accept the Feng family's overtures. At this time, Prince Qiao sent people to Shangzhou to inquire about Prince Yong's news. As a result, Old Lady Feng got in touch with them."

Prince Qiao was also an old acquaintance of theirs. In the Danfeng Gate Massacre in the second year of Shengli, Prince Yide Li Chongrun and Princess Yongtai's husband were beaten to death by Empress Wu Zetian for gossiping about the two Zhang brothers. It is said that it was Prince Yide's half-brother, the current Prince Qiao, Li Chongfu, who informed the Zhang family. Later, Li Chongfu was hated by Empress Wei. After Empress Wei came to power, she sent him far away to Junzhou as a governor and did not allow him to set foot in Chang'an. But Empress Wei was still worried about Li Chongfu, so she sent Li Huazhang to Shangzhou near Junzhou as a governor. In name, she was monitoring Li Chongfu, but in fact, she exiled Li Huazhang from the center of power.

Ming Huashang and Li Huazhang knew exactly what Chang'an was thinking, but they were too lazy to think about it and left Chang'an as Empress Wei and the Emperor wished. Ming Huashang thought that people were all kind-hearted, and that the Li family would finally feel relieved after they came to Shangzhou. However, the struggle for imperial power would not let them go.

Ming Huashang asked calmly, "What news did he come to inquire about Prince Yong?"

Wei Zhu lowered his eyes even more: "Ask Prince Yong... whether he is following the Queen's orders, which will be detrimental to Prince Qiao."

Ming Huashang sneered, feeling that it was very ironic. In Chang'an, Empress Wei was suspicious of Li Huazhang, and she put many high hats on him and sent him to another state; and when he arrived at the local place, Prince Qiao also suspected whether Li Huazhang and Empress Wei were in cahoots. It was clear that without Li Huazhang, it would not have been their turn to sit on the throne, and they could not even get past Han Jie.

Ming Huashang asked: "What did the Feng family say?"

"I don't know... I only know that Old Lady Feng has been in contact with them for some time, and Prince Qiao is unwilling to accept the Feng family easily unless the Feng family kills Prince Yong as a token of their loyalty."

"What a coward." Ming Huashang was always considerate, and this was one of the rare times she used such an impolite word. She said coldly, "If Li Chongfu really had a temper, he should have gone to Chang'an and killed Empress Wei and Princess Anle who persecuted him. What does their family's mess have to do with Li Huazhang? Didn't he know that Li Huazhang had a good temper and wouldn't harm him?"

Wei Zhu could sense that the Princess of Yong was in a very bad mood, so he spoke more cautiously, carefully exonerating himself: "Prince Qiao really wanted to attack Chang'an. In November, Junzhou received intelligence that the emperor was seriously ill, and the empress and Princess Anle controlled the palace and did not allow anyone to see the emperor. Prince Qiao was worried that the emperor was in trouble, so he planned to kill Empress Wei and Princess Anle to remove the emperor's entourage. But to go from Junzhou to Chang'an, Shangzhou is a must-go place, and Prince Yong is an upright person with a good reputation. Prince Qiao knew that he could not use Prince Yong for his own use, and he did not dare to bear the crime of harming loyal people, so he wanted to kill Prince Yong by accident or ghosts and gods, and go straight to Chang'an through Shangzhou."

Based on Ming Huachang's understanding of Prince Qiao, this is what he can do. Prince Qiao and Queen Wei have an irreconcilable feud. Queen Wei has not killed Prince Qiao yet because of the emperor's face. Once the emperor dies, how can Queen Wei let go of the murderer who killed her own son? If Prince Qiao does not rebel, Queen Wei and Princess Anle will force him to death. It is better to take the initiative to attack, maybe he can win the throne, enjoy the vast territory, and supreme power.

Therefore, no matter why Li Huazhang came to Shangzhou, he would become the victim of the internal struggle between Queen Wei and Prince Qiao. Fate brought together the ambitious old lady Feng and the frustrated deposed prince Li Chongfu. One wanted to establish the merit of following the dragon, and the other wanted to be the emperor. The two hit it off. Old lady Feng contributed money and effort, and even took out the Suihou Pearl to set up a trap, directing and acting in the play of stealing the treasure.

In fact, Ming Huashang was also puzzled on the first day. Old Lady Feng said that when she woke up, she saw a letter nailed to the head of her bed. However, judging from the depth and angle of the knife marks, the dagger was clearly stabbed in from the front of the bed. With such a close distance, would the person on the bed really not wake up?

As expected, the thief was a fake. No outsiders appeared in the Feng family from beginning to end. Everything was directed and acted by old lady Feng. He asked Li Huazhang to intervene in the matter in the name of the thief. After three days, he deliberately locked Suihouzhu in a high building and insisted on guarding the treasure personally, leaving no one by his side.

He even opened the window so that the people downstairs could see him clearly. According to Old Lady Feng's plan, when the time came, Feng Erlang lit fireworks in the garden to attract Li Huazhang's attention to the back. When everyone returned to the downstairs, Old Lady Feng would call for help at the window, claiming that he had just encountered a thief who had taken the Suihou Pearl away. He opened the treasure box in front of everyone, and the Suihou Pearl inside had long been transferred to his walking stick. The crowd who did not know the truth would think that the Zhaixing Tower had really been robbed.

By fabricating a non-existent thief, Old Lady Feng successfully portrayed herself as a victim. People always feel extra sympathy for victims, and naturally lose their vigilance. Old Lady Feng then pointed out that the thief left through a secret passage, and given Li Huazhang's character, he would definitely chase him in person. As the host family, the Feng family should naturally ask for him to chase together. In this way, Feng Erlang could bring guards disguised as bandits and enter the secret passage with Li Huazhang.

The secret passage was small, the enemy was in the dark and we were in the light. Even if Li Huazhang brought officers and soldiers, it would be difficult to exert the advantage of numbers. However, Feng Erlang was familiar with the terrain and was well prepared. Li Huazhang would not be on guard from behind, so Feng Erlang could take advantage of the chaos to launch a sneak attack and command the bandits to kill Li Huazhang. After he came out, he could completely claim that Prince Yong was killed by the Thief Saint while chasing the bandits and died in the line of duty. In this way, the blame for stealing the Suihou Pearl and killing Prince Yong was thrown to a Thief Saint who had been missing for many years. The Feng family not only preserved the Suihou Pearl, but also successfully surrendered to Prince Qiao, making a lot of money inside and outside.

Old Lady Feng had a very clear plan, but he didn't know that the evil he had planted in his early years would sooner or later come back to haunt him. Wei Zhu observed the old lady's words and guessed the plan of Old Lady Feng and Feng Erlang. She took advantage of the old lady Feng's arrangement and killed him.

Wei Zhu knew the Feng family very well. She knew that Feng Dalang was arrogant and Feng Erlang was cowardly. Even if the government came to question them, they would not tell the truth, which left her with an opportunity. Wei Zhu shuttled between the first and second wives, constantly provoking conflicts and quietly guiding them to give testimony that was in her favor.

Feng Dalang had a deep grudge against his father and did not really want to avenge his father. Moreover, he was the one who served the tea with the drug. Feng Dalang destroyed the evidence out of guilt and insisted that there was nothing in the tea, but in fact he covered up the real murderer, Wei Zhu. As for Feng Erlang, he followed the instructions of Old Lady Feng to kill Prince Yong, but he did not expect that Prince Yong was fine, and Old Lady Feng died first. Feng Erlang completely lost his own opinion and could only rigidly follow the original plan and insist that the thief came last night, but he did not know how to adapt to the situation.

The two brothers of the Feng family were not on good terms, and Wei Zhu seized the opportunity to defeat them one by one. She killed Feng Erlang first, and then Feng Dalang. The first and second wives knew nothing about it, and regarded each other as enemies, unaware that they were making wedding dresses for Wei Zhu.

If the people who came to judge the case were not Li Huazhang and Ming Huashang, the government would probably just conclude that it was an accident or the work of bandits, and would have no idea that the real murderer was hiding among them.

What kind of seeds you plant, what kind of flowers you will grow. The Feng family’s current situation is the result of karma and retribution.

But Li Huazhang was innocent. He sincerely solved the case for the Feng family, but the Feng family wanted to harm him. He was wholeheartedly thinking about the Tang Dynasty, and for this he was willing to give up his power and take the initiative to escape to Shangzhou, but the emperor and the princes were still worried about him. What did he do wrong? Why did he have to be plotted against like this?

The more Ming Huachang thought about it, the more she felt chilled. The first time she experienced the struggle for imperial power, it was thrilling, but the second and third time, she was left with only fatigue. The princesses and princes took turns to take the stage, and the same killings were repeated over and over again, but in the end, what did the victors get? A devastated country, a court where no one dared to tell the truth, and a family that killed and hated each other?

Is it worth it?

Ming Huashang had no intention of getting entangled in this, because she knew that if she asked this question to Prince Qiao, Queen Wei, Princess Anle, Princess Taiping or any other member of the royal family, everyone would say without hesitation that it was worth it.

This is a curse more tragic than Sui Hou Zhu.

In contrast, Ming Huashang was more willing to do something practical. She had tolerated these idiots for a long time. Li Huazhang was a gentleman who did not seek rewards but only wanted to have a clear conscience, but she was not. She had no ambitions and just wanted to lie down and eat and drink. She never intended to fight with others, but if someone destroyed her life, she would get rid of that person at all costs.

Ming Huashang asked: "When did Prince Qiao issue the order?"

"End of November." Wei Zhu answered cautiously, trying to find some clues from Ming Huashang's face, but that pretty and lovable face, which looked like a New Year picture, was calm, like an autumn lake.

If Wei Zhu knew what Ming Huashang was thinking now, she would be scared to death. In fact, Ming Huashang had not completely lost track of Chang'an's movements. The Tongji of Xuanxiaowei would send her intelligence every day, but the white pigeons had not flown over in recent days. She was busy with the case and did not pay attention. Now she thought that it might not be the negligence of the Xuanxiaowei in Chang'an, but something happened that prevented them from collecting intelligence normally.

The spies who were able to stop the Xuanxiao Guards were either delayed because their base in Chang'an had been uprooted or because the city was under strict martial law and the spies could not go out.

There were no warnings from the strongholds in Luoyang, Yizhou, etc., which meant it was the latter. If the situation was serious enough to close down the city and streets, there was no other possibility except a coup.

It had only been a short time since the purge of the Chongjun coup, and another coup had occurred in Chang'an? Ming Huashang had already guessed that the emperor's situation was not optimistic, so it made sense that Prince Qiao was anxious to raise an army.

Ming Huashang remained calm and said, "Besides those bandits, who else did Old Lady Feng contact?"

"No more." Wei Zhu paused and added, "At least, there are no more that I know of."

Wei Zhu has a grudge against the Feng family, so there is no need to lie. It seems that Shangzhou City is safe now. Ming Huashang temporarily put his mind at ease, but soon brought it up again.

Old Lady Feng is a merchant with a shallow foundation, but Prince Qiao is not. The world is full of ambitious people, and Prince Qiao must have gathered a group of people like Old Lady Feng who want to fight for the credit of following the dragon. The Feng family has no soldiers, but Prince Qiao does. Prince Qiao can't wait for Old Lady Feng's reply, so he can naturally guess that the Feng family has failed, and he will definitely raise troops to attack Shangzhou. However, Queen Wei is very wary of Li Huazhang, and Shangzhou's military strength is extremely weak, and it is impossible to summon people for a while.

Shangzhou is safe now, but how long can this safety last?

Ming Huashang signaled for someone to take Weizhu away first. She sat alone under the lamp and thought for a long time. She used a secret signal to call Xuanxiao Weiyingwei in and said, "Release the Azure Dragon Order."

Shadow Guard was shocked when he heard this and couldn't help but say, "Commander, the Azure Dragon Order is the highest level of summons and can only be used in times of crisis."

"I know." Ming Huashang said, "Now is the most critical moment."

The shadow guard took the order and left. After a while, a gorgeous firework was set off in the sky. Ming Huashang knew that at this moment, the towns and villages around Shangzhou would also set off fireworks one after another, and the emergency summons would be passed out like a smoke signal. As for how many people would rush over, it all depended on fate.

After Ming Huashang had dealt with the personnel issues, he called the guards from the governor's mansion in and asked, "How is the suppression of the bandits going, Lord?"

At this moment, the sound of horse hooves and shouts of killing were heard in the dense forest. The torches illuminated the forest like water grass, with shadows looming. A stream of blood splashed on the white snow. The yamen runner wiped the blood off his face and shouted, "Prince, we caught a bandit. The others ran over there."

Li Huazhang sat upright on his horse, using his height advantage to capture the movement trends of Dong Hai and others, and calmly commanded: "The second team moves eastward and continues to encircle them."

As soon as he finished speaking, the sound of fireworks rang out behind him. Li Huazhang noticed that the sound came from the direction of Shangzhou City and turned around. Suddenly, his ears moved slightly and he heard the faint sound of string pulling. He immediately turned around and saw a little cold light passing through the afterglow of the falling fireworks and disappearing into the group of bandits. Several people fell down beside Dong Hai.

Li Huazhang realized something and slowly looked up. Sure enough, he saw a man squatting on the treetop, with the familiar sarcasm in his eyes and eyebrows: "You were distracted during the encirclement and suppression. If this is an assessment, you will be punished severely."

Li Huazhang was stunned for a moment, then smiled softly: "I didn't notice that there were people lying in ambush in the woods. I was going to be remembered from the beginning."

The man raised his eyebrows and seemed to smile: "It's understandable that you lost to me. You finally lost to me."

There was an ambush in the woods. The guards drew their bows and were on guard. However, they were puzzled by the familiarity between Prince Yong and the man in black. One of them asked, "Prince Yong, what is this..."

"This is an old friend of mine, don't worry about him." Li Huazhang rode forward and said, "Continue to surround Dong Hai. I'm going to suppress the bandits, what about you?"

Xie Jichuan blew the horse whistle and jumped down from the treetop without even looking. A black horse ran out from the shadows and caught Xie Jichuan just in time. He pulled the reins and said nonchalantly, "I have nothing to do anyway, so you can go and have a look."