Chapter 23: Blooming

King Luling felt as if he was dreaming when he walked in the palace that he was very familiar with but had not seen for a long time. Until he was led into the palace by his servants and saw the old, dignified, and indifferent woman above him.

His knees went weak. He didn't need to act out the reaction he had thought about over and over again. He burst into tears naturally: "Mother!"

This cry of grief, sorrow, and sadness, from the thirteen years of confinement and suspicion between mother and son and the enemy, from the thousands of miles of dangerous mountains and bad waters from Luling to Luoyang, and from the Li Tang to Zhou Wu, the unwashable blood feud, are all dissolved in this cry of "Mother".

Even a tough queen couldn't help but have tears in her eyes. Thirteen years! Prince Luling had been imprisoned for thirteen years, and they, mother and son, had not seen each other for thirteen years.

She demoted Prince Luling to Jiangnan West Road. When he left, he was still a young man full of vigor and heroism. Now, he has become a middle-aged man with gray hair, haggardness and cowardice. How could the empress not feel sad when she saw him?

Prince Luling is her son after all.

When Prince Luling saw the Queen again, he couldn't tell whether he felt more fear or longing for her, but there was no need to figure it out at this moment, he just cried.

Shangguan Wan'er quietly left the hall, leaving the space for the mother and son. She held up her skirt, walked to a secluded place, and told the palace maid to prepare hot water and towels for them to wipe their faces.

As she was talking, she caught a glimpse of a figure passing by. She looked up and saw a eunuch hunched over, walking quickly through the corridor. Shangguan Wan'er's face darkened, and she called her confidant, whispering, "Follow him. I want to see who is behind him."

The eunuch was so anxious that he didn't care about hiding his tracks and ran into a palace. The music in the palace was melodious, the sound of the pipa was like the sound of broken jade, strong and overbearing, and the sound of the zither was like a good-tempered gentleman, retreating three steps, and only making two light ding-dong sounds when the pipa was resting.

A man in blue was playing the zither with his bare hands. He was elegant and handsome, with an outstanding temperament. His appearance was already very outstanding, but compared with the young man playing the pipa on the stage, he was three points inferior. The eunuch tiptoed behind the man in blue and whispered something in his ear.

The strings made a piercing sound, and the music stopped abruptly. The man who was playing the pipa was interrupted when he was enjoying himself. He frowned unhappily, put down the pipa and asked, "Fifth brother, what's wrong?"

Zhang Yizhi looked at the musical instruments in front of him, and he lost all interest in the music. He said coldly, "Something big has happened. The Queen is meeting with Prince Luling."

The handsome man holding the pipa was startled. He stood up with a bang and threw the pipa carelessly to the ground. The strings made an agitated piercing sound. "What?"

Zhang Yizhi was silent with a sullen face. He and Zhang Changzong were brothers, Zhang Yizhi was the fifth and Zhang Changzong was the sixth. The palace ladies, including the empress, called them "Wu Lang" and "Liu Lang". Although they held official positions in the Control Crane Supervisor, everyone knew that they were actually the empress's male favorites.

The Empress was old, but the two Zhang brothers were in their prime. At her age, she was no longer interested in sex, but since ancient times, men had three wives and four concubines, while women had to be faithful to one man and abide by the code of conduct. The Empress had participated in government affairs when she was the Empress, but it took her nearly thirty years to walk from behind the pearl curtain to the dragon throne, a short distance.

Now, she has become the emperor. The ancient emperors had three palaces and six courtyards, and she should have them too. It doesn't matter. The two Zhang brothers are the most shining gems on her scepter and the most glorious trophies on her road to power. Therefore, the queen must hold the two Zhang brothers high. Anyone who dares to disrespect the two Zhang brothers is disrespecting her.

Moreover, a woman's love is built on getting along with each other, not on the bed. The brothers Zhang Yizhi and Zhang Changzong were about the same age as the empress's grandson. They stayed by the empress's side every day, asking about her well-being, singing songs with her and making her laugh. Over time, how could the empress not love and pity them?

The Queen was very strict with her sons and grandsons, but she doted on the two Zhang brothers, giving them whatever official positions, titles, and wealth they asked for.

The brothers Zhang Yizhi and Zhang Changzong lived a life of being second to none. No matter if they were noble sons of a royal family or top scholar in the imperial examination, everyone had to bow their heads when they saw them. Even Princess Taiping and the King of Wei were polite to them.

The two Zhang brothers lived a very happy life, but the more they enjoyed themselves, the more afraid they were in their hearts, because they also knew that such days were stolen.

The queen is willing to pamper them, but she is old. How long can she live? When the next emperor ascends the throne, how proud they are now will be how miserable they will be in the future.

Zhang Yizhi and Zhang Changzong understood the truth, and they had long been trying to find a backer to pave the way for their future. However, the Li family kings were polite to them on the surface, but in fact they looked down on them, not to mention the civil officials and military generals. Anyone with integrity was unwilling to join them. After choosing and choosing, the two Zhang brothers only had one way left.

Support the King of Wei to ascend the throne. As long as the next generation of the emperor is still a member of the Wu family, they can leave the palace with gold, silver and jewelry. They will definitely not be able to be officials, but at least they can have a good end.

Therefore, when the two Zhang brothers learned that the Queen had secretly summoned Prince Luling back to the capital, they were shocked and quickly passed the news to Prince Wei, determined to stop the Queen from meeting Prince Luling.

They had been by the Queen's side for so many years, and they knew very well that the Queen was getting older and older, and she was becoming more and more nostalgic. If she saw her third son, who had experienced many hardships, and let the old minister cry, the Queen would most likely soften her heart and keep Prince Luling in the capital.

In this way, the Wu family's advantage will be reversed. Moreover, the Queen secretly summoned Prince Luling back to the capital, which was a dangerous signal in itself.

Is the empress simply missing her son, or has she already thought about returning power to the Tang Dynasty?

The two Zhang brothers didn't dare to think about it. They had already boarded the Wu family's ship and there was no way back. They could only go down this path until the end.

After they sent the message to the King of Wei, they stayed in the palace, waiting for news with a sense of relief but also fear. As a result, they received the sad news that the Queen was meeting with the King of Luling.

Zhang Yizhi's face was as dark as a cloud, and Zhang Changzong paced back and forth on the ground in agitation. The face of the man known as "Lotus Sixth Brother" in the palace and outside the palace no longer had any trace of arrogance. He looked at the exquisite Western Region gold vase next to him, and felt inexplicably upset, and threw it down heavily: "Didn't the King of Wei say that he had a solution? What is his solution?"

The gold fell to the ground, making a harsh echo, as if the whole palace was buzzing. Zhang Yizhi said with a sullen face: "Stop making a fuss. It's already this hour, and you still have the energy to lose your temper? You have the strength to smash the gold from the Western Regions now, but in two years, will you have the strength to pick up your head?"

Zhang Changzong also looked irritable and shouted angrily: "Then what do you say we should do?"

Zhang Yizhi took a deep breath, tried to calm down, called his confidant and said, "Go tell the King of Wei that the Queen has softened her heart, and he should use whatever he has, otherwise, he can only prepare to collect the body."

The King of Wei had just returned to the palace, and before he entered the house, he saw the butler standing at the door. The butler finally saw the King of Wei, and he hurried over and whispered something in his ear.

After hearing this, the King of Wei's eyelids twitched and he was about to enter the palace immediately, but after turning around and taking two steps, his reason forced him to stop.

He cannot enter the palace. The Queen secretly summoned Prince Luling back to the capital, and now the news has not been announced, but he rushed into the palace in a hurry. Wouldn't this expose that he has a spy next to the Queen?

Of course, everyone has spies. He, Taiping and even the Queen all know it, but they cannot make it public.

The King of Wei stood in front of the door. The wind passed through the Ten Thousand Buddha Pagoda in Luoyang, through the streets and alleys, and finally gathered into his sleeves. He seemed not to feel the cold and did not move.

At the beginning of the first lunar month, not long after the New Year banquet ended, the King of Wei was immersed in the endless banquets when he suddenly received a secret letter from the two Zhang brothers, saying that the King of Luling had returned to the capital.

When the King of Wei received the letter, his hangover disappeared instantly.

The Queen's action was very secretive. She only brought back the King of Luling. His wife, children, and attendants were left behind. The imperial messengers rode at top speed to avoid being seen. The confidentiality was done very well. Even the Wu family did not notice it, and the King of Wei also missed the opportunity to kill the King of Luling on the road. After the people arrived in Luoyang, the Queen sent people to bring the King of Luling back to the palace and placed him in the palace for secret protection.

If the two Zhang brothers had not stayed by the Queen's side all day and received the news in advance, the King of Wei would have been kept in the dark for who knows how long.

Prince Luling was protected in the palace and was surrounded by the Queen's men. King Wei could not find an opportunity to kill Prince Luling, so he had to think of other ways to prevent the Queen and Prince Luling from meeting.

Just when the King of Wei was having a headache, he suddenly heard that Princess Taiping had entered the palace and flirted with the Queen for a long time, saying that the Capital of Gods had not been lively for a long time and she wanted to hold a grand banquet.

Of course, this is of no importance. What Princess Taiping really wanted to say was the second half of the sentence. She had not seen the crown prince for a long time and wanted to take advantage of the Lantern Festival to reunite with her brother and share the joy of family.

After killing Xue Shao, the empress did her utmost to compensate Princess Taiping. When someone else threatened to have their head cut off, the empress agreed. However, the one who was killed was not the crown prince, but his two illegitimate sons.

Outsiders only sighed that Princess Taiping was favored, but did not know the deep meaning behind it, but the King of Wei guessed it at once. He knew that Princess Taiping also knew that Prince Luling had returned, so she tried every means to pass the news to the Crown Prince.

The King of Wei had been in and out of the palace for many years, and with the help of the two Zhang brothers, he quickly found out that when the King of Luling entered the palace, he was seen by a young palace maid. The palace maid came to Shangguan Wan'er for advice, and Shangguan Wan'er immediately arranged for the girl to leave the palace and send a message to Princess Taiping.

This is why Princess Taiping held the Feihong Banquet, where she pretended to hold a grand banquet but actually spread the message secretly.

But Princess Taiping didn't know that the King of Wei also got the news. Her seemingly clever fake move just exposed her intention. The King of Wei suddenly came up with a brilliant idea.

What is more terrifying than human words is the words of ghosts. Even the two Zhang brothers cannot stop the Queen from meeting King Luling, so only ghosts and gods can do it.

He wanted to create a "ghost story" to tell everyone that Luling Wang was possessed by a snake ghost, which could be passed on continuously and would kill anyone who met him. The Queen was old and hated talking about life and death. After hearing this, she would definitely banish Luling Wang as far away as possible.

The empress would pass the throne to her nephew only if her son was not around.

After King Wei thought of a solution, he acted immediately. He painstakingly laid the groundwork for this "ghost story" and readily accepted Princess Taiping's invitation. After arriving at Feihong Garden, the first thing King Wei did was to find King Ding and ask him to help him kill a few people.

Although there were people from the King of Wei in the Princess's mansion, they were not as capable as the male owner, the King of Ding. The King of Wei had already found out, starting from the time when the little palace maid met the King of Luling. The palace maid sneaked into the Princess's mansion, and the person who opened the door for her was Chi Lan. Later, Chi Lan passed the news to Wei Zi, who told Princess Taiping at night.

By killing everyone on this chain, you can frame the "ghost" for King Luling.

The King of Wei did not intend to kill Princess Taiping, but killing a few palace maids and servants was not a big deal. King Ding could not refuse, so he had to send his most ferocious servant to do the killing.

The young palace maids were taken care of by the King of Wei's men, and the King of Ding only needed to kill Chi Lan and Wei Zi in order. In order to amplify the ghost rumors, the King of Wei specifically requested that their eyes be gouged out and their deaths be extremely horrific, the more conspicuous the better.

At the same time, the King of Wei spread the story of snake ghosts killing people in the mountains to incite terror. When people talked about the rules of the snake ghosts looking for scapegoats, no one knew that the traveler from Fangzhou who came to Luoyang and was possessed by the snake ghost and would pass on misfortune to those who saw him was the King of Luling.

The guests at the Feihong Banquet were all from aristocratic families. When they returned, this ghost story would quickly spread throughout the capital. The King of Wei then arranged for the two Zhang brothers to fan the flames in front of the Queen. When the Queen heard the legend of the snake ghost looking for a scapegoat, she would immediately think of the King of Luling who had just returned from Fangzhou and had a grudge against her.

There was no need for the King of Wei to say anything more; the Queen would naturally develop a grudge against the King of Luling.

At first, everything went smoothly in Feihong Garden. After Chi Lan learned about the news about King Luling, she was in a trance. Wei Zi was afraid that the news would leak out, so she called Chi Lan out several times to give her some advice. To outsiders, it seemed that Wei Zi was scolding Chi Lan.

The King of Wei blew up the snow mountain at night, causing an avalanche, trapping everyone on the mountain and forcing them to act out a horror story with him. After the avalanche, the King of Ding sent someone to find Wei Zi, and the consort called out, but no one would suspect anything, and no one even noticed.

Wei Zi was easily tricked out and died in the snowy mountains.

With Wei Zi's move, the other dead were just extras to stir up the atmosphere of terror. Everything went according to King Wei's plan until a few boys and girls came out and ruined his plan.