Tang Dynasty, my wife Wu Zetian

Chapter 141: The Strong-willed Chunyu Family
Youzhou, ancient Buddhist temple.

The door of the abbot's meditation room was pushed open, and a middle-aged monk entered the room and came to an old monk who was meditating.

"Master, the disciple is back."

The old monk was the abbot of the Ancient Buddha Temple. He opened his dim eyes and asked, "What's the situation?"

The middle-aged monk sighed, "Nearly 30% of the members in Cangzhou have quit the society and returned home to farm."

The old monk said, "Li Zhi's move is indeed ruthless. He suddenly exempted Hebei from taxes for three years. Those wavering members will naturally stop following us."

The middle-aged monk said, "Master, what should we do now? I'm afraid that the longer this goes on, the more people will quit the society."

The old monk pondered for a moment and said, "What do you think we should do?"

The middle-aged monk said, "Why not raise the flag of rebellion right away and learn from Chen Shuozhen in Jiangnan? Perhaps we can attract responses from all over Hebei!"

The old monk said hurriedly, "No, Chen Shuozhen was wiped out in just six months because of the hasty and insufficient preparation. If we start a rebellion now, we will surely fail."

The middle-aged monk said anxiously, "If we wait any longer, the chance will be even smaller!"

The old monk closed his eyes, pondered for a while, and suddenly opened his eyes.

"That's hard to say. Li Tang just defeated the Western Turks and captured Helu alive. Li Zhi must be very proud of himself and might take advantage of the situation to attack Goguryeo. As long as the war breaks out, we can seize the opportunity to grow stronger!"

The middle-aged monk hesitated and said, "I don't think so. If he really wanted to attack Goguryeo, he wouldn't be exempt from taxes in Hebei."

Suddenly, a voice came from outside the door.

"You are right, His Majesty will not attack Goguryeo!"

The old monk's face changed drastically and he took out a sword from under the cushion.

The middle-aged monk stood up suddenly and shouted at the door, "Who is it?"

With a "clang", the door was pushed open and two people walked in.

The one in front was in his forties, dressed in military uniform, with a stern expression, seemingly a soldier. The one behind was in his early twenties, dressed in a blue official robe, tall and slender, with handsome features.

When the middle-aged monk saw the young official, his expression changed and he asked, "Chang Sun Quan?"

Chang Sunquan nodded and said, "Brother Dou, we meet again."

The middle-aged monk sneered and said, "Chang Sunquan, you have wronged the people of Hebei in the past. I thought you would sincerely repent, but I didn't expect you to still help the tyrant!"

Chang Sunquan said slowly, "You are wrong. It is precisely to make up for my mistake that I am assisting General Wang and coming here to arrest you and others."

The middle-aged monk snorted, looked at the man in military uniform, and said, "Are you General Wang? I wonder which guard you are from?"

"General of the Internal Guard, Wang Jishan."

As he spoke, more than a dozen inner guards came in from outside and surrounded the room.

The old monk chanted a Buddhist name and said aloud, "Even if we die today, Mr. Dou's legacy will still be carried on by others."

He raised his hand and slashed the knife in his hand across his neck.

"Whoosh whoosh!"

The inner guards behind Wang Jishan shot several crossbow arrows, one of which hit the sword and knocked it away.

The inner guards rushed forward, and in the blink of an eye, the old monk was captured. The middle-aged monk only held on for ten more breaths before he was also captured.

Wang Jishan bowed to Changsun Quan and said, "Zhangsun County Magistrate, thank you very much for this. If you hadn't recognized the monk surnamed Dou, we wouldn't have been able to identify them so quickly."

Chang Sunquan returned the greeting and said, "You are very polite, General Wang. Are you ready to return to Chang'an?"

Wang Jishan said, "I have been away from Chang'an for nearly two months. It is time to return and report to His Majesty."

Zhang Sunquan said, "Alright, I have to go back to Lucheng County to deal with the backlog of cases there. Goodbye."

Wang Jishan said, "Take care."

……

Li Yifu stood by the window with his hands behind his back. There were yamen runners guarding outside the window. He had been imprisoned.

This is a guest room in Dali Temple.

Li Yifu was the prime minister after all. Although he was arrested and interrogated by the Dali Temple, he was not detained in a cell awaiting trial, but was placed under house arrest in a guest room.

He had been interrogated three times and knew that the results would be out soon, so he felt uneasy.

Just then, the voices of the yamen runners were heard outside.

"Meet Doctor Li."

"I'm going to go in and ask Minister Li a few questions. You all go guard the gate."

"This... We have been ordered to guard Minister Li, but I'm afraid it's not appropriate..."

"Humph, I'm one of the three judges hand-picked by the Saint. Are you still afraid that I'll let him go?"

"Well... well, I'll take your orders."

After a while, the door was pushed open and Li Jingxuan walked in.

Li Yifu sighed, "Jingxuan, I've been waiting for you for a long time."

Li Jingxuan's expression was somewhat complicated, and he said in a deep voice: "Brother Li, I'm afraid your position as Prime Minister will be lost."

Li Yifu said calmly, "I've guessed this. A saint would never allow someone with flawed morals to continue serving as prime minister. I just wonder if there are other punishments?" Li Jingxuan said, "Di Renjie and I both believe you had nothing to do with Wang Lun's death. It's just that Liu Rengui..."

A cold light flashed in Li Yifu's eyes.

"I knew this old bastard would interfere. I had a quarrel with him about you that day, and I'm afraid I've offended him."

Li Jingxuan lowered his head slightly and said, "It's all because of me that you and he are at odds."

Li Yifu smiled slightly and said, "We are related, so why bother saying such things? What makes me happy is that you are also one of the chief judges. It seems that the saint has not forgotten our original contribution."

Li Jingxuan was slightly stunned and asked, "Brother Li, what do you mean by this?"

Li Yifu laughed and said, "Aren't you surprised that the sage would let you, an official from the Ministry of Personnel, interrogate me, the Prime Minister?"

Li Jingxuan's eyes flashed with eagerness, and he clenched his fists and said, "You mean..."

Li Yifu waved at him, and when he came closer, he whispered, "The Saint should let you take over my position as Prime Minister."

Li Jingxuan shuddered slightly, took a few deep breaths, and said, "If that's the case, I will definitely help Brother Li regain his position as Prime Minister in the future."

"No." Li Yifu raised his hand and said, "If you have such an idea, you won't be able to stay in the position of prime minister for long."

Li Jingxuan was stunned for a moment, then quickly said, "Brother Li, please give me some advice."

Li Yifu said in a deep voice, "The Saint chose you for two reasons. First, of course, it's because of your previous contributions, which the Saint hasn't forgotten. Second, it's to appease those of us officials who originally supported the dethronement of the Queen."

Li Jingxuan nodded: "That makes sense."

Li Yifu continued, "After you take over my position, the most important thing is to stabilize Xu Jingzong, Yuan Gongyu and others and prevent them from causing trouble for the Saint. Of course, if I am not exiled, I will also help you."

Li Jingxuan whispered, "I'm afraid it won't be easy for Xu Jingzong."

Li Yifu smiled and said, "Don't worry, Lord Xu is a smart man. Since you are the prime minister chosen by the saint, she will not make things difficult for you."

Li Jingxuan said, "That's good."

Li Yifu said, "So your role is to stabilize the court and not cause trouble for the Sage. If you help me plan for the position of Prime Minister, you will soon be replaced by someone else."

Li Jingxuan bowed and said, "I will teach you."

"Okay, I've said everything I wanted to say. I'll leave everything outside to Jingxuan."

Li Jingxuan bowed solemnly.

"Brother Li, don't worry. I will do my best to help you."

……

Two days later, Li Yifu came to the outer hall of the Dali Temple to undergo his final trial.

Behind the case in the hall, Liu Rengui was in the middle, Di Renjie was on the left, and Li Jingxuan was on the right.

Liu Rengui said in a deep voice, "Minister Li, after the three of us have investigated, we have confirmed that you have nothing to do with Wang Lun's affair. However, you bear an undeniable responsibility for Chunyu's prisoner exchange."

"We have reported this to the Saint. The Saint has decreed that you be dismissed from your position as a third-rank official in the Secretariat and demoted two ranks to the rank of fourth-rank official, Tongyi Dafu, and fined three years' salary."

Li Yifu was slightly startled.

He was only demoted to a lower rank, but was still allowed to serve as the Minister of the Secretariat. This was much better than he had expected.

"Thank you very much for your grace!" He bowed towards the north.

After the verdict, Li Yifu regained his freedom and left the Dali Temple with Li Jingxuan and returned home in a carriage.

Inside the carriage, Li Yifu looked out the window at the peaceful and tranquil streets and the bright blue sky, and couldn't help feeling emotional.

"Jingxuan, I really want to thank you this time."

Li Jingxuan smiled and said, "I did try my best to help you this time, but the one you should really thank is Chunyu."

"she?"

Li Jingxuan said slowly, "When she was being interrogated in the hall, she insisted that she seduced you and that you had nothing to do with it. She even tried to commit suicide by banging her head against a pillar in the hall, but was fortunately stopped by the yamen runners."

"After returning to the prison, she attempted suicide twice more. Although she was stopped, she still hit her head and bled profusely, becoming unconscious. When the Empress learned of this, she pleaded with the Sage to pardon Chunyu. The Sage not only agreed, but also, out of gratitude for Chunyu's suffering, approved the punishment I submitted."

Li Yifu was stunned for a moment and said, "I didn't expect her to be such a fierce woman. Where is she now?"

Li Jingxuan said, "I placed her in your courtyard and invited a famous doctor to treat her. She is alive and well."

Li Yifu hesitated for a moment and said, "Brother Jingxuan, I want to go see her now. Is that appropriate?"

Li Jingxuan laughed out loud and said, "I knew that you, a playboy Prime Minister, could not change your playboy nature. We are going to Changxingfang now."

Li Yifu clapped his hands and laughed, "The one who understands me is Li Jingxuan!"

After leaving the inner city, the carriage arrived at Chang'an Avenue.

Li Yifu looked at the street and felt that the number of Hu people seemed to be increasing. He asked, "Brother Jingxuan, has anything major happened in Chang'an in the past few days?"

Li Jingxuan said, "There are two major events. The first is that General Wang Jishan of the Internal Affairs Office has uncovered the secret base of the Yanshan Society in Hebei and captured the leader of the group."

Li Yifu nodded.

Li Jingxuan added, "The second thing is that the leaders of the ten Turkic clans have arrived in Chang'an. In a few days, on the first and fifteenth day of the lunar month, they will surrender to the Tang Dynasty."

Li Yifu clapped his hands and said, "Good, the Helu Rebellion has lasted for six years and is finally going to be put down."

(End of this chapter)