webnovelfull Chapter 885 Forced into the Palace
Chapter 885 Forced into the Palace
Empress Wei slammed the table, causing the ashes in the gilded incense burner to fall, and a few sparks splashed on the old jade bracelet on her wrist that she had worn when she accompanied the emperor to Fangzhou.
There was a shallow crack on the jade bracelet, which was caused by the eaves when it was taking shelter from the rain in Fangzhou. Now, illuminated by the candlelight, it looked like a bleeding wound.
"He dares?" She sneered, her eyes icy, her knuckles white from exertion. "Back in Fangzhou, in the cold winter, he hugged me and cried, saying that if he ever saw the light of day again, he would give me half of his kingdom."
"You haven't even settled into the warm rooms of Chang'an yet, and you've already forgotten what it's like to be freezing and hungry? You've forgotten who crawled through the snow with moldy wheat cakes in their arms, searching for medicine for him?"
Wei Wen was so anxious that sweat broke out on his forehead, and the corners of his robe were wrinkled. His teeth chattered as he spoke, "My Lady, that old man is Pei Yan's disciple, and he's the most stubborn! I'm afraid he's already dispatching the Jinwu Guards!"
"Three of the Wei clan's provincial governors were arrested last night by His Majesty's secret decree, accused of embezzling disaster relief funds—but everyone knows that little money wouldn't even be enough for the Crown Prince to buy a single toy! Just now, I heard someone from Princess Anle's residence report that her husband, Wu Yanxiu, had found three carts of armor in the mansion. This is clearly a frame-up!"
He paused, his voice lowered, "The spies in Chang'an reported that Prince Li Dan's mansion was brightly lit last night. I'm afraid... I'm afraid they've already colluded with Your Majesty."
"Prince Xiang?" Empress Wei scoffed, her fingertips tracing the jade dragon paperweight used by Wu Zetian on the table. "His courage is not even enough to hold a folding fan tightly." But before she finished speaking, her brows knitted together again. "But Princess Taiping, the way she looked at me at the Qujiang Banquet yesterday was like a venomous snake."
She suddenly stood up, the rustling of her phoenix robes piercing the quiet night. "Your Majesty and I crawled back from the swamp of Fangzhou, stepping on corpses. When he ascended the throne, he swore an oath before the Imperial Ancestral Temple, promising that the descendants of the Wei family would enjoy prosperity for generations. Now, just because Wei Jie built a glazed-tile villa and Wei Guan took in three beautiful concubines, he's using 'extravagance' as an excuse to strike back?"
She walked to the window and pushed open the carved wooden casement. The night wind blew the pearl flowers on her temples, reflecting the palace lanterns of the imperial city in the distance. Her eyes were filled with anger: "Don't even mention my Jingzhao Wei family, generations of nobles, so high above the heavens. Even if it's my Wei family, what will it matter if it becomes like this?"
"When the Queen entered Ganye Temple, she was just a nun who had fallen from favor. Yet, she was able to overthrow the Li Tang ancestral temple and replace it with the name of the Great Zhou."
"My Wei family holds the military power of five states, and Princess Anle's husband commands the Imperial Guard. Are we inferior to a woman with a shaved head?"
"Wei Wen," she turned sharply, the candlelight dancing in her eyes like two balls of wildfire, "pass on my secret order: have Wei Bo immediately seize control of the Xuanwu Gate, have Wu Yanxiu lead the Thousand Cavalry Battalion to surround the Prince of Xiang's Palace, and tell the one named Liu in the Imperial Kitchen to put more 'tonic' ingredients in the lotus seed soup for His Majesty tonight."
She paused, digging her nails into her palms. "Tell them that before dawn, the sky of Chang'an City must change color."
In the bronze crane incense burner in the Liangyi Hall, the ambergris burned to the end. The last wisp of green smoke swirled upwards, just reaching the gilded plaque hanging from the beam before being blown away by the draft.
Li Xian sat on the rosewood armchair. The seven-treasure dragon pattern inlaid on the back of the chair flickered in the candlelight, just like his chaotic mood at the moment.
A thick stack of memorials lay on the desk, the top one open, the ink still damp – it was a report from the Yongzhou governor, saying that a severe drought had struck Guanzhong, refugees had poured into Chang'an, and seven people had starved to death on the streets of the West Market.
Li Xian's fingertips slid across the words "starved to death", and his nails almost dug into the paper.
He remembered hearing from the old people when he was a child that during the Zhenguan period, the price of grain was as low as three cents per bushel of rice, and even beggars could beg for hot porridge on the streets of Chang'an.
During the Qianwu period, every household had surplus grain, but now, why is it that the disaster relief grain funds he personally approved have not reached the hands of the people?
He looked up at the portrait on the opposite wall. The figure on the rice paper seemed to come alive in the candlelight.
Li Shimin frowned slightly. His eyes, which had seen through the wolfish ambitions of the Turks, were now staring at the memorial on the table in which Wei Wen requested that the salt and iron monopoly in Jiangnan be transferred to the children of the Wei family. The coldness in his eyes almost cracked the rice paper.
Although Li Chengqian next to him was wearing the dragon robe of the crown prince, there was an unresolved depression between his brows. Li Xian always felt that there was a question hidden in the eyes of this uncle - who can't even tolerate his own brothers?
The person he dared not look directly at was Li Zhi. The late emperor, who had ruled the country alongside Wu Zetian, always appeared gentle in his portraits, but the look he gave him at that moment was very similar to the look his mother, Wu Zetian, had given him back in Fangzhou—a look of pity and, even more, disappointment.
Li Xian suddenly lowered his head and stared at the twelve patterns embroidered on his dragon robe: Zong Yi, Zao, Huo, Fen Mi... Every stitch was embroidered firmly, but when he wore it, it always looked like a stolen piece of gorgeous clothing.
"Everything will be fine..." He murmured to himself in front of the portrait, his voice so soft it sounded like a sigh. "After demoting Wei Wen and taking back the power over salt and iron, and then sending the Prince of Xiang to Guanzhong to provide disaster relief... the Tang Dynasty will be fine."
Before he finished speaking, there was a sudden sound of hurried footsteps outside the hall. It was not the usual quick steps of the eunuchs, but rather the sound of people in boots running.
This was followed by the sound of the Jinwu Guards' armor plates colliding, and someone was shouting and cursing in a low voice, as if trying to stop someone.
Li Xian's heart sank suddenly, and he clenched the jade sceptre on the table - at this hour, except for the midnight snack sent by Empress Wei, no one dared to make a noise outside the Liangyi Hall.
"Who's outside?" he asked loudly, his voice trembling without him even noticing.
The palace door creaked open, and the night wind, carrying a chill, rushed in, causing the candlelight to sway violently. A eunuch tumbled in, his hat brim askew, his lips trembling and unable to speak. He simply pointed outside the door, his eyes filled with fear.
Li Xian looked in the direction of his finger and saw Wei Wen wearing a crimson official robe, holding the hilt of his sword, standing at the door of the hall.
Behind him, there were more than a dozen armored warriors, the swords in their hands flashing coldly in the moonlight.