The next morning, in the morning court in Mingtang, the Censor Wang Hongyi wrote a letter to impeach Li Zhen, the commander of the Inner Guard. "I heard that this man had just taken office and had committed evil deeds. He dared to set fire to the post station in broad daylight and massacre monks in White Horse Temple. His methods were cruel and people and gods were angry. I beg Your Majesty to punish this man severely to correct the court!"

This impeachment caused a whisper in the court. Yesterday afternoon, many people heard about a fire on the Yanshi official road. It seemed that many people were burned to death, but they did not expect that it was the work of the inner guards and the monks from the White Horse Temple were burned to death. Isn’t that Xue Huaiyi’s person?

Many ministers showed shock in their eyes. Who is Li Zhen? Who is the one who dares to kill Xue Huaiyi? Did he eat Xiong Xin and Leopard's courage?

Many people also sneered and stood by and watched coldly, seeing how the emperor would protect her male favorite this time?

Although most people wished that Xue Huaiyi would be killed together, they shuddered when the queen was about to vent their anger. Many people shrank their necks and secretly looked at the queen above the court with her face that could not be seen clearly.

An eunuch walked down the jade stairs, took over Wang Hongyi's impeachment memorial, and presented it to the Queen Wu Zetian.

Wu Zetian sat on the high Danbi. The tall and majestic Mingtang could accommodate tens of thousands of people. She had to be dozens of steps away from the nearest courtier, especially the lack of light, which made the courtier unable to see her face, and added a bit of mystery and majesty to her.

There was no expression on Wu Zetian's face. She slowly unfolded the scroll, but she glanced at Shangguan Wan'er standing beside her from the corner of her eyes.

Shangguan Wan'er nodded slightly to her, saying that she knew about this. A hint of sarcasm appeared on Wu Zetian's mouth. Someone actually impeached the commander of the inner guard...

Wu Zetian said without showing any expression and asked his subordinate Yang Zaisi, "Yang Prime Minister, do you know about this matter?"

Yang Zaisi was stunned. He didn't understand why the emperor asked him, so he hurriedly went out to salute and said, "Your Majesty, the Political Affairs Hall still doesn't know about this?"

"Then what do you think about this?" Wu Zetian asked lightly again.

Yang Zaisi's eyes were ripped off. He didn't know who Li Zhen, the deputy commander of the inner guard, was? But he knew that it would be impossible for him to be promoted to deputy commander of the inner guard, without a background, and maybe he was Wu Sansi's person.

"I was confused when I heard about this and did not dare to make a conclusion at will. I beg your Majesty to give me some time to understand."

"What does Su Prime Minister mean?" Wu Zetian's eyes turned to the Prime Minister's taste of Su again.

Su Wei was startled and hurriedly went out to bow and said vaguely: "Maybe there is something wrong with this, maybe there is a bit of a misunderstanding. I can't comment on this matter yet."

Su Wei always speaks ambiguously, nicknamed "Su Munlen". Many people in the court couldn't help laughing, and they all knew that he would answer like this.

Wu Zetian also smiled faintly, "Since even the two prime ministers cannot be clear, how can I make a decision? Let's do this! I will ask someone to investigate again, and I will discuss this matter later."

As soon as Wu Zetian said this, the court suddenly caused an uproar. Although there was no noise, everyone was a little stunned.

Many people still clearly remember that in the past ten years, the emperor has killed many innocent people in order to protect Xue Huaiyi and demoted many ministers. Today, someone killed Xue Huaiyi's subordinates in broad daylight. The emperor's statement was actually "Please discuss it later?"

The court officials looked at each other, not knowing what happened?

At this time, Wu Zetian put the impeachment memorial of the Censor Wang Hongyi aside and asked again: "Do you have any other political affairs to report?"

.........

The morning court was not long, and only a few small things were discussed. The court dispersed in less than an hour. Wu Zetian returned to Zhenguan Hall, and the court officials rushed out of the Mingtang and walked towards the offices in the imperial city. They were talking about the strange things that happened today.

"Li Xiangguo, please wait!"

The Prime Minister Li Dezhao, who was walking in front, heard someone calling him from behind, stopped and turned around and saw that Prime Minister Su Wei was walking quickly towards this side.

Li Dezhao was nearly 70 years old and highly respected. He became the leader of the court with Di Renjie. After Di Renjie was demoted, he became a lonely elder in the court, or the dominant minister.

Su Weishao quickly followed and whispered: "It's strange today. Didn't Li Xiangguo notice it?"

"What's strange about it."

Li Dezhao smiled faintly, "There is no flower red for a hundred days, and it will wither for a day. Do you think his holy family will continue to flourish?"

Li Dezhao knew what Su Weitou was talking about. Generally, important officials would not talk about sensitive topics openly, especially when it comes to changes in the power structure, and would not easily make friends. He would usually talk about him, or say that it would be cool and autumn.

But Xue Huaiyi is an exception. He is Wu Zetian's male favorite. He was born into a rogue and was domineering with the support of the emperor. He did everything he wanted. He hated everyone to the core, and the ministers did not hide his extreme disgust for this low-quality villain.

Li Dezhao also hated Xue Huaiyi very much. Last year, he was forced to kneel down and beg for mercy by Xue Huaiyi, which became his lifelong shame. He wished Xue Huaiyi was broken into pieces in public, so that he could vent his hatred.

Su Weitan nodded and sneered: "Everyone thinks that someone dares to touch Xue Huaiyi is incredible, but they don't think about who is slapping Xue Huaiyi in the face?"

Li Dezhao stopped and looked at Su Wei in confusion: "Su Xiangguo knows that Li Zhen?"

"I just heard of it. This person was recommended by Shangguan Sheren. He has very little qualifications and is said to have something to do with Gao Yanfu."

Li Dezhao showed a sudden enlightenment expression and laughed: "I understand, thank you for telling you frankly."

Su Weitan also lowered her voice and smiled: "No matter what, isn't it a very pleasant thing to see that male concubine being slapped in the face?"

Li Dezhao smiled and narrowed his eyes, "It's really pleasant, but I guess the matter is not over yet, so we might as well continue to watch."

"Yes! Yes! We all hope this matter is a little more exciting and interesting, Lee Sang-kuo, isn't it?"

The two looked at each other and laughed together.

.........

Wu Zetian's face was gloomy and she paced back and forth in the imperial study with her hands on her back. Her impeachment letter from the Censor Wang Hongyi was placed on her imperial case. At this time, Wu Zetian knew better than anyone else about what kind of contradictions were stalemate here.

Of course she would not believe that the murdered Hu monk was an innocent pious Buddha. The censors' impeachment of the crimes of Hu monks in White Horse Temple had already filled her bookcases.

She questioned Xue Huaiyi more than once. Xue Huaiyi either swears to restrain Hu Seng, or just disagrees with it, and accused the censor of using private revenge on himself, leaving Wu Zetian helpless.

Over the past year, Wu Zetian, who likes to pursue novelty and stimulation, gradually lost her passion for Xue Huaiyi. Xue Huaiyi's repeated troubles also made her quite impatient. She was like a hen, always acting as a mediator for fighting roosters and apologizing for the long time. In the past, Wu Zetian was in a dilemma of being unable to stop and not being embarrassed.

Compared with the heavy blow to Wu Zetian by Wei Shifang's case, the small Hu Monk case is nothing, but its impact is very great, and it has caused a lot of storms, which makes Wu Zetian a little embarrassed. If Hu Monk is punished severely and an explanation to the court officials who have been deeply resentful in recent years will greatly improve her image.

But this would inevitably anger Xue Huaiyi. Although she had gradually lost passion for Xue Huaiyi, she felt a little unbearable when she thought of her ten years of kindness with Xue Huaiyi, which made it difficult for her to make a decision.

Shangguan Wan'er stood quietly at the door. She did not disturb Wu Zetian's thoughts. She knew that the emperor was in a dilemma.

Regarding the Hu Monk case, she received Li Zhen's report last night. She knew very well what kind of storm this incident would cause, but she was not annoyed that Li Zhen caused trouble for her. She thought this was a good test. Through this incident, we can see whether the emperor had the determination to completely defeat Xue Huaiyi.

At this time, Wu Zetian sighed and turned around and asked Shangguan Wan'er, "Wan'er, what do you think should be dealt with in this matter?"

Wu Zetian sighed softly, and Shangguan Wan'er sensitively captured the complicated mentality of the emperor. If she was determined to punish Xue Huaiyi severely, she would definitely be angry and scolded like thunderously, instead of being as soft as she is now. She asked herself what to do, but she wanted to give her a step.

'It seems that it is not the time to completely defeat Xue Huaiyi,' Shangguan Wan'er thought to herself.

Faced with this contradiction, Shangguan Wan'er had already dealt with the case of treacherous cases, so she said carefully: "Report to Your Majesty, Wan'er also read Li Zhen's report. Hu Monk was the first to massacre the post station personnel. Li Zhen and the others just happened to pass by. In order to prevent Hu Monk from continuing to commit crimes, the two sides had a conflict. They were forced to fight back out of self-protection. Wan'er felt that this was just an ordinary murder case and it was not appropriate to interpret it too much."

How smart Wu Zetian was. She immediately understood Shangguan Wan'er's meaning. This matter was big or small. If she didn't want to make a big deal, she would deal with it with Xiaoli. She pondered for a moment and said, "What do you mean is to let Yanshi County investigate this case?"

Shangguan Wan'er tactfully suggested: "This matter involves the impeachment of the Censorate and the issue of the law enforcement standards of the inner guards. Yanshi County Magistrate has a small position, so it is probably difficult to deal with it impartially. Wan'er suggested that Dali Temple or the Ministry of Justice investigate the case."

Shangguan Wan'er has cleverly stripped Xue Huaiyi away and removed this case, turning this case into a struggle between the Censorate and the Inner Guard. Either the Inner Guard kills innocent people indiscriminately, or the Inner Guard conceals the truth and deceives the emperor.

Wu Zetian remembered something again and asked, "What's going on with that batch of gold now?"

"Report to Your Majesty, the gold has been successfully transported back to Luoyang. Wan'er has included them in Your Majesty's inner treasury. This is a list. Please check it out!"

Shangguan Wan'er presented a list to Wu Zetian. The Tang Dynasty had strict system and clear distinction between public and private affairs. The major expenses were not decided by Wu Zetian alone, but they had to go through the review of the prime ministers.

Therefore, Wu Zetian also has his own internal treasury, which is used for some private affairs expenses, such as Wei Tuaner's large amount of jewelry embezzled, and Wei Shifang's money this time, Wu Zetian will be included in his internal treasury.

And her inner treasury is under the charge of Shangguan Wan'er, whom she trusts the most. Wu Zetian looked at the list and was very satisfied with Shangguan Wan'er's handling plan, so she happily said: "Okay! I will let Dali Qing Li Yuan investigate this murder case, and the result must be released within three days."

......

...
Chapter completed!