Princess Taiping sat for a moment, then said goodbye. Li Dan took her out of the door, and then ordered someone to call her eldest son to his study.

"Close the door"

Li Dan gave an order, and Li Chengqi hurriedly stepped forward and closed the door. He stood in front of his father with his hands down. Li Dan glanced at him and smiled, "It seems that you don't really want to talk about Gao Fujun in front of your aunt today."

"Father, the child is just a little worried."

"What are you worried about?" Li Dan smiled and said, "We father and son don't have to be taboo about anything when talking. If you have anything, just say it. I won't blame you."

"Does my father think my aunt really support us?"

"Why do you ask this? Doesn't she support us, but she still supports your uncle? She has never liked your uncle since she was a child and has the best relationship with me. Of course, if she turns to support your uncle, I won't say anything. This is her choice."

"Not that"

Li Chengqi bit his lips and said, "The child has heard some rumors that his aunt wants to inherit his grandmother's foundation--"

Before his son finished speaking, Li Dan raised his head and laughed, making Li Chengqi's face flushed, "Does his father think the child's statement is ridiculous?"

Li Dan put away his smile and said earnestly: "Of course I know that she has the ambition to inherit the throne. It can be seen from a young age. However, if it is ambition, I will not have a second female emperor again. Your grandmother will be the only female emperor unprecedentedly. Half of the contribution of your grandmother ascended the throne and became emperor is due to your grandfather. This is a coincidence. I believe that the Tang Dynasty will not have such an opportunity again."

Li Chengqi was a little dissatisfied with his father's inference, but he didn't know how to refute it, so he had to lower his head and smile secretly, not daring to say more.

Li Dan glanced at him and said, "Your aunt is a very powerful and powerful person. If you can get her support, you will be very good to us in the future. So I want to win over her, show trust in her, and make her feel that I have always been honest with her, so that she will support me wholeheartedly. That's why I asked you to report Gao Yanfu's affairs in front of her, but some things must be reserved. For example, did Gao Yanfu say that the emperor planned to make your uncle the crown prince?"

Li Chengqi nodded silently. He felt that his father was very reasonable, which made him suddenly enlightened. He really wanted to hold his aunt back and let her fully support her father.

"What am I asking you?" Li Dan reminded his son again.

Li Chengqi then reacted and hurriedly said, "Gao Fujun said he didn't know. He also said that even the emperor himself didn't know. He said that the past year or two is the critical moment for establishing the prince. Let his father be cautious and act in a low-key manner, and never be caught by others."

"What a good word," Li Dan sighed long.

Two days later, Li Zhen and Di Yan finally returned to the capital of Shenluoyang. It was mid-April. In late spring and early summer, the weather gradually became hotter. There were blue shirts and small hats everywhere in Luoyang City, and bright women were seen everywhere, which was pleasing to the eye.

The polo competition has ended for more than a month, and the craze has gradually faded. No one in the inn talks about the polo competition anymore, which makes Li Zhen feel a little indescribable loss.

"You seem to be a little worried, what are you thinking?"

In the prosperous business of the Left Bank Tavern, Di Yan and Li Zhen were sitting in the old seat by the window on the third floor. Di Yan saw that Li Zhen was worried. She took a sip of wine and smiled: "Do you feel a little regretful if you didn't participate in the final of polo?"

"It's a little bit," Li Zhen also laughed, "But it doesn't matter, you can still participate next year."

At this time, a drunkard next to him shouted, "I can bet with you that Xingtang Club must be there. Neither Li Jingye nor Luo Binwang died. They must be hiding somewhere in the Tang Dynasty, waiting for a comeback."

"I believe that Xingtang will exist, but I don't agree with what Brother Wang said about making a comeback. Even if Li Jingye and Luo Binwang are still alive, they will be too old to walk."

Li Zhen was secretly shocked. Why did he talk about the Tang Dynasty in a restaurant in a noble manner?

At this time, the bartender brought them wine and food. Li Zhen grabbed the bartender and asked, "We just came to Luoyang. Why did we hear them talking about Xingtang Club, and Luo Binwang and others. Didn't Luo Binwang and Li Jingye die long ago?"

Li Zhen and Di Yan were wearing masks, and the bartender did not recognize them. He smiled bitterly, "Now the Tang Dynasty is talking about this. I don't know who has heard the news. Li Jingye and Luo Binwang are not dead and are preparing to make a comeback. At first, the government is not allowed to discuss it, but more and more people are talking about it. The government cannot stop it, so they have to do whatever they want."

"Oh, so that's it. I wonder who came out of the news?"

"I don't know this. Please use it slowly."

The bartender bowed and turned around and walked quickly. Li Zhen felt a little strange. This must have been a news spread by someone who was interested, creating public opinion from the Xingtang Association and forcing the court and Wu Zetian to face this matter.

At this time, Di Yan lowered his voice and said, "I think this is either done by Lai Junchen or Wu Sanshui. In short, the person who spreads the news has ulterior motives. He is definitely not trying to promote the Xingtang Association, but to put the Xingtang Association to death."

After lunch, Di Yan went back to the mansion to visit his grandmother and mother, while Li Zhen returned directly to his home.

However, he did not meet his eldest sister Li Quan. The housekeeper told him that his wife had gone to the manor in Lingzhou again. She had been away for a few days and even took the child away, leaving only a letter to him.

Li Zhen returned to his room, lay down on the bed, and opened the letter left to him by his eldest sister. The letter from his eldest sister wrote three pages, all of which were nagging little things, and became the best hypnotic. After only half a page, Li Zhen fell asleep.

He woke up until the afternoon of sleep. He got up and walked into the yard, stretched his waist long, feeling particularly refreshed. At this time, Butler Lin hurried to the door and smiled at Li Zhen, "Young Master, someone is looking for him outside the door."

Li Zhen walked outside the mansion and saw a young man standing outside the door, looking thirteen or fourteen years old, with a smart look on his face. Li Zhen knew him, and he was a little eunuch who followed Shangguan Wan'er, named Gu Antai.

"Is it Shangguan Sheren who came to me?" Li Zhen asked.

The little eunuch hurriedly stepped forward and bowed, "Madam asked me to ask the commander to enter the palace."

Li Zhen was really puzzled. How did Shangguan Wan'er know that he was back? He knew that there were two inner guard warriors in his mansion who were responsible for protecting the safety of his eldest sister, but they had already gone to Lingzhou with the eldest sister. Who would have reported the letter? Is there any spy on Di Yan's side?

Li Zhen nodded, "I understand, I will enter the palace soon."

He went back to his room and changed into an official uniform, turned over and urged the horse to run towards the palace.

The palace city was extremely lively, and tens of thousands of craftsmen were busy building the new Mingtang. Wu Sansi made a military order to complete the construction of the new Mingtang before the end of the year. He also worked very hard for this. He spent most of his time on the construction site every day and urged craftsmen to work overtime to work. Even the queen Wu Zetian often came to inspect the progress of the Mingtang.

It was also coincidental that as soon as Li Zhen entered Yingtian Gate, he met a large group of eunuchs and palace maids walking towards him. Li Zhen quickly stood in the guard team and stood with his hands down. Although he didn't want to be seen by Wu Zetian, he was wearing the official uniform of the inner guard, which was particularly eye-catching. Wu Zetian saw him at a glance.

Wu Zetian smiled and asked the palace maid to summon Li Zhen forward. Li Zhen stepped forward and knelt down on one knee to salute, "Miscellaneous minister Li Zhen participated in His Majesty of the Emperor."

"Where has Commander Li been here during this period?" Wu Zetian asked with a smile, but the corner of his eyes fell on Shangguan Wan'er's face next to him.

Shangguan Wan'er stood behind Wu Zetian. She looked a little nervous, afraid that Li Zhen would say the wrong thing. Li Zhen said calmly: "I was ordered to be in Fangzhou. I have finished my official duties and just returned to Chang'an today."

"Can there be a report?" Wu Zetian asked again.

"Report to Your Majesty, you can submit it tomorrow."

"Okay, I want to check out your Fangzhou report, too."

After Wu Zetian finished speaking, he ignored Li Zhen and moved onto the chariot. Sixteen guards raised their chariots, and everyone surrounded them and headed towards Zhenguan Hall. Shangguan Wan'er gave Li Zhen a wink and asked him to go to his court room first.

Li Zhen then arrived at Shangguan Wan'er's court room and sat outside waiting. Soon, a sound of ringing came, followed by a strong fragrance coming. Shangguan Wan'er had already appeared at the door. She glanced at Li Zhen meaningfully and said lightly: "Come with me."

Li Zhen followed her into the court room. Shangguan Wan'er was obviously a little unhappy and asked coldly: "How are you going to report your Fangzhou investigation results to the emperor?"

Li Zhen was prepared in his heart and smiled and said, "I have found out the facts. King Luling did not recruit troops or private samurai. Although some people in Fangzhou recruited samurai among the victims of the disaster, it was done by Goryeo's resumption of the National Assembly, with a population of about a hundred, which has nothing to do with King Luling."

"Do you have any evidence?" Shangguan Wan'er's face calmed down a little.

"Pei Shunqing, the county magistrate of Xiangcheng County, is the evidence, and there is also the shopkeeper of Jishengtang Pharmacy. Beizhi has found out that they are from the Goryeo Restoration of the Congress. After the assassination of the King of Luling, they all fled. Jishengtang Pharmacy even bought medicinal materials and appeared in Fangzhou for a long time. They were the ones who privately recruited warriors."

Shangguan Wan'er has already received Xie Ying's report and knows the truth in Fangzhou. She plans to ask Li Zhen to blame the private samurai to the Wei family. Unexpectedly, Li Zhen actually found the scapegoat of Goryeo Restoration of the Congress. Although there is no conclusive evidence, it is barely reasonable.

Shangguan Wan'er pondered for a moment, then nodded, "Okay, please write me a detailed report first, including the details of the assassination of Xiangcheng County. The emperor is more concerned about what happened in Xiangcheng County. Do you understand?"

"Unclear job"

The two were silent for a moment, and Shangguan Wan'er looked at him again and asked, "Did you shoot Yang Pei?"

"How could Shangguan Sheren think that it was me?"

"I feel like you are intuition."

Li Zhen made sufficient preparations before and afterwards, and even the shopkeeper and the inn did not know whether they were coming or leaving. They left no traces, and no one saw them unless it was speculation. So Shangguan Wan'er said that she was intuition, which was also within Li Zhen's expectations.

Although Li Zhen could completely deny that it was his own actions, he repeatedly weighed the pros and cons, feeling that his wings were far from hard and that he had no capital to confront Shangguan Wan'er. He pondered for a moment, then nodded and admitted: "The sacrificing right is indeed a humble job."

Shangguan Wan'er's face eased significantly, and she showed a smile. Li Zhen's attitude was the key. Her dissatisfaction was immediately eliminated and she said, "I asked Yao Xi to send you a letter. Actually, I hope you can rescue Yang Pei, and I don't want you to kill him. Is it the order Li Xian gave you?"

Li Zhen shook his head, "The King of Luling did not give me any instructions. I just greeted Li Chongrun and went south with Di Yan. Although I also wanted to rescue them, I found that I could not do it. The opportunity was fleeting at that time. Unless I killed him, I would not have a chance."

Shangguan Wan'er sighed, "Although killing Yang Pei is also a good way, Yang Pei is Xingtang Huiguyu. I am worried that I can't explain to Li Xian. Well, I can only refuse to admit that you killed Yang Pei. In addition to you and Di Yan, there is a third person who knows that you killed Yang Pei?"

"Sheren is the third person, and there is no fourth person besides that."

Shangguan Wan'er nodded, she walked a few steps behind her hands, and said to Li Zhen: "You wrote a letter to tell me that there is still a mysterious force in Fangzhou that attacked the officials of Dali Temple and Lai Junchen. I asked Shangqing Tower to investigate the matter carefully. Although there is no conclusive evidence, I already know who did it. Have you thought of it?

"Wei Zhi suspected that he was the King of Xiang."

"You guessed it right. The investigation results of Shangqing Tower are also related to King Xiang, which is indeed unexpected."

The two were silent again. After a long time, Li Zhen asked again: "Today, Beizhi heard a lot of people discussing the Xingtang Association in the wine shop. Who spread the news?"

"Who else will be there besides Wu Sansi? This man was two-faced and pretended to publicly impeach Lai Junchen at the court meeting a few days ago. As a result, he was scolded by the emperor. He did not dare to cause trouble for Lai Junchen anymore, and turned around to deal with the Xingtang Association. Although he and Lai Junchen had conflicts of interest, their goals were completely the same in dealing with the Xingtang Association. They both wanted to eradicate the Li royal family. It seemed that the Xingtang Association was getting worse and worse."

Shangguan Wan'er sighed softly. The emperor was surprised to see that her idea of ​​replacing Li with Wu clan still remained in her heart and would not be removed for a while.

Shangguan Wan'er even suspected that the emperor relaxed the suppression of Li Dan and Li Xian was actually a strategy of playing hard to get. The purpose was to lead the Xingtang Association and then fight the Xingtang Association in one go. Shangguan Wan'er felt very heavy in her heart, and she didn't want the Li family to be replaced by Wu family.

Thinking of this, she said to Li Zhen: "The water at Xingtang Club is very deep. You can watch for the time being. Don't be easily involved. Be sure to obey my arrangements. This is for your own good."

Shangguan Wan'er seemed to think this was inappropriate, and after thinking about it, he said, "I will not stand by and watch the case of Xingtanghui, but we need to wait for the opportunity to come before taking action.

"I understand."
Chapter completed!