"The situation in the court is calm on the surface, but in fact it is undercurrents and various contradictions are intertwined, which has my personal honor, disgrace, gains and losses, and the future of the Tang Dynasty."

Di Renjie sighed deeply and whispered: "The Emperor is likely to make Wu Sansi the crown prince."

Li Zhen was also shocked and hurriedly said, "If Wu Sansi ascended the throne, there might be chaos in the world. Has the emperor not considered it?"

"The Lord was confused by the Zhang brothers and was no longer as awake as before. I advised her, but she couldn't hear her at all. What should I do?"

Speaking of this, Di Renjie looked at Li Zhen, "I know that the son-in-law is very capable. Do you think there is any way to save him?"

Li Zhen pondered for a moment and asked again: "Is Wu Sansi favored because of the Zhang brothers?"

Di Renjie nodded, "I heard that Wu Sansi has spent more than hundreds of thousands of yuan on the Zhang brothers in the past two years, and he also promised them to ensure their glory and prosperity for generations. Only then did the Zhang brothers speak for Wu Sansi with all their might. Although this is just a rumor, I believe that reality will only be even more serious than the rumor."

Li Zhen smiled and said, "If you want to break this situation, you should first remove the firewood from the bottom of the pot so that the Zhang brothers no longer support Wu Sansi, at least stay neutral. Secondly, deal with Wu Sansi, appearing in major unfavorable things for him, and finally persuading the emperor to explain the reason and move him with emotions. What does his father-in-law think?"

In fact, Di Renjie has considered the solution that Li Zhen thought, but Li Zhen was able to clarify his ideas in a short period of time. It was indeed very powerful. Di Renjie secretly praised in his heart, and a glimmer of hope arose in his heart and asked, "Does the son-in-law have a specific plan?"

"Please ask my father-in-law to think about it. Maybe tomorrow morning, I will have a solution."

In fact, Di Renjie wanted to discuss with Li Zhen the power struggle between the Guanhe Mansion and the Zhengshi Hall, but this matter was far less important than Wu Sansi's decision to be made the crown prince. Di Renjie stopped mentioning this matter. He stroked his beard with anticipation and smiled: "Then I'm waiting for good news from the son-in-law."...

It was already late at night, and Li Zhen paced back and forth in the room with his hands behind his back. During the day, he just sorted out his ideas. These are the general tricks of the power fight, such as cutting off the firewood from the cauldron, head-on confrontation and the upper level route, and adding some small tricks such as hidden arrows and ambushing, and they are almost inseparable from everyone. So he can quickly tell his ideas for Wu Sansi.

However, the specific method was a bit embarrassing. It must be effective and completely shaken Wu Sansi's position, but it cannot make him too involved. It also prevents the Zhang brothers in the dynasty and the people from supporting Wu Sansi. In fact, this is the difficulty. What are the Zhang brothers most afraid of?

Li Zhen thought hard and wrote down the thoughts on paper from time to time

Di Yan didn't sleep well at her parents' house and woke up before dawn. She was a little worried about the child, so she got up and went to the next room. The three children were sleeping very sweetly, but Di Yan accidentally found that the lights were still on in the small room on the east side.

She was slightly stunned and walked to the door quickly. Through the crack of the door, she saw her husband Li Zhen sitting at the table and writing something.

"Husband, have you... not sleep all night?" Di Yan asked in surprise.

"Yeah! I can't sleep."

Li Zhen rubbed his eyes, which were red and red, and asked with a smile: "When is it now?"

"The fifth update has passed."

Di Yan was angry and heartbroken. They worked hard all the way and didn't have a good rest. They finally returned to Luoyang and prepared to have a good rest. Unexpectedly, her husband stayed up for another night. She walked up to her and refused to allow Li Zhen to write again. She said angrily: "You go and sleep for a while. My father is really too much. We just arrived and we held you to do things and let people live."

Li Zhen smiled apologetically and said, "It's going to be done soon. Let me finish it. I'll have a nap in the morning and start doing things in the afternoon."

Li Zhen grabbed the pen from Di Yan's hand and pushed her out of the room and said with a smile: "You go to bed, and you will have to accompany your grandmother tomorrow, so you can't be too tired."

Di Yan was also very tired and couldn't hold on anymore, so she told Li Zhen a few words and turned back to the room.

Li Zhen pondered for a moment and wrote down the last strategy. This matter requires Li Dan or Li Xian to come forward in person...

In the afternoon, in a small tavern near the gate of Nanshi City, Li Zhen secretly met Li Chongrun. After not seeing him for several years, Li Chongrun seemed to have grown a lot older, and his attitude towards Li Zhen was far less enthusiastic than before, and even a bit perfunctory.

Li Zhen also felt the change in Li Chongrun's attitude, and the careful plan he had originally formulated was immediately discounted. He was no longer the energetic inner guard commander of the past, and became more cautious. He guessed that the change in Li Chongrun's attitude towards him was probably related to his preference for Li Dan.

"I asked Brother Chongrun to come out today. I mainly want to say hello to Ling Zun's situation. I heard that Ling Zun felt seriously ill three years ago. I wonder if he is in good health now?"

Li Xian had a blow three years ago. It is said that he was lying in bed for nearly a year, but it has gradually improved in the past two years. In fact, Li Chongrun's cold attitude towards Li Zhen was not only because Li Zhen favored Li Dan, but also because his father was not in good health, which made him a little discouraged.

He said lightly: "Thank you General Li for your concern. My father's health has gradually improved. He has not been very concerned about outside affairs in the past two years."

Li Chongrun’s implication was that he hoped that Li Zhen would not disturb his father again. Li Zhen understood what he meant and smiled and said, “I just hope Lingzun’s health will improve as soon as possible, and there is no other intention.”

"Since that's the case, I still have something to do, so I'll take a step first."

Li Chongrun stood up, bowed to Li Zhen, turned around and left quickly. Li Zhen stared at his back and walked away. Seeing that Wu Sansi was about to become the crown prince, Li Xian and his son were indifferent, which made Li Zhen feel a little disappointed.

Li Chongrun hurried back to the royal palace. In fact, he was also anxious about Wu Sansi's desire to take the position of crown prince. However, since his father fell seriously ill, his mother's affairs were all decided by his mother. His father seemed a little discouraged and no longer expected to regain the throne, which made Li Chongrun helpless.

Just as he was about to enter the gate of the back house, a guard blocked his way and said to him coldly: "Young Master, Madam, let you go."

Li Chongrun glared at the guard fiercely and had to turn back to the central hall. In the central hall, Princess Wei was discussing income and expenditure with her nephew Wei Bo.

Princess Wei Lian took advantage of her husband's chance to get seriously ill in the past two years and regained the dominance of the Luling Prince's Mansion. She is also quite skilled. On the one hand, she comforted her husband and made him rely on her step by step. On the other hand, she abides by the wife's manners and no longer does anything to anger her husband.

More importantly, she firmly controlled the financial power of the Luling Prince's Mansion in her hands, and any income and expenditure had to be approved by her, which completely controlled her husband Li Xian, and Li Xian had no choice but to let her mercy.

Once Wei Lian took power, she relied on her parents' family even more. Wei Bo was her most trusted confidant. The more than 100,000 chunks of money that the Dugu family gave to Li Xian every year are now mainly handed over through Wei Bo, so Wei Bo has actually replaced Li Chongrun as the external contact person of the Luling Prince's Mansion.

If Li Zhen looks for him, it means finding the right person, but Li Zhen is not aware of it, so he still looks for Li Chongrun, so naturally there will be no effect.

"Reporting to my aunt, I have allocated half of the money from the Dugu family to Qilin Villa according to my aunt's request. I am planning to recruit another 800 warriors this year, and the armor and weapons are all in place."

Although Li Xian was a little discouraged, Wei Lian became more ambitious. She didn't want to give up her husband's chance to fight for the throne. Since she controlled the financial power of the royal palace, she had to spend all her money on the blade. At that time, the Wei family trained hundreds of warriors in Fangzhou, and only then did she cover it up with Li Zhen's help.

Now Wu Zetian is old and weak, and is addicted to the various games of the two Zhangs. His control over the Xingtang Association and his two sons is not as strict as before. Wei Lian seized the opportunity to purchase a large area of ​​land and hills in the Xingyang area, built a Qilin Villa covering an area of ​​thousands of hectares, and began to secretly recruit soldiers and horses. At present, three thousand soldiers have been recruited, and another Wei son, Wei Song, will be trained and managed.

Wei Lian nodded and said, "Add 20% of the money given to the villa. I heard from Song'er that the villa's cavalry is insufficient, so I consider recruiting some Hu people to form cavalry. It may be very expensive, but I think it is very necessary. This year's recruitment will mainly focus on Hu people who are good at riding and shooting!"

Wei Bo wanted to say a few more words, but at this time Li Chongrun walked in quickly. Wei Bo immediately shut up. He and Li Chongrun had a bad relationship, and the two were even very hostile. Li Chongrun did not dare to resist his mother, so he vented his anger on the Wei brothers.

Of course, Wei Bo also hated Li Chongrun and his brother Li Chongjun. They had more than once in private, but every time Princess Wei favored the Wei brothers, which made Li Chongrun even more angry with Wei and made Wei Bo even more arrogant.

Wei Bo did not leave because Li Chongrun entered the lobby, but stood aside and looked at him coldly. Li Chongrun's hostile gaze shot towards Wei Bo. The two of them touched each other, and the atmosphere in the lobby suddenly became tense.

Wei Lian snorted dissatisfiedly and asked Li Chongrun, "Who are you going to meet today?"

"You are a mother, the child has not gone to see anyone." Li Chongrun bowed and replied.

"nonsense!"

Wei Lian slapped the table heavily and shouted angrily: "Do you think you can hide it from me? Say! Who are you going to meet?"

Only then did Li Chongrun realize that his whereabouts had been monitored by his mother. He had no choice but to tell the truth, "The child knew his mistake. Today Li Zhen sent someone to find the child, and the child went to Nanshi to meet him."

"Oh? Tell me quickly, what did he ask you for?" Wei Lian was obviously very interested in Li Zhen's return. She knew that Li Zhen must have made some attempts when he appeared at this sensitive time.

"I didn't say anything. He just cared about his father's body. I told him that his father has gradually recovered."

"No! He can't just talk about this when he comes to you. Chongrun, do you still want to hide it from me?" Wei Lian's tone began to become stern again.

Li Chongrun sighed and said, "Maybe he wanted to say something, but the child was not interested, so he didn't continue. The mother should know that the child didn't even have a cup of tea when he met him."

Wei Lian knew that he was telling the truth. Li Chongrun came out in a short time when he entered the restaurant. There was no major issue at that time. She was a little dissatisfied and said, "Why are you not interested?"

Li Chongrun finally couldn't help but burst out. He pointed at Wei Bo and whispered: "With him here, what does the mother's big business have to do with the child?"

After shouting, Li Chongrun immediately regretted it, knelt on the ground, lowered his head and said nothing. Wei Lian stared at his useless son viciously. After a while, she waved her hand, "Go down the useless thing!"

Li Chongrun gritted his teeth, got up and left quickly without looking back.

Wei Lian kept looking at him and couldn't help but fall into deep thought again. She believed that Li Zhen must have something important, no! If it was involved in the dispute over the throne, she must not be passive. She must know what Li Zhen wanted to do?

Thinking of this, she waved and called Wei Bo forward, and said in a low voice. After giving a few instructions, Wei Bo nodded repeatedly, "Please rest assured, my nephew will definitely not disappoint my aunt."...

In contrast to Li Chongrun's indifference, the meeting between Li Zhen and Li Chengqi was very effective. Li Chengqi certainly knew that the situation was critical now. Seeing that the emperor's grandmother was becoming more and more inclined to the Wu family and was about to pass the throne to Wu Sansi, Li Dan and his son were anxious. Li Dan even considered contacting members of the Xingtang Association. Once Wu Sansi was made the crown prince, the Li royal family would raise troops in various places to condemn them.

When Li Zhen arrived at this critical moment, he immediately gave Li Dan great confidence and hope. He hoped that Li Zhen could turn the tide as before and prevent Wu Sansi from taking office.

"My father-in-law talked to me yesterday, and I also thought about it overnight and came up with a rough plan. We need to do three things, one thing for me, another thing for my father-in-law, and another thing for His Highness the Prime Minister himself."

As he said that, Li Zhen handed a scroll to Li Chengqi, "This is the plan I'm considering."

Li Chengqi took the scroll and browsed it quickly. He couldn't help but secretly shouted. It was indeed a clever strategy. He asked again: "Does my father have to come forward? For example, how about I come forward on behalf of my father?"

Li Zhen shook his head, "Only His Highness the Prime Minister comes forward personally, it is convincing, but you can arrange this meeting and try to hide as much as possible and not let anyone know."

Li Chengqi was right to think about it. The effect of his appearance was far from that of his father. He pondered for a moment, and asked a little worriedly: "Does the general think the Zhang brothers will surrender?"

Li Zhen smiled slightly, "I know Zhang Changzong very well, including Zhang Yizhi. They already have enough power and wealth, and no longer care about more money. Their weakness lies in fear of death. Only by threatening them with death can they restrain themselves. Sometimes they hit the key points directly, which is much more effective than asking them to do so."

"Okay! I will tell my father that we will try to follow this plan as much as possible. If there are any changes, I will contact the general in time."
Chapter completed!