The Bad Guys: Playing the Fake Li Xingyun at the Beginning

The imperial court wanted to grow stronger and take back power, but these people would never give up. If they were not defeated, the imperial court would never be able to achieve substantive unification of the Central Plains, let alone march south to unify the nine provinces.

To achieve all this, they must rely on the Jinyiwei.

Soon, the court meeting ended and all the officials left with mixed feelings. What happened in the court today was too shocking and they needed to digest it carefully.

Chapter 89 A complete defeat

The sun rose high, and the bright sunlight shone on the earth. The ice and snow melted, and the snow water fell down under the eaves like beads that had broken off the string. Li Siyuan walked out of the Tai Chi Hall, and the dazzling sunlight shone on the steps, which actually made him a little blinded.

In a trance, he actually felt a hint of coldness and subconsciously tightened his royal robe.

This time, he lost miserably.

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Qianqiu Palace.

Su Ming changed into his casual clothes and sat at the table, next to Zhang Zifan, Lu Linxuan, and the Empress. He had a happy smile on his face, "Brother Zhang, you missed a good show at the court meeting today."

Zhang Zifan was on leave today, and was called over by Su Ming right after the morning. He thought something had happened, and was confused. He looked at Lu Linxuan, and when he saw the other shaking his head, he asked, "What big thing happened again?"

Su Ming picked up the teacup and took a sip of tea, then cleared his throat. "At the court meeting today, Li Siyuan suffered a great loss. If he hadn't been lucky, his body might have been cold by now."

Hearing this, Zhang Zifan and Lu Linxuan's eyes lit up and they immediately became interested. "Oh? Tell me quickly, what happened?"

The empress sat quietly at the side, sipping her tea slowly, with a smile on her face, a hint of tenderness in her eyes, and she didn't say a word.

Su Ming showed a frivolous smile on his face, took out the Longquan treasure box from his sleeve and slapped it on the table, "Look, what is this?"

Seeing the Longquan Treasure Box on the table, Zhang Zifan and Lu Linxuan's pupils shrank and they cried out in horror, "Longquan Treasure Box!" Then they quickly stepped back, fearing that they would be killed by this thing.

After all, Zhu Youwen died from the Longquan Treasure Box, and this incident left a deep impression on them.

The two men's subconscious actions stunned Su Ming and the Empress. Zhang Zifan showed an embarrassed look on his face and asked, "Brother Li, how did the Longquan Treasure Box come to you? And what does this have to do with Li Siyuan's loss?"

Su Ming glanced at the Empress. "Of course, the Dragon Spring Treasure Box was able to return to my hands thanks to the Empress. If it weren't for her, I would have thought that this thing had disappeared."

The empress smiled faintly and explained, "I took the Longquan treasure box from the Black and White Impermanence. After the battle at Qianling Mausoleum, I had been secretly investigating their whereabouts. Later, I finally found them, and the treasure box naturally came into my hands."

Su Ming nodded and said with emotion, "Yes, in Qianling Mausoleum, the Black and White Impermanence did pick up the leak, but I didn't expect that you would be behind it. Now the two brothers and sisters have returned to Xuanming Sect to work. It really makes me feel that the world is unpredictable."

Speaking of the Black and White Impermanence, Lu Linxuan still had some grudges in his heart, "Brother, these two brothers and sisters are not good people, you have to be careful."

Su Ming raised his lips and said, "Don't worry. They can only do some dirty and tiring work in Xuanming Sect. I will send them to the grassland to harm the alien races. I believe they will be very happy."

Indeed, in the Central Plains, the brother and sister knew that the Xuanming Sect was controlled by the Emperor, and they had always felt resentful. After all, they had so much hatred before, and if the Emperor was in a good mood and wanted to take revenge one day, they would not be able to escape.

Going to the border grassland to fish is just what they want. Although it is a bit far away and the environment and conditions are much worse, they are far away and can escape in time if something goes wrong.

Seeing Su Ming say this, Lu Linxuan felt relieved.

"At the court meeting today, King Qi presented the Longquan Treasure Box on the spot, and Li Siyuan questioned it. King Qi then handed the Longquan Treasure Box to him and asked him to examine it, but he didn't dare to say a word."

After saying that, Su Ming also joked, "If he had really opened the Longquan Treasure Box at that time, it would have been a lot of fun."

In fact, if Li Siyuan really opened the Longquan treasure box, Su Ming would be in trouble and would have to save him. Even if Li Siyuan died, he could not die so miserably and without any value.

If he was really killed by the Longquan Treasure Box, the military governors in the Taiji Hall would be furious. The world would be in turmoil and might even fall into war again.

However, apart from him and the empress, Lu Linxuan and the others were not clear about the reason.

Zhang Zifan looked at the Longquan treasure box on the table. He could fully imagine the scene at that time. An expression of regret appeared on his face. "It's a pity that he escaped." Lu Linxuan nodded in sympathy, sharing the same hatred for the enemy.

Su Ming continued, "With the merit of presenting the Longquan treasure box, I will let King Qi serve as the Minister of the Central Secretariat and take charge of the Central Secretariat. From now on, I will no longer be isolated and helpless in the court."

Speaking of this, Su Ming's eyes were full of emotion.

After enduring for half a year, it was finally not easy to take this crucial step.

If it was Li Xingyun sitting on the dragon throne, he might have been tortured to death by Li Siyuan. When it comes to political tactics, ten of him cannot compare to one Li Siyuan, let alone himself.

The empress, who had been observing Su Ming, couldn't help but feel a little pity when she saw his expression. With his temper, it was really hard for him to endure for so long in the past six months.

No one knows how exhausting that position is.

But the empress understood this well, because ever since she took the throne of King Qi, she had been under great pressure, not to mention that she was now sitting on the throne of the Son of Heaven and had powerful ministers like Li Siyuan under her.

What her brother left her was a powerful Qi Kingdom, which almost formed a three-way tie with Jin and Liang in the Central Plains. Unfortunately, she came to the throne in a hurry and could not support the country alone. After the empress truly transformed into a qualified king, the Qi Kingdom fell into decline and withdrew from the stage of competing for world domination.

Zhang Zifan naturally knew about Su Ming's situation in the court, and said happily, "Brother Li, congratulations, you can finally free up your hands to deal with Li Siyuan. Now that King Qi is here, let's see how arrogant he can be!"

Lu Linxuan nodded like a chicken pecking at rice and wrinkled his nose. "Yes, if it weren't for him, I wouldn't be stuck in the Imperial City all day and wouldn't dare to go out."

Su Ming smiled comfortingly, "Don't worry, Junior Sister. From now on, you can leave the palace whenever you want. No one can stop you, and no one dares to touch you."

With Prince Qi in Luoyang, Li Siyuan certainly wouldn't dare to act as recklessly as before. If he were caught, he would definitely be in a passive position in the court. He was not that stupid.

Things are different now than before. He can't cover the sky with one hand, and naturally he can't do anything dirty to deal with Lu Linxuan and Zhang Zifan.

This is the rule. In the past, Li Siyuan had no scruples and could trample on the rules and distort them to a certain extent. But now, it is not so easy.

This is why emperors of all dynasties liked to play checks and balances.

If there are enemies, one will be restrained and cautious. If there are no enemies, one will let go of oneself and even eventually threaten the imperial power.

Chapter 90 Out of Control

"I'm not that important. To deal with Li Siyuan, we have to rely on Li Xingyun. He is the emperor, and I am at most an assistant to the emperor. Whether he can succeed depends on himself." The empress glanced at Su Ming and said lightly.

Su Ming smiled slightly, "Now that Prince Qi has entered the court, he has established a foundation and a banner in the court. I believe that soon there will be ministers who will lean towards you. It's not that there are no ministers in the court who are loyal to me all along, but they are insignificant and not powerful enough to fight against Li Siyuan."

"Once they surrender to me, they will be suppressed and targeted by Li Siyuan immediately. I can't protect them, so they have been hiding in the court and dare not show their heads."

Nowadays, even a loyal minister must learn to judge the situation and avoid the limelight when necessary. If you insist on resisting, you will be useless except being targeted as an example.

The feudal lords were in power, the imperial court changed its orders every day, and the people in power changed one after another. The ministers who could get a place in the court all had a certain political sense. Of course, those who were interested could see Su Ming's forbearance and lurking.

King Qi is a banner that can gather ministers loyal to the emperor and speculators eager to make achievements. They are under the command of King Qi, and King Qi can protect them from being targeted by Li Siyuan, unlike Su Ming before, who was a commander without troops and could do nothing.

"If it weren't for the sudden rise of Prince Qi in the court today, I'm afraid Li Siyuan and his men would have forced the emperor to abdicate."

Zhang Zifan was stunned, "Force the emperor to abdicate?"

Su Ming nodded, "They want me to start a harem, marry a queen, and expand the Li Tang bloodline." When the Tang Dynasty fell, the Li Tang bloodline was almost dead. There may be many branches, but the only one of the Tang bloodline that is truly recognized by the world is Li Xingyun.

Zhang Zifan smiled and winked at him, saying, "Brother Li, you are the emperor, isn't it normal to have a harem? I have been advising you before."

Su Ming glanced at him and said, "Brother Zhang, saying it in private is different from saying it in public. Yelu Abaoji's daughter is a foreigner. I can't possibly marry her as my queen. Forget it."

"However, I thought about what you said before for a long time, and I think it does make some sense. Now that the ministers have said so, I have no choice but to marry. This is not just a matter for me, but a matter for the country."

"Besides, I can't always find an adopted son to take over from me." Although his expression was calm when he said this, everyone could hear the helplessness in his words.

The reason why Li Congke succeeded Li Siyuan was because Li Congke was too powerful and his own son could not control the situation at all. Guo Wei of Later Zhou let Chai Rong succeed him because he was infertile.

Su Ming is so young now, it is far from the time for him to raise an adopted son. What's more, if he did so, Yuan Tiangang would be the first one to disagree.

In fact, this was Su Ming's last struggle. After this, no one could stop him from starting a harem, not even the inexplicable Ji Ruxue!

The three of them looked at each other and knew that he still couldn't let go of Ji Ruxue.

Sure enough, next, they began to persuade themselves.

Zhang Zifan sighed softly, "Brother Li, look at it more positively. You are the emperor now. You will have to face these things sooner or later. You can't escape them."

Lu Linxuan also comforted him, "Brother, I know you are deeply in love with Miss Xue'er, but you can't always be single like this. Sometimes, you always need to have someone you can talk to by your side."

Su Ming didn't say anything, just sighed and nodded silently.

Seeing his attitude, Lu Linxuan and Zhang Zifan understood that he had acquiesced.

After a moment of silence, Su Ming continued the previous topic, "Next year, the court will probably hold a beauty contest to select outstanding women with clean backgrounds to fill the harem. If it weren't for Prince Qi here today, Li Siyuan and those military governors would definitely force me to abdicate. They are very important, more important than all the ministers in the court combined."

"Next, you can imagine that under such circumstances, I had to agree. These Jiedushi hold heavy troops and guard one side. If one fails to handle them properly, it will easily lead to a war."

"My reputation being ruined is nothing, but the peace in the world has been disrupted. The people have finally had a few days of peace, but now they have to suffer again. This is something I absolutely do not want to see and have always tried to avoid."

At this point, he glanced at the Empress and said, "That's why I said that today was very dangerous. Fortunately, we took the initiative and did not create a fait accompli that would have caused them to fail."

If Li Siyuan and his men made the first move, Su Ming would certainly give in. Even if Prince Qi became the Minister of the Central Secretariat, he would not be able to overturn the established facts. He could only follow Li Siyuan's rhythm, counter his moves, and run around in a hurry.

In the court and in Luoyang, Prince Qi's power was definitely not as strong as Li Siyuan's. Moreover, he took office as the Minister of the Central Secretariat in a hurry and had no time to integrate the available people in the court. How could he compete with Li Siyuan for the dominant power? He could not win at all.

Now, pushing the time to next year will give him a chance to catch his breath. King Qi can use this time to gather useful people in the court. By then, he can compete with Li Siyuan and will not be defeated in a few moves.

The empress nodded silently. With her wisdom, it was not difficult for her to realize the situation at that time. Li Siyuan was caught off guard, lost the initiative, and had to terminate the plan.

Forcing abdicate is a powerful weapon, which can only be used once but not twice. Forcing abdicate by civil officials has no deterrent effect at all. Only the military governors have such power.

It's a pity that Prince Qi was the first to reach the top. He was not only the top military governor, but also a top civil servant. With him in front, the military governors would not be able to exert their due power even if they forced the emperor to abdicate. Instead, they would lose the rules because of this matter.

If the imperial court holds them accountable afterwards, they will all suffer in name only.

Therefore, Li Siyuan urgently called a halt, but Du Ziming, a fool, failed to judge the situation and charged forward headfirst, exposing their plan to the public.

After the beginning of next spring, the forces of King Qi and King Jin in the court will surely fight openly and secretly over this matter. This has set the tone. However, it is a good thing that the struggle in the court is limited to a certain matter.

Only in this way can Su Ming develop slowly and gradually gain control of the military power. Once his troops are strong and powerful, the reckoning will begin.

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Jin Palace.

After the court session, Li Siyuan went straight back to his house without saying a word. When his trusted ministers such as An Zhonghui and Ren Huan came to his house to ask for a meeting, he closed the door and refused to meet them.

What happened today was such a huge blow to him, so big that he felt terrified.

Even when the emperor had caused him to suffer losses in the court before, he did not feel this kind of fear because the situation was getting out of his control.

No, it was out of his control. The moment Prince Qi became the Minister of the Central Secretariat, the situation was no longer under his control.

Chapter 91 The corners of his mouth rose wildly

The emperor's plan was simply to get the Ministry of Rites out of his control. There were so many government offices in the court, most of which were staffed by his people, so the Ministry of Rites was nothing.

But the arrival of King Qi will completely break this situation, and everything he has carefully built will no longer exist.

Li Siyuan would never forget that the current imperial court's country name was Tang, and it was still using the reign title before the Great Tang Dynasty. The emperor sitting on the dragon throne was of Li Tang bloodline, and the Great Tang Dynasty had only been destroyed for a dozen years.

The three hundred years of the Tang Dynasty is a very deep mark that is difficult to erase without the passage of a long period of time.

Li Siyuan has been working hard for this all along. He had planned to abandon it after completing his expansion in the name of the Tang Dynasty, but now he has not had time to expand and clean up the power in the court, and this name has begun to restrict him.

When Prince Qi enters the court, he will gather ministers loyal to the Tang Dynasty and his political enemies. In the past, these people did not dare to show up because there was no influential person to protect them.

And King Qi is one of the few people in the world who has such weight.

At this moment, Li Siyuan slumped in his chair, his usually calm face filled with dejection and regret.