Chapter 473 The Queen’s Choice

Although the "New Emperor Plan" is in secret, some clues it reveals inadvertently still make people realize something. Various rumors began to spread in the neighborhoods of Chang'an. After being exaggerated and exaggerated, many ridiculous results were finally formed. For example, the emperor voluntarily went to the Western Regions to establish a new country, leaving the Tang Dynasty to the crown prince, and for example, the aristocratic families are secretly connecting and preparing to restore the aristocratic government affairs, etc. These absurd rumors can only be spread among ordinary foolish men and stupid women, and the people in the court sneered at this, but this changed rumor just concealed the truth. At the same time, it also made the participants of the "New Emperor Plan" more careful and cautious. In the following days, the rumors disappeared.

It has been a month since the emperor left Chang'an. The New Emperor Party members received news that the emperor's team had passed Yangguan and were continuing to march towards Beiting. The powerful and powerful people who participated in the "New Emperor Plan" had reached 44 people. If they dragged it back, the news might really be leaked. Several core backbones discussed overnight. Han Huan, the prime minister who was most loyal to Zhang Huan, set off yesterday to Huazhou to inspect the wheat harvest. He has not been in Chang'an these days. It is the best time. They unanimously agreed that the conditions have been ripe.

At noon, after handling a few court affairs, the prince Li Qi hurried to the harem. When his father left, he repeatedly instructed him to ask him to ask his mother and queen every three days. Although today is not a day to ask for peace, since Li Qi was going to inspect the wheat harvest tomorrow morning, he came to visit her mother and queen in advance.

Li Qi was guided by an eunuch and went to the bedroom of her mother. A palace maid went in to report. Li Qi stood at the door quietly waiting for her mother's summons, but his heart was very nervous. He was still thinking about what Pei You said to him in the morning. Although Pei You said it was very implicit, Li Qi still understood what he meant and actually hoped that he could ascend the throne in advance. Although he did not say the specific time, Li Qi still suddenly remembered the rumors he had heard recently. Is the rumors true? Li Qi is only sixteen years old this year, and he was a little confused when he suddenly encountered a major choice in life.

At this time, a palace maid came out and bowed to him and said, "Your Highness, the Empress, please go in."

Li Qi interrupted her thoughts and quickly walked into her mother's bedroom.

In the room, Pei Ying was concentrating on embroidering a beautiful picture of mountains and rivers. Life in the harem was generally boring. During the war, everyone would sew shoes and socks for the soldiers, and their lives were fulfilling. But in peacetime, they became dull. Either reading and writing poems or embroidery and brocade. Everyone was looking for their own hobbies. Pei Ying's hobbies were calligraphy and embroidery. Calligraphy was the hobbies of grandfather and father, and embroidery was the interest that was slowly cultivated after marrying Zhang Huan.

Hearing the footsteps behind her, Pei Ying put down the needle and thread and turned around with a smile. She saw her handsome son strode towards her. She was extremely relieved that her son could handle national affairs independently.

"Children, please meet the mother!" Li Qi bowed deeply to her mother.

"Why is the emperor here today? Doesn't it mean that the genius is here?" Pei Ying took a few snacks and put them in front of her son, and asked with a loving smile.

"Reporting to the mother, the child will go to the field for inspection tomorrow morning and may not have time to visit the mother, so the child came in advance and disturbed the mother. Please forgive me!"

Pei Ying shook her head and smiled, "You silly kid, you are willing to visit your mother. It's too late for me to be happy, so why would you blame you? Come, sit down."

Li Qi sat in front of his mother, and he remembered what Pei You said again. Maybe his mother could know something, but he didn't want to disturb his mother with this matter, so he couldn't help but hesitate.

The son's subtle changes could not be hidden from Pei Ying's eyes. She saw the melancholy in her son's eyes and asked with concern: "Qi'er, what happened?"

"It's nothing! It's just the second grandfather... Forget it, the child can handle it himself." A hint of panic flashed in Li Qi's eyes.

Seeing that her son's eyes were flustered, Pei Ying suddenly became alert in her heart. Her second grandfather was Pei You. Her husband was not in Chang'an. The Pei family should not take the opportunity to use Qier to achieve any goal. She immediately said to the palace maid next to her: "You all retreat."

After several palace maids stepped down, Pei Ying immediately asked seriously: "Tell your mother the truth, what did Pei You ask you for?"

"The second grandfather came to the East Palace this morning..." Li Qi was afraid of her mother since childhood. Although he was very reluctant, he still hesitated to tell her what Pei You said to her mother, and finally said, "I heard some rumors recently and I was very worried."

Speaking of this, Li Qi suddenly closed her mouth. He found that his mother's face changed drastically. What surged in her eyes was not anger, but a deep fear, a look he had never seen in his sixteen years. He felt a little nervous. Could it be that Pei You wanted to rebel?

Pei Ying was already shocked at this moment. In order to save the land, the Pei family actually wanted to depose the emperor and support the prince as the new emperor. She couldn't believe it was true. She stared blankly outside the hall. A sense of fear that had never been seen in more than ten years permeated every inch of her skin. How could the Pei family be so stupid? This would not only push the Pei family into a state of unbreakable destruction, but also make herself and her son their burials. Pei Ying really knew her husband so much. He started from scratch and finally became the 195th Lord. I don't know how much struggle and killing it took to get it. Even Cui Yuan and his father were not his opponents. The second uncle actually planned to overthrow him. Pei Ying suddenly felt like she wanted to cry, "Uncle II, how could you be so stupid!"

She stood up and said to her son: "Mom is going to the Pei family. You immediately order someone to recall the Prime Minister Han. You must discuss this with Prime Minister Han. Never listen to Pei You. Do you remember it?"

Li Qi nodded, "I remember it."

Pei Ying had no time to clean up, so she immediately issued an order to prepare Feng Jia, so she hurried out to the door. When she walked to the door, she reminded her son again, "You must remember that except for listening to the words of Prime Minister Han, no one else can listen to, otherwise we, mother and son, will die without a place to bury."

"Please don't worry, my mother, I really remember it."

Generally speaking, the empress and other concubines are not allowed to leave the palace at will without the emperor's permission, and the receptionist must go through a long period of preparation in advance, just like the Yuan Concubine visiting relatives in Dream of Red Mansions, but this is only a normal rule. When an emergency occurs, the harem can also be temporarily left. This is the case with Pei Ying today. Just after the afternoon, the three hundred cavalry palace guards rushed out of the Daming Palace, but when they left the Zuoyintai Gate, they were stopped by the Yulin Army.

"The general has an order, no one can leave the Daming Palace."

The captain who was guarding Feng Jia was furious and shouted sternly: "Bastard! This is the Queen's Feng Jia, do you dare to stop him?"

Dozens of gatekeepers were so scared that they were trembling and pleaded: "This is a strict order issued by the General, and we dare not disobey."

At this time, Pei Ying opened the curtain and said to the soldiers: "I don't make things difficult for you. Go and call your general on duty, and I will tell him."

After a moment, Qin Yu, the general on duty, hurried over. He knelt down on one knee and said, "I bow to the Empress."

Pei Ying's face darkened and said, "General Qin, the emperor has issued an order. When there is an urgent matter in the harem, the concubines in the harem can leave the palace first and report. If there is something important to leave today, why don't I allow me to go out? Can the queen's order be ignored?"

Qin Yu was in a difficult situation. Yesterday, General Li Su issued a special military order, and no one was allowed to enter and exit the harem at will. Although he was also confused, they dared not to obey the general's orders, so they strictly guarded the gates. Although the military orders were strict, Pei Ying was extraordinary, not only because she was the queen of the Tang Dynasty, but also because she enjoyed a lofty prestige in the army, especially this group of veterans who followed Zhang Huan to conquer the world, everyone respected her very much.

Qin Yu hesitated for a long time. Others could stop him, but the Empress could not. This was His Majesty's will. He suddenly gritted his teeth and waved his hand and said, "Let it go!"

The cavalry team rushed out of the left Yintai gate with their guards and drove quickly towards Anyefang.

Anyefang is the residence of Pei You. Since Pei You became the head of the Pei family, the clan mansion of the Pei family in Beijing has been transferred from the original Pei Jun mansion to Pei You's mansion. The monthly clan meetings are held here. At this moment, Pei You are discussing some important matters in the plan with Li Qiao. Tomorrow is the time for them to launch the "New Emperor Plan". Although the time is a bit hasty, Han Huan will return to Chang'an the next day, and they can no longer arrange it calmly.

At this moment, the sound of rapid footsteps was remembered outside the door, and the butler almost rolled and crawled to report, "Master, someone from the palace informed that the Empress is about to arrive at the mansion."

"Ah!" Pei You stood up suddenly, and he immediately realized that it must be Li Qi's rude words that told Pei Ying. This Mao boy had repeatedly reminded him! Pei You was quite timid about Pei Ying's determination and decisiveness, but Pei You quickly calmed down and acted tomorrow. No matter how tough Pei Ying was, it would be useless. Fortunately, he was vague. If he had just denied it later, he quickly stopped Li Qiao who was about to stand up and said in a deep voice: "It's better, let's continue to arrange the matter, let her wait a moment."

He immediately ordered someone to call Pei Xi, the eldest son of the Ministry of Works, and ordered him: "You go to welcome the Empress on your behalf, and ask her to rest in the house first, tell her that she has gone out for her father, and come to see her later."

Pei Xi agreed and hurried away. Pei You ordered someone to invite his wife to go out to greet her. Then he closed the study door and continued to discuss tomorrow's plan with Li Qiao.

Soon, Pei Ying's phoenix carriage slowly arrived in front of Pei You's mansion. She gently opened the curtain and saw an extremely gorgeous carriage parked in front of the steps, and there were dozens of guards next to it. It seemed that Pei You had a guest.

At this time, Pei Xi quickly came up, "My minister Pei Xi welcomed the Empress!"

Pei Ying looked at Pei Xi and asked without saying a word: "Can the Second Uncle be in the mansion?"

"My father went to Xingshan Temple early in the morning. I have sent someone to find him and ask the Empress to go to the inner house to rest for a while."

"Is that true?" Pei Ying glanced at the carriage, sneered secretly and said, "Then I will wait for my second uncle for a moment. Please tell him that I am visiting as the daughter of the Pei family today. I have a few words to ask him."

At this time, Pei You's wife and daughter-in-law also came out to greet her. Pei Ying got off the carriage and went to the inner house with Qian. She first went to the Pei Family Ancestral Hall to worship her father's spiritual throne, and then chatted with Qian in the inner house for a while. About a quarter of an hour later, Pei You hurried to the inner house and apologized to Pei Ying. "I don't know that the Empress is here today, so I'll let the Empress wait. Please forgive me!"

Pei Ying waved her hand slightly and said in a very light tone: "Don't blame yourself, I blame me for not informing you in advance today. Besides, I also worshiped my father's spiritual position and didn't wait much time."

After pausing, Pei Ying said again: "I still have a few more words today to ask Uncle Second, I hope Uncle Second will not be perfunctory to me."

The smile on Pei You's face also disappeared. He straightened his body and asked solemnly: "Did the Empress come for the Pei family's land?"

Pei Ying snorted softly and said, "I have already said that I will not ask about the land of the Pei family. I just want to ask, what does the second uncle mean to Qier in the morning?"

"Morning words?" Pei You looked confused. He shook his head in confusion. "I don't understand what the Sirian is referring to. I said a lot to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince in the morning, so much that I can't even remember it myself."

"Then I would like to remind you that Qier is going to take his father and replace him." Pei Ying's tone suddenly became stern, "Don't tell me, you haven't said this!"

Qian next to him was also frightened. Even if she was a woman with shallow knowledge, she understood what Pei Ying said, and she was so shocked that she shouted, "Master, you didn't say this!"

"Women are so fucking me, go to the inner room." Pei You glared at his wife fiercely, and Qian was so scared that he walked into the room tremblingly.

Seeing that the second uncle's face changed drastically, Pei Ying said coldly: "Did the second uncle admit it?"

Pei You sighed with his hands behind his back and said, "Yes, I admit that I said this, but this is just an angry word. My original intention was to get His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to issue an order to exempt the Pei family from expropriation of land. Ying'er, you don't know, our Pei family is about to destroy this land real-name system. Look at the second uncle's hair, and you have become completely anxious about this matter."

Pei Ying didn't speak. After a while, she whispered: "On the eve of Your Majesty's departure, I asked him if he could guide us a way out for our Pei family. He said that our Pei family could invest money to run a large factory, and build sea boats to go to Dashi to do big business."

Before she finished speaking, Pei You waved his hand and interrupted. He said disdainfully: "I actually asked our Pei family to be businessmen. Ying'er, are you talking about this possible?"

"But the second uncle shouldn't say anything to let Qier replace his father. The second uncle has been an official for decades and will not even understand this!"

Pei You laughed, "What kind of ability do I, Pei You, have, can you let Your Majesty get out of office? Just complain, why should Ying'er take it seriously?"

"Okay, I hope this is just a joke from Uncle Second. I will let Qier forget about this when I go back." As he said that, Pei Ying stood up and walked out, saying, "I am leaving the palace temporarily. It's not good to stay outside for a long time, so I'll go back now."

Pei You fell to the ground with a heart slightly and hurriedly sent Pei Ying out of the gate. Pei Ying got on the phoenix carriage, but found that the carriage had disappeared just now. She didn't say anything, but just ordered to return to the palace, and the carriage left Pei's mansion.

In the carriage, Pei Ying's face was gloomy and clear. Although Pei You said it lightly, Pei Ying was not confused by his jokes. She knew that her second uncle had always been known for his caution and conservatism, and would never tell jokes in front of the crown prince to take over the emperor. When he was desperate, he would take risks and do extreme behavior. Pei Ying believed that Pei You was indeed willing to support the prince, and they were already taking action. Her husband was not in Chang'an, which was their best time.

After leaving Anyefang, Pei Ying suddenly opened the curtain and asked the guards of the guards outside the window, "Person Zhao, who was the carriage just now, did you see who got on the carriage?"

"Report to the Empress, it is Li Qiao, the Minister of Zongzheng Temple. I saw him get on the carriage with my own eyes, and his actions are very mysterious."

‘Li Qiao.’ Pei Ying was slightly stunned. Did he also participate in the opposition to her husband? She suddenly remembered the abnormality when she left the palace gate. At this time, Pei Ying suddenly had a thought in her mind. Isn’t Li Su, the general of Zuo Yulin Army, the son of Li Qiao? Her face turned pale and she completely figured it out. Pei You and the others had already controlled the Yulin Army. The Yulin Army strictly controlled the palace gate, which showed that they were most likely to have launched a coup in the past two days.

Pei Ying's body began to tremble slightly, which would make them father and son tragic each other, Qi'er would die, no! They can't let them succeed, and they can't destroy the Tang Dynasty for the benefit of the Pei family.

Pei Ying forced herself to calm down. Without paper and pen, she tore off a piece of white silk from her inner skirt, spread it on the couch, pulled out the golden hairpin on her head, and stabbed it hard at her fingers. Blood gushed out from her white index finger. Pei Ying suddenly hesitated. She knew that in this way, the Pei family might really perish. But if she didn't write it, their father-son relationship, her husband's eight years of hard work, and the prosperity and peace of the people of the Tang Dynasty would all go through. And only by stopping their adventures in time can their sins be minimized.

The blood on the fingers was a little solidified, and Pei Ying squeezed out the blood again, and wrote five words with trembling hands: The Yulin Army General was in chaos.

After the blood letter was about to go to the guards, she was about to hand it over, but after a second thought, if the city gate was also controlled, the guards might not be able to get out, and they had to think of another safer way. Pei Ying pondered for a while and handed the blood letter to her closest maid, and told her: "You go to Chongbao Pavilion in Dongcheng City to find Jingniang, and order her to set off to Xianyang immediately and hand it over to General Helou, tell her that it is of great importance and should not be careless."
Chapter completed!