Tang Dynasty: The seventh rank of official residence, and you will be given the Ten Thousand People

"A gift for me?" Li Chong and King Fan Yang looked at each other: "Did Zhang Song send Fan Xin's head here?"

"Is that the young county magistrate who eavesdropped on our conversation and escaped as an excuse?" Li Ai frowned, seeming to think of this person.

Li Chong nodded: "Yes, I put a lot of effort into winning over this nephew, but unexpectedly he betrayed me in the end."

At this point, he waved his sleeves to the guard: "Go and bring the gift box in."

"Yes." Not long after the guards left, the Yamen came to the hall with the gift box. As soon as they met, he knelt on the ground with a bang and said with a pale face.

"Li Er, a low-ranking official in Wushui County, comes to see the prince!"

"Get up."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

After the yamen servant stood up, Li Chong looked majestic and said: "I ask you, is the head of Fan Xin in the food box?"

The yamen servant said bitterly: "Back to your lord, what's in the food box is not Fan Xin, but... it's an official from our Wushui County!"

Everyone was very surprised when they heard this.

There were more than a hundred government officials in Wushui County, and it was simply unbelievable that so many of them were killed by Fan Xin.

Li Chong stared at the yamen servant with a gloomy face and said coldly: "Explain clearly to me what is going on!"

He didn't believe that Master Fan Xin and his servant were capable of killing so many officials. There must be something he didn't know about.

It was a matter of family and life, so the Yamen servant did not hide anything and explained in detail the matter of Fan Xin's transfer of soldiers to the county.

When he heard that Fan Xin was recruiting troops to prepare for war and build the city wall, Li Chong clenched his palms tightly and his eyes flashed with endless hatred.

If he had known that Fan Xin was so ungrateful, he would not have let him leave Liaocheng no matter what he said. Now that he had made a big mistake, it was too late.

"Your Majesty, Wushui County is the first checkpoint for us to raise troops and march south. It will be detrimental to us if Fan Xin continues to recruit troops to prepare for war and consolidate the city wall." Xiong Zhan said worriedly.

"Hmph, we only have nearly five thousand soldiers and horses at the moment. If we send out troops rashly, we will definitely alarm that bitch Wu Zetian."

"When hundreds of thousands of troops arrive, how can we resist?"

"Then what do you think we should do? We can't let Fan Xin build a defense line, right?"

Seeing his subordinates quarreling, Li Chong slapped the big case with his palm and shouted: "Why are you arguing? Please be quiet for me!"

When the hall became quiet again, he looked at Li Ai, who was drinking silently.

"Uncle Wang, what do you think we should do?"

Li Ai put down her wine glass, glanced at him, and burped.

"Now that the matter has come to this, I'm afraid I can't hide the issue of launching an army to attack Wu. I will simply lead the army to capture Wushui County, cross the river and capture Puzhou before the court can react, completing the posture of pointing the sword at Luoyang."

Seeing that Li Chong hesitated to speak, Li Ai continued: "You don't have to worry about the strength of the troops. I will return to my territory soon to lend you three thousand soldiers and horses."

"At the same time, I will write a letter to your father Li Zhen, King Han, and Princess Chang Le to help you raise some troops."

"This way you can cross the river south without any worries."

Upon hearing that Li Ai wanted to lend troops to him, Li Chong immediately stood up and gave him a big gift, expressing his gratitude.

"With Uncle Wang's words, my nephew has no worries anymore. You can rest assured that you will overthrow Empress Wu Zetian in the future. You will definitely be recorded in the history of the Tang Dynasty."

Li Ai's face turned red and he coughed on an excuse.

"Haha, the king's nephew is serious. People from the Taizong bloodline should help each other." After speaking, he raised his head and glanced at the sky.

"It's getting late. I will go back to my territory first to mobilize the army. Please wait patiently for a few days. There will be news in three to five days at most."

"Thank you, Uncle Wang. My nephew will take you out." Li Chong saluted, stepped aside and made a gesture of invitation.

After a group of people arrived at the courtyard, Li Ai got on his horse and fisted everyone. He left the palace with his guards and ran all the way to the city gate.

It wasn't until Bozhou was far behind that he suddenly pulled the reins.

"Shut up!"

Li Ai rode her war horse and circled twice, looking in the direction of Bozhou City in the distance, her eyes full of complexity.

"What's wrong, Your Majesty?" Several guards noticed that Li Ai looked strange and asked.

After a long time, Li Ai sighed, her voice full of exhaustion.

"Li Du, we are not going back to our territory, we are going to Luoyang instead."

"What! Are you going to Luoyang?" The guard was startled, thinking he heard wrongly.

Li Ai smiled bitterly and said, "Yes, Fan Xin must have told the court about the military attack after killing so many officials."

"With Queen Mother Wu's character, she will never let go of this golden opportunity."

"Hundreds of thousands of troops will inevitably be sent to conquer. With our current strength, there is no possibility of victory."

"So we must get ahead of Fan Xin and inform the court of the plan to launch an army. Only in this way can the king be cleared of suspicion."

After hearing these shocking words, several guards were stunned.

"My lord, this is not good. You are of the authentic bloodline of Li Tang. Once word gets out, you may be infamy for the ages."

"Infamy?" Li Ai sneered: "There are three thousand members of Prince Fan Yang's palace. Who do you think is more important than their lives?"

"This..." Several personal guards stopped talking.

"Okay, without further ado, let's go to Luoyang as soon as possible and inform Wu Zetian of this matter."

"Capturing the king and quelling the rebellion is enough for us to be rich and worry-free for the rest of our lives!"

After saying that, he whipped the horse on the buttocks and headed towards Luoyang. Upon seeing this, several personal guards quickly followed him.

After the figure disappeared, a guard patted the dust on his body and emerged from the woods with a shocked look on his face.

He originally came to deliver a message to Fan Yang on Li Chong's order, but he didn't expect to hear such shocking secrets.

"No, I have to go back as soon as possible to tell the prince that this thick-browed King Fan Yang has rebelled!"

……

Langya Palace.

After sending Li Ai away, Li Chong and others returned to the meeting hall to drink, although Fan Xin's incident caught them off guard.

But fortunately, King Fan Yang mobilized troops to help, and the situation was not that serious.

"Your Majesty, once the elite soldiers arrive, they are willing to serve as the first vanguard to break through the city and capture Fan Xin alive!" Xiong Zhan said confidently.

"We are also willing to avenge the prince!"

Facing the generals' invitation to fight, Li Chong burst out laughing.

"With your help, why don't I worry about Wu Meiniang's immortality! Come on, come on, let's finish this cup and there will be another cup left."

However, as soon as he finished speaking, a hurried report cut through the sky and resounded above the hall.

"Your Majesty, King Fan Yang has gone straight to Luoyang with his bodyguards to inform the court!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the laughter in the hall suddenly stopped, and everyone looked at the guards.

Shock, disbelief, and panic appeared on their faces one by one.

They never dreamed that as a member of the Li Tang royal family, Li Ai would defect to Wu Zetian!

Li Chong put down the horn cup and staggered to the guard, his eyes red.

"You said, Uncle Wang went to Luoyang to inform?"

Feeling Li Chong's killing intent, the guard knelt on the ground and trembled.

"I saw with my own eyes that King Fan Yang went to Luoyang with his bodyguards to inform!"

Pfft!

Li Chong spit out a mouthful of blood on his back and fell backward.

"Not good, my lord!"

"Call the doctor quickly!"

Amid the shouts of the generals, Li Chong suddenly opened his eyes and said with murderous intent.

"Xiong Zhan, immediately send my king's order to arrest the strong men in the city."

"Gather at the third watch and set off at the fifth watch."

"Target, Wushui County!"