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

Although Li Dan has been imprisoned in the harem, any disturbance outside cannot be hidden from his eyes.

Before Li Zhen and his son rebelled, he could still move around the palace, but since the two failed, there were more than 800 guards around him.

These people were nominally protecting the palace chief, but were actually monitoring his whereabouts every day. It was no exaggeration to say that even when he went to the toilet, dozens of pairs of eyes were watching him.

Now that the confinement palace was even more airtight, Li Dan suspected that his mother might take action against him.

So he sent Geng An to find Di Renjie quietly and wanted to ask him for advice.

Di Renjie stroked his beard and thought for a while, then raised his hands and said.

"Your Majesty, don't be too nervous. Ministers Li and Tang are now everywhere in the government and the public. As long as you calmly endure and keep a distance from King Li Yuanjia of Han and others, the Queen Mother will not do anything to you."

"After all, you are her biological son. Tiger poison can't eat its own children, let alone a woman."

Hearing that his mother did not want to kill him, Li Dan breathed a long sigh of relief, and big beads of sweat trickled down his face.

"It's okay if it's not. It's scared me these past few days."

Only then did he realize that Di Renjie was still standing, and quickly asked Geng An to bring a chair.

After the two sat down opposite each other, Li Dan hesitated and said.

"Mr. Di Ge, you are my mother's most trusted confidant. I want to ask your opinion on something."

"Your Majesty, please speak." Di Renjie said he was listening.

"It's like this. A few days ago, the queen mother said at the Jixian Palace that she wanted to return the government to me and never interfere in political affairs again."

"Several ministers surnamed Li also persuaded me to agree to this matter. I am naturally willing to take over Jiangshan Sheji, but I am worried that this is a trap set by my mother."

"What do you think about this?"

Di Renjie smiled bitterly and sighed: "Your Majesty, you are wrong about one thing. The Queen Mother has never trusted anyone, she only trusts herself."

"Once you believe it and propose to take charge of the court personally, I believe that in less than half a year, the tragedy of Prince Zhang Huai will happen to you."

"Listen to my advice, endure the calm for a while, and take a step back to open up the world."

"It's better to paint landscapes when you have nothing to do than to lose your life, what do you think?"

Seeing that there was no hope of pro-government, Li Dan had a gloomy look on his eyebrows and said melancholy.

"The emperor should take this for my sake. I think there is no one more cowardly than me in history."

"Forget it, I will give my mother a piece of paper to refuse."

Instructing Geng An to grind, Li Dan rolled up his sleeves and started writing on the yellow memorial.

It didn't take long for a letter asking Wu Zetian to continue to preside over the government to be written.

"Give this brochure to the Jinwu guards at the door and ask them to send it to the Queen Mother."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Seeing that it was getting late, Di Renjie stood up and said, "Your Majesty, I will accompany the Queen Mother to Hanguang Temple to offer incense tomorrow, so I won't stay here. Please take care of yourself."

"Mr. Ge, walk slowly."

After watching Di Renjie leave, Li Dan looked up to the sky and sighed dejectedly before returning to the palace.

……

Guanfeng Hall.

Wu Zetian stood at the door of the hall with her hands behind her hands, looking at the white snowy road in the distance.

"Has Hanguang Temple made all arrangements?"

Hearing this, Liu Xun clasped his fists and said, "Go back to the Queen Mother. The Thousand Niu Guards will be stationed tonight, with a total of one thousand people."

"We are currently verifying the identities of the temple monks, and no problems have been found for the time being."

Wu Zetian didn't think too much about this minister who had been following her for many years, and casually told him.

"There are so many pilgrims in Hanguang Temple. There is no guarantee that there won't be a few remnants of Li Tang lurking among them, waiting for an opportunity to assassinate me. You Qianniu Guards must keep your spirits up and not let any fish slip through the net!"

"General, I obey!" Liu Xun clasped his fists and strode out of the Guanfeng Hall. Seeing Junchen coming towards him, he snorted coldly and walked away.

Lai Junchen didn't mind and walked into the hall with the written informant memorial.

"I have come to meet you, the Queen Mother. Long live my queen. Long live my queen. Long live my queen."

Wu Zetian glanced at the informant memorial in his hand and said calmly.

"Whose evidence did you collect?"

The Magistrate's Court would send dozens of informant papers every day, and she was very curious about whose incriminating evidence it was that was sent by Lai Junchen himself.

After hearing the Queen Mother's question, Lai Junchen put his head on the ground and said respectfully.

"To report to the Empress Dowager, the Senate has just discovered that Di Renjie secretly went to the Palace of Confinement. The monarch and his ministers kept their eyes open and talked inside for a long time over a stick of incense."

"The humble official suspected that Di Renjie was involved in the rebellion of the royal family surnamed Li."

"Goed to the Forbidden Palace secretly?" Wu Zetian frowned slightly, her face becoming uncertain.

Di Renjie is so resourceful that he cannot be unaware of the subtleties of the situation.

But he still went to see the emperor. Could it be that he really wanted to be with the old master Li Tang as the inner guard said?

Just when Wu Zetian was having trouble coming to a conclusion, a Jinwu guard wearing armor walked into the hall.

"Queen Mother, Your Majesty will send you a memorandum at the end of your life, requesting you to read it!"

"Hmph, I would like to see what this traitor has to say!"

Wu Zetian took the book and read it with a gloomy face. When she saw Li Dan asking her to continue to preside over the government, instead of being happy, she felt a murderous intention.

She knew her son too well. She even dreamed of asking for political advice. How could she be willing to let herself control the political affairs?

It must have been given to him by that old guy Di Renjie, telling him to wait for the opportunity and make plans later!

Yes, that must be the case!

Thinking of this, Wu Zetian clasped her hands behind her back and said coldly: "Tell Fengge Luantai that Di Renjie is busy with state affairs and does not need to accompany me to offer incense. Let him stay in Fengge and continue to handle official business."

Lai Junchen was stunned for a moment and asked tentatively: "Queen Mother, do you want to arrest Di Renjie for interrogation?"

"No need for this for now. Di Renjie is the Prime Minister of the Tang Dynasty. Without conclusive evidence, I cannot hold him accountable. Please stand down first."

Lai Junchen reluctantly kowtowed, turned around and left the Guanfeng Hall, determined to defeat Di Renjie no matter what method he used to replace the pedantic Zhou Xing in the future.

Looking at Lai Junchen's background, Wu Zetian rubbed her brows and sighed secretly.

The Council of Magistrates has become more and more rampant recently, causing civil and military complaints throughout the court. If it continues to be implemented, it will inevitably hurt people's hearts.

When necessary, a few cruel officials must be killed to calm the anger of the ruling and opposition parties.

"Zhou Xing is old and useless, his hands are stained with blood. It seems that he must find an opportunity to let Lai Junchen replace him." Wu Zetian said secretly.

One night passed, when the sun shone into the Guanfeng Hall, Shangguan Wan'er came to the bed wearing a red phoenix dress and said with a smile.

"Queen Mother, there are still two hours before the incense burning at Hanguang Temple. It's time for you to set off."

"Put down your finery and freshen up for me first. I don't know what happened this morning, but my right eyelid was twitching badly." Wu Zetian said with a frown.