Return of the Swallow

What the young man said in Li Qitian's ears was two things.

"Your Majesty, I was conducting an investigation outside and found that the situation of the Lu family had changed. The patriarch of the Lu family committed suicide by throwing himself into a well. The current patriarch was replaced by the eldest brother, Lu Heng. In addition, the grain and grass shipped to the border by the previous head of the Lu family suddenly stopped where they were. Action was taken. I thought it must be the order of the new head of the Lu family, Lu Heng. Because something happened suddenly, I thought it was a serious matter, so I hurriedly reported it to the Holy Emperor."

At this moment, Li Qitian felt as if he had been struck by lightning and struck by five thunders.

Isn’t Lu Heng dead?

Previously, his spies went to the border to investigate and found that Qin Yining had followed Pang Xiao back. After several visits, he learned that Lu Heng had suffered a serious illness while in Tartar and had passed away.

Li Qitian thought at that time that the careless Lu family was finally dead, and the new head of the family was a sensible person, obedient and easy to manipulate.

But who would have thought that someone who was already dead would suddenly appear, and the head of the Lu family who he thought was very useful suddenly committed suicide by throwing himself into a well.

Among them, if there was no deliberate design by Pang Xiao and wanton assassination by Lu Heng, he would not believe it even if Li Qitian was killed!

The Lumen family's financial resources, material resources and connections were simply not something he could compare to. Even though he is now an emperor, he can be considered rich all over the world. But there is not much wealth and power that he really holds in his hands.

In less than five years since Li Qitian was in power, the money in the national treasury was getting less and less, and he was increasingly unable to make ends meet. And there are so many troubles in the world. Today there is a disaster here, tomorrow there is banditry, each one has to be solved by his hands, and the idiots below just open their mouths and ask him for money.

The Lumen family has a deep foundation, and many times Li Qitian would even flatter the Lumen family in order to achieve his goals.

This time the Tatars declared war, and Da Zhou really had no money to fight with them, so the transportation of military rations was taken over by Mr. Lu Er, who had just become the head of the family.

Now this path has been cut off by that guy Lu Heng!

The two factions in the court expressed their opinions, and for a while they were evenly matched, and they couldn't tell the difference.

Ji Zeyu also said that there was something strange happening in the Huben army and they could not come into the palace to help.

Now the Lu family has caused such trouble for him again.

Li Qitian really felt that he was in a dilemma. Should the current situation be allowed to continue to develop?

The Lu family has changed its head.

Stopping the transported grain and grass halfway was actually just adding a handful of firewood, but it did not affect the situation at hand.

If Ji Zeyu can quickly deal with the turmoil in the Huben army and arrive in time, he should still have a chance to take down Pang Xiao in one fell swoop.

As for Lu Heng, he did not believe that the survival of these great families could be independent of imperial power.

He could, on the other hand, be moved towards it with affection, reason, and promise of benefits. As the saying goes, there are no common enemies, only common interests. As long as his interests are aligned with those of the Lu family, he also believes that he can bring Lu Heng's help to his side.

Li Qitian frowned and thought for a moment, then felt relieved again.

At this time, the debate among the officials was so noisy that they almost started to fight.

Li Qitian was upset by the noise, and when news of such a scene spread, it was either good or bad.

He raised his hand and pressed it: "Shut up."

As a result, Li Qitian's voice did not overwhelm these people, and the quarrel was still going on.

When Pang Xiao saw Li Qitian's appearance, he stood up and reprimanded in a deep voice: "Everyone, please shut up. Didn't you hear the Holy One commanded you to shut up?"

Ancient censor...

My lords...

A person who has just been impeached for being disrespectful to his superior can always pay attention to every move of his superior, be able to silence himself in time when his superior orders him to be silent, and can also make other people obey his instructions just like him.

But the person who just impeached Pang Xiao didn't take the Holy One's wishes into consideration at all.

This kind of contrast is really too strong and too embarrassing.

Someone who supported Pang Xiao stood up and said with his hands in his hand: "The Holy One has also seen it. Prince Zhongshun has a straightforward temper. Maybe he behaves a little rough after being in the army for a long time, but he is definitely not a disobedient and criminal person. The charges just now are simply fictitious." ! Since the ancient censor is so loyal to the emperor, why does he need Prince Zhongshun to remind him to keep quiet?"

"Exactly! Your Majesty, I thought that Prince Zhongshun's military exploits were shining brightly. He had made great contributions in conquering the Great Zhou Dynasty. Prince Zhongshun was also the sworn brother of the Holy Majesty. With such an aura, it was inevitable that some people would be jealous and frame him. Those claims are not true. The charges are completely baseless. How can we convince officials and the people without evidence?

"If you can't convince people, what if you treat Prince Zhongshun recklessly? I'm afraid there will only be people outside who say that the Holy One is afraid of the hero!"

"The Holy One is a wise king, so he will naturally not do this. However, there are many stupid people among the people. If they talk like this, wouldn't the Holy One be unable to argue?"

"For the sake of His Majesty, I must consider this matter in the long term!"

…

These people talk very fast like pouring beans, and every sentence is based on truth.

Li Qitian secretly sarcastic in his heart, is this the loyalty and patriotism of these people? As a result, at the critical moment, these people's hearts turned toward an outsider.

Li Qitian feels a lot more at ease now, thinking about solving all the problems one by one, as long as he can win Pang Xiao today.

Seeing that Li Qitian was deep in thought and silent, the officials started quarreling again.

Li Qitian's head hurt from the noisy crowd, and he was about to speak when he saw that the young man who had been dressed up as a small eunuch came back again.

This time, his steps were even faster than before. When he got there, he lowered his voice and said:

"Your Majesty, the news just came that Prince Consort Ji was put under house arrest in the military camp by several generals of the Huben Army..."

Li Qitian suddenly opened his eyes wide, because the bead string in his hand had fallen off a long time ago. At this time, he could only clench his fists tightly, not even caring about the few marks on his palms made by nails.

Li Qitian kept telling himself in his heart not to panic, but to stay calm. He must be calm and must not let others see that something is wrong with him.

However, Ji Zeyu was placed under house arrest by the leader of the Huben Army and could no longer fight against Pang Xiao.

Once today's incident offends Pang Xiao, if he gets wild and goes on a killing spree, I'm afraid the guards under him won't be enough for Pang Xiao to play for more than ten rounds.

What if Pang Xiao becomes angry and wants to kill the king?

Li Qitian felt that he had pushed Pang Xiao into a hurry, and with his temperament, he might really go all-in!

Li Qitian was still anxious and frustrated. Something had gone wrong with Ji Zeyu, and the Lu family was causing trouble for him again. He endured his anger and asked the king to enter the urn, just to eliminate Pang Xiao at once and avoid future troubles. But now in front of the civil and military officials of the court, is he really going to make a big fool of himself!

At this time, the officials below began to argue again.

Li Qitian's head was buzzing as he heard it, and he was almost on the verge of exploding.

At this moment, Pang Xiao stood up again and coldly rebuked those who were arguing.

"Okay, this is the Zhenghe Hall, the great meeting of the Holy Emperor! It's okay for you to express your opinions, why is it not over yet!

"Back then, I followed the Holy One to fight on the battlefield together, and we were in a relationship where we could trust each other. That was when my wife was lost, and the Holy One, as a sworn brother, kept trying to persuade me to return to the capital, but I refused, so what? It’s also the relationship between my younger brother and my sworn brother. Why do you think I’m going to rebel? Do you think that the Holy Father will convict this king based on your false accusations and provocations?

"You said that I kill innocent people indiscriminately? That's ridiculous. I ask you, how can anyone not kill people in a war! Is the person who is talking just thinking about shit?

"You said that I have humiliated the veterans of Northern Hebei? Ask the veterans of Northern Hebei who are present, how often have I humiliated them?

"To say that I embezzled food and wages? What a stinking fart! When I just took over the treasury of Northern Hebei, to put it bluntly, the Hunjun of Northern Hebei could make all the rats in the treasury commit suicide en masse! Can I corrupt the air?

"It is even more nonsense to say that I raped my daughter. The Qin family and I were married by the Holy Spirit. How could there be any rape?

"I went out to the capital to look for treasures. I was ordered to provide disaster relief. On the way, I was looking for treasures for the Holy One. It would be a scandal to say that I embezzled the disaster money! My wife's dowry and my money have been donated now, otherwise the people would have Long Fanshen The people in the old capital of Yan have been hungry for a long time and have rebelled! Can they still allow you, a bunch of silverfish, to dictate terms in the capital?

"As for the later saying that I am jealous of my colleagues?"

At this point, Pang Xiao suddenly laughed loudly, pointed at the ministers and said domineeringly: "To be honest, you all come to compete with me! I want you to come together! What do you think you have? Worthy of my envy?

"The king keeps private soldiers? Let me ask you, as a prince, there are fifty soldiers in the palace. Is this overstepping the limit?"

Pang Xiao stepped in front of the ancient censor in one step, "Master Gu is a well-educated man. Do you think, as a prince of a different surname personally ennobled by the Holy Emperor, fifty soldiers of the palace are too much?"

The ancient censor took two steps back when Pang Xiao said that, and was so frightened that his whole body was shaking.

Pang Xiao finally said: "As for saying that I am not filial to my aunt, now that things have happened, I have to say one thing."

Pang Xiao turned to salute Li Qitian, "The Holy One took pity on my life experience and helped me find my surviving aunt. I am grateful in my heart, but after contact and investigation, I found that the aunt who the Holy One found was actually someone who was pretending to be her! "

Li Qitian's brows jumped.

Pang Xiao said: "I know that the Holy One has good intentions, but I don't want to make things difficult for the Holy One, so I sent the fake Mrs. Pang out. In fact, I plan to bite this matter to death and hold it in my stomach for the rest of my life, and will never say it out. of."

"How could this happen! That vicious woman actually deceived me for the sake of glory and wealth!" Li Qitian was furious and stood up in a hurry.

Pang Xiao said: "Your Majesty, please don't get so angry. I don't blame you for this. It's because that woman was too greedy and wanted to deceive Your Majesty just because she knew something about the past."

"That is the crime of deceiving the emperor, and it is an unforgivable crime!" Li Qitian was furious. He immediately said: "Capture that woman and behead her in public tomorrow afternoon!"

Li Qitian's words mean that the direction of the wind has completely changed.