Seeing that Wu Zetian had patience and asked carefully, Wu Chenghe's confidence increased. Immediately said: "The nephew thinks that our dynasty should once again condemn the good general to lead the army and gallop to the aid of the river." The nephew recommended Wang Xiaojie to lead the right guard army to go out quickly. Wang Xiaojie is familiar with the tactics of Tubo and has won many battles, and sent him to take charge of the Helong military, which may be a solution to the urgent need. ”

"You've said this several times." Wu Zetian was patient and said calmly, "Changing commanders in battle is a taboo for soldiers, don't you know?" ”

"It's a big taboo." Wu Chengsi muttered in a low voice, "If it hadn't been for Xue Shao to take command at the beginning, how could the war be so unbearable?" ”

"Bold!" Wu Zetian shouted angrily, "Are you accusing Yu Me?" ”

"The nephew doesn't dare!" Wu Chengsi hurriedly said: "The minister is just talking about things, and the minister is worried about the safety of the country, only for the sake of His Majesty's country." At present, the facts are conclusive, Xue Shao's side has been defeated and humiliated again, and it is difficult to defend the lonely city of Liangzhou for a long time. Therefore, I can no longer expect too much from Xue Shao. Nowadays, it is imperative to defend Lingzhou to protect Helong. Now that the war is imminent, if we don't remedy it, I'm afraid it will be too late! ”

Wu Zetian said again: "What do you mean, don't save Liangzhou but guard Lingzhou?" ”

"Your Majesty, compared to the thousands of miles of rivers and mountains and thousands of people in Helong, the bitter cold land of Liangzhou ......" Wu Chengsi swallowed for a moment, and then said: "If you send troops to rescue, you will face the attack of the Garqin Tomb." How is this different from fighting fires with salary? Weighing the pros and cons, the nephew thought that it was better to reassign Wang Xiaojie as the commander and let him lead the army to defend Lingzhou! ”

"Huh!" Wu Zetian chuckled, "According to what you mean, should Xue Shao be abandoned, or should he be punished?" ”

"This ......" Wu Chengsi groaned and said, "Whether Xue Shao is guilty or not is not up to the nephew. If he can escape and return from the hands of the Garchinling, then he will have his own law to judge and pronounce judgments. The nephew is indeed at odds with him, but this is a state affair, and the nephew is not mixed with any selfish motives! ”

"Huh!" Wu Zetian smiled, "Are you finished?" ”

Wu Chengsi was stunned, "Your Majesty, the nephew is finished." ”

Wu Zetian waved the sleeves of his robe, "Stand down, let me think twice!" ”

After Wu Chengsi left, Wu Zetian sat alone, his eyebrows slightly furrowed and staring at the nothingness in front of him, silent for a long time.

No one knew what was going on in her mind.

Maintaining this position, Wu Zetian sat for a full hour or two. Before you know it, it's getting dark.

"Someone!"

Wu Zetian's call made the henchmen and eunuchs outside the door tremble. Although the empress did not shout angrily, these people who were familiar with the empress's temperament had already heard the cold murderous aura in her tone.

A eunuch cautiously went in and promised, "What does Your Majesty command?" ”

"Go and pass on Mrs. Huayang, come and see me immediately."

"Yes!"

The eunuch didn't dare to slack off, and hurriedly went to invite Mrs. Huayang in person. Soon after, the Kudi clan came to see Wu Zetian, and there were only two monarchs and ministers in the room.

"Your Majesty is eager to summon your ministers to come, but there is something important?" Cudi asked.

Wu Zetian said expressionlessly: "When Xue Shao sent the battle report of seven battles and seven losses that day, you said that Xue Shao may be luring the enemy deeper, and sooner or later there will be a chance to turn defeat into victory?" ”

"Yes, the minister said something similar." The Kudi clan was shocked in his heart, could it be that Xue Shao is really defeated now? Your Majesty is this coming to me to hold me accountable?

"You also said that you can take the opportunity to test the hearts of the court and distinguish who is a traitor and who is a loyal minister?" Wu Zetian asked again.

Kudi's heart suddenly became even more apprehensive, and nodded, "Yes, the minister also said something similar. ”

At this time, Wu Zetian stood up, walked to Kudi's side, stared at her and whispered, "Now, I know who is a loyal minister and who is a traitor. ”

"Your Majesty, ...... minister" Kudi didn't know what to say, and said in his heart, Could it be that Your Majesty thinks I'm a traitor?!

"I want you to draft a decree now, and execute it immediately tomorrow morning!" Wu Zetian's tone sank!

"Your Majesty, what kind of purpose do you want to make?" Kudi asked cautiously.

"I want to remove Wu Chenghei from the official position, and only keep his title and food. In the future, he will not be allowed to participate in politics again! Wu Zetian said.

"Huh?" Kudi was taken aback.

"What, what do you think is wrong?" Wu Zetian asked rhetorically.

"Your Majesty, should such an important matter be decided after the court has discussed it?" Kudi said cautiously, "The King of Wei is now the official minister of Wen Xiang, and he is the head of the political hall and the leader of the hundred bureaucrats of the court. If you want to remove him from office, there must be a clear statement. Otherwise, the King of Wei will not accept the grievances of the hundred officials, which is not conducive to the stability of the court! ”

Wu Zetian suddenly glared again, "Even you think that I don't dare to touch him Wu Chenghe?!" ”

Kudi hurriedly knelt down, "Your Majesty forgives your sins, the minister didn't mean that!" The ministers and ministers just want to come up with a foolproof plan for His Majesty, so as not to alarm the stability of the court! ”

"Get up, I don't mean to blame you." Wu Zetian personally took his hand to help her, waited for her to stand up, and then said: "Someone said to me a long time ago that Wu Chenghei is both the king and the prime minister, and the power is too heavy to be guarded against. I have always disagreed, because I know that with Wu Chenghei's little ability, he can't make any big waves. But looking at it today, Wu Chenghei seems to be about to have the power to tilt the government and the opposition for a lifetime, and even the henchmen and female officials I used in the inner court are deeply jealous of him. Huayang, am I right? ”

"This ......" The cold sweat on Kudi's forehead came out, how dare he answer this kind of question?

"Humph!" Wu Zetian snorted lightly, "It seems that I am right, even you don't dare to say that Wu Chenghei is not half a sentence behind your back." In this way, you send someone to call Li Zhaode into the palace overnight. I'm going to talk to him face to face! ”

"Yes!"

The Kudi clan went out as if they had been amnestied, and hurriedly arranged for the eunuch to go out of the palace to invite Li Zhaode. As soon as the evening breeze blew, Kudi felt chills all over his body, and it turned out that his back was all soaked!

At this time, Wu Zetian asked Kudi to come into the study to talk, and Kudi complained bitterly, so he had to go back.

"Huayang, you tell me the truth." Wu Zetian said, "Do you think it's too stupid for me to delay recruiting Xue Shao to return to the dynasty?" ”

"Your Majesty......" Kudi smiled wryly.

"I'm the time to reflect." Wu Zetian sighed lightly and said, "No matter what kind of battle exists in this court, I should try my best to be close to the virtuous ministers and far villains. But the fact is that in order to protect the interests of the Wu family, I often do stupid things like being a villain and a distant virtuous minister. If one day I mislead the country and the people and even lose the country because of such selfishness, and the skin does not have hair, it will wilt, and then what will ensure the survival of the martial family? ”

"Your Majesty Shengming!" Kudi fell to the ground, not daring to say anything else.

"Xue Shao, my son-in-law, he is an outsider compared to those nephews." Wu Zetian said, "It is this outsider who dares to treat himself as a nobody, and it took ten years to gradually grow from a foot soldier to today's commander of the three armed forces." No one knows how much he suffered, how tired he endured, and how many times he was on the verge of death during this period. I only know that everything he does is to protect the country, the people, and the country. I am on the Ninth Five-Year Plan, and I can't do without his contributions. ”

"Yes. Your Majesty. Kudi whispered in agreement.

"But soon after the founding of the country, I found a stupid excuse to leave my court." Wu Zetian said, "From that day on, Wu Chengsi began his unscrupulous rapid expansion. He even began to blatantly ask me for the position of prince. But when the country invaded by Tibet was in danger, Wu Chenghei had no way to even complete the matter of conscription. At the critical moment, Xue Shao rushed thousands of miles regardless of old grievances, and was ordered to stand up and lead the army to gallop to Helong to resist the Garqin Mausoleum. Taozhou fought seven battles in January, and the bloody battles in Liangzhou were like mountains. In the end, he defeated the Garqin Mausoleum and cornered the plateau tiger! ”

Kudi raised his head in surprise, "Your Majesty, has Xue Shao won?" ”

"It's confidential for the time being, don't divulge it." Wu Zetian finally showed a smile, "The Garqin Mausoleum has been defeated in Qinghai, and our army is about to win a big victory!" ”

"Great, great, great!" The Kudi clan was overjoyed, and his whole body trembled and kowtowed to Wu Zetian repeatedly, "Your Majesty's Shengming, Your Majesty's Tianwei!" Long live my emperor, long live, long live! The Great Zhou Society is forever fixed for ten thousand years, ten thousand years, ten thousand years! ”

"Huayang, this is all due to Xue Shao." Wu Zetian said calmly, "But at this time, something happened that made me the most cold and angry. Just when Xue Shao was fighting with Garqinling, Wu Chenghei frequently slandered me Jin. He persuaded me to give up Liangzhou and Xue Shao. He even wanted to arrest Xue Shao for questioning, and kept saying that he had no selfish intentions! ”

Kudi's eyes widened in astonishment.

"What do I want him to do with such a traitor!" Wu Zetian suddenly became furious, "Such a despicable person, even if he is given a country, can he hold it?!" ”

Kudi was stunned.

At this time, the eunuch outside the door said loudly: "Your Majesty, Li Zhaode in the imperial history asks to see you!" ”

"Call him in!"

Li Zhaode came in and hurriedly paid his respects.

Wu Zetian said straight to the point: "Li Zhaode, I remember that you once made a statement to me, saying that the throne of King Wei is too heavy and you have to guard against it. ”

"Yes, the minister said it." Li Zhaode said with a glance, "The minister still insists on this view today." ”

"Why?"

Li Zhaode glanced at Kudi and did not speak.

"Mrs. Huayang is my confidant, but it doesn't hurt if you say it." Wu Zetian Dao.

Li Zhaode bowed his hand and said: "The minister dares to ask Your Majesty, if you talk about family affection, is it more intimate between father and son or aunt and nephew?" ”

"Father and son, of course." Wu Zetian replied.

Li Zhaode smiled coldly: "From ancient times to the present, there are still few old cases of father and son killing each other in order to compete for the throne?" ”

Kudi suddenly gasped, Li Zhaode, you have such a big mouth, do you really dare to say it!!

"Huayang, did you hear that?" Wu Zetian suddenly asked.

"Yes, I heard you!" Kudi replied in amazement.

"Then you still don't want to do it?!"