Man Tang Huacai

Chapter 392 The country’s foundation is shaken
When the frightened elephant knocked over the lantern and the flames ignited, Li Cong hurriedly ran to the veranda beside him because he was standing too far forward.

When he turned around and saw a little lady in red jumping onto the elephant's back, he couldn't help but clapped his hands and cheered.

"it is good!"

During the chaos, someone suddenly came behind Li Cong and asked, "Is Prince Qing still here watching the performance?"

Li Cong turned around and saw the tall man coming in the darkness. He thought it was Xue Bai at first, then looked him up and down, with doubt in his eyes.

"Xue Lang asked me to come. I have something to tell Prince Qing."

"what?"

"The deposed prince will be here tonight, please make preparations early..."

When Li Cong suddenly heard the news, he was overjoyed. He subconsciously glanced back and found that almost everyone's eyes were attracted to the chaos in front of the flower calyx building.

He then hid in the shadows of the corner with the visitor and muttered a few words in a low voice.

Li Heng didn't know what they were talking about, so he waited until the hall became quiet again before continuing to confess.

"Are you saying that I was wrong?" Li Longji asked, "Three common people are wronged in the world, but I don't know. Are you saying that I am old and confused and don't know right from wrong?"

Although he has hundreds of descendants, this kind of care is what he lacks.

It seems that there are these two key words in it, but it seems that there is not.

Because Li Heng had been imprisoned in Shaoyang Yuan and had few opportunities to leave the palace, he secretly met with Li Qiwu several times, always taking his family to the Taoist temple to offer incense. This method is really feasible.

Li Heng was disheartened and responded: "The child is at fault."

They were talking quietly, and the wind accidentally blew the words into Li Heng's ears.

Although Li Longji was furious, no matter how angry he was, he would not kill Li Heng with his own hands now. Since he was determined to abolish Chu, looking at Li Heng at this time was like looking at a piece of wood without political life.

According to the information revealed by Yuan Siyi, Li Chu went to see Li Qiwu tonight, and he was afraid that it would be difficult to keep him. However, since Li Tan had a good relationship with Du Wulang, if the blame was placed on Li Tan, it would be easier to put the blame on Xue Bai.

After a while, Chen Xuanli walked back to Li Longji and whispered a report.

Li Longji still disdained these testimonies, but he recalled what Chen Xuanli had just said in his ears.

Li Heng ignored the sarcasm and thought about who to push out to bear the wrath of the saint. Although he had several sons, only two were important and involved in these matters, the eldest son Li Chu and the third son Li Tan.

"The child saw the fireworks and startled the auspicious elephant. I think the fireworks must have done something wrong." Li Heng was very responsible this time and answered first, "After the chaos happened, the child was summoned. In order to answer the father's question, I asked Xue Bai, but he said that Li Qi wanted to assassinate him."

"Father, I'm afraid I don't know." Li Heng, perhaps knowing that his throne was hard to secure, knelt there and said: "Since father, the emperor, killed his second brother, Wu Lang, and Eighth Lang, everyone in the world has been wronged. Not only the children, but who else would it be?" When brothers succeed to the throne, they will vindicate the case to establish their prestige. As the crown prince, the child will fall into an unjust and unfilial situation."

Gao Lishi scolded him and asked: "As soon as the prince entered the palace, he asked himself to give up his position in the East Palace, but he admitted to colluding with Li Qiwu?!"

Li Heng finally finished speaking. He seemed so skillful and well-behaved because he had been tricked so many times.

Li Longji simply disdained this hypocritical explanation.

Once the saint's mind is attracted by this "wrongness", it will be easy to subconsciously ignore Li Heng's rebelliousness and shift his attention to others.

"The boy is guilty. He knew that Li Chu and Li Qiwu were going to make a move tonight to frame the officials, but he did not step in to stop it."

This question frightened Yuan Siyi.

There was no point in venting his anger on the wood, so he beckoned Yuan Siyi to come closer and asked, "Answer me, has he seen anyone just now?"

"Say." Li Longji said: "You can't hide it from me. My throne is not something you just wait for."

~~
In the Qinzheng Building, there were only five people in the main hall.

In the palace, the sound of eunuchs walking and that of guards were completely different. The eunuchs' footsteps were as light as cats, while the guards' footsteps were as heavy as elephants in armor. Moreover, when the imperial guards returned to the palace for important matters, when they heard the footsteps outside, Chen Xuanli confessed his crime and went to inquire outside the palace.

"Haier's eldest son, Li Chu, was jealous of Xue Bai and had a personal grudge. After learning that Xue Bai was serving as a fireworks artist, he wanted to frame Xue Bai."

How can a prince who is about to be deposed designate the next crown prince? This is not right.

Just like the cases of Wei Jian and Du Youlin, if the prince cuts off his arm again, he may be able to win the forgiveness of the saint.

He knew very well in his heart that his biggest crime was that he had just learned that "the sky had changed" and still remained motionless. He ignored the life and death of the saint. What he was doing at this time was to explain what he thought the "change of the sky" meant.

——"Sage, when the fireworks were going off, King Jianning ran to the Calyx Tower to warn the guards that someone was about to assassinate him, and he was captured."

"Prince Jianning...Huacalyx Tower..."

In this confrontational atmosphere, Gao Lishi couldn't help but sweat for Li Heng.

"I dare not hide it from my father." Li Heng said hesitantly, "I taught you poorly and gave birth to an unfilial son..."

Throughout the night, someone finally did something right, which made Li Longji feel that there were still people among his descendants who cared about him and truly cared about his safety.

Li Heng didn't have much time to think. He pondered and was about to continue speaking when heavy footsteps were faintly heard outside the hall.

A saint wants to know everything.

This is another small and secret thing that happened in Xingqing Palace tonight, but I don’t know how many pairs of eyes inside and outside the calyx building are carefully exploring everyone’s secrets and reporting to the saint.

When Yuan Siyi heard this, she secretly called Gao Ming, knowing that the prince wanted to put the blame on one of his sons.

"You gave birth to an unfilial son?" Li Longji said with sarcasm on his face, "I am the same."

Yuan Siyi felt the murderous intention in the saint, but secretly cheered in his heart. He finally figured it out. Li Heng's response was so smart that it was more useful than any explanation.

Similarly, if you give up one son, giving up the eldest son is equivalent to admitting a crime, but giving up the third son still has a chance to make a comeback.

Perhaps the more he lacked something, the more he cared about it. The murderous aura in Li Longji finally faded a lot, and he sighed and spoke.

"Tonight, I suddenly thought of my eldest brother."

Hearing this, Li Heng closed his eyes sadly. He knew that his request was agreed to by the saint. He managed to save his life, but he was about to lose his position as the prince, which was more important than his life.

Because the "eldest brother" Li Longji mentioned was Li Xian, the "Emperor Rang", the prince did not want to be the prince anymore and gave way to his brothers. This had precedent in the Tang Dynasty.

The problem is that Li Longji has already deposed the crown prince once, and Li Cong adopted Li Ying's son. Will Li Longji really hand over the throne to Li Cong so easily?
Li Hengzheng was always in grief, but he quickly realized that this was not the final decision. He sighed in front of several close friends, which could only be regarded as revealing his feelings, not a formal decree. This was a test to test his and Li Cong's reaction. .

"My child would like to learn from my uncle!" Li Heng saluted immediately.

He has tried his best, and the rest is to wait for the enemy to make mistakes.

"Okay." Li Longji fulfilled his wish and ordered: "Go and recruit Li Cong."

……

Because of Li Cong's ugly appearance after being scratched, Li Longji was not close to the eldest son.

For a long time, Li Cong knew that he had no hope of becoming a prince, and developed a simple character that was isolated from the world. Of course, he may not be really innocent, it just seems that the city is not that deep.

Unlike Li Heng, he seems to be thinking about how to be the emperor every day.

Especially tonight, when comparing the two sons, Li Longji actually felt quite satisfied with Li Cong.

When he lived to be nearly seventy years old, he no longer demanded the prince's appearance. The biggest obstacle to establishing Li Cong as prince was his adopted sons.

But although what Li Heng said just now is outrageous, there is some truth in it. It is true that the emperor had wronged the three common people, otherwise Concubine Wu Hui would not have died.

If...if he collapses one day, the new king is indeed likely to vindicate the three common people's case. In this case, it would be better to let Li Ying's son come, which would be good for his posthumous reputation.

This decision is not easy to make. After all, changing the prince is a big deal and needs to be observed.

"My child, please wish your father well."

When Li Cong entered the palace, he saw Li Heng kneeling there. He knew that what Xue Bai said was true, and the throne would indeed be changed tonight. He walked to Li Heng's side, tried hard to hold back the excitement in his heart, and said hello in a calm tone.

He thought he had concealed it well, but he lacked experience in power struggles. The slight twinkle in his eyes betrayed his mood.

Li Longji squinted his eyes slightly and observed, realizing that Li Cong had already known in advance that he wanted to depose the crown prince tonight. But even he made this decision not long ago. How did Li Cong know about it?

Unless it was Li Cong who plotted against Li Heng.

With this idea, Li Longji once again called Gao Lishi and gave him some instructions, ordering him to investigate carefully.

Such a big thing cannot be decided overnight. Li Longji waved his hand, drove off to rest, and broke up the banquet, leaving only some people related to the case.

~~
After the royal banquet ended, the officials left the Xingqing Palace shouting birthday wishes of "Eternal Life". While talking, they were still excited about the many performances and grand fireworks they saw tonight.

This excitement also spread to Chang'an City, because almost everyone in Chang'an saw the fireworks. In addition to Xingqing Palace, fireworks are also set off on the city walls to share the good news of the saint's longevity with the people.

Only a few officials noticed something was wrong.

"Something happened tonight."

"You mean the fireworks startled the elephant and almost hit the crowd?"

"I just noticed that a servant kept Xue Bai from Zhongshushe."

"That's because his fireworks made the errands run smoothly. I heard that the imperial concubine really liked the fireworks tonight, so I should leave him to inquire."

"Didn't you realize that the prince has not left the palace yet?"

This kind of discussion only started on a very small scale at first, but within two days, there were rumors in the court. Some said that the prince connived at Li Qiwu's intention to assassinate him, and some said that the prince had sent an auspicious sign from heaven and that the prince was weak and sick. Please make room for storage.

I don’t know where the news came from. It seems that the palace is testing the reaction of the government and the public.

If no one strongly supports the prince, the saint may really depose the prince. But in fact, those who could have a strong attitude to support the prince have been eliminated by Li Linfu in recent years.

This is a time when saints are making their own decisions.

~~
Eagle Dog Shop.

There are five squares in the palace, which are in charge of the leisure envoys and the envoys for the saints to hunt during the hunting season. They are divided into the carving square, the falcon square, the harrier square, the eagle square and the dog square. Eagle Dog Square is the general name for it, so the place is free, and important figures in the palace will be imprisoned if they make mistakes.

The princes who were imprisoned here and died last time were Li Yan and Li Xuan.

Li Heng was also imprisoned here, and you can imagine how nervous he was. Fortunately, unlike Li Yan, he was locked in a veranda rather than a cage.

On the eighth day of August, Zhang Ting finally came to see him. She carried the food box and placed the meals on the table one by one with her own hands, showing a somewhat virtuous look. Li Heng saw it and sighed: "I am in danger this time, lest I involve you and the child."

"What can I do? Can I still make peace with you?"

Zhang Ting is a sharp-tongued person. After deliberately speaking loudly, he pushed Li Heng in and whispered: "You are not strictly monitored here. You should still have a chance. I mean there is a chance to keep it." Storage spaces."

"Really?"

"General Gao is helping me. It's because of his help that I can come to see you today, and he also allowed us to talk to each other in private."

Li Heng immediately felt hopeful and asked, "Did you get any news from him?"

"There are various reports. It seems that the saint is testing the reactions of the courtiers." Zhang Ting said: "According to General Gao, the saint is suspecting that Li Cong and Xue Bai are conspiring to frame you."

"This is indeed the case!" Li Heng's eyes lit up, secretly thinking that his opponent had finally exposed his flaw, "Can you find any evidence?"

"Some people saw that Li Cong had a secret conversation with Xue Bai on the night of Tianchang Festival. More importantly, Li Cong seems to have confessed."

"Really?"

"The information is not yet clear, I will continue to inquire."

Li Heng was overjoyed. He held Zhang Ting's hand and said softly: "Ms. Ting, thank you for having me."

Zhang Ting did not accept this trick. What she was thinking about was that now Li Chu, the eldest son, had committed the biggest crime. Then her son was the only legitimate son in the East Palace.

As he was talking, a eunuch came over.

Zhang Ting turned around and said, "Let us chat for a while longer, and I will reward you heavily."

"Yes, I would like to ask you two to go back to the Ten Kings' Mansion to chat, but please take your time."

"What do you mean?" Li Heng looked surprised. He heard the eunuch's tone, as if he wanted to let him out of the Eagle Dog House.

Then, he noticed the other party's name, and his heart skipped a beat again.

"Go back to your home and wait for the decree. You will know when the time comes."

Li Heng and Zhang Ting suddenly turned pale. If they had just wanted to save their lives before, they still felt huge disappointment when they actually learned that the reserve was not guaranteed.

However, everything was not up to their will. The eunuch waved, and a group of people came forward to take them out of the palace with cold faces. The meal that had just been placed on the table was ruthlessly left in the Eagle Dog House.

They were not sent back to the Shaoyang Courtyard. Shaoyang refers to the east and symbolizes the East Palace. Li Heng was no longer qualified to live there. They were sent back to the Ten Kings' House. There are heavy guards outside the house, and the servants and maids inside the house have been replaced. The intention of confinement is very obvious.

Afterwards, the eunuchs asked Li Heng to bathe and change clothes, waiting for the palace's orders.

This was a long process, and finally, Gao Lishi came with the imperial edict.

"The vice-president is the public weapon of the world. If it fails to function properly, the whole country will be disappointed, which is not a blessing to the country... Taiyuan Mu, Qing Wang Li Cong, my eldest son, shall be the deputy king..."

Li Heng's mind was in chaos, and he stood there at a loss.

Until Gao Lishi walked up to him, handed the imperial edict into his hand, and sighed: "Prince Zhong, please accept the edict."

"The child accepts the order."

"You haven't thanked me yet." Gao Lishi reminded him again: "The saint granted your request and restored you to the title of King Zhong. How can you not express your gratitude?"

"Thank you, kid."

Gao Lishi had nothing to say, nodded feebly, turned around and left.

"Ah Weng." Li Heng suddenly called him and said, "You also know about that, right?"

"What is King Zhong talking about?"

"The reason why Xue Bai acted like this is because he is really the second brother..."

Gao Lishi stopped Li Heng's words with his eyes, shook his head helplessly, and walked to a deserted place with Li Heng to talk.

"That rumor has been proven to be false. How can Prince Zhong bring it up again?"

"There are many people who suspect this." Li Heng said, "Xue Bairuo conspired with my elder brother to kill me. Aweng really never guessed this possibility? Otherwise, why didn't he help me this time."

Gao Lishi shook his head and said, "It is precisely because you think this way that you lost your position as Crown Prince."

"what for?"

"In this world, people always look at their background first. Because Xue Bai's origin is unknown and he was an official slave, people tend to be biased against him. In the past few years, Li Linfu often sued Xue Bai in front of the saints, but in the end, those accusations It can always be proven to be false.”

Gao Lishi was not in a hurry to answer Li Heng's questions, but instead talked about seemingly insignificant things slowly.

After that, he said: "The loyal king always says that others have ulterior motives, but when the saint investigates, everything reported by others is what the loyal king has done. The loyal king always says that others have ulterior motives, but when the saint investigates, the others are always innocent. What do you think of a saint?"

Li Heng still didn't understand and asked: "What do you mean? Isn't it common knowledge that the eldest brother conspired with Xue Bai? Aweng also told Ting Niang before that they had a secret talk on the night of Tianchang Festival ."

Gao Lishi shook his head, showing his disappointment, and said: "Prince Zhong still dares to mention this matter. You can't save yourself by doing this, it will only make the saint even more angry."

"what?"

Li Heng was confused. He had clearly heard from Zhang Ting that Li Cong had already confessed. He had met Xue Bai before going to the Qinzheng Hall and knew the saint's intentions for Yi Chu in advance.

How could something so obvious suddenly become like this?

"Aweng, don't you think I'm framing my elder brother?" Li Heng said, "It's the other way around, I'm the one being framed!"

"The imperial guards used the telescope on the calyx tower to see very clearly that the person talking to King Qing was not Xue Bai." Gao Lishi said, "I'm afraid King Zhong still doesn't know that the telescope also cleared you of being a saint." doubts."

Li Heng said: "It's not Xue Bai, that's the person he sent to deliver the message."

"Those are the people around King Guangping." Gao Lishi said, "They did it deliberately to exonerate you, King Zhong..."

"No." Li Heng was stunned for a moment and said, "They must have colluded before!"

"No." Gao Lishi said: "Prince Qing and Xue Bai have almost no contact. At least the guards have not found any trace of it. They only found that Prince Zhong and you have frequent interactions with Li Qiwu."

"I was wronged."

"King Zhong, ask yourself, are you unjust?"

The current situation is really not what Gao Lishi wants to see. Before the saint plans to depose the prince, he will always try his best to protect the prince. But once the dust settles, he will not regain the reserve position for Li Heng. Because what he protects is never a certain person, but the stability of the country and the country.

After asking in one sentence, he bowed, said goodbye to Li Heng, turned around and left the Ten Kings' House.

Next, he had to go to King Qing Li Cong to read out the decree.

~~
Xue Bai also walked out of Xingqing Palace on this day.

He was punished a lot because of the fireworks that caused chaos, but this matter had nothing to do with him. He guessed that it was done by Li Longji in order to find an excuse to deal with Li Qiwu.

Outside the palace gate, King Jianning Li Tan was standing there adjusting his saddle, looking a little lonely. He turned around and saw Xue Bai. After being silent for a long time, he still stepped forward.

"Are you ashamed?" Li Tan asked.

"It's okay." Xue Bai said, "There's nothing to be ashamed of."

Li Tan said: "I treat you sincerely, but you design to harm me. Isn't it unjust?"

"No matter how you treat me, I will treat you the same way. For example, if you have a lot of money and you insist on buying an expensive gift for me, do you have to let me spend money to give you a gift?"

"You don't need to give me a gift in return." Li Tan said, "But if I give you a gift, even if you are not grateful, you shouldn't harm me."

"It's inappropriate. It's like when I tried my best to exonerate the East Palace, but your father had me buried alive."

Li Tan didn't want to talk about it and was speechless for a while.

After a while, he cupped his fists and said, "Okay, if I don't blame you this time, can the past things disappear?"

"Existence is existence. How can it be that it just disperses?"

"You have already caused my grandpa to lose his reserve position, so what else can you do to get through it?"

Xue Bai pointed to a restaurant in the distance, and walked there with Li Tan, saying: "It's not that I can't live with it, but it happened. Now that I have seen Li Heng's character clearly, we are like each other." We have different paths and do not work together. This cannot be forced upon us."

Li Tan led the horse and walked side by side with Xue Bai, saying: "Although we have little contact with you, I believe in my own perspective on people. You are by no means like Li Linfu and Yang Guozhong who only care about self-interest. You have the people of the country in your heart." "

Xue Bai was not modest either, and said: "King Jianning should be like this, otherwise, you and I would have nothing to talk about."

"But you made a mistake this time. What you did was harmful to the country but not beneficial at all."

"is it?"

Li Tan looked around and saw that there was no one around to listen to the two of them talking, and said: "The saint is tired of government, tired of government, obsessed with sound and sex, and his servants have also lost their sight. There is Yang Guozhong in the court, and An Lushan in the border town. Today Although the Tang Dynasty enjoyed peace and prosperity, in reality, the government was corrupt, the tax system was gradually collapsing, and there were internal and external troubles. At this time, you did not persuade the saints, did not deal with the treacherous officials, and did not guard against the ambitious people. Instead, you shook the country. Adding fire to the head.”

"Kunimoto?"

Xue Bai heard this and murmured, as if he was thinking about what this country is.

"When you say 'Guo Ben', do you refer to your grandpa? Do you refer to him as a person?"

"I tell you, it's far more than that. It's the prince, it's stability, it's the king and his son, it's the system and rules, it's the etiquette and the king's laws."

"So you still know!" Xue Bai scolded, "In this case, when you keep saying that you want to protect the foundation of the country, but in fact you put the cart before the horse and put Li Heng's personal future first, he is no longer the foundation of the country. Not only I am dissatisfied, Li Linfu is dissatisfied, and An Lushan is dissatisfied. From this, it can be deduced that the beginning of the disaster is because of the selfishness of your emperor and his son."

"You are so brave, do you know what you are talking about?!"

"I said that your grandfather is at best a shaky country." Xue Bai said: "Back to the original topic, I am not ashamed. From the moment that prince buried me alive, I saw through his cowardice and selfishness. , a prince who keeps abandoning his wife and courtiers to protect himself will definitely not be a wise king. I don’t obey him, and just as An Lushan doesn’t obey him either. Well, let’s solve this problem from the beginning.”

Li Tan frowned and said, "You know how much my grandfather has devoted his efforts to the country. What he thinks about is the common people..."

"Maybe I care about this country more than you do."

"Heh, your last name isn't even Li."

Xue Bai was thoughtful, as if asking Li Tan, but also asking himself, murmuring: "Really? Does the surname really need to be Li?"

(End of this chapter)