Long live Emperor Wu!

Chapter 67
The captain of the guard, who was kneeling on the ground, said unjustly:
"Your Majesty, it really happened for a reason. It was all because the assassin was a woman holding a book. Wearing a curtain, she stopped His Highness King Wei's carriage in the street. She said that she admired His Highness King Wei's talents and asked His Highness to buy it from her. There is a line of calligraphy left in "Kuo Di Zhi".

She even had her pen and ink ready at that time, she was thin, and in full public view, she reported her name, but no one thought she was an assassin, not even His Highness the King of Wei.

It was our duty to stop the woman outside the guard formation, but His Highness King Wei came out on his own, saying that there was no need to make a fuss and that he would personally give the woman a poem.

As a result, while His Royal Highness the King of Wei was writing the inscription, the woman took out a dagger from her sleeve, stabbed him and left.The woman was extremely skilled in qinggong, and she specifically chose a place. Stepping on the clothesline on the second floor, she jumped directly onto the roof, climbed over the roof, and jumped to another building in the next street.

We were in a hurry, fearing that there would be another gangster attack, so we escorted His Highness back and sent people to chase him, but we didn't catch him..."

The emperor pondered for a while, knowing that according to this, the guards responded appropriately and did not neglect their duties.

The strange thing is that his son has a low self-esteem and always wants to prove himself. As a result, he was flattered in the street and forgot about it. More importantly, he was not diligent in his limbs and was quite slow. He even committed suicide in the hands of a woman. Baodu can't do it.

In the end, he relied on his own human shield to block him passively, so he was lucky.

But... this assassin picked out King Wei's temperament and character weaknesses so accurately that he was probably someone who was very familiar with him.

who can that be?

"Go and investigate, starting with those who have contact with King Wei." The emperor ordered.

King Li Tai of Wei was famous for his talents and recruited a large number of literati. The "Kuo Di Zhi" was a book presided over by King Wei and compiled by many followers.

After King Wei's injury was bandaged, the emperor led King Jin and Princess Jinyang in to see him.

As soon as he entered the door, King Wei burst into tears and shouted miserably:

"Father... I thought I would never see you again, wuwuwu..."

He was indeed suffering. He was lying on the bed with a pale face, sweat on his head, and even his eyes were frightened. It seemed that he was quite frightened.

The emperor held his hand distressedly and said:
"Okay, the imperial doctor said that you have a flesh wound and you need to be healed. When we find out who wants to harm you, Aye will avenge you."

King Wei glanced at King Jin with his slender eyes, grabbed the emperor's hand tightly, and said in panic:
"I know who harmed me, and there is no one else except him."

"Who?" asked the emperor.

"It's the eldest brother. The eldest brother hates me the most recently. He doesn't want my father to treat me well. The assassin must have been sent by him." King Wei cried.

The emperor was stunned for a moment, looking at King Wei's eyes flashing with a faint light, not distinguishing between joy and anger. After a while, he gently comforted him and said:
"What are you thinking about? Why would the prince kill you? Even if he is dissatisfied, he will not go to the extent of wanting to kill you! To put it bluntly, what is his identity, what is your identity, what is the benefit of him killing you?"

King Wei felt the emperor's coolness, his eyes flashed in shock for a moment, and then he cried out in aggrievedness and said:

"He's afraid that my father will pass the throne to me. Father, I'm not just thinking nonsense. I'm usually careful and I don't have any enemies. That is to say, I have a lot of grievances with my eldest brother recently. Father... you must save me, I I don’t want to die!”

King Jin kept listening to his words, feeling flustered in his heart. At this moment, he finally couldn't help but said:
"Fourth brother! You have been trying to persuade and win over the prince recently, and you have not even spared me and Xizi. Now you are saying that he assassinated you?
How dare you accuse the prince of such a serious crime without the slightest evidence? ...I am especially suspicious now that this assassination was a ploy by you to frame him! "

"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu Emperor, please help me, I don't want to die." King Wei cried heartbrokenly, grabbed the emperor's hand hard, and knocked his head on the back of his hand.

As a 22-year-old, crying like this doesn't really seem like hypocrisy.King Jin felt suspicious for a moment, and became even more panicked.

Could it be that the prince brother would really do such a thing?

The emperor remained gloomy and silent. He raised his hand and touched King Wei's back, comforting him and saying:

"When no evidence is found, don't think blindly. Don't worry, as long as we find out, no matter who it is, I will give you an explanation. And Xiaojiu, you too, how can you say that to your fourth brother?

It's not like you to make random accusations without evidence.Your fourth brother is injured and needs to rest. You apologize to him. "

When King Jin heard this, he blushed for a moment in shame, then lowered his head and admitted his mistake:
"Father taught me that."

After saying that, he bowed to King Wei dignifiedly and said warmly:
"Fourth brother, it was my fault just now. I was in a hurry and talked nonsense. Don't take it to heart."

King Wei just cried and ignored him.

From beginning to end, the prince never came to see him.

The emperor knew that the relationship between the two of them was tense, so he didn't say anything.

He just secretly paid attention to the truth about King Wei's assassination, and from time to time asked people to report on the progress of the investigation.

However, the results have not yet come out, and even the shadow of the murderer has not been found.

In Chang'an City, rumors that the prince had assassinated King Wei were already spreading.Many people have begun to believe that the prince did it, even if there is no evidence.

King Jin once even wanted to ask the prince for confirmation and ask him in person.

This shocked himself, because when you want to ask this, it means that you also suspect that the prince did it.

A person who supported the prince so much and believed in the prince's character also began to waver and have doubts. What a terrible thing.

The prince also became more and more gloomy and grumpy amid such doubts.

The court, under the emperor's strong control, appeared calm on the surface, but in fact there was an undercurrent.

……

In the 17th year of Zhenguan, King Jin was 15 years old and Wu Rou was 19 years old.

In this year, Wei Zheng died of illness and the prince rebelled.

When the emperor brought the prince to him and questioned him, his expression was sad and helpless, and he just said lightly:
"Chengqian."

That cry was an insight into all disappointment and giving up.

At this time, the emperor, who had always supported the prince, finally gave up on him.

Li Chengqian knelt on the ground, looking at his Aye with tears streaming down his face, trembling all over, and after a long time he collapsed and screamed:
"Since my father already knows everything, why didn't he destroy me earlier?! Do you have to see my jokes?! Look at me like an ant, struggling and running around in your hand, anxiously?!"

King Jin was also there at that time. The emperor turned his head and glanced at King Jin. He saw that King Jin was always in shock and confusion, and looked at the prince who could not recover.

He turned around and said seriously:

"Chengqian... Aye doesn't want to see your joke. It's true that apart from you, I can't choose a suitable successor. Do you understand? I even hope that your rebellion will succeed."

The prince looked at him in shock.

"Don't look at me like this..." the emperor said, "Your father and I also won the throne through mutiny. I don't have that much resistance to mutiny. I even think that as long as you can succeed, it means that the court supports you." The majority of people are. Then you are a popular prince and a qualified prince."

As he spoke, his deep eyes were filled with tears. He looked at his once most trusted and beloved son and said painfully:

"It's not just you who is dreaming, I am also dreaming. I hope that even if your body is somewhat disabled, you can still be recognized by most people.

Now, this dream is completely shattered.You haven't done anything yet. As soon as you made a plan to rebel, the guards around you betrayed you. Even Zhan Shi of the Prince's Mansion didn't agree with you. I called him to question him. As soon as he opened his mouth, he tried everything. Oh... Cheng Qian, you have lost your heart... How did you get to this point? "

The prince froze. After a long time, he laughed bitterly:
"Hahahahahaha... How did I get to this point? How did I get to this point?... Father, haven't you seen it all? Ever since I became disabled, I can't even breathe right!
It was obviously Li Tai who planned the assassination and framed me, but all the courtiers thought it was me who did it!Why? !Isn't it because they want me to step down from the position of prince and wish that all the mistakes were my fault? ! "

The prince excitedly pointed to the ground, with veins popping out on his thin forehead, and said:

"As long as they think about my personality and my intelligence, Li Chengqian, they can't think of me as stupid! Why should I kill him, Li Tai? There are so many princes after killing him. Which one is not in good health, and with Do I have the power to compete?!

I, Li Chengqian, am lame in my feet, not my brain!
My plan from the beginning was to mutiny and directly ascend to the throne, thus cutting off the minds of those people!Unfortunately, Father, your light is too dazzling. Even those who want to support me think that I am just a mayfly shaking a tree, and my whims are too great.

There are only two ways in front of me. One is to wait for everyone to pile their faults on my head, and their impression of me is getting worse and worse, and they are alienated from me.The other way is to use coercion to force everyone to recognize my orthodoxy.I can only choose the second way! "

He shouted again in pain:
"I can only choose the second path. I don't want to get to this point, and I don't want to!"

The emperor looked at him, crying silently, and lowered his head in regret.

Seeing that he had admitted everything personally, King Jin finally recovered. Tears welled up in his eyes. He knelt on the ground dejectedly and murmured:
"Big brother..."

Li Chengqian looked at his younger brother with a look of relief and guilt on his face, and he said:
"Xiaojiu, I didn't mean to chase you away or hurt you. Rebellion is a capital crime. I can't implicate you. I will only do that if I have no choice. I originally planned that if I could succeed, I would at most kill Li Tai, you and my father. I will never do any harm.

It's a pity...that's all...I tried hard, struggled, and failed...I don't regret it. "

King Li Shan of Jin let out a painful roar from his throat, then knelt down in front of the emperor and asked pleadingly:

"Aye! You won't kill the prince's brother, will you?! The prince's brother is not... he is not..."

He was in a panic and couldn't say anything to defend himself, so he just cried and shouted:

"...Please spare him, please spare him!"

(End of this chapter)