Damn it, I'm in the garbage book I wrote

Chapter 625 It seems they're about to make their move.

The strongest carbon-based being of the 7th century standing before Xia Lin now is a first-rate being in terms of intelligence, mental skills, combat prowess, and vision. He has already figured out things that Xia Lin had not even thought of.

"In my opinion, if it's aimed at the dog emperor, this is just a routine assassination attempt. But if it's aimed at you, then something big is probably going to happen."

“Purge the court of treacherous officials, that’s it.” Xia Lin propped his chin on one hand and fiddled with the chessboard with the other. Without using any cheating devices, he was about to lose to Li Shimin: “Treacherous officials and villains, they wreak havoc on the court, slaughter the people, and frame loyal and virtuous officials. Those people locked in the woodshed are the loyal and virtuous officials, the good people from all over the country, the loyal and righteous men of the Great Wei. That’s how they create their image.”

"Haha, so you knew." Li Shimin placed the last chess piece, creating a stalemate: "Then who do you think did this?"

Xia Lin looked up at Li Shimin and said, "Oh, Emperor Taizong is actually giving me face. He could have killed me, but he didn't. Is he just mocking me by making a peace?"

Li Shimin sneered: "I'll give you some face because I still need your help."

Xia Lin laughed heartily: "Wait a minute, why are you speaking so directly now?"

“It depends on the person. Someone as straightforward as you needs to be straightforward. Saying too much nonsense will only annoy people.” Li Shimin took the teacup: “Can you guess who wants to get rid of you?”

"It's actually just the same few people coming and going: Liu Heita, Li Mi, and Yang Ying. Among them, Liu Heita is the most likely."

"I know this guy well; he's difficult to deal with. But why would he want to get back at you?"

"Have you ever heard of forcing someone to rebel?" Xia Lin laughed. "He once wrote to me, trying to get me to become emperor, but I ignored him. So forcing me to rebel was the most effective method. However, he probably didn't manage his network of connections well. When he was spreading the news, he didn't expect to excite these江湖儿女 (jianghu children) so much that they all went south to assassinate him."

"That's a good idea indeed." Li Shimin frowned. "So, what are your plans?"

"And what about you? What would you do?"

Upon hearing Xia Lin's question, Li Shimin pondered for a long time before finally saying, "This is a brilliant move. If you want to attack him, you will have to pass through Cangzhou and Zhuozhou, which are Li Mi's territories. If you do not attack him, he can take the opportunity to collude with people in Jinling to impeach you. The impeachment will certainly not succeed, so he will unite with people from many places to make a show of raising an army to purge the court of corrupt officials."

"Xiang Zhuang's sword dance was aimed at Liu Bang."

“That’s right.” Li Shimin tapped his fingers on the chessboard. “He raised an army for a title, but what he really wanted to fight was Li Mi. What he wanted was the land of Zhuolu, not you. Either way, Li Mi is going to be in trouble.”

Xia Lin leaned back, squinting, and said silently, "This guy is annoying. What do you think about sending troops from Chang'an to deal with him?"

"Give me Luoyang, and I'll take care of it." Li Shimin gave Xia Linfei a look: "As long as you put Luoyang in my hands, I'll take care of it for you within three months."

“You can’t do it. You can’t beat him right now, and Chang’an won’t allocate that many troops to you. You can’t exactly send troops from Shu, can you? How are you going to explain that to your father?”

Li Shimin was speechless for a moment. He clicked his tongue and said, "I've come all this way for this very reason. You lend me men and troops."

"Then what will you use to repay it?"

Li Shimin stood up, walked to the door, leaned out and looked around, then closed the door. Xia Lin was shocked when she saw this: "I'm warning you, don't do anything reckless. I don't like men."

"Who likes you?" Li Shimin sat back down. "After this is done, the Empress will ascend the throne. Guess who will be the Crown Prince? You're guaranteed to make a profit on this deal, how about it?"

"Are you willing to do this?"

"If it were anyone else, I would scoff, but if it were my elder sister, it wouldn't be a big deal. My little nephew is exceptionally intelligent and has the makings of a great emperor. In a few years, wouldn't the Tang Dynasty be his? If he has the ability to create a great destiny, he could unify the country. Who do you think he would be?"

Xia Lin laughed as he listened. It was very rare, even in male-oriented novels on Qidian, for Emperor Taizong to act as his advocate.

However, although he spoke in glowing terms, there was a big problem: if he succeeded, the blame for patricide and fratricide would fall on Third Sister.

Judging from the current social atmosphere, unless the Third Empress has an iron fist like Wu Zetian and ruins the path for thousands of generations, she will not be able to be empress for more than a few years. The overwhelming negative comments will force her to abdicate. At that time, her son will not be more than ten years old, and she will need Li Shimin to assist her in ascending the throne.

In addition, while Third Sister was good at leading troops in battle, her political acumen was really average, and she wasn't very shrewd. Furthermore, if this matter succeeded, the entire court would be filled with Li Shimin's confidants, so it was obvious who would ultimately become the emperor of the Tang Dynasty.

As an outsider, Xia Lin wouldn't have any good means to stop him, unless he really switched sides to the Li Tang, but he couldn't.

Because of his established persona, no matter how outstanding his personal abilities are, the kindness of Emperor Jingtai, the cultivation of Emperor Hongbao, not to mention that Emperor Hongbao gave him the twelve military tallies instead of his own son, switching allegiance to the separatist regime means that Xia Lin will inevitably be branded as disloyal, unfilial, unkind, and unjust.

Then it will be easy to deal with him. Ah, this chaotic world, there's really no one who's easy to deal with. Everyone's played their cunning to the extreme, even starting to plan for things years in the future.

The problem is that if Xia Lin doesn't support San Niang in setting up the Xuanwu Gate, then it will be Li Jiancheng who sets up the Xuanwu Gate. According to intelligence, the entire Longxi gentry currently supports Li Jiancheng, and the current situation in Chang'an has gradually shifted from a balance of power to a situation where one party dominates.

With Li Shimin in Shu, San Niang was already struggling to withstand the external pressure.

"How about it?" Li Shimin pressed on. "You must know that if you continue to hesitate like this, my sister will be doomed. But that's not good for you either. So, if you say that you have no feelings for my sister, I will turn around and leave, never to set foot in front of you again. Even if we meet again, it will only be on the battlefield."

"Are you crazy? Why are you pressuring me like this?" Xia Lin slammed her hand on the table. "Didn't I say I didn't care? Don't I need to think about it?"

"Okay, let's start another game, and you can think about it carefully."

The chess pieces were put back into the box, and a new game of chess began.

Meanwhile, in another room, Emperor Jingtai leaned against the window frame, gazing into the distance. His expression was no longer that of the cheerful and adorable man he had been before.

"Your Majesty, what's wrong? Why are you unhappy?"

“Someone is trying to force Daosheng into rebellion.” Emperor Jingtai said with a frown, “If these people were here to assassinate me, I would not be alarmed at all. But if they are here to assassinate Daosheng, I am now in a state of utter confusion.”

Jinlian was said to be clever, but she wasn't really that clever. Emperor Jingtai's words left her completely bewildered, so she asked, somewhat confused, "Why... why does assassinating Lord Xia cause Your Majesty such distress?"

"Jinlian, things in the court are not as they seem, and being the emperor is not as carefree as everyone says. You have been by my side for many years now, have you ever seen me laughing heartily in the palace?"

"There really isn't one..."

"Yes, someone is setting a trap this time. Once this trap is set, either I will exile Daosheng, or Daosheng will rebel against the court. There is no other possibility."

"Why...why..."

At this moment, Jinlian's voice was trembling because she had heard all sorts of bad things about Lord Xia, which was like a thunderbolt to her.

"The assassination attempt stemmed from rumors circulating throughout the land. Once these rumors started, regardless of what Guan Sheng had done, his reputation was ruined, even though everyone knew he was a close advisor to the emperor. Imagine if you were one of those unaware of the details, and you learned that such a treacherous official was by the emperor's side, how would you react?"

"This lowly woman...does not know."

"Yes, when the time comes, whether it's floods, droughts, fires, diseases, or locust plagues, it will all be blamed on me. Because I trusted treacherous people and caused the people to suffer, then naturally someone will rise up to purge the court of corrupt officials."

"Ah!" Jinlian took two steps back in astonishment: "But...but they can't beat Lord Xia, can they?"

"Fight? One or two can't beat them, but the world is in chaos right now, with thirty-eight warlords and military leaders, and nearly 1.2 million soldiers. 1.2 million! Don't forget that Dao Sheng is just a mortal... In his words, even if Liu Xiu were standing opposite him, he would dare to gamble on his skill cooldown with 1.2 million men under his command."

"Hmm? Skill cooldown... what does that mean?"

"Even the best archer will have a moment between shots when he can't release the arrow. That's his explanation." Emperor Jingtai nodded and said, "Alright, let's not dwell on this. Has Daosheng read that Romance of the Three Kingdoms?"

“I have seen it.”

"Yes, you know about the coalition of eighteen warlords against Dong Zhuo, right?"

"know."

"Alright, Daosheng is now Dong."

Jinlian was immediately taken aback: "But Lord Xia is always saving the people and benefiting the world... He... he..."

"You don't understand. Sometimes the pen is in someone else's hand. No matter how well you do, it's useless under the weight of public opinion. There are many powerful families and clans in the world. Daosheng has been their enemy for a long time. Now that they've realized what's going on, they naturally want to get rid of Daosheng. And how will they do it? They'll tarnish his reputation, ruin his merits, and then deal with him little by little. In the end, even if he becomes a saint in the first half of his life, he's destined to be filthy in the second half."

Emperor Jingtai sighed inexplicably at this point, and gave a bitter smile: "If he has no means, then only those two paths remain. I cannot protect him, and no one in the world can. This is what troubles me."

(End of this chapter)