A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Starting from the Village Chief

Chapter 748 The Lonely Retired Emperor

Changsun Wuji was urgently summoned to the palace.
All eight prime ministers were present in Xiande Hall.

Upon entering the hall, he sensed the heavy atmosphere. He quickly scanned the room and saw that in addition to the emperor and eight prime ministers, the heads of the three judicial departments were also present.

He immediately sensed that something big was about to happen today.

Changsun Wuji sat down.

Soon, the four attendants on the left and right, and the eight advisors on the left and right also arrived.

The six ministers of the Ministry of Personnel, the left and right assistant ministers, the vice ministers of the Secretariat and the Chancellery, the secretary of the Secretariat and the secretary of the Chancellery, and the secretary of the Chancellery and the secretary of the Chancellery.

More and more officials are arriving.

The atmosphere grew increasingly tense.

"Cui Qing, please inform everyone of the situation."

Imperial Censor Cui Junsu stood up and took out a booklet.

"Gentlemen, Prince Yi'an, Li Xiaochang; General of the Right Guard, Liu Deyu; General of the Right Gate Guard, Changsun Anye; Governor of Qingzhou, Wang Junkuo; Governor of Huazhou, Du Caigan; Generals Liu Wenzan and Yuan Lü; Commander Yuan Hongshan; and Gatekeeper Wei Yuanzheng, among others, are using the imperial edict as a pretext to secretly plot a rebellion using the imperial guards..."

As soon as this word comes out,
The entire hall was shocked.

Apart from the first eight prime ministers and the heads of the three judicial departments who had already been informed, the others who arrived later were unaware of this matter.

Even Changsun Wuji didn't know.

When he heard that Changsun Anye was also involved in the rebellion, his mind went blank.

Not only him, but many officials in the hall were also confused.

Cui Junsu was still giving the report.

The report wasn't very detailed, but it still made it clear who the main perpetrators of this treason case were.
The mastermind behind the conspiracy was identified as Prince Yi'an, Li Xiaochang. He wanted to become emperor and fabricated prophecies and false omens, with his son secretly colluding with him.

In addition, there were four other masterminds who conspired: Liu Deyu, Right General of the Imperial Guard; Sun Anye, Right Inspector General of the Imperial Guard; Wang Junkuo, Governor of Qingzhou; and Du Caigan, Governor of Huazhou.

In addition, a group of people were also drawn in.

This included Liu Hongji, the Left General of the Valiant Guard; Changsun Shunde, the Right General of the Valiant Guard; and Li Yuan, the Prince of Lujiang.

As for Li Yili, Changsun Ya, Wei Yuanzheng, Yuan Hongshan, and other fifth or sixth-rank officials, they were at most accomplices.

After Cui Junsu finished his report, he handed the materials to everyone for review.

He returned to his seat, though he was also completely bewildered. After being hastily summoned, Li Yi briefed the three officials—the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, the Grand Censor, and the Minister of Justice—on the situation, but not in detail.

He even keenly sensed that the case was not as simple as it seemed on the surface, and that some important information was being deliberately concealed.

It is unreasonable to say that Li Xiaochang wanted to become emperor, and that Liu Deyu and other Chinese and foreign generals wanted to support Li Xiaochang as emperor.

After all, Li Xiaochang was a key figure in the founding of the Emperor Emeritus's campaign, but Liu Deyu had always been a subordinate of the Prince of Qin. It was possible that he had switched allegiance to the Crown Prince Jiancheng before, but how could he possibly support Li Xiaochang as the emperor now?

There are too many things that cannot be explained or understood.

But even without Li Yi saying it, they understood.

They're all cunning old foxes; none of them are fools.

Cui Junsu, needless to say, came from the Zhengzhou branch of the Qinghe Cui family. During the Sui Dynasty, the Cui family was considered a maternal relative of Empress Dugu.

During the Daye Dynasty, he rose to the rank of Vice Minister of the Imperial Secretariat and served as the Chief Military Advisor to Duke Rongguo, Lai Huer, crossing the sea to the east and capturing Pyongyang.

He served under the Northern Zhou, Sui, and Tang dynasties, and also followed Yuwen Huaji northward. Later, he served as prime minister and attendant to Dou Jiande.

Cui Junsu and his elder brother Cui Junzhuo were cousins ​​of Empress Dugu and maternal uncles of Emperor Yang Guang. Cui Junzhuo was almost executed for being a member of Yang Yong's faction, losing his wife, property, and official position. Fortunately, his daughter later gained Emperor Yang Guang's favor, which allowed the Cui brothers to turn their lives around.

Cui Junsu was also affected by this, experiencing ups and downs.

Despite the chaos at the end of the Sui Dynasty, Cui Junsu managed to survive. After Dou Jiande's defeat, he surrendered to the Tang Dynasty and was fortunate enough to enter the Prince of Qin's mansion, eventually becoming the chief secretary of the Prince of Qin's mansion.

After all, he was not only the cousin of Empress Dugu of the Sui Dynasty and the maternal uncle of Emperor Yang of Sui, but also the maternal uncle of Emperor Li Yuan of the Tang Dynasty.

Li Shimin still had to call him his maternal uncle.

Having served through several dynasties, and even managing to remain a high-ranking official under Yuwen Huaji and Dou Jiande while still managing to retire unscathed, it's clear how clever this old man was.

He even guessed some of the truth directly.
The person who could connect Li Xiaochang, Liu Deyu, Changsun Anye, Wang Junkuo, Du Caigan, and even Changsun Shunde and Liu Hongji was...
It was definitely not that Li Xiaochang wanted to be emperor.

Then there's only one possible outcome: it concerns the retired emperor of Taiji Palace.

Li Yi didn't mention it at all.
Of course, he wouldn't ask it aloud.

Therefore, even though there were many inconsistencies and insufficient evidence regarding this treason case, he did not express the slightest doubt.

He only needs to know one thing.
Where is the bottom line in this treason case?

Where will the emperor finally stop?

Who should be put in?

He was ordered to handle the case.

This is not a simple case of treason; it is the first challenge to the legitimacy that the current emperor has faced since seizing the throne.

"Your Majesty, I request that these traitors be arrested immediately according to the list!" Cui Junsu shouted.

Dali Minister Quan Hongshou immediately said, "I second that; they must all be captured immediately."

When Duan Lun, the Minister of Justice, dealt with Li Yizong's case last time, he said that Li Xiaochang and his son were plotting a rebellion. Now it has been proven that he was right.

Changsun Wuji felt a constant ringing in his ears.

It took him a long time to come to his senses.
He immediately rose and pleaded with the emperor to uphold justice by punishing his own family and arresting and imprisoning Changsun Anye for interrogation.

Faced with this shocking case,

No one stood up to question it, and no one objected.

Those who understand will not be tactless, and those who do not understand will dare not question it.

The emperor issued an edict.

Zhou Xiaofan and Hou Junji led the Imperial Guards to arrest people.

Joint trial by the three judicial departments.

“The trial of this case is overseen by Minister Li Yi and Grand Master of the Palace Sun Wuji.”

Some cases require evidence, and even irrefutable proof.

But some cases don't require evidence.

One day,
All those involved in the case in Chang'an were arrested and brought to justice. Local officials such as Wang Junkuo and Du Caigan also sent people to arrest them.

Changsun Wuji, who was in charge of supervising the trial, saw his half-brother Sun Anye, who was still hungover from a drunken stupor when he was arrested and imprisoned.
He merely glanced at her a few times before leaving. Empress Zhangsun had long since forgiven her third brother, but Zhangsun Wuji had not.

In recent years, he has hardly had any contact with Anyefu.

Seeing him go to prison, Changsun Wuji even felt a sense of satisfaction.

Upon returning, he personally convicted Changsun Anye of treason, a crime deserving of death!

Li Yi also pleaded for his uncle Li Xiaochang, requesting that he be pardoned with an iron certificate of immunity for meritorious officials, and instead be exiled to Lingnan. Changsun Wuji was unwilling to give Anye even the slightest chance.

Taiji Palace
A major rotation of the Imperial Guards
Zhou Xiaofan and Zhang Anan, one inside and one outside, personally oversaw the situation.

A large number of palace eunuchs and servants were taken away.

The retired emperor sensed the widespread panic, but did not know why.

"Summon Zhang Anan!" Li Yuan angrily smashed his pipa.

The eunuch who was supposed to be summoned returned quickly, but Zhang Anan made an excuse to refuse to come.

Li Yuan collapsed to the ground.

Originally, after he moved to Da'an Palace a few years earlier to enjoy his later years, the relationship between father and son improved, and Empress Zhangsun would often bring Crown Prince Chengqian and others to the palace to pay their respects.

They never lacked any kind of gifts.

But now, he keenly sensed that something was wrong.

But he was isolated in this Taiji Palace, and knew nothing about the outside world.

Something happened, but he didn't know what happened.

His eyes darkened.

"Go see Zhang Anan again and tell him that I want to see my old friend Pei Ji, to play the pipa and drink some wine together."

After a while,
The eunuch returned again, reporting with trepidation that it was difficult for Ah Zhang to say whether it would be convenient for Pei Sikong to enter the palace for the time being.

The retired emperor sighed and remained silent.

Li Yi went home after finishing his shift.

As soon as I entered, Ji Lingyi came over, her eyes red and swollen.

"You cried because of your sister?"

"My lord, what's going on? How could Prince Yi'an have rebelled?"

Li Yi didn't know how to tell her about this.

Ji Lingyi's younger sister, Ji Zongchi, just married into the Yi'an Prince's Mansion this year. She married Li Xiaochang's sixth son, Li Yiyu, the Crown Prince's Qianniu.

"My sister is only fourteen years old and has just gotten married."

Ji Lingyi thought of her past. She too had married at the age of fourteen to the son of Li Zixiong, the Right General of the Martial Guard and Minister of Civil Affairs during the Sui Dynasty. However, shortly after their marriage, her father-in-law was involved in Yang Xuangan's rebellion, and was killed after the defeat.

She and her sister-in-law, Wei Gui, were also taken into the inner palace as a result.
Later, due to her maternal family, the Wei clan of Jingzhao, Wei Gui was granted a place in the Prince of Qin's residence after the establishment of the Tang Dynasty, but she remained in the Yeting Palace for a full five years.

If it weren't for meeting Li Yi, I might have spent my whole life doing menial tasks like washing and cleaning in the Imperial Palace.

She didn't want her sister to follow in her footsteps.

"Ah Lang, please save me."

Although Ji Lingyi did not know why Prince Yi'an wanted to rebel, she knew from her experience that if it involved treason, the whole family would suffer a terrible fate.

The best outcome was that she would not be sent to the inner palace as a slave, while the worst outcome was that she would be sent to the brothel as a prostitute, or even be exiled to the frontier and become a camp prostitute.

When she learned that the Prince of Yi'an's rebellion was an irrefutable fact, she could only weep and say:

"Ah Lang, could you, as before, ask the saint to bestow upon you a bundle of offerings to serve as your slave?"

When Li Yizong was executed last time, his wives, concubines and children were not enslaved. In the end, the emperor bestowed them upon Li Yi as slaves. Li Yi then released them and sent them back to the Prince of Yi'an's residence.

Ji Lingyi now wants to use this method to rescue her sister.

"I will find a way to protect Yi Yu and Zong Chi."

In the Prince Yi'an's mansion, his cousin Li Liulang was the only one he liked, and he was also one of the better young men in the mansion.

"Then you must hurry, Ah Lang. Every day in the women's prison is torture and despair."

Li Yi could only try to appease him with kind words.

"You're pregnant, don't be too upset and it will upset the baby."

East Palace,

Li Shimin was also facing weeping and pleading.
Empress Zhangsun knelt before him, kowtowing and pleading.

"Get up quickly!"

"Your Majesty, Anye's crime deserves ten thousand deaths..."

Li Shimin helped his wife up, saying, "Your third brother is a drunkard and a scoundrel. When Duke Xian died, you and your siblings were still young, yet he drove you out of the house, forcing you to seek refuge with your maternal uncle and live as dependents."
Yet you held no grudge or mind, and often pleaded with me on his behalf. I treated you with great kindness and respect, and now you have been appointed Right General of the Imperial Guard, a third-rank official, and given an important position.

But how did he repay me?
He often drank heavily and neglected his duties. He even took advantage of his position guarding the palace gates to collude with people inside and outside the palace to steal palace property. I have not punished him because he is your half-brother.

But now he and his son are plotting against me!

"Wuji requested that I uphold justice and punish his own family members according to the law."

Empress Zhangsun knelt down again, kowtowed, and pleaded, “Your Majesty, everyone in the world knows that An Ye is not kind to me. If I am executed, people will think that I am abusing my favor to take revenge on An Ye, which will also damage Your Majesty’s reputation.”

Empress Zhangsun was intelligent.

She had already met and spoken with her brother Wuji and had obtained some key information.

The real traitors were a group of younger men, including his nephew Wuyai and his nephew-in-law Wei Yuanzheng, and Li Xiaochang's son Li Yili, who plotted the rebellion after drinking.

But the emperor intends to use this opportunity to ruthlessly kill a number of people.

This will further fuel the current new policy, blaze a trail, and clear away obstacles.

This should serve as a warning to anyone who might try to exploit the retired emperor's legacy.

Empress Zhangsun was generally unwilling to interfere in court affairs, but this time she hoped that the emperor could be more lenient and simply exile Li Xiaochang, Liu Deyu, Zhangsun Anye, and others, rather than go on a killing spree.

She knew what her husband was afraid of deep down.
She feared that her husband would unleash the demon within him out of fear.

The emperor had only been on the throne for a hundred days, yet such a major case and the killings had occurred, which made her very uneasy.

She hoped to minimize bloodshed, not only by sparing Changsun Anye, but also by not killing Li Xiaochang, Liu Deyu, Wang Junkuo, and others. Exiling them to Lingnan and confiscating their property would be enough to rectify the court and deter rebellion.

(End of this chapter)