Li Chengqian of the Tang Dynasty: Please say long live His Majesty

Chapter 127: Find that person, I want my father to know who is behind him (Part )
As soon as Li Tai returned to Prince Wei's mansion, he went straight into the study.

Chai Lingwu followed in closely.

"Did my brother have any other meaning behind what he said today?" Li Tai stood in the study, staring at Chai Lingwu. "The more I think about it, the more I feel something is wrong. It was my brother who proposed compiling the Book of the Later Han, and then he suddenly stopped. I'm working on it in Luoyang, but he hasn't said a word. This is so wrong."

Chai Lingwu fell silent. He looked up at Li Tai and said thoughtfully, "Your Highness, is the Crown Prince deliberately playing tricks on you, hoping to make you uneasy and cause you to make a mistake?"

"Hmm?" Li Tai paused. Chai Lingwu's words surprised him, but at the same time, he felt that what Chai Lingwu said made a lot of sense.

"First of all," Chai Lingwu thought for a moment and said, "Your Highness, although it was the Crown Prince who first proposed compiling the Book of the Later Han, it's not a big deal. The Book of the Later Han was not written by the Crown Prince.

The Crown Prince proposed compiling the book at the beginning of the year, but then there was no movement. Six months later, the Prince of Wei's Palace submitted a petition to His Majesty for approval, and then began compiling it. There's no problem with that. There may be some dissatisfaction among the people now, but it's just a little bit. As long as the compilation of the Book of the Later Han is excellent and satisfies the court and the public, that little bit of dissatisfaction will immediately dissipate."

Li Tai's brows raised for a moment, then relaxed. He walked to the table and sat down before saying, "That's the truth."

"As for the potential problems here," Chai Lingwu sneered, "in the final analysis, isn't it just the matter between Concubine Yang and Prince Cao? The Crown Prince simply didn't dare to make a move out of pride, and in the end, Your Highness and Duke Zhao worked together to resolve the issue. Speaking of which, this is also a sign of Your Highness's great filial piety to Empress Wende."

"Yes, that's right." Li Tai breathed a sigh of relief, then nodded vigorously and said, "The throne of Queen belongs to my mother, and no one can shake it."

"As for the remaining possibilities," Chai Lingwu nodded and said, "The Crown Prince must have sensed something was amiss today. The Xueyantuo suddenly targeted Li Dejian, a senior official of the Eastern Palace who had recently made great contributions. It's natural for the Crown Prince to be a bit sensitive."

When someone attacked the Eastern Palace, the prince immediately thought of King Wei, which was normal.

"Are there any hidden dangers left by this incident?" Li Tai couldn't help but ask.

"What hidden danger could there be? The Xueyantuo envoy just said something, and no one else took action." Chai Lingwu breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Even if the prince wanted to do something, he wouldn't be able to get any evidence against the Prince of Wei's palace."

After a brief pause, Chai Lingwu's expression turned serious. "However, I have to deal with the aftermath of this matter properly, lest today's events go as planned and cause those people to panic. It would be troublesome if someone catches us with clues."

Li Tai immediately nodded and said, "Then be careful, cousin."

"I understand." Chai Lingwu was about to turn and leave, but then he looked at Li Tai and said, "However, Your Highness, you still need to be careful about the ending of the Book of the Later Han. After you finish, read it again and check if there are any mistakes."

"My cousin is right. Qingque will do it when he gets back." Li Tai nodded seriously.

"In that case, I will take my leave first." Chai Lingwu bowed, then turned around and left quickly.

……

East Palace, Chongjiao Hall.

Li Chengqian sat on the couch, thinking about the details of today's events, and couldn't help but fall into deep thought.

Outside the palace, the sun sets and the sunlight grows longer.

"Your Highness, the Grand Doctor is here." Li Anyan's voice sounded outside the palace.

Li Chengqian suddenly came to his senses and realized that it was Li Dejian who had arrived.

"Let him in." Li Chengqian straightened his expression and looked outside the hall.

Li Dejian, dressed in a deep crimson official robe, walked in with a solemn expression and said, "Your Highness, I, Li Dejian, pay my respects to you."

"Please sit down." Li Chengqian raised his hand slightly.

"Thank you, Your Highness." Li Dejian walked to the side and sat down carefully before he bowed and said, "Thank you for your reminder, Your Highness. If it weren't for you, I would be in big trouble today."

"How's the investigation going?" Li Chengqian waved his hand and asked directly for details.

Li Dejian nodded solemnly and said, "This seal of the Xueyantuo Khan, which did not exist before, was found in the home of one of my subordinates."

As he spoke, Li Dejian placed a golden seal on Li Chengqian's desk.

Li Chengqian picked it up, weighed it briefly, and then said, "The weight is fine, it's the perfect weight, but the text..."

Li Chengqian flipped it over and frowned as he said, "There's nothing wrong with the text. Could it be that something went wrong with the Honglu Temple, or the Ministry of Rites? Or maybe they have Tiele people on their hands? This seal, eh, it's fake."

Li Chengqian suddenly concluded that the seal was fake.

"Your Highness." Li Dejian looked at Li Chengqian in surprise.

"Look at the depth and bottom of these engravings. Some of the details aren't quite right." Li Chengqian looked at Li Dejian and said with a smile, "Don't worry. Just as I trust you, you should also trust your brothers. They wouldn't dare to keep a golden seal like this privately."

"I see." Li Dejian understood everything and said, "So today, they originally wanted to use this golden seal to impeach me..."

"And then attack the Eastern Palace." Li Chengqian sneered softly and said, "Unfortunately, the people from the Censorate they are looking for can't get around Li Yifu."

"I really need to thank Censor Li." Li Dejian breathed a sigh of relief.

If Li Yifu had not reminded him, his official career would probably have been completely over this time, just like Li Jing's in the past.

"It's not necessary. The princess's hundredth day ceremony will be held in two days. You can just have a few more drinks." Li Chengqian nodded with a smile.

"I would also like to thank Your Highness. If it weren't for Your Highness's timely response, I would not have escaped this disaster so easily." Li Dejian bowed solemnly to Li Chengqian.

Li Chengqian waved his hand and said, "I didn't do anything. I just made a half-forged seal and put it in your house, which also blocked the way for me to investigate. The person I really want to thank today should be the Xueyantuo envoy. If it weren't for his sudden proposal to marry the princess, things would have been more troublesome."

Li Chengqian witnessed Wang An, the Censor-in-Chief, making several moves, but he always managed to hold back. The key issue was Shan Ge's sudden proposal to marry the princess.

"They are learning from Tubo." Li Dejian nodded in agreement. This incident directly made the emperor angry.

Not everyone, not even the king of any country, big or small, is qualified to marry a princess of the Tang Dynasty.

Especially the Xueyantuo, who had just suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of the Tang Dynasty.

The emperor was angry with Xueyantuo. At this time, Li Dejian said that he did not recognize the seal of Xueyantuo's Little Khan. Especially when he split the seal of Little Khan in half, the emperor would only be happier.

Impeaching Li Dejian at this time would only arouse the emperor's disgust.

"There will be no problems with the Xueyantuo for the next two years, but that doesn't mean there won't be any in the future." Li Chengqian's expression grew serious. He looked at Li Dejian and said, "After you return home, do what you should do normally. If you have time, go back and visit more often."

"Yes!" Li Dejian raised his eyes slightly, and said calmly, "I obey your command."

"After returning to Xiazhou next year, while paying attention to Xueyantuo, you must also pay attention to the exchanges between Tubo and Goguryeo." Li Chengqian's expression became solemn. He saw today that when Shange mentioned asking to marry the princess, the emperor's face changed slightly.

This easily reminds people of Tubo. When people think of Tubo, they think of Songtsen who is still stranded in Tongtian River.

Li Chengqian instantly guessed that Songtsen was staying in Tongtian River, probably intending to wait for the outcome of this battle.

Although the Tang Dynasty won this battle, it was not until the end that the emperor suddenly realized that there was still a Tubo.

Thirty thousand elite cavalry could come down from the Tibetan Plateau at any time, and the Tang Dynasty had no preparation at all.

It cannot be said that he was not on guard at all. Li Chengqian was at least keeping an eye on Songtsen at all times because he had no good feelings towards the Tibetans.

But even though he was watching, he didn't think there was any possibility that Songtsen would kill him.

To be honest, Li Chengqian had never thought of this matter, let alone now, even in his previous life.

In other words, no one in the entire Tang Dynasty had ever thought about it in the previous life.

Because in the previous life, the Tang Dynasty treated the Tibetans very well.

When Princess Wencheng got married, the Tang Dynasty gave no one an estimated amount of dowry. Because of this, no one had thought that at this time, Songtsen was actually planning to attack the Tang Dynasty at any time.

"I obey your command." Li Dejian bowed seriously.

……

Watching Li Dejian leave, Li Chengqian turned to look at Li Anyan and said, "An Yan, you should go home early today. Also, go to the Dali Temple and find Minister Sun. Tell him that I suspect someone in the court is secretly communicating with the Xueyantuo people. Have the people in the Dali Temple keep a close eye on the Xueyantuo envoy and investigate everyone who has contact with him."

"Yes!" Li Anyan bowed solemnly.

"By the way, ask Helan to come over." Li Chengqian said calmly, and Li Anyan immediately understood that this matter would not end so easily.

Soon, Li Anyan left, and Helan Chushi appeared in front of Li Chengqian: "Your Highness."

"Yeah!" Li Chengqian nodded and said, "You've heard everything about today, right?"

"Yes, someone wants to plot against Li Dejian." Helan Chushi nodded seriously. Li Dejian was deliberately pointed out in the hall, and some people couldn't help but think of the impeachment of Li Jing in the past, especially the officials of the Eastern Palace. Many people who knew Li Dejian were happy for his meritorious service and the title he was awarded before, but now they became nervous all of a sudden.

To attack Li Dejian is to attack the Eastern Palace and the Crown Prince.

Li Chengqian nodded and said, "I saw clearly that Wang An, the Censor, wanted to impeach me several times."

Helan Chushi's face suddenly darkened.

"The Xueyantuo people set up the conspiracy, and the Censor-in-Chief impeached us. There must be someone connected here. Let's find this person." Li Chengqian's face turned cold.

"Yes!" Helan Chushi bowed solemnly.

"The Xueyantuo people must have had connections with the court this time. Perhaps we can find something from the Censor Wang An." Li Chengqian looked at Helan Chushi and said, "Helan, do everything you can to find this person."

"Yes!" Helan Chushi bowed, then quickly turned and left.

Li Chengqian stood under the setting sun at dusk, looking up with a calm expression.

The entire sky above Chang'an was right before his eyes.

He knew that this time it must be related to Chai Lingwu.

However, there was no need for him to stare at Chai Lingwu.

He didn't even need to use his own private one.

He believed that the people from the Dali Temple, Qianniu Guards, and Baiqi Division would find the relevant people faster than he did.

Taking advantage of others' strength is what he, as the prince, should do.

(End of this chapter)