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

Chapter 166: The King of Qi secretly gathers assassins to seize the throne (Part )
In the Liangyi Hall, Li Chengqian bowed earnestly and said, "Your Highness, I pay my respects to you, Father."

"Hmm!" The emperor nodded calmly and waved his hand slightly.

Li Chengqian bowed again, then walked to the low table under Emperor Dan and knelt down.

On both sides of the hall, Changsun Wuji and Fang Xuanling sat on the left, Gao Shilian and Yang Shidao sat on the right, and Chu Suiliang was recording behind them.

……

Li Shimin sat on the imperial couch and took out a memorial. He handed it to Zhang Ananda and said to the ministers, "This is the memorial that the Prince of Qi's Chief Secretary just sent to Chang'an. Please take a look at it."

Zhang Ananda walked down the steps and was the first to hand the memorial to Li Chengqian.

Li Chengqian was stunned, took it with both hands, and then took a quick look at it.

In an instant, his pupils dilated completely.

Looking up, Li Chengqian still returned the memorial to Zhang Ananda in disbelief, and Zhang Ananda handed it to Changsun Wuji.

But at this time, Li Chengqian's expression had already fallen into everyone's eyes.

However, when they saw the memorial themselves, they were equally shocked.

"The Chief Secretary of King Qi, Quan Wanji, secretly reported to the King of Qi that he was recruiting death squads and training them through hunting. Prince, what do you think about this?" Li Shimin suddenly turned his head and looked at Li Chengqian.

Li Chengqian immediately came back to his senses and said, "Father, there is not much evidence for this matter. It is just Quan Wanji's words. I think this matter needs to be carefully investigated."

Death warriors, just the two words "death warriors" are enough to get the King of Qi dismissed from office and imprisoned.

"I didn't ask you about your investigation. I asked you, do you believe this?" Li Shimin stared at Li Chengqian.

Li Chengqian's expression turned serious, and he said carefully, "Father, since the Prince of Qi took office as the governor of Qizhou, although many of his actions have been absurd, they have not crossed the line. Even last year, when he was governing the country in an absurd manner, Father and I reprimanded him and ordered him to correct his mistakes, but that was all we did!"

It's just a reprimand, just a one-month salary deduction.

The court didn't do anything to him, so why would they go to the extent of recruiting assassins?

"You continue." The emperor leaned back slightly and looked at the golden dragon hanging in the hall.

"Yes!" Li Chengqian bowed and said, "In the fourteenth year of the Zhenguan reign, my father dismissed Xue Dading, the Chief Clerk of the Prince of Qi, for his inadequate discipline. He transferred Quan Wanji, the Chief Clerk of the Prince of Wu, to the position because Quan was upright and capable of giving advice. In the fifteenth year of the Zhenguan reign, although the Prince of Qi continued to act absurdly, to be honest, a reprimand and correction was sufficient."

During the first month of the imperial court, both Li Chengqian and Li Shimin had reprimanded Li You.

"It's only been a month and a half since the first month of the year, since the Prince of Qi returned to his fiefdom. Yet, he's suddenly clashed with the Prince of Qi's Chief Secretary. I believe something must have happened, or perhaps someone is secretly instigating this." After a brief pause, Li Chengqian bowed earnestly and said, "So, I believe we should send someone to Qizhou to conduct a thorough investigation. What exactly happened?"

"So, you don't believe that the King of Qi recruited assassins?" The emperor looked at Li Chengqian calmly.

Li Chengqian bowed and said, "Although I haven't seen the King of Qi for many years, he was humble and polite when he was young in the palace. It's only since he left home and lost his restraint that he's become unruly. I saw the report from Chief Clerk Quan that says there's a treacherous person instigating this. I want to know who this treacherous person is."

"So, you believe that the King of Qi recruited death squads?" Li Shimin kept staring at the word "death squads".

Li Chengqian sighed softly and said, "Father, I believe the Prince of Qi must have recruited some men, but they may not necessarily be his death squad. Perhaps they are his friends, or perhaps they are his bodyguards. However, I firmly believe that the Prince of Qi is not a bad person at heart. Although Chief Secretary Quan submitted a memorial, many of the things he said were vague and unclear."

The King of Qi may have problems, but Quan Wanji is not necessarily a good person.

"Your Majesty, please check it out." Changsun Wuji spoke up, taking over Li Chengqian's words.

Fang Xuanling, Gao Shilian and Yang Shidao did not speak.

Li Chengqian made a subtle and implicit point.

Quan Wanji used to be the Chief Secretary of the King of Wu. Now he has been transferred to be the Chief Secretary of the King of Qi. Is there something wrong here?

Changsun Wuji was the most vigilant about this.

Just as Wei Zheng was most wary of Li Yuanji's princess Yang, Changsun Wuji was most wary of Yang Guang's daughter, Concubine Yang.

That is Li Ke's mother.

Quan Wanji used to be the chief secretary of Li Ke. Although he is now the chief secretary of Li You, he directly reported Li You for hiding assassins. Li You may be wrong in this, but is Quan Wanji really innocent?

Li Shimin turned to look at Li Chengqian, then looked at Zhangsun Wuji and said, "Then let's check it out. Hu Yan, the Junior Secretary of the Dali Temple, is currently in Guangzhou. Let's go to Qizhou and see what's going on."

"Yes!" Changsun Wuji, Li Chengqian and others bowed in unison.

……

At Chengtian Sect, Li Chengqian had just walked towards the East Palace when Zhangsun Wuji's voice rang out from behind him: "Chengqian."

Li Chengqian was stunned for a moment, then turned around and looked at Changsun Wuji who was approaching. He was the first to bow and said, "Uncle!"

"Let's go for a walk together!" Changsun Wuji raised his hand slightly and looked towards the East Palace.

"Yes!" Li Chengqian followed him towards the East Palace, and the guards around him dispersed slightly.

Zhangsun Wuji slowed down his pace, then turned to look at Li Chengqian and asked solemnly, "Does the Crown Prince really think that the King of Qi has no assassins?"

Li Chengqian smiled slightly and said, "Uncle, to be honest, I suspect the King of Qi doesn't even know what a death squad is."

"Huh?" Changsun Wuji stopped completely and looked at Li Chengqian in surprise.

Li Chengqian stopped and said, "Uncle, the Prince of Qi is lazy and absurd, but if you say he has any ill intentions, I absolutely don't believe it... If that's the case, then there's no such thing as recruiting assassins. Besides, he's only a young man and hasn't come into contact with many people, so how could he have met assassins? So he must have been introduced to someone. Who was it? Yin Hongzhi, the Chief Clerk of Qi, the Prince of Qi's uncle and Concubine Yin De's younger brother."

The King of Qi was appointed as the governor of Qizhou and the governor of Qizhou, Quan Wanji was appointed as the chief secretary of the King of Qi, and Yin Hongzhi was appointed as the chief secretary of Qizhou. The two of them assisted Li You, one inside and one outside.

"Yin Hongzhi." Changsun Wuji nodded in realization.

Li You wanted to go hunting, so Yin Hongzhi introduced some people to Li You. When these people came to Li You's side, they would naturally squeeze the space of Quan Wanji, the chief historian of King Qi.

All that remains is a power struggle.

Changsun Wuji suddenly relaxed. You know, the next step of secretly gathering assassins is to rebel.

The King of Qi was secretly gathering assassins, and with the heavy responsibility of commanding the military affairs of Qizhou, Qingzhou, Laizhou, Mizhou and other five states, the most crucial question was whether he would plot a rebellion in Qizhou next.

Even Zhangsun Wuji didn't believe that the Prince of Qi was plotting a rebellion, let alone the emperor.

……

In the Liangyi Hall, the emperor sat on the imperial couch, looking at Zhangsun Wuji who had returned, and asked, "What did the crown prince say?"

"The Crown Prince only sent a letter to the King of Qi this year, instructing him to properly carry out the spring planting in Qizhou. There is nothing else to it." Changsun Wuji bowed earnestly and then said, "Also, the Crown Prince feels that the King of Qi is simply acting absurdly. While treason is a serious matter, the King of Qi would not dare to act that way. However, he will be disciplined more strictly in the future."

Li Shimin breathed a sigh of relief, then nodded and said, "The Crown Prince thinks so, you think so, and I think so too. However, Quan Wanji has submitted a memorial to the King of Qi to recruit death squads and train them through hunting. What do you think he is thinking?"

"The Crown Prince said that the people around the Prince of Qi were most likely transferred there by Yin Hongzhi, so this may be related to the power struggle within the Prince of Qi's palace." Changsun Wuji stood up and said, "I also think so, but I think there may be more than that. I can't figure out more at the moment."

"It's Qizhou." Li Shimin lowered his head, sighed softly, and said, "They are fighting for Qizhou. The King of Qi is unable to govern, so naturally everyone is fighting. Wuji, be careful!"

"Yes!" Changsun Wuji bowed seriously.

Li Shimin raised his head, looked at the sky outside the palace, and said softly: "Wait and see how everything turns out."

"Yes!"

……

In the Chongjiao Hall, Li Chengqian told Li Anyan everything that had happened in the Liangyi Hall.

"Your Highness, why is this happening?" Li Anyan looked at Li Chengqian with some confusion and asked, "Your Highness, why are you speaking up for the King of Qi? What if something really happened to the King of Qi?"

Li Chengqian waved his hand slightly and said with a smile: "What can happen to the Prince of Qi? He still has Concubine Qi in the palace. Concubine Qi is the Virtuous Concubine. A little pillow talk will be enough to solve the problem."

Li Anyan paused, then nodded and said, "Your Highness is right."

The emperor had four concubines: Concubine Wei, Concubine Yang, Concubine Yinde, and Concubine Yanxian.

"Not only is Prince Qi's mother Consort De, his father-in-law is Imperial Censor Wei Ting, who is also Consort Wei's cousin. What could possibly happen to him?" Li Chengqian sneered softly and said, "He's in Qizhou, and at most he's just a bit playful, but there's no way he's up to any conspiracy."

In his previous life, Li You started a rebellion in March of the next year, which eventually implicated Li Chengqian.

However, Li Chengqian, who had studied the matter carefully, found that there were serious problems involved.

Li You said that he was raising an army to rebel and recruited all the men over the age of fifteen under his command to form an army, but in fact, these people had already disobeyed Li You's orders before the imperial army arrived in Qizhou. In the end, Li You himself was even captured by his own soldiers.

This shows how hasty the uprising was.

It's just a temporary chaos.

In the end, the emperor only executed more than 40 people for this rebellion, and did not pursue the rest.

But the problem is that Li You's rebellion was real, so there is only one possibility, that is, he was forced to do so.

Who is it? Quan Wanji.

If it ended here, Li Chengqian might have suspected that Quan Wanji and Yin Hongzhi were fighting for power in Qizhou, but this matter inexplicably involved him and directly dragged his affairs apart, so there must be someone behind this matter.

Li Tai, Chai Lingwu, Fang Xuanling, or others.

Li Chengqian shook his head slightly in his heart. He lacked a lot to find out what was inside.

Taking a deep breath, Li Chengqian narrowed his eyes slightly.

It is difficult for him to investigate this matter, but it is easy for the emperor to investigate.

Even though the emperor only sent Hu Yan, the Shaoqing of the Dali Temple today, he believed that the people of the Hundred Cavalry Division must have already rushed to Qizhou frantically.

Because the emperor also wanted to know what was hidden inside.

So let the emperor investigate these matters and see who is implicated?
……

In the Prince of Wei's Mansion, Li Tai stood by the lake, looking at Su Xu, Chai Lingwu, Jiang Yaqing, Xie Yan and others who were approaching, and silently put the secret book in his hand back into his sleeve.

"Your Highness!" Su Xu, Chai Lingwu, Jiang Yaqing, Xie Yan and others came to Li Tai and bowed together.

"No need to be polite." Li Tai waved his hand slightly and asked, "What's the matter?"

"Your Highness, news has just come from the palace that the Chief Secretary of King Qi, Quan Wanji, has impeached King Qi for secretly gathering assassins and conducting hunting training." Su Xu bowed with a serious expression.

Li Tai nodded calmly and asked, "Uncle, what do you think the King of Qi is doing?"

"Prepare to seize the throne." Su Xu solemnly bowed and said, "Your Highness is now weak, and the King of Qi intends to join the fight for the throne. The first step is to replace Your Highness. Although the feasibility is not high, it is inevitable that he will take action."

Li Tai remained calm as he asked, "I heard that Yin Hongzhi, the former chief officer of Qi, was also an old member of the Qin Palace. What does your uncle think of him?"

Su Xu glanced at Li Tai in surprise, then bowed and said, "Although the Yin family was a valiant mantis trying to stop the chariot when the Tang Dynasty was founded, many years have passed and Yin Hongzhi has already served Your Majesty. His rise from Minister of Personnel to Chief Censor to Chief Clerk of Qizhou is clear evidence of this... Although the King of Qi is now the Governor of Qizhou, all matters of Qizhou are in his hands."

Li Tai smiled with satisfaction, then turned to look at Chai Lingwu and said, "Cousin, Quan Wanji was originally the chief historian of the King of Wu. Go and find out if the King of Wu intends to intervene in Qizhou. If so, I'm afraid my father will be interested."

"Yes!" Chai Lingwu's expression suddenly became solemn.

What is Li You? Even if Li You wants to become the crown prince, he has to go beyond Li Tai, Li Ke, and Li Chengqian. Moreover, Li You has never been favored by the emperor. Although he has some connection with Jingzhao Wei, Jingzhao Wei does not support his fight for the throne. So no matter what Li You does, it is nothing but a flower in the mirror and a moon in the water.

But if Li Ke intervenes in Qizhou, everything will be different.

You should know that not only was Li Ke's mother the daughter of Yang Guang, but even Li Ke's wife was from the direct line of the Hongnong Yang family.

Now in the court, there is a Zhongshu Ling from the Hongnong Yang family.

Li Ke is the biggest threat to Li Tai.

Li Zhi is still young.

(End of this chapter)