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

Chapter 188 I don’t understand why you marry your daughter into the Eastern Palace? (Part )
Chang'an, East Market.

The backyard of a teahouse.

Zhang Xi looked at Chai Lingwu sitting across from him and frowned, saying, "Where can we find a woman from a prominent Jiangnan family who can be sent to the Eastern Palace and controlled, allowing her to cause chaos in the Eastern Palace?"

Chai Lingwu put down his teacup and reminisced, "This was the order given by the King of Wei. When he spoke of it, he seemed very confident in this method."

Zhang Xi shook his head and said, "If we really want to control her, first of all, this person must be one of our own, or a woman from a Jiangnan family who can be sent to the Eastern Palace..."

"What's wrong?" Chai Lingwu looked at Zhang Yi in surprise.

Zhang Xi raised his head, looked at Chai Lingwu seriously, and said, "As you know, our mission to the Three Kingdoms of Dongdao has two covert routes: Liaodong and Dengzhou; and there is only one open route, which is Yangzhou. Since it is Yangzhou, it is natural that the Jiangnan families have contacted us."

"There aren't many Jiangnan families that have connections with the Eastern Palace, right?" Chai Lingwu frowned. He was in Chang'an and had his own things to take care of. He had never been to Jiangnan, and Zhang Liang was also very strict. The Jiangnan families actually didn't have much status in the political landscape of the Tang Dynasty, so he didn't care much.

"There are three families. They are Lu Jianzhi, a doctor of the imperial court, the prince's secretary, and the academician of Chongwen Academy; and Yu Shinan, the secretary general and the academician of Hongwen Academy. Both of them have taught the prince. The Eastern Palace also sends people to express their condolences at the end of each year. There is another family, the Xiao family, the Lanling Xiao family. Xiao Jun, the prince's secretary, is still in the Eastern Palace." Zhang Xi's breathing became heavy.

"Then which family are we involved with?" Chai Lingwu leaned forward slightly.

"None of them." Zhang Yi looked up at Chai Lingwu and said, "It's the Zhang family, the Jiangnan Zhang family, the Zhang family of Gu, Lu, Zhu and Zhang."

"Zhang family?" Chai Lingwu's pupils widened as he asked in surprise, "Is this related to your... Duke Xun?"

"Although my father came from a humble family, his ancestors were actually from the Qinghe Zhang family, descendants of Zhang Liang, Marquis of Liu during the Former Han Dynasty. The Wuzhong Zhang family, on the other hand, were descendants of Zhang Mu, the seventh-generation grandson of the Marquis of Liu. If we trace back, we can see that they are indeed a family, so they have a deeper connection in Jiangnan. After all, although the Wuzhong Zhang family is nothing in the world, it is a top-tier family in Jiangnan."

Zhang Xi pondered and said, "The King of Wei has set his sights on the Zhang family... Prince Consort, what have you revealed?"

"No." Chai Lingwu shook his head and said, "If you hadn't told me about this today, I wouldn't have known about it, let alone told the King of Wei."

"The King of Wei is no ordinary man!" Zhang Yi shook his head and said, "Mrs. Zhang has a daughter, the daughter of Zhang You, the Junior Supervisor of Water Resources. She's of marriageable age and unengaged."

"As the daughter of the Junior Supervisor of Water Resources, I'm afraid she won't even be able to be given the title of Ruren if she enters the Eastern Palace?" Chai Lingwu frowned.

"No." Zhang Yi waved his hand and said, "Zhang You's wife is the youngest daughter of Yu Shinan, the Secretary General. His daughter is Yu Shinan's grandson. The Yu family is more than just that. Yu Shinan's eldest son, Yu Chang, married the daughter of the Duke of Liang. Yu Shinan's eldest daughter married Xiao Jian, a military officer in the Prince of Yue's palace. There's no need to say more about the Lanling Xiao family."

"The Zhang family in Wuzhong is also very powerful!" Chai Lingwu sighed.

"The Yu family is truly formidable." Zhang Yi looked at Chai Lingwu seriously and asked, "How did the King of Wei know all this? If he really saw all this in advance, then the King of Wei's plan must be extraordinary."

"I don't know." Chai Lingwu shook his head and said, "The King of Wei has changed a lot in the past six months, especially since Your Majesty abandoned him in Luoyang. He's been missing for days. Now that the Crown Prince is in Chang'an and has Your Majesty's trust, the King of Wei... is becoming increasingly unclear."

Zhang Yi glanced at Chai Lingwu, then said seriously, "If the Zhang family's daughter enters the Eastern Palace, it would be fine if nothing goes wrong. But if something does happen, I'm afraid that Father and the Duke of Liang will be affected. Isn't the King of Wei afraid that we will completely side with the Crown Prince?"

Chai Lingwu shook his head blankly.

……

"Of course he's not afraid." Zhang Liang put down his teacup, looked at Zhang Yi and said, "He seems to be asking Chai Lingwu to help send Zhang You's daughter to the Eastern Palace, but in fact, he is telling me that he already knows that the person behind Chai Lingwu is me."

"He is using Chai Lingwu to pass on a message." Zhang Yi immediately understood everything.

Zhang Liang nodded and said, "Even if Zhang You's daughter marries into the Eastern Palace, she's still Zhang You's daughter. She was only given the title of Ruren thanks to Duke Yu's connections. What can we gain by siding with the Crown Prince? Besides, we don't have a close relationship with the Crown Prince to begin with."

"But if we follow the King of Wei, we can gain a lot." Zhang Yi nodded slowly. Suddenly, he looked up and said, "But we can also do nothing. The King of Wei is not favored by His Majesty to begin with, and now he is trying to force us. We might as well just abandon him completely."

"You still don't understand." Zhang Liang shook his head slightly and said, "The King of Wei is blackmailing my father... He already knows what's going on behind the Qi family."

Zhang Xi was stunned. He looked at Zhang Liang for a long time without saying anything.

"You can't figure it out, right?" Zhang Liang snorted coldly and said, "The Imperial Censor Wei Ting is the only one who knows these things best. This time he suddenly opposed the King of Wei leaving the capital. I've seen a lot of it, but it's strange. He's the King of Qi's father-in-law, so why would he help the King of Wei?"

"Because the King of Qi has no hope of succeeding to the throne." Zhang Yi looked up and said, "Father, are we really going to do what the King of Wei says?"

"When has my father ever been threatened by anyone?" Zhang Liang shook his head and snorted coldly, "He's just the King of Wei. If I weren't worried that he might go all out and complain to Your Majesty, I wouldn't even look at him."

"Go to His Majesty and file a complaint?" Zhang Yi looked at Zhang Liang in surprise and said, "If that's the case, the King of Wei will be finished."

"Yes, a means of mutual destruction." Zhang Liang waved his hand and said, "Promise King Wei that we will do the work and stabilize him first. As for Zhang You's daughter, I have never seen her, but King Wei is so sure that she can mess up the Eastern Palace. Well, I will do him a favor and see how Zhang You's daughter can bring disaster to the Eastern Palace." "If it fails, it has nothing to do with us. Either Zhang You's daughter is not capable, or the prince is too powerful." Zhang Xi nodded slowly.

"We can't take the lead in this matter. We have to find a way to get the Yu family to intervene. After all, she is their granddaughter." Zhang Liang waved his hand and said, "Give Zhang You a three-point increase in this year's share. Don't mention the King of Wei to him. Just say that the Eastern Palace is favored now. If Zhang You's daughter is willing to marry into the Eastern Palace now, she will definitely become the Fourth Consort in the future. This will make things much easier for the Zhang family. Then let him go to the Yu family himself and say that his father will help at a critical moment."

"Yes!" Zhang Xi immediately bowed.

"And more!" Zhang Liang's face turned cold as he continued, "Send someone to Luoyang to keep an eye on the King of Wei. I want to know his every move."

"Yes!" Zhang Xi bowed, then turned and left quickly.

For a moment, Zhang Liang was the only one left in the study.

Zhang Liang sat on the couch, his eyes narrowed slightly, wondering what tricks the King of Wei was playing.

……

East Palace, Chongjiao Hall.

Li Chengqian sat in a wheelchair, looking at the Crown Prince's Secretary Xiao Jun in front of him, and asked in disbelief, "What did Xiao Qing just say?"

Xiao Jun bowed helplessly and said, "Your Highness, my fellow townsman, Zhang You, the Junior Supervisor of the Imperial Waterworks, has a daughter who is willing to enter the palace to serve Your Highness."

"Zhang You?" Li Chengqian looked thoughtful and said, "Jiangnan Zhang family, Wuzhong Zhang family?"

"Yes!" Xiao Jun nodded and said, "In fact, although they are from the same hometown, the connection between the Zhang and Xiao families is not that deep. After all, the Xiao family has been moving north in large numbers since the previous dynasty."

The Former Sui Dynasty destroyed the Southern Liang Dynasty, and the Southern Liang royal family marched north. Before that, the daughter of the Xiao family had become Yang Guang's princess consort, and later became Yang Guang's queen.

By that time, the Lanling Xiao family no longer had many connections in Jiangnan.

"The aristocratic families of Wuzhong, Gu, Lu, Zhu, Zhang, Yu, Wei, Kong, and He, are actually the ones with the most marriages with the Zhang family." Xiao Jun looked up and said, "Zhang You's wife is the youngest daughter of Yu Shinan, the Secretary General and Duke of Yongxing County."

"Mr. Yu once taught me." Li Chengqian nodded. It turned out that she was Yu Shinan's granddaughter.

"No!" Li Chengqian looked up at Xiao Jun and asked, "Why is it you who is involved in this matter, and not the Yu family? Where is Yu Chang, the Minister of Works and the Duke of Yongxing County?"

"Yu Chang is not available to come forward." Xiao Jun shook his head and said with a wry smile, "Yu Chang's wife is the daughter of the Duke of Liang."

Li Chengqian, the daughter of Fang Xuanling, raised his eyebrows, nodded slightly, and said, "It is indeed not convenient for him to show up."

"Yu Chang has two sisters. One married Zhang You, and the other married my cousin Xiao Jian, the military officer of King Yue and the Duke of Lanling County. That's why I came forward." Xiao Jun explained the matter clearly.

Xiao Jian was the son of the late Lanling County Duke and Minister of Rites Xiao Jing, and Xiao Jun was the son of Xiao Xun, the former Duke of Liang of the Sui Dynasty, but they were both nephews of Xiao Yu, the Duke of Song and former Prime Minister.

Since Xiao Yu was dismissed from his position as prime minister in the ninth year of Zhenguan, he has been serving as the governor of Qizhou. The last time he was appointed prime minister again was when Li Chengqian was deposed in his previous life.

Li Chengqian sighed. With the Wuzhong family as his aristocratic family, and the relationship with Yu Shinan and Fang Xuanling, and now the Lanling Xiao family coming forward, Li Chengqian had little room to refuse.

Li Chengqian raised his head and said seriously, "Xiao Qing, although I won't offend you and Yu Qing in this matter, the Eastern Palace has its own system of conduct. It requires the simultaneous operation of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Imperial Clan's Imperial Household Department. In addition, the Crown Princess and my father must also give their approval. Although I have no objection, if the Crown Princess and my father disagree..."

"Don't worry, Your Highness. I have already invited Her Royal Highness the Princess and the Prince Consort to the palace. They will go and talk to the Crown Princess and His Majesty." Xiao Jun breathed a sigh of relief.

The princess refers to Princess Xiangcheng, the emperor's eldest daughter, and her husband is Princess Xiangcheng's husband, Xiao Rui, the eldest son of Duke of Song Xiao Yu and the Minister of the Imperial Household.
Princess Xiangcheng is the emperor's eldest daughter and is more favored than other princesses. Everything will be safe when she comes forward.

Li Chengqian's expression calmed down. He looked at Xiao Jun and asked, "Xiao Qing, don't you understand why the Xiao family has put so much effort into this matter?"

Xiao Jun paused briefly, then bowed and said, "Your Highness, the Jiangnan families are not highly regarded in the Tang Dynasty. However, there are many talented people among the Jiangnan students, and most of them are headed by the Xiao family. Therefore, I..."

"You had no choice." Li Chengqian smiled, nodded and said, "Go ahead."

"Yes!" Xiao Jun breathed a sigh of relief, then bowed and left.

Looking at his back, the smile on Li Chengqian's face slowly disappeared.

(End of this chapter)