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

Chapter 20 Break his legs, both legs

The lights in the Chongjiao Hall are dim.

Li Chengqian sat calmly on the master couch, looking at the entire East Palace outside the door.

Under the cover of night, all the officials of the Eastern Palace except those on duty had dispersed.

The palace gate had just been locked, and no one could get in without an imperial decree.

Li Anyan walked in quickly from outside, holding a secret letter in his hand. He came to the door of Chongjiao Hall and said with a bow, "Your Highness, there is news."

Li Chengqian breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Tell me, who is it?"

"The Secretary of the Prince's Palace, Lu Hu." Li Anyan gritted his teeth.

Li Chengqian looked at Li Anyan in surprise and asked, "Lu Hu is a descendant of the Fanyang Lu family, right? Why would he do this?"

"Lu Hu's mother was from the Zheng family of Xingyang. He and Cui Qian, the county magistrate of Chang'an, were cousins. Cui Qian's aunt married into the Lu family of Fanyang. However, she was not from Lu Hu's branch, but the younger brother of Lu, the wife of the Duke of Liang." Li Anyan's expression had become serious.

Li Chengqian frowned slightly. He couldn't figure out the interpersonal relationships involved for a while.

"Lu Hu and Cui Qian are cousins, and Cui Qian and Duke Liang..." Li Chengqian looked up at Li Anyan.

"The nephew of the sister-in-law of the wife of Duke Liang." Li Anyan sorted out the relationship a little.

"After all, he's the nephew of the wife of the Duke of Liang, yet he's been so roundabout." Li Chengqian looked up indifferently and asked, "The Prince's Stables Director is the Prince's Horse and Carriage Manager. His position is similar to that of the Imperial Household, in charge of the stables and herds. The Prince's Stables Assistant is a seventh-rank official, a humble but important position, in charge of my horses."

Li Anyan wanted to say something, after all, nothing had been investigated clearly yet.

But for some reason, he just couldn't refute it.

Because the Prince's Servant is in charge of the Prince's horses.

The horse that caused the prince to injure his leg that day had already been slaughtered by the time they realized there might be something wrong with it.

But at that time, they suspected the guards around the prince, but the guards around the prince had no time to commit the crime.

It was not until Li Chengqian regained consciousness that he figured out everything.

That is, one person is making changes in the Prince's servant temple, while the other person is following the prince and taking the final step.

Now, the mastermind behind this has finally been found out, and that is Duke of Liang, Fang Xuanling.

But now, Li Anyan didn't even dare to say the three words Fang Xuanling.

That was the Shangshu Zuo Pushe of the Tang Dynasty, Duke of Liang.

He was a meritorious official who accompanied the emperor from the founding of the Tang Dynasty, all the way to Xuanwu Gate, and then to the governance of the prosperous Tang Dynasty!

How is it possible and why?
He is still the Prince's Junior Tutor!

……

Li Chengqian raised his head calmly, looking at Li Anyan's complicated expression, and sneered lightly.

Why did Fang Xuanling, who was the Prince's Junior Tutor, stand on Li Tai's side? The reason was of course his son, Fang Yiai.

Although Fang Yiai was Fang Xuanling's second son, he was more favored by Fang Xuanling than his other sons.

Even spoiling.

However, Fang Yiai was Li Tai's confidant, and Fang Xuanling would naturally favor Li Tai because of his love for Li Tai.

But even so, under normal circumstances, Fang Xuanling would not have targeted Li Chengqian so much and even crippled one of his legs.

Therefore, there must be something here that Li Chengqian doesn’t know.

Fang Yiai, Gao Yang?

No, Gao Yang will marry into the Fang family next year. She is still a child now.

He didn’t even know Bian Ji, so it couldn’t be Gao Yang.

Then it would be Fang Yiai himself.

Suddenly, Li Chengqian clenched his fists.

He remembered one thing. In his previous life, when he was deposed, he happened to see Li Tai and Fang Xuanling when he walked out of Taiji Palace.

But at that time, Li Tai no longer had Li Chengqian in his eyes. His face was full of pride, and even the look he gave Fang Xuanling was full of disdain.

When faced with this kind of gaze, Fang Xuanling did not remain calm and upright, but instead shrank back and dodged.

It was as if Li Tai had some leverage over him.

No, that's not right. How could an old fox like Fang Xuanling have any leverage over someone that Li Tai could get his hands on?

You know, he was the Shangshu Zuo Pushe of the Tang Dynasty, the Fangmou in "Fangmou Duduan". How could a man like him be caught by Li Tai?

So, it can only be Fang Yiai.

It can only be Fang Yiai.

……

Li Chengqian's expression calmed down, his eyes looked towards the darkness outside the Chongjiao Hall, and his breathing gradually calmed down.

Fang Yiai was Li Tai's confidant and one of the key figures in Li Tai's plan to succeed him. He was even...

Ten years later, Fang Yiai, who was not implicated in Li Tai's attempt to establish a succession, was reported for treason. Finally, Zhangsun Wuji seized the opportunity and eliminated him in one fell swoop.

Of course, there is the fact that Zhangsun Wuji abused his power, but it is also probably true that Fang Yiai was plotting a rebellion.

After Li Zhi ascended the throne, Fang Yiai wanted to rebel. Given Li Zhi's character, the problem must not be with Li Zhi, but with Fang Yiai.

Hidden dangers are deep and have lasted for years.

Perhaps, they had already planned to rebel when Li Tai was seeking the throne.

After all, Li Tai was the second son and looked very much like the emperor.

It is not surprising that they want to emulate Xuanwu Gate.

Li Chengqian narrowed his eyes slightly.

In his previous life, when he was plotting a rebellion, he gathered Li Anyan, Li Yuanchang, Zhao Jie, Du He and Hou Junji and made them swear an oath of blood alliance.

If he does this, Li Tai's hands and feet are also indispensable.

Li Chengqian knew his younger brother too well. He didn't have much intelligence, but he had a lot of clever tricks.

He discussed rebellion with Fang Yiai and even wrote a blood letter, which he then used to threaten Fang Xuanling.

This sounds absurd, but it is very feasible.

Did Fang Xuanling, who was threatened, really have no other choice? Perhaps he did, but he knew better than anyone how cold-blooded the emperor was.

Li Tai is the emperor's second son. Over the years, the emperor has said more than once that the King of Wei is like me. I'm afraid that in Fang Xuanling's mind, the bloody smell of Xuanwu Gate has once again come to his mind.

But Fang Xuanling knew the emperor better.

If Li Tai really wanted to rebel, he would not succeed. On the contrary, with the emperor's methods, even if Fang Xuanling was a hero of the Xuanwu Gate, he would still destroy the entire Fang family with thundering means.

Therefore, under such circumstances, he would choose to take action against Li Chengqian.

Because this is best for the Fang family.

Therefore, Li Chengqian's opponent was not only Li Tai, but also the resourceful Fang Xuanling standing behind him.

But this is not a bad thing for Li Chengqian.

Fang Xuanling's intervention would make the emperor, who was always keeping an eye on the Eastern Palace, alert.

……

In the Chongjiao Hall, after a long silence, Li Chengqian finally spoke again: "Tomorrow, have Lu Hu, the Secretary of the Prince's Palace, go to the Chongwen Hall to help move things. By the way, break his legs, both of them at once."

"Yes!" Li Anyan's face was full of ferocity, and then he said carefully: "Wouldn't this be too easy for him?"

Li Chengqian raised his head, smiled, and said, "Send someone to bring all his family members to the palace. The Eastern Palace will allow him to recuperate in the palace while he is injured, and let the imperial physician treat him until he recovers."

"Yes!" Li Anyan's eyelids couldn't help but twitch.

"Tomorrow afternoon, I will go to Lizheng Hall to see Prince Jin and Princess Jinyang. Let's arrange everything for the afternoon." After a brief pause, Li Chengqian smiled coldly and said, "Let the Tongshi Sheren Gao Zhenxing be in charge of recording all matters this afternoon."

"Here!" Li Anyan looked at Li Chengqian in surprise.

Gao Zhenxing is the son of Gao Shilian, the Duke of Shen and the Minister of the Central Secretariat!

Li Chengqian shook his head and said, "Although the Eastern Palace is full of father's spies, he will not easily intervene in matters like this without solid evidence. Therefore, we need someone to stand before us to resist the temptation from the Duke of Liang."

"So it's Duke Shen." Li Anyan immediately understood that the only one who could stop the current Shangshu Zuo Pushe was the current Zhongshu Ling. If this happened, there would probably be no peace in the court in the future.

"There is one more thing. From now on, let Zhang Sizheng only be responsible for night guard." Li Chengqian stood up from the main couch in the internal mechanism with some difficulty. The rattan armor kept his legs straight and stuck in the groove below, so that others did not notice anything unusual.

Li Anyan hurried over to support Li Chengqian.

Li Chengqian tilted his head and said coldly, "Send someone to keep a close eye on him. If he does anything illegal, kill him directly, and then... announce it to the entire Eastern Palace, and even the entire court!"

"Yes!" Li An responded solemnly.

(End of this chapter)