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

Chapter 202 I also have a humble and polite ninth brother, Prince Jin Li Zhi (First update)
"He's not crazy!" Li Chengqian took the box and pointed to the opening of the secret compartment at the bottom, saying, "Look here, it's sealed tightly."

After Li Anyan took it, he lowered his head and sniffed it. His expression changed slightly: "Your Highness, this is fish bladder glue."

Li Chengqian nodded.

Fish bladder glue is the most sticky type of glue.

"It was sealed so tightly with fish bladder glue that I had to use a knife to pry it open." Li Chengqian looked at Li Anyan and asked, "If the emperor came to investigate personally and then went through so much trouble to pry it open with a knife, do you think he would think that these things were made by me?"

"But Your Highness, this is witchcraft. If you get even a little bit of it on you, you'll die without a burial place!" Li Anyan looked up with a heavy face.

Li Chengqian ignored Li Anyan and continued, "If your father has doubts in his heart, he will naturally investigate where this thing came from.

I want to ask you, if this thing is sent to the backyard of the East Palace, where will it be placed?"

"In the palace of Concubine Zhang." Although Li Anyan didn't understand what Li Chengqian wanted to say, he still answered seriously: "The things were sent in by the Zhang family. The Zhang family is inextricably linked to this matter."

"The Crown Prince's Consort Zhang." Li Chengqian specifically mentioned her, then said, "Do you remember who recommended her to the palace?"

"I remember, it's the Xiao and Yu families." Li Anyan nodded affirmatively.

"Yu Chang is just a doctor in the Ministry of Works, nothing special. But the Xiao family is different. The Lanling Xiao family has several governors in the Tang Dynasty right now, not to mention Duke Song Xiao Yu, who served as prime minister four times and is still the governor of Qizhou. His eldest son is the consort of Princess Xiangcheng. If the Zhang family has a witchcraft incident, how can they escape responsibility?"

"No!" Li Anyan nodded solemnly.

Zhang's marriage into the Eastern Palace as the Crown Prince's concubine was recognized by all the Jiangnan families. The Zhang family was implicated in the witchcraft case, and none of them could escape responsibility.

"There are also the Imperial Counselor Chu Suiliang and the Imperial Censor Xu Jingzong. They are also from Hangzhou. Can they be free from responsibility?" Li Chengqian asked softly.

"No!" Li Anyan's breathing had become heavy.

"Then who was the one who initially suggested that the Zhang family marry their daughter into the Eastern Palace?" Li Chengqian's eyes fell on the voodoo doll on the ground that was cursing the emperor.

Li Anyan looked up in surprise: "Is it Duke Xun?"

"Although the Zhang family later willingly married their daughter into the Eastern Palace, it was the Duke of Xun who initially proposed it. They are all descendants of Zhang Liang, the Marquis of Liu. That's why the Zhang family obeyed. If we investigate further, everything will be linked to Zhang Liang." Li Chengqian looked at Li Anyan and said, "You said that anyone involved in witchcraft will not have an easy time."

"The King of Wei is interested in the Duke of Xun Guo?" Li Anyan said subconsciously.

"That's right." Li Chengqian knocked on the secret compartment and said, "This place is sealed so tightly that no one would have discovered it at first, so the initiative is completely in Qingque's hands.

He has two choices: one is to impeach Yu Gu immediately, and the other is to stay with this thing and collude with and threaten Zhang Liang. What do you think he will choose? "

"Impeaching His Highness immediately will cause huge problems. After all, even though he is Duke Xun, it was Prince Wei who initially sent Prince Consort Chai to spread the news. Not to mention that he still has some connections in the Zhang family that have not been cleansed. So if we impeach him immediately, the chances of success will be slim and it will be easy to implicate Prince Wei himself." Li Anyan had already reacted.

"He's waiting." Li Chengqian raised his head, looking towards the direction of Prince Wei's mansion, and sneered softly, "He's observing whether I've discovered his actions. If I haven't, he might even take the things back to the harem and put them in Zhang's Warm Wind Hall. Of course, there's still another opportunity that we have to wait for."

"Your Highness?" Li Anyan was a little confused.

"I have slept with Zhang." Li Chengqian sneered softly, "Ever since Zhang married into the Eastern Palace, she has slept with me, but because of me, she hasn't slept with me. I've never even been to Nuanfeng Palace. It's always Zhang who comes to Cheng'en Palace. The Ministry of Internal Affairs has all of this recorded... So even if I were to impeach her now, at most Zhang would be implicated. Even if I were to be reprimanded, I wouldn't be deposed from my position as Crown Prince. That's not what Qingque wants."

"It's a rare opportunity for the King of Wei, so he naturally wants to depose Your Highness in one go, so..." Li Anyan looked at Li Chengqian.

"So he'll wait." Li Chengqian looked down at the witchcraft doll and sneered, "He'll wait for me and Zhang to consummate our marriage, and then I'll move into the Warm Wind Palace. That way, it would appear that I'm secretly practicing witchcraft, while having my most trusted concubine, Zhang, secretly protect it. That would make sense."

"That will take at least several months." An idea flashed through Li Anyan's mind, and he suddenly said, "It's Duke Xun. The King of Wei will need to use this incident to threaten Duke Xun, and then have Duke Xun come forward... Impeaching the Crown Prince on the witchcraft case, no matter who it is, the backlash will be too great."

"Yes!" Li Chengqian nodded and said calmly, "So someone must take the lead in this matter, but that person cannot be Qingque."

……

"The Prince of Wei has joined forces with the Duke of Xun." Li Anyan looked at Li Chengqian solemnly and asked, "Your Highness, should we report this to His Majesty?"

Li Chengqian's eyes fell on the witchcraft doll, and he shook his head slightly, saying, "There have been countless witchcraft cases in history, each implicating countless people. The most well-known is the case of the Crown Prince Liu Ju of Han Wu."

"Your Highness!" Li Anyan's expression suddenly became serious.
Liu Ju was the eldest son of Emperor Wu of Han, Liu Che, and Li Chengqian happened to be the eldest son of the current emperor.

"At that time, Emperor Wu of Han was touring Ganquan Palace. Jiang Chong had people bury a paulownia wood doll in the East Palace and then dug it up. The Left Prime Minister Liu Quti and Li Guangli hid behind it and conspired to depose the crown prince on the grounds of witchcraft. Unfortunately, Liu Ju raised an army in panic, but was convicted of treason and killed, implicating tens of thousands of people. The decline of Emperor Wu of Han began with this incident." Li Chengqian suddenly laughed.

"The Prince of Wei is imitating Li Guangli." Li Anyan bowed solemnly and said, "Your Highness, if this is the case, you should report it to His Majesty!"

Li Chengqian looked at Li Anyan in surprise, gave a wry smile, and shook his head, saying, "An Yan, I have a question for you. After the witchcraft incident, Jiang Chong's entire clan was exterminated, Li Guangli died and his clan was wiped out, and Liu Quti's clan was exterminated. Then what about Crown Prince Liu Ju? The whole world knows that he was the Crown Prince Liu Ju who was unjustly killed. What happened to him in the end?"

"Prince Li!" Li Anyan lowered his head with an ugly expression. Liu Ju had never been rehabilitated.

"This was posthumously conferred by Emperor Xuan of Han. Even Emperor Xuan of Han was imprisoned in a government prison in his childhood and nearly died several times. He escaped later and grew up among the common people. It was not until the death of Emperor Wu that he was included in the royal genealogy. So, An Yan, what you said just now is right. Once you are even slightly involved in this matter, even if you are wronged, it will be difficult to get rid of it." Li Chengqian calmed down.

"Your Highness!"

"During the witchcraft case, three princes were implicated," Li Chengqian continued, "Crown Prince Liu Ju, Prince of Changyi Liu Bo, son of Li Guangli's sister Lady Li, and the third, Emperor Zhao of Han, Liu Fuling, who was crowned crown prince after Liu Ju."

Liu Ju was deposed as the crown prince, and Liu Bo was granted the title of King of Changyi and sent to exile.

Liu Fuling, who had nothing to do with this incident, was later named Crown Prince and became Emperor. "So, An Yan, if I report this to my father today, Qingque will certainly not recover. What do you think?" Li Chengqian shook his head and said, "If I report this to my father, I'm afraid there will be countless casualties, and that's the least of it. Qingque will die, the Yan family will be destroyed, the Zhang family will be implicated, Duke Xun will suffer, and even my uncle, the Chai family, the Du family, and the Fang family..."

"Fang family?" Li Anyan suddenly looked up.

"Fang Er once served as a military officer under the King of Wei. Do you think he can escape the witchcraft incident? Prime Minister Fang will also be implicated, as will Gao Yang, Baling, and Aunt Nanchang. The Jiangnan families will also suffer heavy casualties."

After a brief pause, Li Chengqian said solemnly, "I raise my head. Your father won't say anything right now, but what about in a few years? Your father will be over forty years old. One day, he wakes up in the middle of the night and dreams of your mother asking him why Qingque died because of witchcraft. Who do you think your father will blame for it?"

Li Anyan looked at Li Chengqian, a look of horror suddenly appearing on his face.

Who else could it be? Of course it was the Crown Prince Li Chengqian.

The emperor cannot take responsibility, so the only one who can do so is the crown prince.

Even Emperor Wu of Han had his share of foolish behavior, let alone the current emperor.

"Don't forget, I have a humble and polite ninth brother, Prince of Jin, Li Zhi." Li Chengqian shook his head and said, "Qingque's methods have all fallen into my sight, so he is not a threat to me. Instead, he is the Prince of Jin, and I need to be wary."

"Yes!" Li Anyan had been completely convinced by Li Chengqian. He carefully bowed and asked, "Then, Your Highness, what are your plans for this matter?"

As he spoke, Li Anyan's gaze fell on the voodoo doll on the ground.

"Burn it." Li Chengqian waved his hand and said, "Burn this thing, then even if Qingque is plotting something, it will be useless."

"Yes!" Li Anyan immediately bowed.

"Also, go find Zhang You tomorrow and tell him about this matter. Ask him to send his fourth brother back to Jiangnan after the New Year." Li Chengqian looked stern.

"Distribute?"

"Leave Chang'an, and then deal with him according to clan law, right?" Li Chengqian said indifferently, "He almost caused the entire Zhang family to be exterminated. Does he know what to do?"

"Yes!" Li Anyan nodded, and then he asked, "Your Highness, what about the two people from the King of Wei in the Zhang family mansion?"

"Kill him too, no!" Li Chengqian raised his head, looked outside the palace, and said softly, "Tell me, is there someone outside watching this place now... If not, how can Qingque be sure that I would bring this thing into the harem?"

"Your Highness!" Li Anyan's face tensed, and then he said, "Your Highness, I will kill..."

"No!" Li Chengqian waved his hand, looked at the voodoo doll on the ground, and said softly, "Keep him."

"Yes!" Li Anyan immediately bowed.

Li Chengqian looked at the voodoo doll and continued, "What Qingque wants to do is wait until the emperor leaves Jingdong for his inspection tour, then wait for the witchcraft rebellion to break out. Then they'll find someone to report that there's witchcraft going on in the Eastern Palace, and then they'll force their way into the palace... What do you think they'll do if they find nothing inside?"

Li Anyan was stunned.

"They'll continue to search the entire Eastern Palace and then forcefully frame someone." Li Chengqian looked at the voodoo doll, shook his head, and said, "Destroying it won't work... Take off its outer covering and see what's inside."

"Here!" Li Anyan bowed, then lowered his body and quickly took off the outer clothes of the voodoo doll, leaving only a white cloth doll that could not be identified.

"Burn the outer garments, put this thing back into the secret compartment, and seal it again with fish bladder glue. Don't let anyone see any signs of it being opened." Li Chengqian looked up at Li Anyan and said, "Without a horoscope or clothes, and no clear appearance, this person can't be a cursed figure. And there's a Buddha statue on top. If someone were to force it open, I'd say it's a blessing doll. Who dares to argue otherwise?"

"Your Highness!" Li Anyan suddenly understood and whispered, "Your Highness is talking about the King of Wei!"

"In the end, Qingque will definitely lead people to rush into the palace and pry it open. If they find nothing, then they will be forced to frame someone. But if there is something, I will turn around and say that Qingque framed me. He was demented and didn't dare to put the voodoo doll in when he framed me. He thought he did, but in fact, there was no voodoo doll, so there is no voodoo at all!"

After Li Chengqian finished speaking, his thoughts became clear.

"By then, Qingque will be imprisoned and exiled, Xun Guogong will be executed, and Chai Lingwu will be executed, but Fang Yiai and my uncle will all survive. In the end, the consequences won't be too serious, and it won't affect the overall situation in the court, or even my father's eastern expedition." Li Chengqian raised his head, closed his eyes, and said softly, "In this way, I can be considered worthy of my father."

"Your Highness!" Li Anyan couldn't help but bow.

"Burn it." Li Chengqian waved his hand.

"Yes!" Li Anyan immediately used a fire stick to light the coat and the piece of paper with the emperor's birth date.

"The box... no, all the gifts sent by the Zhang family are hidden in the Jialing Temple." Li Chengqian paused, looked at the surprised Li Anyan, waved his hand and said, "All the gifts sent to the Eastern Palace at the end of this year will be temporarily stored in the Jialing Temple. That way, Qingque will be even less likely to act rashly."

"Yes!"

……

The sun sets, and in half a quarter of an hour the gates of the East Palace will be locked.

In the Chongwen Hall, a proofreader quietly hid behind the door, his eyes passing the Chongjiao Hall and looking towards the Chongren Hall in the east.

Suddenly, Li Anyan brought several officials from the Jialing Temple and carried more than a dozen boxes out of the East Palace.

The man followed until he saw the things being carried into the Jialing Temple, then he turned around and left the palace.

(End of this chapter)