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

Chapter 220 Li Tai: My brother is too cautious, I didn’t trick him this time (Part )
March 11th, spring is in full bloom.

On the table in front of the window of Wude Hall, two pots of peonies are swaying in the spring light, their buds about to bloom.

Li Chengqian withdrew his gaze and looked at Zhangsun Xiang and Ma Zhou sitting on either side. Then he spoke, "The Eastern Palace has placed spies in Chang'an City for three main purposes: First, to help your father investigate and address any shortcomings in state affairs. After all, your father has many things to attend to, and there are some matters among the people in the fields that your father cannot care about."

"Just like what Your Highness did with the agricultural tools before!" Ma Zhou suddenly understood.

Li Chengqian smiled and nodded. No matter what, he would always put the emperor first in everything he did. Only in this way could things be justified.

"The second is self-monitoring." Li Chengqian's expression calmed down and he continued, "There are dozens of officials in the Eastern Palace. It's inevitable that some will do evil in my name. Although the Eastern Palace has supervisory officials, they are not as good as the Imperial Censor and the Thousand Oxen Guards. Therefore, I need to be more cautious and send people to the market to inquire about some information."

Ma Zhou and Chang Sun Xiang nodded seriously, but their expressions gradually became solemn.

"The third is self-protection." Li Chengqian raised his head and said softly, "Although I am the crown prince, none of my brothers are easy to deal with. Therefore, I must keep a close eye on the movements of the princes' palaces."

Ma Zhou looked up at Changsun Xiang with some hesitation.

Chang Sunxiang, who was standing opposite him, happened to bow at this moment and said, "Your Highness is absolutely right."

Ma Zhou's pupils dilated slightly, but at this moment, he immediately understood that Chang Sun Xiang was safe to accept this kind of thing.

Changsun Xiang, the nephew of Empress Wende, came all the way from the end of the Sui Dynasty and had seen too much blood.

He was even raised by Empress Wende.

His elder brother, Changsun Jiaqing, was the prince's tutor in the Eastern Palace. After Changsun Jiaqing unfortunately passed away due to illness, Changsun Xiang was transferred from the Secretariat to the Prince's Chief of Staff.

The Queen's instructions shouldn't be too strong here.

Although Ma Zhou entered the court later, he had heard about the ups and downs before and after the crown prince was enthroned.

"Yes!" Ma Zhou nodded. He was now the Crown Prince's Junior Secretary and had already boarded this ship. The more stable the Crown Prince's position was, the better it would be for him... as long as the Crown Prince didn't make any mistakes.

Today, the prince was willing to tell him these things openly, which showed his trust in him.

"An Yan has now been transferred to the position of General of the Right Guard, and all the personnel inside and outside the palace have been handed back." Li Chengqian looked at the two and said, "The Eastern Palace's spies outside the palace are divided into three categories. The first category is the Eastern Palace officials. After they come off duty, they hear news outside the palace that is not convenient to be made public."

Ma Zhou and Chang Sun Xiang nodded at the same time.

Li Chengqian continued, "My cousin, please inform Ma Qing of this information at the same time. If Ma Qing needs to intervene, my cousin will fully cooperate."

Chang Sunxiang looked at Ma Zhou in surprise, then nodded and said, "Yes!"

It turned out that Li Chengqian called them both here today in order to get Ma Zhou involved in the Eastern Palace's intelligence network.

Li Chengqian turned and looked at Ma Zhou, who was also stunned for a moment, then immediately bowed and said, "Yes!"

"The second category of spies in the Eastern Palace are the families and servants of the officials, as well as my in-laws, the Su family, the Zheng family, and the Zhang family. These are the people who are willing to gather information for the Eastern Palace. They mainly target the princes, princesses, their husbands, and anyone else who has ill intentions towards the Eastern Palace. At critical moments, we need to keep an eye on them."

Some people targeted the Eastern Palace in order to help other princes win the throne.

Some people targeted the Eastern Palace simply to win the emperor's favor.

Whether it is framing or putting the blame on others, their methods are disgusting.

"This information is very sensitive. After my cousin informs me, I will selectively inform Ma Qing. Of course, if Ma Qing has anything that needs to be investigated, he can also tell my cousin directly." Li Chengqian looked at Changsun Xiang and Ma Zhou, and they nodded at the same time.

I have accepted what happened before, and now there is nothing difficult to accept.

"There's also news from the East and West Markets of Chang'an, among the common people, and even from the foreign tribes. These all need to be investigated." After a brief pause, Li Chengqian said, "Especially when the emperor is away from Chang'an, we need to investigate more. This is especially true of the Xueyantuo and the Western Turks. They've taken advantage of the emperor's absence to make moves in Chang'an more than once."

"Yes!" Changsun Xiang and Ma Zhou bowed at the same time.

"The third type of spy in the Eastern Palace is the Prince's Qianniu." Li Chengqian looked at Zhang Sunxiang's subordinates and frowned, saying, "Helan was supposed to be here today, but he suddenly asked for leave for something..."

Turning around, Li Chengqian looked at Ma Zhou and said, "The Eastern Palace needs to get information from the left and right guards through the Crown Prince's guards. At the same time, if the Eastern Palace needs to do something, it will usually go through the guards. For example, if the emperor asks me to handle something and an Eastern Palace official needs to be transferred to a different place and needs protection..."

Ma Zhou immediately understood.

If before it was about serving the country and protecting oneself, now it is about killing people.

However, the Eastern Palace did not kill people privately, and everything required the help of the Qianniu Guards.

This means that the emperor knew all these things.

Of course, just because the East Palace doesn't have these people now doesn't mean they won't have them in the future. What if...

"I understand." Ma Zhou bowed seriously. Now that he started to get involved in these matters, if there was anything out of control in the Eastern Palace in the future, he would be able to control it.

Perhaps the prince told him these things today with the intention of restraining him in the future.

Of course, the best way is to completely eliminate all threats against the Eastern Palace outside the palace.

In this way, the prince would not have to go to this step.

Li Chengqian smiled, glanced up at the peony on the table, then looked at Ma Zhou and said, "The Emperor is already on tour in the East. Spring planting, farming, irrigation, water conservancy dredging, food and fodder mobilization, military equipment production, and the affairs of the imperial troops. The servants of the Eastern Palace are all out with their men to monitor. I am the Crown Prince Regent, and the officials of the Eastern Palace must fulfill this responsibility."

"Yes!" Ma Zhou nodded seriously.

In today's Eastern Palace, although Zhang Xuansu is the Prince's Secretary, to be honest, the truly convincing person in the Eastern Palace is Ma Zhou.

Therefore, what Zhang Xuansu did most often was to teach the prince and supervise the officials, while the handling of specific affairs fell on Ma Zhou, the prince's junior secretary.

Li Chengqian breathed a sigh of relief and said with a smile, "Emperor Father is on his eastern tour. Although the ministers are a little tired, this is precisely the time for them to show their talents."

Ma Zhou nodded in agreement.

When the emperor was in Chang'an, the officials of the Eastern Palace lived cautiously and had no power on weekdays. However, once the emperor went on an eastern tour and the crown prince became regent, the officials of the Eastern Palace immediately had the opportunity to rely on the crown prince's power to intervene in the affairs of the six ministries and nine temples in the court.

Of course, this was allowed by the emperor.

They have been doing this for many years.

At this moment, a slight sound of footsteps was heard outside the hall.

Xu An, the eunuch of the Eastern Palace, was standing at the palace gate. Seeing Li Chengqian's gaze, he immediately bowed and said, "Your Highness, Junior Eunuch Dou Zhijie requests an audience."

"What is he doing here?" Li Chengqian frowned and couldn't help but look at Lai Ma Zhou.

Dou Zhijie, the Junior Eunuch, was second only to Zhang Ananda among the eunuchs in the palace. He had previously accompanied Princess Wencheng to Tibet and returned only after she married there. When the emperor went on his eastern tour, Zhang Ananda accompanied him to Luoyang, while Dou Zhijie stayed in Chang'an.

After all, there are many concubines in the inner palace, and several princes and princesses need to be taken care of, so naturally someone has to stay behind to watch over them.

"Maybe something happened in the inner palace!" Ma Zhou's expression became serious.

Li Chengqian looked up and said, "Scream!"

……

At the foot of Daji's gate, a light gauze curtain was drawn up.

Li Chengqian, Fang Xuanling, Ma Zhou, and Dou Zhijie stood on the south side of the curtain, and several figures stood on the north side of the curtain.

Fang Xuanling bowed and said seriously, "Your Majesty, Your Majesty left Luoyang the day before yesterday to inspect Hebei. Everything is going well."

Behind the curtain, Concubine Wei Gui nodded slightly.

The emperor did not bring her with him on his eastern tour to Luoyang this time. In fact, he only brought Concubine Yan and Concubine Yang.

Wei Gui raised his head, looked at Li Chengqian and said, "The main reason why we invited the Crown Prince here this time is because of the matter concerning the Prince of Qi."

King Qi?

Li Chengqian couldn't help but frown.

De Fei Yin, who was sitting next to Noble Consort Wei Gui, glanced at Wei Gui with a hint of guilt and said, "The Prince of Qi has been in Qizhou recently, and his relationship with Chief Secretary Quan has become somewhat strained. Therefore, I would like to ask the Crown Prince to write a letter to persuade the Prince of Qi, asking him... asking him to exercise some restraint."

Li Chengqian raised his eyebrows and said, "I met the Prince of Qi at the end of last year. He seemed cheerful, which means he and Chief Secretary Quan had a good relationship. Why did something go wrong this year?"

"I don't know either." Concubine Yin shook her head and said with some concern, "The letter from the King of Qi is vague. It seems that Chief Secretary Quan is starting to take charge of all the affairs in his backyard."

In addition to teaching and advising the kings, the chief historians of the kings were also responsible for managing officials at all levels in the royal palace.

However, these matters did not include the inner courts of the kings.

Of course, some powerful chief secretaries will also intervene in the backyards of the kings, especially when the kings are weak.

Li Chengqian nodded, glanced at Fang Xuanling, and then said seriously, "When I return, I will write to the King of Qi and ask him to be patient for a while. In the meantime, I will see what's going on with Chief Secretary Quan and see if he's meddling in the affairs of the King of Qi's harem. As long as the King of Qi doesn't bully men and women and ignores everything, then the only thing left is to reproduce the royal family's offspring. Too much involvement is not a good thing."

"Thank you, Your Highness!" Concubine Yin breathed a sigh of relief.

Besides the emperor's words, the King of Qi would only listen to the prince's words.

"In that case, if there is nothing else, we will take our leave." Fang Xuanling immediately took the opportunity to take his leave.

"Thank you for your help, Prince, and Duke Liang." Concubine Wei and Concubine Yin bowed slightly.

"Yeah!" Li Chengqian turned around first and left Dajimen.

……

Ahead of Daji Gate is Daji Hall, which is located between the Queen's Lizheng Hall and Li Chengqian's Wude Hall where he served as regent.

Everyone returned to the Wude Hall together.

Li Chengqian sat down on the short couch, then looked at Fang Xuanling and said, "Prime Minister Fang, what's going on with Quan Wanji? Last year, my father repeatedly warned Qizhou to focus on civilian affairs. Why do I find that he seems to have forgotten the pain after the wound has healed?"

"I don't know the details, but this matter still needs to be reported to Your Majesty." Fang Xuanling bowed slightly. He would not get involved in such matters.

Li Chengqian calmed down and nodded, saying, "Prime Minister Fang is right. This matter should be handled by our father. So, I will write a letter and send it to Hebei together with Prime Minister Fang's memorial."

"Your Highness, why don't you write a letter directly to persuade the King of Qi?" Fang Xuanling looked at Li Chengqian in surprise.

The emperor is now in Hebei, not in Luoyang. To write to Qizhou from Chang'an, there is no need to pass through Hebei.

Li Chengqian calmly shook his head and said, "Although the Prince of Qi is my younger brother, my father is closer to him and has a clearer understanding of all the affairs in Qizhou. Let him handle it, lest I get confused and end up causing more trouble."

"Yes!" Fang Xuanling bowed slightly, thought about it, and did not persuade him any further.

Li Chengqian calmed down and looked at Fang Xuanling and said, "By the way, Prime Minister Fang, have you received any news from Songzhou? What's the current situation in Tubo?"

Fang Xuanling bowed and said, "Everything is fine..."

……

At the Prince of Wei's mansion, Li Tai put away the secret letter in his hand, looked at Chai Lingwu across from him, and said, "My royal brother is too cautious. The letter to the Prince of Qi has been sent to Hebei. It seems that my wish to act more cautiously may not be successful."

Li You's uprising was an important part of Li Tai's plan, but when Li You would raise his army was actually in Li Tai's hands.

"Your Highness, in the palace?" Chai Lingwu looked at Li Tai with some confusion.

"It was the Prince of Qi who wrote the letter to Concubine Yin De, and I found Wei Zhaorong, and then they went to see Madam Wei together." Li Tai explained briefly, and Chai Lingwu immediately understood.

There were three Yang concubines in the emperor's harem: Concubine Yang Shu, the daughter of Prince Li Ke of Wu and Prince Li Yin of Shu; Concubine Yang, the mother of Prince Li Ming of Cao; and Concubine Yang, the mother of Prince Li Fu of Zhao; and two Wei concubines: Concubine Wei Gui, the mother of Prince Li Shen of Ji, and Concubine Wei Nizi, the daughter of Prince Li Shen.

The person Li Tai was looking for was Zhaorong Wei Nizi, of course he went through the Wei family's channel.

Zhaorong Wei Nizi had no children, and although Guifei Wei Gui had a son, Prince Ji, it was also because of this that she was on good terms with all the kings.

But unfortunately, Li Tai originally hoped to use them to seduce Li Chengqian into the rebellion of King Qi. It would be better for them if King Qi rebelled first, implicated the prince, and then convicted him.

"Forget it." Li Tai waved his hand and looked at Chai Lingwu. "This matter ends here, but other matters can begin. Cousin, send someone to Songzhou to tell Fang Yiai that the princess has given birth and ask him to return to Chang'an."

"Yes!" Chai Lingwu immediately bowed.

"And Duke Xun." Li Tai sighed softly and said, "I really don't want to break up with Duke Xun, but there are some things I have to do now."

Chai Lingwu lowered his head with a serious expression.

"Cousin, go tell Zhang Xi that you want to meet Duke Xun tonight and ask him to make the arrangements." Li Tai looked at Chai Lingwu with a serious look.

"Yes!" Chai Lingwu's breathing stopped instantly.

(End of this chapter)