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

Chapter 224: Hou Zhiyi, Standing Beside Hou Junji (Part )
In front of the Wude Hall, Li Chengqian stood in the moonlight, looking at the Chang'an City in the distance.

After a long silence, he sighed softly.

Li Xuansi and Changsun Xiang stood behind him, bowing their heads in silence.

"Three things." Li Chengqian spoke calmly, and Li Xuansi and Changsun Xiang quickly bowed.

Li Chengqian raised his head and said, "Send people to lurk around the Duke of Wei's residence to protect him. If they make a move, immediately bring him into the palace."

"Yes!" Li Xuansi and Changsun Xiang bowed solemnly at the same time.

Li Jing, Duke of Wei, is the only person in Chang'an City who is confident of completely suppressing Hou Junji.

As long as Li Jing arrives at the palace, no matter what other means Hou Junji has, he will be completely suppressed.

"Send people to Xiazhou, Shazhou, and Lanzhou to tell the Duke of E, the Duke of Ankang, and the Lanzhou Governor Du Fengju to keep an eye on suppressing the local forces." Li Chengqian raised his head and said softly, "Once the incident is over, the local forces must suppress it swiftly to avoid affecting this year's autumn harvest."

"Yes!" Li Xuansi and Changsun Xiang bowed slightly.

Li Chengqian meant to avoid affecting this year's autumn harvest, but in fact, he was calculating that if he failed and Hou Junji forced Li Tai to take the throne, Li Chengqian would immediately run to Yuchi Jingde and then mobilize military forces from all directions to return to Beijing to quell the rebellion.

"One last thing." Li Chengqian turned to look at Changsun Xiang and said, "Cousin, the Eastern Palace's personnel in Chang'an City will temporarily halt all operations and do nothing. As for the others, mobilize the Changsun family's personnel to infiltrate Qingque's circle and see who can be won over... Be careful not to get discovered."

"Yes!" Changsun Xiang nodded seriously. He understood what Li Chengqian meant.

Block in front, encircle from behind, infiltrate in the middle, confuse the enemy, and then at the critical moment, completely capture Li Tai.

The real core of people like Hou Junji and Zhang Liang is still Li Tai.

Without Li Tai, their rebellion would have been a real rebellion.

Li Xuansi was standing aside and couldn't help but look up at Changsun Xiang, with a look of realization in his eyes.

How could he forget that although Changsun Xiang was just a cousin of Changsun Wuji, he was raised by the queen herself.

Now that he is the Prince's Household Manager, his status is naturally different. He can fully mobilize the power of the Changsun family.

No matter who wants to rebel, once the Changsun family takes action, the chances of success will be much less.

Changsun Wuji served as the General of the Left Jinwu Guard, the Minister of Personnel, the Right Minister of the Ministry of Works, and now the Minister of Civil Affairs.

His connections between the government and the public were far deeper than those of Hou Junji and Li Tai combined.

Now that the people of the Changsun family have made a move, it is likely that there will be people from Changsun Wuji around Zhang Liang and Hou Junji.

Li Chengqian breathed a sigh of relief and waved his hand, saying, "Alright, go to sleep... Be careful, they're going crazy right now, they might kill someone."

"Yes!" Li Xuansi and Changsun Xiang bowed with solemn expressions, especially Changsun Xiang, who lived in Chang'an City.

Li Anyan was transferred to the position of General of the Right Guard because he posed a threat to their plan, and Changsun Xiang has become an obstacle in Hou Junji's eyes, and he is afraid that he will really take action against him.

……

On March 12th, the Wude Hall was filled with the fragrance of flowers.

Li Chengqian sat behind a low table, and information from all parties was quickly summarized in his hands.

Especially the news from Li Daliang.

The batch of crossbows and crossbow arrows shipped out from the Ministry of Works seemed to have gone to Tongguan, but in fact they were transferred back in Tongguan.

It was quietly sent to the military camp outside Tonghua Gate.

At the same time, Zhang Liang also began to take action. Some of Zhang Liang's old subordinates also began to be carefully transferred to the military camp at Tonghuamen.

With Hou Junji's secret helper, if they hadn't prepared in advance, they probably wouldn't have noticed it at all.

In Chang'an City, many of Hou Junji and Zhang Liang's old subordinates in Yongzhou Prefecture and the Jinwu Guard also began to move quietly.

Even the patrol personnel of the Jinwu Guard were adjusted.

What’s funny is that Li Chengqian’s father-in-law Zheng Rentai and General Zuo Kuangzheng of the Left Jinwu Guard knew nothing about this.

This shows how strong Hou Junji's foundation is.

Shaking his head, Li Chengqian withdrew his thoughts, looked up at Zhang Daxiang standing beside him, and said, "Mr. Zhang, please go to the Dali Temple and bring over the files on the recent criminal cases in Chang'an City."

Although Zhang Daxiang, the prince's attendant, didn't understand what was going on, he still stood up, bowed, and walked away quickly.

Chang Sunxiang stood to one side and asked in confusion, "Your Highness?"

"Through the Dali Temple, we can intervene in Chang'an City and make Duke Chen a little nervous." Li Chengqian smiled.

"Yes!" Chang Sunxiang nodded slightly.

In fact, at this moment, the person who is really handling everything is Yu Zhining.

Hou Junji and Zhang Liang's plan was easily seen through. They rushed in from Tonghua Gate, along the long street of Wannian County, and headed straight for the palace.

This has led to blind spots in their attention to local areas.

They are not paying attention to Zhuque Street and the direction of Chang'an County now.

He was doing everything he could to prevent his plan from being known by others, but he never thought that others had already started taking action in various aspects, preparing to completely surround them.

The files from the Dali Temple soon appeared in front of Li Chengqian.

Li Chengqian didn't say anything more, but began to study the file in his hand seriously.

After a whole afternoon, Li Chengqian finally put down a document, then looked up at Zhang Daxiang and said, "Mr. Zhang, please go to the Dali Temple again and ask Dali Temple officials Dai Zhide, Zhang Wenguan, and Hou Zhiyi to come to the Wude Hall tomorrow. I have some questions for you."

"Yes!" Zhang Daxiang immediately bowed and went to the Dali Temple. When he came out of the Dali Temple, the officials had already left.

……

The lights come on and the courtyard is quiet.

Hou Zhiyi, who had just returned to the Duke of Chen's mansion, dismounted and handed the reins to the servant at home.

At this time, the servant said: "The Duke has returned home."

Hou Zhiyi looked up in surprise. His father usually didn't come back to the mansion, so why did he suddenly come back today? No matter what, Hou Junji was back, and Hou Zhiyi was going to pay his respects.

At the foot of the central hall, Hou Zhiyi bowed earnestly to Hou Junji, who was seated at the main seat, and said, "Greetings, Father."

Hou Junji nodded calmly, then asked, "I heard the Crown Prince wants to summon you tomorrow?"

Hou Zhiyi looked up in surprise, then bowed and said, "Yes, there was a family massacre in Chang'an County. Five murderers were arrested, including two thirteen-year-old children. There are different opinions within the Dali Temple regarding their specific convictions, so the Crown Prince asked his son to go and ask about it."

Hou Junji looked up and asked, "Do you think the Crown Prince really called you over just for this matter?"

"Isn't that right?" Hou Zhiyi didn't know why Hou Junji was so concerned, but he still quickly bowed and said, "The Crown Prince has been paying much attention to the people's affairs in recent years. Last year, he was concerned about farming and women's childbirth. Although they are not very public, I feel that the Crown Prince is carefully understanding the suffering of the people, which is a good thing for the world."

"Crown Prince!" Hou Junji nodded. He knew that the reason why Li Chengqian had recently gained the emperor's favor was because many of the things he did were based on the premise of not touching the emperor's power. In fact, many of the things he did were to consolidate the emperor's power.

"What a clever man!" Hou Junji sighed softly, nodded at his son, and said, "Alright, go and rest. When you come back tomorrow, tell Aye what the prince said to you."

"Yes!" Hou Zhiyi immediately bowed and said, "Son, I'll take my leave. Father, go to bed early."

"Yeah!" Hou Junji nodded lightly, then watched Hou Zhiyi leave, his expression gradually becoming solemn.

What will the prince talk to Hou Zhiyi about tomorrow? It’s really just about this case, what else can he talk about?

Suddenly, Hou Junji laughed.

What's wrong with me? Why am I so worried about losing something?

Almost all of the Eastern Palace’s spies in Chang’an City were being watched to death, and the Crown Prince didn’t get any useful information at all.

And the prince didn't seem to notice anything at all.

At this time, instead of worrying about the prince for no reason, it is better to worry about your companions.

Zhang Liang and the King of Wei are both troublesome people. Who knows whether they will carry out their own plans during this palace coup.

Hou Junji lowered his head slightly.

……

Early in the morning, Hou Zhiyi followed Dai Zhide and Zhang Wenguan and headed towards the Wude Hall.

Leading the way in front of them was Helan Chushi.

Hou Zhiyi's brother-in-law.

Helan Chushi led the three people into the Wude Hall, nodded slightly to Hou Zhiyi, and stood aside.

"Your Highness the Crown Prince, we pay our respects to him!" Hou Zhiyi, Dai Zhide and Zhang Wenguan bowed to Li Chengqian.

"No need to be so polite, just sit down." Li Chengqian nodded lightly and glanced at Helan Chushi lightly.

Li Chengqian seldom used Helan Chushi recently, and most of the time he let him stay in the East Palace. But today when Hou Zhiyi came to him, Helan Chushi took the initiative to ask for orders, which was rare.

Ma Zhou, Xiao Jun, and Zhang Daxiang sat on the left, while Dai Zhide, Zhang Wenguan, and Hou Zhiyi sat on the right.

Changsun Xiang stood on the left side of Li Chengqian's desk, while Helan Chushi stood on the right side.

Li Chengqian flipped through a case file, then looked at Dai Zhide and asked, "Mr. Dai, what is the matter with this case?"

"Your Highness!" Dai Zhide bowed and spoke seriously, "An Zao, the chief clerk of the Taichang Temple, was in charge of all matters concerning tribute. He bullied and seized tribute households in Wugong County, causing the destruction of several families. The children of these families, who were left to wander, sold themselves to the An family. Finally, one day, he drugged everyone and then killed them all."

"I see two of them are no more than thirteen years old, and a few years ago they were not even ten years old. What does the Dali Temple think?"

Zhang Wenguan bowed and said, "According to the law, murder should be executed, but considering his young age, he has no official position and is a slave. There is also talk of sending him to serve in the army."

Being a slave without an official position means being a slave for life, but if he is sent to serve in the army, he may have a chance to turn his life around, but he is too young.

Li Chengqian nodded, looked at Hou Zhiyi and asked, "Hou Qing, what do you think?"

"Your Highness!" Hou Zhiyi bowed and said, "I think it's best if you don't have an official position, but I need to find a good family to arrange it for you."

"How could a good family dare to release a murderer?" Zhang Daxiang sat aside and shook his head slightly.

"Your Highness, either send her directly to the palace." Xiao Jun suggested carefully.

"That's a place where people die. Two thirteen-year-old children will never come out alive if they are sent in." Ma Zhou shook his head.

Li Chengqian raised his hand slightly and said, "Gentlemen, please continue speaking!"

"Here!"

……

At noon, Helan Chushi went to arrange lunch.

Li Chengqian glanced at his back before looking at Hou Zhiyi and asking, "Mr. Hou, who is responsible for the An family's annihilation?"

"It's on An Zao." Hou Zhiyi bowed slightly.

Li Chengqian nodded and continued, "I heard that An's family has an only son. If his son knew about his father's evil deeds, would he stop him in advance?"

Hou Zhiyi was stunned for a moment, then lowered his head, thought for a moment and said, "Maybe. If he knew about this, he would destroy his entire family."

Li Chengqian sighed softly and said, "It's hard to say, after all, the mistake was made from the very beginning. Unless someone can agree in advance to not pursue all crimes, perhaps both of them can survive."

"Yes!" Hou Zhiyi bowed with some confusion.

Li Chengqian looked at Hou Zhiyi and said calmly, "Mr. Hou, if I were in that position, I would agree."

Hou Zhiyi looked at Li Chengqian and frowned. The prince's words seemed to have other meanings.

Ma Zhou, Xiao Jun, Zhang Daxiang, Dai Zhide, and Zhang Wenguan on both sides were all silent.

Soon, Helan Chushi returned with the meal.

While having lunch, Li Chengqian said to Helan Chushi, "Helan, go to the Prince of Wei's mansion this afternoon and tell him that I want to burn incense at the Taiyi Qinghua Temple on March 15th. Ask him if he wants to go."

Helan Chushi's body stiffened for a moment, but in the next moment, he lowered his head and said, "Yes!"

(End of this chapter)