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

Chapter 226: Who knows if His Majesty is outside Chang'an City now? (First update)
March 17th, the wind is strong in late spring.

In front of Princess Baling's mansion, Chai Lingwu dismounted tiredly. The King of Wei wanted to host a banquet for all the important officials in Chang'an to celebrate the birthday of his second son, so everything had to be well prepared.

Only Chai Lingwu knew that the list of important officials like Li Tai was quite long, and basically all officials above the fifth rank in Chang'an were invited.

Even some people with low official ranks in key positions would come.

After all, we have to take action tomorrow night.

After handing the reins to the servant, Chai Lingwu strode towards the mansion. At this time, the housekeeper came out to greet him.

"Son-in-law, the Eastern Palace sent some gifts today, saying that they are from the Crown Princess to the Princess." The housekeeper's words made Chai Lingwu stop.

He frowned and asked, "Did the East Palace only give it to our family, or did it also belong to other princesses' houses?"

"There are some in other princess residences." The housekeeper nodded quickly and said, "But they said they were only for the princess, so I didn't see them. In addition, the princess later transferred a group of people from the old house to guard the inner courtyard."

Chai Ling raised his eyes in surprise and looked towards the backyard.

The people from the old house, why are they transferred here?

The old house is the Duke of Qiao’s Mansion.

However, that place was the territory of his brother Chai Zhewei, and even when his brother was not there, Chai Lingwu rarely went there.

There were only old people left by his father.

The place Chai Lingwu often went to was Princess Pingyang's Mansion, where he grew up.

Of course, that place now belongs to his brother, and his brother usually lives there when he is in Chang'an.

Therefore, in recent years, Chai Lingwu rarely went there except for the year-end sacrifices.

He went to Duke Qiao's Mansion even less often.

After all, his elder brother inherited the title of Duke of Qiao, and the people in the old house also recognized his elder brother more.

However, in recent years, Chai Zhewei has been stationed at the border most of the time, so for many things, Chai Lingwu would go back to the old house on behalf of Chai Zhewei to perform sacrifices and communicate.

The people in the old house still recognized Chai Lingwu more. After all, he was the second son of Chai Shao and the son-in-law of Princess Baling. His status in the court was actually not much worse than that of his brother.

Especially since he was Sima of King Wei.

Before Li Tai was dismissed from his post as governor of Yongzhou, many people from the Chai family were actively trying to get close to Chai Lingwu, and Chai Lingwu also recruited many people from there.

Not to mention, he also has things to deal with with Zhang Liang.

But since Li Tai started planning, Chai Lingwu deliberately cut off relations with that side.

Why did the princess transfer people from there today?

Could it be that he was talking in his sleep at night?
Chai Lingwu sighed in his heart, that's good, it's better to transfer people from the old house than from the princess's mansion, there are quite a few people from the Li family there.

"Where is the princess now?" Chai Lingwu continued to go to the backyard.

"In the ancestral temple." The steward said carefully.

The ancestral temple of Princess Baling's mansion is dedicated to Princess Baling's mother, and the tablets of Chai Shao and Princess Pingyang are enshrined in Princess Pingyang's mansion.

It seems that he really said something in his sleep that scared the princess.

"Okay, you go down, I'll go to the ancestral temple myself." Chai Lingwu nodded, then walked towards the ancestral temple.

……

With a creaky sound, the black door was pushed open. Chai Lingwu pushed the door open and called out, "Princess..."

Before he finished speaking, Chai Lingwu was stunned, because the person standing in front of the ancestral temple tablet was not a princess, but a man in a black robe with his back to him.

But in an instant, Chai Lingwu shouted in surprise: "Brother!"

As brothers who had been together day and night for twenty years, Chai Lingwu recognized Chai Zhewei's back almost instantly.

Chai Zhewei didn't turn around and said calmly, "Come here and kneel down."

"Yes!" Chai Lingwu lowered his head and walked over quickly. At this moment, he was still immersed in joy and had no time to think about why Chai Zhewei suddenly came back, and came back quietly.

Facing his brother, Chai Lingwu knelt down obediently on the mat. However, the next moment, with a "slap", Chai Zhewei suddenly turned around and slapped Chai Lingwu directly in the face.

Chai Lingwu couldn't help but cover his face, looking at Chai Zhewei in disbelief, muttering, "Brother!"

"Brother?" Chai Zhewei gritted his teeth, looked at Chai Lingwu with hatred, and cursed: "You still remember that I am your brother? Why didn't you think of me when you were planning a rebellion? Why didn't you think of me when you were trying to drag the entire family into destruction..."

Chai Lingwu was stunned when he heard two words: "treason." Chai Zhewei pointed at Chai Lingwu's nose and cursed for a long time until he saw fear on Chai Lingwu's face, and then he gradually stopped.

Silence fell.

"Brother, brother!" Chai Lingwu finally responded at this time. He knelt in front of Chai Zhewei, grabbed his clothes, and asked in panic: "Brother, how do you know all this?"

"Humph! Now you're scared!" Chai Zhewei snorted coldly, then sat down on the main couch. He looked past Chai Lingwu and looked outside the ancestral temple. He suddenly sighed and said bitterly, "How else could I know? Of course someone else told me. Don't you think about it? I'm a general in the army. How can I easily return to Chang'an?"

Chai Lingwu looked up, unable to figure it out for a moment, or perhaps too many names flashed through his mind in an instant, making him not know who it was.

"It's the Crown Prince!" Chai Zhewei lowered his head, looked at Chai Lingwu, and said seriously, "Before His Majesty's Eastern Tour, he left a secret decree for the Crown Prince, appointing Yu Zhining, the Imperial Court Assistant Minister, as Vice-Chancellor to assist in state affairs, and granting him the power to make decisions on the spot."

"Make a decision on the spur of the moment?" Chai Lingwu felt an inexplicable chill on his back.

"The Crown Prince, under the name of Prime Minister Yu, along with the Secretary of the Central Secretariat and Counselor Chu Suiliang, the Crown Prince's Junior Secretary and Chief Censor Ma Zhou, and the Duke of Wuyang and General of the Left Guard Li Daliang, personally went to Yanzhou with a hundred cavalry captains to 'invite' me back." Chai Zhewei shook his head and said, "From Yanzhou, I went directly to the Northern Garden, then was escorted through the Xuanwu Gate to the Eastern Palace to meet the Crown Prince."

"They...they...they already know everything?" Chai Lingwu looked up in disbelief.

"Yes." Chai Zhewei nodded and sighed, "The Crown Prince has learned of everything the King of Wei is planning, including the King of Wei, Duke Chen, Duke Xun, their troop movements at Tonghua Gate, the banquet at the King of Wei's mansion tomorrow, and their plan to storm the palace tomorrow night."

"How could this happen? How could this happen?" Chai Lingwu lowered his head and looked at the ground, his heart filled with a mixture of confusion and fear.

"I met the Crown Prince at the hour of Mao yesterday morning. After that, I met him in the East Palace and gathered all the information about you. It took two days for the Crown Prince to send me to your residence."

Chai Zhewei placed a hand on Chai Lingwu's shoulder and shook his head, saying, "The Crown Prince has been preparing for so long, with Prime Minister Yu laying the groundwork, Lord Chu, Counselor Ma Zhou, and the General in charge of the execution. I can imagine what kind of net awaits you in Chang'an City right now."

Chai Lingwu shuddered suddenly, then quickly said, "Brother, this is not Erlang's fault. Erlang has wanted to leave the Prince of Wei's Palace many times, but was stopped every time. His Majesty even promoted Erlang from Wei's military officer to Wei's military commander. Erlang couldn't leave even if he wanted to...Brother, this is not my fault, this is really not my fault!"

Chai Lingwu suddenly burst into tears, lowered his head and cried loudly, completely breaking down and howling.

Chai Zhewei gently patted Chai Lingwu's shoulder and said softly, "Okay, okay, I know your difficulties, and the prince also knows them. That's why the prince asked me to come to you. It means that the prince doesn't mean to blame you. Okay, don't cry."

Chai Lingwu's crying subsided when he heard Chai Zhewei say that Li Chengqian didn't mean to blame him much.

Chai Lingwu looked up at Chai Zhewei and said bitterly, "Brother, Erlang has repeatedly advised the King of Wei to return to Xiangzhou and make some achievements before coming back to compete with the Crown Prince. But he wouldn't listen. He wouldn't listen... Since then, the King of Wei has done many things quietly on his own, and only notified Erlang after he was done."

Chai Zhewei nodded. He knew Chai Lingwu. He dared to say that Chai Lingwu did something illegal, but he would be the first one not to believe that he was plotting a rebellion.

"For example, this time, it was the King of Wei who came up with it from the beginning, and then he contacted the Duke of Chen. These plans were all discussed between the two of them." Chai Lingwu shook his head and sighed, saying, "It's not that Erlang doesn't want to get out, it's that it's difficult to get out!"

"So now, your chance has come." Chai Zhewei's expression grew serious. He patted Chai Lingwu on the shoulder and said, "The Crown Prince asked me to come back this time because he hoped you could restore order at the critical moment."

"At the critical moment, we need to restore order?" Chai Lingwu blinked at Chai Zhewei and asked, "When?"

Chai Zhewei fell silent and said softly, "Tomorrow night, in front of the Suzaku Gate."

Chai Lingwu's pupils instantly dilated, and he said in a lost voice, "In front of the two armies."

Chai Zhewei knew what a dangerous situation that would be. He sighed and said, "Erlang, this is your only chance. Think about it. If you don't do this, considering the current situation, and you come forward to accuse the King of Wei of rebellion, what do you think will be your final fate?"

"Offend for your mistakes?" Chai Lingwu looked at Chai Zhewei with some anticipation.

"Oh!" Chai Zhewei smiled bitterly and shook his head, "You think too highly of His Majesty. Right now, if you were to denounce the King of Wei, His Majesty would at most remove you from all your posts, depose you as a commoner, and never employ you again. Moreover, your descendants..."

Chai Lingwu finally fell silent. The emperor was indeed not a kind-hearted person, especially towards those who were closest to him.

Chai Lingwu suddenly shuddered for no apparent reason, and a scene of himself suddenly dying one day in the future suddenly appeared in his mind.

"Don't worry, I will go with you tomorrow." Chai Zhewei looked up and spoke lightly.

"What!" Chai Lingwu couldn't help but stood up immediately, staring at Chai Zhewei and said, "No, I can go, but you can't, brother. If something happens to me, brother, you..."

"No need to say more." Chai Zhewei shook his head and said calmly: "Do you really think that if I don't take action this time, you can get away with it? If it were possible, the prince would not have brought me back from Yanzhou."

Conspiring to rebel, fighting for the throne, or seizing the throne, such things, once done, will be a thorn in the emperor's heart forever.

Chai Lingwu is ruined, and Chai Zhewei can't expect to have an easy time either. If he doesn't do well tomorrow night, his career will be over.

"Brother, if it really doesn't work, we will..." Chai Lingwu raised his head and his face became ferocious.

Chai Zhewei's expression changed, and he slapped him again with his backhand.

With a "pop", Chai Lingwu covered his face again.

"Don't let your imagination run wild!" Chai Zhewei stared at Chai Lingwu and said coldly, "Although the Crown Prince is controlling the situation in Chang'an now, don't forget that the Crown Prince's power and Yu Zhining's position as Prime Minister were all granted by His Majesty... In other words, everything happening in Chang'an now, the King of Wei's rebellion, and the Crown Prince's response, are all under His Majesty's watch."

Chai Zhewei raised his head, looking solemnly outside the ancestral temple, and said softly, "Who knows if His Majesty is outside Chang'an City right now, watching each of us like a cat playing with a mouse?"

Chai Lingwu suddenly shuddered.

(End of this chapter)