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

Chapter 23: Cicadas chirping, snakes moving

Prince Wei's Mansion, study.

Li Tai sat calmly in the main seat, with Du Chuke, the Chief Clerk of Prince of Wei, Yan Liben, the Junior Architect, Su Xu, the Sima of Prince of Wei, and Fang Yiai, the Military Officer of Prince of Wei, sitting on both sides of him.

Fang Yiai was speaking in a low voice when Wei Fu, the eunuch of Prince Wei's mansion, appeared quietly at the door.

Li Tai seemed to have been paying attention to the outside of the door. When he saw Wei Fu, he immediately looked up and waved.

Wei Fu carefully entered the study, then walked from the side to Li Tai's side and handed the secret letter to him.

Seeing Li Tai reading the letter, Fang Yiai gradually stopped talking.

After a while, Li Tai finished reading the letter and his expression relaxed a little. He came back to his senses and looked at Fang Yiai. He smiled slightly and said, "Erlang, please continue. The positions of Prince's Servant and Prince's Assistant Servant in the Eastern Palace are both vacant. What does the Ministry of Personnel say?"

"In the past half day of today, about a dozen fifth-rank officials have come to the Ministry of Personnel to express their greetings." Fang Yiai sighed softly and said, "Although the Crown Prince's legs and feet are not yet fully healed, he can walk freely in and out of the Eastern Palace. Many people can see him at any time, so people believe that he will be fully recovered soon. Therefore, many people are interested in this Crown Prince's servant."

Li Chengqian often appeared in front of the ministers in the Eastern Palace. Although he walked back and forth slowly, there was no sign of limping, and no signs of any trickery. After all, it was impossible for anyone to randomly point to him and look under his robe.

Hearing Fang Yiai say this, even the confident Yan Liben couldn't help but look at Li Tai and said, "Your Highness, is it possible to ask the imperial physician from the Imperial Hospital to come and see the Crown Prince again? This way, the Crown Prince's condition can be treated more appropriately."

"Although Master Sun had already prescribed sufficient medicine when he left the capital, it is indeed time for the Imperial Hospital to treat my brother." Li Tai nodded, pondered for a moment, and said, "I will find someone to do it."

"Yes!" Everyone bowed.

After a brief silence, Fang Yiai couldn't help but speak: "Everything else is fine, but a few people are concerned about the reason for Lu Hu's leg injury. How could he suddenly break his leg when he was fine? And he is also the Minister of the Imperial Household, in charge of the horses and carriages of the Eastern Palace...

It just so happened that something happened to the Crown Prince at the beginning of the year, so many people are wondering if the Crown Prince’s case is…”

"Ahem!" Yan Liben interrupted Fang Yiai and said, "Don't make random guesses about things like this."

After saying that, Yan Liben couldn't help but look at Li Tai.

Li Tai pondered for a moment, then raised his head and said, "It's inevitable that my brother's affairs have nothing to do with the Crown Prince's servant. So, let's investigate first to see what exactly happened. What happened next should be reported to the Emperor. However, if the Crown Prince really retaliates privately because of this matter, injuring or even killing someone, then that would be the Crown Prince's fault."

A fault that can be abolished.

"Yes!" Du Chuke, Yan Liben, Su Xu and Fang Yiai bowed at the same time.

……

It was a dark night. Fang Xuanling waved gently at Fang Yiai, and Fang Yiai left the study.

At this time, Cui Qian, the Magistrate of Chang'an County, came out from the inner room with a serious face, bowed to Fang Xuanling and said, "My Lord."

"Lu Hu's matter." Fang Xuanling looked up and said softly, "Since the King of Wei can think of this, then those people in the court, Zhangsun Wuji, Gao Shilian, Wei Zheng, Liu Dewei, and Sun Fujia, they may not have thought of this, not to mention this matter, they have been investigating it all the time."

The prince suddenly broke his leg and delayed treatment, resulting in a limp. Those in the court who had experienced countless political turmoil first thought that this was a conspiracy.

But for some unknown reason, it ended up in nothing.

But secretly, everyone is investigating.

As long as the prince appears in public for one day, everyone will check it out.

Today, the prince's servant, who was originally a suspected target, suddenly broke his leg in the East Palace. It is hard not to suspect that this is the prince's revenge.

So what did the prince find out, and finally locked the target, or did he find nothing at all, and just took revenge on the prince's servant who was responsible for this matter?
"En Xiang, according to legend, the Crown Prince wasn't in the Eastern Palace that day, but went to the Lizheng Palace to visit Prince Jin and Princess Jinyang." Cui Qian bowed slightly, then said, "Today, the officials of the Eastern Palace also said that they could visit Cui Hu at will. So, could this all really be an accident?"

"If it was really an accident, then Lu Hu's wife and daughter would not have been taken into the palace by the prince." Fang Xuanling said lightly, directly puncturing Cui Qian's luck.

Cui Qian's expression immediately became serious.

"The Crown Prince must have known there was something fishy going on with Lu Hu, but he had absolutely no proof. No one could find any on him, so he'd faked his alibi. He was counting on someone to find Lu Hu and follow the clues, or perhaps Lu Hu himself confessing." With just a few words, Fang Xuanling completely exposed Li Chengqian's final plan. "Yes!" Cui Qian's expression grew increasingly solemn. If Lu Hu spoke, the consequences would be more than just a few casualties.

"Lu Hu's cousin is the junior supervisor of the Du Shuijian. Since anyone can visit, let his cousin go. You go to his uncle's house and ask about the year-end sacrificial ceremonies." Fang Xuanling's eyes fell lightly on Cui Qian.

"Yes!" Cui Qian immediately became serious. This was using Lu Hu's family to threaten him.

"The Crown Prince can't guess what's going on. As long as Lu Hu doesn't speak, nothing will happen." Fang Xuanling comforted Cui Qian a little, and said, "Besides, if these things were to be told, Lu Hu would know what the consequences would be... It's a pity that the Crown Prince brought his family into the palace."

Cui Qian's mouth twitched slightly. Fang Xuanling's meaning was very clear. If Lu Hu's family was not brought into the palace, then he could use Lu Hu's family to threaten him. Why did he need to use the Lu family to threaten Lu Hu now?

"So, the most important thing now is to shut Lu Hu up completely." Fang Xuanling said, shaking his head slightly. "The Crown Prince may be waiting for someone to assassinate Lu Hu. So the important thing now is not to assassinate Lu Hu, but to get him out of the East Palace."

Cui Qian raised his eyebrows and stopped talking.

"Since the Eastern Palace has raised the vacancies of the Prince's Servant and the Prince's Servant Assistant, we only need to fill the positions. Then Lu Hu will have no position in the Eastern Palace. Now is the perfect time to transfer Lu Hu out of the Eastern Palace." Fang Xuanling's expression relaxed. As long as Lu Hu left the Eastern Palace, he would have countless means to use.

Cui Qian nodded silently.

"Transfer him to the Hongwenguan, which is a good opportunity for him to recuperate and teach the King of Wu at the same time." With just one sentence, Fang Xuanling directed the affairs of Lu Hu and Li Chengqian to the King of Wu Li Ke.

Li Ke was the most wise prince among Taizong's sons, except for the Crown Prince and the Prince of Wei. He had enough motivation to seek the throne.

Cui Qian suddenly breathed a sigh of relief.

"You know what to say if something happens." Fang Xuanling suddenly looked up and looked at Cui Qian.

"Yes!" Cui Qian bowed solemnly.

Fang Xuanling waved his hand slightly, and Cui Qian immediately bowed and said, "Student, I'll take my leave!"

……

Hearing Cui Qian's footsteps fade away, Fang Xuanling looked towards the curtain beside him and said softly, "Go and take care of that matter."

"Yes!" A young guard in ochre tights came out, bowed, and turned to leave.

Fang Xuanling then breathed a sigh of relief. Lu Hu had never met him before, and many things were passed on by Cui Qian in the middle. So as long as Cui Qian was eliminated at the critical moment, the connection with him could be completely cut off.

After coming back to his senses, Fang Xuanling's expression became serious.

Although he said that all this was done by the prince after he discovered Lu Hu's problem, he couldn't help but suspect that it was probably not the prince who discovered this.

Based on his understanding of the prince, if the prince really knew that someone deliberately broke his leg, he would immediately stand up and draw his sword to kill someone.

So, he suspected that it might be Gao Shilian who was behind it and was using this incident to fish.

It could have been someone else, but there was no doubt that this matter had alarmed the emperor.

What would the emperor think at this time?

Fang Xuanling couldn't help but worry.

The emperor's kindness was only half of what he showed to his ministers. The other half could only be seen by those who were close to him and those who died at his hands.

Lu Zushang was murdered by explosion and Zhang Yungu was wrongfully killed.

Look at Li Jing, a generation of war god, who was manipulated at will.

What will happen once the emperor's eyes fall on him?
Fang Xuanling couldn't help but shiver.

(End of this chapter)