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

Chapter 230: King Wei Can't Turn Back (Part )
"Alright, let's not talk about this anymore." Li Chengqian turned around, looked at Fang Xuanling and Li Jing, and said, "Have you two heard about this, my dear ministers?"

"Yes!" Fang Xuanling raised his head and bowed to Li Chengqian, "May I ask, Your Highness, where is the imperial edict?"

Li Chengqian turned sideways and looked at Yu Zhining on the side.

Yu Zhining immediately pulled out the imperial edict from his sleeve and handed it to Fang Xuanling.

Fang Xuanling took the imperial edict, opened it in front of Li Chengqian, and read it carefully.

He was in charge of government affairs and made decisions on the spot.

Fang Xuanling heaved a sigh of relief after reading these eight words. He raised his head and returned the imperial edict to Yu Zhining. At the same time, he looked at Chu Suiliang and asked, "The imperial edict was written by Shangguan Yi. Was Mr. Chu present at the time?"

"Yes!" Chu Suiliang bowed, then lowered his head and kept silent.

Everyone was slightly stunned, but then they understood.

Although Chu Suiliang was now a Counselor and the Inspector of the Secretariat, he was still the one who wrote the emperor's daily notes.

In other words, records and copies of this imperial edict can be found in the emperor's daily notes and the secret files of the inner palace.

In other words, Chu Suiliang could certify that this imperial edict was authentic.

Records can also be found in national history.

Of course, because national history involves secrets, Chu Suiliang would not speak easily when it comes to matters related to residence and national history.

Fang Xuanling stayed in Chang'an to assist the prince in handling state affairs. At the same time, he himself supervised the national history, so Chu Suiliang was able to mention him, but only one word.

Fang Xuanling nodded, then bowed to Yu Zhining and said, "Meeting Prime Minister Yu."

"I wouldn't dare!" Yu Zhining quickly returned the greeting and said, "Greetings, Prime Minister Fang."

Fang Xuanling acknowledged Yu Zhining's position as prime minister, and Yu Zhining felt inexplicably relieved.

Fang Xuanling turned to look at Li Chengqian, bowed earnestly and said, "May I ask, Your Highness, what is the current situation?"

Li Chengqian nodded and said, "Judging from the guards at Tonghua Gate just now, Zhang Liang and Hou Junji's 3,000 soldiers have already entered the city. They should be heading over to reunite with Zhang Liang, Hou Junji, and Qingque as well."

Fang Xuanling fell silent. He lowered his head, took a deep breath, and asked, "Your Highness, who is behind this rebellion?"

Li Chengqian fell silent for a long moment before he slowly spoke, "It should have been Qingque who started it all. He found the weaknesses of Zhang Liang and Hou Junji and then connected them. To be honest, I find it hard to believe that Qingque was able to convince Zhang Liang and Hou Junji to oppose my father."

"Your Highness, there are many things that even I know nothing about. How did the King of Wei know about them?" Fang Xuanling asked again.

Li Chengqian hesitated for a moment, then said cautiously, "Last night, I learned that there's a force behind Qingque, providing him with information, dispatching personnel, and ultimately carrying out the plan. But I don't know who it is, so I need to ask Qingque about this."

"Who, who told Your Highness this last night?" Fang Xuanling's question went straight to the point.

"It's Wei Wang Sima Chai Lingwu!" After hesitating, Li Chengqian told Fang Xuanling directly, "After opening the secret decree left by my father, I recalled General Chai Zhewei of the Right Tunwei and asked him to persuade Chai Lingwu. They should all be with Qingque now."

Fang Xuanling was stunned. Who?
Chai Lingwu, Chai Zhewei.

These two brothers?

Fang Xuanling looked at Li Chengqian in disbelief, then sighed, "Your Highness's timing is truly brilliant."

Today Li Tai wanted to rebel. Last night Li Chengqian asked Chai Zhewei to contact Chai Lingwu, and it worked.

"Left Jinwu Guard General Zheng Rentai, Left Jinwu Guard General Zuo Kuangzheng, and Right Xiaowei Guard General Qibi Heli are leading 3,000 cavalrymen each from the Left and Right Jinwu Guards, and 5,000 cavalrymen from the Right Xiaowei Guard. They are taking up positions in Wannian County, Chang'an, and on Suzaku Street, respectively, and are awaiting battle."

Li Chengqian looked behind him and said, "The Imperial Guards have three thousand cavalry ready. As long as they attack the Suzaku Gate, the Imperial Guards will attack."

The imperial guards would not easily leave the palace, but if someone attacked the palace, that would be another matter.

Li Tai prepared more than 3,000 people for his rebellion, but Li Chengqian had already prepared 14,000 people waiting for him.

And next to Li Tai, there is Li Chengqian's undercover agent.

If Li Tai could win, that would be miracle.

Li Chengqian looked up at Li Jing, who had been standing there in silence, and said, "Duke Weiguo, please discuss with the Duke of Wuyang County to see if there are any areas that need to be addressed or adjusted. I feel uneasy about Duke Chen leading the troops."

Although Li Chengqian had prepared enough manpower, they were facing Hou Junji, one of the only two or three commanders in chief in the Tang Dynasty.

Even with 14,000 people against 3,000 people, Li Chengqian still felt a little uneasy.

What's more, he even transferred 5,000 new crossbows stored in the Weiwei Temple to Li Daliang.

Even though he had set up a tight net, Li Chengqian was still worried about accidents.

"Yes!" Li Jing bowed and went to discuss with Li Daliang.

"They're definitely trying to fake the imperial edict." Li Chengqian looked at Fang Xuanling and said, "If we can trick either Hou Junji or Zhang Liang into the palace, capture them, and then surround them from all sides, forcing them to surrender, without resorting to violence, and completely and peacefully resolving this, that would be the best plan I can envision."

Fang Xuanling now completely refreshed his understanding of Li Chengqian.

He originally thought that Li Chengqian wanted to take this opportunity to kill Li Tai, but he didn't expect that what he wanted was a tactic to defeat the enemy without fighting.

If he succeeds, the attitudes of the court and the people will change. "If that's what Your Highness wants, I'm afraid it's not enough." Fang Xuanling shook his head and said, "Now that they've taken action, there's no turning back. They won't give up easily."

"That's why Chai Lingwu and Chai Zhewei planned to capture Qingque." Li Chengqian looked toward the distant fire and said softly, "I hope Hou Zhiyi will repent. As for Zhang Liang, he's a coward..."

"Wait, who was Your Highness talking about just now?" Fang Xuanling couldn't help but take a step forward.

"Hou Zhiyi." Li Chengqian said calmly, "I told him the last time I met him that if his father committed an unforgivable crime, and he repented and took decisive action, I would ensure that neither he nor his brothers would be implicated."

Fang Xuanling looked at Li Chengqian in horror and nodded slowly: "Your Highness has made every possible plan!"

"Actually, what I miss most is Qingque." Li Chengqian sighed softly and said, "If Qingque can stop now, I will pretend that nothing happened."

"There's no way the King of Wei can turn back!"

……

In front of the Prince of Wei's Mansion, Hou Zhiyi, who was riding a horse beside Hou Junji, looked at the thousands of soldiers who were continuously pouring out of the Prince of Wei's Mansion with an expression of disbelief and horror.

Countless soldiers holding torches kept pouring out of the Prince of Wei's palace.

Li Tai walked out of the palace surrounded by countless soldiers.

Behind him followed Chai Lingwu with a confused look on his face, Du Chuke with a calm expression, and several black-armored guards who had never appeared before.

Hou Junji and Zhang Liang got down and walked to Li Tai, bowing earnestly and saying, "Greetings to His Royal Highness the Prince of Wei."

Li Tai, dressed in black and golden armor, nodded indifferently and said, "Duke Chen, has the imperial edict arrived?"

"We're here." Hou Junji bowed, then turned sideways and looked behind him.

A blue-robed eunuch quickly stepped forward, holding the imperial edict in his hand, and came before Li Tai. He then bowed and said, "Your Highness, I, the eunuch Hu Yin, have been ordered by Your Majesty to return to the capital to deliver the imperial edict. Here is the imperial edict. Your Highness, please go to the palace and read it."

"Okay!" Li Tai nodded slightly and said sideways: "Chief Secretary!"

Du Chuke immediately led a warhorse over from the side, and Li Tai mounted it. He then looked at Hou Junji and Zhang Liang and said calmly, "Duke Chen, Duke Xun, you will follow me to the palace to announce the decree."

"Yes!" Hou Junji and Zhang Liang immediately bowed.

Li Tai urged his horse slightly, and Chai Lingwu, Du Chuke and others followed closely behind. Li Tai and Zhang Liang brought their respective subordinates, with guards on both sides of Li Tai, one on the left and one on the right. Nearly four thousand people calmly headed towards the Suzaku Gate.

As they moved forward, everyone was in awe.

From time to time, Jinwu Guards came to patrol the streets, but they soon joined the ranks at Hou Junji's command.

When Chai Lingwu saw this scene, he immediately understood that these Jinwu Guards were actually Hou Junji's men.

He couldn't help but lower his head with a grim expression.

He really didn't expect that Li Tai would transfer Du Chuke back from Xiangzhou.

Moreover, when Du Chuke returned to Chang'an, he secretly sent 500 soldiers from Xiangzhou Prefecture back to Chang'an in batches and hid them in the Prince of Wei's mansion.

However, Chai Lingwu, as the Sima of King Wei, knew nothing about this.

Thinking of this, Chai Lingwu couldn't help but grit his teeth. He was the Sima of the King of Wei and thought he knew everything about the King of Wei's Palace. He didn't expect...

But actually this is nothing strange. Du Chuke was the former chief secretary of the King of Wei. Naturally, he knows more about the King of Wei's Palace than Chai Lingwu.

Although he said this, Chai Lingwu was still dissatisfied.

A group of people in the Prince of Wei's Palace today were trained by Li Tai before Chai Lingwu entered the Palace.

Although he now obeys Chai Lingwu's orders, he obeys Li Tai's orders more often.

What Chai Lingwu had in his hands were mostly people recruited from Luoyang and other places in the past two years, no more than one or two hundred people.

And there are those black-clad soldiers.

Although Chai Lingwu had felt the presence of these people before, this was the first time he had actually seen them.

Where do these people come from?

Before he could think about it, a group of nearly four thousand people had already arrived near the palace.

Looking at the Suzaku Gate in the distance, Li Tai suddenly raised his hand and the entire team stopped immediately.

Li Tai turned to look at Hou Junji and nodded slightly.

Hou Junji immediately bowed and waved to the side.

The next moment, Hu Yin, the Director of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and Jia Ping, the grim-looking General of the Left Gate Guard, each with a dozen men, followed Hou Junji and dozens of his guards and headed towards the Suzaku Gate.

Li Tai watched everything with a serious expression. Behind him stood a forest of swords and spears, a bow and a crossbow hung from his waist, and his warhorse neighed softly.

(End of this chapter)