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

Chapter 231: Witchcraft, Witchcraft (Part )
The moon hangs high in the sky and the palace is quiet.

More than a dozen torches moved back and forth on the city wall, illuminating the palace guards who were standing guard quietly on the wall.

Hou Junji, dressed in a purple official robe, rode to the Suzaku Gate with Hu Yin and Jia Ping, with more than 30 people behind them lined up in three rows.

They themselves are people of different backgrounds, wearing different clothes and armor. People who are familiar with them can even see their different origins at a glance.

Five feet away from the city gate, Hou Junji stopped his horse.

To the solemn soldiers on the palace wall, Hou Junji shouted, "Go and call the Left General of the Jinwu Guard and the Duke of Wuyang County. Your Majesty has sent an imperial edict. Ask them to come immediately to receive it."

As soon as Hou Junji finished speaking, Li Daliang had already poked his head out from the palace wall and said, "Duke Chen, it's so late. Why are you coming to the palace instead of staying at home and resting?"

"Your Majesty has an order!" Hou Junji looked to the side.

Hu Yin, the director of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, immediately took the imperial edict in his hand, rode forward alone, and arrived at the palace gate.

Hou Junji raised his head and said, "General, lower the hanging basket and check the imperial edict!"

Li Daliang's eyes raised. He didn't expect Hou Junji to dare to ask him to check the imperial edict.

Li Daliang slightly turned sideways, and in the shadows behind him, Li Chengqian nodded calmly.

Li Daliang then looked at the Lang Jiang standing beside him and nodded, "Put down the hanging basket!"

With a "creak", the mechanism twisted and the basket was lowered.

Hu Yin placed the imperial edict under the hanging basket without hesitation, and then slowly urged his horse to retreat.

Li Daliang raised his hand slightly and the hanging basket was immediately pulled up.

Soon, an imperial edict appeared in Li Da's hands.

Looking at the imperial edict in his hand, Li Daliang frowned and leaned forward, saying, "Duke Chen, has this imperial edict been opened?"

The imperial edict has a unique seal, which changes from time to time, and outsiders cannot imitate it at all.

Before, when Jia Ping was at Tonghua Gate, he also noticed the problem from the sealing mud at a glance. If he hadn't had something to hide, the city gate would never have been opened.

But that's not necessarily the case. The dozen or so guards at the left gate behind Jia Ping clearly seemed to have been bribed.

Hou Junji was naturally aware of this, so he did not make any more seals, but directly destroyed them.

……

Hou Junji raised his head, looked at Li Daliang and said, "This imperial edict was to be read to me, Prime Minister Fang, and you, the County Lord. I originally went to see Prime Minister Fang first, but he was out for something, so the angel could only read it to me. Now, I am giving it to you, which is in accordance with the rules."

The corners of Li Daliang's mouth twitched slightly. He knew in his heart that this imperial edict must be fake, otherwise it should have entered through Chunming Gate instead of Tonghua Gate.

Hou Junji knew that he could tell whether the ink pad was real or fake, so he destroyed the ink pad. However, he was not worried at all that Li Daliang could tell whether the contents of the imperial edict were real or fake, so he confidently and boldly sent the fake imperial edict to Li Daliang for him to see.

Hou Junji, you are worthy of being Hou Junji.

You are so skilled in using such deceptive tactics. If it's not you who should die, then who should?

In anger, Li Daliang opened the imperial edict, but after taking a look, Li Daliang suddenly closed it.

……

The word "witchcraft" was deeply imprinted in Li Daliang's mind, and he didn't even dare to look back.

Even though Li Daliang was a military general and came from an ordinary family, he knew that no one would be safe if the word witchcraft was involved.

Hou Junji looked at Li Daliang's hesitant expression and sneered slightly.

Even he had to admire the King of Wei's thinking. Once "witchcraft" came out, it was invincible.

Especially when combined with the imperial edict, its power is extremely strong.

It doesn't matter if Fang Xuanling is not here. With this imperial edict, he is enough to make Li Daliang open the city gate.

"I've even checked it. General, open the door." Hou Junji urged his horse forward.

Li Daliang hesitated for a moment. At this moment, a very soft voice sounded: "Open the door."

"Open the door!" Li Daliang suddenly shouted.

The next moment, the Suzaku Gate creaked open.

A gap in the palace gate that was only wide enough for one person to enter and exit appeared in front of Hou Junji.

The deep silence, dark and cold palace road vaguely appeared in front of Hou Junji.

Hou Junji subconsciously urged his horse to go forward, but suddenly, he felt an inexplicable chill.

His heartbeat also started beating violently at this moment.

He suddenly pulled the reins, and then, without any hesitation, before anyone could react, Hou Junji immediately turned around and left, and in the blink of an eye he was within an arrow's reach of the palace wall.

At this time, he looked up at the city wall with a pale face and said through gritted teeth: "Li Daliang, what are you doing?"

Li Daliang looked at Hou Junji with a bewildered expression and said, "I opened the door to let you in. What's wrong?"

"What's wrong? The palace is full of traps. You let me in, are you trying to kill me?" Hou Junji suddenly drew the long sword from his waist, pointed at Li Daliang and roared, "There are so many people ambushing in the palace. I'm not blind, I can see it."

Hearing Hou Junji say this, Hu Yin and Jia Ping were suddenly startled, and then they immediately turned around and ran away without any hesitation. The others did the same, and ran towards Hou Junji madly.

Li Daliang watched this scene, and the bewilderment on his face gradually disappeared. He looked at Hou Junji calmly and said, "Duke Chen, aren't you going to deliver an imperial decree? Why don't you come in? You can deliver the decree if you come in!"

Hou Junji's face turned cold. He looked inside the Suzaku Gate, his pupils constricted, as if there were countless ambushes, traps, mountains of swords and seas of fire inside the gate.

Taking a deep breath, Hou Junji looked up at Li Daliang and said, "Li Daliang, you are indeed very smart, but how could you forget the principle of not entering the forest... It's too quiet in there." Too quiet.

Hou Junji explained in one sentence why he noticed something unusual.

If it's too quiet, it means it's full of ambushes and traps.

Hou Junji only has thirty people. If he really dares to go in, he will probably be captured immediately.

Li Daliang sighed softly and said, "Duke Chen, you are here to deliver an imperial decree. You must enter the palace to deliver the decree. How can you deliver the decree if you don't enter the palace?

Even if there are mountains of corpses and seas of blood ahead, you should still announce the order. Come in, I will not do anything to you. After the order is announced, we can act according to the imperial edict. Come on, come in!"

Hou Junji's face darkened. He looked up at Li Daliang, finally sneered, and said, "The Crown Prince is at the palace gate, right? Please come forward and talk to him. Stop being so mysterious!"

The city wall suddenly became quiet.

With a creak, the city gate closed again at this moment.

Li Chengqian walked forward slowly, looking past Hou Junji and behind him, and said lightly: "Qingque, now that you are here, don't hide."

Hou Junji's expression changed slightly, and then his face immediately darkened.

He had just tried to enter the palace, kidnap Li Daliang, and then control the Suzaku Gate, but the palace was full of ambushes. Now the prince really appeared on the city gate and revealed the whereabouts of the King of Wei in one sentence, which meant that the prince had already known about their today's events in advance.

"Da da da" the crisp sound of horse hooves rang out.

Li Tai, dressed in black and golden armor, accompanied by Zhang Liang, Chai Lingwu, and a dozen guards, came to Hou Junji's side, and then calmly said to Li Chengqian on the top of the city wall: "Royal brother."

Li Chengqian looked past Li Tai and looked at the countless shadowy figures in the darkness farther away. He couldn't help but shook his head. Even now, Li Tai was still acting.

"Qingque!" Li Chengqian looked at Li Tai with a complicated expression and said, "Qingque, your second son is only three days old. Go home. I...I can pretend that nothing happened tonight."

Li Tai looked at Li Chengqian indifferently and said, "Royal brother, you made a mistake. How can I pretend that nothing happened?"

Fang Xuanling, Li Jing, Yu Zhining, Chu Suiliang, Ma Zhou and others were all standing at the back, and they all couldn't help but sigh inwardly. The prince had clearly given the King of Wei one last chance, so why didn't he seize it and leave?

Li Tai raised his head, looked at Li Daliang and said, "Duke of Wuyang County, the emperor's edict is in your hands. Please read it out."

Li Daliang shook his head and looked at Li Tai, who was surrounded by Hou Junji, Zhang Liang and others, and said firmly: "This imperial edict is fake."

"The imperial edict is not false just because you say it's false. Only when my father says it's not true, then it's not true." Li Tai looked past Li Daliang and behind him, then said loudly, "I know many people are here. Since the Duke of Wuyang is unwilling to read the imperial edict, then I will say it myself."

Li Chengqian looked at Li Tai. He just watched calmly without saying anything and without stopping him.

Li Tai was also looking at Li Chengqian. The two brothers stared at each other from a distance. Li Tai bowed towards Dingzhou and then slowly said, "In the seventeenth year of Zhenguan, on the 10th day of the first month of the 3rd month, the 10th day of the first month, the Emperor said:
Yu Xi!

Those who are kind and virtuous will inherit teachings and be guided to develop good nature, and will become successful.

The Crown Prince Cheng Qian behaved in a perverse manner, making mistakes day and night. He fell into deep sins and was eventually executed and exiled.

I thought of the kinship between flesh and blood and the kindness between father and son, and showed leniency and pardon, but his perverse heart remained unabated, his madness remained uncured, and he even practiced witchcraft deep in the palace.

Confused and fickle, becoming increasingly vicious.

Now, the Jinzi Guanglu Doctor, the Minister of Personnel, the Inspector of Yongzhou Chief Clerk, the Duke of Chen, Hou Junji, is appointed as the Vice-Minister of State Affairs and is granted the power to make decisions on the spot. Together with the Minister of Works Fang Xuanling and the General of the Left Guard Li Daliang, they will investigate the Eastern Palace and confine the Crown Prince to a separate room. They are not allowed to interfere, but if anyone obstructs them, they can be executed first and reported to the emperor later.

Admire this! "

Witchcraft, witchcraft.

The Crown Prince actually practiced witchcraft in the East Palace, and the people on the city wall couldn't help but be slightly shocked.

Li Tai stared at Li Daliang and shouted, "Duke Wuyang, am I right in reciting this? Is this the original text of my father's imperial edict?"

Li Daliang's expression couldn't help but change slightly.

"March 10th!" Li Chengqian stood behind the parapet, looking at Li Tai, who was just an arrow's reach away, and said calmly again: "March 10th!"

"What?" Li Tai frowned when he heard Li Chengqian's voice and asked, "Brother Emperor, what are you talking about?"

Li Chengqian sighed softly and said, "Qingque, the imperial edict was sent from Hebei on the tenth day of March, but on the first day of March, Duke Chen had already begun mobilizing thousands of soldiers to lie in wait outside Tonghua Gate. Afterwards, Duke Xun began secretly transferring hidden crossbows from the Ministry of Works. All of this happened before the imperial edict was issued."

Everyone on and off the city wall fell silent and looked at Li Chengqian calmly.

Li Chengqian sighed softly and shook his head, saying, "Qingque, your imperial edict should have been written on the first day of March. On the first day of March, the emperor issued an edict ordering you to secretly mobilize your assassination squads and prepare military equipment. This would explain all your actions of rebellion. March 10th is really not an option."

Li Tai's face suddenly darkened.

"Oh, how could I have forgotten? Even on the first day of March, it's not possible. On the first day of March, the emperor is still in Chang'an. If the emperor knew that I was practicing witchcraft, he would not leave Chang'an, and he would not arrange for you to secretly mobilize the death squads with the intention of treason." Li Chengqian kept saying "death squads" and "treason", which made Li Tai's heart beat faster.

Li Chengqian raised his head, gazing at the darkness behind Li Tai, and whispered, "Qingque, you only have until the tenth day of the third lunar month, because on that day, the Emperor will have already left Luoyang and headed north to Dingzhou. Only then, if he hears of any witchcraft, will he send someone back to Luoyang to deliver his decree... A day earlier or a day later won't do, because then the Emperor will rush back in person."

Li Chengqian suddenly slapped his forehead and said in a state of sudden realization, "No, you won't let Father know about the witchcraft. Because if you told Father, then even if it wasn't Father, then my uncle would be the first one to rush back. With such a major matter involving so many people, why would Father send a mere eunuch like Sheng Dian Gong to deliver the order? Are all the prime ministers in the court dead?"

Li Chengqian let out a final angry roar, and the entire Suzaku Gate fell silent.

At this moment, everyone understood that the imperial edict issued by Li Tai was absolutely fake.

There is no doubt that Li Tai definitely forged the imperial edict.

Li Chengqian raised his head and looked at Li Tai, and continued, "Qingque, I also have an imperial edict here. It was a secret edict that my father personally handed to me in the Wude Hall on the first day of March when he was about to leave Chang'an. Would you like to listen to it?"

Li Tai looked at Li Chengqian and suddenly shuddered, an expression of extreme fear suddenly appeared on his face.

On the first day of March, the emperor, father, issued a secret decree.

Could it be that on the first day of March, before he left, my father already knew that he was planning to depose the Crown Prince?

(End of this chapter)