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

Chapter 237 Wuji, it’s time to find a Jin princess for Zhinu (Part )

Outside the East Palace, Li Chengqian, dressed in a black python robe, looked across at Fang Xuanling, Yu Zhining, Li Jing, Li Daliang, Chu Suiliang, Ma Zhou, and the others. He said with a serious expression, "Our father is about to launch an eastern expedition against Goguryeo. Chang'an cannot afford to be in turmoil. If news of Qingque, Duke Chen, Duke Xun, and Du Chuke plotting rebellion gets out, it will undoubtedly shake the morale of the troops on the front lines."

Fang Xuanling blinked and couldn't help but look at Li Tai.

He began to understand that it was precisely because of these things that the King of Wei went crazy.

The King of Wei must be crazy. Only when he is crazy will everything he says become nonsense.

"Your Highness is planning for the country, and I admire you very much." Fang Xuanling bowed earnestly to Li Chengqian, and his eyes became brighter.

Once he began to accept the idea that the King of Wei was crazy, everything became clear to him.

Yes, the King of Wei is crazy.

The King of Wei was crazy, so there was no treason or witchcraft. Not only could the morale of the troops on the front line and the hearts of the people across the world be stabilized, it was also of great benefit to the emperor.

The Xuanwu Gate Incident has always been an obstacle in the emperor's mind. Now, if Li Tai practices witchcraft for the position of crown prince and then plots treason and his deeds are recorded in history books, how will future generations view him, Li Shimin?

Only the King of Wei was crazy, so the emperor was right, the prince was right, and all of them were right.

The only thing is that Hou Junji got a bargain. He's just a dead man, so it doesn't matter.

As for Zhang Liang, even if it wasn't considered witchcraft and treason, Fang Xuanling had ten thousand ways to deal with Zhang Liang.

The wise men among the ministers quickly reacted and bowed to Li Chengqian, saying, "Your Highness is making plans for the country, and we admire you deeply."

Even those who didn't react followed suit and bowed.

Li Chengqian breathed a sigh of relief when he saw everyone accept it. He looked at Fang Xuanling and said, "Prime Minister Fang, the King of Wei has gone mad. What do you think we should do with him now?"

After all, Li Tai had committed a serious crime, so it was naturally impossible to let him return to the Prince of Wei's Palace. It was inevitable that they had to find a place to imprison him.

"If Your Majesty were here, he could be imprisoned in the inner palace. Now that Your Majesty is not here..." Fang Xuanling hesitated for a moment, then bowed to Li Chengqian and said, "Your Highness, how about imprisoning him in the Zongzheng Temple? We can assign someone to guard him at all times."

"That's it. Zongzheng Temple already has a place where members of the royal family who have committed crimes are imprisoned. It's a good place to put Qingque now." Li Chengqian nodded, then said solemnly, "As for the Prince of Wei's Mansion, send people to surround it, just like the Duke of Chen's Mansion. No one is allowed to enter at will, and no one is allowed to disturb the women in the mansion. The Minister of the Household will arrange for people to deliver food and drink every day."

"I understand, Your Highness!" Fang Xuanling looked up and said, "Your Highness, the rebellion of the King of Wei, the Duke of Chen, and the Duke of Xun involves more than just the current events. In Chang'an, countless people are waiting for their support. Outside Chang'an, in Longxi, Yongzhou, and other counties, as well as in Luoyang, Henan, and other places, they all have their followers waiting to cooperate. These people must be singled out and investigated, otherwise chaos will ensue."

Li Chengqian thought for a moment and said, "Send the Qianniu Guards to the study of Prince Wei's mansion to check. Qingque's contact list should be on it. Cousin, you should come too."

Chai Lingwu immediately stood up and said, "Yes!"

"The same goes for Duke Chen's mansion. Search their study and the Yongzhou official residence, but don't disturb their families." After a brief pause, Li Chengqian sneered, "As for Zhang Liang and Du Chuke, the Ministry of Justice, the Dali Temple, and the Qianniu Guards will handle them. Use whatever means you have."

"Here!" Everyone raised their hands in unison.

"There is also the matter of Yongzhou Prefecture. Duke Chen is dead, and I don't know how many officials of Yongzhou Prefecture are involved in the case. The matter of Yongzhou Prefecture cannot be delayed too much before the imperial edict from my father arrives." Li Chengqian frowned suddenly.

"Let the Prime Minister handle it." Fang Xuanling looked at Yu Zhining and said, "Your Majesty's imperial edict states that Prime Minister Yu should decide all matters in Chang'an. I think Prime Minister Yu is just the right person to be the Chief Clerk of Yongzhou, or the Minister of Personnel?"

"Minister Fang will take charge temporarily," Li Chengqian responded directly, adding, "The Ministry of Works' affairs cannot be delayed either. What should we do?"

The emperor is actively planning his eastern tour, and the Ministry of Works' military equipment is also a top priority.

"How about appointing Yan Liben as the Inspector General of Works?" Fang Xuanling bowed and said, "Then appoint Yang Wulian as the Supervisor of Works!"

"Okay!" Li Chengqian nodded directly and breathed a sigh of relief. He continued, "The rest of tonight's affairs will all be handled by Prime Minister Fang. I will stay in the East Palace. If you have any questions, you can come to the East Palace to find me. As for Prime Minister Fang..."

"Your Highness!" Fang Xuanling bowed and said, "Since Your Highness has entrusted the matter to me, then in my opinion, all matters in the palace have been properly handled. In that case, please close the East Palace and the Vermillion Bird Gate."

After a brief pause, Fang Xuanling continued, "As long as the Vermillion Bird Gate is closed and the Imperial Palace returns to normal, everything will be back to normal in Chang'an."

The imperial palace is the heart of the Tang Dynasty.

With the Suzaku Gate closed and the imperial palace's guards gathered again, everyone's attention would naturally turn from the palace to the outside.

If the palace is stable and Chang'an is stable, the world will naturally be stable.

Li Chengqian nodded thoughtfully, then bowed and said, "What Minister Fang said makes sense. I have learned my lesson. So, let's do as Minister Fang says. The ministers of the Eastern Palace should also leave the palace. I'm thinking about how to write a memorial to the emperor today. If Minister Fang has finished writing it, we can send it to Hebei together and present it to the emperor."

"Yes!" Fang Xuanling bowed and accepted the order.

……

The Chongde Gate closed behind him. Li Chengqian nodded to Lai Heng, the Prince's chief night watchman, and then walked towards the Chongde Hall.

As he walked, Li Chengqian could feel that the entire Eastern Palace and the entire Chang'an City were gradually becoming quiet.

Fang Xuanling was right. The Imperial Palace was the heart of Chang'an. He finally understood the true significance of the Emperor's eastern tour and his role as regent.

Taking a deep breath, Li Chengqian stepped into Chongde Gate.

Turning sideways, Li Chengqian instructed, "All of you go down and rest. Also, tell the Crown Princess that everything is over. I will see her tomorrow after my morning court session. I will rest in Chongde Hall today."

"Yes!" Eunuch Xu An immediately bowed and left with everyone.

Li Chengqian closed the palace door and walked into the inner hall.

He went out, blew out the candles in the inner hall, then went to sit on the bed.

At this time, Li Chengqian raised his head and looked behind the curtains in the hall, and said, "Is everything arranged?"

"Yes!" Li Anyan emerged from behind the curtains and said with a bow, "I have crossed out a few names from the list of the Prince of Wei's Palace. In addition, I have filled in a few names that are not on the list. They have been causing trouble for the Eastern Palace over the years and have always been in contact with the Prince of Wei, but they are not on the list."

"This means Qingque is just using them." Li Chengqian waved his hand and said, "None of this is important. The key is Quan Wanji."

"I have a letter in it." Li Anyan bowed seriously and said, "Your Highness, do you want to protect the Prince of Qi?"

Li Chengqian nodded and said, "I need a brother who can stay in Chang'an at all times, pose no threat to the throne, and at the same time be willing to fight for me."

"Yes!" Li Anyan immediately understood who Li Chengqian was guarding against!
"Alright, you should go back too. Once you've done what you need to do, don't show up again." Li Chengqian sighed softly and said, "Prime Minister Fang is not that easy to deal with."

"Yes!" Li Anyan bowed, then went back to the curtain. Then he opened the window, and the wind blew, and he disappeared.

Li Chengqian let out a long sigh of relief, then smiled softly.

Li Tai, the biggest threat to him is gone.

Tomorrow, through Fang Xuanling's hands, the forces that have been targeting the Eastern Palace in recent years will suffer a severe blow.

Even if his father supported Li Ke and Li Zhi in the future, it would take four or five years for them to achieve anything.

And by that time, he was strong enough.

He and they joined forces, which was enough to threaten their father.

In the darkness, Li Chengqian's eyes were terrifyingly bright.

……

As the sky brightened, the Chunming Gate was already wide open.

A group of cavalry rushed madly towards Hebei.

Crossing Tongguan and Hanguguan, heading straight from Luoyang to Tongguan, and finally crossing Jizhou and Dingzhou, heading straight to Youzhou.

The main hall of Youzhou Palace.

Changsun Wuji bowed and said, "Your Majesty, I do not understand. Qizhou has only a few men and can be taken without a military operation. Why did Your Majesty send Liu Dewei and Li Ji to mobilize 20,000 soldiers from Huai, Luo, Bian, Song, Lu, Hua, Ji, Yun, and Haizhou to attack it?"

"I'm merely trying to mobilize the forces of the various states," Li Shimin said, looking up. "That way, in the autumn, once the imperial decree is issued, we can immediately raise an army of tens of thousands to attack Liaodong, and avoid such a chaotic situation."

"Yes!" Zhang Sun Wuji nodded. Qi Wang Li You's rebellion was just a play, not worthy of their attention. If it weren't for the Chang'an...

"Your Majesty!" Cen Wenben hurried in from outside the palace, presented several memorials, and said at the same time: "Chang'an is urgent."

"It seems the situation in Chang'an has been settled." Li Shimin said as he opened the memorials and read them one by one. Finally, he closed the memorials and looked at Zhangsun Wuji. He said, "Hou Junji committed suicide, Zhang Liang was imprisoned, and Qingque went crazy!"

"Crazy?" Changsun Wuji widened his eyes in disbelief.

"Hmm!" The emperor nodded and said, "Cheng Qian took advantage of the situation and proposed to use Qingque's madness as an excuse to completely suppress the whole thing. There was no rebellion, no transfer, and even Hou Junji was seriously injured and died because of Qingque's madness... It's a good idea."

"The prince's methods are excellent!" Changsun Wuji has figured out the key.

Li Shimin nodded and said, "In this way, I can also hand over Chang'an City to him."

Zhang Sun Wuji immediately understood what Li Shimin meant and asked in surprise, "Your Majesty, are you not going back to Chang'an?"

"No rush, I'll wait and see in Hebei." Li Shimin looked up and said, "By the way, let's find a good marriage for Zhinu. Wuji, it's time to find a suitable Princess Jin for Zhinu."

Zhang Sun Wuji bowed in surprise: "Yes!"

(End of this chapter)