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

Chapter 282: The Stronger the Crown Prince, the More Suspicious His Father Becomes of Him (Part )
Li Chengqian raised his head, looked at Liu Dewei and Sun Fujia, and said, "The Ministry of Justice and the Dali Temple will fully cooperate."

"Yes!" Liu Dewei and Sun Fujia immediately bowed.

Li Chengqian looked at Yu Zhining, Zheng Rentai, and Tian Renhui and said, "Yongzhou Prefecture and the Jinwu Guards will also fully cooperate."

"Yes!" Yu Zhining, Zheng Rentai and Tian Renhui all bowed.

Li Chengqian looked up at the ministers and said, "My lords, this matter is of grave importance. Once it spreads, the entire Chang'an, the entire Yongzhou, and even the entire world will be in turmoil. Therefore, after you return to your official residences, please warn your subordinates that no one is allowed to discuss this matter privately."

"Yes!" All the ministers bowed.

Li Chengqian raised his head and said, "Regardless of the results of the investigation, I will send someone to report everything to the Emperor within three days. I hope that everything can be thoroughly investigated before then."

"Yes!" The expressions of the ministers suddenly became solemn.

"Go ahead." Li Chengqian waved his hand and the ministers bowed and took their leave.

……

A moment later, Gao Shilian returned to the Wude Hall alone.

"Your Highness!" Gao Shilian bowed earnestly to Li Chengqian.

"Uncle, please sit down." Li Chengqian waved his hand and looked to the left.

"Thank you, Your Highness!" Gao Shilian walked over and knelt down. He then looked at Li Chengqian and asked, "Your Highness, who do you think is responsible for this?"

"I don't know either." Li Chengqian shook his head solemnly. He accused Fang Xuanling of treason. This matter was not just a problem of Fang Xuanling's party. The person who manipulated and instigated Li Yu behind the scenes was definitely not an ordinary person.

It’s hard to say when a violent political storm will break out.

"Fang Xuanling did have some unspeakable things, but no one would believe that he was plotting treason." Gao Shilian shook his head calmly.

Fang Xuanling has followed the emperor for many years, but he is not just a prime minister who gives advice. He even has a group of secret people to deal with some inconvenient matters.

All these emperors were aware of this.

What's more, all the inconvenient things that Fang Xuanling had to deal with were instructed by the emperor intentionally or unintentionally.

"I understand this clearly." Li Chengqian sighed softly and said, "But no matter what the person behind this is trying to do, he wants to disrupt the current political situation and even secretly help Goguryeo. That's why I hope this matter can be resolved as soon as possible."

"So Your Highness asked Li Yu to follow Fang Xuanling?" Gao Shilian looked at Li Chengqian with some curiosity. He didn't understand what Li Chengqian's intention was in arranging Li Yu to follow Fang Xuanling all the time.

Li Chengqian chuckled softly, then said, "Uncle, many people don't understand the Prime Minister well enough to accuse him of treason, especially one who stayed in Chang'an... So, Uncle, please send the matters concerning you these days to Prime Minister Fang and let him handle them."

Gao Shilian understood somewhat what Li Chengqian was going to do, but he still asked with some confusion: "Is this feasible?"

"Let's give it a try." Li Chengqian sighed and said, "I plan to send a letter to Liaodong in three days. I'll travel slowly, using a 300-li express. If Li Yu repents and confesses his mistake, I'll send another memorial over at a 600-li express... That way, I can explain the matter to my father."

The emperor, no matter whether Fang Xuanling was plotting treason or someone else accused Fang Xuanling of treason, all matters would eventually fall into the emperor's hands.

Li Chengqian didn't want the emperor to deal with this matter.

Because if the emperor were to deal with it, the final result of this matter would only be one, that is, Li Yu would be executed directly, and the emperor would not even ask any more questions.

Instead, they would blame Li Chengqian for not handling the matter properly.

This is a difficult problem in itself. If Li Chengqian handles it decisively and harshly, the emperor will suspect that Li Chengqian has exceeded his authority. If Li Chengqian does not deal with it, it will be useless.

Therefore, Li Chengqian had to deliver the truly processed memorial to the emperor before the previous one arrived before the emperor.

Of course, if he could really handle it well, not only would he be praised in front of the emperor, but even the civil and military officials in the court would respect him even more.

So, that's a good thing.

……

The sun sets, but the snow continues to fall.

Li Chengqian returned to the Eastern Palace and went directly into the Chongjiao Hall.

"Your Highness!" Xu An stood up and bowed.

"How's the investigation going?" Li Chengqian looked outside the hall.

"The housekeeper of the Nan family in Fuyang County left Chang'an for Jiannan three days ago and will not be back in the short term." Xu An bowed slightly.

"So, it's really Wei Ting's work." Li Chengqian sneered lightly.

Many people in the court knew about Fang Xuanling's affairs, but only Fang Yiai was involved in treason.

However, the only people who knew so much about Fang Yiai's affairs and were able to sue Fang Xuanling for treason were those related to Li Tai.

In Li Tai's incident, the only one who escaped from it was Wei Ting.

The former Imperial Censor and Chief Clerk of Prince Jin, Wei Ting.

Li Chengqian looked up and said, "Send someone to Jiannan to find this man, get everything out of him, and then kill him."

"Kill him?" Xu An was a little puzzled, but then he bowed and said, "Yes!"

Li Chengqian smiled calmly, then said with certainty, "Kill him."

"Yes!" Xu An bowed again.

Li Chengqian looked up and said, "Keep an eye on the Prince of Jin's mansion and find their hidden personnel... Zhinu must have a group of unknown personnel under his command. They are not many, but they are very elite. Find them and keep an eye on them."

If one day... just kill them all. Although Li Chengqian didn't say this, Xu An understood it completely.

"I'll take my leave." Xu An immediately bowed.

Li Chengqian sat alone in the Chongjiao Hall, looking outside the hall and sneering softly.

Regarding the case of Fang Xuanling's treason, the officials in the court are probably most busy guessing who is behind this incident and falsely accusing Fang Xuanling of treason.

Whether it was the prime ministers, the six ministers, or the local families, many people would look at Zhangsun Wuji with suspicion in the end.

Because in today's court, the only person who can compare with Fang Xuanling in terms of strength, status, and importance in the emperor's heart is Changsun Wuji.

Even compared to Gao Shilian, he is far inferior.

Even Changsun Wuji's strength is stronger than Fang Xuanling.

But this also makes it clear that we are clearing up hidden dangers.

I'm afraid that even the emperor, after hearing this news, the first person he would suspect would be Changsun Wuji.

Of course, some people will doubt Li Chengqian.

However, Li Chengqian had no conflicts with Fang Xuanling during this period, which should be able to dispel some doubts.

Li Chengqian lowered his head slightly. To be honest, he himself was not sure whether the method he used was effective.

But even if the matter could not be clarified, the emperor would at most be dissatisfied and suspicious of him, but he would not believe that he had sent the person.

Therefore, the emperor will send people to investigate this matter with all his strength.

The more he couldn't find out, the more he felt that the person behind the scenes was powerful.

The best thing for Li Chengqian would be to create a powerful enemy for the emperor that he could never find out.

In particular, the real root behind this incident was Li Zhi.

Li Zhi, the emperor's most "powerful" enemy.

Thinking of this, Li Chengqian's face was full of smiles.

……

Prince Jin's Mansion, study room.

Li Zhi sat in his study, calmly copying the "Preface to the Lanting Collection".

Light footsteps were heard outside the study, and then the door was opened and then closed.

Ji Jiafu stood in front of Li Zhi's expression, and then told him what happened in a low voice.

"My Royal Brother, you want Li Yu to follow Prime Minister Fang at all times?" Li Zhi frowned and asked, "What does my Royal Brother want? Does he think this will clear Prime Minister Fang of suspicion?"

"Your Highness, I believe the prince must have some plans." Ji Jiafu bowed, his face worried.

"Hmm!" Li Zhi nodded slightly, then shook his head and said, "Now that things have come to this, tell the Chief Secretary not to take any further action. Even if things fail completely, don't do anything that will draw suspicion onto yourself."

"Yes!" Ji Jiafu bowed again.

Li Zhi breathed a sigh of relief and said with a smile, "Relax a little. It's not that easy to resolve this matter, let alone trace it back to us."

"Yes!" Ji Jiafu nodded with a smile.

"The family of the Chief Secretary has already left Chang'an. Even if we investigate, we can only find out that he is Tian Renhui. He has nothing to do with us." Li Zhi raised his head with a smile on his face.

Even he had to admit that Wei Ting's plan this time was very ingenious.

He first investigated Tian Renhui, and then used the poor relatives around him to find a guy who had divorced his wife, broke up with his parents, failed the imperial examinations several times, and finally fell into gambling and lost almost everything. Through obscure means, he made him hear some things he shouldn't hear, and finally lured him to the palace to recommend Fang Xuanling.

There were people from the casino chasing him from behind, and someone in front said they would report it in advance. With no other choice, Li Yu could only report Fang Xuanling for treason.

Of course, even if Li Yu told where he got the information, it would not have any results in the end.

Because the person Wei Ting was looking for was already dead.

The only purpose of that person was to leave a message leading to Tian Renhui.

As for Tian Renhui, Li Zhi didn't think he could be of much use to him.

This person is already on the emperor's gray list, and his future will be uncertain. If Li Zhi really gets involved with him, it will only be harmful to Li Zhi, so the best role of this person now is to be a scapegoat.

Li Zhi took a deep breath and looked forward.

As long as the truth of Fang Xuanling's case cannot be uncovered and the government and the country are in turmoil, it will be the prince's fault.

The emperor might even suspect that the prince had reported Fang Xuanling behind the scenes, and then try to deprive Fang Xuanling of his right to assist in the administration, and then take sole control of Chang'an.

The prince is in sole control of Chang'an, and the next step is to control Luoyang and Hebei.

If this is the case, the emperor can still successfully return to Chang'an.

Li Zhi smiled. He didn't have much, but it was enough to make his father suspicious of the prince again.

In that case, the stronger the prince becomes, the more suspicious his father will be of him.

(End of this chapter)