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

Chapter 283: Hundred Cavalry Secret Execution, Suicide by Hanging (Part )
Three days passed in the blink of an eye.

The whole city of Chang'an was covered in white.

The snow is still falling, but it is much lighter than in the past few days.

It is visible to the naked eye that the snow will stop either today or tomorrow.

……

In the twilight, the carriage swayed slowly towards the outside of the palace.

At this time, Chang'an City has been under curfew for a long time.

But Fang Xuanling, who had been busy all day, as the prime minister of the dynasty, had enough power to ignore the curfew.

But even so, he was still leaning against the wall of the car, drowsy.

Li Yu sat in the corner on the other side of the carriage, looking at the white-haired old man opposite him, his expression so complicated that it was hard to imagine.

Fang Xuanling calculated his age and found that he was actually sixty-six years old, or even sixty-seven after the new year. However, even so, the heavy workload of government affairs kept him busy until the hour of Hai before he could return home from the palace.
After the hour of Hai comes the hour of Zi, and this is the result of the heavy snow and the delay of official business.

But even so, during the heavy snow, a large number of houses still collapsed and the documents about civilians being buried were sent to the Government Affairs Hall.

Fang Xuanling has been dealing with these matters these days.

Li Yu followed Fang Xuanling every day. It was not known whether it was because of the prince's order or for other reasons, but Fang Xuanling never avoided him when handling any official documents. He would let him take a look at all the documents, and sometimes they would even have a few words with him.

If one had heard of this, one would have thought it was just pretense. However, when Li Yu experienced it firsthand, he could feel Fang Xuanling's sincerity.

Even when he accused him of treason, apart from being a little surprised at first, he remained calm.

Even after a few days, the Secretariat returned to calm.

Of course, even if it was just on the surface, Li Yu felt uneasy inside.

He also has his own trump card in his hand.

But for some reason, Li Yu had a feeling that Fang Xuanling didn't care at all.

He looked out the window and saw the snowy road ahead rubbed by countless wheels.

The ruts stretched forward.

At Duke Liang's Mansion, the carriage suddenly stopped.

Fang Xuanling seemed to have just woken up from his sleep. He shook his head, glanced at Li Yu, and wanted to say something, but it seemed that he no longer had the energy to speak.

Li Yu followed Fang Xuanling out of the carriage and headed towards the depths of Duke Liang's Mansion.

The courtyard was quiet, but Li Yu could feel many eyes looking at him from all corners, finally falling on him with complicated expressions.

Li Yu quickened his pace and followed Fang Xuanling into the central hall of the backyard.

Fang Xuanling ignored Li Yu and walked to the basin rack.

The old servant in the house had already prepared warm water. Fang Xuanling washed his face and then breathed a sigh of relief.

After walking to the dining table, Fang Xuanling knelt down and sat down. Vegetable porridge and some side dishes were already placed in front of him.

Very simple meal.

The same thing happened in front of Li Yu, but his quantity was larger.

Not only were the meals simple, but even Fang Xuanling was surrounded by mostly old servants.

This is quite different from what Li Yu has seen in other wealthy families. Other wealthy families would rather have young and beautiful maids.

Naturally, there were also young and beautiful maids in the Fang Mansion, but these people were all around Fang Dalang, Fang Erlang and Fang Sanlang, and there were not many of them.

It has been three days since Li Yu entered the Fang family. Everyone in the Fang family went from being hostile and wary of him at the beginning to gradually becoming indifferent to him.

In three days, Li Yu had a good understanding of everyone in the Fang family. Fang Dalang was steady and generous, Fang Sanlang was young and energetic, and Fang Silang was still young.

As for Fang Erlang, Li Yu's mind calmed down. He couldn't help but glance at Fang Xuanling who was sitting calmly and finishing his dinner.

Everything was fine with the Fang family, but Fang Er ruined everything.

……

After dinner, Fang Xuanling walked towards the study.

Li Yu did not dare to hesitate and hurried to follow.

Although the Fang family has adapted to his presence in the past few days, there are still a few old men who always grit their teeth when they see him and can't wait to beat him up.

You won’t die, but being beaten up is not a good look.

Entering the study, Fang Xuanling began to deal with affairs again.

Soon, a secret letter was written.

After looking at Li Yu, Fang Xuanling handed over the secret letter in his hand.

Li Yu hesitated a little, but still took it.

Fang Xuanling was already dealing with the second matter.

Li Yu read the letter with a grim expression. It was about a wealthy family in a county in Jiannan Road who stole the people's land. Because of their cruel methods, the victims' bodies were not even found. Even many people in the government were bribed by them. They also had connections with the barbarians in the mountains.

The Dali Temple sent people to investigate several times, but found nothing.

Fang Xuanling's reply was very simple. He ordered the Hundred Cavalry Division to conduct a secret investigation and make a secret decision after confirming that there was no mistake.

Li Yu has seen many similar things in recent days.

Especially these matters, the Hundred Cavalry Division will report to the emperor later.

When the emperor went on an expedition to the east, Fang Xuanling stayed behind and was responsible for handling many matters of the Hundred Cavalry Division.

The Hundred Cavalry Division deals with secret and obscure matters.

Similar secret killings are not uncommon.

Everything within the Tang Dynasty was fine, but what really shocked Li Yu was the treatment of ethnic groups outside the country.

Fang Xuanling even instructed border troops to massacre some foreign tribes that offended the Tang Dynasty's borders.

Such things will also be reported to the emperor.

This made Li Yu wonder, would the emperor really deal with his impeachment of Fang Xuanling?
The prince will send the memorial to Liaodong tomorrow. What happens next?

The emperor's trust in Fang Xuanling was clearly visible. If the emperor did not trust him, it would be Li Yu who would be killed.

At this moment, Li Yu couldn't help but recall what Li Chengqian had said to him.

As long as he was willing to withdraw his complaint, Li Chengqian guaranteed that no one would hold him accountable in the future.

Thinking of the way Li Chengqian spoke that day, Li Yu felt a little more at ease.

But do you really need to do that?
Does he really have no chance anymore?
Fang Yiai's figure appeared in Li Yu's mind again.

That night, Li Yu tossed and turned.

……

The sky was bright and Li Yu opened his eyes on the bed.

Fang Xuanling on the bed opposite had already sat up.

Fang Xuanling didn't say much, he just got up, washed, and prepared to enter the palace. Li Yu looked at Fang Xuanling and sighed in his heart.

He did not see any signs of rebellion in Fang Xuanling, not even the slightest intention of rebelling against the emperor.

This is a diligent and hardworking old minister.

He was not like other nobles who had a beautiful young virgin to warm his bed when he went to bed at night.

But such a person is involved in countless things both internally and externally.

Li Yu has clearly seen how powerful his influence is in the past few days.

If he stopped, would Fang Xuanling really let him go?
Will those people related to him really not take action against him in secret?
Li Yu was still hesitant.

After breakfast, Li Yu followed Fang Xuanling into the palace.

Today the Crown Prince will send a memorial to Liaodong.

All the officials stood at the Changle Gate, ready to enter the palace to see the prince.

When they saw Fang Xuanling, all the officials bowed in greeting. When they saw Li Yu, many of them had undisguised disgust in their eyes.

Fang Xuanling stood to the upper left of the ministers, and no one knew what he was thinking.

Li Yu was also silent among all the officials.

Just as everyone was waiting to make the final conclusion of today's events, a burst of hurried horse hooves sounded from behind.

The ministers turned around in surprise, and then saw a Qianniu Guard in red and golden armor quickly run to Fang Xuanling's side, then jumped off his horse and said with a bow, "Prime Minister Fang, something has happened. Yang Hu, the head of Dayefang, and Zheng Han, a military officer of the Left Jinwu Guard, have both hanged themselves."

Fang Xuanling was slightly stunned, then looked at Li Yu in surprise.

The ministers also looked at Li Yu in surprise.

Li Yu's face looked very ugly.

Because his home is in Dayefang.

……

At the Tongxun Gate, Li Chengqian sat on a sedan chair, looking at Zhang Xuan, the left thousand-cow guard, and said in a daze, "Li Yu's family lived in Dayefang. Now, Yang Hu, the head of Dayefang, is dead?"

"Yes, we have been investigating for three days and nights, and finally found that there might be something wrong with Yang Hu. Then when we went to look for him, we suddenly discovered that he had hanged himself." Zhang Xuan lowered his head with an indifferent expression.

Li Chengqian raised his hand slightly and said, "Go on."

"Yes!" Zhang Xuan bowed and continued, "Li Yu, his paternal grandfather was from Didao, Longxi. His father died early. For unknown reasons, after his father's death, Li Yu and his uncles fell out. They have been in contact for a while and have no children. His wife divorced him two years ago and remarried."

"No wonder he looked so nonchalant when I mentioned the false accusation of treason that day. It turns out he has been a lonely man for a long time. He even hopes that his family will be implicated in all this." Li Chengqian couldn't help shaking his head.

"Your Highness, according to investigation, Li Yu still has a lot of gambling debts." Zhang Xuan whispered, and Li Chengqian suddenly raised his right hand.

The sedan chair stopped immediately.

Li Chengqian narrowed his eyes and said, "So, he's just a chess piece chosen by someone?"

Zhang Xuan was slightly stunned, then nodded.

Li Yu has no parents, wife, or children, and he has fallen out with his clansmen, so there is no need to worry that Fang Xuanling and others will be able to make trouble for his family. For such a person, it is the gambling house that keeps demanding payment of debts that could be fatal.

Li Chengqian raised his head and asked, "Go check that gambling house. Behind them are the owners, clerks, thugs, and regular customers... Selecting people is never an easy task."

"Yes!" Zhang Xuan immediately bowed.

"continue."

"We investigated Li Yu for three days but found nothing. Finally, we discovered that he had been visiting a tavern during his peaceful time. The tavern attendant happened to remember the last time he was there. Even more coincidentally, the headmaster of Dayefang was also there that day." Zhang Xuan bowed, then said with some resignation, "Unfortunately, by the time we found the headmaster's home, he had already hanged himself."

"It's just right that he died. Now, we can only follow the clues they left." Li Chengqian sneered and said, "Tell me, how did you find out about Zheng Han?"

"Yang Hu once worked in the Zuo Jinwu Guard and happened to be Zheng Han's subordinate." Zhang Xuan bowed slightly.

"Yang Hu's death is easy to explain. He was silenced by someone, but what about Zheng Han's death? He was silenced one after another. Even a fool can see that there is something wrong." Li Chengqian's expression became solemn. Although Zheng Han was just a small soldier in the Zuo Jinwu Guard, he was actually from the Zheng family of Xingyang.

Especially now that Zheng Rentai is the general of the Left Jinwu Guard, he inexplicably found out that Li Chengqian was the one involved.

"Your Highness, Zheng Han has served in the Left Golden Guard for several years, and..." After a brief pause, Zhang Xuan said, "Zheng Han is not only a member of the same clan as the General of the Left Golden Guard, but he is also the brother-in-law of the General of the Right Golden Guard."

"Who?" Li Chengqian suddenly looked up, then nodded slowly and said, "Someone is trying to implicate Tian Renhui!"

"So Zheng Han is dead." Zhang Xuan said meaningfully.

Li Chengqian raised his eyebrows, then sneered softly, no one of us is a fool!

Fang Xuanling was the prime minister. If he was convicted of treason, countless people inside and outside the country would be implicated.

Tian Renhui himself was somewhat involved with Fang Xuanling, so he naturally had to pay attention to it, but he did not expect that this matter would eventually lead to him being implicated.

So the moment Tian Ren realizes that he might be implicated, he will decisively kill.

"The Right Jinwu Guard General does have some tricks up his sleeve." Li Chengqian took a deep breath and said, "Let's continue investigating Yang Hu. I'm afraid this Fang Zheng isn't a good person either. He must have had a hand in Li Yu being chosen. Let's investigate further."

"Yes!" Zhang Xuan bowed and stepped back.

The sedan chair continued to move forward, but Li Chengqian's expression calmed down.

Calm and even a little indifferent.

The person who really contacted Yang Hu must be the housekeeper of Wei Ting's family, but Li Chengqian has already sent someone to Jiannan to find this person.

He wanted to help Wei Ting silence him.

Now that this matter has been opened, no one can understand it so easily.

……

In the Wude Hall, Li Chengqian walked among the ministers, then turned around and sat down on the couch.

All the ministers bowed and said, "We pay our respects to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

"Please stand up, everyone." Li Chengqian raised his hand slightly and glanced at Li Yu, who was at the end of the group of ministers.

"Thank you, Your Highness!" The ministers stood up and bowed solemnly.

Li Chengqian looked at Fang Xuanling and asked, "Prime Minister Fang, it has snowed heavily for three days. Guanzhong, Jiannan, Hebei, Bingzhou, and Longyou have probably suffered a lot. Now that the snow has stopped today, we need to hurry up and make arrangements for disaster relief."

"Yes!" Fang Xuanling stepped forward and saluted, saying, "The Secretariat has already arranged everything."

"That's good." Li Chengqian nodded and looked at Sun Fujia, the Minister of Justice among the ministers. He asked, "Minister Sun, regarding the suicides of Yang Hu, the Warden of Dayefang, and Zheng Han, the Lieutenant of the Left Jinwu Guard, the Dali Temple should investigate as soon as possible. If it is confirmed that they committed suicide, arrange for their burial as soon as possible."

After hearing Li Chengqian's words, all the ministers couldn't help but look up in surprise.

Li Yu, who was standing at the back of the group of ministers, was shocked and a little scared at this time, and his body was shaking inexplicably.

"Yes!" Sun Fujia stood up and bowed, then calmly retreated back to the train.

The ministers gradually quieted down.

Li Chengqian looked up at Li Yu and said calmly, "The last thing is Li Yu's complaint against Prime Minister Fang for treason. Li Yu, I'll ask you again, are you sure you want to accuse Prime Minister Fang of treason?"

Li Yu shuddered suddenly and fell to his knees.

All the officials in the court looked over with expressions of great surprise.

What happened in three days?

(End of this chapter)