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

Chapter 285 Fang Xuanling, Sima Yi (Part )
On the couch, Li Chengqian watched Li Yu sign and seal Ma Zhou's memorial before having him taken away.

When Li Yu left the Wude Hall, Li Chengqian's expression suddenly turned cold: "My dear ministers."

"Your Highness!" All the ministers bowed in unison, their expressions stern.

"Falsely accusing the prime minister of treason has never happened in the 36 years since the founding of the Tang Dynasty." Li Chengqian slammed his palm heavily on the table and shouted coldly, "Zhang Xuan!"

"I'm here!" Zhang Xuan, the left thousand-man guard, immediately stood up with his hands clasped.

"You should continue to investigate this matter. Anyone who dares to obstruct, I authorize you as the Crown Prince Regent to arrest them directly. If there is resistance..." Li Chengqian narrowed his eyes.

The ministers looked more and more stern.

"I am not qualified to grant you the power to execute first and report later, but no matter what you do, I will argue for you in front of my father." Li Chengqian gritted his teeth.

"Yes!" Zhang Xuan bowed solemnly, then returned to the train.

Li Chengqian looked up at the ministers and said, "Except for Zhang Xuan, no one else is allowed to investigate this matter privately. Anyone who dares to investigate will be immediately dismissed from office... Duke Song, you will oversee this matter."

"Yes!" Xiao Yu immediately stood up and bowed.

"It's best not to discuss this matter privately. It's almost the end of the year, and I don't want to deliberately find fault with any of you, my dear ministers, and then dismiss you from office and send you to prison." Li Chengqian pounded on the table and said, "After the New Year, we will have to prepare for the Liaodong War again. Everyone should focus on this matter and not be distracted."

"Yes!" All the ministers bowed.

"Alright." Li Chengqian raised his head, breathed a sigh of relief, and said, "Regarding this matter at hand, this afternoon, official documents will be sent to Liaodong at an express 600-li express. If any of you have anything to say, please write a memorial and send it along with mine and the Dali Temple's memorial to Liaodong for your father to handle... I don't want to hear any more about this matter in Chang'an."

"Here!"

……

In the Wude Hall, all the officials have left.

Li Chengqian sat on the couch, his expression still solemn, but his eyes were relaxed.

It is more difficult to guard against the people's mouths than to guard against rivers, and this is even more true for the officials' mouths.

However, in this matter, in addition to trying to figure out who was plotting against Fang Xuanling and trying to stir up trouble, they would probably also privately study Li Chengqian's performance in this matter and the means he used to calm it down.

This might make them more accepting of Li Chengqian.

A sound of calm footsteps was heard outside the hall. Li Chengqian looked up and saw Xu An at the door and Gao Shilian behind Xu An.

"No need to inform, please come in, uncle!" Li Chengqian waved his hand.

Gao Shilian stood at the door and bowed before walking into the hall. He saluted Li Chengqian and said, "Greetings, Your Highness!"

"Uncle, please sit down!" Li Chengqian extended his hand slightly.

Gao Shilian walked to one side and knelt down, then looked up at Li Chengqian and asked, "Your Highness, can you find out who killed the head of Dayefang?"

No one else could easily ask about Fang Xuanling's impeachment, but this did not include Gao Shilian.

Especially when he had already guessed something.

"It's not difficult." Li Chengqian looked at Gao Shilian and said, "The Qianniu Guards reported Yang Hu's death very cleanly. They didn't find any evidence, but..."

"What's the matter?" Gao Shilian looked serious.

"Someone killed Yang Hu, which means someone went to Yang Hu's house. We only need to check the Jinwu Guards and the Wannian County patrol files last night. It's even possible that they hid in Dayefang last night and left today... No matter what, there is a way to find out. I'm just afraid." After a brief pause, Li Chengqian shook his head and said, "I'm afraid they've been silenced as well."

Yang Hu was silenced because he knew too much.

Zheng Han was silenced because he was connected to Tian Renhui.

Silencing someone is the easiest thing to do.

"So it may take a long time to get to the bottom of this matter." Gao Shilian pointed out directly.

"Yes!" Li Chengqian nodded and said, "This matter may need to be investigated after the emperor returns to the capital."

Gao Shilian breathed a sigh of relief, then looked at Li Chengqian and said, "Prince, Chang'an needs peace and quiet right now."

"Don't worry, uncle. I understand." Li Chengqian said seriously, "After this incident, everyone will be on guard. It will be difficult for those with ulterior motives to stir up trouble again."

"Hmm!" Gao Shilian nodded slowly. What exactly is going on behind this matter? After careful calculation, someone with a keen eye can quickly identify the suspicious person. Judging from the urgency of the situation, it is not difficult to guess who it is.

"But uncle also needs to be careful. If he is careless and is taken advantage of, I will not be able to explain to my father." Li Chengqian lowered his head solemnly.

Gao Shilian frowned, then nodded and said, "Don't worry, Your Highness. I know what to do."

Li Chengqian relaxed and said, "Father is on an expedition to the east. Chang'an should prioritize stability. As for the rest, let Father deal with it when he returns. What happens then is up to Father."

Gao Shilian nodded.

At the moment, this matter seemed to be unfinished. It was merely a counterattack by the relevant officials in the court against the real culprit after the investigation was completed. But in reality, the true outcome had already been decided.

Li Zhi's foolish action made the ministers turn their hearts even more towards Li Chengqian.

……

Prince Jin's Mansion, stone pavilion in the backyard.

The inkstone is placed on the thermos to ensure that the ink is warm.

Facing an icy lake, Li Zhi wore a black unbleached hat, brocade clothes, and a black cloak, and wrote with great vigor, completing an excellent "Preface to the Lanting Poems".

A burst of hurried footsteps sounded behind me.

Li Zhi didn't turn around and asked directly: "How is it?"

Ji Jiafu stopped and bowed solemnly, saying, "Li Yu changed his mind in public in the Wude Hall. He said he misunderstood others and wrongly accused Prime Minister Fang. The Crown Prince said he would not hold him responsible and promised that no one would bother him in the future."

"I'm afraid my royal brother will have to be a good person for a while." Li Zhi looked up at Ji Jiafu and smiled softly, saying, "Okay, if you have anything else, please continue."

"Yes!" Ji Jiafu bowed and recounted the whole story in detail from beginning to end.

"Your Majesty, you have great methods!" Li Zhi sighed, and said, "I should have thought of this earlier, but this is not a bad thing. At least it can be seen that Prime Minister Fang and Your Majesty have a deep understanding!"

"Your Highness!" Ji Jiafu said solemnly, cupping his hands. "Your Highness, will this matter implicate the Chief Secretary?"

Li Zhi tilted his head slightly and asked, "Where is the person who did it now?"

"They have already left Chang'an!" After a brief pause, Ji Jiafu said, "The Chief Secretary used two waves of people. The wave that contacted them left long ago, and the wave that took action were the death squad."

"It would be better if we used death squads, but it's a pity that the identity of death squads is hard to convince people." Li Zhi sighed softly. It's not that he hadn't thought about using death squads, but death squads have too many flaws, which are easy to see for veterans.

Especially the Qianniu Guard and the Baiqi Division.

That's why Wei Ting carefully selected Li Yu, but he didn't expect that he would fail in the end.

Ji Jiafu anxiously cupped his hands and said, "Your Highness, if this matter is linked to the Chief Secretary, it will be easy to contact Your Highness."

Li Zhi smiled, waved his hand, and said, "You're wrong. This matter is difficult to connect to the Chief Secretary, and it's also difficult to connect to me... Do you think the Chief Secretary would betray me?"

Ji Jiafu was slightly stunned.

Li Zhi raised his head, looked at the icy lake in front of him, and said softly, "When the Chief Secretary was young, he had a very good relationship with Crown Prince Yin. Later, he even served as the Chief Priest of the Prince Yin's Palace, the Prince's Left Guard, and the Inspector of the Left Guard. He was later implicated in the Yang Wengan incident, and in the end, he saved Crown Prince Yin, and he was exiled to Yuexi. So there's no need to worry about him saying anything."

"Yes!" Ji Jiafu's eyes were a little confused.

Li Zhi seemed to be saying that he had known for a long time that Wei Ting's plan would fail, and that if it failed, Wei Ting would take responsibility for everything.

As I listened, there seemed to be an inexplicable sense of ruthlessness.

Li Zhi shook his head slightly and said, "As for evidence, Father is wise and always needs evidence when doing things. Of course, he can also keep it secret so that the punishment will not be exposed. However, what I wanted to do has been done. Let's see how everything develops in the future."

Ji Jiafu frowned tightly, feeling that he could not keep up with Li Zhi's thoughts.

Li Zhi smiled, looked at Ji Jiafu and said, "You know, Prime Minister Fang is now sixty-six years old, but he is still in good health. In comparison, Prime Minister Wei has retired, and my uncle and Prime Minister Xiao are not in good health. And now in Liaodong, since the beginning of winter, my uncle's health has not been very good either. Even father..."

Ji Jiafu looked at Li Zhi in disbelief. How did he know all these things?

Li Zhi raised his head, looked at the Chang'an sky above him, and said softly, "Throughout history, how many prime ministers have remained healthy in their sixties or seventies, even handling official documents until midnight? Who is there?"

"Sima Yi?" Ji Jiafu looked at Li Zhi in disbelief.

Li Zhi smiled, nodded, and said, "Yes, it's Sima Yi, the Sima Yi who replaced the Wei Dynasty with the Jin Dynasty... Prime Minister Fang and Sima Yi are really similar!"

"Are they similar?" Ji Jiafu didn't know why Li Zhi suddenly made this connection.

"At the beginning of the month, I asked you to deliver a memorial to Liaodong. Do you remember?" Li Zhi turned and looked at Ji Jiafu.

Ji Jiafu nodded. The King of Jin would often write memorials to Liaodong, but most of them were reading notes or insights.

Li Zhi smiled, then said softly, "I started reading the Book of Wei some time ago, and was quite puzzled. So I wrote a letter to Liaodong to ask my father. Now I think it must have just reached my father. My brother hurried over 600 miles, just after me."

The emperor was thinking about Sima Yi, but now someone was impeaching Fang Xuanling for treason.

Ji Jiafu looked at Li Zhi and felt an inexplicable shudder.

"Your Highness, why are you so targeting Prime Minister Fang?" Ji Jiafu looked puzzled.

Li Zhi looked up at Ji Jiafu and his expression turned cold.

(End of this chapter)