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

Chapter 296 Concubine Wei sent a message that Wei Ting died of illness (Part )

In the Wude Hall, Li Chengqian sat on the main couch with a serious expression.

Fang Xuanling, Yang Shidao, Yu Zhining, Liu Dewei, Ma Zhou, Zheng Rentai and others stood on both sides.

Sun Fujia stood in the hall, his face solemn as he bowed and said, "Your Highness, before dawn today, the servants of the Wei Mansion went to the study to clean up, and only then did they discover that Wei... Wei Ting had died in his own study."

Wei Ting, former Imperial Censor, former Chief Clerk of the King of Jin, and former Baron of Fufeng County, hanged himself in his study.

Because of the mistakes Li Zhi made in Taiyuan, Wei Ting was dismissed from all his posts by the emperor and demoted to a commoner.

Although Wei Ting did a lot of messy things after returning to Chang'an, to be honest, Li Chengqian had never met him.

Now he died out of nowhere.

Committed suicide by hanging.

"How did the Dali Temple verify it?" Li Chengqian breathed heavily. Although Wei Ting was demoted to a commoner, there were always a few people like him every year, and they would be reinstated after a year or two. So although he was a commoner now, no one, inside or outside the court, looked down on him.

"The Dali Temple conducted a preliminary inspection and found no external injuries or any other unnecessary wounds." Sun Fujia bowed and said, "The person has now been sent to the Dali Temple for further autopsy."

Li Chengqian took a deep breath and said, "My lords, Wei Qing was once a high-ranking official in the court. Now that he is dead, I believe a thorough investigation is necessary, otherwise I will not be able to explain myself to my father when he returns."

"Yes!" Fang Xuanling, Yang Shidao and others bowed in unison.

"Alright!" Li Chengqian looked up and said, "Wannian County, Yongzhou Prefecture, the Dali Temple, the Ministry of Justice, the Left Jinwu Guard, and the Left Qianniu Guard, all send people to investigate. If there are any clues, dig them thoroughly. I don't believe that Wei Qing will hang himself."

Li Chengqian's face looked very ugly. Although Wei Ting was unlucky now, it was ultimately just a failure in the political struggle.

As the victor, Li Chengqian had no intention of taking his life, so he should not have died.

At least there was no external pressure forcing him to die, but he died anyway.

He hanged himself for no apparent reason.

If this matter cannot be investigated clearly, it will be his responsibility when the emperor returns to Beijing.

Yu Zhining, Zheng Rentai, Liu Dewei and others all bowed and said, "Yes!"

"Prime Minister Yu, you take the lead in investigating this matter, and report the results to the Council of State and me." Li Chengqian looked at Yu Zhining.

"Yes!" Yu Zhining immediately bowed.

"Prime Minister Fang, please stay. Everyone else can get busy." Li Chengqian waved his hand. Everyone bowed and then retreated.

……

Li Chengqian looked at the backs of the people leaving the hall, his expression becoming serious: "Prime Minister Fang, the Hundred Cavalry Division..."

"Your Highness, His Majesty would not deal with an old minister like this, especially since the Hundred Cavalry Division has not found any evidence related to Wei Ting's case so far. His Majesty is now far away in Liaodong. In addition, Wei Ting has been quite quiet this year. There is no need to act rashly." Fang Xuanling shook his head slightly, his face solemn.

The incident involving Wei Ting was not done by Li Chengqian, nor by Fang Xuanling.

Wei Ting had indeed resorted to some tactics before, but Fang Xuanling had already retaliated.

Wei Ting's son Wei Daijia is still a Qianniu Beishen today. He has not been promoted several times. This is Fang Xuanling's revenge.

This is enough.

In the power struggle in the court, no one would easily kill unless the relationship was completely broken.

The reason why the means are means is because no one wants to be implicated.

Fang Xuanling had been reported for treason before, but in fact no one believed that Fang Xuanling was plotting a rebellion. That incident provoked the emperor's sensitivity.

It was enough to plant a sensitive thorn in the emperor's heart.

But unfortunately, that thing didn't work out.

Therefore, it was enough for Fang Xuanling to take revenge by interrupting Wei Daijia's official career.

Wei Ting is now a commoner. When the emperor wants to appoint him, Fang Xuanling will try to stop him. This is normal revenge.

But now, Wei Ting is dead.

After Wei Ting's death, the first person others suspected was Fang Xuanling's revenge, and the second person they suspected was Li Chengqian.

But they both knew that this was not done by them, so there was only one possibility: the emperor sent someone to secretly execute Wei Ting.

However, Fang Xuanling disagreed, because that would be too un-Li Shimin.

"There was no need for Wei Ting to hang himself, so there must be something wrong with his death." Li Chengqian frowned and looked at Fang Xuanling and said, "I even thought of Zhinu in this matter, but the timing was not right."

Fang Xuanling was slightly startled.

It is indeed very likely that Li Zhi sent people to kill Wei Ting and then framed Li Chengqian and Fang Xuanling.

But then Fang Xuanling nodded in agreement. If Li Zhi wanted to plot against them, or even use Wei Ting's life, then the best time would be within a month or even a few days after the emperor returned. In this way, the emperor could immediately take control of the overall situation and would not let Fang Xuanling and Wei Ting become desperate and kill Li Zhi.

So, the time is wrong, it’s not Li Zhi.

"Could it be that the conflict between His Highness and Buddhism is related?" Fang Xuanling's expression suddenly became serious. He bowed and said, "The Wei family has always been close to Buddhism."

Li Chengqian waved his hand slightly and said, "That's even more wrong. No matter what the Wei family is like, they wouldn't use Wei Ting's life to plot something. Not to mention that the emperor is not in Chang'an right now. If nothing is found out in the end, wouldn't the person's death be in vain? This can't be some kind of scheming game, right? It's too convoluted."

There was no need for Jingzhao Wei to do that.

"We can only wait and see what Prime Minister Yu can find out. No matter what the final result is, everything will be judged by evidence. If there is real evidence, we will investigate. If there is fake evidence, we will find out who committed the fraud." Fang Xuanling bowed seriously.

"Hmm!" Li Chengqian raised his head, sighed softly, and said, "Can't Chang'an City be a little quieter this year?"

Fang Xuanling bowed silently.

……

At the Prince of Jin's mansion, Li Zhi sat in his study all day. Finally, a burst of hurried footsteps appeared outside the palace, and Li Zhi immediately raised his eyes.

With a creaky sound, Ji Jiafu pushed the door open and walked in. He then turned around and closed the door again. He then turned back to Li Zhi and bowed, "Your Highness!"

"What's wrong?" Li Zhi took a deep breath and looked solemn.

"My uncle has replied. Wannian County, Yongzhou Prefecture, the Dali Temple, the Ministry of Justice, the Jinwu Guard, the Qianniu Guard, and the Baiqi Division have all been fully mobilized to investigate this matter. The Wei Mansion, inside and out, is currently being thoroughly investigated."

After a brief pause, Ji Jiafu said, "My uncle said that even some things in the palace were found, but after it was confirmed that they had nothing to do with the death of the chief secretary, they were let go."

Li Zhi narrowed his eyes slightly and said softly, "It doesn't look like my brother is killing someone, and Prime Minister Fang didn't stop him. Could it really be my father?"

Li Zhi also immediately cast a suspicious look on the emperor.

Although Wei Ting had angered Li Chengqian and Fang Xuanling before, neither of them took any major action, so Li Zhi was almost certain that the two were waiting for the emperor to return to Chang'an and let the emperor deal with Wei Ting's matter personally.

After all, Wei Ting was once the Imperial Censor. If his death was really a problem, then everyone in Chang'an would be in danger.

"Your Highness, His Majesty has already invaded Goguryeo. Even if he wants to leave a message, it shouldn't be now!" Ji Jiafu couldn't help shaking his head.

"Not now." Li Zhi waved his hand and said, "Father probably left these words before he invaded Goguryeo. He left a message to eliminate all hidden dangers in Chang'an... No, it's better to have some checks and balances in Chang'an. Even if Father wants to deal with the Chief Secretary, it should be before he returns."

"Could it still be the Crown Prince? The person leading the investigation now is Prime Minister Yu, and Prime Minister Yu is the Crown Prince's man..."

"If Yu Zhining really finds out that it was my brother who did it, he won't hide it for me, especially with Liu Dewei and Sun Fujia around." Li Zhi's face was pensive. He suddenly looked up at Ji Jiafu and said, "Go check what the King of Wu and the King of Jing have done with their men who stayed in Chang'an."

"Your Highness is suspicious..."

"Someone is trying to stir up trouble in Chang'an!" Li Zhi said solemnly, his expression heavy. "While our father was on the Eastern Expedition, our brother has been focusing heavily on farming and military equipment. Now, someone has murdered the Chief Secretary in an attempt to muddy the waters in Chang'an... Without our father, if chaos breaks out in Chang'an, someone will immediately take advantage of the situation."

"Yes!" Ji Jiafu immediately became alert.

Li Chengqian and Li Zhi were both the emperor's legitimate sons. If something happened to both of them, the only one who could become the crown prince would be Prince Wu Li Ke.

Of course, King Jing Li Yuanjing is also a suspect.

Li Zhi's face was heavy. In the current situation, there was insufficient evidence and even he didn't know what was going on.

……

Seven days passed quietly, like flowing water.

Weiqu, Wei's house.

"The prince has arrived!"

Li Chengqian, dressed in a black python robe, walked calmly into the Wei Mansion.

The sound of mourning music suddenly slowed down.

The whole yard is filled with white banners and the road is covered with yellow paper.

Wei Daijia, Wei Lubing, Wei Xingzong, Wei Tong, Wei Yiji, Wei Guan, Wei Juyuan and other members of the Wei family, young and old, all came out to greet them.

In addition, Fang Xuanling, Yang Shidao, Yu Zhining, Sun Fujia, Liu Dewei, Ma Zhou, Zheng Rentai and others also came out to greet them.

Of course, there was also Li Zhi who arrived before Li Chengqian.

Li Chengqian nodded to everyone with a solemn expression, and finally walked into the mourning hall, burned incense in front of Wei Ting's spirit tablet, bowed three times, and then was invited into the back hall.

Wei Daijia followed Wei Yijie into the hall and bowed to Li Chengqian, saying, "Your Highness!"

Wei Yijie is Wei Ting's cousin and the Junior Supervisor of the Palace. Now he is the highest-ranking official among the Wei Qu.

Their older and more direct descendants have all died of illness, and the remaining ones are young and of low status.

As for his peers, they all served in local positions. Now the only one who could rush back from other places in time was Wei Keji, the Chief Clerk of Longzhou.

Others with higher official positions served as provincial governors in the north and south, and some even served in the front lines of the army.

Li Chengqian waved his hand slightly, and Wei Ting and Wei Yiji immediately stood a little behind the crowd.

Li Zhi, Fang Xuanling, Yang Shidao, Yu Zhining, Sun Fujia, Liu Dewei, Ma Zhou, Zheng Rentai and others were all in the back hall at this moment.

"Wei Qing was an important official in the court. It is a pity that he passed away now. The imperial concubine sent a message today saying that the eldest brother died of illness, but because of his status, he could not leave the palace. I hope the brothers in the clan can understand." Li Chengqian looked at Wei Yijie.

Wei Yijie looked at Li Chengqian in surprise, and Li Chengqian nodded slightly with a serious expression.

Yes, what Concubine Wei meant was that Wei Ting died of illness.

Regardless of the true situation, Wei Ting’s death can only be reported to the outside world as illness.

"Yes!" Wei Yiji bowed helplessly.

Li Chengqian sighed softly and said, "The Dali Temple and the Ministry of Justice have finally investigated Wei Qing's case. Sun Qing, please tell us the results."

"Yes!" Sun Fujia glanced at Wei Daijia and Wei Yijie, then stood up and bowed, saying, "The Dali Temple examined Lord Wei's body and found... found that Lord Wei's body was poisoned."

"Poisonous?" Everyone looked at Sun Fujia in surprise at the same time.

"Yes!" Sun Fujia bowed to Li Chengqian and said, "And the poison has been in place for at least half a month."

Li Chengqian narrowed his eyes slightly and asked, "What kind of poison?"

"Aconitum." Sun Fujia bowed, then added, "Although Aconitum is highly poisonous, it can also cure diseases."

"Is Wei Qing ill?"

"Yes, the coroners from the Dali Temple and the Ministry of Justice jointly concluded that Lord Wei had a heart attack."

(End of this chapter)