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

Chapter 32: The Seventh Day, Summoning the Soul

The crescent moon is like a hook, lonely and cold.

In the Chongjiao Hall, Li Chengqian sat on the couch and looked up with a hint of surprise: "So Lu Hu ran away from his own home and then quietly ran to the neighboring house?"

"Yes!" Dai Zhide bowed and said, "Although Lu Hu's legs were broken, he was still able to move around on his own, sitting on a wooden cart. He deliberately had himself placed in the west wing. After his relatives left that night, he inexplicably lost his temper, so his wife was angry at night and didn't pay much attention to what was happening here."

"It seems like he did it on purpose." Li Chengqian chewed his words and said, "He was so deliberate. I'm afraid someone must have given him a signal last night, telling him to contact someone that very night... It's difficult for outsiders to enter his house, so it wouldn't be difficult for him to sneak out in the dead of night. Who knew it was a deadly trap?"

……

"Whose house is that next door? It was so easy for Lu Hu to set up a mechanism in his house. Could it be that Lu Hu bought it secretly? Where did he get so much money?" Li Anyan stood aside and turned to look at Dai Zhide, with a cold look in his eyes.

"The owner of that house is Tian Weikang, the governor of Qianzhou." Dai Zhide shook his head and said seriously: "The last time Governor Tian came to Chang'an was three years ago. The natives of Qianzhou were restless, so they moved to many places.

At first, there were still people living in the Chang'an house, but later on, they all moved to Qianzhou. After the last old servant passed away last year, the house became empty... It is said that it was entrusted to Lu Hu."

"I guess he did it for the sake of the Fanyang Lu family." Li Chengqian snorted coldly, then said disdainfully: "Who would have thought that he would secretly set up a mechanism to connect the two families and build a private residence."

"Yes!" Dai Zhide bowed slightly and said, "The wardens said that Lu Sicheng bought a beautiful Korean maid last year to keep in his household. Later, he bought several Silla maids to serve him. There was also an old servant at the gate who was responsible for purchasing goods inside and outside... But today, all of them disappeared."

"Now that Lu Hu is dead, they will naturally disappear." Li Anyan sneered lightly. He certainly knew that these people were just used to cover up the meeting between Cui Qian and Lu Hu.

Fang Xuanling sent people to kill Lu Hu, so naturally he would not let people related to Cui Qian stay there, and it is even possible that these people are all dead.

"People from the Dali Temple have issued a warrant throughout Chang'an City for the arrest of these Koreans." After a brief pause, Dai Zhide said with a serious expression, "All the evidence currently points to these Koreans as the murderers of Lu Hu. If we want to investigate further, we can only follow this line of evidence."

"How can we investigate when the person is dead?" Li Anyan frowned.

"It can still be checked. How did these Koreans come to the Tang Dynasty and Chang'an? Who sold them? Who sold them to whom? Who sold them to Lu Hu? Who saw it? How was the document written in Chang'an Wannian County? Who guaranteed it? When was it done? Who saw it? All these can be checked." Dai Zhide explained briefly.

Li Anyan was stunned after hearing this.

Li Chengqian smiled lightly. Dai Zhide's ability was very outstanding. After all, it was amazing that he could become the Shangshu You Pushe after being implicated in the affairs of the Eastern Palace.

His ability is even not inferior to those of Fang Xuanling and others.

If he had not been implicated by the affairs of the Eastern Palace, perhaps he would have been able to achieve the position of Shangshu Zuo Pushe a few years earlier. In that case, Liu Rengui might have been squeezed behind him.

……

Li Chengqian looked up and asked, "So, have you found any results on the matter I asked you to investigate?"

"I got it." Dai Zhide bowed and took out a piece of paper from his pocket. He handed it to Li Chengqian carefully and said, "There are three people who match what Your Highness said."

Li Chengqian took it and looked at it. The name on the top of the paper was Cui Qian, the magistrate of Chang'an County.

"When I was investigating, I borrowed some things from the Dali Temple, so they should have got this list as well." Dai Zhide looked at Li Chengqian carefully.

Li Chengqian smiled with satisfaction again, nodded, and said, "I asked you to go because I wanted to give this thing to the Dali Temple."

"Yes!" Dai Zhide breathed a sigh of relief, then said, "Although the Dali Temple has obtained the list and has begun an investigation, without evidence, it will be difficult to do anything. For example, Cui Qian is not only the magistrate of Chang'an County, but also comes from the prestigious Cui family of Boling. It will be difficult to touch him."

"It's not a good idea for the Dali Temple to investigate the case, but it's also a good idea. Once they get evidence, they can immediately arrest the perpetrators." Li Chengqian placed the letter on the table and asked, "The Qianniu Guards should have a copy of this, right?"

"Yes!" Dai Zhide stood up in awe.

The Dali Temple is investigating the case, and the Qianniu Guards are also investigating the case.

However, unlike the Dali Temple which could arrest and kill people with justification, the Qianniu Guards’ arrests and killings were often authorized by the imperial power.

In particular, there is the more mysterious Hundred Cavalry Division, which often arrests and kills people under the guise of the Thousand Oxen Guards.

Few people knew the deepest secrets beneath the glorious splendor of the Tang Dynasty. Dai Zhide's father, former Prime Minister Dai Zhou, was one of the few insiders. Dai Zhide only learned about them from Dai Zhou's confession before his death.

The Hundred Cavalry Division, there are spies from the Hundred Cavalry Division in the Eastern Palace.

……

Li Chengqian sat on the couch, looking up at the night outside the palace, and said softly, "Last night, when Lu Hu left the palace, although the Dali Temple escorted him, the Qianniu Guards were also secretly watching him. After he returned to the Lu Mansion, the Dali Temple may have only been watching the Lu Mansion, but the Qianniu Guards must have been keeping a close eye on the entire Changxingfang."

Dai Zhide became solemn. He really ignored the Qianniu Guards today.

"Putting aside other things, it's easy to move the body from the courtyard without telling the Dali Temple, but it's impossible to hide it from the Qianniu Guards." Li Chengqian lowered his head and sighed, "But unfortunately, the other side was well prepared. The Qianniu Guards must have been stopped and lost, and in the end, they only found a body."

"Your Highness, do you mean that the first person to find Lu Hu's body was from the Qianniu Guard?" Dai Zhide looked at Li Chengqian in surprise.

"Of course, it's just that the Qianniu Guards don't have the authority to investigate, so in the end it was the Dali Temple that stepped in." Li Chengqian looked at Dai Zhide and smiled, saying, "Now, the Dali Temple is targeting Cui Qian and the other two, which means the Qianniu Guards are also targeting Cui Qian and the other three. And if the Qianniu Guards are targeting them, it means that the emperor is also targeting them."

Li Shimin stared at Cui Qian, and directly behind Cui Qian was Fang Xuanling.

Just one level left.

It's thrilling enough.

"Mr. Dai, please don't worry about the affairs of the Secretariat for the time being. I will arrange for Mr. Feng to go there." Li Chengqian looked at Dai Zhide and said solemnly, "From tomorrow on, you will go to the Dali Temple every day and keep a close eye on this case. Have the Dali Temple investigate it continuously."

"Yes!" Dai Zhide bowed solemnly.

Li Chengqian looked up at Li Anyan and said, "Tell Helan to go to Qianniuwei and keep an eye on them starting tomorrow."

"Yes!" Li Anyan took the order seriously, and the people in the East Palace took action, which showed how much the prince valued this matter.

Li Chengqian breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Alright, Dai Qing, go and rest. You've worked hard today."

"Yes!" Dai Zhide immediately bowed.

……

After seeing Dai Zhide leave, Li Anyan then looked at Li Chengqian cautiously and asked, "Your Highness, at the moment, it seems difficult to contact Prime Minister Fang."

"It's not difficult. It definitely won't happen." Li Chengqian shook his head slightly and said, "Although Cui Qian's whereabouts have been exposed, in the end, he didn't kill Lu Hu."

"Didn't he kill Lu Hu?" Li Anyan's face was suddenly filled with surprise.

"At most, he just passed on a message. If he were to take action, I'm afraid he wouldn't be able to hide it from even the people in the Dali Temple, let alone the Qianniu Guards." Li Chengqian sighed and said, "The current evidence itself is difficult to link to Cui Qian, not to mention that Prime Minister Fang could kill and silence him at any time."

Li Anyan's face turned ugly.

"In fact, now, the people from Dali Temple and Qianniu Guard will try to use various methods to force Cui Qian to surrender, or force Fang Xiang to take action against Cui Qian again and catch him in the act." Li Chengqian narrowed his eyes slightly.

"Then what should we do?" Li Anyan looked at Li Chengqian carefully.

Li Chengqian smiled and said, "Tomorrow, send someone to walk around the gate of Prince Wei's mansion. Just one walk, and then come back. Don't go there again."

"Yes!" Li Anyan suddenly realized that their opponent was also the King of Wei.

"As for the rest, we will slowly prepare them." Li Chengqian raised his head and said softly, "In a few days it will be Lu Hu's seventh day. Huai Yan, please write a memorial. I want to go to Changxingfang to see Lu Hu off for the last time. Please allow me, father."

"Yes!" Li Anyan bowed. He could tell what the prince would do on the seventh day after Lu Hu's death.

(End of this chapter)