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

Chapter 384: I Request the Execution of the King of Jin as a Warning to the World (Part )

Chang'an City is bustling at night.

There were waves of horse hoof sounds in Chang'an City.

From time to time, there were sounds of doors breaking.

I don’t know how many powerful families there are, and how many noble families there are.

The imperial city is deserted, and the Eastern Palace is even quieter.

Li Chengqian stood on the steps of Chongde Hall, looking at the city of Chang'an outside the palace.

The faint noise foreshadowed the end of the Lishan Incident.

"The person is dead, right?" Li Chengqian looked inside the palace door behind him.

In the shadows of the palace gate, Li Anyan solemnly bowed and said, "The news is accurate. The Prince of Jin's men were shouting in the Hot Spring Palace, 'The Crown Prince is dead, Your Majesty, please accept my condolences.'"

Li Chengqian nodded calmly and said, "That's good."

Li Anyan lowered his head slightly with a serious expression.

The King of Jin killed the Crown Prince. The King of Jin killed the Crown Prince.

The Prince of Jin had the intention to kill the Crown Prince and took action to do so.

It almost succeeded.

How can the Crown Prince feel at ease if the Prince of Jin is not dead?

"Have all our people evacuated?" Li Chengqian's calm voice sounded again.

"Everyone has been evacuated, and all related locations have been cleared." Li Anyan bowed cautiously.

"Very good." Li Chengqian turned around, looked westward, and said softly, "Let them go to Anxi. There can be no problems in the battle of Kucha. After this battle, Anxi will be completely pacified. After that, it will be the Western Turks and Tubo."

"Yes!" Li Anyan bowed, then said, "There's one more thing."

"Huh?" Li Chengqian was a little surprised.

"It's Wu Cairen's sister, Wu Shun." Li Anyan was a little puzzled and said, "Our people left Chang'an City and just as they left the city, they met Wu Cairen's sister. She warned us that there might be danger ahead, but..."

"No one pays attention to her." Li Chengqian nodded and said, "I understand."

Wu Meiniang was a smart person, and Li Zhi was incompetent, so she asked her elder sister to leave Chang'an City in advance and wait at Chunming Gate.

Once Li Chengqian really leaves Chang'an City, she will come forward to warn him.

If Li Chengqian continued on his way and died in Mount Li, Li Zhi would not have known that she had warned Li Chengqian.

On the contrary, if Li Chengqian had not gone to Mount Li, but instead had completely turned the tables because of Wu Shun's warning, he would have had to remember Wu Meiniang's favor.

Normally speaking, even now, if Li Chengqian turned the tables on himself, he would not rely much on Wu Meiniang's warning, but he still had to remember the favor of Wu Shun's warning.

Normally, he would have to repay Wu Meiniang in the future.

But, she is Wu Meiniang.

Li Chengqian's expression became solemn. No one knew how dangerous Wu Meiniang was now.

She is even just the emperor's concubine now.

If Wu Meiniang stood in front of him at this time, Li Chengqian would kill her without hesitation.

Li Chengqian closed his eyes slightly.

This time, Li Zhi was born with a deficiency, so Wu Meiniang did not put much effort into helping Li Zhi.

If Wu Meiniang really tried her best to help Li Zhi, even Li Chengqian would find it difficult.

But now the situation is completely different.

Li Zhi was completely defeated, but Wu Meiniang was still alive, and she was not even implicated in this matter.

Li Chengqian's mind calmed down. Wu Meiniang had not yet realized his ill will towards her, and was even trying to please him.

This is a good thing.

As long as the emperor is alive, he will never have the chance to kill her.

Therefore, at this moment, the most important thing is to numb her, get close to her, and let her relax her guard.

Instead of letting her get involved with her brothers.

Although Li Zhi has fallen, Li Ke is still there. If Wu Meiniang really wants to collude with Li Ke, it will pose the greatest threat to Li Chengqian.

The Yang family is behind them.

Although the matter between Li Tai and Li Zhi was over, the emperor was still there, and it was far from time for Li Chengqian to completely relax his vigilance.

Especially since Li Zhi is still alive.

"An Yan." Li Chengqian looked at Li Anyan and said, "Alright, go back and rest. The matter is over. Everything else will be the same as before!"

"Yes!" Li Anyan bowed seriously, then carefully retreated into the shadows of the hall and disappeared completely.

Xu An, who was standing on the left side of Chongde Hall, stepped forward cautiously at this time and bowed to Li Chengqian, saying, "Your Highness, the Crown Princess sent someone to ask if Your Highness would like to go there tonight."

Li Chengqian raised his head and looked towards Mount Li, then shook his head gently and said, "I will rest in Chongde Hall tonight. Let the Crown Princess rest early. Xiang'er will be back tomorrow."

"Yes!" Xu An's expression became serious. He was Li Chengqian's closest person, so he naturally understood Li Chengqian's habits.

If today's events were really over, the prince would have gone to the princess's bedroom to rest, but he didn't.

This shows that this matter is far from over.

……

In the morning, the sun is shining brightly.

The winter is still cold.

The ministers of the Eastern Palace waited outside Jiafu Gate, whispering to each other. The Prince of Jin's rebellion was easily crushed by His Majesty.

This kind of thing cannot be hidden from them.

Last night, the Jinwu Guards were constantly arresting people. Many people in their families were in the Jinwu Guards, and the news had already been clarified.

Thinking about the arrangements made by the prince yesterday, smart people have already seen that the Prince of Jin was plotting treason. At the very least, the prince had already noticed it.

How many people are calculating here...

With a creak, the Jiafu Gate opened and a yellow-covered carriage drove out of the East Palace.

"Your Highness!" All the ministers bowed to the carriage.

The carriage stopped, and Li Chengqian poked his head out and said calmly, "Lord Dou went to Mount Li with the Imperial Censor and the Duke of Liang last night. Today, I will go to Mount Li to fetch my father. The Chief Secretary will stay in the Eastern Palace. Lord Lai will go with me, and Lord Qin and Lord Pei will be my guards."

"Yes!" All the ministers bowed.

Li Chengqian lowered the curtain and the carriage slowly headed towards Chengtian Gate.

Zhang Xuansu breathed a sigh of relief and looked at Lai Heng.

Lai Heng shook his head, then bowed, took the reins handed to him by the guard, and then chased after Li Chengqian closely.

Zhang Xuansu looked at the backs of the group leaving, and his expression became solemn.

The real collision has just begun.

What is the prince thinking in his heart?

……

Countless Jinwu Guards were running at high speed on both sides of the Wei River, and the left and right guards had even gone deep into the mountains.

Only the imperial guards quietly escorted the prince, as well as the prime ministers, secretaries, ministers of the temple, and vice ministers, to Mount Li.

Inside the yellow-canopied carriage, Changsun Wuji and Li Chengqian sat opposite each other.

"Crown Prince, what does His Royal Highness the Prince of Jin plan to do?" Changsun Wuji stared at Li Chengqian closely.

Although Li Zhi made a mistake, he was his sister's son after all, so Changsun Wuji still hoped to save his life.

In fact, the only thing he could do now was to save his life as much as possible.

Li Chengqian sighed in his heart. Changsun Wuji was definitely not the only one who didn't want Li Zhi to die, but he was the first one who dared to ask him face to face.

"Uncle." Li Chengqian's expression was calm, a forced smile on his face. He then said, "Although Zhinu's actions are absurd, he is still my nephew's brother. As long as the emperor doesn't insist, I think it would be best to place Zhinu in Beiyuan and let him live out his life there in peace."

"Really?" Changsun Wuji looked at Li Chengqian in surprise.

"Of course it's true." Li Chengqian sighed softly, then said with a wry smile, "My nephew is not blind. Those years at Xuanwu Gate were easy to deal with. Father was busy with government affairs. But in recent years, as he has grown older, Father has become more and more regretful about what happened back then. Occasionally, he even said that he shouldn't have killed Crown Prince Yin and King Chao... At least my nephew still has room for redemption now."

Changsun Wuji frowned slightly. Is this the reason?

Is this a reason?

Although Changsun Wuji had doubts in his heart, he didn't know how to refute it for a moment.

……

On Mount Li, in the Hot Spring Palace, palaces burned to ruins could be seen everywhere, and the air was filled with the smell of burning.

Although the ground had been cleaned, bloodstains could still be seen everywhere.

There are three times as many guards as usual guarding the key points of the city gates.

Li Chengqian and Zhangsun Wuji led all the officials and entered through the main gate. Finally, they passed through Zhaoyang Gate and went up to Changsheng Palace.

"Your Majesty, we are here to pay our respects. May Your Majesty live forever." All the ministers knelt on the ground and saluted solemnly to the emperor sitting on the imperial couch.

"Stand up." The emperor raised his hand calmly, with a hint of fatigue in his voice.

"Yes!" The ministers then stood up.

"Although the Hot Spring Palace is comfortable, it seems today that its defenses are still somewhat insufficient." The emperor looked at Zhangsun Wuji and said calmly, "Wuji, from now on, the Hot Spring Palace, Cuiwei Palace, and Jiucheng Palace must all be given an additional layer of defense."

"Yes!" Changsun Wuji bowed solemnly.

The emperor raised his head and said, "Duke Dai, how was the situation in Chang'an last night?"

"Your Majesty, a total of 72 suspects were arrested in Chang'an City last night. Fifteen of them resisted and were executed, and the rest were imprisoned in the Jinwu Prison. Here is the list of names." Zuo Kuangzheng stepped forward and handed over the memorial.

Zhang Ananda walked down and took it, then turned around and put it on the emperor's desk.

Li Shimin glanced over the list of names on the memorial and said calmly, "Zhang Xingcheng, the Chief Clerk of Yongzhou, allowed the rebels to flee, so he must be dismissed immediately. Li Anyan, the Right Guard General, failed to guard the city gates, so he must be dismissed immediately..."

The emperor dismissed seven or eight officials of the fourth or fifth rank or above in a row, all of whom had committed minor offenses in this matter, or were even only barely implicated.

But everyone could see that the emperor was doing it on purpose.

So no one objected.

……

"Finally, it's Prince Jin."

The emperor's gaze finally fell on Li Chengqian, and he said, "Prince, what do you think should be done?"

All the ministers' eyes fell on Li Chengqian at once.

Li Chengqian stood up with a serious expression, bowed, and said, "According to the law, he should be executed, but considering the incidents with the King of Wei and the King of Qi, I think he can be imprisoned in the Northern Garden and not allowed to leave for the rest of his life, as a warning to others."

Changsun Wuji listened from the side and breathed a sigh of relief. If the prince did not pursue the matter, then the matter would be easy to resolve.

"Your Majesty, I think this is unacceptable." Imperial Censor Sun Fujia suddenly stood up, bowing solemnly. "Before, there was the King of Wei and the King of Qi, and now there's the King of Jin. These kings have repeatedly committed acts of treason. If everyone can be executed without following the law, the inevitable result will be a loss of respect, rebellion, and unrest throughout the world."

Sun Fujia stepped forward, his face solemn and he said loudly: "I request that the King of Jin be executed as a warning to the world."

(End of this chapter)