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

Chapter 39 The Emperor's Wrath

It is the hour of Xu, and the winter month is cold and bleak.

In the Liangyi Hall, the furnace was ablaze.

On the imperial couch, Emperor Li Shimin, dressed in a black robe with a gold-threaded dragon pattern, was carefully looking at the memorial in front of him.

The memorial recorded in detail all of Li Chengqian's words and actions during his visit to Lu Hu's mansion.

After a long while, he finally closed the memorial with satisfaction and murmured to himself, "The prince has finally grown up."

The emperor was very satisfied.

Consider the overall situation and appease the aristocratic families.

This is what a qualified prince should do.

Li Chengqian left the palace for Lu's residence today. In fact, many people were worried that he would do something desperate.

As a result, the situation became a complete mess in the end.

Li Shimin was also watching nervously, and he had made preparations to take timely action and clean up the situation afterwards.

But fortunately, Li Chengqian did not act recklessly.

Instead, he took the overall situation into consideration and praised Lu Hu and the loyalty of the entire Fanyang Lu family.

Afterwards, he was even more concerned about the inheritance of Lu Hu's incense and the future life of Lu Hu's widow.

This is the sophistication and cultivation that a truly qualified crown prince should have.

This made Li Shimin particularly satisfied.

However, there are also shortcomings and impulsiveness here.

For example, the implicit criticism of the Blue Bird and the excessive attempt to win over the Lu family of Fanyang.

That poem.

Good generals and loyal ministers shed their blood.

Many generations of relatives have gone to national crises.

The Lu family of Fanyang was not so good. They even played some disgraceful roles during the Southern and Northern Dynasties.

Even in our dynasty, don't forget that the relationship between King Luo Yi of Beiping and the Lu family of Fanyang was very close. Later, when Luo Yi rebelled against the Tang Dynasty, they also supported him.

Although Lu Chengqing is now the Shangshu Zuocheng, in fact, a lot of this is because the former Hedong County magistrate, Lu Chengqing's father, Lu Chisong, the Duke of Fanyang, had a good relationship with Emperor Gaozu.

But Lu Chisong happened to be the Prince's chief night watchman of Li Jiancheng.

The only lucky thing was that Lu Chisong died of illness in the eighth year of Wude.

Otherwise, if the Lu family of Fanyang and the Zheng family of Xingyang jointly supported Li Jiancheng, Li Shimin might not have won at Xuanwu Gate.

Li Shimin's face darkened slightly.

Some bad memories from that year were impacting his mind.

……

Li Shimin raised his head and said calmly, "Issue an imperial decree to posthumously confer upon Lu Hu, the Deputy Minister of the Dali Temple, the title of Marquis of Gucheng County, and grant him three hundred strings of cash."

"Yes!" The eunuch Zhang Ananda stepped out from the shadows and bowed.

Li Shimin lowered his head slightly and looked at the memorial in front of him.

At this moment, a burst of hurried footsteps sounded in front of the hall.

The emperor frowned and looked up.

A eunuch in blue stood at the palace gate and bowed, saying, "Your Majesty, the Earl of Wushui County has an urgent matter to present to you."

"Chang He?" Li Shimin frowned and nodded, "Send it!"

"Yes!" The eunuch in green retreated to the door of the hall, and then shouted loudly to the outside of the hall: "Send the general of the Left Thousand Oxen Guard, the Marquis of Wushui County, Chang He, to see you." A dozen breaths later, Chang He, dressed in red and golden armor, strode into the hall.

Standing ten feet from the red steps, Chang He stopped, then bowed solemnly to the emperor and said, "Your Majesty, I am General Chang He of the Left Thousand Oxen Guard. I pay my respects to Your Majesty."

"Stand up," Li Shimin said calmly, looking at Chang He. "Tell me, what happened that made you so anxious to see me even though the palace gates were locked?"

Chang He bowed solemnly and said, "Your Majesty, Cui Qian is dead!"

"Who, Cui Qian?" Li Shimin didn't react to the name for a moment.

"Chang'an County Magistrate Cui Qian, Lu Hu's cousin, was found dead this afternoon in a courtyard in a remote corner northwest of Huaiyuanfang." After a brief pause, Chang He bowed again and said, "Also found dead there was a Korean maidservant who had escaped from Lu Hu's private residence."

"Killed Lu Hu's Korean maid?" Li Shimin frowned and asked, "What is the relationship between Lu Hu's Korean maid and Cui Qian?"

"The Korean maid was actually married to Lu Hu in Chang'an County, and Cui Qian happened to be the county magistrate of Chang'an." Chang He bowed, then took a deep breath and said, "Today, it was discovered in that courtyard that the Korean maid had been poisoned with wine. The crossbow she was holding before her death shot the arrow that pierced Cui Qian's chest."

"Cui Qian harmed Lu Hu because of a Korean maid, and then poisoned the Korean maid. He was shot to death by the Korean maid before she died. So, the deaths of Lu Hu and Cui Qian were all over." Li Shimin frowned tightly. All of this sounded too reasonable, but it was too reasonable, which made something wrong.

It all happens too fast.

"It was supposed to be like this?" Chang He had just finished speaking when the emperor raised his head and stared at him: "It was supposed to be like this?"

Chang He bowed and said, "Yes, Dali Temple Secretary Zhang Wenguan discovered that although the footprints found in the courtyard matched Cui Qian's, they were darker than normal, and it seemed that they were not from the same person."

"Someone killed Cui Qian and the Korean maid, and then pretended that they killed each other, so as to completely put an end to the matter of Lu Hu." Li Shimin's face suddenly became indifferent. He had figured out everything completely.

"Yes, Your Majesty." Chang He continued to bow and said, "The Dali Temple Secretary Zhang Wenguan later searched Cui Qian's home and found a piece of incomplete letter hidden in the cracks of a cabinet in his study... According to Cui Qian's wife, Cui Qian often burned paper in his study, but he never dealt with the ashes."

Li Shimin nodded. That was a common problem among scholars and officials. They thought they didn't have to worry about anything after burning paper, but the existence of the paper ashes itself was a signal.

"This is the letter we found." Chang He bowed and handed over the letter.

Zhang Ananda walked over and took the letter, then turned around and walked up to the steps and placed it on Li Shimin's desk.

Li Shimin opened the letter, took out the paper inside, and his eyes fell on the messy handwriting on it.

Everything is done, but for some reason, I feel uneasy and restless day and night.

Li Shimin looked at the paper and asked coldly, "Who wrote this?"

"Although the handwriting is messy, the old official of the Qianniu Guard compared it and found it was written by Lu Hu, the former Prince's servant, to Cui Qian, the Chang'an County Magistrate. Moreover, the paper also belongs to the Eastern Palace." Chang He bowed solemnly and said, "The Dali Temple speculated that they must have burned too much and missed something and forgot..."

"It is also possible that he left it on purpose to avoid being silenced one day." Li Shimin's face had no expression and his look was terrifyingly cold.

Chang He bowed solemnly and didn't dare to respond.

Li Shimin looked at Chang He and said directly, "Go and investigate. I want to know who it was that killed my Dali Chancellor and my Chang'an County Chancellor, and even made it look like they killed each other for a woman. I want to know who it was."

Li Shimin's voice was heavy.

"I obey your order!" Chang He bowed solemnly, then quickly turned and left. His face was grim. The emperor had drawn the bottom line because he never mentioned the word "crown prince".

The prince's broken leg was caused by Lu Hu, and Cui Qian and others were involved, but the emperor did not even mention the prince in this case.

The matter of the prince's lameness was completely clear.

……

After watching Chang He leave the hall, Li Shimin turned to Zhang Ananda and asked, "How is the Crown Prince today?"

"Your Majesty, after the Crown Prince returned from Lu's residence today, he spent the entire afternoon in Chongwenguan. The framework for the Kaogong Zhi has been set up." Zhang Ananda bowed seriously.

"The Records of the Imperial Craftsmen." Li Shimin nodded, his expression relaxed, and he said softly, "Since the Crown Prince is focused on the Records of the Imperial Craftsmen, let him focus on that. Don't let him know about Cui Qian's situation. Also, tell Sun Fujia that Lu Hu's case has been closed as murder by a Korean maid. As for Cui Qian's case, the Qianniu Guard will take over the entire case."

"Yes!" Zhang Ananda bowed calmly.

In the Taiji Hall, candlelight flickered.

But the fire is always burning.

(End of this chapter)