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

Chapter 394 I am worried that he still has resentment towards me (First update)
Wu Meiniang put down the jade bowl in her hand, looked at the emperor seriously and asked, "Your Majesty, what do you think of the Crown Prince's ability to govern now?"

"Not bad!" Li Shimin nodded and sighed softly, "At least he knows where the empire lies, and where the real threats to imperial power lie. He has sufficient means, sufficient ability, and sufficient caution... This is a good thing. For me, as an emperor, I have always been cautious and walked on thin ice."

"Your Majesty!" Wu Meiniang looked at the emperor and whispered, "If that's the case, then it proves that Your Majesty's teachings to the Crown Prince over the years were correct. Even if there were some setbacks and difficulties, it was all for the Crown Prince after all."

"I'm worried that he still has resentment in his heart." Li Shimin looked at Wu Meiniang and said, "I was shaken at the time, and that was his most difficult time. I'm worried that he will remember that incident for the rest of his life."

"So what?" Wu Meiniang remained calm. She looked at the emperor and asked, "Your Majesty resented Emperor Gaozu back then. Do you still resent Emperor Gaozu now?"

Li Shimin's face darkened slightly. Thinking of his own father, Li Shimin still couldn't help but feel a little resentful in his heart.

Back then, he had no choice.

His father had promised repeatedly to make him the crown prince, but he broke his promise every time.

And even in the end, it was Jiancheng and Yuanji who first wanted to kill.

If it were not for this, the Xuanwu Gate incident would not have happened.

Xuanwu Gate.

Li Shimin recalled some things that happened in the past, especially those details that no one knew.

Finally, he couldn't help but sigh and said, "Among my sons, only the Crown Prince is most like me."

There were many unknown things about Xuanwu Gate back then, apart from what was recorded in history books and what people knew about.

Xuanwu Gate, it seems that Li Shimin was forced to do so, but in fact, Li Shimin had been planning Xuanwu Gate a long time ago.

It seems that he only has 800 people, but in fact, with Chang He at the North Gate Imperial Guard, Li Shimin can mobilize all the Imperial Guards at the critical moment.

Don't forget, he is the supreme military commander of the Tang Dynasty and he has the emperor in his hands.

"I don't blame my father. He had no choice in many things." Li Shimin sighed and said, "Even from now on, my father had already done the best he could at that time."

"The same is true now. Your Majesty has done everything he can." Wu Meiniang leaned her head against the emperor's chest and whispered, "When the prince reaches your age, he will also be able to understand your painstaking efforts. That will be enough, isn't it?"

"Yes, that's enough." The emperor couldn't help but smile. He gently stroked Wu Meiniang's smooth cheek and said, "Meiniang, after the Fengshan ceremony at the end of the year, I will make you a Concubine."

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Wu Meiniang raised her head slightly, looked at the emperor, and asked curiously, "Is Your Majesty going to perform the Fengshan ceremony at the end of the year?"

"Hmm!" Li Shimin nodded and said, "It's probably impossible for me to perform the Fengshan ceremony at Mount Tai in my lifetime, but I can still try to perform the Fengshan ceremony at Mount Song, as Luoyang is close by... The Crown Prince has been talking about this for several years, and now is the perfect time to make it happen. By the way, I'd like to see what the Crown Prince is capable of."

Wu Meiniang had been looking at the emperor. When the emperor spoke to the end, his expression suddenly became serious.

It seems that all this is far from simple.

……

With a "bang", the door was kicked open.

The sharp blade went first, with blood on the blade.

A hard shield followed.

Four Jinwu Guard sword and shield soldiers wearing red clothes and golden armor rushed into the room in an instant.

The house was not spacious, with a long desk in the middle hall, short couches on the left and right, corridors with pillars and curtains, and east and west side rooms.

The four Jinwu Guards instantly turned their backs to the left and right, pointing their long spears straight forward, and then marched towards the east and west wing rooms.

At the same time, more Jinwu Guards rushed into the room.

Four crossbowmen and four spearmen charged forward calmly and orderly even in the narrow room.

Not only that, all the windows in the front and back of the house were occupied by longbowmen...

"There is no one inside, but the quilt is warm. There is a secret passage under the bed that leads directly to the West Market. We have sent people to chase it." Zhang Jing, the left Jinwu guard, walked out quickly and bowed to Zuo Kuangzheng.

General Zuo Kuangzheng of the Left Jinwu Guard nodded calmly and looked at the entire courtyard.

In the courtyard with two entrances, there were more than a dozen corpses lying on the ground. Not a single one was alive. They all fought to the last one.

He was the only one who escaped in the whole yard.

Everyone fought for him until the last moment.

"The West Market is well connected, so it's not easy to find him." Zuo Kuangzheng raised his head and said, "Send a message to the entire Jinwu Guard, Yongzhou Prefecture, and Chang'an Wannian County. Even if we have to turn the entire Chang'an city upside down, we must find Luo Binwang."

As soon as Luo Binwang's name was heard, the expressions of Wei Daijia, Dai Zhide, Li Yifu, Su Liangsi and others standing on the side suddenly became solemn.

Luo Binwang, that’s right.

This is Luo Binwang’s residence in Chang’an.

The Jinwu Guard, the Dali Temple, the Eastern Palace and the Censorate raided Luo Binwang's house under the order.

"I'm afraid this escape route was prepared long ago." Su Liangsi spoke first, saying, "That villain was very deliberate. He first colluded with the Prince of Jin, and then infiltrated the Crown Prince's entourage. Fortunately, he was discovered in time. Otherwise, if he really passed the imperial examination and became an official, it would have been a joke."

"Not bad." Dai Zhide nodded, then looked at Wei Daijia and said, "Brother Wei, the court will naturally mobilize all its forces to search for the thief, but the Jingzhao Wei family will also mobilize some people to help search those places that the court cannot reach. At the same time, we can also help the prefectures and counties in all directions."

"Yes!" Wei Daijia bowed with a serious expression.

He knew that Chang'an City was too big. If a person really wanted to hide, as long as there was someone to help him, he could hide in a cave for ten days or half a month without showing up. What was more likely was that Luo Binwang had already left the city through a secret passage.

As I said, Chang'an City is too big and its walls are too long. Even though the imperial court has been attacking it continuously, there are still people who have hidden one or two secret passages out of the city.

Especially the aristocratic families.

"That's it." Li Yifu nodded, turned to look at Zuo Kuangzheng, and said with a cupped hand: "Duke Dai, we need to go back and report this matter to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince." "Okay!"

……

March fifteenth.

Zhuque Street was filled with Jinwu Guards standing solemnly with spears in hand.

The yellow-sailed imperial carriage drove out of the palace and headed towards Jinchangfang.

"The summer before last, Jingzhou was severely flooded. After failing the imperial examination, Luo Binwang happened to travel south to Bashu. He then sailed down the Yangtze River to Yiling, where he met Zhinu. After they had a private conversation, Luo Binwang was rarely seen around Zhinu."

Li Chengqian shook his head and said, "That's why we couldn't find any connection between them during our previous investigations."

"Then why did you find out again this time?" Changsun Wuji sat opposite Li Chengqian.

Li Chengqian calmed down a bit and said, "After a thorough investigation of the Wuchang incident, we found that someone in Yiling had seen Zhinu and Luo Binwang meeting. Further investigation revealed that although Luo Binwang and Zhinu rarely met, they often appeared in the same place."

"If Zhinu is in Jingzhou, Luo Binwang will appear in Jianghan. If Luo Binwang arrives in Luoyang, Zhinu will soon arrive there too. And then there's Chang'an." Li Chengqian sighed softly and said, "They also arrived in Chang'an at the same time."

"Wu Chang, Luo Bin Wang." Zhang Sun Wuji read the name and turned to look at the emperor on the side: "Your Majesty, Wu Chang, is that the same as Wang?"

The emperor was stunned for a moment, then nodded solemnly and said, "Yes, if you break down the character 'Wang', it can be pronounced as 'Wu Chang'... Prince, what is the specific origin of Luo Binwang?"

Even the emperor did not expect that the famous Luo Binwang, who might even become the top scorer in this imperial examination, was actually Wu Chang, the secret adviser of Li Zhi.

Fortunately, Li Chengqian single-handedly revealed Luo Binwang's true face.

Li Chengqian paused for a moment, then said, "Luo Binwang is twenty-two years old this year. His father is the former Bochang County Magistrate Luo Luyuan, and his grandfather is the former Chief of the Right Jinwu Guard Luo Xuezhuang.

At that time, the Grand General of the Right Jinwu Guard was Gong'an Xiuren of the State of Shen, and the Generals of the Right Jinwu Guard were Zhang Changxun and Sang Xianhe.

"Twenty-two years old!" Li Shimin sighed and said, "Born exactly in the ninth year of Wude."

"Your Majesty!" Zhangsun Wuji's expression changed slightly, and then he frowned and looked at the emperor and said, "Your Majesty, that's not right. An Xiuren and Sang Xianhe are both our people. Zhang Changxun is also a neutral person. At most, he can be considered as Emperor Gaozu's subordinate. How can he have nothing to do with those people? So will it be the same as before?"

"The same thing as before?" Li Chengqian asked with some confusion.

"Find a child of the right age, preferably from a poor family whose parents have both passed away. Ideally, he should have some talent. Then, one day, take out something as a token of trust and tell him that he is actually the son of the Hidden Crown Prince." Changsun Wuji sneered and said, "A poor child from a poor family suddenly becomes the son of the Hidden Crown Prince and has the right to inherit the throne..."

"He will go crazy." Li Chengqian nodded seriously.

"The best thing is to find a good marriage for this man." Zhang Sun Wuji looked at the emperor and said, "Either marry him your own daughter and use your own strength to help him and control him at the same time; or find him a good and decent family, cover up the situation and drag him into the water."

"It should be the latter." Li Shimin raised his head calmly and said, "He's not really Jiancheng's son, so they will use him, but they won't put too much of their real strength into him. That way, if they fail, they can just come back next time... Besides, this isn't the first time."

The person hiding behind the scenes actually intended to use him to attack the court and the emperor's rule.

If this one dies, there will be another one.

These people are nothing more than consumables after all.

Zhangsun Wuji nodded and said, "When the descendants of Prince Yin first appeared, Your Majesty and I thoroughly questioned Li Anyan, Wei Zheng, and others. We are almost certain that Prince Yin did not have any sons. Therefore, this matter is most likely the same old trick used by those people..."

"Not necessarily." The emperor suddenly waved his hand, interrupting Zhangsun Wuji and saying, "There's something you may have forgotten. Back then, the King of Qi served as the Grand General of the Right Golden Guard for a while, and at that time, it was no empty position. Although the Grand General of the Right Golden Guard and the two Right Golden Guard Generals had ordinary relationships, he had a close relationship with the Chief Clerk of the Right Golden Guard..."

"Your Majesty suspects that Luo Binwang's true identity is the King of Qi's concubine?" Changsun Wuji's face changed.

They searched extensively for information on Li Jiancheng, but inevitably overlooked some of Li Yuanji's affairs.

"If he is really Yuanji's concubine, even if it is true, it doesn't matter." The emperor said coldly.

Changsun Wuji was stunned for a moment, then nodded with a look of sudden realization, and felt relieved.

Indeed, if he was really Li Yuanji's concubine, he would not pose any threat.

The reason why the emperor was still thinking about the Xuanwu Gate incident after all these years was because deep down he still had some feelings for Li Jiancheng.

After all, although the brothers fought each other at the beginning, they still maintained a certain bottom line.

The one who actually crossed this bottom line was Li Yuanji.

Yuanji is vicious and crazy, and he is also a fierce and military man.

Living in the border area for a long time will increase your arrogance and extravagance.

Even back then, few people liked Li Yuanji.

Even the people in the Eastern Palace were full of disgust and resentment towards Li Yuanji.

Therefore, if Luo Binwang was really a descendant of Li Yuanji, then he would pose no threat to the emperor.

"So, either that man is someone else's pawn, or he's the son of the Prince of Qi." Li Chengqian looked up at Zhangsun Wuji and the emperor and said, "If that's the case, can we spread the news of him being the son of the Prince of Qi privately? After all, he's always believed he's the son of Crown Prince Yin. If he knew that the court had identified him as the son of the Prince of Qi..."

"He'll either go crazy or go back and find a way to investigate everything behind this." Changsun Wuji looked at the emperor and said, "If he finds out that he's nothing but a pawn being used, will he kill those behind this?"

"Go ahead." Li Shimin nodded and said, "It's good to see those people killing each other, but I really want to find out which old guys jumped out. Prince, find out!"

"Yes!" Li Chengqian bowed earnestly, then raised his head and asked, "Father, should Zhinu leave the capital later?"

"No, the day after tomorrow!" The emperor's eyes were cold.

"Here!"

(End of this chapter)