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

Chapter 402: The Emperor Faints, Captures the Crown Prince (Part )
Deep in the imperial palace, in the Ganlu Palace.

Wu Meiniang knelt at the end of the bed and whispered to the emperor lying on his side in front of her, "Lu Dongzan's son, Gar Qinling, has visited almost all the important officials above the fourth rank in the capital, as well as the kings and princesses, in the past three days. He said it was a gift from his husband to the various families."

Songtsen Tsanpo, the King of Tubo, had another identity: he was the son-in-law of the Tang Dynasty.

He was the son-in-law of Princess Wencheng, so it was normal for him to be the son-in-law of the princess.

But there are very few people like Lu Dongzan who can completely lose face and lower his posture with this status to give gifts to others.

"Gar Qinling and Lu Dongzan are using these actions to conceal their true purpose." Li Shimin raised his hand slightly and asked, "Who have they been in contact with these days?"

"Gar Qinling was out of the palace, so Lu Dongzan went to the Eastern Palace specifically and brought a large number of gifts. The Crown Prince accepted them all and also gave a lot back." Wu Meiniang took a deep breath and said, "But the gifts they brought were not enough, so they spent money to buy a lot in Chang'an City. With all the comings and goings, they came into contact with many people."

"He's a thoughtful person!" Li Shimin sighed softly, saying, "The more people he contacts, the harder it will be for us to investigate further, especially in three days."

"Yes!" Wu Meiniang nodded, then looked down at the memorial in her hand.

Since the emperor returned to Ganlu Palace, all secret reports from the Jinwu Guard, Qianniu Guard, Baiqi Division and other parties have been sent to Ganlu Palace.

The entire Chang'an, the entire imperial palace, was suddenly back under the emperor's control.

It was during this process that Wu Meiniang was gradually allowed to come into contact with these things.

The prince was in charge of the previous dynasty, and although the emperor was recuperating, he was also secretly controlling the situation.

At least the entire palace, with the help of Chang He, Zhang Shigui and others, was under the control of the emperor.

Even if it is the Prince's Eastern Palace, it can be completely taken down by mobilizing the imperial guards.

It depends on whether the emperor is willing or not.

"Let the Crown Prince, the Qianniu Guards, the Jinwu Guards, and the Baiqi Division investigate these matters." The Emperor raised his head and narrowed his eyes slightly. "Lu Dongzan is not a simple person. We must be careful of what he might do."

"Yes!" Wu Meiniang bowed, then continued, "Tomorrow, at the beginning of the Chen hour, Your Majesty will offer sacrifices to the Taimiao, at the beginning of the Wu hour, to the Temple of Heaven, at the beginning of the You hour, to the Altar of Earth, at the beginning of the Xu hour, the imperial edict on tax exemption will be read at the Suzaku Gate, and at the Taiji Hall at the exact time of the Xu hour, a grand banquet will be held..."

The emperor nodded slightly. All the ceremonies for the 30 years since the founding of the Tang Dynasty were drafted by Li Chengqian, the ministers, the Ministry of Rites, the Taichang Temple, and the Guanglu Temple.

"Tell the prince to keep a close eye on Lu Dongzan and don't give him any chance to cause trouble." After the emperor said this, he closed his eyes completely.

With the death of Songtsen Tsan'an's only son, Tubo was bound to be in chaos and weak for a while. In order to prevent the Tang Dynasty from taking advantage of this opportunity to do something, coming to Chang'an to give gifts was one means, and the other means was to cause chaos in the Tang Dynasty as well.

……

At the Suzaku Gate, Li Chengqian knelt on the ground.

Countless officials and civilians knelt down at the city gate.

Under the night sky, torches are held high.

The Zhuque Street in front of him, as well as the Chang'an Wannian Street on the east and west sides, were crowded with people.

A chaotic scene.

Li Shimin stood on the Suzaku Gate. Li Chengqian, Li Ke, Li Shen, Li Xiang and others, as well as many prime ministers such as Fang Xuanling and Zhangsun Wuji all knelt behind and on both sides of the emperor.

Li Ji, the special advancer and leader of the Ministry of Personnel, read the imperial edict.

The emperor issued an edict, exempting all the people in the entire Yongzhou area from one year's land tax since the Tang Dynasty was founded thirty years ago.

At the same time, all prefectures and counties across the country will exempt the people from labor service this year.

"Long live Your Majesty, long live Your Majesty..." When the imperial edict came down, the people from top to bottom shouted in unison.

"Okay, stand up." The emperor smiled with satisfaction and raised his hand slightly.

The next moment, more than a dozen dragon dances appeared on Chang'an Avenue.

Then countless performance teams took to the streets at the same time and celebrated in Chang'an.

The emperor smiled with increasing satisfaction upon seeing this scene. He turned and glanced at Li Chengqian, saying, "Your Highness has done well."

"Thank you for the compliment, father!" Li Chengqian bowed seriously.

"Let's go to Taiji Hall!" The emperor walked towards the Suzaku Gate with a smile, and Li Chengqian and all the officials followed.

Lu Dongzan stood at the foot of the city gate, among countless foreign envoys, and then followed everyone to the Taiji Hall.

……

There was a grand banquet in Taiji Hall with singing and dancing.

Li Chengqian sat on the steps and looked towards the hall.

The Qianniu guards, with their left arms bare, were waving their long swords in the hall, cheering and jumping from time to time, and swinging their swords from time to time.

The sharp blade emitted a cold glow throughout the entire hall.

Everyone watched with great interest because this dance was called the Qin King Breaking the Formation Dance.

Then came the dance of the Tang Dynasty ladies, dances to various kinds of music.

Local dances performed by states across the country.

It even includes the Indian dance of the fake Indian king Ashurashun, the Kucha dance of the Kucha king Bushibi, the Huxuan dance of the Kangguo dancers, and so on.

There was dancing and music to celebrate, and the whole hall was filled with smiles.

"Li Xiyu, the governor of Dunhuang, presents the Dunhuang Flying Dance." As the eunuch shouted, Li Chengqian sat up slightly, but his eyes narrowed slightly and looked at Lu Dongzan who was sitting among the envoys from various vassal states.

At this time, Lu Dongzan did not notice Li Chengqian's gaze, and his expression suddenly became extremely serious.

However, the next moment, he was shocked because the flying part of the Dunhuang Flying Dance was cancelled.

There is a segment where the dancer will jump directly into the sky, then step on a temporary bridge made of wooden planks and pretend to be flying.

There is also a huge silk cloth at the back to complement the performance.

In Lu Dongzan's original design, the moment the flying dancer flew to a high place, someone would shoot three crossbow arrows at the emperor from behind the silk cloth, killing him at the moment he was most relaxed.

Of course now, the silk cloth is gone, the wooden bridge is gone, and even the flying posture is gone.

The entire dance was deliberately cut off from a piece, which greatly reduced the charm of the entire dance.

But the threat is gone.

Lu Dongzan looked shocked the whole time. He realized that not only the flying posture of the current dance was gone, but all other dance moves that appeared in the air were gone.

This shouldn't happen, it has never happened before.

Unless someone deliberately cancels them.

Lu Dongzan forced himself not to turn his head. He knew that Li Chengqian was staring at him.

……

Before the banquet was over, the emperor left due to illness.

After the emperor left, Li Chengqian offered a few glasses of wine and then let everyone do as they pleased.

Some people continued to drink and enjoy themselves, while others left because they could not handle the alcohol.

Li Chengqian did not stay long, but brought his men to the Xianchun Gate and outside the Wanchun Palace.

This place has been firmly guarded by the imperial guards, and inside is a pile of silk cloth, wooden boxes, and various mechanical props.

It was only at the last moment that Li Chengqian realized that it was dangerous to make people fly.

After all, once the body is fully stretched in mid-air, some movements that cannot be done normally can be performed.

What's more, his vision was so wide that he could face the emperor directly.

If someone does something at this time, the consequences will be unimaginable.

Especially with Lu Dongzan being an unstable factor, and him being too quiet these days, so quiet that even the emperor noticed something was wrong, Li Chengqian decisively eliminated some hidden dangers.

The one related to flying celestial beings was just one of them; some other songs and dances were completely removed by Li Chengqian.

But tonight, the only thing that made Lu Ludongzan move was the Dunhuang Flying Dance.

Li Xiyu and Li Chengqian have a close relationship, so he needs to find out what is going on here.

"Your Highness!" Qin Huaidao brought a group of Eastern Palace guards and began to carefully inspect, and finally pulled out the silk cloth.

He sniffed it carefully, then his expression changed. He looked at Li Chengqian and said, "Your Highness, this cloth was soaked in kerosene before."

"Yes!" Li Chengqian nodded, looked at the box on the side, and said, "Open..."

A somewhat chaotic sound of footsteps came from behind, and at the same time, everyone bowed behind Li Chengqian and said, "Your Majesty!"

Li Chengqian turned around and saw the somewhat confused emperor walking towards him from Wanchun Gate with the support of Wu Meiniang.

He immediately bowed and said, "Father!"

"Yeah!" Li Shimin nodded, walked to Li Chengqian's side, and asked curiously, "What are you doing?"

"The things in here might have been tampered with by Lu Dongzan. I came to take a look." Li Chengqian bowed and asked, "Father, what is this..."

"I'm going to Lizheng Palace. It's late at night, and I miss your mother." The emperor waved his hand, then continued, "By the way, Xincheng is not young anymore. He'll be looking for a prince consort in a year or two. You should pay more attention."

"Your son will remember this." Li Chengqian's expression turned serious.

The emperor let out a long sigh, then stood beside Li Chengqian, looked at the box opposite, and said to Qin Huai: "Open it, let me see what Lu Dongzan has done."

"Here!" Qin Huaidao bowed solemnly, then reached out to open the box. The next moment, a corpse wearing a black python robe with gold threads appeared in front of Qin Huaidao, and the man's face was that of King Jin.

Li Zhi, Prince of Jin.

Qin Huaidao turned around in shock and saw the emperor.

The emperor and the crown prince were all stunned when they saw the body of Prince Jin.

……

Li Shimin looked at Li Zhi lying in the box, and his mind buzzed and went blank in an instant.

He stumbled forward two steps, as if to confirm that it was really Li Zhi's body.

Suddenly, Li Shimin turned around abruptly, stared at the pale Li Chengqian, and gritted his teeth and said, "You...you...you...ah, my heart, my heart, my heart aches..."

The emperor slowly fell down with a scream of pain, and Wu Meiniang hurried forward to support the emperor.

The emperor's face instantly lost all color. He covered his chest with one hand, pointed at Li Chengqian with the other, and said with difficulty: "Capture him..."

After saying these two words, the emperor lowered his head.

There was no more sound.

(End of this chapter)