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

Chapter 89: Li Yifu on the Left Hand, Su Liangsi on the Right Hand (Part )
The night falls and the lights are on.

The long street is bustling with people.

Deep in Anxingfang is the Princess Nanchang Mansion.

Su Xu, dressed in a deep crimson robe, entered the mansion with a heavy expression. The household steward immediately came forward to greet him, bowing and saying, "Sir, the three young men and the young lady have returned home."

"Hmm!" Su Xu paused for a moment, then said, "Everything went well in Wugong today, right?"

"It is said that there are some things, but the young master didn't say much when he came back." The housekeeper shook his head slightly. Su Jun and the other three had just returned when Su Xu came back, and he hadn't had time to check.

"Go and call Dalang to the study." Su Xu said, then walked towards the study with a slightly solemn expression.

A moment later, Su Jun arrived at Sufang. Seeing Su Xu still not changing his clothes, he quickly bowed and said, "Aye!"

"Hmm!" Su Xu, who had been thinking about something, came back to his senses, glanced at Su Jun, then lowered his head and asked, "The Crown Prince is going to Wugong County today. Is there anything special?"

"Yes!" Su Jun cupped his hands and said solemnly, "The Crown Prince said that the Eastern Palace is preparing to compile history."

"Hmm!" Su Xu suddenly looked up and looked at Su Jun in surprise: "What did you say?"

"The Eastern Palace is preparing to compile the Book of the Later Han." Su Jun quickly added.

"If you have anything to say, just say it in one breath." Su Xu breathed a sigh of relief, then rolled his eyes at Su Jun.

Writing history is a huge undertaking. Not only does it attract attention from the government and the public, but countless scholars, historians, and Confucian officials also want to participate in it and leave their names behind for eternity.

Once such a thing is accomplished, the prestige it brings to the literary world will be extremely terrifying.

The Prince of Wei's Palace had actually always wanted to do this, but it did not have enough strength on its own. Even with the emperor's support, they finally chose the slightly simpler "Guo Di Zhi".

But the Eastern Palace was different. The human and material resources it could mobilize were terrifying. They only spent two months compiling the "Kaogong Zhi" and they had already caught up with the progress of the Prince of Wei's Palace.

"However, the Book of the Later Han was written by Fan Ye of the Southern Song Dynasty after all, and it has been some time since then. If we just edit it, it will be easy to achieve results." Su Xu's face darkened. With the ability of the Eastern Palace, it is enough to edit the Book of the Later Han at the same time as the Kaogong Zhi.

"However, Liangsi opposed the prince's compilation of the Book of the Later Han, and the prince seemed to have listened to him." Su Jun had just finished speaking when he saw his father frowning.

Su Xu tapped the table lightly and said, "Go on. What did Liang Si say?"

"Liangsi said that if the prince compiled the Book of the Later Han, he would easily be accused of alluding to Your Majesty. After all, Emperor Guangwu of the Later Han Dynasty only enthroned Yin and Emperor Ming of Han after he deposed Empress Guo and Crown Prince Liu Qiang." Su Jun looked at his father carefully.

"This reason is not valid. If this is the case, Your Majesty will be happy." Su Xu shook his head directly. He came from the Prince of Qin's Palace and had a deep understanding of the emperor.

The dethronement of Empress Guo and Crown Prince Liu Qiang both brought disaster upon themselves, which further proves that the emperor's accession to the throne was legitimate.

"But the deposed empress... Liang Si then said there were rumors in the palace that His Majesty intended to make Concubine Yang the empress. Although it was a rumor, if the Crown Prince compiled the 'Book of the Later Han', it would be easy to force Cao Wangming to death." Su Jun breathed a sigh of relief and then said, "So His Majesty listened to it and temporarily put aside the idea of ​​compiling the 'Book of the Later Han'."

Su Jun has confirmed this point again and again.

Su Xu's eyes sank slightly, then he looked at his son, shook his head in disappointment and said, "You are wrong. The prince's original intention was not to compile the Book of the Later Han." "Ah?" Su Jun was confused for a moment. The prince didn't want to compile the Book of the Later Han?

"If Emperor Guangwu of Han is used to represent Emperor Gaozu, and Emperor Ming of Han is used to represent Your Majesty, then the one who represents the Crown Prince is Emperor Zhang of Han." Su Xu sighed softly and said, "Emperor Zhang of Han was the only Crown Prince appointed by Emperor Ming of Han. Emperor Zhang of Han was diligent in his administration, loved his people, was open-minded to advice, and reduced taxes and levies. He was a benevolent ruler whose name will be remembered through the ages. The Crown Prince is saying that he will become a benevolent ruler like Emperor Zhang of Han."

"The prince is saying that he will definitely succeed to the throne." Su Jun finally understood.

Su Xu nodded and continued, "Although the founding of the Later Han Dynasty was somewhat chaotic, the crown prince succeeded to the throne for several generations after the empire stabilized. The crown prince is saying that now that the Tang Dynasty is stable, he will succeed to the throne just like Emperor Zhang of Han... And Su Liangsi still disagrees with the crown prince compiling the Book of the Later Han. In fact, he is saying that the crown prince does not need to compile the Book of the Later Han, because it will only make things worse."

"Why?"

"What kind of prince would need a book to prove his status?" Su Xu looked at Su Jun and sneered, "It's the prince whose status is unstable."

"So when the prince finally said that he didn't plan to revise the Book of the Later Han, he acknowledged this point." Su Jun finally saw clearly what was behind today's series of events.

"That's not important." Su Xu lowered his head, shook his head, and said, "Today, it was actually the Crown Prince who asked Su Liangsi about politics, and Su Liangsi gave an answer. They already have a tacit understanding with each other. If nothing unexpected happens, Liangsi will serve the Crown Prince one day."

"Ah!" Su Jun couldn't help but screamed, "Aye, why is this happening?"

Su Xu said with a bitter expression, "Do you know why I didn't return to Wugong County today? What did I do?"

"Aye!"

"The King of Wei was severely punished with sixty lashes by Your Majesty on New Year's Eve. Fang Yiai will be immediately expelled from the capital after the banquet yesterday. Do you know why?" Su Xu turned his head to look at Su Jun.

"Son, I don't know. Son, I don't even know about these two things." Su Jun carefully walked to Su Xu's side and knelt down carefully: "Father."

"The King of Wei has killed someone." Su Xu's words startled Su Jun so much that he jumped up. Fortunately, Su Xu continued, "The King of Wei had Fang Yiai kill Zhou Cang, the Jinwu Guard commander who had plotted against the King of Jin at the beginning of the twelfth lunar month. He also had Xie Jiqing, the imperial physician who had been observing the Crown Prince's injuries, killed on New Year's Eve... The King of Wei silenced them, but his actions were not clean."

Even though Su Jun tried his best to control himself, such a secret still made his eyes widen.

"The palace guards who murdered Zhou Cang were captured in Luoyang by General Su Dingfang of the Left Jinwu Guard, Censor Li Yifu, and Deputy Director of the Supreme Court Zhang Wenguan. The palace guards who murdered Xie Jiqing were even caught red-handed by Duke Hou Junji of Chen."

Su Xu shook his head and said, "Afterwards, Hou Junji entered the palace, the Prince of Wei was severely flogged, and Fang Yiai was expelled from Chang'an the next day. The two guards were even exiled to the Western Regions, where they remained until their deaths. My father and Yan Liben spent a day investigating the situation, then we found the Imperial Court Minister Liu Li and went to plead with His Majesty. Finally, His Majesty agreed to release the Prince of Wei and return to his palace the next day, but he will remain under house arrest."

Su Jun had never heard of so many shocking news. The people in Chang'an and those he knew had no news at all.

"Are these all princes?" Su Jun couldn't help but look at his father, his face full of nervousness.

Su Xu nodded in affirmation and said, "Although Hou Junji is responsible for these matters, the one actually keeping an eye on them is Li Yifu, the Supervisory Censor of Prince Jin."

"Prince Jin and the Crown Prince are very close." Su Jun's face was heavy.

"Although Li Yifu was a kind person in the Censorate, his impeachments were always accurate and ruthless. Su Liangsi was also a Censorate, and although he was cold and stern, his impeachments were also accurate, and he dared to impeach officials no matter how high their rank."

Su Xu shook his head slightly and said bitterly, "With Li Yifu on his left and Su Liangsi on his right... the Crown Prince's stance has already begun to rise, and it will become increasingly fierce and ferocious in the future."

(End of this chapter)