My father, Li Shimin, requests Your Majesty to become the Retired Emperor.

No sooner had Cheng Yaojin and Gongsun Wuda left than another group of people entered the hall. The man at the front of the group said loudly, "Your Majesty, I have something to report."

Li Shimin glanced at the man and saw that it was none other than the Grand Secretary Fang Xuanling.

Behind Fang Xuanling were Cen Wenzi, Chai Lingwu, Wei Ting, and others.

After everyone had exchanged greetings, Li Shimin asked, "My dear ministers, what brings you to see me so late?"

"Your Majesty, we request that you order the execution of Li Chenggan!" Fang Xuanling's tone was firm yet cold.

Upon hearing this, Li Shimin frowned: "What serious crime has Li Chengqian committed this time? Why do you want me to kill him?"

Fang Xuanling stepped forward: "Your Majesty, you have been deceived by Li Chengqian's appearance."

He secretly committed many acts that seriously violated the rules and regulations of the imperial court.

After listening, Li Shimin raised his eyebrows: "Then tell me, what exactly did Li Chengqian do?"

"Our court has regulations stipulating that princes and ministers are not allowed to engage in trade with the Western Regions. This was also explicitly prohibited during the Sui Dynasty."

At that time, Yuwen Shu's two sons, Yuwen Huaji and Yuwen Zhiji, traded with the Western Regions and made huge profits.

to this end,

Emperor Yang of Sui was furious and ordered the two brothers to be executed.

Later, after someone pleaded for their lives, Emperor Yang of Sui punished Yuwen Huaji and Yuwen Zhiji by making them slaves.

"I never expected Li Chengan to dare do business with our enemy, Yanqi."

"Oh, when did he start doing business with the Yanqi people?"

"He purchased a batch of wine at a 1% discount and then sold it at a high price in Chang'an. Isn't that a big deal?"

Li Chengan's actions hardly befit a crown prince.

If all the princes were like him, only thinking about making money, how could our Tang Dynasty be governed well?

"Is that so?"

In fact, Li Shimin had also heard that people in Chang'an had been drinking wine recently, but he never expected that the root cause was here.

"There's absolutely no exaggeration about this."

As far as we know, he purchased 80,000 jars of wine from the Blue Bharadvaja.

Each jar cost only one tael of silver, but they sold the wine in supermarkets, where it could fetch up to twenty taels of silver per jar.

The lowest price is ten taels of silver per jar.

Based on this calculation, Li Chengqian must have earned at least a million taels of silver. Did Li Chengqian hand over this money to the national treasury?

After hearing Fang Xuanling's calculations, Li Shimin realized that there was quite a bit of money involved.

However, he had never heard of Li Chenggan handing over the money to the national treasury.

Secondly, he harbors ulterior motives and actually intends to capture us, along with the other princes and princesses, all in one fell swoop.

He poisoned us all during the Lantern Festival, trying to kill us all.

This shows that

He and the Blue Bharadvaja must have reached an agreement: he promised to poison all of us in exchange for the Blue Bharadvaja selling him the wine at a 90% discount.

Your Majesty, luckily we are alive. A little black dog ate the glutinous rice balls and died on the spot, bleeding from all seven orifices. That's when we discovered that the glutinous rice balls were poisoned.

Otherwise, we would probably all be dead by now.

Upon hearing this, Li Shimin gasped, thinking to himself how ruthless Li Chengqian must be if this were true.

That's because I had something to do and left Jiucheng Palace; otherwise, wouldn't I have poisoned myself to death?

"Li Chengan harbors treacherous intentions toward regicide and patricide; his crimes are unforgivable," Fang Xuanling said solemnly.

Upon hearing this, Li Shimin's eyes blazed with fury.

Li Shimin paced back and forth in the hall, hands behind his back: "Is everything you're saying true?"

Everyone said it was true.

Fang Xuanling continued, "We know that Yanqi and Gaochang have formed an alliance, but Li Chenggan still allowed Ashina She'er to station troops on the border of Gaochang and did not launch an attack on Gaochang."

Li Chenggan and Princess Qu Zhili of Gaochang already have a child.

From this, we can infer that an agreement had been reached between Li Chenggan and Gaochang.

This is the crime of treason.

Furthermore, Li Chenggan and Buyeo Fengzhang had a close relationship, and this time, Baekje and Goguryeo joined forces to attack Silla.

Does this matter have nothing to do with Li Chengqian?

Did Li Chenggan intentionally have Baekje do this?

Li Chenggan intended to rebel and split the Tang Dynasty. How could he possibly have any fatherly affection for his son?

His only goal is to force you to abdicate as soon as possible so that he can fulfill his dream of becoming emperor.

Logically speaking, one should not interfere in the affairs of relatives. You and Li Chengan are father and son, so we shouldn't say such things.

However, as loyal subjects of the court, seeing the impending disaster, we had no choice but to tell the truth.

Upon hearing this, Li Shimin broke out in a cold sweat.

Ever since Li Chenggan dared to defy the imperial decree, he felt that his imperial power had been challenged.

Because, so far, apart from Li Chenggan, no one has dared to disobey his imperial edict.

Think about it, what wouldn't someone who dares to disobey even an imperial edict do?

Li Shimin remained hesitant, so Fang Xuanling continued to persuade him: "Your Majesty, we have received reliable information that Li Chenggan is still in contact with Chengxin and Wei Lingfu."

Someone discovered traces of Chengxin and Wei Lingfu in Luoyang.

"What? This unfilial son is indeed hanging out with those wicked people."

Li Shimin had always held a negative view of Xin Yu and Wei Lingfu, believing them to be sorcerers, and that Li Chengqian's association with them was a grave offense.

When Li Shimin heard that Li Chenggan was still in contact with Chengxin and Wei Lingfu, he was so angry that he trembled all over.

Your Majesty knows that you have a deep bond with your son, and that you love your son dearly. In an ordinary family, this would surely bring you the joys of family life.

But don't forget, this is the royal court.

Your Majesty, the royal family has no relatives.

Did Emperor Jing of Han not love his eldest son Liu Rong back then?

However, he knew that Liu Rong had to die.

If Liu Rong had not died, he would have caused great trouble for the future Crown Prince Liu Che.

Therefore, Emperor Jing of Han reluctantly parted with Liu Rong and used Zhi Du to deal with him.

Did Emperor Wu of Han not love his son Liu Ju?

but,

Ultimately, however, the witchcraft scandal erupted.

Fortunately, Emperor Wu of Han was not overthrown, mainly because Liu Ju did not have military power.

Is the current Crown Prince Li Chenggan the same as Liu Juneng?

Because of your affection for him, you lowered your guard, and unknowingly, he had already stationed Ashina She'er with 1 cavalry on the border of Gaochang.

"Your Majesty, do you think you can command that army?"

Li Shimin remained silent.

He still remembered that time when he issued an edict to expel all Turks from Chang'an, and Ashina She'er was among those expelled.

Later, it was Li Chengan who saved Ashina She'er.

Moreover, with Li Chengqian's help, he married Princess Hengyang to Ashina She'er.

Therefore, Ashina She'er was grateful to Li Chenggan, but resentful towards himself.

"Putting everything else aside, can you command a five-nation coalition?"

There are also over 100,000 Turkic troops who have just surrendered; they are stationed outside Chang'an. Can you mobilize even a single soldier?

As Fang Xuanling spoke with great emotion, he pointed his right index finger toward the north gate of Chang'an, his fingers trembling. "Your Majesty, please wake up! If you don't act soon, with just a word from Li Chengqian, Songtsen Gampo of Tibet, Murong Shun of Tuyuhun, Tuoba Chici of the Dangxiang, Shanbei Daxiong of the Japanese, and Ashina Simo of the Turks could immediately take Chang'an. Do you believe me?"

Fang Xuanling's words struck a nerve with Li Shimin.

This was also the problem that Li Shimin was most worried about.

He felt like he was being sidelined.

Li Shimin said to Fang Xuanling: "You mean to say that I can't control them?"

"Your Majesty, there's no need for us to argue about this. Why don't you send someone to convey your decree, saying that you want to withdraw their troops to fight against Goguryeo and Baekje, and see what they say?"

At this moment, Li Shimin also wanted to see what those people's attitude was.

Therefore, he issued decrees to Songtsen Gampo, Murong Shun, Ashina Simo, King Sanbei, and Tuoba Chici, ordering them to lead their troops to support Silla.

Li Shimin ordered Wang De to lead several eunuchs to convey his decree.

After Wang De and the others left, Li Shimin felt uneasy.

Because at this moment, he was also uncertain. He didn't know what those people's attitude was, or whether they really disobeyed his orders as Fang Xuanling had said.

About half an hour later, the messengers who had been sent out to deliver the imperial edict returned one after another. They all said that they disagreed with sending troops, and that if Li Chengqian wanted to mobilize their troops, they would go through fire and water without hesitation.

Li Shimin would have been better off not listening to these words, for upon hearing them, he flew into a rage, exclaiming, "Rebellion! Truly rebellion!"

"By my decree, Chang He is to lead the Imperial Guards to immediately execute Li Chenggan. There's no need to inform me; execute him on the spot!"

Upon hearing this, Fang Xuanling, Cen Wenzi, Chai Lingwu, Wei Ting, and others exclaimed in unison, "Your Majesty is wise!"

Fang Xuanling hesitated for a moment, then took two steps forward: "Your Majesty, I absolutely believe in Chang He's loyalty to you. However, I have heard that Chang He's concubine, Bai Mudan, and Su Wan have become sworn sisters. Given this relationship..."

Your humble servant is worried that Chang He will not be able to bring himself to harm the Crown Prince.

"Your humble servant recommends someone to arrest Li Chenggan; it will certainly not be a problem."

"Who are you talking about?"

"That is Zhang Shigui. He is extremely loyal to His Majesty. If His Majesty orders him to go east, he will never go west. Even if His Majesty orders him to go through fire and water, he will not even flinch."

Li Shimin nodded: "That's right. Back then, Zhang Shigui fought many major and fierce battles alongside me."

I know he is very loyal to the court, therefore I send him to Hedong to recruit troops.

I heard that he brought his four sons, Zhang Zhilong, Zhang Zhihu, Zhang Zhibiao, and Zhang Zhibao, along with his son-in-law He Zongxian, to participate in the martial arts examination.

"That's right. Let Zhang Shigui lead his four sons and sons-in-law to kill Li Chenggan. That way, there will be no chance of failure."

He Zongxian is highly skilled in martial arts. Last time, when fighting against the Turkic army, he single-handedly saved six people: Qin Ying, Ashina Jieshe, Zhang Zhilong, Zhang Zhihu, Zhang Zhibiao, and Zhang Zhibao. His martial arts skills are truly remarkable.

For this, the imperial court also commended He Zongxian.

Li Shimin nodded: "Alright, let Zhang Shigui lead two thousand of his men to kill Li Chenggan."

Anyone who dares to obstruct me shall be killed without mercy, and brought to me with Li Chengqian's head!

"promise!"

……

The Duke of Yi's Mansion.

Li Chengan stood with his hands behind his back in front of the gate of the Duke of Yi's mansion.

Because, at this point, a stalemate has been reached.

Chang He led two thousand imperial guards to completely surround the Duke of Yi's mansion.

Although he retreated three hundred paces, he was still unwilling to withdraw his troops.

Chang He was waiting for news from Gongsun Wuda.

He believed that Li Shimin would soon issue an order to search the Yiguo Duke's mansion. Once the imperial edict arrived, he could rush in to search and drag out the traitor Luo Cheng.

However, Qin Qiong was not someone to be trifled with.

He said, "We are, after all, a ducal mansion, and are protected by the imperial court."

His Majesty once said that without His Majesty's decree, no one can easily surround the Duke of Yi's mansion.

Since Chang He dared to do this today, he must apologize. Otherwise, from now on, anyone can surround the Duke of Yi's mansion.

Then, what kind of security can be claimed in this Duke's mansion?

Chang He, however, believed he was not wrong, because he had found a jade pendant engraved with Luo Cheng's name, and this pendant was enough to prove that Luo Cheng had been here.

Although Qin Qiong told him that the jade pendant was a token exchanged between him and Luo Cheng, he didn't believe it at all.

Li Chengan was worried that the two sides would clash again, so he stood guard at the door and waited to see what would happen.

Because before he arrived, he had already instructed Qin Huaiyu to go find Cheng Yaojin.

Li Chengan knew that although Cheng Yaojin was a rough man, he had a lot of ideas.

Just at this time,

Li Chengan saw a person walking with faltering steps to the gate of the Duke of Yi's mansion.