Call of the Heroes of Chaos in Another World

Chapter 2419 Lu Xianlin Enters Tang, Xuanwu Gate Incident

The great hero who had helped the court conquer half of the country was attacked by assassins on his way back, even within the capital city.

In fact, they almost got away with it.

Fortunately, Li Shimin's sworn brother, the Theravada Buddhist Jin Chanzi, was in Li Shimin's entourage at the time. He not only subdued the assassins immediately after the attack but also controlled the poison in Li Shimin's body.

This gave the imperial physicians a chance to save him.

Even so, Li Shimin remained unconscious for three full days before finally waking up.

Such a heinous assassination attempt would undoubtedly be a momentous event, a major incident that would shake the very foundations of any dynasty and cost countless lives.

As for this kind of matter, Emperor Li Hao of the Tang Dynasty was determined to investigate it thoroughly.

If this matter is not given an explanation, the consequences will be incredibly troublesome even for the emperor.

He could even imagine that if this matter wasn't properly resolved, some people might eventually associate it with him.

The assassins who carried out the assassination in the street were all clearly suicide soldiers. They had obviously taken poison beforehand and had no intention of going back, regardless of whether they succeeded or not.

Even though these assassins were dead, the full mobilization of the state apparatus still subtly linked the matter to the Crown Prince's residence.

Upon learning of this outcome, Li Hao was equally distressed. This matter was related to the Crown Prince, and if it were confirmed, the impact on the country would be extremely severe.

However, even so, he could not use his status as emperor to forcibly suppress this matter.

There's no other reason than that this matter has become too big a fuss, and all aspects of the Tang Dynasty's military and political affairs, as well as the imperial family, are paying close attention and following up on it.

Even if it really is related to the Crown Prince, if he tries to use his status as emperor to forcefully suppress him, the consequences are not something he can bear.

Although the emperor is supreme, it doesn't mean he can do whatever he wants; the more virtuous the emperor, the more so. In fact, only those incompetent rulers can kill whomever they want, acting entirely according to their own whims.

The most direct point is that as the country's greatest contributor, he suffered such a thing inexplicably. If a proper explanation is not given, which of the remaining civil and military officials will be willing to work hard and make contributions?

Furthermore, even if someone is an emperor, he is still an emperor if he has the support of his people. If he doesn't have countless people who form the source of his power, then who would be his emperor?
Fortunately, although the matter involved the Crown Prince, it was only that someone had seen the assassins near the Crown Prince's residence. This little bit of information was far from enough to prove the matter.

Even if this matter becomes a huge scandal, it's impossible for a crown prince to admit to doing it without evidence, let alone be punished.

The crown prince is a matter of national importance, not just anyone. Even if there is a serious crime involved, the punishment can only be carried out after the evidence is solid.

In fact, even though this matter only had a slight connection with the Crown Prince, many people had already started to speculate.

After all, in the years following the Battle of Hulao Pass, General Li Shimin and the Second Prince did have more contact. It is said that when Li Shimin was away on campaign, the two maintained regular correspondence.

As the prince who could most threaten the crown prince's position, yet potentially had the support of Li Shimin, the first emperor of the People's Republic of China, it was understandable for the crown prince to be worried. In fact, if he hadn't truly been innocent, even the crown prince would have believed that he was the one who committed the act.

There was indeed no concrete evidence, but the seemingly plausible clues all pointed to his Crown Prince's residence. Moreover, his motives for doing so seemed far too compelling.

But the crucial point is that he really didn't do it. If he said he was going to take action, wouldn't it have been better to attack his own brother directly? Why attack his cousin?

It's much easier to take action against your own brother than against your cousin.

Furthermore, even if he were to actually take action, he would definitely choose a more prudent approach.

The problem is that more and more clues are pointing to him, and it would be impossible for the Crown Prince not to panic at this point.

If this is confirmed, he can forget about becoming the crown prince.

It was at this moment that Lu Tao and Lu Xianlin, advisors to the Crown Prince, came up with a plan: rather than passively waiting for death, they should take advantage of the fact that the matter was not yet settled and go all out.

While the position of Crown Prince is still in place and the Eastern Palace Guard is still under his control, he will use this force to ambush the Second Prince, then force the Emperor to abdicate, thus securing the final outcome.

Lu Tao even analyzed to the Crown Prince that this was the time when his chances of winning were at their highest.

The nation's three supreme generals are facing a severe shortage of personnel: the Protectorate General is stationed in the south to defend against the Great Xiao, the Martial General is away on campaign, and the Heavenly Strategy General is currently seriously injured. There is no one capable of taking charge of the overall situation.

If they can strike decisively and kill the emperor, and once the situation is settled, they can force the emperor to abdicate. The court officials and the three generals will likely have no choice but to accept it.

After all, the emperor only had three sons, the youngest of whom was still an infant.

After eliminating the other one, if you're still not comfortable with that, eliminate the youngest one as well. That will leave you with only one option. How could the court and the imperial family possibly refuse to acknowledge that?

As one of the most representative figures of Legalism and one of the Four Heroes of Legalism, Lu Tao was naturally highly valued by the Crown Prince after he entered the Eastern Palace.

With Lu Tao's help, the Second Prince has indeed been suppressed step by step over the past two years.

Therefore, the Crown Prince trusted Lu Tao quite a lot.

Now that he's been forced into this situation, if he continues to wait, and if the mastermind behind it all manages to implicate him further, and the emperor removes him from his position as crown prince, he won't even have the strength to make a final stand.

Of course, most importantly, after listening to Lu Tao's analysis, he really believed that this matter was very likely to succeed.

The throne, which he had always dreamed of, suddenly seemed so close to him, closer than ever before. Under these circumstances, the crown prince was finally blinded by the allure of the throne.

Thus, the first Xuanwu Gate Incident, which influenced the entire course of the Tang Dynasty, officially began.