Tiantang Splendid

Chapter 4729 Just in case
Fang Jun has always been absolutely confident in the relationship between himself and Li Chengqian. This was earned by his support for Li Chengqian at the cost of angering Emperor Li II and making enemies with the court and the public. Not to mention that he later supported Li Chengqian to ascend the throne and successively defeated the two mutinies of Guanlong and Prince of Jin.

No matter how modest Fang Jun was, he still believed that he fully deserved the title of "Guarding the Sky".

He also believed that Li Chengqian was an emotional and kind-hearted king. Li Chengqian, who had never experienced fratricide or violence among his brothers, was not capricious or violent, but kind-hearted.

And he never coveted anything he shouldn't covet, and even gradually gave up the military power in his hands, which was bound to win Li Chengqian's absolute trust.

But now after hearing what Li Ji said, he suddenly realized that he might be too naive.

An "emperor" is also a human being, but once a person becomes an "emperor", he may not be the same person as before...

As the supreme ruler of the world, the emperor should be selfish by nature, because there is no two suns in the sky and no two rulers in a country. Once the emperor's power is challenged, his sense of security will disappear, and will be replaced by endless suspicion and irritability.

Because the emperor is selfish, he will not believe that anyone would disdain ultimate power.

When he instigated "military reform" in order to gradually shift "rule by man" to "rule by law", and when the power of the prime minister in the Council of State gradually encroached on the imperial power, could Li Chengqian still trust and support him as always?

Is the rumor of "having an affair with the Queen" really just a rumor among the people in the market, or is it deliberately exaggerated by someone?
Is the mastermind behind the scenes really just the clan elder that he thinks he is?

Fang Jun shuddered with fear as he thought about all this.

I couldn't help but think of what my father said that day, "Just do it if you want to." Although he was encouraging him to give it a try as long as it was beneficial to the country and the people, he might have been worried inside. "Benefiting the country and the people" might not necessarily be beneficial to the emperor. Sometimes the interests of the emperor are not consistent with those of the country and the people.

As long as you sit on that supreme position, everything will change...

Fang Jun took a sip of tea and held the cup in his hand: "Thank you for your teachings, Mr. Ying. I will think about this carefully."

Li Ji said, "You don't have to thank me. The reason I'm telling you this is not only because I have high hopes for you, but also because I hope the court will be stable and all policies can be implemented in an orderly and stable manner, without the possibility of people being forgotten or the government being destroyed. This is good for the country, for your majesty, and even for you and me."

Politics is both a game and a compromise, and it changes all the time as people change. Li Ji does not want to wait until the political situation changes too much after he retires or even dies, because it means that the Li family is very likely to be liquidated from all sides. It's okay as long as his eldest son is alive, and perhaps he can find a way to survive in the dangerous situation, but once the eldest son who has been sick since childhood is gone, the rest of his descendants will most likely be used as stepping stones for promotion and be trampled to death.

Although his descendants have their own blessings, Li Ji definitely does not want his descendants to smash his tombstone, dig up his grave, whip his corpse, and grind his bones to scatter his ashes after his death...

There is no doubt that after he retires, Fang Jun will be the unparalleled pillar of the court. No one can shake Fang Jun's position. As long as Fang Jun does not fall, the political situation of the Tang Dynasty will continue stably. Therefore, both publicly and privately, Li Ji does not want Fang Jun to have any accidents.

But the problem now is that Fang Jun is too deeply tied to His Majesty. Although he can get an equal amount of return by supporting His Majesty without reservation, once the relationship between the two changes, Fang Jun will die without a burial place...

……

For the entire afternoon, Fang Jun hid in the duty room, thinking about the relationship between him and Li Chengqian, as well as the recent turbulent situation inside and outside the court, hoping to sort out a thread and try to see through the heavy fog on the surface to see who is causing trouble beneath the surface.

The rest is fine, but there is one thing that Fang Jun is very concerned about: Who spread the rumors about him having an affair with the queen? Was it active or passive? When these rumors entered the palace, how did Li Chengqian deal with them? Did he smile indifferently and not take them seriously, or did he believe them and feel a lump in his throat?

Fang Jun never doubted Li Chengqian's intelligence, but he was worried about Li Chengqian's character.

History has proven that the intelligent Li Chengqian has a very poor ability to withstand pressure. Once faced with tremendous pressure, he is likely to make extremely extreme and jaw-dropping decisions. Moreover, he is not only bold, but also whimsical...

Some plans need to be modified and corrected, some things need to be prepared and back-up plans reserved, and he cannot rely on Li Chengqian's trust in him for everything.

After finishing his shift and returning to the mansion, he immediately sent a letter to Luoyang by express horse, asking Xi Junmai to secretly mobilize 50 small warships and 3,000 naval soldiers to assemble at Mengjin Ferry, equip them with firearms and be on standby at all times, and to confuse others by presenting themselves as a caravan.

He also wrote a letter to Wu Meiniang, asking her to collect food, fodder and supplies in the name of a business and store them in Luoyang so that they could be shipped to Guanzhong at any time.

He called his personal soldiers in again and said, "Leave the city and go to Xuanwu Gate immediately. Take my token and tell Wang Fangyi that he must control Xuanwu Gate. He must die at Xuanwu Gate even if he has to! No matter who goes to Xuanwu Gate at any time and asks him to remove his military power, we don't need to pay any attention to them and will just kill them!"

"Here."

The soldiers took the order and left.

As the commanding height of Taiji Palace, Xuanwu Gate has an unparalleled strategic position. As long as Xuanwu Gate is there, Taiji Palace is under control. Once Xuanwu Gate is lost, the entire situation will completely collapse. Both Li Chengqian in the palace and Fang Jun outside the palace will fall into the attack of the rebels.

Princess Gaoyang walked in holding a teacup. Seeing Fang Jun sitting behind the desk with a frown on his face, she stepped forward and placed the teacup on the desk. She walked around to Fang Jun's back and gently rubbed his temples with her slender hands, saying with concern, "The affairs of the court are always endless. Now that we are back home, we should put them aside for the time being. We should not get up early and sleep late, and eat all night long. Health is the most important thing. It would be the stupidest to ruin our bodies and let those bad guys enjoy it. Drink this cup of ginseng tea, then take a bath, change clothes, and go to bed early. Although we are still young, the sooner we start to maintain our health, the better."

Fang Jun put down his pen, picked up the ginseng tea and took a sip. He felt a little sick, and felt the warm body against him. He smiled and said, "This is both ginseng tea and good for health. Is it possible that your Highness is a little disappointed with my performance, so you are urging me to work hard in bed and die for you?"

"Can't you just speak properly?" Princess Gaoyang's pretty face flushed. Even an old couple could not stand such teasing. She bent her middle finger and tapped her husband's head lightly with her knuckles to express her dissatisfaction.

Fang Jun was naturally not afraid of her. Talking some secret words in the boudoir would promote the relationship between husband and wife: "It is the way of heaven for husband and wife to respect each other. If one of them is dissatisfied, they should naturally raise it, and then the two of them should discuss together, learn from each other's strengths and overcome their weaknesses, strive for excellence in the discussion, make progress together, and compose the music of a better life together..."

"Stop, stop, stop!"

Princess Gaoyang's face was dark. She moved aside, held her husband's face in her hands and moved it towards her. When their eyes met, she spat, "Speak properly! Today, the Queen sent someone to summon me to the palace to talk about Sizi's intention to become a monk... What do you think?"

The news of Princess Jinyang becoming a nun has been making a lot of noise these past two days. Fang Jun has naturally heard about it. He sighed and said, "It doesn't matter what I think. I don't think much about it. This matter has nothing to do with me."

Princess Gaoyang was somewhat dissatisfied. She stretched out her hand and pinched her husband's arm, complaining, "What a cruel heart! Isn't it because Sizi is reluctant to marry you that she has you in her heart? At this moment, you actually said that it has nothing to do with you. You are really ungrateful and unfaithful."

"Don't dare to say such nonsense!"

Fang Jun cried out: "From the beginning to the end, I have never had the slightest desire for you. I purely treat Sizi as my sister. If you say anything false, I would rather be struck by lightning..."

Before she finished speaking, Gao Yang blocked her mouth and said angrily, "You are talking nonsense. Why are you swearing for no reason? Bah! Although you have no dirty intentions, your pampering of Sizi over the years can't be fake, right? It was fine when she was a child, but now that she is a young girl and has just begun to fall in love, with a man like you who is both literary and martial, talented and caring for her, how can she not fall in love with him? So, you are wrong after all."

Fang Jun was speechless: "Is it my fault that you are too good?"

"Alas," Gao Yang sighed, with a sad face, "You are not wrong, and she is not wrong either. It's fate that is wrong. But now that things have come to this, we can't just watch Sizi become a nun and practice Taoism, right? Women are supposed to get married, have children, and take care of their husbands and children. How can she be alone with the green lamp and scriptures? That kind of suffering is not something that ordinary people can endure."

Fang Jun also had a headache. If Emperor Li II were still alive, he would have probably summoned him into the palace and scolded him, or pushed him out of the palace and whipped him, or locked him in the room and beat him. In short, he would have made sure to put all the blame on him.

"Since practicing Taoism is very hard, why not let Sizi practice for a few days? If it is really hard, considering her pampered past, she might not be able to bear it after a few days and cry and shout that she wants to get married."

For Princess Jinyang, who had suffered from many illnesses since childhood and was once diagnosed by imperial physicians as having a high risk of living to adulthood, she was the legitimate daughter of Emperor Li II and Empress Wende, and was loved and cared for by her brothers and sisters. During the Renhe period, she was indeed qualified to do as she pleased and acted willfully. Even for such a major event in life as marriage, none of her brothers and sisters dared to force her when she acted willfully and insisted on not getting married.

Fang Jun could only come up with this bad plan.