The film and television world begins with the battle for the throne in Kowloon

Chapter 591 Chang Sheng and Wu Qing's Plan
That day, Li Yan came back from the palace and met Chang Sheng who came to pay him a visit.

Chang Sheng looked extremely haggard, with dim eyes and untidy beard. He went to meet Li Yan in a listless manner. Sun Da's accidental death in the royal forbidden garden had greatly disrupted Chang Sheng's plans.

In fact, Sun Da's appearance in the royal forbidden garden was not accidental. Chang Sheng had figured out Li Yan's character. Sun Da's act of alerting the enemy was precisely to arouse Li Shimin's vigilance and withdraw the guards of the Eastern Palace to create conditions for Sun Da's subsequent assassination.

Chang Sheng felt very aggrieved. Who would have thought that Li Yan, as a prince, was so cowardly and afraid of death. He didn't care about the image of a prince at all. He was not afraid of being ridiculed by others and even went to the sacrifice with two hundred fully armed guards.

That’s not all. Sun Da is extremely brave, and even two hundred East Palace guards may not be able to capture Sun Da in the jungle.

But who would have thought that the two hundred guards in this capital area, equipped with powerful bows and crossbows, caused Sun Da to be careless and be defeated prematurely.

With Sun Da's death, the court was safe, and Li Yan would not stand guard for Li Shimin in the rain, nor would he withdraw all the guards from the Eastern Palace, so there was no chance for assassination. Chang Sheng could not find a brave general like Sun Da for a while, and wandered around the capital for two days. Seeing that there was no chance, he had to come to see Li Yan.

Without anyone trying to assassinate Li Yan, Chang Sheng naturally could not achieve any merit. Chang Sheng did not know yet that his fate had been decided during the conversation between Li Yan and Li Shimin. The commander-in-chief of the Zuotunwei Army, which was based on the six leaders of the Crown Prince Yin and the Eastern Palace, was completely out of his reach.

Li Yan pretended to be indifferent and was very enthusiastic about Chang Sheng's return. He asked Chang Sheng in a friendly manner about Yunzhong's attack on Liang Shidu. Chang Sheng responded without much interest and began to ask about his position in a roundabout way.

Li Yan didn't waste any words, smiled slightly, and said directly: "Xiao Shengzi, the court has recalled you this time and intends to appoint you as the General of the Eastern Palace Left Guard and the Junior Secretary of the Honglu Temple."

Well.
Chang Sheng was stunned. Although the General of the Left Guard of the Eastern Palace and the General of the Right Guard of the Imperial Court were both fourth-rank military posts, and the former was half a level higher, the latter directly controlled the 5,000 imperial guards of the Northern Yamen and was just a nominal position.

The Shaoqing of the Honglu Temple was a civil servant who was sent on missions to receive foreign envoys, which was tantamount to hanging himself up.

Coupled with Sun Da's unexpected death a few days ago, Chang Sheng couldn't help wondering if the court knew something. So he knelt down in fear and asked tentatively: "Your Highness, did I do something wrong?"

"No."

Li Yan pulled Chang Sheng up with an unchanged smile: "Chang Sheng, you did a great job. This time in Yunzhong, you were the first to break into Liang Shidu's mansion. You have made a great contribution. But the border is in a dangerous situation. You don't know how worried I am. I am afraid that something might happen to you."

At this point, Li Yan sighed, "Since I was a child, I have only had two close people around me. Fan Xing died because of the Suizhou incident. You are the only one left, so I begged my father to transfer you back and arrange you in the East Palace. After all, the capital is safer."

When Chang Sheng heard this, he felt even more angry. After all this time, it wasn't him who was exposed, but the useless prince wanted him to come back to save the situation. Of course, maybe he was really worried about his feelings, which made Chang Sheng laugh and cry.

So he said: "Your Highness, as a military commander, I should kill the enemy and serve my country. I am not afraid of death, and I am willing to lead the troops to kill the enemy. Otherwise, please let me go back to the border."

"Changsheng, I know I have wronged you this time. I know you are loyal, but I don't have any capable people around me right now. You don't know that the King of Shu has been relying on his followers to provoke me repeatedly recently and doesn't take me, the prince, seriously."

Li Yan looked embarrassed and said indignantly, "Just like this time, I was going to fight for the position of General of the Left Guard for you, but Li Ke took away the 5,000 imperial guards of the Left Guard from my father on the pretext of negotiating with Jie Li and rescuing the 30,000 people of Suizhou who were abducted by the Turks."

"I have no choice. My father wants to appease Li Ke and rescue the people of Suizhou as soon as possible, so he has no choice but to hand over the post of Li Ke's confidant Cheng Huailiang to the Left Tunwei Yifu Zhonglangjiang."

"Humph, Li Ke has these five thousand imperial guards, and his power has greatly increased. I am weak and alone, so I have no choice but to place you in the East Palace first. However, at least your position has been promoted. If there is a vacancy in the imperial guards next time, or after Cheng Huailiang is transferred, I will fight for you again."

"I promise you that next time there is a vacancy, the position of Lieutenant General of the Imperial Guards will definitely be yours. What do you think?"

Li Yan stared at Chang Sheng with a friendly look on his face, seemingly casually, but actually hinting with bad intentions.

"Cheng Huailiang? Humph."

Chang Sheng's face was gloomy, his hands were clenched into fists, his teeth were clenched, a sharp light flashed in his eyes, and he said unwillingly: "We are fighting desperately in the front, killing the enemy and making meritorious contributions, but he can control the imperial guards just by relying on his good family background and the support of the King of Shu. It's really unfair."

"Oh, forget it. It's all because I, the crown prince, am too weak to compete with the King of Shu."

Li Yan imitated Liu Bei and sighed, then advised: "But this is not a bad thing. Chang Sheng, you are not young anymore. You are now a senior general of the fourth rank, and you are also successful. It's time to think about your own affairs. You can't always be single, right?" "It's just right to take advantage of this period of time in the capital to find a wife, start a family, and continue the incense of your Chang family!"

"Your Highness, I only want to achieve great things and nothing else." Chang Sheng's expression froze, his face gloomy, and he explained argumentatively.

Li Yan smiled and patted Chang Sheng's shoulder: "Don't worry, the court is preparing for war. In a year or two at most, our Tang Dynasty will launch a full-scale offensive against the Turks. Don't worry about not having the opportunity to lead troops to fight. You won't be able to rest for long."

"You've been traveling hard these past few days, so I'll give you a few days off. The work at the Eastern Palace isn't urgent, so you can take up your post when you've rested. The Honglu Temple is just a temporary position, so go to the army later to complete the formalities, and then go home to rest."

Seeing that the matter had become a foregone conclusion and that the prince did have good intentions, Chang Sheng had no choice but to chat with Li Yan for a while longer before saying goodbye and leaving.

As a high-ranking military general, Changsheng had his own residence in Pingkangfang, near the East Market in the inner city.

After leaving the palace, he walked along the street back to his home. Before he even entered the house, the housekeeper who was usually responsible for cleaning and management at home came forward to take the horse and whispered, "Master, your old friend came last time and is waiting to see you in the study."

Well.
Chang Sheng subconsciously looked around and told the housekeeper to watch carefully at the door. A man entered the yard. Chang Sheng had always been known for his diligence and thrift in the army, so the yard he lived in was the one that the Queen gave to Chang Sheng as a reward three years ago for accompanying Li Yan to Luo Yi's army as a hostage.

Although the courtyard is not luxurious, it has three floors. The most important thing is that it is located in Pingkangfang, which is close to the imperial city. However, this place is very expensive and the people living nearby are all dignitaries of the fifth rank and above in the court. No matter how rich ordinary people are, they are not qualified to live in this place.

After walking through the garden in front and entering the central hall, I met Wu Qing, who was wearing a casual robe.

Upon seeing Chang Sheng, Wu Qing hurriedly stepped forward and bowed, then asked: "General, how is it, have you found out any important information, has the court noticed anything?"

Chang Sheng sat down, shook his head with a gloomy face, and then told Wu Qing the whole story. Wu Qing learned that the prince brought so many people to the sacrifice because he was afraid of being assassinated, and because of the involvement of the King of Shu, he missed the position of Lieutenant General of the Imperial Guards of Zuo Tunwei.

Li Yan transferred Chang Sheng back, and was originally confident that he could get a position in the Imperial Guards, but he did not expect to encounter a series of accidents.

After hearing this, Wu Qing felt relieved. On the one hand, he and his companions were not exposed, but on the other hand, he also felt regretful.

He complained, "I told you this is risky, but Sun Da wouldn't listen. He relied on his martial arts skills and said that no one could do anything to him in the wilderness. Now, not only did he lose his life, but he also interrupted our next plan."

"It is a shame that such a brave general who could catch tigers with his bare hands died from a bow and arrow!"

Both of them felt very aggrieved, and finally Wu Qing said: "However, as long as the prince still trusts you, there is still a chance. No matter what, the plan to seize military power cannot be changed."

"Some of those who were loyal to the prince have been transferred over the past few years, and many of those who stayed have lost their fighting spirit and have forgotten their hatred. They just want to live a stable life. There are not many people who still remember the prince's kindness. We can't keep waiting."

Chang Sheng thought for a moment and said, "Although the rank of General of the Eastern Palace's Left Guard is not low, he is only responsible for the training of the palace soldiers and guarding the Prince's Palace. He is not very useful. We still need to find a way to gain the military power of the Northern Palace Guards."

"But fortunately, the court is preparing for war now. Many veterans like Zhang Daozun are trying to transfer to the border areas in order to participate in this war. Maybe there will be opportunities. The prince has promised me that as long as there is a vacancy in the imperial guards, he will definitely recommend me. This time the emperor has offended the prince, and he will definitely consider me next time."

"no!"

Wu Qing said decisively: "Although there may be vacancies in the Imperial Guard, only the 5,000 men of Zuotunwei Yifu are from the old East Palace team and have the best foundation. I finally persuaded Zhang Daozun to take the initiative to transfer to the front line in Yunzhong just to give you a chance."

"If it were another imperial guard, it would be impossible to mobilize them just by relying on the orders of the generals, let alone take advantage of the opportunity to cause chaos."

Standing up and wandering anxiously for a while, Wu Qing suddenly said, "By the way, didn't you say that the prince promised that if there is another vacancy, he will definitely recommend you to the position?"

"Yeah, what's wrong?" Chang Sheng asked puzzledly.

(End of this chapter)