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

Chapter 674: Conquering Chang Sheng (Part )

Li Yan looked at Chang Sheng who was lost in thought and smiled in his heart: "Xiao Shengzi, you have been with me for six or seven years. You are not young anymore. There are many children of aristocratic families in the East Palace. They have many sisters of marriageable age. Why don't I find a wife for you?"

"It would be good to start a family and continue the Chang family's bloodline. You are now a fourth-rank military officer in the court. There are not many people in the court who are still single after reaching your level. Since you can't find one yourself, why don't you let me make the decision for you?"

Changsheng felt annoyed. He thought it was some big deal.

This young prince always nags me about finding a wife every time he sees me. Does he really care about me, or is he trying to win over some important officials in the court?
The court will be marching north this winter. As the crown prince, don't you have anything important to do?
I am always concerned about my family life.
Thinking that the prince was well-intentioned, Chang Sheng suppressed his annoyance and said expressionlessly: "Your Highness, Chang Sheng only wants to kill the enemy and gain merit, and does not want to get married for the time being."

After giving a blunt refusal, Chang Sheng stopped talking after expressing his attitude.
Li Yan seemed not to notice Chang Sheng's displeasure, and continued to speak kindly: "Xiao Shengzi, I really can't bear to see you all alone. Since you don't want to get married, do you have any relatives at home?"

"You can be brought to the capital. You are now successful and famous. Other people are living together as a family, but you are the only one living alone in such a big house. It's so lonely and cold. I can't bear it!"

Chang Sheng's heart darkened. If someone else had asked him this question, he would have been alert. However, facing the prince, with whom he had lived for six or seven years, he had never noticed anything unusual about him. After a while, Chang Sheng felt relieved.

So he didn't think much about it, and said solemnly with his head down: "Thank you for your concern, Your Highness. In the fifth year of Wude, before I went to Zhongshan to join the army, my family suffered a disaster. All my relatives are gone, and my distant relatives don't visit anymore. I don't have many relatives, so Your Highness won't worry about me."

"Um"

Seeing that Chang Sheng was really not interested, Li Yan comforted him a few more words and then sent him out, leaving Chang Sheng confused.

As soon as Chang Sheng left, Li Yan ordered the guards at the door to stay and not let anyone in, then closed the door and walked into a room next door.

There were two people tied up inside, one was a white-haired old man in his fifties or sixties, and the other was a young girl of seventeen or eighteen years old. Both were tied to chairs with thick strips of cloth on their mouths. When they saw Li Yan come in, they struggled and moaned.

These two people were none other than Chang Sheng's father, Chang Sanduo, whom Wang Xuance had been eyeing, and his niece Cai Ji, who was also Chang Sheng's engaged wife since childhood.

This room was separated from the reception room outside by only a wooden fence, with a thin layer of paper at the thinnest part, and several holes in it. The light inside was dim, and one could see the scene outside, but no one outside could see inside.

The two people sitting inside saw clearly the conversation between Li Yan and Chang Sheng just now.

Li Yan waved his hand, and Wang Xuance beside him untied the ropes and cloth strips on the two men. Once they were free, the two men knelt on the ground and said, "I, Your Highness, pay my respects to you. I don't know how I have offended you, Your Highness. Please forgive me."

Cai Ji looked at Li Yan timidly, kneeling on the ground with a terrified look on her face. She didn't dare to say a word, but just looked at Li Yan and Wang Xuance vigilantly.

Today, Brother Wang, who had always been very considerate to himself and his uncle, brought some cooked food and wine. The two were caught off guard. Not long after eating, they felt dizzy. When they woke up, they came to this strange place, and they were tied up tightly.

At first, he thought he had fallen into the hands of a strong man, and then he was even more shocked when he saw Brother Wang standing beside him. Before he could figure out the situation, he heard Brother Wang asking the two to keep quiet and watch the scene outside silently. Cai Ji had sharp eyes and could tell at a glance that the general in armor was his cousin, the commander, but he didn't know the young man.

When the two of them started talking, Chang Sanduo also quieted down when he heard the familiar voice and watched the conversation outside quietly.

The two men didn't talk for long. They just chatted a little and asked about some family matters. But the content of the conversation made Chang Sanduo and Cai Ji very angry. Your father is obviously still alive, but you said he was dead. This is really treasonous.

But what shocked the two even more was that the young man opposite them was actually called His Highness.

Nowadays, anyone who dares to call himself "Your Highness" is either a descendant of the emperor or a prince, so the two of them confessed their crime immediately.

Li Yan glanced at Wang Xuance, who immediately explained, "Uncle Chang, the man in front of you is not an ordinary prince, but the Crown Prince of the Tang Dynasty. As for me, I am not a merchant who came to Chang'an to do business, but a subordinate of the Crown Prince. I came here to take care of you on the order of the Crown Prince."

Chang Sanduo was stunned, and knelt down like a pounding garlic, trembling as he said, "I didn't know you were the Crown Prince, please spare my life."

Li Yan frowned slightly, thinking that the people in front of him were just ordinary people who had never seen the world, and said in a kind manner: "Uncle Chang, don't be afraid, I have no ill will towards you. I invited you two here today because I had no choice. You will understand later."

After Wang Xuance helped the two sit down, Li Yan looked at their nervous and frightened faces and said with a smile, "Mr. Chang may have forgotten that we have met before, and Miss Caiji has also met before."

Seeing the two people's puzzled eyes, Li Yan explained: "Have you forgotten that in the beginning of July in the ninth year of Wude, in the village near Pujindu in Tongguan, a few soldiers knocked on your door in the middle of the night and asked for a bowl of water?"

"It was a little girl, probably this little girl, who fetched water for us. You guys are still kind to me." When Li Yan mentioned this, Old Man Chang recalled for a while, and suddenly realized: "I remember that there was such a night when the Turks attacked near Tongguan. I thought they were Turks and was so scared that I didn't dare to go out."

"I didn't know it was His Royal Highness the Crown Prince at the time. I really neglected His Royal Highness."

Talking about the old days, Old Man Chang and Cai Ji felt relieved a little. This meant that they had not offended the prince, and since they still had some old friendship, the prince would not hurt them anymore, right?

"I'm sure you two saw and heard the conversation between me and the general just now."

Li Yan changed the subject and asked, "Are you two familiar with that general?"

"familiar."

"do not know"

The former was the answer from Old Man Chang, and the latter was the first time Cai Ji spoke.

Wang Xuance frowned and said solemnly, "Old man Chang, if you know me, just say you know me. If you don't know me, just say you don't know me. How can you speak nonsense in front of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince? It is a serious crime to deceive His Royal Highness. You must answer honestly."

Old Man Chang looked at Caiji in confusion. Even an old man like him recognized his own son, so why did Caiji say he didn't know him?
Seeing Cai Ji winking at him, Old Man Chang looked at Wang Xuance with a serious face, and stammered, not knowing whether he should tell the truth.

Wang Xuance was about to speak when he saw this, but Li Yan knew very well that Cai Ji had always been a very smart girl, and the wandering life for so many years had made her cautious.

In this unknown environment, she must have been thinking a lot and worried about ruining Changsheng's plans.

Li Yan said indifferently: "Since you haven't thought it through, then you can think about it slowly. But regarding the matter of the general just now, I think you two may be interested. It happens that I have nothing to do, so I will tell you about it in detail."

Seeing Old Man Chang's curious look, Li Yan began to recall: "In August of the fifth year of Wude, as the crown prince of the King of Qin, I was named the Prince of Zhongshan by the Emperor Retired and sent to Zhongshan to guard the border. At that time, Zhongshan was located on the border and was often attacked by the Turks."

"Once, a captain named Changsheng rushed into dozens of enemy cavalrymen to save a soldier trapped in the enemy's formation. He was hit by five arrows and became famous. I admired his bravery very much, so I promoted him to be the commander of the guards."

"Later, when the current emperor ascended the throne, I was called back to Chang'an, and this guard commander escorted me back to the capital."

"That night, on our way back to Beijing, I was the child standing in the yard, and the one knocking on the door was Fan Xing, the chief historian of the Prince's Mansion. The other person standing at the door with his back to the yard was Chang Sheng."

Old Man Chang was stunned for a moment, and murmured, "It turned out to be Lord Fan. I was wondering why he looked so familiar. When I was in Suizhou, I didn't dare to recognize him several times."

Cai Ji excitedly pulled Old Man Chang's arm and said, "Uncle, I told you at the time that it was Lingguan, but you didn't believe me. I feel..."

When Cai Ji said this, he realized that he had let the cat out of the bag and lowered his head in shame.

Li Yan continued, "After returning to the capital, I was appointed as the crown prince by the emperor as the eldest son, but Chang Sheng volunteered to go to the front line in Yunzhong to attack Liangshidu. He was promoted to guard the army for his meritorious service. Later, he was transferred back to Chang'an and became a fourth-rank general in the Six Guards of the Eastern Palace."

"You just heard it with your own ears. Chang Sheng is now alone and serves as a fourth-rank military officer in the court. He has a large house in Pingkangfang that was given to him by my mother. Both the emperor, the empress, and I, the crown prince, value him very much."

"But he changed his name and sneaked into my life, and still refused to admit that he had any relatives alive. Tell me, why is that?" At this point, Li Yan's face had become very serious.

Old Man Chang's puzzled look began to turn into panic. The surprise of meeting his son was no longer there. The prince's words made him unable to sit still any longer. The prince suspected that his son had bad intentions, which was too scary.

Cai Ji also frowned, and both of them wanted to ask Chang Sheng in person why.
Even Cai Ji, who had never seen the world, felt that there was something wrong. Why couldn't his cousin confess his family background to the emperor and the prince? His family was just an ordinary family. Although poor, they were innocent and had nothing to be ashamed of. Even if they didn't recognize him, why didn't they even recognize his father?

This made Cai Ji feel vaguely uneasy. Could it be that her cousin had some bad intentions in hiding so many things?

(End of this chapter)