My father, Li Shimin, please call me Crown Prince

Chapter 129 Li Tai: Inviting Prince Jin to Join the Gang
In the East Palace, the morning light is just breaking and the wind is cold.

The prince's eunuch Wen Zhong was already waiting in front of the bedroom.

Yesterday I was in Pingkangfang's domineering position, but today I'm just a humble servant before the prince.

As the prince's eunuch, you need to be on duty around the clock.

At night, he could only sleep when the prince was asleep. In the early morning, he had to wake up before the prince woke up.

At this time, the bedroom door opened, and an eunuch came out and whispered, "Eunuch Wen, His Highness has woken up."

The guard on duty at the door took two steps back.

Wen Zhong nodded and waved his hand, and the three palace maids and three eunuchs behind him immediately took action.

Then he entered the main hall of the bedroom to prepare.

They began to move in an orderly manner.

Pour hot water into the basin for washing and adjust the water temperature.

After it is mixed, some will be poured out. Wen Zhong reached out and nodded: "Okay."

Some salt water for rinsing the mouth was also poured into another bowl. Wen Zhong poured it into his mouth to feel the temperature and nodded: "Okay."

Also, the clothes the prince will wear today need to be heated up first.

At this time, the eunuch reported again: "Your Highness has gotten up."

Wen Zhong then took the palace maids and eunuchs into the bedroom.

The dormitory was warm, with several braziers for heating.

In addition to the people brought in by Wen Zhong, there were four palace maids and four eunuchs.

These eight people were on duty in the palace, such as watching over the brazier or waking up the prince at night, etc. They were responsible for matters concerning the prince after he fell asleep.

In later movies and TV shows, assassinating a prince or emperor is a very funny thing.

Maybe the screenwriter has never experienced this, it is difficult for poor people to imagine the life of rich people.

It's as funny as the common people thinking that the emperor must use a golden hoe when farming.

Li Chengqian was already sitting on the bed at this moment.

Most of the time, the Crown Princess Su Yu'er would not sleep with the queen. Even the emperor would not sleep with the queen every day. They would sleep in separate beds.

It is a favor to sleep with you all night.

"Your Highness, at the end of the hour of Chou, two fate-hunters pried open the floor and tried to assassinate the Goryeo royal family."

"County Lieutenant Ji stopped it at the right time and made the arrest."

"The four of them have now been taken into custody by Lu Tong and imprisoned in the Jinwuwei General's Mansion."

"Also, Lu Tong reported that before the operation yesterday, someone attempted to break into the west gate of Pingkangfang and tipped off the police. It was the head of Pingkangfang."

"I dare to guess that this is Cui Wensheng's people."

"Fortunately, His Highness made plans and arranged for Lu Tong to lead the Jinwu Guards to guard the place. Otherwise, they would have succeeded."

While Li Chengqian was washing, the eunuch Wen Zhong was serving him and reporting to him.

Li Chengqian was not surprised to hear how things had developed. It would have been surprising if someone could still escape in this situation.

Ji Zhao is still capable, at least he is someone who can get things done.

Lu Tong also counts.

"They are just unlucky. It's already the end of the hour. If they wait a little longer, the curfew will be lifted."

Li Chengqian said after washing his hands.

The eunuch Wen Zhong said, "Lu Tong is guarding the Wanguo Tavern, and the two fate-hunting gentlemen can't get any news from Cui Wensheng."

"Your Highness, are we going to arrest Cui Wensheng now? If it's too late, I'm afraid he will escape."

Li Chengqian asked: "Why arrest him?"

Wen Zhong was somewhat puzzled: "Now that the Goryeo royal family is in our hands and we have witnesses, it will not be difficult to convict him of treason."

Li Chengqian shook his head: "If I'm not mistaken, Cui Wensheng has already escaped after receiving the news."

The eunuch Wen Zhong said quickly: "They can't run fast, but we must send the imperial guards to chase them immediately."

Li Chengqian was changing his clothes at the time and said, "I want him to run away. If he doesn't run away, how can the matter of colluding with Goryeo be implicated by the King of Wei?"

"Only if he runs away can this matter be settled."

"Cui Wensheng is a smart man. Even if he is arrested, he will never admit to colluding with Goryeo, let alone involving the King of Wei."

The eunuch Wen Zhong obviously did not understand what the prince meant and had a secretive look on his face.

Li Chengqian didn't need to explain and ordered: "Tell Lu Tong to send everyone to the East Palace Prison."

The eunuch Wen Zhong asked, "Your Highness, do you want to interrogate me personally?"

Li Chengqian shook his head and said, "No need, just lock him up for a while and then we'll talk about it."

“Keep them separate and don’t let anyone talk to them except to give them food.”

"Cui Wensheng will definitely tell King Wei and Fang Xuanling about this. Let's wait until they know about it."

Sometimes, keeping silent can be a greater threat.

On the other side, Baqiao Station.

Just as Li Chengqian guessed, Cui Wensheng had already set off with his family.

Cui Wensheng received the news after the curfew was lifted at Yinshi.

Both the Hunter of Life and the Goryeo royal family have fallen into the hands of Jinwu Guard Lu Tong.

Lu Tong is the prince's man, which means that the prince has already known about his collusion with the Goryeo royal family.

At this point, there is no turning back.

Cui Wensheng’s only choice was to escape from Chang’an to save his life.

"Has the letter been delivered?"

"It has been sent to you, young master. I think you have seen it by now."

After hearing this, Cui Wensheng felt relieved.

The Qinghe Cui family cannot be without representatives in Chang'an, so now Cui Shengyu can only be asked to preside over it.

At this time, the carriage had already started moving.

Cui Wensheng looked towards the direction of Chang'an with some nostalgia.

I came to Chang'an in the fifth year of Zhenguan, and it has been nearly twelve years since then.

Cui Wensheng thought that he would live in Chang'an for the rest of his life.

Until I take my last breath.

Who would have thought that now he could only escape in disgrace.

'I'll be back.'

"Prince, please wait."

Cui Wensheng couldn't swallow this humiliation, he wanted the King of Wei to win.

As long as the King of Wei wins, he can return to Chang'an with dignity again.

Return to the mansion where I had lived for twelve years.
-
Prince Wei's Mansion.

"King Wei, the eldest son of the Qinghe Cui family, Cui Shengyu, requests to see you."

"Please wait in the main hall."

Li Tai was a little surprised. Why did Cui Shengyu come so early in the morning?

Doesn’t he train his own soldiers every day?

When Li Tai went to the main hall, Cui Shengyu was already there.

"Meet the King of Wei."

Cui Shengyu stood up, bowed and saluted with his arms crossed.

Li Tai smiled and said, "Mr. Cui, you are too polite. You came so early, but do you have something good to tell me?"

Cui Shengyu felt a little embarrassed when he heard this.

"My family is in misfortune. Cui Wensheng colluded with Goryeo and has now fled Chang'an."

"what?"

Li Tai was shocked when he heard the news.

"How is this going!"

Cui Shengyu explained: "Originally, the uncle wanted to secretly make peace with Goryeo, and when the King of Wei and the Crown Prince went to attack Goryeo, he would help the King of Wei."

"Or maybe he is thinking of using Goryeo to help the King of Wei win the throne."

"However, the opposite happened. The prince's subordinate, Ji Zhao, the county lieutenant of Wannian County, brought back two Silla nobles from Yingzhou."

"What a coincidence! These two Silla nobles have seen the Goryeo royal family and recognized them."

"After receiving the news, my uncle immediately arranged for Mr. Hunter to silence the witnesses." "But the crown prince plotted against them. Now, the two members of the Goryeo royal family and Mr. Hunter have been captured and imprisoned in the residence of General Lu Tong of the Jinwu Guard."

After hearing this, Li Tai felt something was wrong.

Cui Wensheng is a core figure of his Wei Wang Party. What he does, to a large extent, represents the Wei Wang Party and his wishes.

If word spread that Cui Wensheng was colluding with Goryeo, people would definitely think that it was the King of Wei who instructed him to do so.

If this gets to my father.

That would be bad.

What's more, the person is in the prince's hands.

Li Tai's face suddenly turned gloomy.

"Cui Wensheng! You are so brave!"

"Are you trying to frame me? You did this without even consulting me beforehand."

"Could it be that he secretly surrendered to the Crown Prince?"

Seeing that King Wei was angry, Cui Shengyu didn't say much.

When asked to take refuge with the prince, he made no excuses.

Li Tai felt like he had punched cotton, and it made him feel even worse.

He ordered his servants, "Quickly call Chai Lingwu over."

Cui Shengyu looked at him coldly for a long while before speaking: "King Wei, calm down. Uncle Shi also has good intentions."

"Perhaps he originally just wanted to get the matter settled first, and then informed the King of Wei."

"Who knew we would be discovered by the prince's men so soon? What bad luck."

Li Tai snorted coldly and said, "You, the Qinghe Cui clan, have caused such a big mess for me."

"But think about how to redeem it."

Cui Shengyu said: "The person is now in the Jinwu General's Mansion. If the King of Wei is willing to come forward and move quickly, I think he can be brought out first."

Li Tai said coldly: "Everyone knows that Jinwu General Lu Tong is the prince's man, so how could he listen to my orders?"

"If the prince goes over to ask for someone, even if he has to use force, he will definitely notify the prince quickly."

"And now, isn't this the King who is to suffer this unjust accusation?"

Cui Shengyu explained: "I heard that the King of Wei and the King of Jin have a good relationship, why not invite the King of Jin to come along."

"The King of Jin is now the General of the Right Jinwu Guard. If he goes with the King of Wei, would the Jinwu General Lu Tong dare to disobey his superior's orders?"

"As soon as they come out, we will kill them on the spot as spies from Goryeo."

"This way, the King of Wei can also discover the Korean spies."

When Li Tai heard this, he immediately felt that it made some sense.

The Prince of Jin is the General of the Right Jinwu Guard, and with himself being the Prince of Wei, does Lu Tong dare not release them?

But will King Jin agree to go with me?

Li Tai hesitated.

Seeing the King of Wei hesitate, Cui Shengyu added: "The situation is urgent now. Please make a decision as soon as possible. If you delay, I'm afraid people will go to the East Palace."

Hearing this, Li Tai immediately agreed: "Okay, I'll listen to you."

Having said that, without any hesitation, he stood up and told his servants to prepare the carriage and go to King Jin first.

Now Li Zhi no longer lives in his own Prince Jin Mansion, after all, it is too far away.

The residence of the General of the Right Jinwu Guard is in Chongrenfang.

When he was leaving the house, Chai Lingwu just happened to arrive.

"Where is the King of Wei going?"

Seeing Li Tai hurriedly following Cui Shengyu, Chai Lingwu couldn't help but ask.

"It's too late to explain. Let's get in the car first."

Li Tai called out and Chai Lingwu followed him into the carriage.

The King of Wei's carriage was very fast. There was a small table inside, so four people could sit in it without feeling crowded.

In the carriage, Chai Lingwu frowned after listening to Cui Shengyu's story.

Who could have thought that such a steady person like Cui Wensheng would have such a mistake.

But now that the person has run away, there is no point in blaming them.

Fortunately, the person ran away, otherwise it would be even more troublesome if he was caught.

"King Wei, when you go to King Jin later, don't tell him about releasing the people."

"When the time comes, take Prince Jin to the car first, and then go directly to General Jinwu's residence."

Chai Lingwu said after thinking about the situation.

Li Tai naturally understood what this meant, and asked, "You mean, the King of Jin will reject me?"

Chai Lingwu said: "The King of Jin definitely doesn't want to get involved in the affairs between the King of Wei and the Crown Prince. He won't reject the King of Wei outright, but he may find other excuses."

"So why not kill first and report later? Find an excuse and take the Prince of Jin over first."

"Once we get there, King Jin will naturally have no reason to refuse."

Chai Lingwu was very shrewd in his calculations. He was sure that although the King of Jin did not want to participate, he was too embarrassed to refuse the King of Wei.

Cui Shengyu agreed: "This is the safest way."

Hearing what the two said, Li Tai also nodded and said, "Okay, let's do it this way."

The Mansion of the General of the Right Jinwu Guard.

Li Zhi is looking through some previous files.

Naturally, once you take on this position, you must do it well.

The Right Jinwu Guard is responsible for the public security, patrols, and arrests of criminals in the entire Wannian County.

You wouldn’t know until you see it, but the files related to this issue in the Right Jinwu Guard’s armory are actually piled up like a mountain.

There are many criminals here who committed crimes and escaped, but were not caught by the Jinwu Guards.

For the Jinwu Guards, if the criminals escaped from Chang'an City, the case was basically put on hold.

In fact, due to the shortage of manpower, if no one provided information, there would be few Jinwu Guards to search for criminals.

The Right Jinwu Guard sounds like a lot of people, with a regular presence of more than 15,000.

In fact, five to six thousand people will be removed just for curfew patrols.

Adding the personnel in Wuhoupu, there are several thousand more people.

The Grand General's Mansion and the Left and Right General's Mansions each control the troops of a mansion, which has more than 3,000 people in total.

There are about two thousand people left, who are responsible for half of the entire Chang'an City, and naturally they cannot manage all fifty-four wards.

So this gave rise to a special profession: ghostwriter.

Assist the Jinwu Guards in capturing criminals in exchange for rewards.

"Yifu, how can we quickly clear out these files? There are so many of them piled up."

"If it's left for a few more years, I'm afraid the armory will be full."

Li Zhi asked Li Yifu.

Li Yifu thought for a moment and said, "The Jinwu Guards have already been established. It will not work if the King of Jin sends more troops."

"Or we can seek help from outside forces. I have seen those ghostwriters before. Some of them are quite good and have good skills."

"For repeat offenders, the bounty can be increased, and those who ghostwrite can also be given certain powers."

Li Zhi frowned slightly: "What kind of power?"

Li Yifu said: "If a ghostwriter takes a case in Wuhoupu, he will be registered and given the right to conduct a temporary search within a certain period of time."

"We can make some badges for them as evidence for handling cases."

“If it is not completed within the time limit, it will be taken back.”

"This will allow the criminals to be quickly apprehended and brought to justice."

Li Zhi pondered for a moment and said, "Okay, Yifu still has a solution. Let's leave it to Yifu to handle it now."

"Yes."

Li Yifu now follows Li Zhi and serves as the chief officer of the Right Jinwu Guard General's Office.

At this time, there was a sound of footsteps outside the door.

"General, the King of Wei is here."

ps: I went out for National Day and got stuck in traffic so I came back late. I owe 4 more chapters. Thank you for your understanding.

(End of this chapter)