My father, Li Shimin, please call me Crown Prince

Chapter 151: Furong Garden is the assassin's base
The morale of the Goryeo warriors had completely dissipated.

After a series of leaders stepped forward and were shot dead, the remaining people no longer had the determination to die.

The Goryeo warriors behind began to run away.

They have a retreat route and can escape directly out of the city through the secret passage.

If one person takes the lead, the rest will follow.

They stopped trying to assassinate the prince and retreated.

Seeing this situation, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Five hundred powerful crossbows are truly a terrifying force in such a small-scale battle.

This is also why Kim Yun-ho has strong confidence and can kill the prince directly.

As a Korean who had been lurking in Chang'an for more than ten years, he had always been trying to assassinate the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty.

Goryeo's wolfish ambitions have never stopped, and it has always been strongly supporting Kim Yun-ho financially.

These powerful crossbows are the result of Kim Yun-ho's work.

Five hundred powerful crossbows. It sounds exaggerated, but it is actually quite normal.

After all, the crossbow is not big and it is not easy to be discovered when hidden.

At the end of the Sui Dynasty, a large number of Central Plains people, craftsmen, soldiers, and generals fled to Goryeo.

This meant that Goryeo was actually not inferior to the Tang Dynasty in terms of armaments production.

Apart from the fact that its population and territory cannot be compared with those of the Tang Dynasty, Goryeo can be regarded as a smaller version of China.

This is also the main reason why the Sui Dynasty had to destroy Goryeo.

The Goryeo regime and the Chinese regime were both agricultural civilizations with highly similar cultural and technological levels.

If China falls into chaos, then Goryeo is very likely to replace the Chinese dynasty.

But Goryeo is not China, because they did not use Chinese, but had their own language and cultural heritage.

In a sense, Goryeo was another version of the Tang Dynasty, a copy of Han civilization, and a real threat to the Central Plains dynasty.

Li Chengqian knew very well that the present Goryeo was not the Goryeo Peninsula in later generations, but the entire Liaodong region.

The three northeastern provinces in later generations are the foundation of today's Goguryeo.

If we think about what happened in the Republic of China later, such as the nationwide telegram and the Fengtian Army's entry into the country, we can easily understand the current situation of Goryeo and how big a threat it poses.

There is nothing new in history.

What Li Chengqian is experiencing now is what people in the future will experience again.

The only difference is that Gao's Goryeo, the historical Goguryeo, has become a part of Chinese civilization in later generations.

Instead, it was the descendants of today's Silla who founded the Wang Dynasty of Goryeo, who came here to claim ancestry just because the Gao Dynasty of Goryeo was once powerful.

In this way, Silla was also a tragedy, and its descendants were so unfilial.

Goguryeo wanted to destroy Silla, and its unworthy descendants not only abandoned their own ancestors, but also recognized their enemies as their ancestors.

At this time, Su Dingfang and Lu Tong also rushed over with a large number of Jinwu Guards.

The two men first confessed their crimes to the prince.

"Your Highness, please forgive us for being late in coming to your rescue."

Li Chengqian raised his sore right arm and shot out three quivers in a row. Even though he had extraordinary physical strength, he was still somewhat overwhelmed.

"The assassin has a secret passage in Hibiscus Garden. Hunt him down immediately."

"Yes, Your Highness."

Su Dingfang and Lu Tong took people and immediately went to arrest them.

Some people, under the leadership of Pei Xingjian and Xue Rengui, stayed behind to protect His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.

Li Xiang was a little anxious. Li Chengqian shook his head secretly and told him not to reveal his identity as the emperor's eldest grandson.

After all, the most dangerous time has passed.

In fact, there was no time that was too dangerous for Li Chengqian.

The five hundred strong crossbowmen are indeed powerful, but the East Palace guards are no pushovers either. Strong crossbows are also standard equipment for the East Palace guards, as well as shields for blocking.

The reason why Jin Yunhao wanted to advance slowly instead of rushing forward all at once was that he was concerned about the powerful crossbows of the East Palace guards.

After all, they had no shields to block, and could only fight back with the advantage of numbers of crossbows.

In Hibiscus Garden, as the assassins retreated, the tense atmosphere gradually dissipated.

Li Chengqian walked to the front of the pavilion, looking around with a dignified look.

Although the scholars, students, nobles and officials still had a look of shock on their faces, they were more determined and proud.

Seeing the prince approach the pavilion, everyone fell silent.

"Today's incident is truly thrilling. However, the people of our Tang Dynasty, in the face of danger, have no fear of life and death, and have shown their bravery and fearlessness. They are truly the backbone of the country."

"Look at the students of the Imperial College. Although they don't have sharp swords, they protect the dignity of our Tang Dynasty with their passion and blood, showing their loyalty and responsibility."

"Moreover, our Tang officials are not afraid of life and death. When danger comes, they swear to defend to the death. Their loyalty and bravery make me admire them sincerely."

"With such loyal and brave men like you, why should we worry about the prosperity of the Tang Dynasty?"

At this point, Li Chengqian paused and ordered, "Bring some wine."

The guards immediately brought the wine glasses.

Li Chengqian took it, raised the glass high and saluted everyone from afar.

"This cup of wine is for you all, for not fearing life or death and protecting the dignity of the Tang Dynasty!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Li Chengqian drank the cup.

"color!"

The crowd immediately burst into cheers.

"Your Highness the Crown Prince is invincible."

"I am willing to die for the Tang Dynasty and for the Crown Prince!"

"Congratulations to the Tang Dynasty! Congratulations to the Crown Prince!"

There was no rehearsal this time, so the cheers seemed rather chaotic.

After experiencing this life-and-death situation, everyone had a different feeling towards the prince.

In that thrilling assassination just now, the enemy had 500 powerful crossbows, but the prince was able to remain calm and displayed the demeanor of a king. How can one not admire him?

Li Chengqian raised his hand slightly, and everyone suddenly quieted down.

"Although today's events are extremely thrilling, we should not let them ruin our festive mood."

"The Lantern Festival Poetry Festival should continue."

"You have experienced the danger just now,"

"Why not take this opportunity to write a poem or lyrics about today's events?"

When everyone heard this, they cheered, and Hibiscus Garden became lively again, as if it had returned to its previous peaceful state.

Not far away, the guards were cleaning up the bodies.

Next to the pavilion, the maids and servants in Hibiscus Garden also began to clean up and rearrange the place.

Shan Yao was in a daze.

Only now did she realize how ridiculous she was. It turned out that the prince's martial arts were so superb.

In the dynasty era, archers were considered a high-level military force.

This is different from the stereotype of archers in later images who can only shoot arrows and attack from a distance.

Those who can serve as archers are already among the best in the army in terms of personal fighting ability.

A great archer like the prince must have superb martial arts skills.

Even if Shan Yao was given the opportunity to get close to the prince, she would probably be captured and subdued easily without even a single move.

After going through so much trouble, just to get slapped by the prince?

On the other side, Chen Ming and other personal guards of Shan Xiongxin, who had also sneaked in as servants, finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Today's situation is beyond their imagination.

They feel that others are the ones who are truly seeking revenge, and they are just there to watch.

The prince's guards seem to be even more strict than the emperor's in many ways.

The assassins who tried to kill the emperor back then were not so exaggerated.

But perhaps it was because the emperor had been assassinated several times and had gained experience that he kept increasing the scale of the ban. The assassins also learned from their lessons and kept improving.

"That's good too. At least the young lady won't have the chance to assassinate him."

Chen Ming sighed.

"What about us? How should we explain this to them?" Lao Zhang hesitated.

After all, I have taken other people's money for so many years. Now that the end has come, I can't just stand by and do nothing.

"What the hell is there to explain in this situation?"

"Oh my goodness! Hundreds of powerful crossbows were unable to kill the prince. We are weak and will die if we go up there."

"Besides, the Jinwu Guards have already taken control of Hibiscus Garden. We don't have a chance anymore. They can understand."

Lao Zhang nodded, thinking it made sense.

Then he sighed, "Well, I'm afraid they will think they can't do the job and won't pay me."

Chen Ming sneered: "This is a good thing."

After hearing this, Lao Zhang also thought it was a good thing.

As for the revenge, the young lady was kept in the dark. Over the years, the guards had only relied on this as an excuse to support their families.

It was still very generous. At least the guards' hometowns all had a lot of fertile land.

On the pavilion.

Li Chengqian returned to his seat, and the palace maid beside him massaged his shoulders.

Crown Princess Su Yuer gave Theodosius a wink, and even though they couldn't communicate in the same language, Theodosius understood immediately.

So she boldly stepped forward, went to the side of the prince, and took over the job of the palace maid.

Li Chengqian just glanced and said nothing.

Seeing this, Su Yuer smiled happily.

She had a good impression of Theodosius. Although he had stood in front of her when there were so many assassins before, she was deeply impressed.

At that time, the assassins all had powerful crossbows, and the range could theoretically reach the pavilion.

It's easy for stray arrows to come at you, even if there are people blocking in front.

Besides, Su Yuer had originally wanted to let Theodosius enter the East Palace, and now it was just a matter of letting nature take its course.

As for Li Chengqian.

It is almost impossible for anyone to refuse an exotic princess, especially a beautiful one.

Li Tai looked worried.

This time the game is on a grand scale, with hundreds of assassins, all equipped with powerful crossbows.

He can't escape from his responsibility.

The only thing that made him feel at ease was that no matter how they investigated, it would have nothing to do with him and at most it would be considered as negligence.

After obtaining Furong Garden, Li Tai rarely came here.

After thinking for a while, Li Tai walked over and tried to explain to the prince: "Brother, I..."

Li Chengqian raised his hand to interrupt Li Tai and said, "If you have anything to say, go and tell your father then."

Han Wang Li Yuanchang said sarcastically, "The King of Wei is really good at this. There must be hundreds of people dressed in servants' clothes."

"These are all people from Furong Garden. Does King Wei really not know anything about this?"

"I don't know if there are other assassins sneaking in here."

"With so many people, the King of Wei's Hibiscus Garden couldn't be the assassin's base camp."

Li Tai was furious and said in a stern voice: "King of Han, how dare you slander me."

Li Yuanchang snorted coldly: "Slander? Isn't what I said the truth?"

Li Tai said with a cold face, "I seldom come to Furong Garden. It is just like the Weiwang Pond in Luoyang. It has always been managed by others."

"Someone took advantage of the loophole. It was my negligence."

"As for my elder brother's assassination, those who are innocent will be innocent, and those who are guilty will be guilty. I will ask my father to investigate it thoroughly, so the King of Han will not have to worry about it."

At this time, Su Dingfang had already rushed back.

"Your Highness, I have found out that there is a secret passage to the south of Qujiang Pond that leads to the outside of the city."

"These assassins are all Goryeo warriors, and the powerful crossbows and weapons they carry were all brought from outside the city."

"The secret passage has been destroyed by the Goryeo warriors. I request that the cavalry be mobilized to pursue them."

Li Chengqian nodded: "Dispatch 500 Ti cavalry to hunt down the assassin immediately."

The Jinwu Guard was responsible for public security in Chang'an City, including the defense of the city gates.

However, if you want to mobilize cavalry, you need to ask for instructions, report to the Ministry of War, and get approval.

However, the crown prince has the power to supervise the country. In special circumstances such as encountering an assassin, he can bypass the Ministry of War and directly approve the mobilization of cavalry for capture, including sending the Jinwu Guards out of the city to pursue.

"Yes, Your Highness."

Li Chengqian took off the jade pendant from his waist and gave it to Su Dingfang.

This is the same as the gold medal bestowed by the emperor. As a token of the prince, it can exercise certain rights in an emergency, which is similar to the concept of the Imperial Sword in later generations.

There is a Qilin carved on the front of the jade pendant, with exquisite cloud patterns on the edge, and a special mark engraved on the back, with the two characters "Cheng Qian" in exquisite seal script.

Watching Su Dingfang leave, King Wei Li Tai felt very uneasy.

Because he knew that not only would they be hunting down the assassin, but they would also be reporting the situation here to the palace as soon as possible.

When my father finds out, he will definitely be furious.

These are five hundred powerful crossbows.

Throughout history, it is almost considered the most top-notch assassination case.

Even though Li Shimin was assassinated so many times, he never encountered such a difficult time.

It just happened to appear in this Hibiscus Garden.

In other words, what would happen if the person here today was not the prince but Li Shimin himself?

Will he be assassinated and die directly?

There is also a secret passage in Furong Garden that can connect to the outside of the city, which is also a huge problem for the defense of Chang'an City.

Li Chengqian was in a very good mood.

Because after tonight, no matter what else, at least this Furong Garden will definitely be in his name.

The King of Wei has made such a big mistake, Furong Garden will definitely not be able to be saved.

In Li Chengqian's opinion, this is a good place to train troops. In addition to the 300 acres of water area, there are still 700 acres of land.

Because of this assassination, the entire Furong Garden can be sealed off and no longer open to the public.

Inside Tai Chi Palace.

A grand singing and dancing performance was also being held at this time.

But this was not much new to Li Shimin.

After all, if he wants to watch it, he can watch it every day.

At this time, news of the prince being assassinated also spread.

After hearing the news, Zhang Ananda hurried to report to His Majesty.

"Your Majesty, hundreds of assassins appeared in Furong Garden. They are Goryeo warriors, all carrying powerful crossbows, and they are here to assassinate the Crown Prince."

"Now that the assassin has been repelled, the prince is ordering his capture."

When Li Shimin heard this, he was shocked.

"Is the prince injured?"

"No injuries."

"Where is the messenger?"

"Outside the palace."

"Let him come over. I will ask him personally."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

(End of this chapter)