My father, Li Shimin, please call me Crown Prince

Chapter 154 Fang Xuanling: King Wei, You've Ruined My Plan
"Get up."

"Thank you, Father."

After a night of investigation, the assassination case in Furong Garden has actually begun to have some clues.

Various clues indicate that King Wei was not involved in the assassination.

After a brief interrogation, the incident became clear.

During the previous renovation, someone bribed the manager, contracted the job of renovating Furong Garden, and then secretly built a secret passage.

Including recruiting people before the poetry meeting and assassins lurking in, which is similar to the previous situation.

Summon the Crown Prince and the King of Wei.

The first step was to appease the prince, and then to reprimand the King of Wei.

The point of reprimanding the King of Wei was to calm the prince's anger and avoid a real killing among brothers.

The matter of those two Koreans was an unexpected surprise.

"This happened in Furong Garden. Qingque, you made a big mistake."

"I will take back Furong Garden. Do you have any objection?"

Li Shimin asked.

Li Tai quickly replied: "Qingque has no objection."

The greatest use of Furong Garden to Li Tai is his reputation. Now that an assassination has occurred and so many troubles have arisen, how can he dare to keep it?

Li Shimin turned to the crown prince and said, "Chengqian, I remember that you told me before that you wanted to give Furong Garden to Xiang'er."

"Now I will give you the Hibiscus Garden as a reward. After you have tidied it up, you can give it to Xiang'er."

Last year, at the suggestion of Zhang Ananda, Li Shimin held a family dinner to ease the conflict with the prince.

At that time, the crown prince asked for rewards for the emperor's eldest grandson Li Xiang, which included this Furong Garden.

However, Li Shimin did not agree, saying that it would be unreasonable to take back things that had been given as rewards.

Finally, Li Xiang was appointed as the governor of Luoyang.

Now taking Furong Garden back from Li Tai and giving it to the prince as a reward can be considered as compensation to him.

"Thank you, Father."

Li Chengqian bowed.

He originally wanted to take Furong Garden into his own hands this time, but he didn't expect Erfeng to take the initiative to say it.

At this point, Li Shimin was very satisfied with the prince's attitude. In this matter, the prince did not hold on to the King of Wei's fault.

When he called the prince earlier, Li Shimin thought that the prince might be very angry.

So he specially summoned King Wei in advance and made him stand in the palace as punishment.

Perhaps it was the punishment of standing in the corner that made the prince feel pity.

Returned to the East Palace.

Zhao Jie, Li Yuanchang, Du He, Li Dejian and others have been waiting for a long time.

"Your Highness, what does His Majesty say? Will the King of Wei be severely punished?"

"And there is the Cui Clan of Qinghe. They have been running Furong Garden for the King of Wei. If you say the assassination has nothing to do with them, no one would believe it."

When Li Yuanchang saw the prince coming back, he was anxious to know how the situation developed.

"His Majesty has set up a special investigation team and asked me and several ministers to jointly conduct the interrogation."

"The King of Wei's Hibiscus Garden was given to me as a reward."

Li Chengqian replied calmly.

Li Yuanchang was somewhat dissatisfied: "The King of Wei just lost the Furong Garden?"

Li Dejian was quite clear about the situation and said, "The assassination was only caused by the King of Wei. All the businesses under his command were managed by the King of Wei's party. Your Majesty naturally cannot implicate the King of Wei in the assassination."

Du He asked, "Your Highness, what should we do about the Cui family in Qinghe?"

Li Chengqian said: "Of course we will deal with it seriously. All the Cui family members who are involved in this matter will be imprisoned first."

Du He thought for a moment and said, "The eldest son of the Cui family?"

Li Chengqian snorted coldly: "Catch him first."

The reason why we did not attack the King of Wei was because His Majesty protected him, and also because it was unlikely that the King of Wei was involved in the assassination.

But for the Qinghe Cui family, there are not so many concerns.

Things like killing nine generations of an entire clan were not popular in the Tang Dynasty, and Erfeng could not do it.

But there is no problem in clearing out the Qinghe Cui family’s assets in Chang’an.

Li Yuanchang said excitedly: "I'll take people with me."

"Okay." Li Chengqian nodded.
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Prince Wei's Palace, Literature Museum.

Li Tai did not expect that he would have another secret conversation with Fang Xuanling under such circumstances.

Fang Xuanling was also helpless. He already had a lot of things to do, and these past two days he was still arranging matters to contact Helan Chushi.

As a result, King Wei made such a big mistake.

As for His Majesty, he is now on the side of King Wei.

Although His Majesty does not suspect that he is involved, he still has to come to King Wei to find out the situation.

"Your Majesty has ordered me to jointly investigate the Furong Garden case with Zhangsun Wuji, Chu Suiliang, Li Ji and others, including the Crown Prince."

"King Wei, please tell me, do these Korean assassins have anything to do with you?"

Fang Xuanling asked with some concern.

Li Tai quickly comforted him, "Don't worry, Mr. Fang, I have absolutely nothing to do with this matter."

Fang Xuanling nodded: "What's the situation with the two Koreans in the Dali Temple? They are related to the Korean assassins."

Li Tai hesitated and said, "It should be okay. I asked the eldest son of the Cui family."

"Cui Wensheng actually only met with them once and they didn't reach an agreement."

Fang Xuanling frowned slightly and asked, "What are they talking about?"

Li Tai was a little hesitant, not knowing whether he could tell Fang Xuanling about these things.

Fang Xuanling snorted coldly: "If the King of Wei is still hiding something from me, then I can only resign from the position of Grand Secretary of the Academy of Literature to Your Majesty."

Fang Xuanling was very unhappy. He was implicated innocently and forced to participate in the fight for the throne.

He is still spending his energy on planning how to seize the throne for the King of Wei, but the King of Wei is still hiding it from him.

Hearing this, Li Tai suddenly panicked.

Fang Xuanling was his greatest reliance.

He gritted his teeth and said, "Cui Wensheng wants to unite with the Koreans and set a trap for the prince when conquering Korea."

"Use Goryeo's help to get rid of the prince."

Fang Xuanling asked in confusion: "Gao Li didn't agree?"

The Koreans were all trying to assassinate the prince, so how could they not agree to conspire to kill him?

Li Tai said helplessly: "First, the Koreans sought cooperation with Cui Wensheng, hoping that he would provide intelligence when the Tang Dynasty attacked Korea."

"Cui Wensheng asked for twelve cities on the border of Goryeo, the right to trade in salt and iron, and the right to mine."

"The Goryeo envoy had to go back for instructions before he could reply, but then he was discovered by the prince's men."

Speaking of this, Li Tai felt somewhat fortunate.

Because Cui Wensheng did not say that they wanted to conspire to kill the prince in the first conversation, he only sold out the intelligence of the Tang army and negotiated a deal with the Koreans.

This way, the assassination will not involve me.

The reason why they didn't discuss it was that no matter for Cui Wensheng or Goryeo, conspiring to kill the prince was in the interests of both parties, so it couldn't be considered a bargaining chip.

"What a huge appetite."

Fang Xuanling was not too surprised, as the Qinghe Cui family had always been like this.

Probably no one was more familiar with the Qinghe Cui family than him, after all, the Fang family also originated from Qinghe County.

The sale and mining of salt and iron had always been a government monopoly, so the profits from smuggling were naturally huge. Salt and iron were especially scarce at the border, so Cui Wensheng had great ambitions.

"If the King of Wei has any mistakes or omissions, please tell me in detail." Fang Xuanling instructed.

Li Tai thought about it carefully and made sure that there was nothing missing.

After all, he really had nothing to do with the assassination, he just vaguely knew that an assassination might happen.

Including Qinghe Cui themselves, no one was clear about the circumstances of the assassination and only had a vague idea of ​​it.

"Probably nothing." Li Tai was also a little unsure about what aspects he had not considered.

Fang Xuanling said: "If you have any news, please inform me first so that I can avoid it."

Li Tai bowed and said, "Thank you, Mr. Fang."

At this point, Li Tai paused for a moment and said, "There is another piece of good news that I want to let Lord Fang know."

Fang Xuanling was stunned. What good news could the King of Wei have?

Li Tai continued, "It's about the Prince of Qi. The morning before yesterday, I went to the Prince of Qi's mansion in disguise and persuaded the Prince to cooperate in reporting the Crown Prince's rebellion."

Fang Xuanling was shocked and asked, "What! You went to see the King of Qi?"

When Li Tai saw this, he thought Fang Xuanling was shocked.

He said proudly: "Originally, the King of Qi disagreed, but after I persuaded him, he came to his senses."

Fang Xuanling's eyes widened.

He didn't expect that his foolproof plan would go wrong with the King of Wei.

He could not help but raise his finger and point at the King of Wei: "You"

Li Tai smiled and said, "I know Mr. Fang is excited, but don't get too excited."

Fang Xuanling sighed helplessly: "King Wei, you have ruined my grand plan."

Li Tai was stunned and asked, "Could it be that Lord Fang wanted Yin Hongzhi to sue the Crown Prince with the Prince of Qi?"

"Then check the evidence from the prince."

Having such a bad teammate, Fang Xuanling felt helpless.

"Where did the King of Wei learn about this?"

Li Tai explained: "It was Chai Lingwu who analyzed it. On that day, Lord Fang went to the Dali Temple to see Yin Hongzhi, so it was inconvenient for him to go to see the King of Qi, so I went in Lord Fang's place."

Fang Xuanling shook his head and said, "The King of Qi is not worthy of consultation. I have never thought of discussing with the King of Qi."

"The King of Qi is fickle-minded. He may agree to your request today, but betray you tomorrow."

Li Tai hesitated and said, "This shouldn't be the case. If so, then Yin Hongzhi is the same."

Fang Xuanling explained: "It's naturally different. No matter what the result is, for Yin Hongzhi, it is a dead end, there is no hope for survival."

"But the King of Qi is different. Under the protection of the Crown Prince, the King of Qi can survive. At most, he will be exiled to Lingnan, but at least his life can be saved."

"So the King of Qi will consider the gains and losses. As long as he considers the gains and losses, the King of Qi will definitely leak this matter."

Only then did Li Tai realize that he had ruined Fang Gong's plan.

He hurriedly said, "What should we do? But we can still make amends."

Fang Xuanling shook his head slightly: "The King of Wei went to see the King of Qi and told him about the slander against the Crown Prince. When the preparations are complete, he will report the Crown Prince for treason."

"King Qi is here, which is where the Crown Prince's chance of survival lies, and also where our weakness lies."

Li Tai thought it shouldn't be that exaggerated: "It shouldn't be that serious."

Fang Xuanling sighed again: "The King of Wei underestimated the Crown Prince and also underestimated Your Majesty."

"The Crown Prince is your Majesty's eldest son. Even if there is more evidence, your Majesty will not have the heart to depose the Crown Prince. If the King of Qi betrays you, it will be a breakthrough in the mountain of ironclad evidence."

"Your Majesty will think that the Crown Prince's rebellion was slandered by you, King Wei, and with the help of the old ministers, you set up a trap for the Crown Prince."

"In your majesty's opinion, the other evidence may just be that there are no clues for the time being."

"As long as Your Majesty has this idea, this plan will be completely defeated."

Fang Xuanling understood Erfeng.

But on the contrary, Erfeng also understands Fang Xuanling.

Fang Xuanling predicted Erfeng's prediction.

He has already entered the game, and when His Majesty discovers any clues, he will definitely be able to detect the clues.

Any clue would cause Fang Xuanling to fall into a vicious circle of self-confirmation, and he would be completely inseparable from this plan.

In Erfeng's view, the so-called prince's rebellion became a conspiracy carefully planned, induced and instigated by Fang Xuanling.

Because Erfeng knew that Fang Xuanling had this ability.

"Mr. Fang, do you have any way to remedy this situation?"

Li Tai suddenly became a little anxious.

He didn't expect things to be so complicated and troublesome.

Fang Xuanling said: "As long as they accuse the crown prince of treason, the King of Qi will have problems, unless he gives up this method."

Li Tai naturally didn't want to give up.

Now Cui Wensheng is completely doomed, and it is impossible for Goryeo to join forces with him to murder the prince.

The assassination attempt has failed.

The prince's Lantern Festival poem "Qingyu'an Yuanxi" was sung in Chang'an and became famous at the peak of his career.

It can be said to be total suppression.

The only way to turn defeat into victory is to prove that the prince is plotting rebellion.

"The King of Qi may not betray me." Li Tai said uncertainly.

Fang Xuanling was silent.

Indeed, the King of Qi may not necessarily betray, no one can say for sure.

But Fang Xuanling did not want to leave the rise and fall of the Fang family to be decided by the King of Qi.

After reporting the prince for treason, it meant that Fang Xuanling had no way out.

If they lose, after the crown prince ascends the throne, there is no doubt that he will liquidate the entire Fang family.

For Fang Xuanling, helping the King of Wei to accuse the Crown Prince of treason was tantamount to gambling his life and property, as well as the rise and fall of the Fang family.

"How about killing the King of Qi?"

Li Tai thought for a long time and came up with a bad idea.

As long as the King of Qi dies, there will be no shortcomings in the entire plan.

The Prince of Qi's palace did not have much defense, so killing the Prince of Qi was not a difficult task.

"King Wei, are you sure that after killing King Qi, you can withstand all the investigations without leaking any information?"

Fang Xuanling felt very tired. What kind of brain could come up with such an idea?

A prince must die, even if he is involved in treason.

What a huge shock it will cause in Chang'an.

Once the case is traced to the King of Wei, there will be no need to compete with the Crown Prince. The charge of murdering his brother will make it completely impossible for the King of Wei to become the Crown Prince.

Even if there is no empirical evidence, as long as the clues point to the King of Wei, he will most likely be exiled to a fiefdom.

"Then what should we do?"

Li Tai was a little annoyed. Nothing like this worked, and nothing like that worked. Could he just watch helplessly as his fight for the throne became hopeless?

Fang Xuanling was silent for a moment, and said, "King Qi, let's find a way to remedy this."

"Does the King of Wei still remember the incident with Helan Chushi?"

Li Tai nodded: "Mr. Fang, are you talking about the murder of Helan Chushi?"

Fang Xuanling originally had no intention of telling King Wei about his plan, but after this incident, he was worried that King Wei might stab him in the back at any time.

So just tell the plan out loud, at least the King of Wei won’t do anything bad again.

(End of this chapter)