My father, Li Shimin, please call me Crown Prince

Chapter 361 The Last Chance to Kill Li Chengqian

Prince Wei's Mansion.

King Wei Li Tai has been in a bad mood these days.

Even a little desperate.

Because he knew very well that failure in the fight for the throne meant death.

If the prince ascends the throne, will he let him go?

Obviously it is impossible.

Li Tai felt very scared when he thought about his own death, but now he could not think of any way to deal with the prince.

It was at this time that Qinghe Cui's visit gave him hope.

This person from the Qinghe Cui family was not Cui Shengyu, the eldest son of the Qinghe Cui family, but Cui Wenxin.

The representative of Qinghe Cui family in Chang'an City, and the younger brother of Cui Wensheng.

"King Wei, Cui Wenxin of the Qinghe Cui clan requests to see you."

Li Tai frowned slightly, he knew Cui Wenxin.

"Let him in."

A moment later, Cui Wenxin, wearing a plain long gown, walked into the study with steady steps.

"Greetings, His Royal Highness the King of Wei." Cui Wenxin bowed, his voice low and respectful.

Li Tai turned around and looked Cui Wenxin up and down, his heart full of doubts: "Mr. Cui, why do you come to visit me so late at night? I wonder what advice you have for me?"

Cui Wenxin did not rush to answer, but walked slowly to the table and sneered, "Your Highness seems to be worried about the prince's affairs?"

Li Tai's heart tightened, but his expression remained calm: "Why do you say that, Mr. Cui? The Crown Prince is the regent and handles government affairs. This is his job. Why would I worry about it?"

"It's my job?" Cui Wenxin turned around abruptly, staring at Li Tai with eyes as sharp as knives. "Your Highness, why do you have to deceive yourself? The prince has occupied the Daming Palace, expanded the Shenwu Army, and suppressed dissidents. This is clearly paving the way for his ascension to the throne. Once he ascends the throne, does the King of Wei think he still has a way to survive?"

Li Tai's face suddenly darkened, and his tone became cold: "Lord Cui, please be careful with your words and don't speculate about the royal family's affairs casually, so as not to bring disaster upon yourself."

Cui Wenxin was not afraid at all. Instead, he took a step forward, took out a yellowed paper roll from his arms, and slammed it heavily on the table: "A fatal disaster? My Cui family has already suffered from it! King Wei, do you know why my brother Cui Wensheng died that year?"

“Hahaha!” Cui Wenxin suddenly burst into laughter, his laughter filled with grief, indignation and ridicule. “What a collusion with Goryeo! What a suicide! That was just a lie made up by the prince, a means for him to eliminate dissidents! My brother was loyal all his life, but he was framed and died unjustly!”

Li Tai blinked, looked at Cui Wenxin, and said nothing more.

Because he knew very well that Cui Wensheng died because of collusion with Goryeo, and Li Tai himself was also a participant.

I don’t know how it got to Cui Wenxin, but she was framed by the prince.

But these details are not important.

"What do you want to do?" Li Tai asked.

Cui Wenxin said in a deep voice: "Of course it's to avenge my brother."

"The King of Wei is extremely intelligent. I came here to bring you a solution to the dilemma, which is to cooperate with the Turks."

Li Tai frowned: "Cooperate with the Turks?"

"Mr. Cui, do you know what this means? Bringing foreign enemies into Chang'an is a crime of treason. Once the truth is revealed, not only will my life be in danger, but the entire Li family temple will be disgraced!"

"Treason?" Cui Wenxin sneered, "The prince forcibly occupied the Daming Palace and ignored the majesty's authority. Isn't this treason? He excluded dissidents and tried to monopolize power. Isn't this treason? If the King of Wei does not take action, when the prince is fully grown, he won't even have the chance to commit treason!"

Li Tai was somewhat moved and asked, "The Turks will not attack in vain."

"What do they want?"

Cui Wen thought: "It's very simple, they just want the prince to die."

"As long as the prince dies, the Turkic cavalry will never set foot in Chang'an after this."

Li Tai was silent.

He understood that this sentence showed that the Turks were wary and afraid of the prince.

The prince was able to sweep across the three kingdoms of Liaodong. Once he ascended the throne and became emperor, he would naturally be able to sweep across the grassland as well.

Only if the prince dies can the Turks survive.

In other words, if he succeeded in seizing the throne, the Turks would naturally not be afraid of him.

Li Tai paced back and forth in the study, struggling fiercely in his heart.

This is a huge gamble. If you fail, there will be no recovery. But if you don’t gamble, what awaits you may be death.

"Mr. Cui, this matter is of great importance. Please allow me to consider it again." Li Tai stopped and said.

Cui Wenxin nodded: "It is right for the King of Wei to consider it carefully, but time is tight and the Crown Prince's power is growing every day. I hope the King of Wei will make a decision as soon as possible. I will come again at midnight three days later to listen to the King of Wei's reply. If the King of Wei agrees, we will start to prepare for the specific matters."

After saying this, Cui Wenxin bowed and said goodbye.

After a long while, Li Tai ordered, "Notify Prince Jin to come over."

Soon, Li Zhi, who got the news, arrived.

"Fourth brother, why did you call me here this time?"

Li Zhi looked haggard. He had just recovered from his injuries and was still a little weak.

Li Tai said in a deep voice: "The Crown Prince has occupied the Daming Palace, but there has been no movement from the Emperor. We cannot just sit there and wait for death."

Li Zhi smiled bitterly and said, "But how can we deal with the prince? How else can we deal with the prince?"

Li Tai stood up and said, "So we can't fight him head-on!"

"Have you forgotten the Xuanwu Gate Incident? Back then, when father led 800 black-armored soldiers to decide the outcome of the war, he never relied on numbers, but rather--"

Li Tai suddenly lowered his voice, put his five fingers together like a knife and slashed across his neck: "A fatal blow."

Li Zhi couldn't help but ask: "Are you talking about assassination?"

"If our father finds out, we will surely die!"

Li Tai said coldly: "Do you think you can survive if you don't do it? The ambush on Zhuque Street, the riot in Laitingfang, which one will the prince easily expose? When he sits firmly on the throne, the first one he will crush is us!"

Li Zhi said dejectedly: "But we have no military power, and most of the guards in the palace have been reduced. What can we use to assassinate? The prince is surrounded by layers of Shenwu Army guards, and the Daming Palace is even more difficult for birds to fly across."

Li Tai sneered: "Without military power, we can kill with borrowed knife."

Li Zhi asked, "Borrowing a knife to kill someone? Whose knife?" Li Tai said, "Turks!"

Li Zhi staggered to his feet: "Fourth brother!"

"Letting foreign enemies into the city is a crime of treason! Have you forgotten the humiliation of the Weishui Alliance when your father was forced to swear an oath of blood with the Turks?"

"shame?"

Li Tai suddenly laughed out loud: "Do you think that after the crown prince ascends the throne, he will lead his army to flatten the grassland? He will only kill us first."

Li Zhi whispered: "We can't hide it from our father, if we fail."

Li Tai asked: "Do we have any choice now?"

Li Zhi was silent.

If they do nothing, they will eventually die.

The prince will not let them go.

Three days later, at Prince Wei's Palace.

Cui Wenxin is here.

There were also Turkic envoys coming.

"King Wei, this is Ashina Kutulu, a warrior under the command of Yipi Duolu Khan of the Western Turkic region."

Cui Wenxin bowed and introduced him, lowering his voice very low, "He brought a handwritten letter from the Khan."

Ashina Kutulu lifted his hood, revealing several scars on his bronze face. A silver wolf-head ring on his left ear swayed slightly with his movements.

He knelt on one knee and pulled out a parchment book from his bosom. The wolf head totem on it was stained with fresh blood. "King of Wei, my lord Yibi Duolu Khan heard that you and the crown prince are not on good terms, and is willing to form an alliance. As long as the crown prince dies, the Western Turkic cavalry will never set foot in Chang'an."

Li Tai glanced at the parchment book and suddenly sneered: "Words are not enough. When the Eastern Turks broke the alliance, your tribe stabbed them in the back many times."

"The Eastern Turks are dead, and the Western Turks are just trying to survive!" Ashina Kutulu suddenly drew out his scimitar, which shone a cold light under the candlelight. "The prince swept across Liaodong and destroyed the Three Kingdoms like slaughtering chickens and dogs. If he is allowed to ascend the throne, the Western Turks will be the next to die! Yibi Duolu Khan said that as long as the prince can be eliminated, he is willing to give us ten cities north of the Tianshan Mountains as a gift!"

He turned his wrist and put the blade to his throat: "I swear in the name of Eternal Heaven that after this is accomplished, the Western Turks will retreat back to the west of the Pamir Mountains and will not invade the border of the Tang Dynasty for ten years!"

Li Zhi suddenly spoke in a hoarse voice: "Even if the crown prince dies, the ministers in the court will not sit idly by and watch the Western Turks interfere in the royal family's struggle. Aren't you afraid that the Tang Dynasty will mobilize the whole country for revenge?"

Ashina Gutulu said in a deep voice: "I believe the King of Wei and the King of Jin will help us."

Li Tai stared at the bloody parchment book in Ashina Kutulu's hand, his face changing from gloomy to bright. "Ten cities north of Tianshan as a gift?" He suddenly sneered, "Once the prince dies, your tribe will turn against you, and then won't my brother and I become eternal sinners?"

Ashina Kutulu turned his wrist and stabbed the scimitar into the floor tile fiercely, and the bluestone burst instantly: "If the King of Wei does not believe it, Yibi Duolu Khan is willing to send his legitimate son to Chang'an as a hostage!" He ripped open his clothes, revealing the hideous wolf-shaped tattoo on his chest, "This is the highest oath of the Western Turkic warriors. If you break this oath, you will be pierced by thousands of arrows and die!"

Li Tai looked at Li Zhi and said, "Zhi Nu, we have nowhere to retreat. The only way to survive is to join forces with the Western Turks!"

Li Zhi closed his eyes for a long time, then slowly opened them, a hint of cruelty flashing in his eyes: "Okay! I agree! But let me be frank with you, if the Western Turks dare to betray me..."

"I will make you pay with blood!"

Ashina Gutulu was overjoyed and knelt on one knee again: "With the help of the King of Wei and the King of Jin, great things will be accomplished!"
-
Daming Palace.

"How dare these two bastards, Li Tai and Li Zhi, collude with the Western Turks!"

Li Chengqian got the news.

The intelligence network is not just for show.

Du He said: "Your Highness, this is a God-given opportunity! Why not assemble the Shenwu Army immediately and charge him with treason."

Li Chengqian shook his head slightly: "If we take action now, my father will definitely think of our bloodline!"

"We want them to die without any chance of rebuttal."

"We will hold our troops in place for now. When the Turkic warriors start fighting with the Prince of Wei's palace, we will send out the Shenwu Army in the name of suppressing the rebellion and wipe them out in one fell swoop! By then, we will have all the evidence and witnesses, and Your Majesty will have nothing to say."

It’s not that Li Chengqian didn’t want to kill the King of Wei and the King of Jin, but he didn’t have a good excuse.

Some things are within the bottom line and cannot be easily discussed.

After all, he is different from Li Shimin back then, and cannot fully control the court.

But the situation is completely different when the King of Wei and the King of Jin allied with the Turks.

Under such circumstances, even Li Shimin could not make any mistake in killing the King of Wei and the King of Jin.
-
Chang'an City, Cui Mansion.

In the study, Cui Shengyu threw the secret report heavily on the sandalwood table.

The person standing in front of me is Cui Wenxin.

"Do you know what you are doing?" Cui Shengyu's voice was low and angry. "Colluding with the Turks will drag the entire Cui family into an abyss of no return!"

Cui Wenxin turned around slowly, with an almost paranoid sneer on his face: "Young Master, do you really think that you can save the Cui family by staying out of it? Once the crown prince ascends the throne, our Qinghe Cui family will definitely bear the brunt!"

"The King of Wei and the Crown Prince are at loggerheads. Only by helping him ascend to the throne can the Cui family have a chance of survival!"

"What nonsense!" Cui Shengyu slammed the table and stood up. "Back then, Cui Wensheng was convicted for colluding with Goryeo. Now you want to repeat the same mistake? Do you think the Turks can be trusted? They just want to use us to get rid of their biggest threat. After the success, they will definitely turn against us!"

A trace of pain flashed across Cui Wenxin's eyes, but was soon replaced by hatred: "Brother was clearly framed by the crown prince! If he hadn't interfered, how could brother have died unjustly?"

He clenched his fists, digging his nails deep into his palms. "What I did this time was not only to avenge my brother, but also to find a way out for the Cui family!"

Cui Shengyu stepped forward and said, "You are confused! The struggles among the royal family have always been a matter of life and death. Our Cui family has survived for hundreds of years by judging the situation and not risking everything! If you insist on doing this, I will immediately write a letter to inform my father of this matter!"

After he finished speaking, he paused and said, "Back then, Cui Wensheng was indeed convicted for colluding with Goryeo. Don't let hatred blind your eyes!"

Cui Wenxin was struck by lightning, staggering back half a step, knocking over the round stool behind him: "You... you are talking nonsense! Brother has been loyal all his life, how could he do such a thing? It's clearly a frame-up by the prince!"

"Enough!" Cui Shengyu took out a yellowed letter from his sleeve and threw it at Cui Wenxin's feet. "This is a secret letter. It clearly states that Cui Wensheng secretly communicated with Goryeo for the sake of his family's position in the court! After the incident, in order to protect the Cui family, he chose to commit suicide to apologize!"

Cui Wenxin picked up the letter with trembling eyes. His pupils shrank violently as he scanned the familiar handwriting. "Impossible! You forged it! You must have done it on purpose to stop me from taking revenge..."

Cui Shengyu: "I stopped you to protect the Cui family!"

"Do you think the Turks are trustworthy? They just want to use us to get rid of their biggest threat. After the success, they will definitely turn against us! By then, the Cui family's century-old foundation will be destroyed. How can we face our ancestors in the afterlife?"

Cui Wenxin suddenly laughed wildly, with endless sadness and despair in his laughter: "So that's it. It turns out that my brother is really guilty." He pushed Cui Shengyu away violently, but his eyes became more fierce, "But the prince used this incident to suppress the Cui family, causing my brother to die unjustly. This blood debt must be avenged!"

Cui Shengyu said coldly: "How long will you continue to be stubborn and stubborn?"

"If I tell my father about this, I will definitely imprison you!"

Cui Wenxin tidied up her messy clothes and stepped back to the door with a strange smile on her face: "Go ahead and tell me, young master. But before that, I will make the prince pay the price. If I fail, I will die as a token of my guilt and will never implicate the Cui family."

(End of this chapter)