Half in the river wind, half in the clouds

To this day, Jiang Feng really can't be trusted by anyone.

She could only say: "The prince has saved me from danger many times! This time, he was willing to fight against Wei and even be imprisoned to save me. If such a life-saving grace is still unbelievable, then no one in this world can be trusted. I have nothing to hide, and I can't explain the many coincidences. Perhaps, it's just because the prince is in the game and I am outside, so I can see it more clearly. Or perhaps, those people in the court have already analyzed the situation clearly, but they just keep their mouths shut."

Li Longye raised his eyebrows, but it was hard to see clearly in the darkness.

Ok.

So be it.

He only asked this once.

Today, he officially missed the chance to be crowned the crown prince, and the gap will only get wider and wider.

He couldn't lose anything. Anybody.

Seeing that Li Longye stopped asking questions, Jiang Feng felt that the draft he had written was of no use at all, so he just stood there without saying anything.

"Tomorrow, my father will confer the title of Wang Xun to me and officially name me the King of Xue," said Li Longye.

Jiang Feng was certainly not stupid enough to congratulate him. He could only sigh and say, "Since Your Majesty has already appointed a crown prince, I'm sure the titles won't be 'Qin' or 'Wei' anymore."

When Li Yuan succeeded to the throne, he appointed the crown prince, and at the same time, he gave the meritorious Li Shimin and Li Yuanji the titles of King of Qin and King of Wei. The two forces were evenly matched and each had its own camp, and finally the Xuanwu Gate Incident broke out, which was really pitiful and lamentable.

"My aunt, my brothers and all the ministers have recommended me to be the crown prince, but few have recommended my third brother. I just don't understand, since my father agrees with the idea of ​​'recruiting the one who has made contributions instead of the eldest son', why can't I do it? I just can't figure it out." Li Longye said at a loss.

Jiang Feng was confused, as he had no memory of this clue. After the Tanglong coup, Li Longji was pushed to the position of crown prince by everyone, and even Li Chengqi, the eldest brother of the Li family, said that he dared not take more credit than Prince Ping (Li Longji).

Why did Li Longye say this?

It is better to have no books than to believe in them blindly. History books are written by the victors, so of course they will be embellished.

He immediately asked, "Why didn't you report the execution of Wei to the Prince of Xiang?"

Li Longye said: "Third brother said that we cannot bring trouble to our father, but he is also worried that our father will object."

Jiang Feng asked again: "Then why don't we see the King of Shouchun and the King of Hengyang?"

"My second brother is fat and can move easily, so he was excluded from the plan from the beginning. When we were planning, my third brother said that we would not even alarm my eldest brother, so the three of us brothers could accomplish it!" Li Longye replied.

Jiang Feng said: "Your Majesty and the five princes have not just had the ambition to support the country in the past few days. At that time, the Wei family was in power and the rebellion was imminent. How could Your Majesty oppose it? If the mutiny fails, Your Majesty will also be held responsible. When the crown prince was deposed, Empress Wei didn't have any evidence to prove it, but she still blamed Your Majesty, not to mention this time!"

Li Longye seemed to understand something.

Jiang Feng added, "If those two princes had also participated in killing Empress Wei, there would be no saying of 'not appointing the eldest son as the crown prince'. It would be reasonable to appoint Prince Shouchun as the crown prince. Now, the great merit of killing Empress Wei and supporting the country has fallen on the three of you, and you... all want to be the crown prince, but Your Majesty cannot really pick you three brothers out and compare your achievements and talents. If there is such a precedent, and the crown prince of the Eastern Palace follows suit in the future, I don't know what kind of bloody storm will happen!"

Jiang Feng and Li Longji had only met once, and they had not exchanged a few words. He only thought that he was a simple, generous and wealthy young man, but now that he thought about it carefully, he realized that there were indeed turbulent waves under the calm sea.

How many people in the world can understand the mind of an emperor?

Although Li Longye had previously seized the imperial seal from Jiang Fengchu, he had respectfully handed it over to Prince Xiang. Although he intended to compete for the throne, the prerequisite for the competition was that his father, Prince Xiang Li Dan, would become the emperor.

Before this goal is achieved, all calculations and scheming between brothers would be self-destructive, and he would never bother to do that.

He had originally planned that after his father ascended the throne, he would be able to let go, realize his ambitions, promote benefits and eliminate disadvantages, do a great job, and let his father see his talents.

But I didn't expect that it would only take five days from the time my father ascended the throne to the time the crown prince was appointed.

Liu Youqiu was the first to request the establishment of a crown prince, and Princess Taiping and his elder brother stood up to oppose it.

He still didn't understand why they were so anxious on one hand, but wanted to stop it on the other. It turned out that at that time, his aunt and the King of Shouchun had already seen the clues, and he only understood it now.

At that critical juncture, the crown prince could only be chosen from among the princes who had just made great contributions.

As expected, Liu Youqiu submitted a memorial: "I have heard that those who eradicate disasters should enjoy the blessings of the world. King Ping saved the country and his relatives from danger. In terms of merit, he has the greatest merit and the most virtuous character, so he should be the crown prince."

After hearing this, Princess Taiping really wanted to discuss the merits and virtues.

The emperor remained silent, and summoned Princess Taiping and Prince Shouchun that night.

On the second day, Prince Shouchun resigned from the position of Crown Prince, and his father took the opportunity to appoint Prince Linzi as Crown Prince.

He lost without knowing why, and cleanly. If it was true as Jiang Feng said, when did the third brother start planning? He felt that he had been careful at every step, but in the end, he was just one step behind.

It was even more difficult for him to accept it.

Jiang Feng had no choice but to be the flower of eloquence: "Among the five people who were born to the same mother as your Majesty, only your Majesty and Princess Taiping are left. As for the others, Emperor Xiaojing has no children, the three princes Zhanghuai have all died, the second son of Zhongzong has died, and the other two sons, Prince Qiao, have been convicted and I don't know what their fate will be. Prince Wen has abdicated the throne to your Majesty, and from now on..." Jiang Feng paused, and seeing that Li Longye didn't care much, he continued: "It may not be smooth sailing in the future. Your Majesty has twice given up the throne and saved all his children in the disputes. Now you have cut the Gordian knot and established a prince to avoid the disaster of brothers fighting against each other."

The later Emperor Kangxi did not understand as well as Li Dan did. The position of the crown prince had always been unresolved, and the competition among various forces eventually led to the tragedy of nine princes fighting for the throne.

Li Longye seemed to have heard it, and asked in a question-like manner: "Are you going to stop just like that?"

Jiang Feng said, "If the prince continues to fight, he will have to fight with his brothers. When the criminal prince Li Chengjun died, the prince couldn't help himself. If it was his own brother, what would the prince do?"

Li Longye knew that Jiang Feng must have already determined that Li Longji would become the emperor, so she advised him to give up. Sometimes he even suspected that she was a spy for his third brother, or that she was in love with him.

He was at a loss for words.

At this time Li Bie came over.

Li Longye was very perceptive and asked, "What's the matter?"

Li Bian seemed to think for a while before he said, "Someone from the palace said that the ceremonial dress for tomorrow's award ceremony has been awarded. Please give your instructions, Your Majesty."

The person who came to the palace was naturally sent by the princess. No wonder Li Bian thought for a long time and omitted the subject.

Li Longye listened but did not reply and continued walking forward.

Your wife asked you to go home but you didn't go back. I'm afraid that this matter will be blamed on her again.

Princess Cheng'an has completely passed the hurdle, and she doesn't want another Princess Xue to come.

She just wants to live a good life.

Li Longye walked for a while and found that Jiang Feng had not caught up with him. He had no choice but to walk back and asked, "What's wrong?"

Jiang Feng said: "I'm a little tired and want to rest."

In the dark night, Li Longye sighed barely audible, "Okay. Let's go back."

On the second day, Ruizong Li Dan conferred the title of Princess Taiping as Princess Taiping, with a fief of 2,000 households. He conferred the title of Prince of Song on his eldest son Li Chengqi, the title of Prince of Shen on his second son, the title of Prince of Qi on his fourth son Li Longfan, and the title of Prince of Xue on his fifth son Li Longye.

At the same time, Empress Wei was demoted to a commoner, Princess Anle was demoted to a "rebellious commoner", and the deposed Crown Prince Li Chongjun was posthumously named the chaste Crown Prince. In the Wei clan, anyone who was longer than a horse whip was beheaded, even children as young as three years old. Among them was Princess Cheng'an's husband, Wei Jie, who was beheaded in the Tanglong coup.

At this point, the Wei family group was completely destroyed, and the new star of the Tang Dynasty rose slowly. Li Longji and his brothers saved the Tang Dynasty from collapse and created an incomparably splendid Kaiyuan era.

The carriage of the Tang Dynasty finally set off again in the hands of rational and ambitious whippersnappers.