Traveling through Du He, Li Chengqian's rebellion begins

Seeing his father's firm attitude, Li Tai still showed a well-behaved expression on his face even though he was extremely dissatisfied in his heart.

"Your Majesty is right. I couldn't bear to see my elderly father-in-law suffer in prison, so I thought of reducing his crime by rewarding him with merit."

"Your Highness, I have failed to consider this matter carefully. Please take back the reward, Father."

It has to be said that Li Tai is very good at speaking and knows how to please Li Shimin.

With just a few words, he portrays himself as a good child who values filial piety.

Li Shimin's expression softened and he said, "If Yan Lide knew about Qingque's filial piety, he would definitely feel relieved."

"And you did nothing wrong in this matter. Please accept the reward I give you."

Having said this, Li Tai, who knew when to advance and retreat, bowed with a look of joy on his face.

"My son, I thank my father for the reward."

Li Tai continued, "Father, when I came in just now, I saw that you looked worried. Are you worried about state affairs?"

"Although I am not very talented or well-educated, if your father needs your help, I would like to stay and help him."

He now lives in the Wude Hall, has his own literary institute, has important officials in the court serving as teachers, and the rewards bestowed by his father are the same as those given to the crown prince.

But the only difference between him and the prince, apart from the title, is that he handles memorials!

Once my father asks him to help deal with memorials, many neutral ministers in the court will probably side with him, which will be more advantageous for him in his fight for the position of crown prince.

However, no matter how many times he tried, his father still refused to give in.

Li Shimin narrowed his eyes, looked at Li Tai thoughtfully, and after a silence of more than ten breaths, he spoke softly.

"Qingque is thoughtful. Father can handle the memorials by himself."

Rejected again!

Li Tai was not surprised by this result.

Li Chengqian led his troops to attack Goguryeo and made rapid progress. Not only was his father satisfied with his performance, but even the civil and military officials in the court praised him highly.

Many ministers also said that Li Chengqian was a qualified crown prince.

Hearing this disgusting sound, Li Tai felt as if his heart was blocked.

"Hey~"

Li Tai sighed in his heart and then thought.

"I don't know if Zhang Junyi has taken action yet!"

"It must succeed!"

In order to bribe Zhang Junyi, he really paid a huge price.

If even this important chess piece cannot play its role, the other hidden tricks they have set up will not be able to make any big noise.

The country of Xueyantuo was not under his control, and he could not pin his hopes on Xueyantuo.

Li Shimin saw Li Tai was still in a daze, so he frowned and asked, "Qingque is worried about something?"

Li Tai waved his hands quickly and said, "No, I just saw that my father is so busy every day, and I feel a little touched."

Although he was very unhappy, he still pretended to care about his father.

Li Tai followed Li Shimin and bowed, "Father, you still have to take care of state affairs. I will disturb you if I stay here. I will take my leave first."

"When your father is not reviewing memorials, he should also go out for a walk more often. Now that spring has come and the flowers are in full bloom, they are very beautiful."

Li Shimin nodded with a smile on his face.

Watching Li Tai slowly leaving, Li Shimin's smiling face gradually turned cold.

He lowered his head to glance at the "Preface to the Lanting Poems" on the table, and then murmured in a low voice.

"Qingque, I hope it's not you!"

As the whispering sound disappeared, the Ganlu Palace instantly fell into deathly silence.

...

Five days later.

In the Ganlu Hall, which was brightly lit by candles, there were only Li Shimin and Niu Jinda.

Within a hundred steps radius of the hall, in addition to dozens of expressionless black-armored soldiers, even the eunuchs who usually served Li Shimin were called away.

Li Shimin looked at Niu Jinda, who was standing in front of him and seemed hesitant to speak, and he had a bad feeling in his heart.

After a moment of silence.

Li Shimin slowly asked, "Niu Jinda, have you found out who was behind Zhang Junyi's escape?"

Niu Jinda clasped his fists towards Li Shimin and said, "Your Majesty, I have found out."

"Is it the King of Wei?"

"Yes!"

Boom!

After getting Niu Jinda's affirmative answer, Li Shimin's heart seemed to be hit by a heavy hammer, and an indescribable pain suddenly surged in his heart.

His resolute and majestic face also turned pale in an instant.

The whole person seemed to have aged several years.

Li Shimin himself came to the throne by killing his brother and imprisoning his father. In order to prevent his descendants from following his old path, he sent countless important ministers to assist the crown prince.

He even ordered the legitimate sons of court ministers to serve in the Eastern Palace.

He did all this just to tell his other descendants not to have any ideas about the throne.

He never expected that because he doted on Li Tai, his second legitimate son, Li Tai began to have inappropriate thoughts in his mind.

Li Shimin could only swallow his anger at this result that he least wanted to see.

I don’t know how long it took.

Li Shimin said with tears in his eyes and waved his hands weakly.

"Niu Jinda, tell me everything you found out."

"promise!"

After Niu Jinda bowed respectfully, he began to report in a low voice.

"In November of the 17th year of Zhenguan, someone brought a huge amount of gold and antique calligraphy and paintings to bribe Zhang Junyi. I followed the clues and found that the mastermind behind this was Wei Suan, an aide to the King of Wei."

"Since January this year, Zhang Junyi's brothers and descendants, a total of 1 people, have been assigned to serve in the counties under Xiangzhou, Weizhou and Lizhou."

"The people who arranged for Zhang Junyi's brothers and descendants to become officials have the shadow of Wei Ting, the Minister of the Ministry of Rites, and Du Chuke, the Minister of Works."

In the tenth year of Zhenguan, when Li Tai was named King of Wei, he was remotely appointed as the governor of Xiangzhou, supervising the military affairs of seven states, namely Xiangzhou, Weizhou, Lizhou, Weizhou, Mingzhou, Xingzhou and Beizhou.

Although Li Shimin was reluctant to let his beloved son Li Tai go to his fiefdom to take up his post, Li Tai was the highest official in these states and counties.

As the King of Wei, he didn't need to do anything to place people in subordinate counties and prefectures, as his group of aides could arrange everything for him.

After Niu Jinda finished his report, he hesitated again and again, and finally asked Li Shimin in a low voice.

"Your Majesty, how should we deal with the King of Wei and his staff?"

This time Li Shimin remained silent even longer.

A few days ago, he said to Niu Jinda indignantly: "If the evidence is conclusive, put the mastermind behind this directly in jail!"

But now, Li Shimin has put this sentence behind him.

It was not until the candles in the hall were about to burn out that Li Shimin began to speak slowly.

"Niu Jinda, don't make this public for now!"

"After discussing with Fu Ji, Xuan Ling, Pharmacist, Yang Shidao, Xiao Yu and Gao Shilian, I will make the final judgment!"

Because the person behind the scenes was the beloved son Li Tai, in addition to punishing Li Tai, all the staff in the Wei Wang Mansion had to be dealt with.

With so many ministers involved, Li Shimin couldn't make a decision immediately.

Niu Jinda said with a serious face: "Yes, sir!"

Li Shimin waved his hand at Niu Jinda and said, "You go down and rest first. I want to be alone."

"promise."

Niu Jinda bowed and left quickly.

In the spacious Ganlu Hall, Li Shimin was the only one left.

"Qingque, Qingque, why must it be you?"

Li Shimin slumped in the Hu chair, as if all the strength had been drained from his body.