Tang Dynasty: To win Yang Guifei, they asked Emperor Xuanzong to die.

Despite the excited looks in their eyes, Gao Lishi shook his head.

He said, "This matter is merely my speculation. Without evidence, I dare not speak ill of this person. Therefore, we must wait until the matter is about to come to light before we can verify my speculation. I have nothing to say for now, and I hope you two will forgive me."

Gao Lishi's attitude made Li Mao's heart sink even further.

—A person whose identity is not simple, even Gao Lishi dares not discuss.

Was it Prime Minister Li Shizhi, General Feng, or members of the royal family, or even... Crown Prince Li Heng himself?

A string of names appeared in Li Mao's mind.

But upon closer examination, none of them fully meet the "requirements".

Oh well, the truth will come out sooner or later anyway.

At that time, Li Mao will slap Li Longji in the face and let him know that the son he does not trust has repeatedly risked his life to expose the traitor he trusts!

Three days later, the appointed day arrived.

The sky was already dark, and the moonlight was as clear as if it had been washed.

Li Mao returned to the willow grove, and sure enough, several men in black were already waiting under the trees.

Li Mao approached them and said casually, "Since you are going to follow me, you must obey my orders from now on. Now, I order you to stop all slander and attacks against His Highness the Crown Prince and His Majesty's empire. You are not allowed to do so again unless I give the order."

The leader of the men in black bowed respectfully: "Yes, Your Highness!"

Li Mao nodded in satisfaction, his tone softening slightly: "Very good. First, tell me, how did you contact your other accomplices? And how did you carry out the plan?"

The man in black answered in great detail, seemingly without any concealment: "We mainly communicate with each other through certain methods, such as using special symbols or passwords to pass messages. Our only goal is to enthrone Your Highness! However, Your Highness cannot do nothing. There are some things that Your Highness will do for you sooner or later if you do not do them."

"Who said I'm not doing it anymore?" Li Mao sneered and said, "Let me tell you, I've disliked my father for a long time. He only has eyes for the Crown Prince, not for me as his son. He spoiled me rotten from childhood, and after my mother passed away, he ignored me. What use is a father like that?"

As he spoke, Li Mao then proceeded to belittle Crown Prince Li Heng.

With Gao Lishi vouching for him, Li Mao dared to say anything.

The main goal is to make these people believe in themselves.

Seeing him pour out all his grievances against Li Longji and Li Heng, the man in black revealed a hint of excitement and satisfaction in his eyes. It was as if... as if they had come here just to hear Li Mao say these things.

After Li Mao finished speaking, he said, "Now you can trust me, right? I intend to proceed gradually, not act rashly. In the future, do not fight unprepared battles or do anything without orders, understand?"

"understood!"

Through Li Mao's deliberate actions, he seemed to have completely integrated with these people. Guo Ziyi felt extremely distressed whenever he saw such a scene; His Highness was walking on a knife's edge, every step fraught with danger.

With Li Mao temporarily stabilizing the situation, the "supporters" have not caused any further trouble.

Now that the assassin who tried to kill the crown prince has been caught and is dead, they should be able to leave Xianyang City.

However, the Crown Prince's injuries had not yet healed, and Li Longji seemed somewhat afraid, always feeling that some unruly people wanted to harm him, fearing that something else might happen on the road. Since they had already been on the run for so long, they might as well continue to flee, and staying outside for a few more days would not be a problem.

Three days later, a magnificent carriage appeared in Xianyang.

The car stopped inside the city, and a man slowly lifted the curtain to reveal his face.

The man was dressed in fine clothes, had a handsome face, and a somewhat arrogant expression.

The carriage slowly drove through the bustling streets, attracting the attention of many pedestrians.

The man strolled leisurely around Xianyang City until noon that day, when his carriage stopped in front of the villa where the royal entourage was temporarily staying.

Attendants alighted from the carriage and went to knock on the door, only to be berated by the gatekeeper: "You ignorant fools, don't you have eyes? Don't you know whose territory this is? How dare you knock on the door so easily?!"

However, at that moment, the man gently lifted the carriage curtain, revealing his face.

His handsome face held a slight smile, but his eyes were unusually sharp.

Upon seeing this, the gatekeeper was terrified and immediately knelt down to beg for forgiveness: "Your Highness, please forgive me! I was blind and did not know it was Your Highness. Please forgive me!"

Indeed, this person is Li Longji's sixteenth son—Prince Yong, Li Lin.

This man was, in some ways, even more respected than Li Mao, and there were people everywhere flattering him. This was not for any other reason than that Prince Yong had a high EQ and knew how to conduct himself in society. Even though his mother had long since passed away, he still maintained a place in the palace and in Chang'an.

Li Longji had always doted on this son.

Unlike Li Mao, whose life was full of ups and downs.

Prince Yong gave the gatekeeper a deep look, then smiled faintly and waved for him to stand up: "It's alright, there's no need to panic."

He then walked past the man, got off the carriage, and went straight into the courtyard.

Prince Yong did not go to pay his respects to Li Longji. Instead, after asking the guards by the roadside, he went directly to the residence of Crown Prince Li Heng.

At this moment, Li Heng had just finished drinking his medicine when he heard the servant outside the door announce that Prince Yong had come to visit. He couldn't help but frown slightly: "Why is this kid here? He didn't even give me a heads-up."

It would take ten days to half a month to travel from Chang'an to Xianyang.

It's amazing that the pampered Prince Yong could endure such a long carriage ride!

A moment later, Prince Yong, dressed in magnificent robes, walked in.

Upon seeing Li Heng, she immediately adopted a wronged expression, her voice carrying a hint of coquetry: "Your Majesty, you've had a hard time here. I heard the situation here is complicated, and I was worried you wouldn't be able to handle it alone, so I came to visit you. You're injured, let me take a look!"

As he spoke, he made no attempt to conceal his intention to examine the wound on the prince's shoulder.

The crown prince quickly dodged, saying, "I've almost recovered. You didn't need to come all this way."

Prince Yong disagreed with him, and said unhappily, "Brother, you're being too polite with me. You didn't even tell me you were injured. If it weren't for the people around Father Emperor going to Chang'an to invite Gao Lishi, I probably wouldn't know you were injured. Let me stay by your side and take care of you these days. With me here, you'll recover faster."

Li Heng looked at Prince Yong in front of him. Although he was over twenty years old, he still clung to him like he did when he was a child.

He smiled helplessly and said in a kind tone, "You, at your age, are still like a child. I don't know what to say to you."