Tang Dynasty: Father, if you don't rebel, I will!

"boom!"

"Wang Heng deceived his superiors and subordinates, wreaked havoc in the local area, was insatiably greedy, and disregarded the law. The evidence is conclusive!"

"His Highness the Crown Prince has decreed: Confiscate their property! Exterminate their entire clan!"

The clattering of armor caused the people of Taiyuan to scatter, accompanied by a dense array of soldiers from the Eastern Palace's Six Guards, led by the cold and stern-faced Prince Li Ke of Hanzhong.

Behind them followed a series of Imperial Guards.

Amidst the exclamations of the steward of Wang Heng's residence, a heavy impact was heard.

They stormed directly into Wang Heng's family's residence.

"Ah! What are you doing?!"

"Master! Ah! Let me go!"

"Woooooooo..."

Li Ke stood at the entrance of Wang Heng's residence with icy eyes, staring at the chaotic scene inside.

"Search thoroughly! Wang Heng is illegally selling military horses, and may even be colluding with the enemy and betraying the country. Look for any secret passages in their residence!"

"Go down and inspect all the wells as well!"

"Not a single room can be missed!"

"Yes!!!"

The sky gradually darkened.

Outside Wang Heng's residence, a crowd of onlookers had gathered, watching the chaos unfold. They could even faintly hear the screams of servants and guards who resisted and were killed on the spot by the Imperial Guards and the Eastern Palace soldiers.

however.

Upon hearing this, the surrounding people were overjoyed and excited.

"Waaaah, the law has finally come!"

"How hateful that my grandson was run over and killed by the Wang family's horse! If it weren't for that damned Wang Heng protecting him, how could that spoiled brat of the Wang family dare to be so arrogant?!"

"Kill them! They should all be killed! There's not a single good person in the Wang family!"

That night.

Yangcheng Palace was brightly lit.

As one of the imperial palaces built by order of Emperor Yang of Sui, Yangcheng Palace is quite large and located on a high ground. In the darkness, it resembles a crouching beast dominating the center of Taiyuan City.

The chirping of insects in late autumn seeped through the windows into the Shougong Hall, where the atmosphere was so quiet it was almost maddening.

Li Chengqian sat quietly at a table, with Qian Yingying and the eunuch Wang De standing quietly on either side of him.

Inside a side hall.

One could also faintly hear the voices of Kong Yingda, Yu Shinan, and Li Gang discussing matters related to the Royal Printing Bureau with Prince Yue, Li Tai.

The palace maids were carefully carrying the items that Crown Prince Li Chengqian frequently needed into the palace.

Throughout the entire process, no one dared to breathe loudly.

Even the slightest movement of their feet was extremely quiet.

Wang Ming knelt before Li Chengqian's desk, trembling all over.

Behind him, the Taiyuan officials who had previously stood up to oppose Li Chengqian now cowered like quails, silent as cicadas in winter.

Li Chengqian quietly flipped through the ledger in his hand, which detailed the division of the land around Taiyuan City in the Tang Dynasty.

He's very fast.

Almost immediately after it was laid out, within a minute or two, he had already memorized everything recorded on it.

however.

Qian Yingying and the eunuch Wang De, who were closest to Li Chengqian, could clearly sense it.

At this moment, His Highness's mood was getting worse and worse as he flipped through the account books.

Wang De nervously wiped the sweat from his forehead.

Since that day when His Highness the Crown Prince and His Majesty had that absurd affair, if it weren't for His Highness the Crown Prince's intercession, and the fact that he had indeed been very capable in his work over the years, and knew what he could and could not know.

What can be said and what cannot be said.

He has probably reunited with the missing eunuchs and palace maids in the underworld.

Even so, the Empress still handed him over to His Highness the Crown Prince, along with some palace maids and eunuchs who were willing to serve him.

It can be said.

If he can't even stay with His Highness the Crown Prince now, then he'll only face death.

Thinking of this, Wang De became even more careful with his breathing.

"boom!"

Suddenly, an angry slam of the table came from a side hall.

Although Prince Li Tai of Yue was young, his furious roar, which was exactly the same as that of the Crown Prince when he was angry, came out.

"Damn them! A bunch of shameless bastards!"

"They only talk the talk about serving the country and its people, but in reality they're all a bunch of selfish and self-serving scoundrels! Parasites!"

"Such a vital national undertaking, and they're all making excuses like this! Ha!"

"They should all be sent to Lingnan to reclaim wasteland and let them be properly educated by those Lingnan barbarians!"

In the side hall.

Kong Yingda and the others hurriedly pulled back the angry Prince Yue, who was about to go find his elder brother, their faces full of anxiety.

"Your Highness, Your Highness the Prince of Yue, calm down! These people are like a mantis trying to stop a chariot. If they don't come to such a grand plan for the nation and to promote the literary fortune, they will surely be cursed and despised by future generations."

"If that's the case, we can do it ourselves!"

Yu Shinan grabbed the King of Yue and spoke anxiously.

The deliberately lowered voice seemed to indicate a fear that these people who refused to write the letter might cause His Highness the Crown Prince to wield the sword again.

Now, if we calculate the timeline, we should remember that it was Wang Heng, the Sima, whose home was confiscated on His Highness's first day in Bingzhou.

The whole family is already on their way to Yangcheng Palace.

Kong Yingda looked through the dimly lit window towards the main hall of Shougong Hall.

The Crown Prince's blurry figure was still at his desk reviewing documents.

He finally breathed a sigh of relief.

They quickly joined forces with Yu Shinan to press the enraged Prince Yue back into his seat.

"Your Highness, please do not be angry. Such a wonderful post that will be recorded in history and leave a lasting mark on the annals of history is a loss for them if they do not come. More than three hundred of my disciples from the Confucius family set off from Shandong on the same day we departed from Chang'an."

"I estimate they will arrive in Bingzhou in a few days. I dare not say they are literary masters or Confucian and Taoist masters, but they are more than capable of compiling enlightenment classics and perfecting the Great Tang Dictionary."

"Yes, yes, my disciples have already rushed here from all directions. Your Highness, please do not worry..."

Seeing this Prince Yue, he finally sat down again with a cold face and no words.

The group exchanged glances and all breathed a sigh of relief.

Yu Shinan glanced at the several letters of rejection in his hand and curled his lip.

They simply threw it into the brazier next to them.

At this moment, I have already erased all those who once considered me their closest friends from my heart.

Just as Kong Yingda and his group had finished calming down the Prince of Yue in front of them.

Inside the main hall behind.

Li Ke, the Prince of Hanzhong, let out an angry snort, which immediately made the hairs on the faces of the men stand on end again.

"Hmph! Your Majesty, you have no idea how audacious the Wang family of Taiyuan is! That Wang Heng actually has connections with the Turks! He's secretly smuggling imperial ironware to the Turks!"

"And not just once! He's truly a corrupt and greedy local tycoon!"

The group quickly turned around and looked through the window towards the main hall of the Shougong Hall.

But then they saw Li Ke, with a long sword at his waist and a faint air of menace about him, walking quickly closer.

In his hand, he was also holding a stack of things that looked like evidence of treason and collusion with the enemy.

See this.

Li Gang couldn't help but sigh and shake his head.

"This Wang family is truly audacious. The Turks are near Bingzhou, and they are selling weapons to the Turks. How is that any different from raising a tiger to cause trouble? Aren't they worried that one day the Turkic cavalry will use the weapons they sold to slaughter their entire Wang family?"

In the main hall.

Wang Ming, who had been lying on the ground trembling with blood still on his lips, suddenly raised his head.

A pair of eyes stared in horror and dread at the stack of letters in Li Ke's hand.

I noticed Li Chengqian's cold eyes as he slowly raised them from the desk.

He couldn't help but shudder.

With a series of "bang bang bang" sounds, they hurriedly kowtowed.

"Your Highness, I do not know, I really do not know. The third branch has always been at odds with my eldest branch. Although from the outside we are all one family of the Wang clan of Taiyuan, in terms of property and clan members we are clearly separated!"

"Your Highness, please see the truth! Please see the truth!"

"Your subject is absolutely loyal to the Tang Dynasty, to Your Majesty, and to Your Highness, and would never dare to have any disloyal thoughts!"

"Bang bang bang..."

Li Chengqian coldly took the letter from Li Ke's hand.

After seeing the above content, that face, which was quite handsome in the candlelight, was now filled with gloom and coldness.

"Have all the people been apprehended?"

Li Ke gritted his teeth: "Wang Heng has another young son. The steward said he went out during the day and is currently being searched. The rest of Wang Heng's family members, wife and children have all been brought to justice!"

Li Chengqian nodded slightly.

He casually tossed the letter aside.

"The new policies in Bingzhou are a major national plan. If they are implemented smoothly, they will surely make the people of our dynasty live a prosperous life. However, the difficulty involved is no less than that of an epic national war."

"Now that I have just arrived in Bingzhou, let's have some celebration."

Li Chengqian waved his hand: "Gather the people in the city and publicly behead Wang Heng's entire family in front of Yangcheng Palace!"

Wang Ming, who was still banging his head against the floor, increased the force of his kowtows...

“Prefect Wang, although you have just taken office, as you have said, in the eyes of the people, you and Wang Heng are both from the Wang family of Taiyuan. From now on, I will use you to implement new policies.”

"How about I hand over the execution of Wang Heng's family to you?"

Hear the words.

Wang Ming hurriedly looked up, his head still a little dizzy, but under the threat of death, he was unusually clear-headed.

His body swayed slightly, but his voice was full of excitement and determination.

"Your subject is willing to go!"

Outside Yangcheng Palace.

Almost without any need for a summons, the city of Taiyuan was already swarming with onlookers upon hearing that Wang Heng was to be beheaded by His Highness the Crown Prince.

When everyone saw him, they saw that the leader was dressed in a single white shirt and looked disheveled and wretched.

But when the people present recognized Wang Heng even after he was reduced to ashes, they were immediately aroused.

If life weren't so difficult these days, I probably would have already thrown rotten vegetable leaves and rotten eggs at it.

Even though they weren't littering, the mouths of these people were still busy talking.

"This guy looks like he's really doomed. Hmph, no matter how powerful the Wang family of Taiyuan is, can they be above the imperial family or the law?!"

"Tsk tsk tsk, this whole family has been dragged out, hasn't it? Look, your old man, that's the steward of the Wang family mansion. Every time that guy comes to our butcher shop, he picks and chooses, and he never pays!"

"This family is all bad; like father, like son!"

"The Wang family, bah!"

"Kill them! Kill them!"

Amidst the excited shouts and curses of the people, Wang Ming, the governor of Bingzhou, whose forehead still bore a bloodstain, strode out.

A glimmer of hope appeared in Wang Heng's eyes as he knelt on the ground.

However, just when he thought that his cousin Wang Ming had a way to save him, he heard the other party clear his throat and come to the people in a pretentious manner.