Chapter 34 Wang Jiuling’s Advice!

Time passed slowly, and a sudden storm enveloped the capital. After the storm, a case involving Chen Yuan, the Minister of Civil Affairs, shocked the entire court.

Although the discussion was about Chen Yuan's case, everyone inside and outside the court knew that what was unfolding around Chen Yuan was actually a battle between the princes, especially the eldest prince Li Xuantu, the second prince Li Chengyi, and the newly rising three princes. Prince.

Throughout the dynasties, the most worrying and frightening thing for courtiers was the fight between princes in the palace.

In the previous dynasty, officials could not be punished. No matter how big a mistake they made, as long as it was not a crime of treason, they would be sent to the frontier at most. But once it involves the battle between princes and the struggle for succession to the throne, everything becomes completely different.

Once it fails, it will even involve the family and wipe out the entire family.

However, everyone knows that everything is inevitable.

The Emperor of the Tang Dynasty was seriously ill, so the three princes must use all their strength to win over the ministers in the court and cultivate their wings to compete for the supreme position in the Hall of Supreme Harmony.

And Chen Yuan is the result of this competition.

…

The heavy rain has not stopped, at this moment, in the East Palace.

Li Xuantu was dressed in a black gold robe and stood with his hands behind his back. Behind him were many East Palace staff.

"How's it going? What's happening over at Jade Dragon Palace?"

Li Xuantu raised his head, looked at the raindrops falling like a bead curtain outside the hall, and said calmly.

"Your Highness, Chen Yuan's case is now a certainty. Even if the third prince wants to recover, it is too late. Moreover, your highness is the prince appointed by your majesty. More than half of the civil and military officials in the court have taken refuge in your highness. No matter whether the third prince is willing to do so or not, it is too late. , are destined to be unable to threaten His Highness!"

From behind, a rich voice came. The man had a majestic face, a white beard, and a strong aura of superiority in his movements. It was none other than Zhou Yan, the Minister of Punishment.

Li Xuantu said nothing, but his eyes fluctuated slightly.

Among the six departments of the Tang Dynasty, the Ministry of Punishment, the Ministry of Husbandry, and the Ministry of Rites had all surrendered to him. There were countless other civil and military officials who had surrendered to him. Under normal circumstances, he should be sure of victory, but Li Xuantu always felt deeply uneasy in his heart.

"Zhao Wu, how are you doing over there?"

Li Xuantu suddenly spoke.

"In the name of His Highness,

We have contacted those people, but whether it is Zhang Shougui, Zhangchou Jianqiong, or Wang Haibin, they are all loyal to the third prince and are not moved at all. "

Behind Li Xuantu, a young man bowed.

Few people know that the battlefield of this princely battle is far away from the court. Almost all the courtiers who took refuge with Li Taiyi, including the generals Li Taiyi dug during the Turkic War, were invited by the East Palace.

"Yeah?"

Li Xuantu frowned slightly, a cold look flashed between his brows.

He was the crown prince appointed by the Emperor of Tang Dynasty, the rightful heir to the throne. Everyone in the world was the king's land, and the people who led the land were the king's ministers. Whether it was the imperial court or the borderlands, everyone should surrender to him.

"Third brother, there are some things that don't belong to you, and you insist on fighting for them. In this case, you can't blame me."

Li Xuantu squinted his eyes slightly, and a chilling light burst out.

"Let's make arrangements and proceed as planned."

…

At the same time, in the Jade Dragon Palace, many subordinates and staff gathered around Li Taiyi, including Zhang Shougui, Zhangchou Jianqiong, Wang Jiuling and others.

"Have you checked it out?'

Li Taiyi said.

"No, we sent people there, and Eunuch Li was there to help, but no one could do anything about His Highness's condition. In addition, we checked, and although no problem was found, we weighed two sets of medicine residues that were very close together. ,——The composition of the two sets of medicinal residues is the same, but the weight is different."

"It's no accident. Some of the ingredients in those medicine residues were removed and picked out in advance. The other party is more cautious than we thought!"

Wang Jiuling pondered for a moment and said solemnly.

As soon as the voice fell, the atmosphere in the hall suddenly became extremely heavy. Even Li Taiyi couldn't help but his eyebrows beat and his heart sank suddenly.

"Your Highness, it must be the First Prince and the Second Prince who did it. We can't wait any longer. Those people have already sped up their actions. Let's make a decision as soon as possible before the matter is settled!"

"Otherwise, by the time the eldest prince comes to power, it will be too late."

Behind the third prince, Zhang Shougui suddenly spoke.

As soon as the voice fell, Albus, Zhangchou Jianqiong, Wang Jiuling, Gao Lishi and other ministers who had taken refuge with the third prince looked over. It was obvious that everyone had the same thought.

"How to do it?"

Li Taiyi shook his head:

"After all, the eldest brother is the prince appointed by the father, and there is a master in the court. If I take action now, it will be treason."

As soon as the voice fell, everyone fell silent.

The crown prince's succession to the throne was justifiable, but this was also the disadvantage for everyone.

However, everyone in the Jade Dragon Palace knew that Emperor Tang had never thought about appointing a third prince, but as soon as he had the idea, he was rejected by Empress Dou De.

In fact, allowing the third prince to enter the court to participate in political affairs is enough to show that the Tang Emperor's original idea of ​​​​evacuating the eldest prince and making him the prince has been loosened. At least in the heart of the Tang Emperor, the third prince is also qualified to inherit the throne.

Throughout the dynasties, the position of emperor has always been occupied by the virtuous, not simply by age.

The most important thing is that Emperor Tang's condition has worsened, and he is afraid that he has something to do with Dong Gong. Even if Dong Gong did not do it, at least Dong Gong is an insider.

——As a prince, not stopping it is treason in itself. If this is confirmed later, then the eldest prince will not be qualified to inherit the throne at all.

Wow!

While everyone was discussing, the sound of wings breaking through the air came to their ears. In just a moment, a homing pigeon fell from the sky, passed through the window, and landed in Li Taiyi's palm.

"It's a letter from the East Palace!"

Wang Jiuling and others just glanced at it and immediately felt shocked.

There are special marks when the East Palace spies deliver news, and all the core members of the Jade Dragon Palace know these marks.

Li Taiyi opened the message on the carrier pigeon's leggings and just took a look, his expression became more solemn.

"Notify me, the East Palace is ready to take action!"

…

The storm was much stronger than anyone expected.

Three days later, Zhang Shougui, who was still in the Jade Dragon Palace, waiting for orders and helping to strategize, received a transfer order. The northwest Turks were in turmoil again, and Zhang Shougui was transferred to the border.

——During the previous Turkic War, Zhang Shougui was made Zuolang General and posted in the northwest frontier. This was originally a false position, but it was used by the East Palace to transfer him out of the capital.

In just one day, news came again from the palace that the eldest prince was assassinated in the East Palace. This incident made the eldest prince furious, and he used it to rectify the Forbidden Army. Since the assassin finally escaped in the area where Wang Haibin was responsible for the Forbidden Army, Wang Haibin He was directly dismissed from the position of commander of the Forbidden Army.

The Forbidden Army he trained was also taken over by the East Palace and put in charge of another Forbidden Army commander.

As for Wang Haibin, he was transferred to Lingnan to train new soldiers for the imperial court and perform meritorious service.

However, in just ten days, Zhangchou Jianqiong, Albus, and the court officials who had taken refuge with the third prince were all transferred out of the capital, deprived of their official positions, and demoted to the border areas for various reasons.

Everything happened quickly and violently as planned, and the most fatal blow came from the Wu Menglong case a few days later.

Zhang Jiuling, who was next to Li Taiyi, was also involved in this case of buying and selling officials, and was imprisoned in a specially set up prison for interrogation and punishment.

More importantly, the second prince falsely accused Wang Jiuling of buying an official position to the Emperor of Tang Dynasty, and was imprisoned in a specially designed prison for interrogation and punishment.

At the winter solstice, although the sun is shining brightly, a sharp cold wind is blowing, as if foreshadowing something, making people feel chilly.

Outside the gate of Dali Temple, there were only a few pedestrians, and a tall figure was waiting silently at the end of the road.

Clang!

I don't know how long it took, but with the sound of metal colliding, a trembling figure walked out of it.

"Nine years old!"

Seeing Wang Jiuling walking out, Li Taiyi felt happy and hurriedly greeted him.

The latter, on the other hand, looked calm, as if he had already expected Li Taiyi to appear here.

"Your Highness!"

Wang Jiuling said calmly.

"I have already taken care of it with the court. The Wu Menglong case has been settled. Come on, I will take you back!"

Li Taiyi stepped forward quickly, personally supported Wang Jiuling's scarred body, and stepped onto the bronze carriage step by step.

We had not seen him for just a few days. Wang Jiuling had lost a lot of weight, his hair was messy, and his prison clothes were covered with dark brown dried blood stains. It was obvious that he had received a lot of severe corporal punishment in the prison. If you look carefully, you can see that the prison clothes and the opened flesh were Tightly stuck together, half wet and half dry, the blood had obviously not dried yet before the next round of torture was carried out.

Looking at Wang Jiuling in front of him, Li Taiyi felt sad in his eyes, but he held back and did not speak.

"Today is the winter solstice, I prepared some dumplings."

The carriage set off and passed through many streets and alleys. When they entered the palace and arrived at the Jade Dragon Palace, the two got off the bronze carriage and Li Taiyi finally broke the silence.

Li Taiyi knew that Wang Jiuling was proud of him. After coming out of the special prison and arriving at the Jade Dragon Palace, he was silent for a long time and didn't speak until now.

However, Wang Jiuling did not speak. He lowered his head and his messy hair covered his face, making people look down on his expression.

The next moment, without any warning, Wang Jiuling suddenly turned around, faced Li Taiyi, and knelt down solemnly.

"Your Highness, Heaven is going to entrust this person with a great responsibility. He must first work hard on his mind and body. I can bear this hardship."

"Today, His Highness's assistant ministers are dead and injured, and there are not many left in the capital. These people have shared life and death with His Highness. I believe that His Highness's heart is more painful than anyone else's."

"The eldest prince is blatantly dealing with ministers and others. His Highness should understand why they are here. Moreover, His Highness's golden body is precious. If this continues, he may not be able to survive for long."

"I have long staked my life and death on His Highness, and will defend His Highness to the death. I hope His Highness will make a plan as soon as possible!"

Seeing this scene, Li Taiyi was suddenly startled.

As the saying goes, a man has gold at his knees. Wang Jiuling had just been released from prison. Although his body was obviously very weak, he still stood up straight and gave forthright advice.

He still cared about him in his heart, and Li Taiyi was also moved.

However, there are some things that you can’t just do if you want to.

"Oh, Jiuling, I understand what you mean, but he is the prince after all!"

"It's not that I don't want to, it's just that if I sit in that position unjustly, even if I succeed, I won't be recognized by the world."

Soon, Li Taiyi came back to his senses and let out a long sigh:

"Jiu Ling, you should get up first."

Li Taiyi stretched out his hands, trying to help Wang Jiuling up.

However, Wang Jiuling remained motionless, as if he was integrated with the ground.

"His Highness once said to his ministers in the dungeon of the Ministry of Punishment, 'In a few hundred years, all civilizations in the entire Middle-earth China will cease to exist, and all the Han people will be reduced to slaves of foreign races, and their lives will be worse than death, and they will be slaughtered by others, just like ants and mustards. As long as we are alive, the land of China has become a pasture for all alien races.'"

"I still remember that His Highness once said that no matter what the price is, as long as it can change the destiny of China and create a prosperous Tang Dynasty and benefit all people in the world, I will not hesitate even if it means death or soul destruction. .Have these Your Highnesses forgotten?"

Wang Jiuling's voice was loud and clear, like an alarm bell, hitting Li Taiyi's mind word by word.

For a moment, Li Taiyi's eyes flashed, and all the tragic scenes of the dark age of his previous life seemed to flash before his eyes again, with refugees wailing and starving to death thousands of miles away.

"Because I believe in His Highness, and because I feel the truth and belief in His Highness, I, Wang Haibin, Zhang Shougui and others all chose to follow His Highness and entrusted us with our lives and fortunes."

"Yes, as His Highness said at the beginning, the eldest prince is the prince after all, and he was appointed by His Majesty, and he has not committed any major mistakes. However, the battle between princes is inherently cruel. Either you die or I die."

"And looking at what the eldest prince is doing now, does His Highness really think that he will be a wise king when he ascends the throne in the future? The king is related to the country, and every move will affect the country and the people. Even if the eldest prince ascends the throne and becomes emperor, with his willful attitude His character may also bring disaster to the Tang Dynasty."

Wang Jiuling's words came from the bottom of his heart, and he cried every word.

For a moment, Li Taiyi's eyes were dazed for a moment, and he suddenly remembered a lot.

In his previous life, the eldest prince Li Xuantu could have become a wise king, but his biggest flaw was his pride.

Not long after he sat on the throne of the Tang Emperor, the Turks attacked. Because the Turks had been defeated by him before, he didn't take it to heart at all. However, that time, it was not just the Turks who came to attack the Tang Dynasty, but also Uszang, Mengshezhao, Goguryeo and other countries came to attack the Tang Dynasty.

An underestimation of the enemy immediately plunged the entire country into dire straits.

Not only that, after the fall of the Tang Dynasty, Li Xuantu knew that he had made a mistake. He wanted to lead a team of elite soldiers into the enemy camp, take the heads of the enemy generals, and destroy the boat. However, his impulse made the Tang Dynasty no longer have a king, and then fell into a long-term crisis. The civil strife of the Tang Dynasty caused the territory of the Tang Dynasty to shrink again and again, until the dark age where Li Taiyi lived.

"Your Highness, now that the eldest prince has no regard for brotherhood, it is too late to change his strategy. It will be too late when the dust settles. And even if your highness doesn't care about himself, doesn't he also care about Empress Dou De? Once the eldest prince succeeds, it will definitely be There will be no mercy.”

"Buzz!"

Hearing these words, Li Taiyi's heart shook violently.

"Those who achieve great things don't stick to trivial matters. Has Your Highness forgotten the past of Taizong? It's just me now, and the next one will be His Highness soon. If His Highness doesn't fight back, he will really have no choice but to wait for death."

In just a short moment, Li Taiyi's eyes finally became firm.

"Jiu Ling, I understand!"

…