Chapter 44 The Prince's Plot
After the case of the hatred of victory, Li Chengqian immediately launched a counterattack, weakening Li Tai's power again. Many of the staff of the Prince of Wei's Mansion were demoted or exiled.
As a result, the people in the Prince of Wei's Mansion were in a panic, and even Cen Wenben, who supported Li Tai, was sent to another place on official business.
"Your Highness!" A young man in a dark black hooded cloak saluted Li Chengqian.
"You are here! Didn't anyone notice it?" Li Chengqian said, pointing to a chair beside him and making a gesture to invite him to sit down.
"Your Highness, don't worry! I have been extremely careful along the way, and I will definitely not be discovered." The young man affirmed.
"That's good!" Li Chengqian
said. "Your Highness is so anxious to find me this time, do you have any instructions?" The young man asked.
"What's going on with Li Tai recently?" Li Chengqian said.
"Wei Wangtai has been quite well behaved recently. He has been focusing on studying and is not easy to meet guests." said the young man. "
Oh! Li Tai is so calm. This is not like his personality. When did he learn this?" Li Chengqian said with a smile.
"Since His Majesty sent Cen Wenben to inspect Henan Province, Cen Wenben has come to Wei Wangtai. Cen Wenben asked Wei Wangtai to keep a low profile for the time being and wait for future actions. Your Highness! What should we do next?" asked the young man. The young
man knew that the prince was anxious to find him for a private meeting. He must have wanted to make a final blow to Li Tai, to completely defeat Li Tai and leave him no chance to turn over.
"Does Li Tai trust you?" Li Chengqian said. The next action was of great importance. He must know the importance of the person in front of him in Li Tai's heart.
"Your Highness, please rest assured! Prince Tai of Wei has taken me as his confidant and has great trust in me!" said the young man.
"I want you to persuade Li Tai to rebel!" said Li Chengqian. Only if Li Tai rebelled could he be arrested legitimately. At that time, it would be a matter of a word to kill him.
"Your Highness! The guards of Prince Tai of Wei's mansion only add up to 800 people. Even if I persuade him, Prince Tai of Wei will not agree." said the young man.
"Don't worry about this. I don't really want you to rebel. You just need to ask him to prepare armor and weapons and hide them in the mansion!" "
According to the laws of the Tang Dynasty, privately storing armor is equivalent to treason. I think this should not be difficult for you!" said Li Chengqian.
"This is not a difficult problem. As long as we persuade Wei Wangtai to hide his armor in his mansion to protect himself, we will be safe!"
"But Your Highness needs to work harder, so that I can be more confident in persuading Wei Wangtai to hide his armor." The young man said.
"Don't worry about this! I will do my best to cooperate with you. After you go back, try to win over some of Li Tai's staff and let them assist you. It's better than persuading alone." Li Chengqian said.
"Yes! I understand! Does Your Highness have a suitable candidate?" The young man asked. The prince looked confident, so he must have someone to win over, or a spy like him hidden in Wei Wang's mansion.
"Li Yifu, the chief clerk of the Prince of Wei's palace and the director of the Ministry of Personnel, is a good candidate. You can promise him an official position in my name. I think he will agree."
"After you persuade Li Tai to hide the armor privately, immediately go to His Majesty and sue Li Tai for treason." Li Chengqian said.
This is the countermeasure that Li Chengqian had thought of a long time ago to deal with Li Tai. Once the matter of Li Tai's intention to rebel was exposed to Li Er.
Even if Li Er loves Li Tai, this fat son, he has to deal with Li Tai. Even if Li Er is reluctant to kill Li Tai, it doesn't matter. He can exile him.
By then, Li Tai will no longer have a chance to turn over, and will not pose a threat to him. He can also rest assured!
"Please rest assured, Your Highness!" The young man clasped his fists and saluted.
"Okay! You've been out long enough, so you should go back first to avoid suspicion!" Li Chengqian said.
"Okay!" The young man said goodbye and left.
After the young man left, Li Chengqian also left and returned to the East Palace. After returning, Li Chengqian summoned Du He and others to the East Palace to discuss countermeasures.
Li Chengqian and some ministers who supported him jointly submitted a petition, asking Li Er to send some ministers who were close to Li Tai away from Chang'an.
Then he seized some handles on the Prince of Wei's Mansion and used them as a means to attack Li Tai, so that Li Er reduced the expenses of the Prince of Wei's Mansion and revoked Li Tai's position as the governor of Yongzhou. Many
ministers close to the Prince of Wei were panicked! They were afraid that they would be the next to suffer, and the Prince of Wei was now doomed! Following the Prince of Wei would be a dead end.
Li Yifu has been in a lot of trouble recently. Everyone in the Prince of Wei's Mansion is in danger, and even he feels the breath of danger. These days, he has been thinking about changing his family.
He, Li Yifu, doesn't want to stay in the Prince of Wei's Mansion and wait for death. He hasn't been promoted or made a fortune yet, so how can he fall with the Prince of Wei?
"Master! Wang Fangyi, the military officer of the Prince of Wei
's Mansion's In-laws' Office, wants to see you!" Just when Li Yifu was thinking about how to change his appearance, the only servant in the family reported to him that Wang Fangyi came to visit. Li Yifu didn't react for a while. Wang Fangyi, as one of the confidants of Prince of Wei Li Tai, was the military officer of the Prince of Wei's In-laws' Office.
They didn't have much interaction on weekdays, let alone any friendship. They didn't even interact with each other as colleagues. What was he doing here?
No matter why the other party came here, he was at least a fifth-rank military officer, and he was just a small ceremonial officer.
Although he had already thought of changing his allegiance, it was not easy to offend him at the moment. He would wait and see what he wanted to do first.
"Then why are you still standing there! Why don't you invite him in quickly!" Li Yifu said.
"Oh! I'll go now!" the servant replied, and just as he turned around and hadn't even lifted his legs, he was stopped by Li Yifu.
"Wait! I'll go to greet them myself! You go and prepare refreshments to entertain the guests." Li Yifu thought about it and felt that it would be better for him to go himself.
"Yes!" The servant took the order and left, and Li Yifu got up and walked out.
When Li Yifu arrived at the gate, he saw a tall man with his back to the gate. From his back, Li Yifu recognized him as Dianjun of the Wei Wangfu's In-laws' Office.
"Oh! Wang Dianjun came to my humble home. I am sorry for not welcoming you! What a sin!" Li Yifu straightened his clothes and greeted him with a smile.
Wang Fangyi turned around and saluted Li Yifu who came to greet him, saying, "Li Dianyi, I came uninvited. Please forgive me for any offense!"
"Haha! Wang Dianjun, you are joking. You can come to my humble home, which makes my humble home more glorious! Wang Dianjun, please come in quickly." Li Yifu hurriedly invited Wang Fangyi in.
After the two of them were seated as guests, and the servants served tea and left, Li Yifu then asked Wang Fangyi why he came: "I wonder why Wang Dianjun came to my humble abode today?"