Chapter 564 Preparation
"Your Highness! The Prince's Grand Tutor Li Gong has arrived!" The eunuch reported to Li Jue.
"Then what are you still standing there for? Come in quickly." Li Jue said hurriedly.
"Yes!" The eunuch withdrew and invited Li Jingxuan in.
"Old minister..."
"Grand Tutor, there is no need to be so polite. It's such a late hour now, why are you still going through the red tape?" Li Jingxuan was about to salute when he was stopped by Li Jue, who pulled Li Jingxuan and said.
"Your Highness! Etiquette cannot be abandoned." Li Jingxuan said.
"We all know this. This is not an urgent matter right now. Grand Tutor, how are the preparations going?" Li Jue said.
"Don't worry, Your Highness. With me here, everything will be fine. I have already contacted all the officials in the three provinces and six ministries and are willing to support Your Highness."
"Moreover, there are many generals in the imperial guards who sincerely support Your Highness! When the time comes, Your Highness only needs to raise their arms and call for them to come out and support Your Highness!" Li Jingxuan said.
"Good! In this way, we can accomplish our great cause. After the success, I will reward them well." Li Jue said with a smile.
Li Jue felt relieved now! With so many people supporting him, he didn't believe that his father would not abdicate to him obediently.
"Now is a critical moment. Your Highness, in the next few days, before starting the rebellion, you must be patient to avoid leaking the news and ruining the great cause." Li Jingxuan reminded Li Jue, fearing that if he was not careful, the plan would fail.
Treason is a capital crime, and Li Jingxuan does not want to be executed because of Li Jue's negligence.
"Don't worry, Grand Master! Until the last moment, I will be careful and cautious, and will never be careless." Li Jue said.
He also knew the seriousness of the matter. He usually stayed in the East Palace and closed the door to welcome guests, just to avoid leaking the news.
"Grand Master, this time we will march from Xuanwu Gate, but the guard of Xuanwu Gate is not our man. Will he help us?" Li Jue said with some concern.
There are two corridors outside the Xuanwu Gate, the north gate of the imperial palace. The palace guard command is stationed here, with solid fortifications and strong troops.
Therefore, when a coup occurs, it is very important to first control Xuanwu Gate. Controlling Xuanwu Gate means controlling the inner court, and controlling the inner court means controlling the emperor, and thus controlling the entire Tang Dynasty court.
Therefore, if you want the coup to succeed, you must control the entire Xuanwu Gate. Whoever can control Xuanwu Gate will be the winner of this coup.
The general guarding Xuanwu Gate at this time is Xue Rengui. He has always been loyal to the emperor and will definitely not support the prince's coup.
"Your Highness can rest assured about this! Xue Rengui was seriously ill at home the day before yesterday. The generals guarding Xuanwu Gate are the ones who support Your Highness and will not delay Your Highness's important affairs." Li Jingxuan said.
"That's good! As long as we can take down Xuanwu Gate, we can control the entire inner court, control His Majesty, and force him to abdicate to me." Li Jue laughed. Xue Rengui's illness was just the right time.
Everything is ready, just waiting for the last chance!
"Not only that, Pei Xingjian, Cheng Wuting, Wang Fangyi and others have been demoted to other places because they offended His Majesty and said bad things about Prince Wei in front of His Majesty!"
"In this way, our rebellion will be smoother. There is no one available around His Majesty, so who can stop His Highness." Li Jingxuan said.
"Aren't there old ministers like Liu Rengui and Cheng Yaojin in Chang'an? They are not easy to deal with." Li Jue said.
"Your Highness, don't worry! They are old! They are no longer as brave as they were in the past. What's more, Cheng Yaojin and others have not led troops for many years. He can't accomplish anything." Li Jingxuan said.
"Okay! When do we start?" Li Jue asked, he was already a little impatient.
"Your Highness! Don't worry, we still need time to prepare to ensure that the uprising is foolproof." Li Jingxuan said.
He felt that Li Jue was too impatient. He had waited for such a long time, and he still needed this last bit of time? Could it be that he couldn't wait any longer?
"How long will it take?" Li Jue asked.
"Three to five days will be enough!" Li Jingxuan said.
"That's fine!" Li Jue said.
...
Daming Palace, inside the Purple Palace.
"We have confirmed that these people are involved in the prince's rebellion. Judging from their attitude, they will take action in three days at most."
"Most of these people are officials from Li Jingxuan's faction. Are we ready?" Li Chengqian asked.
"Everything is ready. When the time comes, we will just wait for the prince to enter the Xuanwu Gate and immediately arrest him. At the same time, we will catch all the people involved in this incident." Wang Quan said.
"There is no problem at the Xuanwu Gate! Nothing can go wrong. This time, we let Li Jingxuan's people guard the Xuanwu Gate to let him relax his vigilance and lure them to take action." Li Chengqian said.
The risk of doing this is a bit high. If he can't control the situation at that time, he will be finished!
"Everyone can rest assured! General Xue has been guarding Xuanwu Gate for so many years, and his prestige has long been deeply rooted in the hearts of the soldiers."
"As long as General Xue appears at Xuanwu Gate that day, he will be able to immediately control the Xuanwu Gate Guards and the situation, and there will be absolutely no mistakes." Wang Quan said.
Xue Rengui's claim of illness was false, and he was hiding at home waiting for the opportunity.
"What about Pei Xingjian, Cheng Wuting, Wang Fangyi and others? Are they ready?" Li Chengqian asked.
"Cheng Wuting and Wang Fangyi have arrived at the designated location. Once Cao Wang Li Ming and Heir Jiang Wang Li Wei make a move, they will immediately capture them and escort them to Beijing."
"Pei Xingjian and others are also ready. As long as there is a move here, Pei Xingjian and others will immediately act." Wang Quan said.
Li Chengqian nodded and said nothing.
"Everyone! I have something to ask, but I don't know if it's appropriate or not?" Wang Quan asked.
"If you have anything to ask, just ask inside!" Li Chengqian said.
"Since everyone knew in advance that the prince was plotting a rebellion, why didn't you imprison the prince in another room and send people to investigate the matter thoroughly? Instead, why did you wait until the prince started the rebellion before taking action?" Wang Quan asked.
He never understood why Li Chengqian did this.
Wouldn't it be much simpler to just arrest the prince and interrogate him? Why did they have to wait until the day when the prince started the rebellion?
He couldn't figure out what Li Chengqian was thinking.
"Alas!" Li Chengqian sighed and said, "It's my fault that the prince has become like this. I did this to give him a chance."
"If the prince can finally come to his senses and stop in time, I can pretend that nothing happened and forgive his mistake this time."
"But if the prince still refuses to change his ways, you can't blame me for not considering the relationship between father and son." Li Chengqian said.
Wang Quan didn't expect Li Chengqian to think this way. Isn't he afraid of losing?