The emperor and the empress only stayed in the Zongsheng Palace for one night. Early the next morning, they took Crown Prince Li Hong down the mountain and returned to the royal estate in Taiyi City.
Along the way, Li Hong's firm attitude on the issue of Bai Chun made Li Zhi and Wu Mei helpless. This assassination incident seemed to cast a shadow between the three of them.
The weather in Taiyi City was gloomy, but there was no sign of rain. Li Zhi led Li Hong and walked slowly in the garden of the manor.
"It doesn't necessarily rain on a cloudy day, just like there may be showers on a sunny day. So, some things will not necessarily have the imagined consequences just because of their previous causes. Hong'er, don't you understand?" Li Zhi took Li Hong to an octagonal pavilion and sat down. Li Zhi asked lightly.
"There's nothing that's hard to understand, but I feel wronged and regretful for my mother and the two palace maids who died." Li Hong said unhappily.
Along the way, he begged for a long time, hoping that his father would let him handle this matter, not to kill the Turks, and to give Jinyang Wang a lighter sentence, but his father firmly refused.
"I heard that you have been emotionally unstable for some time, Hong'er. Do you think your father rushed to Taiyi City just to stop you from taking revenge on them? Your father also has his own difficulties. Isn't your mother aggrieved? But for the stability of the Tang Dynasty, your father has to choose to be patient for the time being." Li Zhi patted Li Hong on the shoulder and said.
Li Hong sighed silently. He knew these better than anyone else, but the fact that he had lost two palace maids in this incident was like a thorn in his throat, and he couldn't feel relieved until he spoke out.
Moreover, the neurotic mood these past two days was not only because of the deaths of Bailu and Xiaohan, but also because he had already guessed in his mind who the possible mastermind of this incident was, and he also had a vague premonition that this matter might end up in nothing.
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The history books did not record whether his mother was assassinated, but it was true that his mother had a feud with the Wang family of Jinyang. So when he woke up that day, he had guessed who the murderer was.
When Wufa and Wutan told me yesterday, I went there despite the pain in my shoulder, just to confirm the whole thing before my father arrived. By then, as long as I got the confessions from Wang Kang, Wang Jing and others, whether they were to be killed or imprisoned, it would be difficult to change the result even if my father wanted to.
But unfortunately, Yang Wu arrived and stopped him at the last moment. Not only that, when his father sent Yang Wu to stop him, he also thought about what to do if he could not stop it?
So he put Bai Chun as a bargaining chip in the negotiation, that is, if Li Hong wants to investigate, he must investigate. It's OK! Investigate Bai Chun as well, even if Bai Chun has nothing to do with this incident.
But Wang Kang, Wang Jing, and the monk Weiying who were present at the scene were all members of a group that had conspired with Bai Chun. How many Tang Dynasty craftsmen had they sold back then? It was just right that the new case and the old case could be tried together. As long as you, Li Hong, were willing to do so, then we could investigate.
Bai Chun did not come to Zongsheng Palace to report to him, but sent Wufa and Wutan back to report to him. This means that Bai Chun had already guessed that those people were Wang Kang and others at that time.
It is even possible that Wang Kang and others had begged for mercy from Bai Chun after being besieged! These were the reasons why Wu Fa and Wu Tian hesitated when reporting to him.
The reason why he was angry was because the two idiots, Wudaowutian, rushed back to report to him, but left Bai Chun there, which was exactly what Bai Chun wanted.
Bai Chun didn't think about continuing to live. She was afraid that the prince would be implicated because of herself, so her plan was to get the confessions she wanted from Wang Kang and Wang Jing, and then die in their hands. In this way, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince would be able to deal with the matter without any scruples.
Bai Chun blamed herself for Li Hong's injury, and also blamed herself for the deaths of Bai Lu and Xiao Han. Although this matter had nothing to do with her, those people had a deep relationship with her back then, so Bai Chun always felt that she could not face Li Hong again.
Moreover, the person they assassinated was the Empress of the Tang Dynasty. If His Majesty was furious because of this, Bai Chun was afraid that the Crown Prince would be implicated because of him. If this triggered a major change in the royal family and caused the Crown Prince's position to be in turmoil, he would be even more sorry for the Crown Prince.
"Bai Chun did the right thing. If she died, you, the crown prince, would not be implicated in anything." Li Zhi said to Li Hong, whose mind was wandering and eyes were empty.
"What good will it do you if Bai Chun dies? I don't think what she did was right. Only a stupid person would do such a thing." Li Hong said unhappily.
Li Zhi ignored the bad tone in Li Hong's voice, shook his head and said, "Bai Chun is happy to have such a good master like you, even if he dies, he will not regret it. It's a pity that his master has too many tender feelings in his heart, and he will be depressed for several days after the death of two palace maids."
"So what..."
Li Hong was about to retort when he saw Li Zhi looking outside the pavilion. He turned his back to him and shook his hands. He sighed and said, "Hong'er, this is the helplessness of being an emperor. As the crown prince, didn't you give up your original determination and choose to compromise for Bai Chun?"
Li Zhi turned around, his eyes bright and full of wisdom, and he looked at Li Hong and said.
Li Hong curled his lips in disdain. Li Zhi naturally knew what he was thinking. This kid was a vindictive person. He was still young and too impulsive. He had to be punished.
There are wars on both the east and the west now. If the Eastern Turks are angered because of this incident, Liu Rengui in Baekje will be attacked from both sides.
He sighed and walked up to him, put his arm around Li Hong's shoulders and said, "Back then, when Jie Li and Tu Li had 200,000 cavalrymen approached the Wei River, your royal grandfather had no choice but to accept an alliance with them and gave them a large amount of gold and silk. At that time, the Tang Dynasty was not as rich as it is now. Your royal grandfather gave away the entire palace's wealth. People like your royal grandfather, who were wise and brave, and had both good literary and military strategies, chose to lie dormant temporarily, and then after years of hard work, they finally defeated them and wiped out the humiliation of the Wei River. Hong'er, as the future emperor of the Tang Dynasty, can't you learn from your royal grandfather?"
Wu Mei stood in front of the window on the fifth floor, looking at the father and son having a heartfelt conversation in the garden. Suddenly, she felt that it was an extremely happy thing for the royal family to have such a harmonious scene.
"Please don't say that. I don't want to learn from Grandpa Emperor. Besides, you are in your prime now..."
"Haha..." Li Zhi couldn't help but laugh twice and said, "Father knows the condition of your father's body. When you become the emperor, you will know that it is not that easy to sit on this throne."
"well……"
Li Hong could only sigh helplessly. The emperor had already enlightened him in this way. If he didn't understand, he would really be in trouble.
In order to make himself less depressed, my father even compared himself with my grandfather, the emperor. This shows how much he cares about me.
Moreover, over the years, the person my father admired most was my grandfather, who took him to and from court when he was a child and who kept him by his side and raised him personally after my grandmother passed away.
"What about the Wang family of Jinyang? Don't you think that the Wang family of Jinyang also..." Li Hong asked.
"You don't need to ask more about this. Jinyang Wang Shi was blinded by lard. It's all her own fault. I will never let her off easily. How about I give you and your mother an explanation?"
Li Hong glanced at Li Zhi and laughed, "It's actually very easy to deal with. The Jinyang Wang family is very powerful and has deep roots. It's not a bad idea to use this incident to divide them. I have a good idea. The Ministry of Revenue did give them several permission orders in Taiyi City. Although the Jinyang Wang family is the only one in power, it is not without rivals..."
"Know your limits. Also, don't abuse your power as the Minister of Revenue to go too far, especially as the autumn harvest is approaching and we will enter the cold winter. The Yunzhong Protectorate needs a lot of food and money at this time of year. Don't do anything tricky." Li Zhi glanced at him and knew that he had no good intentions.
The Yunzhong Protectorate now governs the entire Eastern Turkic territory. Every winter, when they don't have enough food, they always ask him for food. If Li Hong is allowed to do whatever he wants, who knows if the entire Yunzhong will be thrown into chaos.
"Don't worry, how could I act like this? By the way, don't you need to accompany my mother?" Li Hong looked at the window on the fifth floor. His mother, who had just been standing in front of the window and waving to him and his father, had disappeared.
"What's wrong?" Li Zhi asked curiously.
"It's okay. If you don't need to accompany my mother, how about I take you out for a walk? Since you came to Taiyi City, it has been followed by many court officials every day. Today is a rare day of leisure, so I will just show my filial piety to you." Li Hong looked around the garden. There were guards of the Jinwu Guards everywhere, but there were only the two of them in the whole garden, so he spoke without restraint.
"Okay, okay. If your mother asks you about it, remember to say that it was you who took me out." Li Zhi hesitated and glanced at the window on the fifth floor. He was also longing to go out for some fresh air.
Moreover, he had heard from Wu Mei how wonderful the Thousand-armed Guanyin dance was and how prosperous and lively Taiyi City was. He had been busy these days and had no time to appreciate it. It was just right to take advantage of today's free time to go out and take a look.
"Okay, that's settled then." Li Hong responded nonchalantly.
But when the father and son looked at each other, they both saw the betrayal in each other's eyes when Wu Mei asked about it: "There is no way, it was the emperor who asked me to take him out."
Li Zhi would definitely say: "Li Hong said he would take me to see the people's sentiments, and I am not very familiar with Taiyi City, so naturally I asked him to take me out to have a look."
Li Zhi was dressed in casual clothes, so he didn't need to disguise himself. He walked to the entrance of the garden and called over Yang Wu. Li Hong also asked Wufa, Wutan and others to follow him secretly. As for Hua Meng and others, they naturally had to follow closely.
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