Li Shimin gasped upon hearing this. Although he knew that Li Jing and others disliked Li Zhi, he was still very dissatisfied that they did not offer any advice on such an important issue.
What are these people doing?
I haven't even deposed the crown prince yet, and they're already in a hurry to find someone else?
This is the mind of an emperor. Even though Li Shimin had considered deposing the crown prince and replacing him with his eldest grandson, he still could not tolerate other ministers having any improper thoughts.
After all, the most distinctive feature of imperial power is its exclusivity; it can only be enjoyed by the emperor and will never be shared with anyone else.
Even if some people are only eyeing the next player, it won't work!
After saying this, Li Zhi secretly observed his father's expression. When he saw that his father's expression had indeed changed as Wu Jie had said, he admired Wu Jie even more.
Sister Wu is truly amazing; she guessed Father Emperor's thoughts so accurately!
In fact, the auditing of accounts during his regency was something he did deliberately.
He didn't even mention it to anyone, and he even took advantage of a gap when Li Jing and the others were not around to draft the imperial edict, and then issued it throughout Guanzhong.
His aim was to incite unrest and tarnish his reputation as regent.
Although this might make His Majesty doubt his ability to govern, if it could make His Majesty doubt the loyalty of other ministers, the benefits would outweigh the drawbacks.
His biggest problem right now is that he lacks people, he lacks the support of the noble elders who are loyal to him!
These people almost all surrounded Li Jing, Yuchi Jingde, and Cheng Zhijie, and these three were determined to support Li Jue.
If he doesn't rise up soon, he will only follow in the footsteps of Li Jiancheng and Li Chengqian!
Li Shimin's expression changed several times, then he said in a gloomy tone.
"I understand!"
"This matter is not your fault, and you do not need to blame yourself. Now that the Crown Princess is pregnant, you should focus on taking care of her and spending more time with her."
"promise!"
Li Shimin made a point of having a meal with Li Zhi before storming back to Taiji Palace. Upon returning, he immediately issued several imperial edicts.
First, Li Dejian was exiled from Wu Commandery to Lingnan. Then, Li Keshi was removed from his position as Right General of the Martial Guard and sent to Yanmen as a gatekeeper general. Finally, Yuchi Baolin was removed from his post as Vice Minister of the Imperial Guard (a fourth-rank official) and replaced with a lower-ranking official as a Gentleman Attendant to the Crown Prince (a fifth-rank official).
As for Li Dejian and Li Keshi, they were not outsiders either; one was Li Jing's son, and the other was Li Jing's younger brother.
It can be said that Li Shimin's imperial edicts were all meant to reprimand Li Jing and Yuchi Jingde.
After Li Shimin issued the imperial edict, Li Jing and Yuchi Jingde immediately sensed that something was wrong.
Because Li Jing had previously communicated with Li Shimin, wanting Li Dejian to return to care for him in his old age and see him off in his final days, and Li Shimin had agreed, saying that he would recall Li Dejian after a year or two, once the controversy over the deposed crown prince had subsided.
However, less than a year or two has passed, so why did they send their own son to Lingnan again?
Comparatively speaking, Li Keshi was even more wronged. His younger brother's current official position had nothing to do with him; it was all earned through his own hard work and fighting.
His Majesty inexplicably demoted his younger brother's official position. Is he using his brother to reprimand himself?
Yuchi Jingde didn't have as many thoughts as Li Jing. He even thought it was a good thing that his son was dismissed from his post, as it gave him more time to spend at home with him.
Upon hearing that His Majesty had sent his son to the Eastern Palace to serve as some worthless attendant, Yuchi Jingde immediately objected.
However, he didn't dare to confront His Majesty, and simply let his son stay home and recover from his illness.
Although both of them are considered to be able to keep their tempers down, they still couldn't help but get together and complain.
"Old Li, what's wrong with His Majesty? Why is he giving us a dressing down for no reason?"
Li Jing frowned upon hearing this.
"I've been wondering about that too..."
"When His Majesty went on his eastern expedition, we two, as ministers left behind, were certainly diligent and conscientious, if not exhausting our efforts?"
"However, after His Majesty returned, instead of rewarding us, he punished our son. What kind of logic is that!"
"Old Li, do you think someone might be badmouthing us?"
"calumny?"
Li Jing had been slandered countless times throughout his life, and his heart tightened upon hearing these words.
"I haven't offended anyone in the last few years..."
Upon hearing this, Yuchi Jingde curled his lip in disdain.
"Why would you need to offend people?"
"You are guilty simply for being alive!"
"I……"
Li Jing was speechless for a moment upon hearing this, then glared at Yuchi Jingde with displeasure.
"You still have the nerve to talk back to me? You haven't offended anyone, so why were you also reprimanded?"
"Me..."
Yuchi Jingde's face darkened; this was a problem that had been troubling him for many days.
"Old Li, do you think we might be implicated because of the eldest grandson?"
"The eldest grandson?"
"Yes!"
"I heard that the court is in an uproar, with many officials submitting memorials impeaching the eldest grandson and urging His Majesty to deal with him severely!"
"this……"
Li Jing was naturally not as simple as Yuchi Jingde, but he followed Yuchi Jingde's line of thought and soon got close to the truth of the matter.
"We might actually be implicated by the eldest grandson, but it's definitely not something as trivial as this matter in the court!"
Even if this matter causes a huge uproar, it will only result in Li Jue being reprimanded.
"After all, neither the Court of Judicial Review nor the Ministry of Revenue has any substantial evidence to prove that this matter is related to Li Jue."
Upon hearing this, Yuchi Jingde chuckled.
"It's hard to say for sure."
"The lack of evidence now doesn't mean there won't be evidence in the future!"
"For example, one day a eunuch died in the palace, and a letter written in blood was found on his body, saying that he poisoned Geng Jingming on the orders of His Majesty..."
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