The film and television world begins with the battle for the throne in Kowloon

Chapter 786 Li Ke’s Depression

"Sir, you may not know that this Fatty Quan left Jiangnan without a single word. I sent someone to investigate secretly, and found that he was not among the inspection team of the Ministry of Revenue. No one knows where he went."

Li Ke frowned and said, "Ten days ago, he was promoted to the fifth rank of the Palace Ministry as soon as he returned to the capital. He also resigned from his position as an official in the Prince of Shu's Palace and the Taicang Office. I went to his house to ask about it, but he seemed like a different person."

"Although Quan Wanji was still very polite to me, I could clearly sense that there was a sense of unfamiliarity in his politeness. He is no longer the same Quan Wanji as before. Now that he has climbed up to the emperor's high position, he wants to draw a clear line between himself and me."

Speaking of this, Li Ke felt a little annoyed. Cen Wenben and Quan Wanji were his right-hand men and women, both rare talents who could assist the king. Compared with Cen Wenben's obedience and arrogance, Li Ke still liked Quan Wanji's flexibility and the way he catered to him in every way.

Quan Wanji's estrangement was no less devastating than Cheng Huailiang's death, and it cost Li Ke another arm.

"What did Quan Wanji say?"

Cen Wenben was also very curious about this: "Everyone knows that Quan Wanji is from your Shu Palace, and he has Lord Feng's entrustment. It's not that easy for him to get off the boat, right?"

"Quan Wanji told me to take care of myself in the future. The relationship between him and me as master and servant has ended. We will just be ordinary colleagues in the future. He had no choice but to ask me not to ask too much, otherwise it would not be good for me."

"If it were someone else, I would still argue for this even if it came to the Emperor!"

Li Ke looked very unhappy: "But the day after I met Quan Wanji, my father personally summoned me and scolded me, saying that Quan Wanji would no longer be an official in the Shu Palace and I should not go to see him."

"The court has another job for him, so I should not ask too much about him and just be a good prince. I shouldn't always think about forming cliques or small circles."

After recounting his experience, Li Ke seemed very depressed.

Things have been going wrong recently. Ever since his plan to attack Haitang failed and he was shot by Hou Junji, Ashina Yun also disappeared.

Li Ke went to the Hu people's horse several times to inquire, and all he got was that their princess had returned to the grassland, and also said that Chang'an was her sad place and she would never come back. Li Ke knew that he must have hurt her heart by not saving her.

When he thought of this, Li Ke felt so angry that his teeth itched. This bastard Hou Junji not only kidnapped Yun Mei, but also instigated discord and used such psychological tactics to deliberately destroy the relationship between the two.

However, Li Ke was concerned about Ashina Yun's identity as a Hu princess and was a little hesitant about their future; secondly, he had indeed made the choice to send Cheng Yunliang to the palace and give up Ashina Yun, so he felt a little guilty and avoided the question of whether to explain to Ashina Yun or not.

I simply put these worries behind me while recuperating.

But unexpectedly, when it rains, it pours; when it pours, it pours, and even Quan Wanji, who was least likely to have problems, made a mistake.

On the other hand, the East Palace has been doing well recently. They are getting married, the Crown Princess is pregnant with her grandson, and the Crown Prince recently went on a tour of the East Capital on behalf of the Emperor. The old man, Hou Junji, is so happy every day that he is even more determined to protect the East Palace.

This made Li Ke very depressed and somewhat demoralized.

Cen Wenben thought for a while, then shook his head: "Your Highness, if I am not mistaken, there must be something special about Quan Wanji that the emperor has taken a fancy to, so the emperor would disregard his dignity and forcibly poach him."

"But, if that's the case, just leave him alone for now."

"No matter what, it's not a bad thing for you that Quan Wanji is valued by the emperor and entrusted with an important task. You still have many years of master-servant friendship between you, and Quan Wanji is only by your side to give you advice."

"But once we get to be with the Emperor, who knows how much good fortune we will have?"

"If the critical moment really comes, maybe he can help even more. But for now, the emperor is keeping a close eye on him. You approached him the day before, and the emperor showed up the next day. This shows that he really has no choice. It's not that he doesn't want to say it, but he doesn't dare to say it."

"Then you should keep your distance from him and don't offend him. Try to win over Quan Wanji from other aspects, such as taking care of the Quan family. No matter what, if the emperor uses someone like you, doesn't that mean he values ​​you?"

Cen Wenben was well-informed. After hearing what he said, Li Ke immediately felt that it made sense. No matter what, the relationship between Quan Wanji and himself was still there. As long as he was not intercepted by other princes and came to the emperor's side, he would be his sooner or later.

This is the only way for now. Putting aside Quan Wanji’s matter, Li Ke thought of another important matter.

With a twinkling look in his eyes, he asked, "Sir, the court is about to go to war with the Turks. Is there any mystery hidden in this that the prince is inspecting the local areas on behalf of the emperor at this time?"

"With the war about to start, the Emperor is concerned about the defense of the border. It is inconvenient for him to go on a tour in person, so it is reasonable for him to ask the Crown Prince to go to various marching roads to check the deployment of defenses and appease the border generals. What is there to be suspicious about?"

Cen Wenben smiled slightly. The emperor had specifically instructed that this matter should not be disclosed to outsiders.

Of course, this is not the most important thing. The most important thing is that Cen Wenben knows that this alliance between the prince and Tuli is related to the outcome of the Battle of Dingxiang.

If there is no skin, there will be no hair!
The victory of the Tang Dynasty in the war against the Turks was of great concern to everyone. The struggle between any faction could not deviate from this fundamental principle. If the Tang Dynasty lost, it would be in danger of extinction, and no one would be a winner. Struggles were allowed, but they could not undermine this fundamental principle.

Although Cen Wenben also wanted to take this opportunity to make a fuss, he had to wait until the prince's negotiations were over, on the way back. In that case, even if something happened to the prince, it would only affect the small situation of the princes' fight for the throne, rather than the big situation of the survival of the Tang Dynasty.

The former was acceptable to the court, but Li Shimin could never tolerate the latter.

Cen Wenben's plan was to leak the news when the prince returned, preferably with the help of the King of Wei or the King of Qi, to attack the prince by force, thus injuring him but not killing him, but making him unable to take on the position of crown prince.

If we tell Li Ke now, given his temperament, if he ignores the overall situation and attacks the enemy recklessly, the consequences will be disastrous.

Li Ke felt uncomfortable when he saw Cen Wenben's confident look. His face suddenly turned serious, and he said half-pressure and half-testingly: "It seems that the adults don't believe me and won't even tell me."

"Your Highness, I am your old minister."

Cen Wenben had just said half of his words when the butler, Ma Xuanliang, and several imperial guards rushed in aggressively.

"Master, Steward Ma said that the Emperor has issued an order."

The housekeeper said anxiously: "I asked them to stop for a while and inform the master to set up the incense table to receive the order, but they rushed in without caring about anything. I couldn't stop them."

"Master Cen, the emperor has ordered you to come to the palace and see him immediately!"

Cen Wenben's eyes narrowed, and he saw that Ma Xuanliang's face was serious, without the slightest smile, and upon closer inspection, he seemed to be a little angry.

Normally, these guys are all close ministers to the emperor, and they meet each other often, so their relationship is not bad. Usually, Ma Xuanliang is polite when he sees Cen Wenben, but today Ma Xuan's attitude is very bad. Perhaps the emperor's attitude can be seen from Ma Xuanliang.

What happened? Cen Wenben quickly thought about his recent behavior, but he kept saying, "If that's the case, then let me change into my official uniform. It's really impolite to go to see the emperor like this."

After saying this, Cen Benwen smiled and adjusted his clothes.

Li Ke on the side also stood up carefully and looked at this scene in surprise. What kind of evil thing is this, sir? Judging from Ma Xuanliang's attitude and the rudeness of several guards with knives, which revealed a sense of oppression, it was clear that the emperor was angry.

"No need, Master Cen!"

Ma Xuanliang said coldly: "The emperor was furious in Chengqing Palace. I'm afraid he has no time to bother with those red tapes. My lord, you should quickly follow me into the palace. Don't keep the emperor waiting for too long. That would be adding to the crime."

'Well'

'Adding crime to crime?'

Cen Wenben became even more panicked after hearing this. Does this mean that the emperor has already determined that he is guilty?
Nowadays, every official, especially one of Cen Wenben's level, has some bad deeds. It all depends on whether the emperor will investigate.

When Cen Wenben saw this situation, he was so frightened that his heart started beating fast. He looked at Li Ke in panic, his eyes full of expectation for help.

Li Ke thought for a moment, forced a smile and stepped forward and said, "Ma Zongguan, we are all not outsiders. Lord Cen will follow you into the palace. Take a look. If it does not involve important secrets, can you tell me what Lord Cen did wrong to anger our father?"

"The emperor asked you to invite Lord Cen to the palace, probably to find out the situation. Otherwise, I would have asked you to arrest him directly."

"Let Lord Cen know in advance so that he can prepare. Otherwise, if Lord Cen cannot answer when Father asks him in person, won't that make Father even angrier?"

After all, Li Ke was a prince, so he had some face, and Quan Wanji used to be a member of the Shu Palace, so he had some relationship with him.

Ma Xuanliang thought about it and decided that he should not get involved in the fights among the princes. If the King of Shu gained power, wouldn’t his actions today offend him to death?

Moreover, once the Ministry of War had passed the news about the siege of Mayi, it wouldn’t take long for the entire court to know about it.

Seeing Li Ke's expectant expression, Ma Xuanliang said hesitantly: "Your Highness, to be honest, the Ministry of War has sent an urgent force of 800 miles, and Jie Li has 100,000 troops to surround Mayi. The emperor is furious and urgently summoned Lord Cen to see him, but the emperor is very angry."

"The emperor's original words were to ask Cen Wenben to come and see me!"

Well.
Li Ke was a little confused. It was normal to summon close ministers to discuss the siege of Mayi, a border town, but why did he feel that his father's attitude towards Lord Cen was very bad? It was not Lord Cen who besieged Mayi.
(End of this chapter)