My father, Li Shimin, please call me Crown Prince

Chapter 363 No One Can Protect the King of Wei

The night in Chang'an is like silk splashed with ink, so thick that it cannot be dissolved.

Chai Lingwu stood in the courtyard of the Prince of Wei's mansion, looking at the lanterns swaying in the wind under the eaves and listening to the night watchmen's sounds coming from afar, his heart boiling with anxiety.

As the son of Chai Shao, he was taught to be loyal to the emperor and patriotic since childhood, and his heart was filled with the vast mountains and rivers of the Tang Dynasty.

The scene of his father fighting for the Tang Dynasty and dying on the battlefield is still deeply imprinted in his mind.

Now, he followed Wei Wang Li Tai, hoping to assist a wise crown prince and continue the glory of the Tang Dynasty, but he never expected that it would end up like this.

"The Turkic cavalry took the opportunity to march south, and the people were once again devastated."

"Barbarians on the grassland don't care about loyalty or trust."

"The King of Wei is confused!"

Chai Lingwu murmured to himself, his voice full of pain and struggle.

He recalled playing in the streets of Chang'an when he was young, watching the people living and working in peace and contentment, with happy smiles on their faces. How prosperous the Tang Dynasty was at that time. But once the Turks entered the pass, all this would be in vain. He dared not think about the tragic scene of corpses everywhere and blood flowing like a river.

However, the King of Wei was kind to him.

Over the years, Li Tai has placed great trust in him and entrusted him with important tasks. When he was planning things in the Prince of Wei's Palace, he really wanted to help Li Tai go further on the road to succession.

If he betrayed the King of Wei and exposed the matter, he would not only fail to live up to his trust, but would also be denounced as an ungrateful person by the world. The reputation of his family would also be disgraced because of him.

"What should I do? What should I do?"

Chai Lingwu paced back and forth in the courtyard. He had a sense of justice in his heart, but he was also thinking about his personal feelings. The two forces were constantly pulling at him in his heart, making him extremely painful.

In the adult world, there is no distinction between good and bad, only between stances.

In itself, Chai Lingwu was not a bad person, he just helped the King of Wei to win the throne.

But allowing the Turks to enter the pass is a completely different matter in nature.

This will truly damage the Tang Dynasty and bring disaster to its people.

Once those Turks enter the country, they will burn, kill and loot, and countless people will be persecuted.

This is a serious sin.

A truly great sin.

From afar came the night watchman's cry of "Three o'clock in the morning", the voice was long and sad, as if he was also lamenting his situation.

Chai Lingwu stopped and looked at the dark night sky, his eyes full of confusion.

He suddenly remembered his father's last words: "As a subject, you should put the country and the people first and never have two minds."

But now, he was caught in a dilemma, unable to be both loyal and righteous.

"Perhaps, there is another way?"

A glimmer of hope suddenly arose in Chai Lingwu's heart.

“Can we prevent this disaster without exposing the King of Wei?
But on second thought, he felt that this was almost impossible. The Five Clans and Seven Families were powerful, the Turks were ambitious, and the King of Wei was determined to take this opportunity to get rid of the prince. The situation was already on the verge of breaking out.

Chai Lingwu leaned against the pillar, closed his eyes, and tried to calm himself down. But the images of the Turkic cavalry trampling the land of the Tang Dynasty, the people wailing, the ambitious face of the King of Wei, and his father's disappointed eyes kept appearing in his mind.

These images intertwined together, making his heart even more tormented.

"Why aren't you asleep yet? What are you doing here?"

A voice sounded, causing Chai Lingwu to shudder all over.

Turning around, I saw Fang Yiai eating Sushan.

"You really can't get enough of this stuff."

Chai Lingwu breathed a sigh of relief and said with a smile.

Fang Yiai chuckled and didn't say much.

He really likes Sushan.

If I don't eat for a day, I feel uncomfortable all over.

When Chai Lingwu saw Fang Yiai's expression, an idea suddenly came to his mind.

If he exposed the fact that King Wei was colluding with the Turks, it would naturally not work.

But Fang Yiai can do it.

My mind suddenly turned and I came up with an idea.

"It's a nice night tonight, why don't we have a few drinks?"

Chai Lingwu invited.

Fang Yiai agreed immediately.

Fang Yiai himself is also a wine lover.

So they asked someone to prepare some snacks, and the two of them started drinking.

After three rounds of drinking, I was drunk.

Chai Lingwu cursed in confusion: "Those Turkic bastards dared to commit violence in the palace. If the King of Wei didn't need them, I would have beaten them to death."

Fang Yiai was startled and asked, "What Turkic envoy?"

Chai Lingwu howled, "The King of Wei is confused. Those wolf cubs, what good intentions can they have?"

Fang Yiai was confused: "What's the matter?"

Looking at Chai Lingwu again, he was already drunk on the stone table.

A cool breeze blew by, and Fang Yiai suddenly sobered up a little. His not-so-smart brain thought of the collusion between the King of Wei and the Turkic envoys.

What is the King of Wei going to do?
Fang Yiai shuddered and understood at once.

He glanced at Chai Lingwu who was lying on the ground, and called the servants to help him back to his room to rest.

And he himself turned and left.

Chai Lingwu, who was supported by his servant, opened his eyes slightly and turned his head to look at Fang Yiai who was leaving in a hurry.

When Fang Yiai left Prince Wei's mansion, the chilly autumn night wind blew away most of the smell of alcohol on his body.

He tightened his robe, but his steps became more and more disorderly, and the shocking words that Chai Lingwu said when he was drunk kept echoing in his mind.

Just now in the courtyard, he could still comfort himself by saying "drunk words can't be trusted", but now walking on the quiet street, the clarity and pain that flashed in Chai Lingwu's eyes when he said those words were like a thorn in his back, making him shudder.

When I returned to Fang's house, the lights had already been turned off. Only the lanterns on the corner tower were swaying in the wind, casting mottled light and shadows.

Fang Yiai tiptoed towards his own courtyard, trying to hide his anxiety, but unexpectedly, he met a figure at the corner of the corridor. "It's so late, where have you been?" Fang Yizhi's voice was full of the majesty of a brother.

He held up the lantern, and the light illuminated Fang Yiai's pale face and the panic in his eyes.

Fang Yiai subconsciously took a step back and pretended to be calm, "It's just a few drinks with the King of Wei, why did you wait for me so late?"

Fang Yizheng's eyes were as sharp as a torch, and he took in his brother's expression.

In the past, Fang Yiai was always in high spirits and talked freely after drinking, but today he looked dazed and even spoke with a guilty conscience. He put down the lantern, reached out and grabbed Fang Yiai's wrist, and said in a deep voice: "You and I are brothers, why do we have to hide anything? What happened?"

Fang Yiai's struggle seemed futile under his brother's strong grip, and the fear and entanglement in his heart surged like a tide.

He opened his mouth, but then he remembered how Chai Lingwu looked before he passed out drunk, so he swallowed the words back: "Nothing, nothing, brother, you're just worrying too much."

"You're suspicious?" Fang Yizhi snorted coldly, and suddenly dragged Fang Yiai towards the study: "You've been unable to hide things since you were young. Now you look like this, do you think I can't see it? If you don't explain it clearly today, don't even think about leaving!"

In the study, the candlelight flickered. Fang Yizhi pressed Fang Yiai to a chair, poured a cup of hot tea and handed it to him: "Drink it, sober up, and talk properly."

Fang Yiai held the teacup, his fingertips were cold. The hot steam of the tea hovered in front of his eyes, blurring his vision and making his thoughts even more confused.

He remembered Chai Lingwu's words, "The King of Wei is confused. What good intentions can those wolf cubs have?" He thought of the tragedy that the Turkic cavalry might bring about when they marched south, and he also thought of the care that the King of Wei had given him on a daily basis.

He took a deep breath and finally told everything he had seen and heard in the Prince of Wei's Mansion tonight, including Chai Lingwu's drunken words.

The more Fang Yizhi listened, the gloomier his expression became. When Fang Yiai finished speaking, he slammed the table so hard that the water in the teacup splashed out. "Ridiculous! If such treason is taken seriously, it will implicate the entire Tang Dynasty!"

Fang Yiai was frightened by his brother's anger and stammered, "I don't know whether it's true or not. Chai Lingwu was drunk and unconscious at the time, but those words don't seem to be false."

Fang Yizhi said: "This matter is of great importance, we must inform father immediately!"

Having said that, he got up and went to his father's study.

"Brother, wait!"

Fang Yiai hurriedly stopped him: "What if it's just a misunderstanding? Wouldn't that harm the King of Wei?"

Fang Yizheng looked at his brother, his eyes full of disappointment. "It's already this time, and you are still thinking about the King of Wei? If the Turks really enter the pass, the people of Chang'an will be devastated, and what will happen to the country? Father has devoted his life to the Tang Dynasty. If a disaster occurs because we know about it but don't report it, how can you and I face our ancestors?"

Fang Yiai was hurt by these words and sat down dejectedly.

Although he had feelings for the King of Wei in his heart, in the face of justice, he had to admit that what his brother said was absolutely right.

When Fang Xuanling was woken up from his sleep by the two brothers, he did not show any anger.

Wearing an outer coat, he sat in the main seat in the study, listening to his two sons' narrations with a calm expression, but deep thought was revealed in his eyes.

After they finished speaking, Fang Xuanling picked up the teacup, took a sip, and then slowly said, "Yiai, repeat what Chai Lingwu said word for word."

Fang Yiai did not dare to omit anything and repeated Chai Lingwu's drunken words again.

Fang Xuanling closed his eyes and pondered for a long time before opening them and said, "If this is true, it is indeed extremely dangerous. But a few drunken words alone are not enough to make a conclusion. Yizhi, you must immediately investigate secretly, from the people who come and go in the Wei Palace, to the recent unusual movements of the Five Surnames and Seven Families, to whether the Turkic envoys have really come to Chang'an, all must be investigated. Remember, do not alert the enemy."

Fang Yizhi took the order and left. Fang Xuanling turned to Fang Yiai and said, "Don't have any contact with the King of Wei these days, and don't show any strangeness in front of others. If anyone asks, just say that you drank too much that night and don't remember anything."

Fang Yiai nodded, but felt uneasy.

He never thought that a drinking party would drag him into such a huge storm.

Over the next few days, everything seemed normal at the Fang Mansion, but secretly they were facing a formidable enemy.

Fang Yizhi took his confidants and traveled through the streets and alleys of Chang'an, gathering information everywhere. He first went to the Honglu Temple, under the pretext of checking the records of foreign envoys, to see if there were any records of Turkic envoys entering the court recently.

Although the officials of the Honglu Temple found it strange, they did not dare to ask more questions due to Fang Xuanling's power and could only retrieve the records.

Fang Yizheng read it carefully and found that half a month ago, a group of people claiming to be a Turkic merchant caravan had entered the court. However, the itinerary record of this group of people was very brief, only saying that they stayed in Chang'an for two days and then left, without even indicating their specific destination.

The most important thing is that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince suddenly issued an order that all inns in Chang'an were not allowed to accommodate Turks.

Could it be that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince had already discovered that the King of Wei was colluding with the Turks?
If this is true, I'm afraid His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has already started planning for this matter.

The King of Wei must be nailed to the pillar of shame.

Thinking of this, Fang Yizheng's heart tightened.

Afterwards, Fang Yizheng sent people to monitor the mansions of the five surnames and seven families.

He discovered that there were many more carriages coming and going in Cui's mansion recently than usual, and most of them came and went late at night.

Once, his men ventured to follow a carriage leaving Cui's mansion, only to find that the carriage finally stopped in front of an inconspicuous private house. The people in the carriage hurriedly got off and never came out again.

The Lu Mansion, the Li Mansion, and others also had similar abnormal situations.

What shocked Fang Yizheng the most was that he overheard a few postmen chatting at an inn outside the city of Chang'an. They said that they saw a team of horse-drawn carriages the day before. The curtains of the carriages were closed, but Turkic voices could be heard faintly.

He immediately sent people to track the team of carriages, but found that the carriages had disappeared long ago.

After piecing together these clues, Fang Yizhi became increasingly uneasy. He returned to Fang Mansion and reported everything he had found to Fang Xuanling.

After hearing this, Fang Xuanling frowned and fell into deep thought.

"Father, in my opinion, this is probably true." Fang Yizhi said anxiously, "The unusual records of the Turkic caravan, the frequent exchanges of the Five Surnames and Seven Families, and the team of carriages speaking Turkic outside the city, these are definitely not coincidences."

Fang Xuanling sighed and said, "I know that. But now there is no solid evidence. If we rashly report it to Your Majesty, not only will we fail to overthrow the King of Wei, but we will also alert the enemy and make the situation even more difficult to control."

"Then what should we do? Are we just going to watch them commit evil deeds?" Fang Yizheng asked anxiously.

Fang Xuanling stood up, walked to the window, looked at the night outside, and said slowly: "Continue to investigate and find substantial evidence. Also, send someone to closely monitor the movements of the Crown Prince and His Majesty."

"Now that the crown prince has occupied the Daming Palace, there are already many conflicts between him and Your Majesty. If the Turks invade the country at this time, the situation will become even more chaotic. We must find out the truth before the situation worsens."

Fang Yizhi bowed and said, "Yes, father."

However, Fang Yizheng did not see that there was already a gleam of light in his father's eyes.

It seemed that Fang Yizheng was the one who was making inquiries, but in fact Fang Xuanling had already sent someone to investigate secretly.

Although the specific details of the King of Wei's collusion with the Turks have not been found out, it can be inferred from some clues.

After Fang Yizheng left, Fang Xuanling began to write memorials.

Please write down the details one by one.

After finishing writing, Fang Xuanling went to the palace to meet the emperor overnight.

"Fang Qing, it's so late, what's the matter?"

Li Shimin's voice was still a little weak, but his body had basically recovered.

But for Li Shimin now, he has no intention of leading the army in person for the time being.

It seems that he is about to hand over the government to the prince.

Fang Xuanling bowed and handed over a memorial: "Your Majesty, I have something important to report! It concerns the country and the people of the Tang Dynasty. Please review it!"

(End of this chapter)