My father, Li Shimin, please call me Crown Prince

Chapter 404 The King of Wei's Last Struggle
Inside the main hall of the Prince of Wei's mansion, the ambergris incense in the gilded beast-head incense burner burned brightly, but the smoke could not dispel the somber atmosphere that filled the room. Li Tai, dressed in a moon-white brocade robe with his jade belt hanging loosely at his waist, and whose usually meticulously styled hair was now disheveled, paced anxiously on the blue brick floor.

On the rosewood table lay a map of Chang'an, with the location of Xuanwu Gate heavily circled in red cinnabar. Scattered beside it were several unopened letters, their sealing wax imprinted with the emblems of different families—Cui, Lu, Li, Zheng, and Wang.

"boom--"

A muffled thud echoed faintly in the distance, whether from a warning cannon firing from the direction of Xuanwu Gate or from some commotion within the city, it was unclear. Li Tai abruptly stopped, his finger slamming into the Xuanwu Gate marker on the map, his knuckles turning white from the force: "Chai Lingwu! You tell me, does that idiot Li Chengqian really dare to attack Xuanwu Gate? Without the gunpowder workshop, what will he use to bombard the city walls? Those broken catapults?"

The sound of clothes rustling came from the corridor. Chai Lingwu lifted the curtain and walked in. He was dressed in black casual clothes, with a horizontal sword in a sharkskin sheath at his waist. His face was even more stern than usual.

He first bowed to Li Tai, then glanced at the map and letter on the table before saying in a deep voice, "Your Highness, the defenses of Xuanwu Gate were personally overseen by His Majesty. It has three layers of rammed earth with an iron core. Not to mention the little gunpowder Li Chengqian has left, even the Turks might not have been able to break through it even if they used battering rams for three days. In my opinion, he is fighting like a cornered beast, just trying to gamble."

Li Tai sneered, grabbed an opened letter from the table, and threw it hard on the ground: "Gamble? What can he gamble with!"

"Now that gunpowder is gone, what chance does he have of winning? Does he really think he can defeat Father Emperor with those Liaodong soldiers?"

The letter fluttered to the ground, revealing Cui Shengyu's handwriting on it, but the ink seemed somewhat perfunctory.

Chai Lingwu bent down to pick it up, his fingertips tracing the words "willing to serve like a dog or horse," his brows furrowing slightly: "Your Highness, I have also heard about Cui Shengyu's matter."

Li Tai kicked the chair leg hard, and the sandalwood chair creaked. "I've treated Cui Shengyu well! The Five Clans and Seven Families are indeed ungrateful wretches!"

Chai Lingwu placed the letter back on the table, walked to the window, and pushed it open halfway. The night wind blew in, carrying the faint sound of clashing swords from the direction of Xuanwu Gate in the distance. He looked at the waning moon obscured by dark clouds on the horizon and slowly said, "King Wei, please calm your anger. Cui Shengyu's actions may not represent the entire Five Clans and Seven Noble Families."

"How can it not represent?"

Li Tai whirled around, his eyes bloodshot. "The Cui, Lu, Li, Zheng, and Wang families have always been closely allied! Cui Shengyu is the eldest son of the Qinghe Cui family. If he goes to the Prince of Jin's residence, how can the other families sit idly by? Look at these letters—" He grabbed several other unopened letters. "The Xingyang Zheng family said 'wait for the opportune moment,' the Fanyang Lu family said 'the household is afflicted with illness, and it is temporarily difficult to comply,' and the Boling Cui family didn't even reply! They clearly see that Li Chengqian has lost favor and want to switch their allegiance to Li Zhi!"

Chai Lingwu remained silent for a moment, then took out a finely detailed silk map from his sleeve and spread it on the map. The map was marked with vermilion ink the troop deployments of each ward in Chang'an. Several hidden lines were drawn between Chongye Ward, where the Prince of Jin's residence was located, and Xuanyang Ward and Qinren Ward, where the Five Clans and Seven Noble Families resided: "Your Highness, please look. The Prince of Jin was able to persuade Li Ji to launch a surprise attack on the gunpowder workshop because of their past master-disciple relationship. But the Five Clans and Seven Noble Families control half of the estates and trade routes in Guandong. In terms of wealth, the Prince of Jin may not be able to compare with us."

Li Tai scoffed: "What use is wealth at this time? Without the support of the five clans, how can I compete with Li Zhi?"

“He now has Li Ji’s old troops, the hearts of the Imperial Guards, and even the Emperor…” He didn’t finish his sentence, but the anxiety in his eyes intensified.

Chai Lingwu pointed his finger at the location of Xuanyangfang on the silk cloth: "That's not necessarily true. Was Cui Shengyu's defection to the Prince of Jin due to his personal connections or the Cui family's public opinion?"

"As far as I know, there is a great deal of disagreement within the Cui clan regarding taking sides. The old clan patriarch is seriously ill, and Cui Shengyu is eager to establish his authority, which is why he made the decision on his own. The five clans and seven noble families are not a monolithic entity; what they want is profit, not loyalty."

Li Tai picked up the teacup on the table, only to find it had gone cold. He casually put it down again: "Interests? Now Li Chengqian is going to attack Xuanwu Gate. If he fails, Father will definitely depose the Crown Prince. Then, when I compete with Li Zhi for the throne, why should the five clans choose me?"

Chai Lingwu's voice suddenly lowered: "Just because the King of Wei needs them more than the King of Jin, and can give them more benefits."

“With Li Ji’s support and the Grand Minister Changsun’s assistance, if the five families were to pledge allegiance to him, it would only be icing on the cake, and their influence would be limited.”

"But King Wei is different. You have no military power. If you want to compete for the throne, you must rely on the wealth and connections of the five clans. As long as we spread the word that after the matter is settled, the sons of the five clans will be allowed to enter officialdom directly without taking the imperial examinations... what do you think Cui Shengyu's personal interests are compared to these benefits?"

Li Tai's eyes brightened, but quickly dimmed again: "That's true, but Cui Shengyu has already betrayed me. Even if the other companies want to cooperate, they'll be worried that I'll settle scores later, right?"

Chai Lingwu walked up to Li Tai, looked him straight in the eyes, and offered encouragement.

"Does the King of Wei know the difference between 'open conspiracy' and 'insidious conspiracy'?"

“Cui Shengyu’s betrayal was his personal fault and had nothing to do with the five clans.”

“We can do two things: First, we should immediately write a letter to Cui Zongbo, saying that Cui Shengyu had colluded with the Prince of Jin’s mansion and broken the alliance between the five clans and His Highness, and request the old clan chief to uphold justice.”

“If Cui Zongbo wants to stabilize the clan, he will definitely punish Cui Shengyu and show goodwill to us.”

"Secondly, send trusted confidants to the Lu family of Fanyang and the Zheng family of Xingyang, offer them substantial benefits, and only discuss cooperation, not old grudges. The five clans and seven noble families value face the most. As long as we give them enough face, they will not turn down the benefits."

Li Tai hesitated for a moment: "But..."

"What if Li Chengqian really breaks through Xuanwu Gate? I've heard his Liaodong soldiers are quite elite, what if..."

This is what Li Tai is most worried about. If Li Chengqian wins, what will become of the Tang Dynasty and the world for him?

Most importantly, once Li Chengqian ascends the throne, will he give him a way out?

Just like how the Emperor murdered his brothers, let's kill him and the Prince of Jin together.

The thought of this made Li Tai feel a pang of panic.

After all, the Crown Prince is too extravagant; every single thing he's done in recent years has caused quite a stir.

Especially those Liaodong soldiers, who fought against the elite of the Jinwu Guard on Zhuque Avenue, even though they were outnumbered.

I don't know how the Crown Prince trained them. They are just people from a small foreign country, but they are all like madmen, risking their lives.

It was precisely because he had witnessed it that Li Tai was worried about what would happen if the Crown Prince really broke through Xuanwu Gate.

In fact, Li Tai was already considering a 'way out' in his mind.

Ultimately, I still wanted to save my life; I couldn't just throw my life away in vain.

"impossible."

Chai Lingwu said decisively, "The general guarding Xuanwu Gate is His Majesty's confidant, and every brick in the city has been inspected. Without gunpowder, Li Chengqian can only rely on swarming attacks. The rolling logs and stones on the city walls alone could kill or injure more than half of him."

"Even if he manages to breach the outer city by sheer luck, there are still the inner palace walls. His Majesty has already arranged for Yuchi Jingde to lead the Imperial Guards to garrison them. Li Chengqian's defeat is inevitable; it's only a matter of time."

Chai Lingwu knew very well that he needed to give the King of Wei enough confidence.

Although he was worried, he absolutely could not show it at all.

Chai Lingwu paused, then took out another secret letter from his sleeve, sealed with an inconspicuous Vermilion Bird mark: "This is what I received this morning, from an informant in the inner court."

“Last night, His Majesty said to Changsun Wuji and Fang Xuanling in Ganlu Hall, ‘If Chengqian can break through Xuanwu Gate, what harm is there in me abdicating the throne to him?’ These words sound magnanimous, but in reality, His Majesty has calculated that Li Chengqian cannot break through. His Majesty is waiting, waiting for Li Chengqian to be defeated, so that he can rightfully depose the Crown Prince.”

Li Tai took the secret letter, read it several times, and finally a smile appeared on his lips: "Father is still on my side after all... it's just that Li Zhi has been jumping around too much lately."

Seeing the secret letter made Li Tai feel much more at ease.

His father must know Li Chengqian's situation better than he does. Since his father is confident, then there must be no problem.

"Therefore, we must seize this opportunity." Chai Lingwu pointed to the line connecting Xuanwu Gate and Taiji Palace on the map. "When Li Chengqian attacks Xuanwu Gate, he will definitely attract all his troops. We can do three things: First, we can have the five families contribute money to secretly support the families of the Xuanwu Gate garrison, thus currying favor with the military."

"Secondly, under the pretext of 'protecting the imperial city,' we will gather private soldiers from the mansion to control the main road from Xuanyang Ward to Zhuque Avenue. This will not only prevent marauding soldiers from looting, but also allow us to show our merits before His Majesty. Thirdly, and most importantly—"

Chai Lingwu's voice was extremely low, almost only Li Tai could hear it: "Send trusted confidants to infiltrate Li Chengqian's defeated troops, and when he is fleeing after his defeat, 'accidentally' intercept and kill him. At that time, His Majesty will only think that it was the work of the mutinous soldiers, and we can both get rid of a major threat and smear Li Zhi, saying that he used someone else to kill him."

Li Tai's pupils contracted sharply, a flicker of fear crossing his face, quickly replaced by greed: "An ambush... wouldn't that be too risky? What if Father finds out..."

Even now, Li Tai knows that if the Crown Prince truly fails, his father will not be willing to kill him. Many people have already seen this.

On the contrary, if Li Chengqian were defeated and killed, no matter who killed him, they would certainly bear the wrath of the emperor.

"Risks and benefits coexist."

A ruthless glint flashed in Chai Lingwu's eyes: "Does Your Highness want to be a peaceful prince, or do you want to sit on the dragon throne? If you want to sit on the dragon throne, you cannot be soft-hearted. With Li Chengqian dead, the biggest suspect must be the Prince of Jin. He just blew up the gunpowder workshop and also holds military power. We only need to release some 'evidence' afterward, such as a few forged letters, to make His Majesty suspicious of Li Zhi."

The wind outside the window grew stronger, and the faint sound of drums and gongs drifted from the direction of Xuanwu Gate in the distance, like a harbinger of an impending great battle. Li Tai paced back and forth in the hall for a long time before finally stopping, picking up a wolf-hair brush from the table, dipping it in ink, and scribbling rapidly on a blank sheet of paper.

"Okay! Just do as you say!"

After Li Tai finished writing the letter, he bit open the sealing wax seal with his teeth and pressed it heavily onto the seal: "Make a note of Cui Shengyu's debt. I'll settle it with him slowly when I become the crown prince! You immediately send people to Fanyang and Xingyang to deliver these two letters. The conditions should be as we said, allowing the sons of the five families to enter officialdom."

These words made Li Tai make up his mind immediately.

Because of the previous incident with the Turks, his father's expectations of him had been greatly reduced.

Even the most foolish person could understand that the last time the Right Jinwu Guard said that the Prince of Jin would be involved in the investigation, it already showed that the Emperor preferred Li Zhi to be the Crown Prince.

Now that Chu Suiliang has temporarily lost the Emperor's favor, and Changsun Wuji has almost clearly indicated that he is siding with the Prince of Jin, even if Li Tai were to plead with this uncle, Changsun Wuji would probably ignore him.

The Wei King's faction was powerful, but no one spoke up for the Emperor.

If there are no unforeseen circumstances, then after the Emperor deposes the Crown Prince, the Prince of Jin will inevitably become the Crown Prince.

If there are no unexpected events, then we can only create them.

Chai Lingwu's plan resonated with Li Tai.

If the Crown Prince is defeated and killed, the most likely suspect will be the Prince of Jin.

Li Tai knew how much his father loved the Crown Prince, and he was also well aware of the Crown Prince's current influence in the Tang Dynasty.

Bamboo paper, curved plow, three harvests of rice, not to mention the poem "Green Jade Table for the Lantern Festival" from back then.

Bamboo paper won over the heart of a poor nobleman, while the curved plow and the three-harvest rice stirred up the hearts of the people.

The song "Green Jade Table" is sung every year during the Lantern Festival.

Whoever killed the crown prince would be burdened with a huge crime.

If this matter is pinned on Prince Jin, even if the Emperor wants Prince Jin to be the Crown Prince, it will be impossible.

Without the Prince of Jin, he was the only legitimate son of his father.

This position of crown prince can only be held by myself.

Chai Lingwu took the letter, read it carefully, and nodded, saying, "King Wei is wise. The five clans value profit the most, and with these promises, they will surely be tempted. As for Cui Shengyu... I will send someone to 'remind' him, to let him know the consequences of betraying King Wei."

Hearing that the King of Wei had agreed, Chai Lingwu relaxed a lot. He was really afraid that the King of Wei would still be coy at this point.

This time, he's risked everything.

This plan also genuinely suggests a possibility of the Prince of Wei successfully seizing the throne.

"Hmm." Li Tai walked to the window, pushed it open, and looked at the clouds in the night sky that were faintly illuminated by the flames of war. His eyes flickered with a complex light: "Li Chengqian, Li Chengqian, we were brothers, but in the end, you chose the wrong path. Don't blame your younger brother for being ruthless. Blame the throne, which has never tolerated those who are soft-hearted."

To be honest, Li Tai was somewhat moved when he paid tribute to his mother.

After all, the three brothers had a really good relationship when they were young, thanks to their mother's upbringing.

Non-vegetation, ruthless Practice makes perfect.

Now that he had decided to kill his brother, Li Tai felt a pang of regret.

Chai Lingwu carefully put away the two letters, then pointed to the letter from Cui Shengyu on the table: "Your Highness, should we...?"

"Burn it." Li Tai said without turning his head. "From now on, just pretend that Cui Shengyu was never part of our plans. We still need the Five Clans and Seven Noble Families."

"Yes." Chai Lingwu bowed in agreement and turned to leave, but was stopped by Li Tai.

"Those people need to be dealt with properly."

Chai Lingwu nodded and said, "Please rest assured, Your Majesty."

He knew which people the King of Wei was referring to.

Those who killed the crown prince will surely die with him.

This matter is too big; only the dead can keep it a secret.

Li Tai paused again, then hesitated and said, "Do you think Father Emperor will really depose the Crown Prince?"

He was genuinely worried that if the Crown Prince were to be defeated, his father would be soft-hearted and only strip him of his military power without deposing him.

It sounds a bit outrageous, but my kind-hearted father could actually do something so outrageous.

Chai Lingwu stopped and turned to look at Li Tai, a hint of understanding flashing in his eyes, yet his tone remained firm: "Your Highness, rest assured. How could His Majesty forget what happened in the ninth year of Wude? If he could kill his brother and force his father to abdicate back then, he will not tolerate the Crown Prince's rebellion today."

"Li Chengqian has been defeated, so the position of Crown Prince will definitely be vacant. And the person who can sit in that position is not the Prince of Jin, but you."

These words were like a shot in the arm, finally allowing Li Tai's tense shoulders to relax.

He nodded and waved his hand: "Go, proceed according to plan. Remember, make sure it's done cleanly, leave no evidence."

"My subordinate understands."

Chai Lingwu bowed again, turned and disappeared into the night.

Inside the main hall of the Prince of Wei's residence, only Li Tai remained. He walked to the table, picked up the scroll of Chang'an map, and his gaze slowly swept over Xuanwu Gate, Taiji Palace, and the Prince of Jin's residence, finally settling on the location of the Prince of Wei's residence. The candlelight flickered, casting his shadow on the wall, sometimes bright, sometimes dim, just like his fluctuating emotions at that moment.

“Zhi Nu…” he murmured the name, a sinister glint in his eyes: “Do you think you can beat me with Li Ji and Changsun Wuji? Don’t forget, the most cunning person in Chang’an has never been you.”

A night breeze blew through the windowpane, extinguishing a candle on the table, and the light dimmed abruptly. Li Tai, however, seemed oblivious, still staring at the Xuanwu Gate on the map, a cold smile slowly creeping onto his lips.

(End of this chapter)