Tang Dynasty, my wife Wu Zetian

Chapter 496 Killed the Crown Prince!
With bright sunshine, green willows, and red flowers, it's the perfect time for a spring outing.

On the Luo River, the water glistens, and a painted boat drifts leisurely, swaying gently in the breeze.

In recent years, the Tang Dynasty has become increasingly powerful and has won many victories in foreign wars, which has inspired people all over the world.

Chang'an is located under the emperor's nose. The current emperor does not like extravagance and luxury, so the people of Chang'an are somewhat restrained when celebrating.

Luoyang, being far from the capital, is no less prosperous than Chang'an due to its unique environment. However, without the emperor's attention or the supervision of censors, a trend of extravagance has emerged in recent years.

The banks of the Luo River were a favorite playground and recreational spot for the sons of prominent families in Luoyang.

Inside the painted boat, including the side walkways, everything was carpeted.

Inside the main cabin, the decorations were exquisite, with carved railings and painted beams, and a group of charming Goguryeo dancers were singing and dancing.

After the Tang Dynasty conquered Goguryeo, a large number of Goguryeo female slaves entered Chang'an and Luoyang, where they were taken as concubines and kept by noble families.

Goguryeo women resembled Tang Dynasty women in appearance, and were generally tall and wild. Today, on the black market, the price of "Goryeo maids" is even higher than that of "Silla maids".

In the main seat on the north side of the cabin sat a young man in fine clothes, watching the dance music intently, while four beautiful women served him.

One woman bit open a grape with her teeth and fed the pulp to him. Another woman held a silver pot and jade cup, pouring wine for him. The other two women knelt at his feet, pressing their delicate cheeks against his legs, massaging his calves.

At this moment, a small boat came chasing from a distance. As it got closer, the large ship lowered its gangplank, and a young man in a white shirt quickly boarded the large ship from the small boat.

The young man in white hurried to the main cabin. Upon seeing the extravagant scene inside, a look of anger flashed across his face, and he shouted loudly.

"Everyone stop!"

The young man who was enjoying the song and dance frowned when he saw the young man in white and asked, "Brother Yang, what are you doing?"

The young man in white sneered, "Why are you asking me? Brother Wei, do you know that we're both in deep trouble!"

The young man surnamed Wei raised an eyebrow and said, "Brother Yang, are you joking with me?"

The young man in white said coldly, "Brother Wei, you haven't forgotten about the Jade Manor, have you?"

The young man surnamed Wei's face changed drastically. He said urgently, "How could you do such a thing..." He glanced around, waved his hand impatiently, and said, "Everyone get out. No one is allowed to approach the main cabin without my order."

Everyone agreed in unison and walked out of the main cabin.

The young man surnamed Wei stared intently at the young man in white, gritting his teeth as he said, "Yang Miao, are you crazy? Didn't we agree that neither of us would mention Emerald Manor again?"

Yang Miao said with a gloomy face, "If I could, I would never want to mention this again, but someone has already set their sights on it!"

"Who is it? Daring to investigate this matter? Don't they have a death wish?" The young man surnamed Wei's eyes flashed with murderous intent.

Yang Miao replied blankly, "The current Crown Prince."

With a "thud," the young man surnamed Wei went limp and fell off the chair, his head hitting the edge of the chair hard.

Ignoring the pain, he hissed, "Didn't the Crown Prince return to Chang'an long ago after dealing with your foolish cousin?"

Yang Miao said coldly, "He did go back, but he doesn't intend to let the Yang family go. In the past few months, he has come to Luoyang several times, always secretly."

The young man surnamed Wei asked in astonishment, "What exactly does His Highness the Crown Prince intend to do?"

Yang Miao said, "Is that even a question? They obviously want to deal with my Yang family."

The young man surnamed Wei took a deep breath, pondered for a moment, and shook his head, saying, "That's not right. If His Highness the Crown Prince wanted to deal with you, wouldn't it be much more complicated than this?"

Yang Miao snorted: "Don't forget, the backer behind the Yang family is the Empress's birth mother, the Lady of Dai. Even the Crown Prince has to be somewhat wary of her, which is why he secretly collected evidence of the Yang family's illegal activities, and that's how he found out about the Emerald Manor!"

The young man surnamed Wei jumped up from the ground, rushed over, and grabbed Yang Miao's collar tightly with both hands.

"The Crown Prince is investigating your Yang family, it has nothing to do with me, how could it be such a coincidence that he found out about the Emerald Manor?"

Yang Miao looked at him with a mocking expression and said, "Do you think I deliberately let the Crown Prince know about this? Just to implicate you, I'm willing to bring about my own destruction?"

The young man surnamed Wei also felt that this guess was incorrect, so he let go of her hand, stomped his foot, and said, "You've dragged me into this mess!"

Yang Miao snorted and said, "When we were building Emerald Manor, you were much more enthusiastic than me. How come I'm the one dragging you down now?"

The young man surnamed Wei's expression changed several times. His anger was quickly replaced by fear, and he said in a trembling voice, "If you are arrested, are you planning to betray me?"

Yang Miao sneered, "If the Crown Prince were to deal with me, I would certainly take as many people as I could, so I wouldn't be lonely on the road to the Yellow Springs."

The young man surnamed Wei's eyebrows twitched a few times, and a murderous glint flashed in his eyes.

Yang Miao smiled and said, "This is your ship. You can kill me and dump my body in the Luo River. It's not like you haven't done this before. But the Crown Prince is investigating me. I wonder what he'll think if he finds out that I disappeared after contacting you."

The young man surnamed Wei trembled and slowly knelt down, pleading, "Brother Yang, my death will do you no good. Please let me go, and I will take good care of your family."

Yang Miao said coldly, "Do you think the Crown Prince will spare my family?"

"Then, then I'll sweep your grave every year, burn paper money, paper boats, and paper figures, so you can rest easy down there..."

Yang Miao waved his hand and said, "Alright, enough of this nonsense. If I die, I'll definitely drag you down with me, unless..."

"Unless what?" the young man surnamed Wei asked urgently.

Yang Miao squinted: "Wei Shen, if you and I want to live, there's only one way we can go!"

"W-what?" Seeing Yang Miao's expression, Wei Shen had a bad feeling.

Yang Miao coldly said, "Kill the Crown Prince!"

"Are you crazy!" Wei Shen kicked his legs and crawled backward, moving away from Yang Miao.

Yang Miao scoffed and said, "Anyway, once the matter of Jade Manor is investigated, I'm doomed. Before I die, I'll drag you down with me. In this situation, why not fight to the death?"

Wei Shen still shook his head: "No, even if the matter of the Jade Manor is investigated, only I will die. But if it involves assassinating the Crown Prince, my entire Wei family will be..."

At this point, he suddenly stopped talking.

Yang Miao seemed to see through his thoughts and laughed, "Besides you, how many people are left in your Eastern Branch? The rest are all from the main branches in the capital. What, are you reluctant to implicate them?" Upon hearing this, Wei Shen's facial muscles twitched slightly.

He originally lived in Chang'an, but his father and Wei Hongji had been at odds since childhood and later fought for the position of clan leader, so they were like oil and water.

As a result, his father lost the contest, and the Wei family was taken over by Wei Hongji.

Since then, Wei Hongji has continuously suppressed the Eastern Concubine House, which is why the Eastern Concubine House moved to Luoyang.

When they first arrived in Luoyang, they were bullied by the local aristocratic families. Later they learned that Wei Hongji was behind it all. Wei's father was so angry that he fell ill and never recovered.

Not two years later, Wei's father died of illness.

Taking advantage of the situation, other members of the Dongjuan branch of the family divided the property and bullied his widow and orphan mother, taking away all the valuables. His mother died of depression as a result.

Those were the most difficult years for Wei Shen. Later, he used his polo skills to get close to Yang Miao and persuaded him to establish Emerald Manor, and his situation gradually improved.

Wei Shen stood up, returned to his chair, and pondered for a long time. He then went outside the cabin, carefully surveyed his surroundings, and, seeing that no one was eavesdropping, summoned a subordinate and ordered him to lower a small boat.

Seeing how carefully he arranged things, Yang Miao knew he had taken the bait and said nothing more.

Once the two had boarded the small boat and were far away from the large ship, Wei Shen asked in a low voice, "What you are about to do is no small matter. Does your Yang clan elder know about it?"

Yang Miao sneered, "Those old bastards are all terrified. How dare they oppose the Crown Prince? If I tell them, they'll tie me up and hand me over to the Crown Prince the next day!"

"So, this was a plan you made all by yourself?"

Yang Miao snorted, "It's not just me. I have several cousins ​​who have also committed many offenses, and they will all be involved in this matter."

Wei Shen nodded and asked, "So, what are your plans?"

Yang Miao said calmly, "Fortunately, the Crown Prince came to Luoyang quietly this time, with few people with him."

Wei Shen said, "You intend to send someone to assassinate me in Luoyang?"

Yang Miao raised his hand and said, "No, it's too dangerous to take action in Luoyang. No matter how few people are around the Crown Prince, as long as he reveals his identity, not only the Luoyang government, but also the common people will protect him."

Wei Shen frowned and asked, "Then what should we do?"

Yang Miao said, word by word, "We only have one chance: to make our move on the Crown Prince's way back to Chang'an. I know you have some men under your command, and with the addition of my elite assassins, we should have a good chance of success!"

Wei Shen asked, "How do you know when the Crown Prince will return to Chang'an? And how did you arrange the ambush in advance?"

Yang Miao said calmly, "That's easy. As long as he finds out about the Emerald Manor, he'll return to the capital."

Wei Shen suddenly realized that Yang Miao only needed to proactively provide the evidence to the Crown Prince to control when the Crown Prince returned to the capital.

"If the Crown Prince dies, the Emperor will surely be furious and send people to investigate thoroughly. What should we do then?" he asked.

Yang Miao said coldly, "Once we succeed, we will kill everyone involved without leaving a trace."

Wei Shen shook his head and said, "It's useless. As long as the Emperor knows that the Crown Prince was investigating your Yang family before his death, he will definitely deal with you directly, regardless of whether there is evidence or not!"

Yang Miao remained silent.

He had actually thought of this problem, but it seemed like an unsolvable dilemma.

The Emperor and Empress are surely aware that the Crown Prince is investigating the Yang family. At that point, not only the Emperor but also the Empress will deal with them.

Since the death of the crown prince is at stake, even the Lady of Dai is of no use. So, if they want to survive, they have to take a desperate gamble!
"Brother Wei, you must know about the recent tax reforms by the Sage, right?" Yang Miao suddenly asked.

Wei Shen sighed, "This matter has caused quite a stir among the upper echelons of Luoyang; how could I not know about it?"

Yang Miao squinted and asked, "What do you think the sage's purpose is?"

Wei Shen was silent for a while, then said, "I've heard many people say that the Emperor is planning to deal with the aristocratic families again."

Yang Miao chuckled: "That's right. In the past few years, the Sage has not dealt with the aristocratic clans, and everyone was relieved. But now, they have realized that the Sage did not intend to suppress the aristocratic clans, but was simply too busy fighting to take action. Now that the war is over, it has begun again."

Wei Shen said, "Why are you suddenly bringing this up?"

Yang Miao said coldly, "The Sage intends to exterminate all the aristocratic clans. Why don't we join forces with the major aristocratic clans to fight against the Sage?"

Wei Shen sighed, "Brother Yang, in recent years, it's not that the aristocratic families haven't resisted the Sage. But everyone has seen the result: even Changsun Wuji couldn't defeat the Sage, let alone anyone else. Now, who dares to challenge the Sage?"

Yang Miao snorted, "Those old bones in the aristocratic families are naturally unreliable, but among our peers, there are bound to be some hot-blooded young men, like your cousin Wei Yue!"

Wei Shen's heart skipped a beat.

Wei Yue was the only person Wei Shen was on good terms with in the clan. He visited Luoyang last year, and he looked very unwell and was in poor spirits.

Upon inquiry, Wei Shen learned that Wei Yue was depressed because of Zhou Boyu's affair, and his words clearly revealed his extreme dissatisfaction with the court.

Yang Miao continued, "Li Jingye of the Duke of England's mansion is also a man of courage and spirit. In my several conversations with him, I could tell that he was dissatisfied with the current situation!"

Wei Shen thought for a moment, then asked suspiciously, "Can these young people really accomplish anything?"

Yang Miao chuckled and said, "Brother, we're already in a hopeless situation right now. It's just a last-ditch effort before we die. Is it really necessary to think so much?"

Wei Shen slammed his hand on the table and said decisively, "Fine, tell me how to do it!"

Yang Miao said in a deep voice, "Let's split up. I'll take care of your men, and I'll be responsible for assassinating the Crown Prince."

"And me?"

"You have a wider network of connections in Chang'an. Go and win over the younger generation of the various aristocratic families who are dissatisfied with the court. Get them on your side first, and then we can discuss how to proceed!"

Wei Shen was also a decisive man, otherwise he would not have gotten to where he is today. He immediately swore an oath with Yang Miao and they went their separate ways.

Early the next morning, Wei Shen assigned his men to Yang Miao's service, and with a few attendants, headed towards Chang'an.

(End of this chapter)