Datang: Just been appointed as the crown prince, the counterattack system is here

Chapter 253: A new bug in the card system? Your life is in my hands! [Seeking monthly votes]

The power struggle between Li Tang and the aristocratic families was essentially the ultimate game between the emerging imperial power and the centuries-old clan system.

If history had developed normally, Li Shimin would not have realized the crushing blow that the aristocratic families had dealt to the Li Tang Dynasty until he revised the "Clan Records" in the sixth year of Zhenguan, and thus sounded the clarion call to declare war on the aristocratic families.

Before the sixth year of Zhenguan, he had been in a state of tolerance and maintaining stability.

This was mainly because too many unstable things happened at the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, forcing him to compromise step by step in the game with the aristocratic families.

However, Li Chengqian's sudden rise directly broke this status quo and allowed him to see a new way to deal with the aristocratic families.

In this way, he does not have to bear much loss, such as the impact on his reputation.

Because of the Xuanwu Gate Incident, Li Shimin has always been at a disadvantage on the moral level. Even a trivial matter that seems insignificant to ordinary people may be a major event that affects Li Shimin's reputation.

Therefore, Li Shimin's life as emperor was full of the feeling of being controlled by others.

He did not have the aura of the First Emperor, nor the arrogance of Emperor Wu of Han, nor the self-centeredness of Zhu Yuanzhang. He even lacked the vision of the ancient sages.

Looking back at the Zhenguan period, the most talked-about thing is Li Shimin's acceptance of advice.

But if you think carefully about Li Shimin's acceptance of advice, you will find that it is really cowardly for the emperor to treat him like that.

But then again, Li Shimin was indeed a good emperor, but not a good father.

Especially in the matter of cooperating with Li Chengqian to deal with the aristocratic families.

He actually wanted to destroy the bridge after crossing it.

In fact, from the moment he agreed to Li Chengqian's killing spree that night, Li Chengqian saw through his thoughts.

Because of Li Chengqian's strong rise, he increasingly felt that one day he would follow in Li Yuan's footsteps, be sidelined by Li Chengqian, and finally be forced to abdicate.

Therefore, in order to consolidate his throne, he had to start plotting against his son.

Even though Li Chengqian killed Cui Renshi and others, the resistance from the court ministers seemed minimal.

However, if Li Chengqian killed their families, the impact would be extraordinary.

After all, during the reign of Li Shimin, a policy of leniency was always pursued.

Civil and military officials also enjoyed this lenient policy.

But what about Li Chengqian’s approach?

It's so ruthless!

Just ask yourself, who wouldn’t be scared when faced with such a future emperor who could kill a minister’s entire family at any time?
Although the civil and military officials would not be forced to take the path of assassination by Li Chengqian like Cui Renshi and others, how should they get along with Li Chengqian in the future?
Will they stand up and support Li Chengqian like they did before?
Therefore, Li Shimin's indulgence of Li Chengqian in his killing spree had a deeper meaning. One was that it was indeed time to root out the evil, and the other was to completely separate the civil and military ministers from Li Chengqian.

Even if half of the officials in the court would be filled by Jiangling's princeling gang, Li Shimin would not be afraid, because the core ministers would still be his people.

So why did he ask Li Chengqian to give an explanation to the ministers?

In fact, the logic is very simple, exactly the same as the conspiracy that Li Chengqian mentioned.

He needs a scapegoat.

You killed the man, but the benefits are mine, and the reputation is also mine. It's time for you to leave, and I've even found a reason for you.

Once Li Chengqian took the blame, it would be difficult for him to get close to Li Shimin's ministers in the years to come.

At least during Li Shimin's reign, those ministers would not have too much contact with Li Chengqian for the sake of their own political careers or the stability of their families.

As for whether the princelings replaced them after Li Shimin, that is another matter. After all, a new emperor appoints new ministers.

But how could Li Chengqian accept this?
So when Li Shimin proposed to use "insect poison" as an excuse, Li Chengqian immediately turned hostile.

He told Li Shimin clearly that you want me to be the 'scapegoat' unless you want us brothers to kill each other.

This shocked Li Shimin so much that he stood there in a daze.

In fact, Li Shimin only considered separating his ministers from Li Chengqian, but forgot the selfish motives of his ministers.

Although they will not take the path of assassination like Cui Renshi and others, they can fight proxy wars!

Li Shimin had so many sons, even if they didn't have the strength to compete with Li Chengqian for the throne, they could at least disgust him!
"Alas! Your Majesty Li Er still underestimates human nature!"

Li Chengqian, sitting in the carriage, looked at the heavy rain outside the window and sighed silently.

Although Li Shimin's calculations made him very depressed, if he looked at the problem from Li Shimin's perspective, he would also make the same choice.

Or, he might also use that open conspiracy.

But in the end, he could not look at the problem from Li Shimin's perspective, he could only consider his own interests.

Therefore, he must win this battle between father and son, even if it means taking a path he doesn't want to take.

"Your Highness, there is something I want to discuss with you!"

Just when Li Chengqian was lost in thought, Lai Fu, who was driving the carriage, suddenly spoke.

Li Chengqian was slightly stunned, then asked with some confusion: "What's the matter?"

"It's about building a straw hut in the suburbs. I want Chang Wei to be responsible because the turmoil last night might affect him. So, for safety reasons, I think it might be better to let him go to the suburbs secretly and wait until this storm has passed."

Build a straw hut?
Li Chengqian was stunned again, but quickly reacted. Last night, in order to cooperate with Li Shimin's "acting", he said in front of everyone that he would go to the suburbs to eat vegetarian food for three days to help Li Shimin atone for his illegal behavior.

However, Lai Fu reminded him that since he didn't want to be Li Shimin's "scapegoat", why not take this opportunity to stay away from the court and see the ministers' reactions?

Thinking of this, he made a quick decision and said, "Okay, let Chang Wei go to the suburbs to build a straw hut. Once it's built, we'll go there immediately!"

"promise!"

Lai Fu nodded and said nothing more.

But Li Chengqian became curious and asked Lai Fu with a smile, "Lai Fu, what do you think of Chang Wei?"

"I can't really put my finger on anything else, but I just feel like the name is a little off-putting to me!"

"Hahaha!"

Li Chengqian couldn't help but laugh out loud when he heard this, and then asked with a smile: "Did he tell you whether he knows martial arts?"

"That's not the case, but judging by his moves, he doesn't look like a martial artist!"

"Oh? Really? That's a shame. I was hoping someone would be able to practice martial arts with me!"

"Your Highness the Crown Prince's martial arts are improving rapidly. I'm afraid it won't be long before I won't be your opponent." Lai Fu said half-complimentingly and half-emotionally.

Li Chengqian smiled without comment, but didn't say much.

In this way, the two of them walked in silence and soon returned to the Prince's Mansion.

However, as soon as he returned to the Prince's Mansion, Li Chengqian clearly felt that something was wrong.

"What's going on? Where are the people?"

Li Chengqian frowned and looked around, only to find that there was not a single person in the huge Prince's Mansion.

It's really weird.

"Are you sure we should go back to the Prince's Mansion?" Li Chengqian looked back at Lai Fu suspiciously.

Lai Fu was also very puzzled. He then carefully observed his surroundings and found that this was indeed the Crown Prince's residence. He then said to Li Chengqian very cautiously, "Your Highness, please wait a moment. I will go in and see what is going on!"

As he said this, he prepared to go in before Li Chengqian.

But Li Chengqian raised his hand to stop him, saying, "Aren't you afraid of being tricked into leaving the mountain? Let's go together!"

"This"

Lai Fu hesitated for a moment, then felt that Li Chengqian was right, so he nodded and said, "That servant dares to walk ahead of you, Your Highness, please be careful!"

"it is good!"

Li Chengqian nodded in response, then followed Lai Fu through the front yard and to the back yard. It was not until they passed a house on the west side that they heard a commotion inside.

"Hey, do you think this place is really haunted?"

"That's right! Commander Su was so frightened that he screamed. Who else but a ghost could scare him like that?"

"Then why didn't Commander Su run away? He stayed in the same room with the ghost and didn't let anyone else in!"

"You ask me, who should I ask? Anyway, I heard this place was haunted, so I ran over to see it!"

"Hey, you know what, this ghost is quite rampant, actually coming out in broad daylight to scare people. Judging from the voice, it seems to be a female ghost!"

"Hey, I heard the newspaper has opened a novel column, and they're serializing something like A Chinese Ghost Story."

"Cough cough!"

Just when everyone was chatting animatedly, Li Chengqian's light cough suddenly sounded behind them.

Some people who were sensitive immediately spotted Li Chengqian and were horrified. They immediately bowed down and said, "Your Highness, please forgive me. We..."

"Alright! I heard everything. Go do what you need to do and stop talking nonsense here!"

Before the other party could finish, Li Chengqian interrupted him with a wave of his hand. Then he looked around at everyone and said seriously, "How could my dignified Prince's Mansion be haunted? That was just a task I assigned to Commander Su!"

As he walked through the crowd, he said, "Everyone, go down. Don't tell anyone about what happened today, or you will be severely punished!"

"Yes!"

Everyone said in unison, then looked at each other, and then left one after another.

"Your Highness, Commander Su, he will be in charge."

When Sun Fujia saw Li Chengqian coming, he first bowed to him, then showed an expression as if he wanted to say something but hesitated.

But Li Chengqian said with a smile: "It's okay, Fuga, this is really the task I assigned to Su Dingfang. Let him help me take care of a female prisoner!"

As he spoke, he raised his hand to signal, and then said, "Why don't you come with me in to take a look?"

“No, no, no thanks.”

Sun Fujia was so frightened when he saw Li Chengqian was about to invite him into the room that he waved his hands repeatedly and said goodbye directly: "I still have to assist the Dali Temple in handling those Japanese cases, so I won't stay here anymore!"

After saying this, before Li Chengqian could say anything else, he ran away.

Li Chengqian was at a loss whether to laugh or cry, and shook his head, sighing, "It seems that even loyal and upright ministers can do things that are not their fault!"

"Ok?"

Lai Fu was slightly stunned, then asked in confusion: "What do you mean by that, Your Highness?" "Haven't you heard it? If you don't do anything wrong, you don't have to worry about ghosts knocking on your door!"

Li Chengqian joked with Lai Fu with some amusement, then walked towards the room on his own.

"Your Highness, you can't do that! It's dangerous inside!"

"It's okay, you stay here and don't let anyone get close!"

Before Lai Fu could step forward to stop him, Li Chengqian gave him the order without question, then resolutely pushed open the door and strode in.

"This"

As soon as he walked into the room, Li Chengqian saw an incredible scene. He was stunned and couldn't help but say, "Did I come at the wrong time?"

"No, no, no, it's not what you think, Your Highness."

Su Dingfang quickly pushed away the woman riding on him, climbed up in panic, and wanted to explain to Li Chengqian.

However, before he could finish his words, the woman interrupted him: "You saved me?"

"who are you?"

Li Chengqian was slightly stunned.

Because this woman looks completely different from the woman in green dress, that is, the female corpse.

Moreover, even her voice was a voice that Li Chengqian had never heard before.

"Why, you don't recognize me?"

The woman smoothed her hair, then lifted her legs and stepped on a stool, revealing her slender, fair curves. "Lecherous little prince?"

"It's you!"

Li Chengqian's expression changed, and then he reacted instantly, saying in a deep voice, "You are the female assassin!"

"That's right! I never thought the little prince was really an immortal and could actually bring the dead back to life!"

"presumptuous!"

Li Chengqian suddenly shouted loudly, then took a leap and rushed towards the woman.

However, just as the woman was about to resist Li Chengqian, a strange scene happened.

The moment Li Chengqian approached, the woman collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut.

Li Chengqian was shocked when he saw this, and immediately asked in confusion, "What are you doing?"

"I, I don't know what's going on either."

The woman raised her head in confusion, as if she had no strength left in her body. She asked weakly, "What did you do to me? Why am I like this?"

Li Chengqian frowned but did not answer her.

Because he actually didn't know much about the Resurrection Pill, perhaps only by asking the system could he fully grasp the information about the Resurrection Pill.

But it’s better this way, it saves me a lot of trouble.

Thinking of this, Li Chengqian directly admitted: "You guessed right, it was indeed me who did it!"

“I can do more if I want to!”

"you!"

When the woman heard Li Chengqian's words, her originally fair face turned even paler. She bit her red lips and said, "What do you want to do to me?"

"Answer me first, why did you become like this?"

Li Chengqian looked down at the woman and asked coldly.

The woman was stunned for a moment and asked in confusion: "Why did I become like this? I have always been like this!"

"Nonsense! You weren't like this at all last night!"

"Pfft-"

The woman couldn't help but laugh when she heard this: "That was me last night, but this is the real me!"

"What do you mean?" Li Chengqian narrowed his eyes.

"Isn't the prince an immortal? How come you don't even know this?" The woman blinked her beautiful peach blossom eyes and asked with a smile.

Snapped!
Li Chengqian raised his hand and slapped him, then said coldly: "Now I'm asking you, either tell the truth or die!"

"you!"

The woman originally wanted to retort to Li Chengqian, but when she heard Li Chengqian mention the word death and recalled her previous experience, tears suddenly welled up in her eyes and she said aggrievedly:

"This is me. My master planted a Gu in me when I was little, and my appearance changed accordingly. I don't know why I changed back to my original appearance, but I feel like the Gu in my body should be dead."

"Isn't that your master? Your master also planted a Gu on you? And, there's actually a Gu that can change your appearance?"

Li Chengqian was stunned when he heard the woman's words.

But the woman thought he was making a fuss. "What's so strange about this? We Gu Masters have been exposed to Gu worms since childhood. If we don't feel their influence, how can we control them? Moreover, there are all kinds of Gu worms. There are not only Gu that can change your appearance, but also Gu that can change your mind and turn you into a Gu person!"

"Ah? This"

Li Chengqian felt that his three views were almost overturned.

But then the woman asked tentatively, "How did the prince save me?"

"Is that what you should be asking?"

Li Chengqian recovered from his shock and glanced coldly at the woman. He then went back to the table, picked up a candle, and said, "Now I ask you, will you submit to me?"

"Impossible! I, Shouzhuolang, will never betray you!"

"Alright, I'll give you one candle's time. Either betray Shouzhuolang or submit to me!"

"Don't even think about escaping. Your life is in my control. Not even your master can save you!"

After saying this, he handed the candle to Su Dingfang beside him and said expressionlessly: "Drip on her legs every quarter of an hour until she surrenders!"

"what?"

Su Dingfang was surprised and subconsciously looked at the white jade legs, thinking that he had never done such a thing!
But facing Li Chengqian's unquestionable gaze, he swallowed his refusal and took the candle, saying, "Yes, Your Highness~"

"Well, I'll leave this to you!"

After nodding, Li Chengqian left the room on his own.

About a quarter of an hour later, a heart-wrenching scream came from inside.

Li Chengqian couldn't help but feel alert all over, then shook his shoulders and muttered, "What a witch!"

After saying this, he was about to call up the system. When he looked up, he happened to see Lai Fu's calm appearance. He couldn't help but roll his eyes and said, "Lai Fu, did you hear that?"

"Your Highness, I heard it." Lai Fu replied respectfully.

"Then what do you feel?"

"I don't know what your Highness is talking about. I was castrated when I was three years old."

"Three years old? So young?"

Lai Fu: “.”

Li Chengqian: "."

The two looked at each other, both silent.

After a moment, Li Chengqian grinned awkwardly and spread his hands, saying, "Well, it's small, so what? I've never used it anyway, so I'll just ignore it."

Lai Fu: “.”

"Alright, alright, you can go down too. There's no danger here."

"Yes!"

After watching Lai Fu leave, Li Chengqian directly called out the system interface.

"system!"

[Here! ]

A familiar mechanical voice sounded.

Li Chengqian asked hurriedly, "I gave someone the Resurrection Pill, and they actually came back to life. But when they met me, they fell down and were completely powerless. What's going on?"

[Defying fate and bringing the dead back to life are both forbidden methods, beyond the reach of ordinary humans. The host was able to obtain the Resurrection Pill because they possessed the system and successfully completed the system's mission. However, all forbidden methods have their pros and cons. While the host's use of the Resurrection Pill to revive a person will not affect the host, the person they revived will coexist with the host. If the host dies, the person will also die. Furthermore, the host can control the person through the system, provided that the host completes the new mission.]

"I go!"

When Li Chengqian heard the system's answer, he was stunned. He didn't expect that the resurrection pill could have such an effect.

However, he suddenly remembered something and said in a deep voice, "System, how dare you lie to me?!"

[The system is the host's most loyal servant and will never deceive the host. In accordance with the laws of nature, if the host has any misunderstandings about the system, please do not misunderstand.]

"Bullshit! You're just lying to me! It's obvious that I was poisoned, yet you say I'm infected with a virus! If this isn't lying to me, what is it?"

[The host misunderstood. The system just checked the records. It was the host who suspected that he was infected with the virus and asked the system to issue the emergency rescue mission. The system did not lie to the host.]

"So, am I wrong? Aren't you a service provider? How can you serve like this? You don't even know the host's physical condition, yet you dare to randomly issue tasks! I'm going to complain to you!"

[Host please wait, complaints and suggestions please]

At this point in the conversation, the system fell silent.

Li Chengqian immediately shouted in his head, "The system is deceiving the host! Heaven is unfair. I will complain to the heavens."

[Ding! The host's emotional instability has been detected. System functions are being updated.]

"what?"

Li Chengqian's eyes lit up.

(End of this chapter)