Sheng Tang: What is Liu Jianjun going to do today?

Chapter 18 The Crown Prince's Rebellion

Li Xian noticed that when he said this, Liu Jianjun immediately perked up, sat up, leaned close to him, and asked in surprise, "Oh, I've never heard of this before, Wu... why doesn't your mother like you anymore?"

It seems he is genuinely interested in his mother.

Li Xian wasn't curious that Liu Jianjun knew his mother's surname was Wu. After all, his mother was the Empress Dowager of the Tang Dynasty. If Liu Jianjun didn't even know this, then he should start to doubt whether Liu Jianjun was even a Tang citizen.

“My mother has disliked me since I was a child. My eldest brother, Li Zhe, who is now the Crown Prince Li Xian, as well as Li Dan, Taiping, and others are all favored by my mother, but she does not favor me at all.”

Liu Jianjun asked curiously, "Then why doesn't she like you?"

"My father said that because I received pampering from him, my mother could only set a strict image in front of me, because I am a prince, a descendant of the imperial family, and it is not good to pamper me all the time."

Li Xian recalled the way his father spoke those words to him.

The emperor's eyes were full of love then, a stark contrast to the heartache he felt when he banished him from Chang'an.

Li Xian felt a sudden pang of guilt.

“That makes sense.” Liu Jianjun nodded thoughtfully, then asked with a determined look, “Go on, how did you later come to be accused of…treason?”

Li Xian composed himself and continued, "Actually... I don't know either."

"After I was made crown prince, my father began to teach me some knowledge about governing the country. Although I was busy at that time, I was also fulfilled and happy."

“Until… I met him.” Li Xian’s expression became complicated.

"Her?" Liu Jianjun asked with a look of inquiry and curiosity. "Could it be some girl? My sister-in-law? No, since you're a prince, your sister-in-law must have been betrothed to you by your grandfather. Do you still have other women outside?"

Li Xian was so angry and embarrassed by Liu Jianjun's nonsense that he retorted, "What wildflowers! He's a man!"

Then, Li Xian saw the inquiry and curiosity in Liu Jianjun's eyes fade away at a visible speed, as if the matter had suddenly lost its interest, and he said listlessly, "Oh, and then?"

Li Xian said irritably, "That man's name is Zhao Daosheng. He is a slave. Because he is very good at raising fighting cocks, I kept him in the palace."

"cockfighting?"

“Yes, that was one of the activities that Li Xian and I enjoyed playing the most. Back then, Zi’an even wrote a poem called ‘A Proclamation to the Rooster of the Prince of Ying’ for me… By the way, at that time, Li Xian was only the Prince of Ying. My father got angry about this and thought that Zi’an was trying to sow discord between me and Li Xian, so he expelled Zi’an from the palace.”

"Tsk tsk, the absurd life of princes and nobles! A great scholar like him, running off to write poems for your cockfighting! What's that saying again? Mastering both literary and martial arts, one should serve the emperor!" Liu Jianjun clicked his tongue in admiration, then asked, "And then? What happened to Zhao Daosheng?"

"Then..." Li Xian hesitated for a moment before continuing, but still gritted his teeth and said, "For some reason, rumors suddenly spread in the palace that I had... had... a homosexual relationship with him!"

As soon as Li Xian finished speaking, he saw Liu Jianjun jump up as if his tail had been stepped on, looking at him with a terrified expression, and babbling incoherently, "Hey... I, I, I'm telling you! Although I'm from Sichuan, I... but I don't have homosexual tendencies!"
"Even if the power lines and flagpoles in Chengdu are bent in the future, I'll still be a real man!"

"Our Liu family is counting on me to carry on the family line!"

Li Xian, embarrassed and annoyed, grabbed a handful of sand from the ground and threw it towards Liu Jianjun: "I've already said it! I don't know where this rumor came from! I've never had any homosexual desires!"

"Besides, he's just a slave who raises fighting cocks, why would I lower myself to that level!" In his anger, he even forgot to refer to himself as "I".

But Liu Jianjun was slightly relieved at this moment, and cautiously approached Li Xian, smiling awkwardly: "Well...you, you continue!"

Li Xian glared at him irritably, and then said, "Later, this matter reached the ears of the Emperor. The Emperor thought it was immoral, so he planned to open a case for investigation."

"Because I was the Crown Prince at the time, the people investigating the case of indecent behavior could not be of low status. So the people in charge of the investigation were two prime ministers and a censor."

"And then?" Liu Jianjun asked, feigning curiosity.

"Then, Zhao Daosheng confessed!" A deep-seated hatred began to appear in Li Xian's eyes: "Not only did he confess, but he even... he even said that I ordered him to assassinate Ming Chongyan!"

If it weren't for Zhao Daosheng, how could I have ended up in such a state?

"What? Did I miss something?" Liu Jianjun's eyes widened. "Who is Ming Chongyan? And what is his relationship with this Zhao Daosheng?"

“He was a sorcerer!” Li Xian’s voice was filled with barely suppressed anger. “He was summoned to the palace to treat my father’s illness, but just before rumors spread in the palace that Zhao Daosheng and I had a homosexual relationship, he died inexplicably in the palace.”

"The palace had been investigating this matter for a while, but they couldn't find any clues and had even planned to let it go. But who would have thought that Zhao Daosheng would inexplicably take the blame for it and even say that I ordered him to do it!"

Li Xian looked furious, but at the same time, he was completely bewildered.

These things were so strange, a whole host of bizarre events were swirling around him, ultimately leading to his demotion from a prince to a commoner. Li Xian still finds these events inexplicable when he thinks back on them.

"Wait a minute... let me sort this out."

Liu Jianjun slapped his forehead and said, "So this is the whole story. First, the sorcerer named Ming Chongyan died. Then the palace started investigating the murderer. Then, rumors spread that you had a homosexual relationship with the cockfighting slave. Then, because of your status as the crown prince, two prime ministers and a censor came to investigate the case together."

"In the end, it was discovered that you were the one who instructed Zhao Daosheng to kill Ming Chongyan?"
"Did you do this?"

Li Xian angrily said, "Why would I kill Ming Chongyan? He treated my father's illness, and I'm grateful to him!"

"So, this must be a frame-up, right? What about Zhao Daosheng?" Liu Jianjun asked again.

“Dead!” Li Xian said irritably. “He died right after the interrogation!”

"Tsk tsk, the dead can't testify, so what does this have to do with your rebellion... your suspected rebellion?" Liu Jianjun continued to press.

“It involves a murder case, and especially since it involves me, the current crown prince, we can’t just listen to Zhao Daosheng’s side of the story. We also need physical evidence and the murder weapon.”

"Wow, that's pretty humane." Liu Jianjun nodded. "And then?"

"Then those people got a search warrant from the Emperor and searched my Eastern Palace..." Li Xian's eyes flashed with anger again, "But as a result, they found weapons and armor used for rebellion in my residence!"

……

(End of this chapter)