The Fierce Teacher of Zhenguan: Starting with Teaching the Crown Prince to Make a Comeback

Chapter 199: Did you cripple him?
"Cautious? How can we be cautious?" Li Tai paced excitedly.

"Assassination of a prince! Assassination of a minister! What heinous crimes! Father will never forgive him! The position of Crown Prince should be mine!"

Du Chuke shook his head.

“Your Highness, although Hegan Chengji has confessed, his confession still needs to be verified.”

"Both Grand Minister Changsun and Chancellor Fang are shrewd and calculating men. They will certainly scrutinize the matter rigorously and will not readily accept the verdict."

"Moreover, although His Majesty is angry, the deposition and establishment of the crown prince is the foundation of the country, and he will not make a decision lightly unless absolutely necessary."

Upon hearing this, Li Tai calmed down slightly and asked anxiously.

"In your opinion, sir, what should we do to ensure the best results? How can we guarantee... that we will completely bring him down?"

Du Chuke pondered for a moment, a cold glint flashing in his eyes.

"Your Highness, it is not advisable for us to directly attack the Crown Prince at this time, lest we arouse His Majesty's suspicion and make him think that we are taking advantage of his misfortune and causing fratricide. However, we can use his strength against him."

How to leverage external resources?

“A prominent family,” Du Chuke uttered.

“The major clans of Guanzhong and Shandong have long harbored resentment toward the Crown Prince’s recent behavior.”

"It's just that the Crown Prince was powerful before, and their attacks almost always ended in failure. Now that the Crown Prince is suspected of such a shocking crime, it is the perfect time for them to launch an attack."

He leaned closer to Li Tai and whispered, "Your Highness can secretly have someone leak the news to the censors who are on good terms with us, especially those from prominent families who consider themselves upright and dare to speak frankly."

"Have them submit a memorial demanding that His Majesty thoroughly investigate the assassination attempt on the Crown Prince, in order to rectify the court and uphold the law! The bigger the commotion, the better! Let His Majesty feel the pressure of public opinion!"

Li Tai's eyes lit up.

"Brilliant! Let those censors lead the charge! We just need to observe and wait, and if necessary... add fuel to the fire!"

“Exactly.” Du Chuke nodded.

“As long as the evidence gradually turns against the Crown Prince and public opinion continues to ferment, even if His Majesty takes care of the father-son relationship, he may not be able to protect him in the face of the law and the court, and under the watchful eyes of the people.”

"At that time, Your Highness, as the second son of the legitimate wife, you possess both virtue and talent, and have not committed such evil deeds. Who else but you will be the crown prince?"

Li Tai revealed a confident smile and patted Du Chuke's shoulder forcefully.

"We'll do as you suggest, sir! Get it done immediately! And quickly!"

Just as Du Chuke had predicted, the news of He Gan Chengji's confession spread like wildfire in the Chang'an officialdom, like a boulder thrown into a still lake.

Although the details of the case were kept strictly confidential, core information such as "the Crown Prince is suspected of sending assassins" still leaked out through clandestine channels.

In the following days, as if by prior arrangement, memorials from the Censorate flew to the Liangyi Hall like snowflakes.

Most of these memorials came from prominent Shandong families such as the Cui family of Qinghe, the Cui family of Boling, the Lu family of Fanyang, and the Li family of Zhaojun, or from censors who had close ties with the Guanlong Group.

Their wording may vary, with some quoting classical texts and emphasizing that "the virtue of the crown prince is related to the fate of the nation."

Some bluntly stated, "Assassinating a brother minister is a grave breach of human ethics and cannot be tolerated by the law."

Some were more tactful, saying, "This matter is shocking. If it is true, it will shake the foundation of the country. If it is false, it will tarnish the reputation of the crown prince. We humbly request Your Majesty to investigate thoroughly to reassure the people."

But the core message remains the same—the emperor is required to take this matter seriously and thoroughly investigate whether Crown Prince Li Chengqian is involved in the assassination attempt.

These memorials were like soft knives, constantly cutting into Li Shimin's already angry and pained heart.

He looked at the mountain of impeachment memorials piled on his desk, his face growing more gloomy each day.

How could he not know which forces were behind these censors?

They were taking this opportunity to vent their dissatisfaction with the crown prince and to force him to make a decision.

"Are they... really that impatient?"

Li Shimin slammed a strongly worded memorial onto the table.

His voice was filled with suppressed anger and a hint of barely perceptible sorrow.

He felt as if he were being roasted over a fire, with his eldest son, who might commit a heinous crime, on one side, and powerful clans eyeing him with predatory intent to force him to depose the heir apparent on the other.

If... if Li Chengqian really did those things, what should he do?
Should we cripple him?
The thought of this possibility made Li Shimin's heart clench.

That was the eldest son that Guanyinbi left to him, the crown prince on whom he had placed great hopes!
But if this is not dealt with, what about the law of the land?
How will he explain this to the world?
How can we explain this to Qingque and Yu Zhining, who were assassinated?

How should we deal with this uproar in the court?

He faced the most difficult and painful choice since ascending the throne.

In stark contrast to the fury at Liangyi Hall and the excitement at the Prince of Wei's residence, Xiande Hall in the Eastern Palace remained unusually calm.

Li Chengqian sat behind his desk with a document spread out in front of him, but he didn't read a single word.

He had already learned of Hegan Chengji's defection through his own channels.

When he first heard it, a moment of panic flashed through his mind, but that panic was quickly replaced by a strange calmness.

What was supposed to come finally came.

This is the bitter fruit of the evil he sowed in the past.

He knew that countless eyes were watching the Eastern Palace, waiting to see him panic and lose his composure in his attempts to explain.

He doesn't.

He recalled what Li Yichen had once said.
“Your Highness, some things are done and that’s that…Your Highness doesn’t need to argue or refute…You should let him make the choice, instead of you passively bearing all the consequences.”

Yes, he doesn't need to argue.

He did indeed send him to assassinate someone; that is an indelible fact.

But this happened before he was completely changed, during a time of his deepest despair and anger.

Moreover, the operation was unsuccessful and did not cause any actual harm.

He could not, and did not want to, explain these things to his father.

Explaining is just covering up, and making excuses is just a sign of a guilty conscience.

In the eyes of those covetous political enemies, the motives and actions themselves are enough to convict them.

His tremendous changes and achievements over the past year are real and tangible, and his father has seen them clearly.

Secondly, he believed that even if his father was furious, he would not make an irreversible decision until conclusive evidence appeared and after considering the potential turmoil in the court caused by deposing the crown prince.

More importantly, he had a mysterious confidence deep inside, which came from the man who guided him to change—Li Yichen.

So, he chose silence.

He continued to handle the affairs of the Eastern Palace on time every day, meeting with his subordinates and reviewing documents, with a calm demeanor and normal behavior.

It was as if the towering waves outside had nothing to do with him.

This unusual silence, ironically, made those closely monitoring the Crown Prince's movements feel uneasy and puzzled.

Has the Crown Prince resigned himself to his fate?

Or... is there something else they're relying on?
Changsun Wuji and Fang Xuanling's investigation was proceeding secretly and tensely.

They interrogated Hegan Chengji repeatedly, verifying every detail of his confession, and searching for any flaws or corroborating evidence in terms of time, place, witnesses, and physical evidence.

They were also secretly investigating all of Hegan Chengji's whereabouts and contacts after leaving the Eastern Palace, trying to determine whether he might have been bribed and framed.

The case became increasingly complex. Hegan Chengji's testimony, in certain details, seemed genuine and consistent with the Crown Prince's psychological state and behavioral patterns during that period.
However, in some other key aspects, there is a lack of strong corroborating evidence.

After several days of secret investigation, inside the side hall of the Liangyi Hall.
Li Shimin, Changsun Wuji, and Fang Xuanling all wore extremely solemn expressions.

“Your Majesty,” Changsun Wuji’s voice was low.

"Your Majesty, Xuanling and I have been interrogating Hegan Chengji for several days and have secretly investigated the time, place and people mentioned in his confession."

“He Gan Chengji insisted that he was instructed by the Crown Prince to assassinate Prince Wei and Yu Zhining in January of last year, and that he left the Eastern Palace in April of last year.”

"The description of the prince's expression and tone when he gave the order, as well as some details such as the method of communication and potential ambush locations, are all consistent with each other and are not entirely fabricated."

Li Shimin listened quietly, his fingers tapping lightly on the imperial desk unconsciously, without saying a word.

Fang Xuanling interjected, "However, the biggest difficulty in this case lies in the lack of conclusive physical evidence and direct eyewitnesses other than He Gan Chengji."

"We have thoroughly searched the Eastern Palace but found no documents, tokens, or clues related to the raising of assassins or the plotting of assassination."

"The current officials, eunuchs, and palace maids of the Eastern Palace, after being questioned one by one, all said they knew nothing about this matter."

"I have never seen Hegan Chengji have any private conversations with the Crown Prince."

He paused, then continued, "Hegan Chengji claimed that the Crown Prince acts in secrecy and that he handles all such matters through a single contact."

"Furthermore, when he left the Eastern Palace, the Crown Prince had already destroyed or ordered him to dispose of all items and registers that might leave traces."

"Therefore, the only verifiable evidence at present is Hegan Chengji's statement. His statement can be considered a single piece of evidence."

Changsun Wuji added: "We have also investigated Hegan Chengji's whereabouts and contacts after leaving the Eastern Palace, and have not yet found any obvious evidence that he was instructed by someone to deliberately frame the Crown Prince."

"His dealings with low-ranking military officers in the Prince of Qi's residence have been verified to have indeed led to his involvement in the Prince of Qi's treason case."

A profound silence fell over the hall.

Li Shimin finally spoke, his voice somewhat hoarse.

"So, after all this investigation, you can neither prove that Hegan Chengji's statement is true nor false?"

Changsun Wuji and Fang Xuanling exchanged a glance, both seeing helplessness in each other's eyes.

Changsun Wuji bowed and said, "Your Majesty is wise, and the current situation is indeed as described. Hegan Chengji's confession has its own internal logic and is not unfounded, but there is indeed no corroborating evidence to support it."

"As for the Crown Prince's palace, it's so clean... that it's impossible to do anything about it."

"So clean it's impossible to even touch it..."

Li Shimin repeated the sentence, his tone inscrutable.

He waved his hand, "I understand. You may all leave now. Let me think about this matter some more."

"I'm waiting to retire."

After bowing, Changsun Wuji and Fang Xuanling quietly withdrew from the side hall.

This case is like a quagmire, bottomless, and if one is not careful, one will be swept into an abyss of no return.

Inside the hall, Li Shimin remained motionless for a long time.

The results of Changsun Wuji and Fang Xuanling's investigation were both within his expectations and made him feel inexplicably irritated.

Without concrete evidence, this seems to be the best protection for the crown prince.

But that "cleanliness that makes it impossible to touch" seems more like the result of careful processing.

Could it be true, as Hegan Chengji said, that the Crown Prince had already erased all traces when he dismissed them?
If the Crown Prince really did those things, then his careful efforts to eliminate evidence afterwards show how deep his scheming is.
If the Crown Prince did not do it, why would Hegan Chengji falsely accuse him?
What is their motive?
Various thoughts churned and collided in Li Shimin's mind.

He felt as if the matter was shrouded in a fog, seemingly clear yet strangely mysterious.

Finally, he made up his mind.

There were some things he had to ask his son himself.

"Wang De," he called in a deep voice, "go to the Eastern Palace and summon the Crown Prince to see me immediately."

"As you command." Wang De responded and left.

About an incense stick later, Li Chengqian appeared outside the Liangyi Hall.

He straightened his clothes, took a deep breath, and stepped into the hall.

Only a few lamps were lit inside the hall, making it dimly lit. Li Shimin sat behind his desk, his face somewhat blurred in the shadows.

"My son, I will meet my father."

Li Chengqian paid his respects in accordance with proper etiquette, his voice steady.

"Rise." Li Shimin's voice was devoid of emotion.

Li Chengqian stood up, his hands at his sides, in the hall, waiting.

He knew why his father had summoned him, and he was already prepared.

“Brilliant,” Li Shimin said directly, without beating around the bush, his eyes fixed on him intently.

"Hegan Chengji, do you still remember this person?"

Li Chengqian raised his head, a thoughtful expression on his face, and then nodded.

"Your Majesty, I remember. This man was once a guard in the Eastern Palace, but he was not content with his position due to his fierce nature."

"Furthermore...he once expressed some overly vehement words of 'loyalty' to me. I felt that keeping such a person around might cause trouble, so around April of last year, I bestowed upon him gold and silk and sent him away from the Eastern Palace."

"After that, I never saw this person again."

His answer was fluent and natural, consistent with the information obtained from previous investigations that "Hegan Chengji left the Eastern Palace last April".

"Oh? You dismissed them simply because you felt they were not content with their positions?"

Li Shimin asked in a calm tone.

"As far as I know, there are many guards in the Eastern Palace, and quite a few of them have different personalities. Why was he the only one dismissed?"

Li Chengqian frowned slightly, seemingly puzzled by the question, but still answered respectfully.

“Your Majesty is wise. The guards of the Eastern Palace do have their duties, but Hegan Chengji is not just a matter of temperament.”

“He once told me in private that he was willing to do anything for me, even…something that could not be done in the light of day.”

"As the crown prince, I should act with integrity and uprightness. How can I tolerate such a person who harbors delusions and intends to incite His Majesty to do unjust things by my side?"

Therefore, we made a decisive move to disperse them in order to prevent future troubles.

His explanation was reasonable, portraying a vigilant and dutiful crown prince.

Li Shimin remained silent for a moment, then suddenly changed the subject, his tone becoming stern.

"Then how do you explain your accusation that you sent him to assassinate Prince Wei, Li Tai, and the Crown Prince's Left Vice-Chancellor, Yu Zhining?!"

He suddenly raised his head and looked at Li Shimin, his voice trembling slightly with excitement.

"Father! Your son... Your son has never done such a heinous thing! Qingque is your son's younger brother! Master Yu is your teacher!"

"How could I... how could I send someone to assassinate them? That's utterly absurd! It's utter nonsense!"

(End of this chapter)