Chapter Five Hundred and Fifty Eight: The Prince's Murder
That night, Li Min stayed at the Prince of Shu's Mansion in the capital to prepare for the canonization ceremony three days later.
Li Min really doesn't want to be crowned King of Zhennan, and now Li Min is still thinking about it.
I'm thinking of ways to see if I can prevent this sealing.
In the past few years, the King of Shu, his concubine and others have all been in Yizhou.
The Prince of Shu's Mansion was temporarily empty, but there were still people taking care of it.
However, within a few years, not many people lived there, and it indeed lost a lot of human touch.
In the evening, Li Min did not go back to the dormitory, but sat quietly in the study.
The study is in the back room and there is also a bedroom.
Anyway, he is alone now, and Li Min is not going to go back to the dormitory to rest, so he plans to spend the night in the study.
Li Yuanfang and other guards rested in the rooms on both sides of the study to protect the King of Shu at all times.
Time has quietly arrived at midnight.
Li Min sighed and got up to go to sleep.
At this moment, a group of more than ten night travelers quietly climbed into the wall of the Shu Palace and sneaked into the Shu Palace.
These people are the assassins sent by the prince.
During the day, they had already determined the assassination route through the simplified map of Shu Palace.
Since the Prince of Shu's Mansion has been idle for several years, there are no guards in the Mansion, and no one is patrolling at night.
They easily sneaked into the private courtyard where the King of Shu lived, but they failed here because the King of Shu did not rest here.
They soon noticed that there was still a light on in the study.
Is the King of Shu still in the study? He has never rested?
The leader made a gesture.
The dozen or so people quickly moved towards the study room.
Everything went smoothly, so smoothly that they all felt a little incredible.
Huh?
I originally thought that assassinating the King of Shu would be an extremely difficult and dangerous process.
Unexpectedly, it was so easy this time?
Soon, they reached outside the study room.
Through the light in the study room, one can see a person's figure reflected on the window paper.
Judging from his stature, he must be the king of Shu.
The leader stretched out his hand and made a gesture.
From behind him, four men in black suddenly appeared.
They quietly took out the daggers from their waists and rushed towards the study as if they were polite.
Even in the middle of the night, not a single sound was made.
Seeing that these four people came to the door of the study very quickly, they could rush into the study in the next moment and kill the King of Shu.
With the leader's heart in mind, I couldn't help but feel overjoyed.
Done!
I didn’t expect that today’s task would be so easy!
Unexpectedly, at the next moment, a dense hidden weapon suddenly shot out from the next door.
At the same time, there was a shout:
"who?"
At the same time, Li Yuanfang quickly rushed out of the room with a long sword in hand.
Fifty guards quietly appeared from behind the men in black and surrounded them.
In fact, Li Yuanfang was alarmed as early as when this group of men in black went to the direction of King Shu's bedroom.
However, in order to keep everyone behind and avoid alerting others, Li Yuanfang did not alert them.
Instead, he quietly called the guards and asked them to ambush him.
Li Yuanfang himself, with five guards, was waiting for them at the door.
These people, who entered the palace at night, must be assassins.
Since he is an assassin, he must be here to kill the King of Shu. The ultimate goal is here.
"ah!"
"ah!"
Li Yuanfang's silver needle hit all four unsuspecting assassins.
The locations where Li Yuanfang struck were all acupuncture points on their bodies.
After being injected with the needle, the four assassins immediately fell to the ground, groaning in pain and unable to get up for a while.
At this time, the leader did not understand that his group had actually been exposed a long time ago.
They were already surrounded by each other, and today's operation was a complete failure.
"Walk!"
Having said that, the leader was not eager to fight, but led the remaining people to immediately break out of the encirclement.
"Where to go!"
These fifty guards are all elites selected by Li Yuanfang from the Huya Special Forces.
Everyone has been taught by Li Yuanfang, and all of them are highly skilled in martial arts.
Five people surrounded a dozen assassins. If they escaped again, it would really become a joke.
In just a matter of seconds, these dozen assassins were quickly captured.
Then Li Yuanfang ordered people to get ropes and tied them all up.
Li Min walked out of the room, frowned and asked, "Let's see if there are any clues on them. Who are these assassins?"
Seeing the King of Shu coming out, Li Yuanfang quickly stood in front of Li Min and said: "Your Highness, it is dangerous outside. Please go inside the room."
Li Min smiled and said: "It doesn't matter, I am the safest with you here."
In fact, after several years of continuous practice of the I Ching, Li Min is no longer like Wu Xia A Meng.
He has already developed his inner strength, and although his skills are not on par with Li Yuanfang's, he can easily deal with three or five ordinary people.
I still have some ability to protect myself.
These guards took off the masks on the assassins' faces and found that these assassins were all strangers.
But then, the waistband of Prince Wei's residence was found from them.
Could it be that these people are actually from Prince Wei's palace?
Li Yuanfang asked for reasons: "Who are you?"
"Hmph! We are from Prince Wei's Mansion, and everything we do is for Prince Wei!"
Li Yuanfang turned to Li Min and said, "Your Highness, you are from the Palace of the Prince of Wei."
After hearing this, Li Min shook his head slightly, noncommittal.
Li Yuanfang asked again: "Your Highness, how should we deal with these people? Otherwise, please report them to the official!"
The departments responsible for security in Chang'an include the left and right street envoys, the magistrates of Chang'an County and Wannian County, as well as Jing Zhaoyin and Yushitai.
Assassinating the King of Shu is definitely a big deal.
If those assassins were sent by another prince, it would be even more of a big deal.
It may even cause turmoil in the court.
If you report it to the official, it will definitely make a fuss known to everyone.
And a large number of officials will inevitably be unlucky.
After thinking for a long time, Li Min said: "Lock them up and don't report them to the officials. I will report them to my father tomorrow."
After thinking about it, Li Min decided not to report to the official.
It is better to leave this matter to the father to minimize the impact.
"Yes, Your Highness!"
"Come here ten people, lock them up, and keep them under good supervision! If they dare to move, they will be killed without mercy."
After dealing with these assassins, Li Yuanfang took five guards directly to the study.
Li Min glanced at Li Yuanfang and couldn't help frowning and asked: "Yuanfang, if you don't go to rest, what are you doing here?"
Li Yuanfang said: "Your Highness, since King Wei can send a group of assassins, he has to guard against them sending a second group of assassins."
"My subordinate will be in the room tonight to protect His Highness's safety."
Well, it is their duty to protect their own safety.
Even if he chased them away, they might not leave, so Li Min did not continue to drive them away.
Li Min said to Li Yuanfang thoughtfully: "Yuanfang, actually the assassin may not have been sent by King Wei. King Wei is probably not that stupid."
Hearing the words of King Shu, Li Yuanfang also showed a thoughtful look on his face.
That’s right!
If they were really sent by King Shu, how could they be so stupid?
Will he wear the badge of the Prince of Shu's Palace on his waist, and frankly admit that he is from the Prince of Wei's Palace?
Li Yuanfang couldn't help but ask: "Your Highness, in your opinion, who sent these assassins?"
Li Min shook his head and said: "It doesn't really matter who sent it... Okay, it's getting late, so let's go to bed early!"
After saying that, Li Min got up and went to rest in the bedroom inside.
In fact, Li Min had suspicions about who sent the assassin.
I'm afraid only a stupid prince can do this kind of thing, right?
In the original historical trajectory, he had sent an assassin to kill his teacher.
He also tried to assassinate other people, but they were all unsuccessful.
In fact, before the death of Queen Changsun, the prince was still very smart.
But after the death of Empress Changsun, the prince seemed to have gone crazy and became a completely different person.
Li Min felt that such a stupid move was very much like the prince's style.
And this incident might actually be an opportunity for him.
Lying on the bed, Li Min couldn't fall asleep.
Firstly, it is because I need to think about how this matter needs to be handled tomorrow.
Secondly, there were six grown men inexplicably in the room, and Li Min was not used to it!
I don't know how long it took before Li Min fell into a deep sleep.
It was not until early the next morning that Li Min took Li Yuanfang and five other guards and prepared to enter the palace to report the matter to Li Shimin.
As a result, before they left the house, a concierge came to report that there was a powerful man outside who wanted to see them.
Li Min ordered someone to invite the people in, and not long after, an old strongman came.
Li Min had met this strongman before with Li Shimin, but only a few times. Li Min didn't even know his name.
"This slave has met the King of Shu."
Li Min quickly helped him up and asked with a smile: "I wonder what I call this strong man?"
The strongman couldn't help but said: "My surname is Gao, and they all call me Gao Lishi."
Um?
Gao Lishi?
Li Min was shocked at first.
Could it be that he is the Gao Lishi who served Li Longji in history?
But soon Li Min stopped laughing.
First of all, I feel sorry for my age.
The title given to eunuchs in the Tang Dynasty was "Hercules", and this high-ranking Lishi was not the same as that high-ranking Lishi.
It's just a coincidence. At the same time, this Gao Lishi is far less famous than the later Gao Lishi.
Li Min couldn't help but ask: "I wonder what Gao Lishi's purpose is when he comes this time?"
Without the emperor's will or special mission, the warrior cannot leave the palace.
Early in the morning, this powerful man came to the door, it must be to convey a message or have a special message.
But Li Min really couldn't figure out for a while what other wishes Li Shimin had for him.
I heard Gao Lishi say with a smile: "Back to Your Highness, this servant has given the emperor's order to escort the assassin who assassinated Your Highness last night into the palace!"
Um?
Is this actually the case?
Li Min couldn't help but ask: "Gao Lishi, after what happened about my king's assassination, my father already knows about it now?"
Gao Lishi said with a smile: "Back to Your Highness, in fact, when the assassins came last night, the slaves knew about it. When the slaves saw the assassins, they had already alerted the palace guards, so the slaves did not take action."
What?
Father knew there was an assassin yesterday?
And he even sent a team of servants to protect him?
So when the assassins came last night, why didn't they directly intercept the assassins outside the house?
If they wanted to intercept them, these assassins would not be able to enter the house at all, and they would not even know that someone was trying to assassinate them.
For a moment, Li Min couldn't help but fall into deep thought.
The occurrence of this situation can only mean that their father has already given them instructions.
As long as their lives are not threatened, these servants will not take action.
So, what is your father’s intention in doing this?
I'm afraid, I just want to see what I will do with these assassins after I capture them, right?
If I had chosen to report to the official last night, my father would have been very disappointed, right?
Well, if I had chosen to report to the official last night, I might have been stopped by these chamberlains on the way.
It seems that in the heart of the father, he does not want this matter to cause trouble in the city.
In the heart of the father, he still wanted to cover up the prince's ugliness, but he had no intention of abolishing the prince!
However, extreme disappointment in the prince must be inevitable.
In fact, Li Min doesn't want the prince to be deposed now.
Now his layout is not complete yet.
Now, once the crown prince is deposed, it is very likely that Wei King Li Tai will be made crown prince.
And Li Tai is not as stupid as the prince.
Once Li Tai becomes the crown prince, if you want to take him away, you will probably have to fight with swords.
And this situation is something Li Min doesn't want to see.
In this case, there is still room for maneuver in this matter.
These thoughts seem many and complicated.
In fact, it was just like a flash of lightning, flashing through Li Min's mind.
Li Min couldn't help but said to Gao Lishi: "These assassins are being imprisoned inside, Gao Lishi please!"
"Your Highness, please!"
Not long after, Li Min handed over all these assassins to Gao Lishi.
Gao Lishi couldn't help but said to Li Min: "Your Highness, the emperor invites you to come to the palace."
…
Not long after, Li Min came to the palace.
There was no morning meeting today. After arriving, Li Min was taken directly to the imperial study room.
After entering the imperial study, Li Min found that in addition to Li Shimin, the prince and Wei Wang Li Tai were also there.
Inside, there were no warriors or maids serving.
Seeing this scene, a thoughtful look flashed across Li Min's face.
It seems that the father still wants to conduct an inspection on these brothers.
"My son, I pay my respects to my father! I have met the prince and my fourth brother!"
Li Shimin said calmly: "Sorry, I heard that you were assassinated last night?"
The prince and Li Tai were both shocked when they heard about Li Min's assassination.
Of course, the surprise on the prince's face looked fake at first glance, and it was obvious that his acting skills were not up to par.
Well, I guess this has something to do with Li Min's long guess that the assassin was probably sent by the prince.
"What? Sixth brother, were you assassinated last night?"
"Sixth brother, are you not injured?"
Li Min smiled slightly and said: "Father, this is what happened! However, all these assassins have been taken down by my guards. My son was not in danger and did not suffer any harm!"
Li Shimin nodded and continued to ask: "Then why didn't you report to the official yesterday?"
Li Min's face froze, and he said unnaturally: "I'd like to inform my father, my son and I are not injured, and the assassins can't be caught either."
"If I report to the official, it will definitely cause people to panic, and the whole city of Chang'an will not be able to live in peace. Therefore, I am going to just report to my father today."
Li Shimin looked at Li Min with a half-smile but said, "But how did I hear that those assassins were sent by King Wei?"
Hearing this, King Li Tai of Wei was shocked and fell to his knees with a thud, saying repeatedly:
"Father, you are wronged! You are wronged, father! Your sixth brother is my flesh and blood brother. How could your son do such a thing that is worse than a beast? Father, someone must be framing me.
Ah, Father!"
Li Min secretly glanced at the prince and saw a flash of joy on the prince's face, and couldn't help but secretly called him an idiot.
Do you think you can deceive your father with just this little trick?
At this time, Li Shimin couldn't help but look at the prince, and then asked: "Prince, what do you think about this matter?"
Hearing Li Shimin's question, the prince couldn't help but said sadly: "Father, I never thought that my fourth brother would do such a thing that is worse than a beast!"
"Although I and my fourth brother have a deep love for each other, our sixth brother is also our brother! I am really disappointed that my fourth brother did something like this!"
"If Father doesn't punish the fourth brother severely, I'm afraid it will chill the heart of the sixth brother, Father!"
Hearing the prince's words, Li Shimin's face looked a little ugly.
Li Shimin couldn't help but look at Li Min and asked, "Min'er, what do you think?"
Li Min couldn't help but say: "Father, I believe that the fourth brother will definitely not do such a thing. This must be those assassins who intend to frame the fourth brother. They can't do it for real!"
Hearing that Li Min actually excused him, Li Tai couldn't help but said with great joy: "Father, what the sixth brother said makes sense! If the assassin was really sent by me, how could he leave such an obvious flaw? It's obvious.
This is someone's intention to frame my son, I hope my father will learn from it!"
Li Shimin took a deep breath and looked at the prince sternly: "Prince, don't you have anything to say?"
Faintly, the prince always felt that something was wrong.
But now he was in a difficult position, so he had no choice but to bite the bullet and said:
"Father, I believe that the fourth brother was just blinded by lard, and it was just a temporary fault. As long as he changes his ways, it will be good. But he must learn from past mistakes, treat illnesses and save people, and he must still be given the punishment he deserves!"
Li Shimin couldn't help but sneered: "But how come I heard people say that those assassins were actually sent out by you?"
boom!
These words were like a thunder exploding in front of the prince.
Involuntarily, the prince fell to his knees.
However, at this time, the prince still felt lucky.
"Father, you are wronged! Someone must be spreading rumors to hurt my son. I hope my father will learn from this!"
Li Shimin continued to sneer: "Really? He Qian Chengji, you should tell the prince what the truth is."
boom!
Hearing the name Hegan Chengji, it was like a thunderous explosion again, causing the prince to almost collapse to the ground.
And just behind the account, Hegan Chengji timidly walked out.
It turns out that there is always someone hiding in this room.
It's just that the three of them didn't know it beforehand.
Hegan Chengji came over, knelt on the ground and said, "Your Majesty, last night it was the prince who sent a villain to assassinate His Royal Highness the King of Shu. Regardless of success or failure, the blame will be placed on the King of Wei."
"But how could Wei Chen do such a thing without a king and a father? So, then, Wei Chen had no choice but to inform the emperor of the prince's plan first!"
Hearing this, Li Min finally understood.
Why did my father know that someone was going to assassinate him last night and sent his servants to protect him while also monitoring him?
It turns out that it was He Ganchengji who filed the complaint.
Well, in the original historical trajectory, He Qian Chengji did this.
Sure enough, dogs can't change their habit of eating shit.
And the prince is surrounded by such villains, how can he achieve anything?
Prince Li Chengqian looked at He Gan Chengji, his eyes could not help but spit fire, and he said with a splitting eye: "He Gan Chengji, you are a spoiled person, the lonely king has led you well, why would you betray the lonely king?"
Hegan Chengji's eyes were a little dodgeful, and he couldn't help but lower his head and said: "Prince, the subordinates always belong to the emperor!"
Li Tai, who was next to him, finally figured out the whole story.
I couldn't help but feel angry and itchy my teeth.
What a great prince!
It turns out you were the one who sent me out, but I didn’t expect you to beat me up and actually frame me!
If you can assassinate Li Min and then frame the crime on me, then no one will be able to compete with you for the throne. This is really a good plan!
Thinking of this, Li Tai couldn't help but said: "Brother, you are the king, and my sixth brother and I are ministers! If we have done something wrong, you point it out and we will change it. Why do we need to fight with each other?"
"What's more, the eldest brother is now the prince, and one day he will sit on the throne of the emperor!"
"As the saying goes, if you ask your subjects to die, they must die! When that day comes, if you want to kill or behead, won't it all depend on my eldest brother? Isn't it possible that my eldest brother can't even wait for these few years?"
Hearing Li Tai's words, Li Min couldn't help but glance at the fat little black man.
This guy is really bad and bad.
Everything you say is heart-wrenching!
However, after all, you are still a little too young!
When you say this, it is clear that you want to put the prince to death. As a father, can't you hear it?
Thinking of this, Li Min couldn't help but kneel to the ground, and said sincerely: "Father, I think that the eldest brother must have been deceived by the people around him and was confused for a moment, so he did such a thing."
After hearing Li Min's words, the prince, who had been enveloped in panic, suddenly came to his senses.
Yes, the most important thing now is to ask for forgiveness from my father!
And just now, I actually accused He Qian Chengji in front of my father, how stupid I was!
Thinking of this, Li Chengqian couldn't help but threw himself to the ground and cried bitterly: "Father, after the death of my mother, my son and I are often in a trance!"
"Coupled with the instigation of my subordinates, I actually did something as bad as a pig or a dog!"
"Woo! I'm wrong, I'm really wrong! I think I'm no longer worthy of being the crown prince, and I beg my father to depose me as the crown prince. I'm willing to give it to my fourth brother!" bdshare()