Chapter 67: Exactly the Same

Speaking of this, Zhangsun Chong scanned the area around the courtyard before speaking in a low voice:

"Father, don't you find it very strange? The Emperor knows clearly that the struggle for the Crown Prince concerns the Great Tang, so why has he kept letting it go?"

After being reminded by Zhangsun Chong, he felt that today's situation seemed somewhat familiar.

Suddenly, he thought of a person, a person he would never have imagined even if he died.

Zhangsun Wuji gritted his teeth: "Gaozu Huangdi! He is truly worthy of being a member of the Li Clan; the three generations of grandfather and grandsons are all the same.

I should have thought of it earlier, I should have thought of it earlier; the Emperor is not old and muddled at all, and the Crown Prince is not really trying to save his own life.

No wonder the Emperor is so wary of the Crown Prince; if it were me, I would hate him enough to want to kill him."

Zhangsun Wuji vaguely guessed Li Chengqian's goal, which gave him the feeling of being watched, like needles pricking his back.

Just as Zhangsun Chong said, the current situation is like the struggle between the Crown Prince and the Prince of Qin back then.

Back then, Li Jiancheng was followed by the aristocratic clans, while Li Shimin was only followed by some generals and the likes of them, the fallen aristocratic descendants.

If it weren't for Li Shimin's decisive action, how could they have possibly competed against the successors of those aristocratic clans?

Although he eventually ascended the throne, the subsequent influence did not end for a long time; local power struggles, personal vendettas, rebellions, and the like occurred frequently.

Zhangsun Wuji understood that he had no way to retreat at this moment and could only be used by Li Chengqian.

A flash of ruthlessness crossed his eyes: 'They all want me to fight, then I will fight and see; at worst, there will be another Xuanwu Gate.'

Zhangsun Chong noticed this scene and couldn't help but ask curiously:

"Father, what are you planning to do?"

"Nothing! Since the Emperor and the Crown Prince want to use the struggle for the succession to weaken Buddhism and Taoism, then I will use Confucianism to send the Prince of Wei to the top."

Zhangsun Chong looked puzzled: "Those aristocratic clans all study Confucianism, and they pass down their family traditions through ritual.

Although Gaozu established the rule of governing the country with Daoism, letting all the scholars in the world study Daoist theories.

But ritual and law are the foundation of the country; no emperor would allow ritual and law to cease to exist.

And the most important thing in ritual and law is the primogeniture system; unless the eldest son is incompetent and does things that ruin the family, those aristocratic clans will still hope for the Crown Prince to ascend."

"I know!"

Zhangsun Wuji said solemnly: "The Emperor will take action to depose the Crown Prince; I only need to ruin the Prince of Wei's reputation.

The Crown Prince was right about one thing: to be a good person for a lifetime, one only needs to do one bad thing to be considered a great villain.

Doesn't the Prince of Wei want to be a gentleman? I will help him; I want everyone in the world to know he is a gentleman."

Speaking of this, Zhangsun Wuji shouted toward the door:

"Send word for Chu Suiliang to return to Chang'an immediately; I want to see him as soon as possible."

"Yes!"

At the same time, Li Shimin was looking at Fang Xuanling with a puzzled face:

"Did he really say that? With his intelligence, it stands to reason that he would not be ignorant of ritual and law, nor would he be ignorant of what is most important in clan inheritance."

"Not everyone can see clearly; even if all the members of the Li Clan are enfeoffed to the regions, many of them do not know the purpose of the Emperor doing this.

Since His Highness the Crown Prince promised that he would not let the court situation fall into trouble, I think he will keep his word."

Li Shimin nodded slightly: "Although he is shameless, he has always kept his word. If I take Zhinu out again, there shouldn't be any major problems.

After the expedition, Gaoyang will be further along in her pregnancy; tell Fang Jun not to go out recently and to properly manage the affairs in the manor.

Forget it, I will issue an edict; if he dares to go out, I will break his legs directly."

Fang Xuanling was horrified; he had originally thought that only Li Chengqian wanted to stir up the struggle of the Three Teachings, but now it seemed that Li Shimin was not without this idea either.

'Does the Emperor know the Crown Prince's plan? Impossible; if he knew, he certainly wouldn't be blocking the Crown Prince's plan at this time.

If he doesn't know, then there is only one possibility: he is letting the event develop, and if something uncontrollable happens, he will use this reason to depose the Crown Prince.'

Thinking of this, Fang Xuanling hurriedly expressed his loyalty:

"Your Majesty, rest assured, I will send special personnel to guard outside the courtyard twelve hours a day."

"Haha! It's not that serious; as long as he doesn't leave the manor, let him do whatever else he wants."

"Yes!"

The struggle between Li Zhi and Li Tai, the struggle between Li Shimin and Li Chengqian, plus the Three Teachings of Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism, made the situation murky.

Even with Fang Xuanling's intelligence, he could not see clearly for a moment; he could only choose to play dumb and stay away as much as possible.

At a time when everyone wanted to see the situation clearly before acting, the Prince of Bohai, Li Fengci, caused trouble again.

"Young lady, tell me, what exactly is the situation? The Prince of Bohai is royalty, after all. I heard his father and Gaozu were own brothers.

A person like that can have any woman he wants, so how could he leave behind bloodline outside?"

Consort Xiao, dressed in a maid's clothes, looked around, and seeing that no one was paying attention to this side, lowered her voice and said:

"Grandma, I serve in the Prince of Wei's consort's courtyard, and I heard the Prince of Wei mention this himself; you must not tell anyone."

"The Prince of Wei?"

Wang Pozi covered her mouth and exclaimed, then looked Xiao Liangdi up and down, her eyes gradually brightening:

"With your delicate skin and tender flesh, you look like someone from a wealthy family; you must be the Prince of Wei's consort's personal maid.

Don't worry! I guarantee I won't tell!"

"Eh?"

Xiao Liangdi asked suspiciously: "How did you know?"

"You don't understand this! When young ladies from wealthy families come out, which one isn't in a group, or at the very least accompanied by two maids and guards?

Someone like you, alone and with such delicate skin, must be a personal maid to a consort or a lady.

Tell me quickly what happened; I can't wait!"

"Grandma, you truly have a discerning eye!"

Xiao Liangdi said in a low voice: "I heard that when he went hunting, he met a young lady, and seeing that she was pretty, he just did that to her in broad daylight."

"Shameless!"

"What does this count as? To prevent the matter from being exposed, he even sent people to try and set fire to the young lady's family home.

If it weren't for the fact that the family had a cellar, they would have all died long ago, and afterwards, they fled.

You have seen the rest of the matter; that young lady died in difficult labor, and her mother followed her out of excessive grief.

Only her father remained, risking his life to carry the three-month-old child and cause a scene at the Bohai Wang Mansion."

"Beast! Simply worse than a beast."

Xiao Liangdi's eyes dimmed: "Who is to say otherwise? If he had taken her into the mansion as a personal maid, no one would have said anything.

To do such a thing in broad daylight, and then commit murder and arson—he is truly not a human being.

Enough! I must go back to my work; you must not let this spread, as spreading rumors violates Tang Law."

"Understood! You can rest assured!"

Xiao Liangdi turned and left, unconsciously patting her chest halfway there:

"Oh my! If my father found out I was acting like a gossip, I don't know how angry he would be.

No, no, I must never do this again; if I am discovered, the entire reputation of the Lanling Xiao Clan will be finished.

It is all the Crown Prince's fault for actually threatening me with my monthly stipend; he is truly hateful!"

The person Xiao Liangdi had sought out this time was Chang'an's most famous gossip, nicknamed 'Old Woman Wang of the Lotus-Tongue and Tiger-Heart'.

'Lotus-Tongue' refers to how everything becomes a myth after passing through her mouth, and 'Tiger-Heart' is because she has been arrested by the authorities several times, yet never changes her Nature.

Just like now, not only did she not take Xiao Liangdi's warning to heart, but she also sneered in her heart:

'What kind of scenes have I, Wang Apo, not seen? Am I afraid of the petty crime of spreading rumors? Truly, a cicada does not know the spring and autumn.'