Chapter 76: Might as Well Treat It Like the Right to Compile Books

Whoever controls the public announcement, controls the power of discourse, and also becomes the target of others' attacks.

Zhangsun Wuji also wanted to obtain it, but not at this time; Li Chengqian clearly wanted to use the public announcement to weaken Buddhism, and he did not want to get involved.

And to make Li Tai snatch the public announcement, he had to show that he was determined to win it; this was the most difficult part.

If it were too much, perhaps he would really get it, then what? If he did a perfunctory job, he would be suspected by Li Tai, and then the public announcement would be Li Chengqian's.

Provoked by Li Chengqian's reverse psychology, Li Tai now had his heart set on obtaining the public announcement.

"Uncle, we cannot let Big Brother get the public announcement. Bamboo paper, compiling books, and so on—everything he does is to get the public announcement.

He was the one who first proposed the reform of the public announcement, but everyone in the world knows that I am the one who brought it about.

If he really gets it, it would be fine if nothing happens, but if something goes wrong, I will be the one blamed for everything."

Su Xu frowned deeply. He felt some regret; originally, he only thought about protecting Li Tai and did not consider so much. He did not expect that Li Chengqian had intended to use Li Tai as a target from the very beginning.

He was now unclear whether this public announcement was the same as the right to compile books, something Li Chengqian had specifically gifted to Li Tai.

"The Crown Prince has no one; Du Zhenglun, who was loyal to him, has already gone to Jiaozhou. Your Highness need not worry."

"He found the Prefect of Taizhou, Su Dan!"

?????

"Who?"

Su Xu stood up subconsciously and exclaimed:

"The Prefect of Taizhou? My elder brother?"

Li Tai nodded with an ugly expression: "He has no one, and we have no candidates either! Could it be that I really let you go and compete with Prefect Su?

If this gets out, what would others think? How would they view the Wugong Su Family?"

"Shameless! Simply extremely shameless!"

Su Xu cursed loudly: "He is the Crown Prince, how can he be so shameless? Can't he do things upright and honestly?"

"Being shameless is not a matter of one or two days; let's think of a way!"

"We can only find Censor Yu. He once participated in the annotation of the Five Classics, and his qualifications are sufficient!"

"Might as well find General Xiao?"

"No!"

Su Xu shook his head: "General Xiao is narrow-minded; it is inevitable that he would use the public announcement to settle personal scores, and the court officials would not approve.

The candidate is secondary; I am afraid the Crown Prince has a conspiracy waiting for us, just like the right to compile books."

"It can't be! He even dragged his father-in-law into this!"

"How could it not be..."

Before he finished speaking, footsteps sounded outside the door. Turning his head to look, it was indeed Su Xu's eldest son, Su Jun.

"When did you return?"

Su Xu was full of surprise: "Have you seen your mother?"

"Greetings to the Prince of Wei, greetings to Father!"

Su Jun performed a casual salute and spoke indifferently: "I entered Chang'an this morning and have already returned home. Hearing that Father came to the Literature Pavilion in a hurry, I came to take a look."

"Cousin has come at the right time."

Li Tai was overjoyed. He stood up and approached Su Jun, wanting to pull Su Jun to sit beside his own seat.

"What are you doing? Prince of Wei, it has been a while, why do you still have a penchant for men?"

"You are the one with a penchant for men! Can you control that foul mouth of yours?"

"If you don't, then don't be touchy-feely; it's not good if people misunderstand!"

"Misunderstand my foot!"

Li Tai wished he could sew Su Jun's mouth shut at this moment:

"Forget it! Business is important. Help me weigh this: is Big Brother deliberately digging a pit for me to jump into?"

Li Tai recounted the whole sequence of events:

"Do you think Big Brother is a treacherous villain, an insidious person? How do you see this matter?"

"How else can I see it? You have to snatch it!"

Su Jun looked helpless: "This is a conspiracy of yin and yang. If the Prince of Jin takes the public announcement, you just wait to be drowned in spit if you don't finish compiling the *Wude Dadian* quickly.

If the Crown Prince gets the public announcement, he will surely praise you to the heavens and the earth every day, calling you the number one person in history, lifting you up to the sky, and then letting you fall to your death.

If you snatch it away, you will definitely fall into a pit. Anzhou is under the jurisdiction of the Prince of Wu; you know better than I do what has happened between you and the Prince of Wu.

If the Prince of Wu wants to cause you trouble, isn't that easy? In a word, if you don't snatch it, you will die; if you do, you might still be able to struggle a bit."

"I know! I am asking you, is Big Brother trying to gift the public announcement to me?"

Su Jun wore an expression of looking at a fool: "Is it important?"

"Important! Very important!"

Li Tai nodded solemnly: "If he is really gifting it to me, there must be something I don't know about. The public announcement is a small matter to Big Brother.

If he is not gifting it to me, then the public announcement is his ultimate goal, and I must snatch it over no matter what."

"After all this talk, did you not listen to a single word?

If you don't snatch it, you will never be able to ascend the throne. Do you understand this?

Why do you care if the Crown Prince has a conspiracy? Can he kill you?"

"You don't understand!"

Li Tai explained softly: "Before Father went on the eastern expedition, he warned me not to accept Big Brother's gifts, saying there was big trouble inside.

I asked Father what the trouble was, but he kept his mouth shut, only saying that Big Brother has never treated me and Zhinu as rivals, but only wants to use us."

Su Jun was dumbfounded. If he didn't take the Prince of Jin and the Prince of Wei seriously, didn't that mean he didn't take Zhangsun Wuji and his own father seriously?

"No way! Then who is His Highness the Crown Prince dealing with? It surely isn't the Emperor, is it?"

Upon hearing this, Su Xu made a prompt decision: "Regardless of who he is targeting, and whether or not there is a trap in the public announcement, we must seize it."

"At worst, we can just delay for time, just like with the book compilation; His Highness the Crown Prince has made so many moves recently, he must be in a rush."

Li Tai's eyes lit up: "That's right! Delaying for time is enough; once Father returns, he won't have any other options."

"I will go and invite Vice Minister Yu and Libationer Kong over right now."

Su Xu hit the nail on the head; Li Chengqian did not have much time, and if he were truly delayed, his plan would be impossible to complete.

However, with the precedent of the book compilation rights, how could Li Chengqian not guard against such a thing?

At the same time, Li Shimin, who was on the road, looked at the intelligence sent from Chang'an and sighed inwardly:

"Gaoming really doesn't give anyone a chance to struggle; will Qingque discover this, and will he be able to think of a way to break the deadlock?"

Suddenly, Li Shimin saw a line of text on the paper, and his brows furrowed tightly:

"The Liangzhou garrison disappeared before even entering Chang'an!"

"What is going on? Did I miscalculate? How could several hundred people vanish into thin air all of a sudden?"

"Invite the Duke of Chen to come over!"

"Yes!"

Before long, Hou Junji, clad in armor, strode into the command tent:

"Greetings, Emperor!"

"Sit."

Li Shimin pointed casually to a seat: "Has the Crown Prince sent you any messages recently?"

"No!"

Hou Junji shook his head: "Has something happened in Chang'an?"

"Is it 'no', or do you not want to say?"

"What does the Emperor mean? I have always been straightforward and have never hidden anything from you."

"Bang!"

Li Shimin slammed his hand onto the table: "Never hidden anything? What about those matters of sending people to scout for information in the surrounding small countries? And what about the matter of the Youzhou Sanshui Garrison learning to read?"

"I haven't hidden anything! Otherwise, how would the Emperor know?"

Hou Junji felt greatly wronged: "Emperor, aren't your spies still in Youzhou? I haven't laid a hand on them, nor have I kept things from them."

"I am loyal and devoted to you; who else in this world is more loyal than I?"

"Shameless!"

Li Shimin spoke coldly: "You are loyal, so loyal that you want to stage another Xuanwu Gate incident."

"I just don't understand what benefits the Crown Prince promised you all to make you people risk your lives for him one after another."

"You are one thing, but those soldiers—none of them want to return, preferring to suffer hardship out there."

"The temptation is too great! The consequences of rebellion are too tragic!"