The third emperor of the Sui Dynasty

Chapter 882

Back in the capital, Li Jiancheng was put under house arrest in the East Palace. The palace was full of Li Yuan's people, except for the princess and concubine, even the children were moved elsewhere; it can be seen that Li Yuan has wiped out the last trace of family affection, Li Jiancheng was treated as an enemy, if not, Li Jiancheng would not have been separated from his flesh and blood when he was surrounded by heavy soldiers in the East Palace.However, Li Jiancheng obviously took it easy. He doesn't ask about everything, he doesn't care about everything, and he is in a relaxed state of freedom.

I just read books, drink tea, write and play the piano when I have nothing to do. I have been busy for several years, until I was forced to let go of everything, only to find that the life that I am most yearning for is a life without contention.

Indifferently, it is actually very simple.

It is the person you care about the most, who wipes out your glimmer of hope with his own hands, and makes you go from hope to disappointment and despair.

"Squeak!"

The door of the room was opened, and the Crown Princess Zheng Guanyin walked in with a tray. Her clothes were very simple, but her temperament was more noble and elegant than before, like an orchid blooming in an empty valley.

With slender hands, he brewed a pot of fragrant tea and placed it on the tea table.Take two more teacups and pour half a cup of green tea soup for the two of them. The heat is dense and fragrant.

"Hey, it's unbelievable that there is still Longjing tea." Li Jiancheng put down his pen and said with a smile.

Zheng Guanyin gave her husband an angry look, and said softly: "After all, you haven't officially abolished the crown prince yet, and you are still the prince. Even if you are abolished, you are still father and son. Your Majesty will not go too far."

Originally, she had been worried that her husband would look down on her, but now that he is in a very good mood, she is finally relieved.

"Come and see how my handwriting looks." It has to be said that Li Yuan is really good at giving birth, and each of his children is quite outstanding. Li Jiancheng is personable, heroic, and full of masculine charm.

His handwriting is also very beautiful, with vigorous brushwork, magnificent momentum, and awe-inspiring bone strength. It is Yang Tong's "invention" of calligraphy, and his poem is also "Difficult to Travel" inscribed by Yang Tong at the Nuwa Temple in Fengling Mountain.

Zheng Guanyin burst into tears suddenly, "The poetry is good, and the calligraphy is even better!"

Yang Xiong, a writer in the Western Han Dynasty, once wrote that "words are the voice of the heart; books are the painting of the heart; voices and shapes are seen by gentlemen and villains." Yang Xiongdao believes that handwriting completely reflects the character of the writer or the state at the time .

Zheng Guanyin is the daughter of the Zheng family in Xingyang. If the imperial power is handed over smoothly, she will be the queen of the Tang Dynasty.

What she said "handwriting is better", firstly, it was written by her husband, and secondly, she saw a kind of open-minded attitude between the lines, which showed that her husband really let go, which made her very happy.

Li Jiancheng sighed, feeling that he owed his wife too much. When he was in Xiangyang, he said that he would leave, but his strong sense of mission and unwillingness finally let him come to Chengdu; now, he finally gave up completely.

He asked again: "I heard that King Huai'an found three thousand sets of brand new weapons and armor from the East Palace?"

Zheng Guanyin's face changed drastically, "Husband, I don't know what's going on. After they broke into the East Palace, they came straight to the backyard, and then bulldozed the flower pond and rockery. disaster."

Li Jiancheng was stunned for a moment, and suddenly laughed loudly: "What is trying to cover up and superfluous, this is it."

"Husband means?" Zheng Guanyin was overjoyed.

Both Chengdu City and Taiji Palace were repaired by Li Yuanji. It was too easy to put a batch of weapons and armor into the East Palace. However, they stayed in the East Palace for a short time, and they did not make any major construction projects in the East Palace. Then problems arose. .

Li Jiancheng nodded with a smile: "We have stayed in the East Palace for less than four months, and I am rarely in Chengdu. There are only 200 soldiers who have stayed in the East Palace for a long time. How can they have the ability to obtain [-] sets of brand-new military equipment under strict supervision? I want to see how those people in the court judge this matter."

"Will His Majesty change his mind?"

"It's none of my business whether I change it or not. It's fine to be the prince whoever likes it. Anyway, I don't care."

At this time, an eunuch reported: "His Royal Highness, Prime Minister Pei is here."

"Let him come!" Li Jiancheng knew that the one who should come would finally come, and said to Zheng Guanyin: "My good wife, stay away."

Zheng Shi nodded, turned and left.

Not long after, Pei Ji arrived at the study, bowed and saluted, "My minister sees the prince."

Li Jiancheng said, "What's the matter, Prime Minister Pei?"

Pei Ji hurriedly said: "I am ordered by the Holy Majesty to come here to give a few words to His Highness the Crown Prince."

"Just ask, and I'll answer truthfully."

"Why does Your Highness disregard brotherhood and kill his brother with poison?"

"Where is the evidence?"

"The Crown Princess owes her life to the family of the poisoned court lady. Although she is dead, but with this affection, His Highness and the Crown Princess are the biggest suspects."

Li Jiancheng laughed, "You used to be an official of the Sui Dynasty. Back then, you revoked all the reasonable defenses of Li Shenfu in Bingzhou and seized his military power. As a result, not only did you lose Bingzhou, but you also encouraged General Li Shenfu to leave the city. Go to die. According to your logic, can I also say that you missed the past and deliberately gave Bingzhou to the Sui Dynasty?"

Pei Ji blushed and coughed: "That's different!"

"Why is it different?" Li Jiancheng sipped his tea happily, and looked at Pei Ji contemptuously, "All your defenses in Bingzhou are beneficial to the Sui army; in the end, you are also the people who arranged for the easy-to-defend and difficult-to-attack Queshu Valley Dedicating it to Shen Guang, it is clear that you took the benefits of the Sui Dynasty, reminisced about the old love of the Sui Dynasty, and gave Bingzhou to the Sui Dynasty."

Pei Ji's face changed drastically, and he said angrily, "Your Highness is making trouble for no reason."

"Why did you make trouble for no reason? You said that the maid died for me in order to repay the favor; then it is normal for you to give a Bingzhou to Yang Yu in order to repay the favor of Emperor Wu of the Sui Dynasty. Anyway, Bingzhou is not yours, and you don't need to die. "

"Your Highness, please face up to the Holy Majesty's instruction." Pei Ji had no choice but to use Li Yuan to suppress Li Jiancheng.

"I'm still saying the same thing. No one can tell whether the court lady received the favor of the princess. Please also remember that there is a kind of person in this world called a dead man. He can die for his master, frame others, and What is it?" Li Jiancheng snorted coldly, "Er Zhuhuan and Qiao Gongshan have been kicked out of the East Palace long ago, and the files about them are still there, so you can watch them seriously."

Pei Ji said: "Perhaps His Highness deliberately listed the crimes and asked Er Zhuhuan and Qiao Gongshan to carry out other tasks in secret. They have been silenced now. Doesn't this explain the problem?"

Li Jiancheng saw that he kept pouring sewage on his head, so he immediately got impatient and talked to him, and said coldly: "Pei Ji, how much benefit did you take from King Qi?"

Pei Ji's expression changed, "What does your Highness mean?"

"If you, Pei Ji, are upright, upright, selfless, and upright, Yang Tong may see you as a loyal minister of the Tang Dynasty and spare your life in the future; if you are double-faced, cunning, corrupt, corrupt, and murder Zhongliang, even if you have The wealth that can rival a country is worthless. Even your children and grandchildren will not end well..." Li Jiancheng stared at him coldly, "If you don't believe me, you can continue to ask for bribes. I'm sure Above, you must be named Pei Ji, the today of the treacherous ministers Duan Da, Yun Dingxing, and Feng Lun is your tomorrow."

Li Jiancheng knew that he was isolated and helpless, and was in an extremely unfavorable passive position. If Pei Ji and other traitors tampered with the confession without authorization, even if he died, he would bear the reputation of poisoning his brother.The only way right now is to take advantage of the momentum of the Sui Dynasty to force Pei Ji to restrain himself.

Pei Ji's old face turned red and turned pale: "My minister, I can't understand what His Highness said!"

"It doesn't matter whether you understand or not, but your way of interrogating is totally wrong!" Li Jiancheng snapped, "Not only did you not bring any officials from the Ministry of Punishment, Yushitai, and Dali Temple, you didn't even bring any officials who recorded it with you. , you obviously want to harm me and plan to edit my words at will!"

"Your Highness, there is no need to frame a humble official. If Your Highness insists on three trials, I can ask His Majesty for instructions."

"I, Li Jiancheng, am upright and upright. I am not afraid of three trials. Even if I imitate the Sui Dynasty and have a public trial in front of the whole city." Li Jiancheng said to Pei Ji: "Go back and tell Li Yuanji that his only way is to let me die. I don’t know why, otherwise, don’t even think about framing me.”

"Farewell!" Pei Ji walked away dejectedly and angrily.

……

He left the East Palace, went directly to the Imperial Study Room, and reported the situation to Li Yuan. After listening patiently, Li Yuan asked, "So, he won't admit it at all?"

"Exactly, the crown prince resolutely refused to admit it, and said that the court lady was indisputable, and that she might be another dead man sent to kill him. He also said that even if she received the favor of the crown princess, she would be the same as my courtiers in the old Sui dynasty. Because of the previous relationship, I think the two are still related. Er Zhuhuan and Qiao Gongshan are also the same. Then he accused Weichen of not bringing officials and recorders from the Ministry of Punishment, Dali Temple, and Yushitai. He was worried that Weichen Tampering with the testimony, so he refuses to cooperate."

Although Li Jiancheng's beating did not make Pei Ji come to his senses, he also knew what the Tang Dynasty looked like. If the Sui Dynasty destroyed the Tang Dynasty, with Yang Tong's ruthlessness, he might really engrave his name Pei Ji on the list of traitors and leave him behind. He has been infamous for thousands of years, which made him a little scared, and he didn't dare to add fuel and vinegar without authorization.
"Keep talking!" Li Yuan said coldly.

"Then he said a lot of nasty words, saying that the humble minister wanted to murder him." Pei Ji dared not mention Li Yuanji.

Li Yuan fell silent for a moment. He thought that family ugliness should not be publicized, and he didn't want to go to the level of the law, so he asked Pei Ji to go to investigate alone, but Li Jiancheng insisted on following the normal procedure, which made it difficult for him.

He himself had a prejudice against Li Jiancheng, and hoped that Li Jiancheng would give him a reason to abolish the crown prince. Therefore, when he heard that Li Yuanji listened to poison and pointed at Li Jiancheng everywhere, he indiscriminately believed that he had poisoned Li Yuanji, but Li Jiancheng responded calmly. Chao's performance made him less angry, and his mind gradually cleared up, and he found that many things were not in line with common sense.However, Li Yuan had a deep prejudice against Li Jiancheng, and he didn't want to set up a prince to threaten his throne, so even if he found something wrong, he didn't want to miss this good opportunity to abolish the prince.

After a while, Li Yuan asked, "Pei Xiang, what do you think?"

"The abolition of the establishment is related to the foundation of the country. I think it is better to seek the opinions of several countries."

"Let me think about it, Prime Minister Pei, let's go down first!"

"Wei Chen retire!"

Not long after Pei Ji left, an eunuch came out from the inner room. This was the supervisor who was sent by Li Yuan to monitor the Eastern Palace. Li Jiancheng was under his watchful eyes. He saluted Li Yuan, "Your Majesty, my servant. "

"Did Pei Ji lie?" Li Yuan asked.

The eunuch said: "What Pei Xiangguo said is basically true, but His Royal Highness said that he deliberately gave Bingzhou to the Sui Dynasty in order to repay the favor of the Sui Dynasty. If he is double-faced and murders Zhongliang, Yang Tong will definitely make him a traitor in the future, no matter how much money he has, he will not be able to spend his life."

Li Yuan asked again: "What else did the prince say?"

"Before Pei Xiangguo, the prince told the princess that the Eastern Palace was built by the King of Qi, and the three thousand sets of weapons and equipment hidden under the rockery in the flower pond were released by the King of Qi. However, he stayed here for a very short time. Access to new equipment..." The eunuch recounted the conversations between Li Jiancheng and the princess.

"anything else?"

"The prince said that he doesn't care about the prince anymore, and whoever wants to be the prince can do it. When they were talking, the slaves were in the wall, and they didn't notice it."

"Continue to monitor!"

"As ordered!"

Li Yuan finally wavered a little, and he has been sending his confidantes to distribute in the East Palace. Li Jiancheng has many people under his command. Naturally, he knows that Li Jiancheng has not touched the flower pond and rockery, so the problem arises.

This was obviously a premeditated frame-up, and Li Yuanji was undoubtedly the biggest suspect.

But Li Yuan didn't want to think about it at all, his purpose was realistic, and he didn't want to continue this matter anymore.

He thought and thought, and now that all the ministers were discussing matters, without waiting for everyone to express their opinions, he forcibly made a decree: that is, to demote Li Jiancheng from crown prince to crown prince.

The crown princes of the past dynasties have different establishment systems, but most of them are princes, and most of them are the eldest sons of the emperor.In addition to the crown prince, there are also things that have made the crown prince, the crown prince's grandson, and even the crown prince's uncle.If there is a crown prince, no crown prince will be established. If a crown prince is to be established, the crown prince will still be in the top position. In fact, he will be a crown prince without a title.

The biggest difference between the two is the issue of power.

After Li Jiancheng was demoted to the crown prince, he lost the power of the prince, and the official system of the East Palace established by the center was deprived of all his staff.Almost like abolishing the actual.

Of course, as the crown prince, Li Jiancheng is still the legal heir to the throne. If Li Yuan dies unexpectedly, all officials can directly support Li Jiancheng as emperor, but if he has no military power, who will admit it?

Li Yuan knew this very well. All the officials and generals related to Li Jiancheng were dismissed. So far, Li Jiancheng's influence in the officialdom and the army was completely emptied, and his goal of cutting off the princelings was realized.

However, Li Yuan still showed a little lenient, sent Li Jiancheng's children to the East Palace, reunited their family, and revoked the surveillance of the bedroom, but it was absolutely impossible to see outsiders.

The external claim is to use the word "drag", saying that there is insufficient evidence that Li Jiancheng poisoned Li Yuanji, but he can't clear up the suspicion, and he will make a judgment when the truth comes out, which is very hasty and dishonest. Feel.

But Chen Shuda and others who knew Li Yuan's intentions were silent. This is the best result for Li Jiancheng. kill him.

(End of this chapter)