At the end of the Sui Dynasty

Chapter 837 The Change of Xuanwu Gate ([-])
On the third day of April in the fifth year of Wude in the Tang Dynasty, five people, Hou Junji, Liu Hongji, Wang Junkuo, Qu Tutong, and Zhang Gongjin, secretly entered the Qin Palace.Qin Wang Li Shimin sat in the middle of the house, with his knives resting on his knees, with a sad expression and gloomy eyes, as if he was a different person. Hou Junji and the others stood awe-inspiring, not even daring to speak out.

"Why didn't Fang Xuanling and grandson Shunde come?" Li Shimin asked coldly.

Hou Junji and Liu Hongji looked at each other, and replied cautiously: "They said that they have received the emperor's order, they are not allowed to serve the King anymore, and it would be a death penalty to visit the King in private, so they dare not come to see the King."

The corners of Li Shimin's eyes twitched, he threw the saber to Hou Junji, and shouted sharply: "Did Fang Xuanling and Changsun Shunde betray the king? If you are determined not to come, then use the king's knife to chop off their heads and bring them back."

Hou Junji and Liu Hongji took the King Qin's saber and went away in awe, and soon found Fang Xuanling and Changsun Shunde, and said excitedly: "Your Majesty has decided to act first, and the two Ming lords will go to the Qin Palace to discuss It's a big deal."

Fang Xuanling and Changsun Shunde looked at each other happily. Obviously, they did not really betray Li Shimin, but because the latter had been hesitating all the time. They did this just to force Li Shimin to express his stance and make up his mind. So seeing Li Shimin's After wielding the saber, the two immediately changed into casual clothes, walked separately on the street, and secretly entered the Qin Palace to discuss important matters.

Coincidentally, on this day, Taibaijin appeared in the noon position of the south in the sky during the day.The ancients were quite superstitious about astrology, so Li Yuan asked Tai Shi Ling Fu Yi to ask the reason for the appearance of the stars in the daytime.

Taishi ordered Fu Yimi to play: "Taibai Jinxing appeared on the border of Qin, which is a sign that King Qin should own the world."

When Li Yuan heard the words, he was dubious and tossed and turned all night without sleep. Since the second son Li Shimin was in God's will, should he follow God's will and make Shimin the prince?

Li Yuan couldn't make up his mind, so he finally couldn't help calling Li Shimin, and told Li Shimin what Taishi Ling Fu Yi had said. When the latter heard about it, he immediately took the opportunity to report on Prince Li Jiancheng and Qi Wang Li Yuanji, and concubine Yin De and Zhang Li. Jieyu's affair with incest.

Li Yuan was in a bad mood immediately, and fell down on the dragon chair in grief, while looking at Li Shimin suspiciously, and said, "How did King Qin know about this?"

Obviously, Li Yuan suspected that Li Shimin was making a false accusation.

Li Shimin said righteously and solemnly: "This kind of scandal in the palace curtains has already been spread to the streets and alleys, so I just kept it from you, my father. If you don't believe me, you can call the crown prince and the king of Qi to confront each other at any time. My son dares to fight against you." Guaranteed by the head of the master, there is absolutely no falsehood."

A trace of anger flashed in Li Yuan's eyes, and he said excitedly: "Tomorrow, I will summon these two inhuman scoundrels to interrogate them personally."

"The emperor is wise." Li Shimin lowered his head and lowered his eyebrows.

Li Yuan glanced at this son with complicated eyes, waved his hand and said, "Just step back."

Li Shimin retreated respectfully, Li Yuan sat on the throne slumped, as if he had aged a few years, and it took a long time before he staggered up and came to Yong'an Palace.

Yong'an Palace is the place where the empress lived. Li Yuan had a deep affection for his late wife Dou, so after becoming emperor, he did not set up a queen. Instead, he named Dou as Empress Taimu.

Let's say that Li Yuan entered the Yong'an Palace and was speechless for a long time to the relics of his wife Dou's lifetime.Dou Shi was a virtuous housemate during his lifetime, who helped Li Yuan a lot, and Li Yuan would discuss with Dou Shi every time he had a difficult decision.

"Now Jianjian and Shimin are in conflict, it's all because I have been indecisive, Wan'er, what should I do now?" Li Yuan asked silently into the air.

Naturally, no one could answer him, only the wind swayed the candle flame, causing Li Yuan's hunchbacked figure to sway along with it.

After a long time, Li Yuan left Yong'an Palace slowly, and said: "I will pass on my order, and call the crown prince and King Qi to come to the palace to see me tomorrow."

However, whoever leaked the news, or whether it was Li Yuan who let it go on purpose, Prince Li Jiancheng and King Qi Li Yuanji soon learned that Li Shimin had reported on their dirty harem, and tomorrow the emperor would question them in public.

Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji couldn't help being anxious, but Li Yuanji was just a reckless man with no plans, and he was a little confused at the moment, so he suggested: "Brother, Li Shimin is sinister and vicious, maybe he has other vicious tricks. We have to guard against it, or else we don't enter the palace tomorrow, let the guards guard the gate and wait and see what happens."

Li Jiancheng frowned and said: "The emperor summoned us, how can we not go? What's more, if we don't defend ourselves, wouldn't it be in Li Shimin's arms? At that time, the emperor will depose us as ordinary people and make Li Shimin the prince in a fit of anger. Will there be better days?"

Li Yuanji was also dumbfounded when he heard the words, and he said, "Then what should we do?"

Li Jiancheng said in displeasure: "Yuanji, you usually make a lot of noise and say you want to kill the people of the world for the crown prince. Now that the matter is imminent, why are you at a loss and panicked?"

Li Yuanji blushed, gritted his teeth and said: "Okay, then tomorrow we will act first, kill Li Shimin, force father to abdicate, and pass the throne to you, elder brother."

Li Jiancheng said calmly: "It's not that bad, let's go to the palace first tomorrow to see the emperor to find out the truth. After many years of management, the guards in the palace are now the prince's people, so there is no need to worry."

Li Yuanji calmed down when he heard the words, nodded and said: "Okay, let's go into the palace together tomorrow to see the wind direction, and then we'll just play with women, at most we will be scolded by the emperor."

On the second day, Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji dressed neatly and entered the palace through the Xuanwu Gate with the guards from the East Palace and Prince Qi's Mansion.Little did he know that Li Jiancheng had made a mistake, thinking that the guards in the palace belonged to him. In fact, He Changming, the chief guard in charge of guarding the Xuanwu Gate, had been instigated by King Qin Li Shimin for a long time, and now he belonged to the Palace of King Qin.

Li Shimin was originally a decisive and ruthless man. Now that he decided to strike first, he naturally would not hold back at all. He secretly contacted He Changming, the guard of the Xuanwu Gate, and ambushed the three hundred warriors in the Qin Palace ahead of time. Inside the Xuanwu Gate, Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji were waiting to enter the palace to die.

Let's say that Li Shimin put on his armour, and waited lurking in the Xuanwu Gate early in the morning. When it was three poles high in the sun, Li Jiancheng still did not appear.

Fortunately, at this time, the sound of horseshoes came, and a group of people came slowly from the Linhu Palace, and the leaders were Prince Li Jiancheng and Qi Wang Li Yuanji.

When Li Shimin saw this, he was overjoyed at first, and then surprised, because Prince Li Jiancheng and King Qi Li Yuanji were both dressed and carrying weapons, obviously they came prepared.

At this time, Li Jiancheng and his gang were getting closer and closer, but they suddenly stopped, turned around and headed towards the East Palace, as if they noticed something was wrong.Li Shimin's expression darkened, and he hurriedly mounted his horse and chased after him, shouting, "Prince, why did Yuan Ji turn around and go back? Father is still waiting for you!"

Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji felt that something was wrong at first, so they turned around and left. When they suddenly saw Li Shimin chasing him, they felt that something was wrong. The bow was fully drawn, but both arrows were shot to nothing.

When Li Shimin saw that the matter was exposed, he was not polite at the moment, he just shot several arrows, powerful but heavy.It is said that Li Shimin has been on the battlefield for a long time, and his riding and archery skills are not ordinary. An arrow hit Li Jiancheng in the back of the heart. The latter screamed and fell off the horse on the spot. The warriors of Qin Palace also rushed out and slaughtered Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji's guards.

After Li Shimin shot and killed Li Jiancheng, he rode his horse and chased after Li Yuanji. In the end, his armor got caught on a tree branch beside the road, and he fell off the horse and was unable to move.

When Li Yuanji saw it, he was overjoyed, and immediately turned his horse's head, grinning grinningly, and wanted to kill Li Shimin. At this moment, Qu Tutong rode his horse to arrive, and Li Yuan shot an arrow, which hit Li Yuanji's throat, and shot him on the spot. killed.

Qu Tu Tongce immediately stepped forward, cut off the branch with a knife, and rescued Li Shimin. The latter was already in a cold sweat and asked, "Where is the father now?"

Qu Tu passage: "Rowing a boat in the sea pool, Changsun Shunde has already led people to protect the emperor."

Li Shimin was relieved when he heard the words, and immediately ordered the Xuanwu Gate to be closed to prevent the remnants of the East Palace and Qi Palace from counterattacking.

Sure enough, it didn't take long for the Changlin Army belonging to the East Palace to arrive, storming the Xuanwu Gate, and the sound of killing was loud.

Hou Junji and Liu Hongji led the crowd to resist desperately. At the critical moment, Qu Tutong rushed over with the heads of Prince Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji, and threw them outside the Xuanwu Gate. Already hiccupped, and immediately didn't have the mood to fight again, and they scattered like birds and beasts after a while.

Let’s say that Li Yuan planned to summon the Crown Prince and the King of Qi for questioning today, but after waiting for a long time for the two of them not to come, he took Pei Ji, Chen Shuda and other ministers to visit Haichi to pass the time. : "What happened?"

At this time, Changsun Shunde arrived with a group of strong and sharp soldiers, quickly controlled the surrounding area, and then came to Li Yuan respectfully and said: "Report to the emperor, the crown prince and the king of Qi were exposed because of the mess in the harem. Attacked the Xuanwu Gate and attempted to rebel, but fortunately the King of Qin was alert and led people to suppress it in time, killing the prince and King Qi, the King of Qin was worried that the emperor would make a mistake, so he sent his servants to guard."

Li Yuan's face turned pale, his body was on the verge of falling, and Pei Ji who was beside him hurriedly supported him.

"Shimin... already killed Jiancheng and Yuanji?" Li Yuan asked tremblingly.

Changsun Shunde said respectfully: "The crown prince and the king of Qi didn't know how to repent, they stubbornly resisted, and even tried to shoot the king of Qin. The king of Qin had no choice but to fight back and shot them all."

Li Yuan looked sad, and it took him a long time to say five words: "My dear son!"

(End of this chapter)