A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Emperor Yuan Cong

Chapter 1235: A Confusing and Shocking Case

"what happened?"

In the Purple Palace, Emperor Li Shimin held his forehead, his temples throbbing and his head still ached badly. The emperor had fainted just now, and all the eunuchs and palace servants in the palace were frightened.

Fortunately, there was a Fengyu on duty at the Shang Pharmacy in the palace, and the imperial physician also performed massage as soon as possible.

Chu Suiliang was a little frightened when he saw the old official with a white beard from the Shang Pharmacy concentrating on using acupuncture on the emperor's head.
Although acupuncture is an important medical treatment, using needles on the emperor's head is a big deal. Fortunately, the imperial servant was a disciple of Dr. Sun.

When Chu Suiliang came, he had also guessed in his heart that Wu Huaiyu's assassination might have been instigated by the emperor. After all, the emperor had the greatest motive and was the most suspicious.

But the emperor's current behavior made him feel that he was judging others by his own standards.

"The urgent report is from the Luozhou Governor's Office Chief Clerk Yang Guangwu, Sima Li Fenger, as well as the Hundred Cavalry Captain Zhang Shouxian and the Captain Liu Guangting. Yesterday, Yang Guangwu, Li Fenger and other Luozhou officials were ordered to go to the Lindu Posthouse outside Luoyang City to welcome Wu Huaiyu into Luoyang City.
I entered Luoyang City in the afternoon and entered the city from Dingding Gate, the south gate. After entering the city, I went to Longxing Temple in Ningrenfang to appreciate the winter plum blossoms. While appreciating the flowers, I met four young women...”

Chu Suiliang explained the urgent report of eight hundred miles to the emperor again.
Li Shimin slapped his palm on the imperial desk and said, "I have already seen all this. You don't need to tell me again. I want to know who did this."

Chu Suiliang and Liu Li only knew this much and had no idea what the answer was. If they were asked to speak, they would only think that the emperor was the most likely candidate.

Li Shimin had obviously thought of this.

That's why I was particularly angry.
The real dragon was furious.

The emperor was very angry, his chest heaving.

The old imperial guard with white beard quickly tried to appease the emperor in a low voice, "Your Majesty, please calm down, otherwise I will not be able to perform acupuncture."

"Call Xu Luoren quickly." said the emperor.

Zhang Ananda reminded the emperor, "Your Majesty, it is dark and the palace gates are locked."

"Then open the palace gate."

"Your Majesty, this is absolutely impossible. According to the rules, the palace gates cannot be opened after dark. If the palace gates are opened now, I am afraid that Chang'an will be alarmed. It will not be too late to summon General Xu to the palace to discuss matters after the palace gates are opened tomorrow morning."

Liu Li also opposed opening the palace gates at night.

Making such a big noise in the dark night could easily lead to wild speculation and cause unnecessary panic.

It was difficult to persuade the emperor.

"Tell me, who did this?"

Zhang Ananda stood to one side, seemingly dozing off, with no intention of taking part in the discussion.

Chu Suiliang and Liu Li now have very little information and cannot make any judgment.

"This is very strange," Liu Li said bluntly, "Situ Wu rushed to take up his post. He was supposed to stay at Lindu Posthouse outside Luoyang City for only one night and had to travel the next day. Because of the emperor's decree, he was welcomed into the city by Luozhou officials."

"Do you mean that I sent someone to assassinate Huaiyu?" The emperor was furious. The old servant stopped acupuncture helplessly.

"Your Majesty, I dare not and this is not my intention. I think Yang Guangwu, the chief officer of Luozhou, is suspicious."

"What does it have to do with him?"

"He was the one who welcomed Situ Wu into Luoyang City. He was also the one who suggested that we go to Longxing Temple to enjoy the plum blossoms. Then he was assassinated in the temple. If the assassin hadn't known the news in advance, how could he have waited in Longxing Temple in advance?"

"Well, since it was Yang Guangwu who proposed going to Longxing Temple to appreciate the plum blossoms, then he is indeed the most suspicious. Does anyone know anything about Yang Guangwu?"

"I know a little bit about it. Yang Guangwu, the chief officer of the Luozhou Military Governor's Office, is from the Hongnong Huayin Yang family. His father, Yang Wang, was the Duke of Pingxiang in the previous dynasty."

Li Shimin opened his eyes, "Yang Guangwu is the son of Yang Yuandu?"

"Exactly,"

Li Shimin nodded. Yang Yuandu was Yang Wang. This Yang Wang was a branch of the royal family of the Sui Dynasty. Yang Wang’s great-grandfather moved from Hongnong to Hedong, and had been a prominent official for generations. This Yang Wang started his career as a tutor to the King of Ji of the Northern Zhou Dynasty. Later, Yang Jian replaced the Zhou Dynasty. As a relative of the Yang family, Yang Wang was granted the title of Pingxiang Earl, and served as the Shangshu Zuocheng. Later, he served as the Changshi of Jing and Luo.

During the Daye Dynasty, Yang Guang suspected him and sent him to Liang Prefecture. He repeatedly defeated the attacks of Li Mi's troops. Wang Shichong promoted the King of Yue as the leader and summoned Yang Wang as the Minister of Personnel.
Later, when Li Shimin conquered Luoyang, although Wang Shichong was pardoned at the time, some Luoyang ministers such as Yang Wang were killed as criminals. Li Shimin was responsible for dealing with these people.

Li Shimin had a deep impression of Yang Wang. He originally wanted to save Yang Wang, Shan Xiongxin and a group of others, but Emperor Gaozu Li Yuan insisted on executing them.

Li Shimin still remembers Yang Wang because of the Wei sisters in the harem.

Concubine Wei's cousin was Wei Zhaoyi, and her younger sister was Wei Dante, who was extremely beautiful and was known as the Little Diao Chan. She married Yang Zhengben, the son of Yang Wang, in Dongdu.

Wei Ni Zi married Wang Shichong's crown prince Wang Xuanying.

After conquering Luoyang, Li Shimin beheaded Yang Wang and took the widowed sisters Wei Nizi and Wei Gui into his palace.
Although Vedanta's father-in-law Yang Wang was executed at that time, his sons and daughters were not implicated. Vedanta's husband Yang Zhengben was just a commoner from a pseudo-Zheng official.

Until now,
Yang Zheng was originally only the magistrate of Fanyang County in Youzhou, but he was still in power because his wife's sister was the emperor's concubine.

Li Shimin actually didn't notice that Yang Zhengben had a brother named Yang Guangwu, who is now the chief officer of Luozhou Military Governor's Office.

Yang Guangwu held a higher official position than Yang Zheng.

The magistrate of Fanyang County was a seventh-rank official, and the chief secretary of the Luozhou Military Governor's Office was a fifth-rank official. "Hongnong Yang," Li Shimin narrowed his eyes.

The most prosperous branch of the Hongnong Yang family is naturally the Guanwang branch, which is the family of Yang Gongren and Yang Shidao. This branch has produced two prime ministers in the Sui Dynasty.
Yang Jieyu in the palace was also from the Guanwang family, and was the niece of Yang Gongren. Yang Shidao also married the daughter of Emperor Gaozu, and was the emperor's brother-in-law.

The relationship between Hongnong Yang and Wu Huaiyu should be very good. Wu Huaiyu's late cousin Wu Shigui married Yang Gongren's cousin.

Wu Huaiyu's eldest son, the nineteenth princess Lanling who was about to be born, was born to Concubine Yang.

If that's the case, then Yang Guangwu had no reason to murder Wu Huaiyu?

"Who recommended Yang Guangwu?" the emperor suddenly asked.

This question clearly asks who he belongs to.

Since he was from the Hongnong Yang family, he should be on the side of Yang Gongren and Yang Shidao, but the emperor still asked this question.

Liu Li replied, "Your Majesty, Yang Zheng was promoted to Luozhou Chief Secretary this year. Five years ago, he was the magistrate of Gong County. In recent years, he has served in Luozhou and Zhengzhou. Because of his outstanding political achievements, he was strongly recommended by his superior, Luozhou Governor Changsun Guojiu, and was promoted to Luozhou Chief Secretary."

This is Changsun Wuji's man.

Li Shimin felt his head hurt even more.

The Hongnong Yang family is now involved with Changsun Wuji.

Yang Guangwu's sister-in-law was Jingzhao Wei, and the Minister of Rites Wei Ting had always had a bad relationship with Wu Huaiyu.

Li Shimin felt that he had grasped a clue.
My eldest brother-in-law, Zhang Sun Wuji, is a big suspect.

If we talk about motives, it is not without one. Maybe Wuji wanted the position of Right Prime Minister?
Although they are in-laws, it is not impossible.

"Your Majesty, I think Longxing Temple is more suspicious. Yang Guangwu, the chief officer of Luozhou, was also injured in the assassination, and his injuries were serious. He was stabbed several times. If it weren't for the thick winter clothes, he would have died."

Chu Suiliang saw that Liu Li was trying to draw suspicion onto Zhangsun Wuji, so he quickly stepped forward to speak.
"Wu Situ was responsible for rectifying illegal activities in the Buddhist and Taoist sects, which caused many complaints from the monks. This time, they were assassinated in Longxing Temple. They are the most suspected and cannot escape responsibility."

Yang Guangwu himself almost lost his life, how could there be such a murderer behind the scenes?

"Investigate, investigate thoroughly, I want to know who is so bold as to assassinate the three ministers of the dynasty."

"Your Majesty, don't move." The old imperial guard reminded again.

Li Shimin lay down and said, "Zhang Jian, you will go to Luoyang tomorrow morning. Xu Luoren will investigate in the open, and you will investigate in the dark. We will investigate our own affairs."

"The most important thing is Huaiyu. Bring the best imperial medicine and the best imperial physician in the palace and rush to Luoyang as quickly as possible. No matter what, Huaiyu cannot have any mishaps."

"We also need to strengthen Huaiyu's protection. When you arrive in Luoyang, take Huaiyu to Luoyang Palace to stay temporarily and make sure she is well protected."

Wu Huaiyu was assassinated this time, and he knew that he looked the most suspicious.
I'm afraid that tomorrow the news will spread.

The vast majority of people in the court and the country, especially in the streets, would believe that it was Li Shimin who was behind the conspiracy and that the bow would be put away after the bird was killed.

Originally, the emperor wanted to take this opportunity to demote Wu Huaiyu to the governor of Yingzhou and to test Wu Huaiyu.
But now Wu Huaiyu was assassinated in Luoyang and his life or death is unknown, which suddenly puts him in the embarrassing situation of killing a meritorious official after the bird is killed.
The yellow mud falls off the crotch, it is either shit or shit.

Li Shimin was very angry and he wanted to know who was putting the blame on him.

He knows best that he is wronged.

But others will just think that he did it.

This matter must be thoroughly investigated.

It’s better if nothing happens to Wu Huaiyu. If he really dies, I’ll never be able to get rid of this shit.

I hope Wu Huaiyu is okay.
The emperor closed his eyes and began to think quickly about the incident and how to deal with it.

If Wu Huaiyu was not dead, he would have to summon Wu Huaiyu back to the court immediately and not continue to demote him. Not only did he have to summon him back to the court, but he also had to dispel the speculation that the bird was dead and the bow was hidden.
He also had to grant Wu Huaiyu an important position and give him more rewards, at the very least he had to be reinstated as prime minister.

The crimes that Wu Huaiyu was previously accused of must also be dealt with properly.

It has only been a short period of time since the matter has reached this point, and the situation has taken a sudden turn for the worse. Li Shimin was completely unprepared and even unprepared.

Longxing Temple, four female assassins, Yang Guangwu, the chief officer of Luozhou Military Governor's Office who was promoted by Zhangsun Wuji, and the Hongnong Yang family and the Wei family's relatives.

The emperor put these together,
I think except Longxing Temple, the others can be connected.
The emperor was well aware that his elder brother-in-law, Zhangsun Wuji, had been surrounded by a considerable force in recent years, mainly composed of Guanlong nobles, including the Hongnong Yang family and the Jingzhao Wei family.

Could this really be planned by Changsun Wuji?
The fog was so thick that Li Shimin couldn't see clearly.

"This news is temporarily blocked and must not be leaked. Don't tell Huaiyu's family yet."

Chu Suiliang said, "Mr. Ma is Wu Situ's brother-in-law, this matter cannot be concealed."

"I will personally talk to Prince Bin tomorrow and get more news from Luoyang. I believe Huaiyu will be fine. When there is news that Huaiyu is safe, I will inform Madam Song."

(End of this chapter)