The best idlers of the Tang Dynasty

Li Chengqian was startled when he heard the words, and when he looked back, he saw Changsun Wuji and Empress Changsun walking in.The eldest grandson Wuji obviously heard Li Chengqian's words just now, and his beard and hair were full of anger. He pointed at Li Chengqian and reprimanded: "You have really grown up, and you dare to do things that are of great concern. If it weren't for Hu Cheng's mother just now Mrs. An sent someone to ask for help from the empress, we are still kept in the dark by you!"

While talking, Changsun Wuji walked to the table, grabbed the watch stamp written by Li Chengqian, glanced at it, slapped it on the table, became even angrier, and said with a face full of anger: "If you make a wrong step, you still want to make the wrong step!" Step two? The emperor hasn't said he's going to abolish you yet, so you're abolishing yourself? Do you really think that the position in the Eastern Palace is related to your own family?"

Li Chengqian was also filled with remorse at this time, with tears in his eyes, he said bitterly: "No matter what, the incident was caused by me. If I caused such a catastrophe, if I live in this East Palace again, how can I be worthy of my conscience?"

Changsun Wuji heard the words and said sharply: "Conscience, can you live up to your conscience by giving up the East Palace?"

As Changsun Wuji said, he pulled up Li Chengqian's sleeve and dragged him in front of Empress Changsun, pointing to his younger sister and said, "Look at her carefully, look into her eyes, she married into the Li family. Seventeen or eighteen years, do you remember how many times she laughed? Apart from the love for you children, tears flowed from these eyes. You don’t need this East Palace, but she should let her suffer for so many years. Who will compensate?"

Empress Changsun's eyes were already filled with tears. Seeing this, Li Chengqian felt great sadness in his heart. He fell to his knees and wept, "Mother, my son is not filial!"

Empress Changsun stroked her son's head and said, "Ganer, who can live without making mistakes? Don't think too much about it. The East Palace chair is the most unstable chair in the world. Did your uncle really feel at ease back then? But no matter what happens, you can't panic, no matter how difficult it is, you have to think of a way to sit on it, and you must not fall off by yourself!"

Then Empress Changsun turned to Changsun Wuji, and said pleadingly, "Brother, the godfather is young and ignorant of worldly affairs, you have to help him."

Changsun Wuji looked at the mother and son, felt powerless for a while, sighed, turned around and walked towards Chengqing Hall.

Arriving outside the gate of Chengqing Hall, Wang Dezheng stood there with a worried expression on his face, Changsun Wuji asked in a low voice, "Is the Emperor there?"

Wang De said with a mournful face, "It's been a long time since I got angry."

Changsun Wuji's heart sank, and he turned to leave, but his sister's teary eyes flashed in front of his eyes. He and Empress Changsun had been dependent on each other since childhood. If we say who Changsun Wuji cares about most in this world, it must It was the younger sister, Empress Changsun, who hesitated for a moment, then turned around and walked to the door and shouted: "Minister Sun Wuji sees my emperor, long live, long live."

Taizong was sitting in front of him solemnly, looking at the picture of Cuiwei Palace, and when he heard Changsun Wuji's voice, he raised his head and said, "Come in."

Changsun Wuji responded, and hurried in. Taizong looked at him and said, "Are you here to intercede with the crown prince?"

Changsun Wuji said something that surprised Taizong: "No, I'm here to sue someone."

Taizong asked: "Who are you suing?"

Changsun Wuji said solemnly: "I sue the prince."

Taizong heard the words, with a look of astonishment on his face, he said: "You sue the prince? Why?"

Changsun Wuji sighed and said: "Ah, I was on duty in Zhongshu introspection, the crown prince suddenly ran over to me and told me that I have no face to see the emperor, so I asked me to present a letter of resignation to the emperor. After I asked, I found out that such a big incident happened in Taicang. After hearing this, my lungs almost exploded, and I wrote a memorial overnight to accuse the prince of committing three crimes."

Taizong didn't know what kind of medicine was sold in Changsun Wuji's gourd, so he asked, "Which three crimes?"

Changsun Wuji said: "First of all, it is a violation of the law to sell Taicang grain privately and cause a mutiny. Second, he couldn't bear to see his father and emperor sick, so he was so filial that he took the risk and ignored the burden of the state reserve. Well, not only failed to fulfill filial piety, but also added new worries to the emperor's old illness, and fell into a dilemma, which is disobedience."

While talking, Changsun Wuji peeked at Taizong. Seeing that Taizong was listening intently, he sighed and said, "Last time, when he was here to persuade me to rebuild Cuiwei Palace, I had a premonition that he would do something stupid!"

Changsun Wuji went on to say: "The third case is disorderly government. The country has been bullied by the Hu bandits for several years. The emperor has worked hard to calm down several sources of chaos in the country. He is hoarding food and plotting the Northern Expedition. Performing filial piety, committing such a big mistake, will give those who covet the East Palace an opportunity, and they will definitely use this as a basis to set off waves of abolishment. This will not stabilize the court for two or three years, and Hu Kou is getting worse. Powerful, the Tang Dynasty will never have peace!"

Taizong was stunned, raised his eyes, and looked at Changsun Wuji for a long time: "Are you suing? This is clearly defending the prince!"

Changsun Wuji looked sincere and fearful: "I dare not."

Taizong stood up, turned around and called out the door: "Ma Xuanliang."

Ma Xuanliang, who was on duty outside the palace, walked in.

Taizong ordered: "You send people to take Hu Chenghe's family and others to Beiyuan overnight, and keep them in secret, and don't let anyone come and go with them!"

Changsun Wuji knelt on the ground and looked at Taizong, a stone in his heart finally fell to the ground. From the expression of the emperor, he had already seen the direction of the wind, and the crown prince's reserve position should be fine.

At this time, in Cen Wenwen's mansion, Cen Wenwen was sitting in front of the chessboard, first picked up a black piece and dropped it, and then picked up a white piece and dropped it.Li Ke walked over lightly, stood behind Cen Wenwen, and watched him play chess without saying a word.The study room was very quiet, only the sound of chess pieces falling kept coming out. Li Ke couldn't help applauding when the chess moved to a wonderful point: "It's really a wonderful skill. I didn't expect the white chess to win in the end!"

Cen Wenwen turned around and cupped his hands: "Your Highness!"

Li Ke also cupped his hands in return, then pointed at the chessboard and said, "Why do you always play chess with yourself, sir?"

Cen Wenwen said: "When I play chess with myself, I know that when I usually do things, I should not only think about how to make moves, but also watch how other people make moves. Your Highness is here in the future?"

Li Ke was even more surprised: "It turns out that the master already knew that I was coming, and you can do three things with one mind."

Cen Wenwen reached out to pick up a glass of water, took a sip, and said, "I'll tell you the truth, the minister has been able to stand in this court trembling until today, thanks to such a little effort of one mind and three tasks. Do your own thing, stare at the opposite, Pay attention to those who are watching.”

Li Ke asked: "Then sir, tell me, what are the three chess players in the imperial court thinking about?"

Cen Wenwen glanced at Li Ke and asked, "Which game is your Highness talking about?"

Li Ke replied: "It's the mutiny of the Zuo Tunwei Army!"

Cen Wenwen was taken aback, and said to Li Ke: "Why, did your Highness see that this is a game of chess?"

Li Ke went on to say: "Not only that, but also a big game. Didn't my father copy Hu Cheng's house?"

Cen Wenwen sighed: "It's a pity, the emperor copied Hu Cheng's house, and there is no more information. It stands to reason that if he copied it correctly, he should announce his crimes, and if he copied it wrong, he should be released. But a few There is no movement in the world, it can only mean that the emperor has already made a move to help them. Originally, we should play this game of chess with them, and the emperor is watching. It’s going to be hard to go on.”

After listening to Cen Wenwen's words, Li Ke didn't say anything for a while, but frowned and began to think. He is a smart person, and he has realized something from Cen Wenwen's words.

Cen Wenwen picked up a piece and said: "Your Highness, let's not think about the court affairs for now, and sit down and play chess with the minister."

Saying that a piece has been made, Li Ke responded with a piece, and both of them turned their minds to the chess.Cen Wenwen's chess strength has always been much higher than Li Ke's. In this game of chess, Cen Wenwen has always had the upper hand. He didn't want someone in the middle to come in and submit an official document. When turning around, let Li Ke seize a flaw and eat him a few times, but Li Ke has the upper hand on the board.

Li Ke was complacent, at least this student could win against the teacher once, but Cen Wenwen didn't panic at all, he made a robbery and rushed in, the two fought in the dark, and in the end, Cen Wenwen turned the defeat into victory.Li Ke surrendered, and admired his teacher so much.The two chatted for a while, and Li Ke left.

On the way back to the palace, Li Ke kept reminiscing about the catastrophe in the chess game just now in his mind, and suddenly a flash of light flashed in his mind: why couldn’t he play against his father, who was partial to the prince, in the game of Zuo Tunwei’s mutiny? It's a robbery!

After returning to the palace, Li Ke summoned his confidant Quan Wanji and told him his idea.Quan Wanji used to be Li Ke's chief censor. Later, under Li Ke's strong support, he entered the Yushitai, and became a curator and servant of the censor in one fell swoop.The Yushitai is a department dedicated to presenting advice to the emperor, criticizing the emperor's political successes and failures, and at the same time supervising the officials.

This Quan Wanji is known as Little Zhuge, and he has always had a bright mind. He asked Li Ke: "Since Your Highness wants to fight this robbery, I don't know what it is?"

Li Ke replied: "The dead Wu Qing is Jiecai, you should immediately recruit some people to sue him for corruption."

Quan Wanji looked puzzled: "The accusation of the dead is really appalling. Besides, the word corruption has nothing to do with Wu Qing. Even if the minister sued, who would believe it?"

Li Ke said: "I don't know that it is impossible for Wu Qing to do such a thing? Because of this, if we sue Wu Qing for corruption, it will cause a shock in the court. Many people will stand up to defend him, even his father I'm afraid that the emperor will have to speak for Wu Qing, because after all, he is an old subordinate of the hidden prince, and his identity is sensitive, and he was promoted by my father. If he is really a corrupt official, my father's face will be ashamed. Everyone wants to prove Wu Qing's innocence, so it is natural to thoroughly investigate the whole story. Can the lid of Taicang be covered? The lid of Taicang is lifted. Who should bear the responsibility for the mutiny? Clear!"

Quan Wanji nodded frequently and said: "Wonderful, this is a calamity that must be won, Your Highness is really brilliant!"

Li Ke laughed, looked out the window, and said to himself: "Now, let me see who else will cover up the ugliness in the east!"