Early Tang Dynasty: forge ahead

Chapter 538 Strikes hard
Li’s residence in Shengyefang, Chang’an.

The front of the prime minister's residence, which used to be bustling with traffic, is now deserted and deserted.

This is Li Jingxuan’s residence.

Among the so-called three ministers, Li Jingxuan was the most high-profile one, but also the one with the shallowest foundation. He did not have the prestige of Chen Qingsi's achievements, nor did he have the unique position of Pei Yan. He could not even rank among the top three when he was in Li Hong's residence.

This promotion to assistant minister caused the most controversy.

For this reason, in order to prove himself, Li Jingxuan successively proposed various benevolent policies in order to gain fame and win the hearts of the people, and also gained a lot of good reputation.

As a result, this policy was completely rejected by Chen Qingsi before it was officially implemented.

Li Jingxuan could no longer be said to have lost all face, but rather to have become a joke.

Originally, Li Jingxuan did not have enough prestige to support him in sitting firmly on the position of assistant minister. Now that he had made such a joke, his status plummeted and he became the most insignificant assistant minister in history.

As a person involved, Li Jingxuan naturally felt the ups and downs of the situation. He was so anxious that he got ulcers in his mouth and didn't know what to do.

Not only that, several of Li Jingxuan's core subordinates were suppressed by Chen Qingsi, especially Zhang Renyi from the Secretariat.

Chen Qingsi directly eliminated him, and the evidence was conclusive.

This is the value of Zhang Jianzhi sitting in Chang'an...

Pei Yan and Li Jingxuan appointed Liu Jingxian and Zhang Renyi as the left and right deputies of the Secretariat respectively, which was obviously not a good intention.

As soon as the appointment was issued, Zhang Jianzhi began collecting evidence against the two men.

Zhang Renyi had shit on his butt, and Chen Qingsi cleanly cleaned it off.

Zhang Renyi was filled with grief and indignation, so he stayed in Li's residence, and instigated Li Jingxuan to fight back in the manner of an aide to the prime minister.

"Sir, His Majesty is not on your side, and Sir Pei has not come out to support you. If this continues, you will be a minister in name only."

Li Jingxuan's throat was burning with anger, and he said in a rough voice, "I know that... but I just don't have a good way to deal with it at the moment."

Li Jingxuan was guilty. He had obtained his position as an assistant minister in an unjust way. Now Chen Qingsi had made him completely confused and he didn't know how to deal with it. He was worried that the matter would be exposed. Forging the will of the previous emperor would be a crime of exterminating the clan. When he made the plan and set up the trap, he was bold and reckless, thinking that the world was under his control.

But once you get frustrated, who am I? Where am I? What happened?

Zhang Renyi did not have this concern. In his opinion, although his superior was not as famous as Chen Qingsi, he could still be on equal footing with him as they were both assistant ministers. But now Chen Qingsi did not take him seriously and suppressed him maliciously.

This further proves Chen Qingsi's ambition to dominate the temple...

"Master!"

Zhang Renyi said sternly, "Chen Qingsi's ambition has already been revealed. He is suppressing you now in order to take over the government. For the sake of the Tang Dynasty and the world, we must not let him succeed. We must fight back!"

For the Tang Dynasty, for the world!
These eight words touched Li Jingxuan's heart. He never felt that he was wrong. Everything he did was for the Tang Dynasty and the world.

Li Jingxuan suddenly felt like he was injected with chicken blood. He did nothing wrong, it was Chen Qingsi who was wrong.

He suppresses himself like this because he wants to have absolute power.

"You are right!" Li Jingxuan said sternly, "In the past, Wang Mang was in power and was humble for a while, but now Chen Qingsi has just become the prime minister and can't wait to take action against us. He deserves death."

He thought of Pei Yan again, and gnashed his teeth and said, "You shameless boy, you want to reap the benefits of others, do you really think I am your pawn?"

He thought about it and rushed towards Pei's house without hesitation.

The Pei family was a prominent family in Hedong, and Pei Yan was a leader in the family. He had the full support of his family and lived in Yongxingfang, which was closest to the imperial palace.

Pei Yan was also a little uneasy at the moment. Chen Qingsi's attitude and methods were completely different from before. He was still thinking that he could reap the benefits and watch Chen Qingsi and Li Jingxuan fight to their heart's content.

As a result, Chen Qingsi's ruthlessness and severity were beyond Pei Yan's expectations. In his memory, Chen Qingsi had always been gentle and polite, and even when he got angry, he would stop at the right time. When he spoke up for Su Dingfang and the atmosphere was so tense, he still did not overturn the table, but instead supported Zhang Wenguan's administration as always.

But now?
He didn't give Li Jingxuan any face at all and slapped him in the face.

Chen Qingsi changed too quickly, making him a little uncomfortable.

I thought it was a fight between a snipe and a clam, but now it is the elephant crushing the clam, and the other side has no power to fight back.

This is not the result Pei Yan wanted...

"Fu Dao has dealt with Li Jingxuan, will I be the next one?"

Pei Yan whispered that he would most likely not let him go. In the face of power, who can guarantee their original intention?
Just then, he received the news that Li Jingxuan wanted to see him.

Pei Yan knew that if he wanted to deal with Chen Qingsi, he would need the help of Li Jingxuan, so he hurriedly said, "I will go to meet him in person!"

Pei Yan invited Li Jingxuan to his study.

Pei Yan greeted him politely. Li Jingxuan, however, said with a stern face, "Did we do this together? At this point, Mr. Pei still wants to keep himself out of it? I tell you, Mr. Pei, if I, Li Jingxuan, fall, you won't have an easy life either. My family, the Li family from Qiao County, Bozhou, is a small family. If we fall, we fall. Your family, the Pei family, is a big family in Hedong. We are really going to be implicated by you. You, Pei Yan, are the sinner of the Pei family..."

Li Jingxuan has already realized that he cannot shake Chen Qingsi at this moment by his own strength, so he must pull Pei Yan down and not let him continue to watch the show.

Pei Yan's face changed slightly, and he was about to get angry, but when he saw Li Jingxuan's crazy attitude, he also knew that Chen Qingsi had pushed Li Jingxuan to the edge of the cliff. If he didn't fight back, the best outcome would be to have the title of assistant minister in vain. His tone and attitude also tended to be calm, and he said: "You and I are from the same boat, why do you have to say these hurtful words. I have no choice but to deal with Chen Qingsi."

Li Jingxuan was surprised when he saw Pei Yan's statement, but then he was overjoyed and said, "That's right. If you and I join forces, what does Chen Qingsi have to fear?"

The two of them immediately discussed countermeasures.

Li Jingxuan slapped Chen Qingsi in the face and wanted to save face. His attitude was extreme and he suggested a two-on-one fight to challenge Chen Qingsi.

Pei Yan, however, felt that he should weaken Chen Qingsi's power step by step.

The two argued endlessly on the matter.

Until a rapid shout interrupted their argument.

"It's bad, Prime Minister Pei. Prime Minister Xu has submitted a letter of impeachment to His Majesty, saying that His Majesty has never intended to appoint three ministers. He once personally entrusted his son to Prime Minister Chen in front of him, without Prime Minister Pei or Prime Minister Li. He also said that His Majesty was afraid that he would not be able to wait for Prime Minister Chen, and even left a dying letter to Prime Minister Chen. He suspects that you have tampered with His Majesty's will..."

It was Liu Jingxian who came to notify.

Chen Qingsi cut the Gordian knot and completely abolished all the decrees issued by Li Jingxuan, and also treated the Secretariat at the same time.

However, he did not touch Liu Jingxian, mainly because he admired Liu Jingxian's abilities.

As the son of Liu Xiangdao, Liu Jingxian's three generations before him were all prime ministers, and his title was hereditary. Growing up in such an environment, he was influenced by his surroundings and became a talented person since childhood. He was famous for his uprightness and was appreciated by Emperor Gaozong of Tang, Li Zhi. He entered the officialdom through the influence of his family background. Like Pei Yan, he was a wife cultivated by Li Zhi.

Because of this, Pei Yan and Liu Jingxian had a very good relationship. When Chen Qingsi was in charge of Fengshan, Liu Jingxian was one of the capable officials under his command. Chen Qingsi was well aware of the abilities he displayed and knew that he was a capable official who could be trained.

Talents like Liu Jingxian deserve another chance to choose.

When Pei Yan and Li Jingxuan heard this, they both turned pale instantly.

Liu Jingxian looked at the expressions of the two and said in a trembling voice, "So? Is all this true? You...you, how dare you be so bold..."

Liu Jingxian didn't care what Li Jingxuan did, but stared at Pei Yan with disappointment in his eyes.

He and Pei Yan were classmates and good friends, and their relationship was so good that they even became each other's mothers.

When Pei Yan was promoted to assistant minister this time, Liu Jingxian gave his full support and even asked his retired father to introduce some connections to him.

Liu Jingxian did not refuse the request to monitor Chen Qingsi. Pei Yan said so righteously that Chen Qingsi's reputation was so great that he had connections in the court and the military. No one in the court could compare to him. If he had any second thoughts, it would bring disaster to the whole world.

Liu Jingxian had a certain admiration for Chen Qingsi, but for the sake of the righteousness that his friend talked about, he was willing to look after Chen Qingsi for him in the Secretariat.

In the end, it was his close friend who, for his own benefit, had the audacity to fabricate the late emperor's will.

Pei Yan was so shocked by the bad news that his mind went blank. It was not until he heard his friend's question that he suppressed his fear and asked, "Brother Jingxian, how did you know about this?"

Liu Jingxian said, "Mr. Chen asked me to tell you that you should immediately plead guilty to His Majesty and confess everything. He will give you a lighter sentence for your recommendation. As for... our friendship of many years has been severed since you arranged for Wu Liu to assassinate him. Was Mr. Chen's assassination when he entered the city also your doing?"

His eyes were red and tearful. He could not believe that his best friend would do such a thing.

Pei Yan sat down on the ground. How did this information leak out?
Li Jingxuan looked at Pei Yan in astonishment. He was flustered but also found it a little funny: "So... you are the one who hides the deepest..."

Pei Yan was so angry that he shouted, "If you weren't stupid enough to arrange an assassination by a fool, how could this happen?"

Li Jingxuan didn't know how to answer for a moment.

Li Jingxuan thought that Wu Liu's assassination was the same one that Chen Qingsi encountered. Pei Yan directly blamed Li Jingxuan for letting a loser arrange the assassination and ruin his plan.

As for Liu Jingxian, he looked at the two of them, not knowing what to say.

He seemed to know a lot of things, but also seemed to know nothing.

But one thing is certain, the content of Xu Jingzong's impeachment is true.

Because Pei Yan and Li Jingxuan had already lost their composure.

This is obvious, it is a sign of a guilty conscience.

Moreover, Chen Qingsi had control of all the evidence of the assassination.

This is a solid case with both witnesses and physical evidence, and there is no way to escape it.

"Zilong, while Mr. Chen still has some feelings for us, do as he says and go to His Majesty to plead for mercy and confess everything. Only in this way can you and the Tang Dynasty avoid greater losses..."

(End of this chapter)