I, the prince, only want to be deposed.

Chapter 281 Let Wei Qing take action personally!
"..."

Watching Guan Changqing fall to the ground with blood spurting out, his breath becoming weaker and weaker, Gongsun Jingsheng, Wei Kang, Guo Zhen and a group of Qimen warriors in the hall all swallowed unconsciously.

It is not difficult to see that if no one came forward to treat him at this moment, Guan Changqing would definitely not survive...

Although everyone had used sharp swords and sharp bows and crossbows, they had never seen a mouth sharper than a sword or a crossbow, and capable of killing a person.

Although swords can kill people, it is difficult to destroy their hearts.

Although “deprivation of political rights for life” can be heartbreaking, it cannot directly take a person’s life.

But at this moment, Liu Ju's mouth can not only kill people, but also destroy their hearts. It can be called a weapon in the world.

At this moment, they finally understood why Liu Ju had been able to hold his own in the previous debate on "deposing and enthroning the crown prince" in debating with more than a hundred virtuous and talented writers and Confucian scholars.

They even had reason to suspect that the emperor held the "dethronement of the crown prince" precisely because he knew that Liu Ju possessed such a weapon. His real purpose was to kill with a borrowed knife and shut up the people of the world, rather than to dethrone the crown prince...

"Cousin, I leave it to you."

Being stared at by Guan Changqing's old eyes and being looked at by the others with complicated expressions, Liu Ju just shook his head and strode out of the Gentleman's Pavilion.

As the prince's groom, Guo Zhen simply nodded to Gongsun Jingsheng and Wei Kang, and hurriedly followed them out.

Wei Kang and Gongsun Jingsheng looked at each other, shrugged their shoulders and said:
"Brother Gongsun, do you sometimes feel like you're a little redundant?"

“That depends on how you position yourself.”

Gongsun Jingsheng drew his sword and walked towards the limp Wang Ding, tilting his head and saying,

“If you think of yourself as a knife that you can use easily, you will never seem redundant. No one will think that their knife is too sharp. However, if you insist on thinking of yourself as the person who uses the knife, then it is indeed a bit redundant.”

"Ah, ah, ah? Brother Gongsun, I really underestimated you before. How could you say such a wise saying?"

Wei Kang immediately looked at Gongsun Jingsheng with admiration and followed him with a strange cry.

"Following our cousin the Crown Prince, even if you are a piece of stone, it would be hard for you not to make progress, right?"

"That makes sense. To be honest, it's only after I followed our cousin the Crown Prince that I made some progress."

"do you have it?"

"Hey, can you speak? Why do you want to improve yourself but not me?"

"I am the Marquis of Guannei, what are you?"

"?"

"I achieved three merits in one battle. What merits did you achieve?"

"!"

"I killed the assassin without getting hurt. What happened to your arm?"

"…Let's break up, let's break up. From today on, I don't have a cousin like you. I don't recognize my aunt and uncle anymore, and I will never visit you again!"

"Oh, don't take it seriously, Brother Wei. I was just taking this opportunity to practice the Crown Prince's cousin's method of killing people and destroying their hearts. It was not aimed at you."

"..."

……

Ten days later, Greenhouse Palace.

"Here it comes! Your Majesty, there is a feathered message coming from His Highness!"

Su Wen ran in hurriedly holding a bamboo tube with chicken feathers stuck in it. When he saw Liu Che, his pace became faster and he was in front of him in an instant.

At this moment, Su Wen couldn't be sure whether the news coming back this time was good news or bad news.

Because this letter came from Hejian State, the time was really tight.

Under normal circumstances, it would take more than ten days to deliver the imperial edict from Hejian State by galloping horses, and Liu Ju's birthday was just over ten days ago.

God knows whether he found the "lucky star" before his birthday and sent a letter back to announce the good news, or whether he failed to find the "lucky star" before his birthday and sent a letter back to announce the bad news?

"Open it quickly and present it to me!"

Liu Che also straightened his back instantly, his eyes fixed on the feathered letter in Su Wen's arms.

"promise."

Su Wen did not dare to delay and hurriedly brushed off the seal on the imperial edict, but only took out a scroll of bamboo slips made of less than ten pieces of bamboo strips.

This……

Su Wen couldn't help but be stunned for a moment. On the way here just now, he vaguely felt that the weight of this feather letter was a bit light.

However, because he was anxious to send it to Liu Che, he didn't think much about it.

But now, seeing this thin and perfunctory scroll, he suddenly had a bad feeling in his heart.

Normal people tend to be eloquent when announcing good news and concise when announcing bad news. However, this bamboo slip, which consists of less than ten pieces of bamboo, can only contain dozens or hundreds of words at most. If it is to announce good news, I am afraid that it cannot even clearly explain the identity and family background of the "lucky star nobleman". Therefore, it is most likely that...

"Your Majesty, please check it."

Su Wen didn't dare to think too much and quickly handed over the bamboo slips carefully.

Then he took two steps back, held his breath, and waited with his head down, secretly preparing for any reaction from Liu Che.

When Liu Che saw this scroll of bamboo slips, his heart skipped a beat and his expression instantly became much gloomier.

However, he did not say anything. He just snatched the bamboo slips away, shook them open quickly, and checked the contents with a frown.

But the next moment.

Although Liu Che had prepared himself for the worst, his body still stiffened, his expression changed drastically, and the bamboo slips in his hands made a "crackling" sound.

Assassinate the prince?!
How could the people of Hejian be so bold as to openly assassinate the crown prince? !
Are these people really that brave, or do some people think that my sword is no longer sharp as I am getting older? !

"!!!"

Su Wen, who was standing by, had already felt the tangible hostility that suddenly emanated from Liu Che.

Although he didn't know what was going on at the moment, Liu Che did not immediately get angry.

But Su Wen, who had already sensed the key, didn't dare to wait any longer. As if to show that Liu Che was very good at shooting, he took a deep breath and simply knelt on the ground in advance.

"???"

The other attendants and warriors in the hall felt their hearts tighten upon seeing this.

His Majesty's condition is not right at the moment, and Minister Su, who is most favored by the Emperor, has knelt down silently again. What about us?

Never mind, never mind, just kneel down to show respect and prepare for a rainy day.

So the rest of the people also knelt down. The only difference from before was that this time they all followed Su Wen's example and chose the silent mode, without making any "plop plop" sound.

Knew it.

The crown prince is still the crown prince. We must not relax our guard against him just because he has not been in Chang'an for the past few months. No one knows more about provoking the emperor than him...

……

So, what about that rebellious son?

Liu Che had no time to react at this moment. His head was buzzing, but his eyes were wide open. He looked at the contents of the bamboo slips more attentively, eager to know whether Liu Ju was safe or not.

As a result, when he looked back, he couldn't understand it at all!
The bamboo slips only mentioned that Liu Ju was assassinated in Hejian State, but never clearly stated whether Liu Ju was injured. Instead, they directly changed the subject and asked him to issue an edict to abolish Hejian State and select a group of officials to go to Hejian State as soon as possible to take over the relevant positions in the county government? !

what's the situation?
What on earth is going on?!

Although such a thing happened, he would never let the entire Hejian Kingdom have an easy time. Both the King of Hejian and the officials of the county government would be severely punished to serve as a warning to others.

But this is also a post-event solution. The most important thing at the moment is to first confirm Liu Ju's safety, and then decide how to deal with these traitors.

As a result, this imperial edict only downplayed the assassination and emphasized the post-processing requirements for him.

just like……

It was as if the King of Hejian and those local officials had all been executed, and the purpose of sending this feathered letter was just to deal with the aftermath, and he, as the emperor, didn't need to do anything at all, just issue a few edicts and send some officials to take over and that would be it?

What's the point?
Liu Che first ruled out this possibility.

Although the crown prince is also a monarch, as long as he is on the territory of the Han Dynasty, his status is second only to that of the emperor.

But this does not mean that the crown prince Liu Ju can exercise most of the power of the emperor, especially the dethronement and enthronement of princes and kings, the appointment and dismissal of county officials, and even the appointment and dismissal of a county magistrate. At most, he can write to the emperor to recommend or impeach him, otherwise he would be usurping the throne.

And those local officials are naturally aware of this.

Under normal circumstances, although they did not dare to disobey the prince, they did so out of respect for the imperial power. To put it bluntly, they were giving face to the royal family.

However, if the prince behaves too recklessly in their jurisdiction, they can also impeach him as mentioned above. If the prince still wants to arrest or kill them at will, they may even disobey orders and openly confront Liu Ju in order to protect themselves. Then it will be Liu Ju himself who will be embarrassed.

but……

"This rebellious son has always been bold and reckless, unwilling to suffer any loss, and has no experience in dealing with such matters. Could it be that after being assassinated, he is going to show his temper in Hejian State?"

Thinking of this, Liu Che's expression changed again.

The assassination had taken place, and the Prince of Hejian and the officials of the county government were already in a panic, and both those involved and those not involved were worried about being taken out on.

If Liu Ju had shown his temper at this time, without considering strategies and means, and treated these people equally, arresting and killing them at will... these people would have been forced into a desperate situation, and some of them might have been involved in the assassination. If someone took the risk, chaos would very likely arise!
At that time, Liu Ju would only be accompanied by 500 Qimen warriors and more than 100 prince attendants, and it would be difficult for him to control the situation.

If Hejian State were to become unstable, it would not just be a matter of Liu Ju's safety...

"Humph……"

Liu Che let out a long sigh.

This letter was written more than ten days ago, which means that Liu Ju was already preparing to make trouble at that time.

At this moment, the situation in Hejian State is still uncertain!
"Su Wen!"

Liu Che finally couldn't sit still any longer, and immediately stood up and shouted at Su Wen,

"Convey my order and order Wei Qing to lead 3,000 Jianzhang cavalry to Hejian State immediately and bring Liu Ju back to me first!"

"promise!"

Su Wen responded quickly, but his heart began to beat faster.

The matter in the imperial edict must be of great importance. The Crown Prince is afraid that he is in danger. Otherwise, why would His Majesty order General Wei Qing, who has been absent from the army for nearly ten years, to lead the troops in person? !
(End of this chapter)