I, the prince, only want to be deposed.

Chapter 283: Rebellion and usurpation of the throne, no problem!
"Prince Li? But is that the word 'li' that means powerful?"

The first thing Wei Qing thought of was the "Li" in "King Li of Zhou". Before the Han Dynasty, only King Li of Zhou, Ji Hu, used this word as his posthumous title, which was definitely not a good word.

The scout bowed and replied:
"To answer the general's question, it's the word 'li' in 'ren'."

"Prince Li?"

Wei Qing frowned when he heard this.

Regarding the word "li", there is an annotation in Zhou Shu:

Not regretting past mistakes is called resentment;

Not thinking of accepting is called rebellion;
Knowing one’s mistakes and not correcting them is called rebellion.

But he still didn't quite understand. Even if Liu Ju went on a killing spree in Hejian State and some people wanted to use this to belittle him, the word "凶" didn't seem to be so appropriate, right?

"It is said that they chose the word 'li' to link it to what happened in Lu."

The scout explained at the right time.

"The matter of Lu State..."

Wei Qing pondered for a moment and immediately figured out what it was.

It is nothing more than a matter of the historian of the State of Lu. After Shi Wanjun died, Liu Ju asked King Liu Guang of Lu to bury her with great honor. When erecting the stele, Liu Ju, for some unknown reason, actually changed Shi Wanjun's surname, and the inscription on the stele was engraved with "Li Wanjun".

Not many people knew about this.

It was not until later when Liu Ju intervened in the state-run salt and iron reforms that this matter suddenly became a hot topic in Chang'an. Although no one paid attention to the exact meaning of the word "Li" chosen by Liu Ju, this detail was remembered by many people.

Now some people call him "Prince Li", and I'm afraid they are trying to make use of the issue.

However, these two incidents do have something in common. Both were led by Liu Ju to kill people, and not just one person...

This should be mixed news for Wei Qing.

The good thing is that if Liu Ju had been killing people in Hejian State and had killed to this extent, then at least it would mean that the situation was completely under his control, and there was no chaos in Hejian State, so there was no need to worry about Liu Ju's safety for the time being.

The bad thing is that after this incident, Liu Ju's reputation will probably be greatly damaged.

Look, even the bad reputation of "Cruel Prince" has spread.

the most important is……

Wei Qing's heart had already begun to tighten when he heard the previous news, but he was still a little reluctant to believe it and said:

"The Crown Prince killed hundreds of officials and nobles in Hejian State, and also killed two world-famous Confucian scholars. Even the King of Hejian committed suicide out of fear of the crime, but these people did not react at all, but just sat there and waited to be killed?"

If this is true.

He sincerely hoped that these people would have some reaction, at least a symbolic resistance, so that Liu Ju's massacre could be justified, at least it would be much easier to explain to Liu Che.

Otherwise, even if Liu Ju brought the imperial staff with him, he could not do whatever he wanted or kill whomever he wanted.

Let’s not talk about those officials appointed by the court for now.

The most important ones are still Guan Changqing, Wang Ding, and Hejian King Liu Shou.

As far as he knew, great Confucian scholars like Guan Changqing and Wang Ding not only had great influence in the Confucian circle, but were also over seventy years old. At their age, according to Han law, they had to be reported to the emperor for punishment.

And the King of Hejian is even more different.

He was not an ordinary marquis, but a marquis of the royal family with the surname Liu.

It was not within Liu Ju's power to decide how to deal with such dukes on his own.

If the Prince of Hejian was really dead, even if it was announced to the public that he committed suicide, not only would he not believe it, but Liu Che would not believe it either. After all, this was simply the last resort Liu Che had.

Therefore, from the news brought back by this scout, Wei Qing heard more of the word "usurpation".

This is the thing that the current emperor hates the most and cannot tolerate!
"This... This is all the information I have gathered so far. I cannot answer the general's question."

The scout was stunned for a moment, then bowed and replied.

"Okay, let's go explore again!"

Wei Qing waved his hands, still feeling a little flustered.

Before coming, he was worried about Liu Ju's safety.

If he was just concerned about his safety, the news he received now should be reassuring, but he became more and more worried and more and more eager to rush to Hejian State to learn more about the real situation in Hejian State...

……

Eight days later, Hejian State.

"Drive! Drive!"

Wei Qing whipped his horse vigorously while urging his personal soldiers and Jianzhang cavalry to follow him.

"Speed ​​up our pace. We must reach Hejian County City before tonight and set up camp to rest when we get there!"

Over the past few days, he has deeply experienced what it means to be startled at every step.

The closer they got to Hejian State, the more information the scouts brought back, and the more detailed it became.

The more detailed the news was, the more frightened Wei Qing became. He cried out in his heart that Liu Ju was so bold that the entire Han Dynasty could no longer tolerate him.

In the past few days, he even met some people who had fled from Hejian State on the road...

However, after entering the territory of Hejian State.

The news that the scouts heard from the people unexpectedly took a turn. Some people actually began to sing praises of Liu Ju, instead of being one-sided like before!

Many people are praising Liu Ju for standing up for the people, killing all the corrupt officials and wealthy aristocrats who oppressed the people, and restoring justice to the State of Hejian.
Even the scouts verified the information they had previously obtained.

Some people even jumped out to refute Liu Ju, listing off the crimes of those people one after another, they were so indignant!
As for those who fled from Hejian, the local people said that they had done something wrong and that they were afraid of the prince, so they fled with their families. It was as if Hejian and the outside world were two completely different worlds.

The prince referred to by the people of Hejian State and the prince referred to by the outside world seem to be completely different people.

But one thing is for sure.

Liu Ju has absolutely no safety issues now, and the Hejian State is also harmonious and peaceful, without any of the expected unrest, even though many people have died in this place recently.

at last.

When the sun was about to set, Wei Qing took the lead and entered the Hejian county city and met Liu Ju in the Hejian palace.

"Uncle? Why are you here?"

Liu Ju was quite surprised to see Wei Qing wearing armor, but his eyes were already looking behind Wei Qing.

After looking around behind Wei Qing and finding only his personal soldiers in armor and armed with sharp weapons, he asked curiously:

"Where are the successor officials sent by my father? And where is the imperial edict to abolish the Hejian Kingdom? Did my uncle bring it?"

Hear this.

The last bit of hope that Wei Qing had always held on to was finally shattered. His face turned cold, and he cast a stern gaze at Wei Kang and Gongsun Jingsheng who were following behind Liu Ju, and shouted in a deep voice:

"You two, follow me out!"

"Father (uncle)..."

Wei Kang and Gongsun Jingsheng felt nervous and looked at Liu Ju for help with a wink.

How could they not hear that Wei Qing's tone was unfriendly and asking them to leave might not be a good thing.

After all, they also knew that what they did in Hejian State this time was not something that Wei Qing could understand, and they might have to bear some consequences when they returned, so they felt a little guilty...

Seeing that Wei Kang and Gongsun Jingsheng had helped him a lot this time, Liu Ju naturally couldn't stand by and watch him die. He had to put aside the issue of the successor officials and the imperial edict for the time being, and said with a chuckle:
"Uncle, I was almost assassinated this time, and my cousin Wei Kang was injured by the assassin while trying to protect me."

"Where's the injury?"

As expected, Wei Qing's face changed slightly when he heard this. A hint of concern appeared in his eyes. He frowned and looked Wei Kang up and down.

"Father, it's nothing serious, just a minor skin injury."

Wei Kang quickly rolled up his sleeves to show Wei Qing the wound on his arm that had not yet had the stitches removed.

Wei Qing only took a glance and stopped paying attention to the wound. The concern that was not obvious in his eyes also disappeared. He then asked:

"Since you were injured, did you kill the assassin yourself?"

"That's not true..."

Wei Kang answered honestly.

"How about you, Jingsheng?"

Wei Qing looked at Gongsun Jingsheng again.

Gongsun Jingsheng straightened his chest, met Wei Qing's gaze, and then he bowed unconsciously and answered carefully:

"To answer your uncle's question, I killed nine assassins myself and severely wounded four. They all bled to death soon after."

"Very good, this is my nephew."

Wei Qing nodded, stretched out his hand and grabbed Wei Kang by the collar, dragging him out while cursing:
"This is the result of your daily lack of knowledge and skills. You come out with me alone!"

……

Wei Qing brought Wei Kang out not only to show his fatherly love, but also to take the opportunity to understand the whole story from Wei Kang in detail.

After all, Liu Ju has too many evil ideas and is extremely bold, so it is not certain that we can hear the truth from him.

With him around, Wei Kang and Gongsun Jingsheng would be affected to some extent, and perhaps some important things would be concealed.

Then Wei Qing's head began to buzz quickly, and the more he listened, the more frightened he became:

"What did you say? The prince took away the tiger talisman of the governor of Hejian County a long time ago, and now the tiger talisman is still in his hands?"

This is the biggest problem!

Even worse than making Hejian King Liu Shou commit suicide out of fear of crime!

"Father, didn't you understand? It wasn't my cousin the Crown Prince who took it. It was the governor of Hejian County who thought he had neglected his duty and took the initiative to hand it over and asked me to keep it for him."

Wei Kang explained with an innocent look on his face.

Wei Qing felt that it was necessary to teach his foolish son some political wisdom after returning, so that he would not die without knowing how he died in the future. However, he changed his words and said:
"Has the prince mobilized the troops of Hejian State?"

Wei Kang said:
"That's not the case. It was us from the beginning to the end, and we are the only ones who know about this."

"call……"

Wei Qing heaved a sigh of relief.

"That's good. There's still a chance to make amends..."

"From today on, you must keep this matter to yourself forever. No matter when or who asks you about it, you must not say a word. Do you understand?"

Wei Kang was still a little confused:
"Father, why is this?"

"Just do it!"

Wei Qing didn't dare to explain it to Wei Kang, for fear that he couldn't control his mouth.

Because the means Liu Ju demonstrated this time were both brilliant and sophisticated, and could be used to rebel and usurp the throne. Your Majesty must not be allowed to know that he has such a talent, and that he has grown to this point at just eighteen years old!

(End of this chapter)