The Flourishing Tang Dynasty: Beginning with Marrying Yang Yuhuan

Chapter 61: Deep Talk
Zhao Cheng had been watching from the side. Seeing Hongyue, who had just stabbed Dou Bai to death, being so respectful and obedient to Li Heng, he sighed and said, "I have learned a lesson. I have always believed that only money and rare treasures can make people submit."

As he spoke, he recalled what happened outside the city gate just now, and once again sighed to himself: "If all my trusted soldiers were brave and fearless, I might be able to escape."

After hearing what Zhao Cheng said, Li Heng fell into deep thought.

In fact, to some extent, what Zhao Cheng said was right.

The world is bustling, all come for the benefit, and the world is bustling, all go for the benefit.

Most of the time, money is the best thing to win people's hearts, but there are always some people who cannot be moved by money.

Li Heng thought for a moment and asked Zhao Cheng, "General Zhao, do you need me to torture you?"

"No need." Zhao Cheng turned around, knelt down and said, "Everything the criminal did was instigated by General Gai. The evidence is in the secret compartment under my bed."

Li Heng was a little surprised that Zhao Cheng confessed so easily. He said, "I thought you would deny it until your death."

Zhao Cheng shook his head and said, "Your Highness is very wise and the guilty general has already surrendered. He knows that he cannot hide the truth from Your Highness, so it is better to confess as soon as possible rather than being tortured again."

"You are quite good at calculating." Li Ying smiled and led his men out of the prison.

When they got outside, Li Heng said to Feng Changqing, "General Feng, please arrange for someone to go to Zhao Cheng's mansion to collect evidence and arrest all the people involved in the case."

"Yes." Feng Changqing accepted the order and asked, "Should we arrest General Gai as well?"

Li Heng thought for a moment and said, "If he hasn't escaped, General Gao and I will go meet him."

Gao Xianzhi heard this and said, "Your Highness, why bother going there in person? I will go and get him."

Li Heng said: "Gai Jiayun is not as good as Zhao Cheng. He has been in charge of Anxi for many years and has many loyal generals and soldiers under him. Now Tubo is eyeing them covetously. I don't want to see Anxi killing each other."

"If that's the case, then this trip must be very dangerous, and Your Highness should not go." Gao Xianzhi advised.

"No." Li Heng shook his head. "If he wanted to mutiny, he should have taken action long ago. He must be waiting for me. If I go, they will also be hesitant."

Gao Xianzhi saw that Li Heng had made up his mind and stopped trying to persuade him.

Li Heng then said to Yang Yuhuan beside him: "This trip may be a little dangerous. You don't have to take care of me for the time being. Go back and wait for me first."

Yang Yuhuan thought for a moment and said, "I am now quite skilled in horse riding and will never cause any trouble to you, my lord."

Yang Yuhuan didn't say anything about the danger being even greater, but her meaning was clear.

"Okay, let's go on horseback."

Li Heng said no more.

……

……

……

Gai Jiayun’s residence.

Li Ying led his men to Gai Jiayun's mansion, only to see that the mansion was surrounded by heavy troops.

Gao Xianzhi rode forward and asked, "Who led the troops? Why are you gathering outside General Gai's mansion so late at night?"

The general at the door said, "General Gao, no one is allowed to enter General Gai's mansion!"

The general did not answer Gao Xianzhi's question, but instead tried to stop Gao Xianzhi from entering the palace.

"How dare you!" Gao Xianzhi shouted, "His Royal Highness Prince Shou is here. How dare you stop his coming? How many clans of yours are strong enough to kill you?"

As Gao Xianzhi finished speaking, Li Heng rode his horse forward.

When the general saw Li Heng, he immediately bowed and said, "Greetings to His Royal Highness Prince Shou!"

The other soldiers behind him also saluted. Li Heng said, "You all step aside. I will take charge of this place."

"This..." The general hesitated for a moment and said, "Your Highness, without General Gai's order, we... cannot retreat."

"You are quite loyal. You are all Tang people. I don't want to hurt you." Li Ying was not angry. He said to Gao Xianzhi and the soldiers behind him, "I will give you three warnings. If you still don't retreat, I will kill you without mercy!"

Upon hearing this, the soldiers behind Li Heng immediately drew their bows.

"Your Highness."

At this time, a voice came from the mansion. As soon as the voice fell, Gai Jiayun opened the door and walked out. He walked quickly to Li Ying and saluted, saying, "I pay my respects to His Highness Prince Shou."

"General Gai." Li Heng looked at Gai Jiayun and said, "So General Gai is at home. Why, General Gai doesn't welcome me?"

"How dare I?" Gai Jiayun quickly denied.

Then he turned to the soldiers behind him and said, "How dare you stop His Highness? Why don't you apologize to His Highness Prince Shou immediately!"

Upon hearing this, Gai Jiayun's soldiers all knelt down and said, "We are rude, Your Highness Shou Wang, please punish us!"

Li Heng ignored the soldiers and said to Gai Jiayun, "General Gai, have you obtained the evidence from Zhao Cheng's mansion?"

Li Heng asked this question very directly.

Gai Jiayun smiled and shook his head without any hesitation, saying, "Your Highness, I haven't found it yet."

Li Ying stared at Gai Jiayun: "General Gai should know what I am talking about."

"I know." Gai Jiayun looked up at the snow and wind and said, "It's cold outside. Your Highness is not feeling well. Please come in and talk."

"Okay." Li Heng dismounted from his horse and entered the mansion with Gai Jiayun.

When we arrived at the hall of the mansion, the banquet had already been prepared and a group of dancers were dancing under the flickering candlelight.

Li Ying said: "General Gai is in a good mood, still singing and dancing so peacefully late at night."

"This is the Kucha dance." General Gai introduced it, and then said with a smile: "After tonight, I am afraid that I will hardly have the opportunity to appreciate such a beautiful dance, so I want to watch it with Your Highness."

After saying that, he invited Li Ying to take a seat.

Li Heng sat down and said, "So General Gai is waiting for me."

Gai Jiayun sat aside and said, "When Zhao Cheng was arrested, I knew that Your Highness would come."

Li Ying said, "It seems that General Gai knows everything."

"Yes." Gai Jiayun sighed, "Ever since Your Highness posted that notice, I have thought of this outcome."

Li Heng smiled upon hearing this and said, "General Gai is much calmer than Zhao Cheng. Before I came to Anxi, I expected you to have three strategies."

"Which three strategies? Please enlighten me, Your Highness." Gai Jiayun asked modestly.

"The first strategy is to stop me from finding out about these things. The second strategy is to kill me. The third strategy is to escape to Tibet."

"These three strategies are exactly what Zhao Cheng did."

"But if General Gai takes action himself, it will be much more difficult for me."

"But the result is the same." Gai Jiayun sighed, "I was defeated by Your Highness, and I am convinced. Now that I think about it, even before Your Highness entered Anxi, I would have been defeated."

"how do I say this?"

Gai Jiayun explained, "Your Highness first sent Gao Xianzhi and Feng Changqing to lead the charge, taking away nearly half of my military power. Not only that, he also ordered Wang Zhongsi to station troops in Guazhou. Under such circumstances, even if I wanted to mutiny, it would be almost impossible to succeed. If I didn't mutiny, with Your Highness's wisdom, it would be impossible to stop Your Highness from finding out everything, or to assassinate Your Highness."

Li Heng said: "Even so, General Gai still has a plan that is useless. I only sent troops to surround Zhao Cheng, not General Gai. If General Gai wants to defect, I can't stop him."

(End of this chapter)