Changsun Wuji called Chu Suiliang and told him what Li Tai said about the case. The two discussed that since they had a first complaint against King Wei, they already had preliminary evidence to arrest Wei Ting!
The two of them discussed that the Wei family was a well-known family in Chang'an after all, and it was not convenient to mobilize troops to arrest people during the day, so as not to arouse public suspicion and cause a huge public outcry. After all, there is Concubine Wei, the first of the four concubines, in the harem. It is not yet known whether she is related to the case. Therefore, the two prime ministers ordered the Hundred Cavalry General Yuchi Baoyun to lead two hundred Hundred Cavalry imperial guards to quietly go to Wei Ting's house at night, and then "invite" Wei Ting.
What's more, when Yuchi Baoyun and others came to Wei Ting's house, they heard the sound of wailing and crying in Wei Ting's house before they could get anyone in. Only when I entered did I realize that Wei Ting had just committed suicide by hanging from a beam!
Yuchi Baoyun saw that all the suspects were dead, so in order to minimize the impact of the situation, he did not tell the Wei family the purpose of his visit. After verifying that Wei Ting was dead, he withdrew his troops and reported the news to Changsun Wuji and other prime ministers.
"It's good now, there is no proof!" Changsun Wuji stared at the astonished King Wei who was sitting aside and said, "King Wei, you are so clever!"
"Situ, gentlemen, this... this has nothing to do with Xiao Wang!" Wei King Li Tai said in panic and aggrieved, "Wei Ting's family members can testify that he committed suicide by hanging himself from the beam!"
"Yes, he committed suicide by hanging from a beam. But if you hadn't forced him, how could he have committed suicide?" Changsun Wuji sneered, and then snorted in annoyance, "That's all, now that Wei Ting is dead, everything is over. Dead without evidence."
Fang Xuanling, who was next to him, cupped his hands and said, "Situ, for such a big matter, it's not good to just rely on guesswork. Why did Wei Ting commit suicide? Whether he was really the culprit in King Wu's case, now we have no clues. We have no clues. Neither can the King of Wei be wronged, nor can the King of Wei's words be regarded as the final evidence of the case. "
Fang Xuanling said something fair, and both Changsun Wuji and Chu Suiliang nodded in approval. Li Tai, who lowered his head, glanced out of the corner of his eye and gave Fang Xuanling a hard look, his eyes as sharp as a knife.
"His Royal Highness, King Wei, please go back to the mansion and don't leave the mansion for the time being." Changsun Wuji said this to Li Tai.
"Then... Xiao Wang takes leave." Li Tai bowed his hands to Changsun Wuji and others and left the Hongwen Hall.
"What should we do now?" Changsun Wuji and Chu Suiliang said this almost at the same time.
Fang Xuanling frowned and said: "I still listen to Duke Wei. Now the top priority is to maintain the stability of the court and protect the safety of His Majesty. At the same time, we must not neglect the search and rescue of King Wu and King Jin. I feel that this case is very involved." Guang, there must be other clues and insiders besides Wei Ting, Chu Suiliang, please continue to investigate secretly and make sure to get to the bottom of this case!"
"Yes." Chu Suiliang promised.
Changsun Wuji frowned and remained silent.
Soon after, the prime minister of Hongwen Hall changed his duties. Changsun Wuji left Hongwen Hall and drove directly to the Palace of Wei Prince.
Li Tai knew he was coming and hurriedly greeted him.
"What you did was clearly a cover-up, and you are not very clever at all!" Changsun Wuji stared at King Wei and gritted his teeth, "It is too obvious that you let Wei Ting be your scapegoat! People like Chu Suiliang and Fang Xuanling can't You're not stupid. Even if Wei Ting is gone, can't they pursue it separately? When the facts are revealed, I'll see how you end it!"
"Uncle, Wei Ting's death really has nothing to do with me." Li Tai appealed as if he were praying to God. "Even the assassination of King Wu has nothing to do with me! Wei Ting must have heard some news that I was going to the cabinet. Report and expose him. In order to protect his family and people like Concubine Wei, he committed suicide out of fear of crime! "
Changsun Wuji frowned deeply and thought for a while, then said: "After thinking about it, the motives of all the things Wei Ting did are confusing. If it was just because of his past feud with the King of Wu, he would not have done it. So many things happened. So I guess that if he assassinated the King of Wu and blamed you for attacking the King of Jin, Concubine Wei's son Li Shen, the King of Ji, would have the opportunity to compete for the position of the East Palace. If he succeeds, he will be responsible for it in the future. The uncle who supported the great achievements was bound to be the leader of one man, but he only had the unfavored Concubine Wei and the young King Ji as his support. He was just a censor, and his son was just a stay-at-home officer in the northern capital. But he wants to go against the entire court—King Wei, don’t you think he is overestimating his abilities?”
"Yes, yes..." Li Tai nodded frequently, and was suddenly startled, "After all, uncle still suspected that I secretly instigated Wei Ting? And then he killed him to silence him?"
Changsun Wuji smiled coldly, "Yes or no, we have no way of knowing. Whether you secretly instigated or borrowed a knife to kill people, and then killed them to silence them, these things have become unproven with the death of Wei Ting. "
"Uncle!" Li Tai shouted almost hysterically, "I really didn't do it!"
"What are you yelling about!" Changsun Wuji angrily scolded him, glaring at him and saying, "If it wasn't you who did it, you wouldn't need to panic at all! Is this the time for you to panic?"
Li Tai was excited all over. He looked at Changsun Wuji with joy and whispered: "Uncle, I can tell you the truth from the bottom of my conscience. The assassination of King Wu and the death of Wei Ting really have nothing to do with me. I am clean." Chu Suiliang and the others can investigate whatever they want! The sooner the case is revealed, the better. Then the deceased will be given justice and I will be given a clean slate!"
Changsun Wuji's face was as dark as water, and he nodded noncommittally and said, "Since you didn't do it, that's fine. Let's not care about the case for the moment, but the fact before us is... King Wu is dead!"
Li Tai was startled for a moment, then became elated and his face glowed!
Changsun Wuji glanced at him and said coldly: "You'd better do your job honestly these days and don't show any signs of cheating or do anything outrageous again, huh!"
"Yes, yes! Li Tai remembers his uncle's teachings and does not dare to be presumptuous in the slightest!" Li Tai bent down overjoyed and held his hands in his hands, promising again and again.
Changsun Wuji said nothing more, stroking his sleeves and walking away.
Li Tai was left alone in the room, almost rolling on the floor with excitement!
"Great, great!" Li Tai rubbed his hands and walked back and forth like an ant on a hot pot, but his face was glowing red and his eyes were about to shine. He said to himself: "My uncle is my uncle. No matter how cruel he is to me, how he insults me in front of outsiders or even wants to beat me, he still cares for me in his heart! There is a sentence he did not say - Wu Wang died at the hands of Wei Ting, it must be too late for him to be happy! "
"He came today just to tell me that King Wu is gone, and that his ninth brother King Jin has been abandoned by his father and his uncle without even considering it... This, this position in the East Palace will be mine sooner or later!"
"It seems that I am still too impatient and confused! I did too obvious to force Wei Ting to death, which made Chu Suiliang and Fang Xuanling have a lot of doubts about me. Uncle is here to warn me! Okay, okay , I will be more restrained from now on and won’t do anything anymore! Anyway, the people I’m fighting with are gone, so I’ll just sit back and wait for the crown prince position to fall to me, haha!”
"Oh, my biological uncle, my good uncle!" Li Tai couldn't help but laugh out loud as he thought about it. "For the first time, I feel that the more cruel you are to me, the more amiable and respectable you are! From now on, you Feel free to beat and scold me! The more you beat and scold me, the greater the benefits will be for me!”
Zhongnan Mountain, among the Taoist temples.
Li Ke sat reading a book with a pot of tea brewing beside him. Zhao Chong was playing a game of chess alone, touching his chin with a playful expression.
Li Ke glanced at Zhao Chong, frowned slightly, and continued to read his book. But while his eyes were fixed on the book, his mind flew to nowhere, completely absent-minded.
The two of them sat quietly without saying a word. Occasionally, I heard the sound of the flag falling from Zhao Chong's hand, but otherwise everything was silent.
There were obviously two people in the room, but it was Zhao Chong himself playing chess with himself. Anyone who saw this situation would find it strange. But Zhao Chong didn't care at all. The two of them had played a game of chess, and from then on Li Ke never played with him again.
Because Li Ke believed that Zhao Chong's chess moves were too weird and cunning and did not follow common sense, and he often looked at him when playing chess and was not focused at all. When Li Ke plays chess, he is just like Li Shimin. Winning or losing is secondary. As long as he holds the black and white pieces in his hand, it is like going to the battlefield and concentrating on it.
"It's more interesting to play chess with Qin Mubai, even though his chess is stinky and broken." These were Li Ke's exact words.
From then on, Zhao Chong never played chess with Li Ke again. He knew that playing chess was like drinking. It was interesting only when you met a close friend, otherwise it would be just the same. Between him and the King of Wu, one was a gangster and the other was a royal aristocrat, so it was difficult to find any compatibility. Now if it weren't for some interests connected with him, it would be impossible to be under the same roof.
Moreover, after all, King Wu is not Qin Mubai. Qin Mubai can drink and chat with the prince, and he can also be brothers with the children of the world. Li Ke can't. Therefore, it is absolutely impossible for Zhao Chong and the King of Wu to become friends, let alone to be servile and fawning towards him.
"Zhao Chong, I want to go to Chang'an. Can you make arrangements?" Li Ke said suddenly.
"No." Zhao Chong replied without hesitation, "For the safety of His Highness, and of course for the sake of my own life, Your Highness must not go to Chang'an at this time!"
"Then can you send a few capable men to Chang'an to inquire about some news?" Li Ke said, "I am sitting here and know nothing about the outside world."
Zhao Chong smiled, threw the chess piece in his hand into the chess basket, and said, "What does Your Highness want to know?"
"I want to know if my father, the emperor, mother and concubines are well? What is the attitude and reaction of the court to the rumors of Qin Mubai's rebellion? Also, how did the court track down my disappearance for so long?" Li Ke asked.
Zhao Chong smiled and said, "Your Highness has so many questions, so let me answer them one by one!"
Li Ke was slightly surprised, "So you sent someone to investigate earlier, why didn't you tell me?"
"Because His Highness didn't ask!" Zhao Chong said, "His Majesty the Emperor and Concubine Yang are both very good, so you can rest assured. As for the rumors about Kansai, the court seemed to have no reaction and seemed to believe that it was just a rumor. Your Highness's The imperial court sent Chu Suiliang to investigate the case, and it seems that Wei Ting has been traced. "
Li Ke frowned and seemed not to believe what Zhao Chong said, but he couldn't raise any doubts, so he said: "Then when will it be safe for me to show up and go to Chang'an?"
"It's coming soon." Zhao Chong said, "When the time comes, Zhao will naturally ask His Highness to come down the mountain to meet His Majesty the Emperor!"
Li Ke took a long, depressed breath, threw the book in his hand on the table, stood up, walked back and forth a few steps, and said, "What time?"
"I know what His Highness is worried about." Zhao Chong said with a smile, "Don't worry, during your absence, King Wei is unlikely to be canonized as Crown Prince. Your Highness, you will always have a chance to compete for the East Palace!"
Li Ke's eyebrows flickered slightly, and he was choked by Zhao Chong's words, so he changed the subject and said: "I'm worried that Qin Mubai will do something stupid after knowing the news of my murder! So I have to do something stupid as soon as possible Show up and prevent this disaster from happening!"
Zhao Chong smiled and said: "It is said that Qin Mubai has pacified the Western Region and is leading the Kansai army to return. It is already halfway there. It is estimated that in a few days, the news of His Highness will reach him. By then, hundreds of thousands of Guanxi troops had gathered in Lanzhou with great momentum, and the court didn’t know how to react - this is really interesting!
"Are you crazy? This is still interesting?!" Li Ke shouted angrily, "Could it be that the chaos in the world is of any benefit to you?"
"No." Zhao Chong smiled slightly and said, "Your Highness, don't worry, Zhao's life and death and the honor and disgrace of the rest of his life are all in the hands of Your Highness. Now, out of self-interest, Zhao has no choice but to do this disrespectful act and impose some restrictions. Your Highness's freedom of movement is for your own good and for the sake of the overall situation. In the future, Your Highness will naturally understand Zhao's good intentions. In short, Your Highness, you must believe that Zhao will never harm His Highness. Go and harm my dear friend, Qin Mubai. You two are the most important people in my life, Zhao Chong. Did Zhao make this clear enough?"
"Then why do you want me to wait here?" Li Ke asked with a frown.
"Wait..." Zhao Chong held a few chess pieces in his hands and started playing chess again. After pressing the button, he said, "The King of Wei, who had the advantage and the wisdom in his hands, accidentally revealed a flaw, and His Highness was at the critical moment but was able to turn the tide! - Just like this game of chess!"
"Then I, Li Ke, am the chess piece in your hand?" Li Ke's face darkened.
Zhao Chong smiled and said: "The world is like chess, and you and I are both chess pieces. That's all!"