met free Chapter 152 The Tang Emperor's Headache
Chapter 152 The Tang Emperor's Headache
Chapter 152 The Tang Emperor's Headache
"Your Majesty, it's late. You should rest early!" Grand Eunuch Wang Cheng stepped forward and said respectfully from behind Li Yu.
Just then, a towering flame suddenly burst into flames in one direction of the imperial city, and the direction from which the flames came was the residence of the Second Prince, Li Longqian.
"It seems many people won't be able to sleep tonight either!" Li Yu sighed. "I didn't expect Daoist Hefeng to get involved as well. My second prince hasn't been idle these past few years."
Steward Wang said in a low voice, "There's something I'm not sure if I should say."
"Speak," Li Yu said without turning his head, "There are only the two of us here, so there's nothing to be shy about."
"Yes, Your Majesty," Chief Steward Wang said. "Forgive my bluntness, but although that Daoist Hefeng is quite skilled, his origins are unknown. If Your Majesty keeps him in the capital, he will likely become a hidden danger sooner or later."
"How could I not know?" Li Yu smiled bitterly. "It's just that Master Yuan once said that a great calamity is coming. In the midst of this calamity, if we want to preserve the foundation of my Li family that has lasted for thousands of years, a single Xuanyuan Sword will probably be far from enough."
Li Yu said thoughtfully, "He Feng possesses the divine power passed down from the ancient Heavenly Emperor Fuxi. To find the legendary Three Sovereigns' Cave, we must rely on his Eightfold Strength. Even knowing that his origins are unknown, I have no choice but to risk keeping him in the capital."
Li Yu rubbed his temples, looking at the raging fire in the distant imperial city, and said, "I should get some rest. The real headache for me is probably not going to start until tomorrow!"
……
Just as Emperor Li Yu of Tang had predicted, the next morning, not long after dawn, a memorial from Lu Dingyuan, the commander of the Northern Prefecture of Tianmen, was sent to the palace—accusing Li Longyuan, the head constable of the Southern Prefecture, of disrupting the security of the imperial city and setting fire to the residence of the Second Prince.
This time, Lu Dingyuan learned his lesson and dared not arrest Lin Fei himself again. Instead, he passed this hot potato directly to Emperor Tang, letting the emperor decide whether or not to deal with Lin Fei.
The security of the imperial city was originally the sole responsibility of the Northern Prefecture of Tianmen. Even if the Tang Emperor ultimately did not punish Lin Fei, it would not be Lu Dingyuan's fault; he had merely fulfilled his duty by reporting the facts.
Immediately afterwards, Chancellor Wang You, along with many civil officials, also submitted a joint memorial accusing Marquis Shenwei Su Lie of abusing his power, disregarding the law, and destroying the imperial city.
The military officers weren't idle either. First, Su Wuming, the commander of the Southern Prefecture of Tianmen, accused Lu Dingyuan, the commander of the Northern Prefecture, of abusing his power by secretly releasing a wanted criminal from Tianmen Prefecture. Then, Grand Marshal Lu Dingyuan accused the Second Prince of harboring assassins and plotting treason.
"It's chaos, complete chaos, utter turmoil!" Emperor Li Yu of Tang placed a pile of memorials aside, chuckling bitterly, "These ministers, it seems they're just short of fighting right in front of me!"
It's simple, it's all up to Your Majesty's thoughts.
"Oh?" Li Yu seemed somewhat interested. "Tell me your thoughts?"
"Actually, although many princes and ministers are involved in this matter, to put it bluntly, it is still a dispute between the First Prince and the Second Prince," Chief Steward Wang analyzed. "In recent years, the Second Prince has made many friends among the ministers who support him. Now that Marquis Shenwei has come out of retirement, the old Marquis's former subordinates and military generals will naturally stand on his side."
Li Yu nodded: "You're right, go on."
"To resolve the disputes among these ministers, all His Majesty needs to do is make a statement," Chief Steward Wang said with a smile. "Let's see whether His Majesty intends for the eldest prince to succeed to the throne or for the second prince to take over the country."
"Those military officers, though mostly former subordinates of Marquis Shenwei, are naturally loyal to His Majesty. As long as His Majesty makes a statement, they will stop causing trouble. As for the civil officials..." Chief Steward Wang sneered, "Forgive my bluntness, but including Prime Minister Wang You, they are all opportunists. As long as His Majesty takes a stand, even if they had a few more lives, they wouldn't dare to cause trouble again."
“You’re right.” Li Yu nodded, then shook his head: “However, I cannot express this attitude for the time being.”
"I know Long Qian's character well. He is impetuous and narrow-minded, not the kind of person who can inherit the throne," Li Yu pondered. "As for Long Yuan, he has become much more composed since his return. Even I find it hard to see through him. However, it is not yet time to let him sit on the throne as crown prince."
“Your Majesty is right, it was I who was short-sighted.” Steward Wang bowed slightly. “Then there is only a temporary solution. His Highness the Crown Prince is currently serving in the Tianmen Prefecture. Your Majesty should find a pretext to send His Highness out of the capital. Although this will not solve the problem at its root, the struggle between the two sides can be temporarily stopped once His Highness leaves the capital.”
"It seems that's the only way!" Li Yu sighed and said, "Go and gather the files from various places, and see if there are any suitable tasks. Let's transfer Long Yuan away from the capital first!"
……
At this moment, inside the government office of Tianmen South Prefecture, Lin Fei had just finished his roll call when Su Wuming summoned him to his study.
"Nephew, please sit down!" Su Wuming warmly invited Lin Fei to sit down and had two cups of fine tea served.
"You're too kind, sir," Lin Fei quickly replied. "I wonder if you summoned me here for any specific instructions?"
"Why are you calling me 'sir'?" Su Wuming frowned, feigning anger, and said, "I already said that in court, you call me 'sir.' Here, let's address each other as uncle and nephew. Don't be so formal!"
"Yes, Uncle." Lin Fei readily agreed: "I wonder if Uncle has summoned me here for any purpose?"
"No orders given." Su Wuming chuckled and picked up his teacup. "You've been doing alright in the capital these past few days, haven't you?"
"Thanks to your care, Uncle, everything is fine," Lin Fei replied, but he was a little puzzled. Did Su Wuming call him over just to chat about these trivial matters?
"That's good." Su Wuming smiled and took a sip of tea. "With the old Marquis in charge of the capital, plus our group of old subordinates, no one in the entire capital can touch you."
He smiled and glanced at Lin Fei: "Don't blame me for taking up your time. To tell you the truth, early this morning, Marshal Lu, a group of military officers and meritorious officials, and I sent our memorials to the palace. I believe His Majesty will respond soon. You can stay here and wait for news with me!"
Not long after, a constable ran in from outside: "Your Excellency, someone from the palace has arrived! It's the Grand Eunuch Wang, who has an imperial edict for Constable Li."
“Let’s go receive the imperial decree together!” Su Wuming put down his teacup and stood up. “Let’s see what His Majesty’s decision is!”
Su Wuming appeared very confident—how could that good-for-nothing second prince possibly compete with someone as outstanding as Lin Fei?