r18novel Page 230
Page 230
Hearing this, Emperor Qing interjected, "Alright, alright, let's not ruin the harmony."
One is my own flesh and blood brother, and the other is my right-hand man.
Chang'an did not prevent my envoy from entering the Northwest.
It is perfectly reasonable that the Grand Commander decides on personnel matters in the Northwest.
If there are any improprieties, the imperial court will correct them gradually.
Li Chang'an sneered inwardly. Emperor Qing, that old scoundrel, is still so hypocritical, still pretending to be a good person.
This statement implies that the imperial court will gradually replace Li Chang'an's people.
Emperor Qing may seem to have suppressed every accusation Chen Pingping made, but in reality, he has taken the initiative back into his own hands.
On the surface, he was protecting meritorious officials and acting as a benevolent and virtuous ruler, but in reality, he was doing all sorts of despicable things, like a prostitute pretending to be virtuous.
Emperor Qing then said to Chen Pingping, "Dean Chen, although the Prince of Qin handled these matters improperly, it does not constitute treason."
Chen Pingping then produced another memorial, “Your Majesty, the Prince of Qin harbors wolfish ambitions and has already plotted rebellion. I have concrete evidence!”
"Your Highness, the King of Qin! This old minister has his fourth question!"
"You've incorporated the Langya Pavilion, an intelligence organization, into the Western Qin Kingdom. Why haven't you reported this to His Majesty yet?!"
"Your Majesty, colleagues, the Investigation Bureau has determined that the Langya Pavilion of the Western Qin Kingdom is definitely not a martial arts sect!"
"Langya Pavilion is a secret police agency, just like the Censorate!"
Tens of thousands of henchmen are scattered throughout Northern Qi, Daqing, Dongyi City, the Northern Barbarians, and the Western Hu!
"His Highness Prince Qin was able to successfully penetrate deep into the snowy regions and grasslands because of the intelligence support from Langya Pavilion!"
Unauthorized recruitment of intelligence agencies is no small matter.
The ministers in the Imperial Study began to discuss the matter animatedly.
With an expression that seemed to see through everything, Chen Pingping said to Li Chang'an, "Your Highness Prince Qin, what exactly is your intention in secretly supporting the Langya Pavilion?"
"Do you really intend to establish a second Surveillance Bureau in Daqing?"
"Don't you know that the Supervisory Council is His Majesty's right arm, and Daqing has only one like it!"
"Why are you keeping the Langya Pavilion around? Who exactly are you trying to spy on? Which country's intelligence are you trying to gather?"
Qin Ye seized the opportunity and said, "Your Majesty, this matter is of great importance and cannot be ignored!"
"The Prince of Qin's private maintenance of the Langya Pavilion is likely detrimental to the court and may even endanger His Majesty!"
As soon as Qin Ye spoke, several ministers immediately echoed his concerns, expressing the same worries.
Fan Jian didn't speak; Chen Pingping was his old partner, and Li Chang'an was his son-in-law.
Although his daughter was having a disagreement with him, he simply couldn't bring himself to kick her when she was down.
Moreover, he knew Chen Pingping and Emperor Qing quite well, so he was even less willing to get involved.
After Emperor Qing finished reading the memorial, his voice became noticeably somber.
"Prime Minister Lin, what do you think?"
Lin Ruofu was unaware that the person who occasionally directed him to do certain things was Li Chang'an.
However, he knew that Li Chang'an and Lin Wan'er were in the same faction.
"Your Majesty, it is precisely because the matter is serious that it should be investigated thoroughly."
"Perhaps His Highness the Prince of Qin has other plans, which is why he hasn't reported it yet."
The eldest prince also said, "Your Majesty, the merits of Uncle Qin are unparalleled in hundreds of years!"
As soon as he said this, Li Chang'an heard Emperor Qing snort coldly.
The eldest prince is so honest and straightforward, but he's also incredibly eloquent.
"Your subject also believes that the King of Qin may have other plans."
Perhaps they want to thoroughly investigate Langya Pavilion before reporting to His Majesty!
Emperor Qing handed the memorial to Eunuch Hou, saying, "Let Prince Qin read it himself and see what he has to say."
Li Chang'an didn't even take the memorial, and said directly, "No need to look at it. I did indeed take over Langya Pavilion, and I did not report it."
Upon hearing Li Chang'an's words, Emperor Qing said with some anger, "Prince Qin!"
You've even stopped addressing yourself as "your subject"! You seem truly arrogant!
"Alas, youthful arrogance! It's all my fault! You've been intelligent since childhood, but I've spoiled you too much."
"You have no respect for me, but I'll let you have your way because you're a literary giant!"
“You sat on the throne in Northern Qi and told the Empress Dowager and Emperor of Northern Qi to your face that you wanted to rebel against me, and I indulged you!”
Emperor Qing looked heartbroken and even stood up, his voice trembling.
Li Chang'an watched coldly, saying, "Keep acting, act well, you'll have your turn to act soon."
"Even now, you are arrogant and disrespectful, and you dare to act recklessly! You even dare to privately maintain a national secret service!"
"Does Langya Pavilion have assassins, poisoners, private soldiers like the Black Riders, or secret agents all over the world?"
"If it were anyone else, they would have been imprisoned and brought to justice long ago!"
"But this person is you, Li Chang'an! It breaks my heart!"
"Fine, for now, I'll waive the special honors and the title of Prefect of Kyoto, but punish him with a three-year salary deduction and a one-year confinement. Let him reflect on his mistakes... Sigh!"
This is tantamount to canceling Li Chang'an's qualification as crown prince, plus a year of confinement. It's no exaggeration to say that his power is gone.
If Li Chang'an hadn't built up his power in the Northwest, he had no doubt that Emperor Qing would have stripped him of his princely title by now.
Emperor Qing looked extremely heartbroken, but Li Chang'an didn't believe a word of it.
Your Majesty is mistaken!
Li Chang'an's casual remark immediately silenced the Imperial Study.
There were not many people present; they were all high-ranking officials from the Qing Kingdom.
Apart from Lai Mingcheng, who showed curiosity, everyone else thought Li Chang'an had gone mad.
Because such disrespectful remarks had only been made by Lai Mingcheng before, and he said them frequently.
Emperor Qing has already put on an act of being heartbroken for his elder brother, so he must continue to pretend.
Even though he was furious inside, he still said with a pained expression, "You want to argue? Fine, fine, you tell me, I'm listening."
Li Chang'an glanced at Chen Pingping and said, "Actually, I just said that the Supervisory Council has treacherous intentions!"
"I deliberately kept this a secret from Langya Pavilion so that Dean Chen would investigate me and expose his disloyal intentions!"
Upon hearing this, Lai Mingcheng suddenly said, "Your Highness, entrapment is unacceptable!"
Li Chang'an replied, "Imperial Censor Lai, Chen Pingping's disloyal intentions have existed for over a decade. It was not something I provoked, so this is not a case of entrapment."
Chen Pingping's eyelids twitched, and he said coldly, "What? This old minister's investigation of Your Highness means I have disloyal intentions?"
"His Highness the King of Qin is a subject, not a ruler!"
How could an old minister harbor disloyal intentions without investigating the monarch?
Emperor Qing also said, "Chang'an, don't make baseless accusations to exonerate yourself."
He said that, but inexplicably felt panicked inside.
He also suspected Chen Pingping of having disloyal intentions, but he had no evidence.
Li Chang'an remained calm and took out a memorial from his sleeve and handed it to Eunuch Hou.
"Dean Chen, you've asked me quite a few questions. Now it's my turn to ask you."
"My first question is: Does the Supervisory Council's recruitment of martial arts masters into the council, its collusion with the Ministry of Justice and the Kyoto Prefecture, and its abuse of criminal law constitute a violation of the law?"
"Over the past ten years, I have verified the facts against thirty-two people!"
"First, you collude with the Kyoto Prefecture or the Ministry of Justice to throw the person into prison, convict them of a serious crime, and then pretend to be innocent to rescue them."
"Where does such behavior place the law and morality?!"
Upon hearing this, Lai Mingcheng's eyes widened in excitement. This was something he had always wanted to implicate but lacked evidence for!
Emperor Qing opened the memorial and found that the names of the people, the charges, and the process of framing them were clearly written.
"Your tenure as the Prefect of Kyoto for over a month has yielded some results."
Chen Pingping also read the memorial. "Your Majesty, this is because this old minister has failed to strictly manage his subordinates, and the officials in charge of the academy have acted in violation of the law."
Seeing that Chen Pingping could not refute, Emperor Qing was about to smooth things over when Li Chang'an took out another memorial, not giving Emperor Qing time to perform.
"My second question is: why did Dean Chen plot to assassinate Your Majesty at the Chrysanthemum Appreciation Festival at the Hanging Temple?"
"The Western Hu swordsmen and the eunuch with the knife were all secretly guided by you!"
"The swordsman in white is none other than Shadow, the head of the Sixth Bureau of the Surveillance Bureau!"
The memorial was handed to Emperor Qing, and it contained all the facts that Shadow had told him.
Upon hearing this, Chen Pingping clenched his teeth, knowing that things were about to turn out badly.