The early dynasty broke up unhappily, and the ministers walked out of the main hall to the outside of the palace. When I came to the gate of the palace, I only heard two coachmen arguing.

One of them said, "Do you know the rules?" As a left servant, my lord Pei has the largest official position in the court, except for the prince, so he should get in the car first. Have you eaten the bear's heart and leopard's gall, and dare to stand in front of my adult's car? ”

The other did not give in: "You don't understand the rules!" No matter how big your family is, it is bigger than His Royal Highness King Qin? Li Jingang, the deacon of the Qin Palace, came to pass on the order of the King of Qin, and asked my family Lord Liu to go to the Qin Palace. Delay the military affairs, can you afford it? ”

Pei Lian's coachman said: "Then you have to come according to the official position, the official position is given by the emperor, and the king of Qin is bigger than the emperor?" ”

Liu Wenjing was already angry, and scolded Pei Lian's coachman: "You dog and human power!" What else would you do besides being a sycophant? King Qin fought hard one battle after another to open up territory for the Tang Dynasty, how can you be noisy here? If you have the ability, you can also go to the battlefield to fight a battle and then come back to reason with the official! ”

After saying that, Liu Wenjing got into the car and drove away, Pei Lin gritted his teeth with hatred, where is this scolding the coachman, it clearly refers to Sang scolding Huai, and it is he Pei Lin who scolds!

Back at home, Pei Lin dismissed his subordinates and paced alone in the study with his hands behind his back. Liu Wenjing, an old horseman, has no ability to please the emperor, so he always makes me angry. I'm going to have to find a way to get rid of him once and for all! Pei Lin thought.

The next day, Pei Lin went to the palace and said to Li Yuan hesitantly: "Your Majesty, there is something that the minister doesn't know whether to talk about or not. ”

Li Yuan said: "What's wrong with you today?" Say whatever you want. ”

"Yes." Pei Lin said, "After the dispersal of the dynasty yesterday, the minister's coachman and Liu Wenjing's coachman quarreled in front of the palace gate. It was not a big deal, but Liu Wenjing's coachman blocked the minister's car, and the minister's coachman said that the minister's official position was bigger than Liu Wenjing's. It should go first. ”

Li Yuan smiled: "Why, my prime minister can't hold the boat in his stomach?" Mind about such a trivial matter. ”

Pei Lin said with a smile: "How can a minister care about such a trivial matter. It was supposed to be a quarrel between two ignorant coachmen, but it wasn't a big deal. It's just that...... Later, Liu Wenjing said......"

"What did he say?" Li Yuan asked.

"He said that the King of Qin came to him to discuss military affairs, and the Tang Dynasty was all brought down by the King of Qin, who dared not listen to the orders of the King of Qin?" Pei Lin said as he observed Li Yuan's reaction.

"What? He actually said this in public, is there still me in his eyes? Li Yuan said angrily.

Pei Lian's eyes rolled. The minister thought the same. This Tang Dynasty belongs to the emperor, and the King of Qin must also listen to the emperor's orders. Liu Wenjing spoke too impertinently, just like yesterday in the main hall. He actually said that King Qi was useless, isn't this a slap in the face of the emperor? ”

"I don't think he speaks without measure, but he has ulterior motives!" A hint of murder flashed in Li Yuan's eyes, "You go find someone." It's time for this piece to come in handy......"

The person Pei Lin was going to find was the concubine that Li Yuan gave to Liu Wenjing when he first entered Chang'an, and Li Yuan was cautious all his life. Never willing to trust anyone, this concubine was originally an eyeliner that Li Yuan placed next to Liu Wenjing, and Li Yuan now doesn't want her to play the role of an eyeliner.

A few days later, Liu Wenjing's concubine sued the government that Liu Wenjing had attempted to murder the court minister: Liu Wenjing often drank with his younger brother at home. While drinking, he scolded Pei Lian, saying that he was the mastermind of Jinyang's army, and he was the main force in the Turkic negotiations. The main force to quell the rebellion against Xue Ju is also him, and Pei Lin has no military exploits. But with the emperor's favor, he climbed to his head Liu Wenjing as a prestige. and drew his sword and slashed at the pillar of the house, saying that I will kill Pei Lin sooner or later.

Li Yuan attached great importance to this matter and set up a temporary court, with Pei Lin and Xiao Yu serving as presiding judges. Knowing that Pei Lin was related to this case, but not letting him avoid it, Li Yuan's intentions were self-evident.

A few days later, Pei Lin interrogated Liu Wenjing's concubine and said that Liu Wenjing had invited a sorcerer to practice at home, cursed the emperor to die early, and secretly colluded with the Turks to plot rebellion.

At this time, Xiao Yu reported that Liu Wenjing, who was on trial, defended herself, saying that she did think that the credit was higher than Pei Lian, and it was inevitable that she would have some complaints after drinking too much wine, but she had no intention of rebelling.

And Li Yuan listened to their report, but said to the ministers: "Liu Wenjing's words are clear. ”

"Second Highness! Second Highness! Where are you going? Zixuan stopped Li Shimin, who was in a hurry to leave the house.

Shimin said: "Of course I went to the palace to intercede, did I let my father be deceived by the villain and kill Liu Wenjing like this?" ”

"It's not that simple, there are a lot of people here, you can go back to the study with me first." Zixuan whispered, and then pulled him back.

Entering the study room of Zichen Palace, the two closed the door, and Zixuan said: "Second Highness, Lord Liu can't be saved." ”

When Shimin heard this, he got up from his chair, "Why can't you save it?" ”

Zixuan pressed him and asked him to sit down, "Don't be in such a hurry, listen to me first." How do you know that the emperor is hoodwinked? The civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty knew that Pei Lin and Liu Wenjing did not share the same day, but the emperor asked Pei Lin to try the case in person, don't you think it's strange? ”

"You mean that my father wants to kill Liu Wenjing?" Shimin looked at Zixuan with a shocked expression, "Now that the world is undecided, why did my father want to kill the heroes?" ”

Zixuan said: "This matter is not to kill the heroes, but that Liu Wenjing challenged the imperial power and touched the emperor's bottom line." He kept saying that he was dissatisfied with Pei Lian, but in the emperor's ears, he was accusing the emperor of unfair rewards and punishments. If he was accused, he could honestly deny it with fear, but he generously admitted that he did have complaints about Pei Lian's official position, which was a blatant contempt for imperial power. How can the emperor tolerate him again? ”

"But you can't kill him because of that! Or for the crime of treason. Shimin hurriedly said, "No, I still have to talk to my father, I don't believe that my father will be so ruthless." ”

Zixuan grabbed him and persuaded him bitterly: "Second Highness, you can't go!" If you go, the emperor will think that you have formed a party with Liu Wenjing for personal gain, and when the time comes, not only will you not be able to save Liu Wenjing, but it will also increase the emperor's suspicion of you! ”

Shimin said abruptly: "Uncle Liu is the leader of the Jinyang army, and he is loyal to the Tang Dynasty, if I don't save me for self-preservation, am I still human?" ”

Shimin shook off Zixuan's hand and strode out.

Zixuan looked at his distant back, bitter in his heart. Knowing that he can't do it, is this his choice? Or is he still clinging to a glimmer of hope? Liu Wenjing has been sympathetic to the people of the world since before the army in Jinyang, and the people can't let go of this feeling, how could Zixuan not understand. Liu Wenjing is martial arts, but he can't live to create a prosperous era of Zhenguan with the people of Zhenguan, how can Zixuan not regret it? It's a pity that Liu Wenjing's edge was exposed too early and too much, which made Li Yuan a killer, and Shimin was destined to not save him!

Sure enough, as recorded in the history books, on the sixth day of September in the second year of Wude, Liu Wenjing was beheaded for the crime of treason.

That night, Zixuan had just fallen asleep when he was woken up by a knock on the door. As soon as she opened the door, she saw that it was Qiu Shi, and she said with a worried face: "Zixuan, go and take a look, His Royal Highness locked himself in the study and no one was allowed to enter." Li Jin has been guarding the door for two hours, and he doesn't pay attention to knocking on the door, nothing will happen, right? ”

Zixuan heard this, hurriedly put on his clothes, and rushed towards Zichen Palace. "Second Highness! Second Highness, open the door! Zixuan knocked on the door and shouted for a long time, but no one answered, took a deep breath and said to Li Jin: "Brother, kick the door open." ”

"Huh? This...... If His Royal Highness is to blame...... "Li Jin is not without worry.

"If he blames, let him blame me!" Zixuan said firmly.

"Okay." Li Jinyun had enough strength and kicked the door open. I saw Shimin sitting on the ground with a pot of wine in his hand, already drunk. The three of them had never seen Shimin so out of shape, and he seemed to be always calm and composed, and he couldn't help but be taken aback.

Zixuan walked in the door and said to Li Jin and Qiu Shi: "There is me here, you go back, don't tell anyone about tonight." ”

Zixuan closed the door, approached Shimin gently, squatted down beside him, and called him softly: "Second Highness, Second Highness." ”

Shimin opened a pair of drunken eyes and focused for a long time before revealing a smile, raising his hand and pointing at her, "Zixuan, you're here." ”

"Why did you drink so much? I'll help you up. Zixuan stretched out his hand to help him, but he couldn't pull him, and he fell to the ground with him, so he simply didn't get up, and sat side by side with him.

After a long while, Shimin slowly spoke: "You're right, it's my father who wants to kill Uncle Liu Shi. ”

"You went into the palace that day to intercede for him, and you did your best." Zixuan comforted.

"I said it, I said it all." Shimin drank too much, and his tongue was a little big, but it was difficult to hide his grief, "I said that Uncle Liu was the leader of Jinyang's army, and he had made so many military exploits, and it was reasonable to disobey Pei Lian, but he definitely did not rebel...... Conspiracy? What is he plotting against? The Turks are crazy to cooperate with Liu Wenjing, a Tang courtier who has no soldiers! What's in it for them? ”

Zixuan took out a handkerchief to wipe the wine from his mouth for him, "If you want to add to the crime, there is no excuse." ”

"That's right! Right! Shiren patted the ground with his hands fiercely, "My father said that Liu Wenjing's conspiracy was conclusive, so let me stop talking about it, and said that I should do it myself." Shimin looked at Zixuan with red eyes, his eyes full of painful sorrow, he pointed to his nose and said, "He made me do it myself, Zixuan." He made me do it for myself! Why did he just want to kill Liu Wenjing? He's going to kill chickens to show monkeys! And I'm the monkey ......" Shimin laughed as he spoke, as if he wanted to laugh out of his internal organs, and he continued, "Zixuan! I'm his son, and he doesn't believe me like that? Is he still my original father? ”

"He's the emperor, in that high place. You are no longer just his son, but also his courtier. Zixuan took Shimin's head in his arms with pity. There was a gap between father and son due to imperial power, and the people of the world were heartbroken, and she was also heartbroken. It is only because Li Tang has just been established that the people of the world have not yet deeply realized how thin the family affection will be under the imperial power...... Could it be that the seeds of the Xuanwumen Revolution have been planted at this moment? (To be continued) R655