"Why didn't the King of Wu come to the morning court today?"
Some of Wang De's procedures were not yet completed, but Li Shimin could no longer bear it.
"In reply to the emperor, the chief secretary of Prince Wu's palace submitted a memorial today, stating that Prince Wu fell from his horse yesterday and was seriously injured."
There was someone specifically responsible for checking in on the ministers at the morning court. If you had anything to do, you had to report it in advance. So when the minister heard Li Shimin's question, he immediately stood up.
Fall off a horse?
When he heard these two words, the corners of Li Chengqian's mouth twitched. If it happened to ordinary people, falling off a horse might really be an accident, but if it happened in the royal family or a large family, it might be a conspiracy of some people.
"Why didn't anyone come to report yesterday? Where are the people from the Imperial Hospital?"
Li Shimin said anxiously that he had been busy with this matter for a long time, and was about to have a son who could fight against Li Xiang, but now he failed at the critical moment. He also knew that there might be internal causes for this matter, so he looked at Li Xiang while speaking, his eyes were very sharp. Could it be that this grandson did such a thing?
But when he saw Li Xiang's clear eyes, he immediately understood. Yes, although this grandson usually acted foolishly, he would not do such despicable things. Among the royal family, Li Xiang was considered to have a conscience. Even if he wanted to defeat certain people, he would do it openly. Just look at the King of Wei and the King of Jin, and you will know that they would never do such despicable things.
"In reply to the emperor, yesterday the King of Wu suddenly wanted to ride a horse. In the courtyard behind the King of Wu's mansion, the people under the King of Wu's mansion did not check the saddle..."
The officials could only report the truth. After all, this was the emperor's son. Fortunately, the fall was not very serious and no bones were broken, but he would need to recuperate for at least one or two months. As the saying goes, it takes a hundred days to heal a broken bone, so a month here is not too much. Normally, a month would not matter, but now the army has been assembled. If he has to recuperate for a month, it would probably be too late.
"Investigate this matter thoroughly. If you can't find out the truth, I will chop off your heads."
Li Shimin said angrily that recuperation was a small matter, and his plan was scrapped just like that. It was equivalent to wasting all his time. He had started doing this when Li Xiang was in Tubo, and it could be said that he had kept it secret. He didn't know how much manpower and material resources were spent in the middle, but he didn't expect to be kicked like this at the last minute.
The officials under him immediately kowtowed and left. In fact, there was nothing to investigate in this matter. The King of Wu himself said that it was his own negligence. Normally, when a prince rides a horse, there must be at least eight people checking the saddle. This was also the rule set by the royal family after Li Chengqian's accident.
However, the King of Wu did not order an investigation at the time, so when this happened, no one was willing to take responsibility. The officials in the King of Wu's palace all saw this, and no one would cheat, so in the end, the blame could only be placed on the King of Wu.
As for the grooms in the Prince of Wu's mansion, they might be implicated, but they can only blame themselves for their bad luck. Any change of power will always require someone to pay a price. High-ranking officials may lose their heads, let alone you grooms. If you want to blame someone, blame the Prince of Wu for choosing to escape to the front line in this way.
"Your Majesty, I believe that a major battle is imminent, and the King of Wu has deliberately refused to allow the saddles to be inspected. Could this be a sign of fear?"
As if it weren't raining cats and dogs, the King of Wu was not afraid of war, but he didn't want to continue fighting with Li Xiang. If he continued fighting, he would lose his current position, so he chose this bad strategy. However, the imperial censors in the court did not understand. They immediately found an opportunity. If they reported this to the King of Wu, they might get credit for it.
When other imperial censors heard what this person said, they all stood up and said that since the King of Wu fell off his horse at the critical moment, it was obvious that he did not want to contribute to the court. Some even said something a little too much. Some people wanted to use people from the Imperial City Office to investigate the King of Wu to see if he had any connection with Goguryeo.
After hearing what these people said, Li Xiang really didn't know what to say. What on earth are you people thinking? You guys have no ability to distinguish at all. It seems that you are all children of noble families and have never actually fought in political arenas. Otherwise, you are just trying to fish in troubled waters.
"Dismiss the court."
Just as Li Xiang thought, although there were five or six imperial censors kneeling here, the emperor had no intention of asking them to continue speaking. Li Shimin was already furious, but he could not find an outlet for his anger, so he directly asked Wang De to announce the adjournment of the court.
The other ministers were all surprised. You know, they were about to go to war, and they still had a lot of things that needed the emperor's decision. Now that the emperor was going to adjourn the court, who would take care of these things? So after leaving the hall, these people also went to the Qinzheng Hall to wait.
The ministers in the court had also heard about what had happened in Chang'an City. When they looked at Li Xiang again, there was a hint of awe in their eyes. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince had been away on the battlefield, making great contributions to the Tang Dynasty. Therefore, many people believed that he did not have much power in Chang'an City, and at most was just a few commercial organizations. Some people believed that these commercial organizations could not accomplish anything big. But after this incident, they finally realized the power of these commercial organizations. First, they forced the Lanling Xiao family to retreat, and then they caused His Royal Highness the Prince of Wu to fall from his horse...
Think about the attitude of all the officials. Except for those ignorant censors, not a single official in the court stood up to speak. This shows how powerful the Eastern Palace is now.
Many ministers also wanted to stand up and say something, but when they thought about the outcome of Xiao Yu, they all kept silent. You are indeed an important minister, and anyone who can work here is considered an important minister, but the question is, are you as powerful as Xiao Yu?
That old fellow had the Lanling Xiao family behind him, plus the remnants of the previous dynasty, so it could be said that he was quite powerful. However, he was beaten by Li Xiang in just a few days and finally ran to the East Palace to admit his mistake, without even saying a word to the King of Wu.
Some people have also thought that if the King of Wu was defeated so quickly only due to external pressure, then it would be impossible. There must have been a traitor from within. Who was the traitor? Xiao Yu is the most likely candidate, after all, he was the King of Wu's greatest supporter...