Chapter 8: The Qi Palace with Leaks All Over
Li Yuanji pressed his hand towards Xie Shufang, signaling him not to panic, "Of course I know you won't let the news leak out, but when I asked you to investigate, you didn't avoid the people outside the palace. If the people outside the palace knew about it, wouldn't you tell them?
If they knew, wouldn’t they run away?”
Xie Shufang breathed a sigh of relief and subconsciously looked outside the hall.
The guards and maids standing at the palace gate looked at the people around them in astonishment. Some of them felt guilty and a thin layer of sweat appeared on their foreheads.
"No need to look at them. They are all subordinates of the female officials and subordinates of the mansion. It is human nature for them to tip off the female officials and subordinates."
Li Yuanji was not his predecessor, and was not as cruel. He would not take human life as a joke, and would not kill people for such a thing.
Xie Shufang hesitated for a moment and said, "Just let them go like this?"
Xie Shufang felt that loyalty was the most basic requirement for a subject, a relative, or a servant.
This is not because Xie Shufang was strict, but that was the requirement for ministers, subjects, and servants in that era .
"They have been in the mansion for four years. Even though they have no merit, they have worked hard. So let's spare their lives. Send the guards to the Twelve Guards to serve as ordinary soldiers, and send the maids to the Ye Ting Palace to be servants.
I'll leave this matter to you, but don't harm their lives."
Li Yuanji gave a simple instruction.
The maids and guards didn't commit any serious mistakes, and it wasn't enough to cost anyone's life.
The maids and guards at the palace gate, who were feeling guilty, breathed a sigh of relief at the same time, and felt a little more grateful to Li Yuanji.
It would be a great blessing for His Royal Highness the Prince of Qi, who is known for his cruelty, to spare their lives.
They were subordinates of the Prince of Qi's Palace, and Li Yuanji had absolute power over their life and death.
Even if Li Yuanji killed them, he would kill their entire family as well.
All the officials would only impeach Li Yuanji for being unkind, but would never say that Li Yuanji did anything wrong.
“Yes!”
Xie Shufang felt unhappy when he saw Li Yuanji let the unfaithful man outside the door go so easily, but he still agreed.
Xie Shufang didn't have such a strong murderous intention. He simply felt that unfaithful people should suffer some physical pain.
"So, after hearing the news, did any of the female officials and subordinates in the mansion run away?"
Li Yuanji asked again.
Xie Shufang hesitated for a moment and said, "I don't know if this can be considered running away..."
Li Yuanji was stunned and asked, "What do you mean?"
Xie Shufang bowed and said, "This morning, when His Highness was still asleep, Madam Yang from the Prince of Qin's mansion found the Princess and borrowed Gao Shangyi from the mansion, saying that His Highness the Prince of Zhongshan had reached the age to learn etiquette, and Gao Shangyi was the one who understood etiquette the best in the palace, so she borrowed Gao Shangyi.
Xue Bao, the right guard of the palace, had just been sent away by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, who said that he had important matters to ask for his help.
Liu Shangshan from the mansion went to the Shangshan Bureau this morning and never came back."
Li Yuanji's mouth twitched. The Prince Qi's Mansion was simply a sieve.
That Gao Shangyi must be Li Shimin's man.
The Prince of Zhongshan mentioned by Xie Shufang is Li Chengqian. Li Chengqian is Li Yuan’s favorite grandson, so how could he lack someone to teach him?
Is Gao Shangyi the one who understands the etiquette in the palace the best?
What about Li Gang, the Minister of Rites who taught many princes and grandchildren?
He is a person who studies "Yili" seriously.
So when Madam Yang asked Princess Qi to borrow Gao Shangyi to teach Li Chengqian etiquette, that was an excuse.
It was obvious that Gao Shangyi knew that he was going to deal with the people in the mansion, so she immediately secretly contacted the Qin Palace, to which she was truly loyal, and asked Li Shimin to save her.
Madam Yang borrowing Gao Shangyi is no different from Liu Bei borrowing Jingzhou.
As for Xue Bao, he is a big scammer.
In history, it was this guy who aroused his predecessor's ambition to seize the throne.
This guy gave his predecessor a talisman, saying that the two words "Yuan Ji" meant Tang, indicating that his predecessor would be the true emperor of the future Li Tang.
The previous incarnation actually believed it and excitedly took the talisman to tell Li Yuan about it.
I don’t know how Li Yuan felt when he saw his son being fooled by a talisman.
Li Yuanji didn't expect that this guy was actually Li Jiancheng's man.
In this way, it seems that the ambition of the predecessor in history to seize the throne may have been instigated by Li Jiancheng.
Li Jiancheng stirred up his predecessor's ambition, probably not to create an opponent for himself, but to use his predecessor to deal with Li Shimin.
In history, after his predecessor developed ambitions, he almost accomplished something major that would have influenced the entire history of the Tang Dynasty.
That was to let his bodyguard Yuwen Bao hide under his bed and assassinate Li Shimin.
If Li Yuan had not accompanied Li Shimin, the predecessor might have really succeeded.
Li Jiancheng probably didn't want to be stained with the blood of his brother and make Li Yuan disgusted, thus losing his position as crown prince, so he used his predecessor as a pawn.
"It's still a little lacking in ruthlessness, otherwise it would really work..."
Li Yuanji muttered his comment.
Li Jiancheng obviously did not have the ruthlessness of Li Shimin, so he took Li Yuan's attitude into consideration and used his predecessor as a pawn.
If he had the ruthlessness of Li Shimin, he would have killed his younger brother and nephew, leaving only his own branch of the Li Tang dynasty. Even if Li Yuan hated him to the core, he would have had to pass the throne to him.
This is what Li Shimin did in history. He killed his brothers and then his nephews, leaving only him as the last branch of his direct line. Li Yuan was almost angry to death, but he had no choice but to pass the throne to him.
"What can be accomplished with such ruthlessness?"
Xie Shufang was a little close to Li Ji and heard Li Yuanji muttering.
Li Yuanji glared at Xie Shufang and said, "Don't ask questions that you shouldn't ask. Go tell the princess and ask her to pass on a message to Madam Yang at the Qin Palace, saying that the person can be given to the Qin Palace, but the seized money, land, houses, and shops must be handed over, otherwise don't blame me for coming to your house in person to ask for the person.
Please ask Li Piaoqi to go to the East Palace and bring Xue Bao back to me.
Xue Bao belongs to my Qi Wangfu. If the East Palace wants him, let them bring the imperial edict."
The Li Piaoqi mentioned by Li Yuanji was called Li Sixing, one of Li Yuan's meritorious officials in Taiyuan. Although his contributions were not as great as those of Pei Ji, Liu Wenjing and others, he was still a loyal minister of Li Yuan.
After Li Yuan ascended the throne, he appointed him as General of Cavalry, Guard of the Army, and appointed him as Chief Clerk of the Prince of Qi's Palace.
The Grand Guardian was an honorary official, not a real position.
Xue Bao’s guard was also a meritorious official, and his actual position was deputy commander of the Qi Wang Palace’s inner court.
Although Li Yuan didn't care much about his predecessor's education, he was still very concerned about his predecessor's safety. He knew that his predecessor didn't have much brains, so he specially let Li Sixing, who had brains, serve as the chief secretary of his predecessor. The purpose was to let Li Sixing save his predecessor's life at the critical moment.
Unfortunately, although Li Sixing is smart, he is not good at currying favor with the powerful and is unwilling to follow his predecessor in doing evil, so his predecessor looked down on him.
As for Li Sixing's identity as a meritorious official of Taiyuan Yuanmou, others may look up to him, but does his predecessor need to be looked up to?
Li Yuanji let Gao Shangyi go easily because Gao Shangyi was an insignificant person, and the Prince of Qin's Mansion gave him enough face. He also found an excuse to rescue him, and he also used the relationship in the palace.
The reason why Donggong was asked to hand over Xue Bao was because Xue Bao was a key person. He was the deputy commander of the inner court of Prince Qi's mansion and knew many dirty things in Prince Qi's mansion.
If this kind of person is handed over to Li Jiancheng, there is no guarantee that he will not explode at the critical moment.
In addition, when Li Jiancheng was rescuing people, he did not give any face to the Prince of Qi's Mansion at all. He said he would second the people, and Li Yuanji, the master, was unaware of it, and the hostess in the bedroom was also unaware of it.
Li Jiancheng completely treated the Prince of Qi's Mansion as his own place.
Li Yuanji would not tolerate Li Jiancheng's bad habits.
"What about Liu Shangshan?"
Xie Shufang asked.
From beginning to end, Li Yuanji kept talking about Gao Shangyi and Xue Bao, and did not mention Liu Shangshan at all. Xie Shufang was a little confused.
Li Yuanji rolled his eyes at Xie Shufang and said, "How many people do you think there are in this palace who can take a chef away from my house without any notice and who don't care about my attitude?"
Xie Shufang's eyes widened and he took a breath, "You mean, Liu Shangshan is..."
Li Yuan's people, who else could it be? !
Li Yuanji rolled his eyes and said, "Just know it, don't say it out loud."
Xie Shufang nodded heavily.
"Did anyone else escape?"
Li Yuanji continued to ask.
Xie Shufang shook his head decisively.
Li Yuanji thought about it and nodded.
Yes, whether they are female officials or subordinates in the Prince of Qi's mansion, they can't escape anywhere without someone to support them.
After escaping from Taiji Palace, can you still escape from Chang'an City? After escaping from Chang'an City, can you still escape from the territory of the Tang Dynasty?
Even if I escape from the territory of the Tang Dynasty, what will happen to my family?
The female officials and subordinates in the Prince of Qi's Palace are different from the maids and eunuchs in the Prince of Qi's Palace.
The female officials and subordinates were all from good families with families, so they could not escape at all.
Maids and eunuchs were either widows and orphans left over from the previous dynasty or prisoners of war of the Tang Dynasty. They were slaves.
Most people had no family, and even if they did, they had been separated for many years, or had been killed on the battlefield by Li Shimin or hacked to death in Chang'an City by Li Yuan.
"For those who didn't escape, all their property will be confiscated and handed over to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and the people in the Ministry of Internal Affairs will take care of it."
When officials in the palace made mistakes, they were usually dealt with on their own and rarely handed over to others. Even if they had to be handed over, they would only be handed over to the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
If it was transferred to the Dali Temple, they would not dare to accept it.
After all, the officials in the palace serve the emperor, princes, and concubines. If they reveal some palace scandals in the Dali Temple, it would be a lot of fun.
"ah?"
When Xie Shufang heard that Li Yuanji was going to hand the person over, he was a little confused.
If any problems arose with officials in the Eastern Palace, the Palace of Prince Qin, the Palace of Prince Qi, or even the residences of other princes and princesses, they were handled on their own.
So far, no one has handed it over.
It is somewhat embarrassing for Li Yuanji to do this.
After all, if there is a problem with the people in your house and you don't solve it yourself but instead hand it over to others, others will think you are incompetent.
Li Yuanji saw what Xie Shufang was thinking and said without explanation, "Do as I say."
Although this approach is somewhat inappropriate and does not conform to the style of its predecessor.
But Li Yuanji was a person who had received new ideas and new education. He attached great importance to human life and would not easily judge a person's life or death.
