In the second prince's mansion, the second prince Li Sheng was sitting on a big chair with an angry look on his face, breathing heavily from his chest, which represented his excitement and anger at this time.
I have just reported that a captain of 2,000 soldiers who I assigned to the Jin army made a small mistake and was found out by his brother. He was beaten with thirty army sticks and is now lying on the bed dying. Even if he can be saved,
I'm afraid I won't be able to recover within half a year. Even if I recover, I won't be able to serve in the military with the same flexibility as before.
In other words, Prince Li Sheng lost another usable chess piece in his hand. And this kind of thing has happened four times in a row in the past month, with the highest being a captain of five thousand men, and two more.
He is the captain of three thousand men.
Such a move greatly affected Crown Prince Li Sheng's power in the military, and his strength was severely reduced.
What makes Li Sheng even more troublesome is that he has not seen his father for half a month. There was only news from Prince Jin's palace that Prince Jin was in poor health and needed to rest quietly. He could not see anyone.
The son has completely lost the connection with his father and son.
His father could not be contacted, and his brother's suppression force continued to increase, finally making the second-generation ancestor Li Sheng feel the greatest pressure in his life.
Thinking about the past of life, from the time he was born, he was a loving father and brother. Under the care of his father and brother, Li Sheng could eat, drink and have fun all day long, without having to worry about other things at all. And in the entire Taiyuan Prefecture,
Whatever he wants, there is nothing he can't get.
But now, everything has changed. His father can't see him, and his brother's attitude towards him has also changed drastically. This made Li Sheng feel a deep sense of crisis. He even began to wonder if it would happen if it continued.
One day, if his father disappears, will his brother attack him?
After all, he was quite filial, and his mother was very popular with King Jin, so King Jin publicly said more than once that he was very good and wanted to pass the throne to him.
In fact, the actions of the King of Jin, as well as Emperor Qianwen's efforts to drag Prince Xiang into confrontation with the former Crown Prince, were all for the sake of balance.
But others didn't know it, so some ministers and generals who had not been reused, or were even disliked by their elder brother, came to him. These people had some abilities and knew how to respect themselves. Such a person Li Sheng
There is no need to turn them away, so they have admitted a lot of people. But now it seems that it has become a signal that he wants to establish a new mountain. If this happens, it is impossible not to attract his brother's attention.
Li Sheng was worried about the future. He knew his abilities very well and was good at eating, drinking and having fun, but he was completely incompetent when it came to managing government affairs and the army. He was also a self-aware person, so he had no intention of inheriting the throne.
But if he tells this to his brother now, will his brother believe him?
Perhaps only dead people can be truly worthy of others' belief, right?
Li Sheng felt a shudder when he thought that he might die once his father was gone.
"Madam." The respectful voices of the servants sounded outside the hall, and then a young woman with a plump figure and a curvy figure walked into the main hall and came to Li Sheng.
"Madam, why are you here?" As soon as he saw the person in front of him, Li Sheng's eyes became much softer and less violent.
This lady is Liu Xiangxiang. After more than a year of planning, she not only successfully attracted Li Sheng, but also used various means to make Li Sheng's original wife "sick" and die in the house. In this way, she became the rightful leader.
Now Li Sheng's favorite person is usually someone who obeys his advice.
"Prince, why are you so angry? Being angry can be harmful to your health." Liu Xiangxiang walked in like a graceful girl, casually sat beside Li Sheng, stretched out her jade arm, and gently held Li Sheng's hand.
.(The prince’s direct son is called the crown prince, and the other sons are called princes.)
Feeling the warmth coming from Liu Xiangxiang's slender hands and feeling her concern, Li Sheng's face quickly became much better, "Hey, I didn't expect that because of mundane things, I attracted the attention of the madam. Is it really for my husband?"
Already."
"How do you say this? The prince is someone's husband, and he is someone's god. If you have anything unhappy or unhappy, you can tell it. It's better to be the one who made the idea." Liu Xiangxiang's face showed gentle concern.
Said meaningfully.
This kind of behavior moved Li Sheng even more. Thinking that one person was trying to calculate shortcomings and two people were calculating disadvantages, he told what had just happened.
"It's too much to bully someone. My father hasn't passed away yet, and the prince is like this. If something really happens, I'm afraid the one who will be beaten next time will not be the two thousand captains, but the prince will be beaten directly.
It's on my body." Liu Xiangxiang said with a surprised look on her face.
This is what Li Sheng was worried about. Now that he heard that Liu Xiangxiang thought so, his expression changed again and became extremely ugly. "This... this is not enough. After all, our relationship as brothers is still good.
"
"That was just before." Seeing that Li Sheng still had illusions, Liu Xiangxiang decided to stimulate him, "The so-called brotherly harmony was for his father to see when he was still alive.
But once there are no more people, why bother to act? It is said that the royal family has no family ties. For the sake of status and power, patricide has occurred since ancient times. As for the cases of brothers fighting against each other, there are countless cases. The hearts of the people.
It is often the hardest to guess and see through.”
He was a little worried at first, but now that Liu Xiangxiang said this, Li Sheng became even more nervous and said, "If that's the case, what should we do?"
"Hey, who is the eldest son and the husband is just a prince? This may be fate. But the prince can rest assured that if that day comes, I will definitely accompany my husband on the road to hell.
It will make your husband lonely." Liu Xiangxiang said in a very firm tone.
It would be okay if she didn't say that, but saying this made Li Sheng even more frightened. Thinking of the legendary ghosts and monsters above the underworld, there were even eighteen levels of hell. And he had also
I've done some bad things and I'm afraid I'll be slapped in the face. It'll be so painful. "No! No, I can't just sit back and wait for death. I can't."
A flash of excitement flashed in the eyes of Liu Xiangxiang on the side, but her words were still weak, "So what if I can't? Now that the Crown Prince has great power, he can't escape even if he wants to. Then can he still rebel?"
"Rebellion? Yes, it is rebellion." These words successfully guided Li Sheng's thoughts, and he seemed to be about to make some kind of decision.
But soon Li Sheng shook his head again. As the second prince, he had no advantage over his eldest brother, whether in the army or among local courtiers. To put it simply, if he and his eldest brother were against each other, he would be afraid.
Not many of these people will stand on their side. If they rebel under such circumstances, what is the difference between that and seeking death?
Liu Xiangxiang on the side noticed Li Sheng's change. She never thought about letting him make up his mind once. This was just a thorn in her heart first, which could be regarded as laying a foundation. At this moment, she showed a proud smile.
.This time, during a hunting trip, King Jin suddenly fell ill and fell off his horse, so that his physical condition became weaker and weaker. Not only did he catch the crown prince Li Long and the second prince Li Sheng by surprise, but they also stayed in Taiyuan Mansion.
Princess Di, who was planning the plan, was not at all on guard.
Fortunately, Princess Di had made a lot of preparations beforehand. For example, she arranged for Grand Master Shen Tuwei to be beside the crown prince and Liu Xiangxiang to be beside the prince. With these foundations, great things can be accomplished with just careful planning.
The two thousand captains who were beaten with thirty army sticks were exactly what Shentu did. He picked a fault at random and punished the other party. The prince Li Long was a little suspicious about this. He knew that the person who was punished was through his younger brother.
Li Sheng's connections entered the army. Unfortunately, in less than a month, he was already the fourth person to be dealt with by his younger brother Li Sheng.
If it weren't for other generals who were also punished, Li Long might have thought that Shentuwei had a grudge against his brother and was specifically looking for trouble with him. Afterwards, Li Long also asked Shentuwei if he was doing this.
It's not bad, but Shen Tuwei's answer was, "Your Highness, someone who thinks he wants to do great things must have strict military discipline. If he is afraid of doing things because of one or two people, or because of their relationship behind him,
If you are afraid of your feet, how can you create a powerful army in the world?"
After saying this, fearing that he could not convince Li Long, Shen Tuwei came up with his trump card again, "Your Highness, if you feel that something is not done right, just leave. I am optimistic about the Crown Prince, but if the Crown Prince always
It’s because of my kindness as a woman that it’s useless for me to stay here.”
Shen Tuwei was a master and he was originally his father's son. Li Long spent a lot of effort to befriend him. How could he let him go when he was using him? He was just a few men who violated military discipline.
It’s just long, even if there is someone recommended by the second brother, so what? What does it count? How can it be compared with a grandmaster?
At the moment, Li Long quickly apologized and said that he just asked casually and did not say that those people were punished wrongly. Even if he wanted to train a strong army in the world, he would have to be ruthless. To achieve this goal, he still
Be supportive.
Li Long backed down, and Shentu Wei naturally did not say anything about leaving. On the contrary, he also said that his efforts to improve military discipline would not stop and would continue, and he asked His Highness the Crown Prince to bear with him.
What else could Li Long say, other than nodding. Little did he know that giving Shentu Wei such power created a favorable environment for him to vigorously cultivate his own people in the army. Sooner or later, he would