Chapter 369: Concealing the truth
The wind from Chang'an, under the instigation of some people with ulterior motives, finally blew to Jinyang.

Li Xiaozheng, the Prince of Wei and the commander-in-chief of Bingzhou's military affairs, had just returned from hunting outside the city when he was informed by someone sent by Concubine Zhang that the emperor had sent someone to gather information and that he'd better be more restrained.

After hearing this, Li Xiaozheng immediately said that the news from Zhang A'mu came at the right time. He thanked her profusely and entertained the messenger.

He then immediately summoned a few confidants for a secret discussion.

Li Xiaozheng was crowned king just like his brothers, after Li Yuan ascended the throne, but they were all kings, and the title of King of Wei was also honorable. However, compared with the three great kings of Jin, Qin and Qi, illegitimate princes such as the King of Chu, the King of Wei and the King of Han seemed quite weak.

The Qin Palace has 3,500 guards, and they are the most elite black-armored cavalry.

The guards of the Prince of Jin's palace commanded more than 10,000 soldiers, including 6,000 barbarian soldiers and 4,000 Di cavalry.

The Qi Wang Palace has more than 6,000 guards, most of whom are also brave generals.

The three brothers each had the power to establish their own government, and served as the heads of the Three Dukes and the Shangshu Zhongshu.

In the army, how many of the twelve generals of the guards, the generals of the guards, the governors, and other generals who commanded the troops had not served under the three kings?
As for the tens of thousands of Tang troops in Jinyang now, these generals, including Liu Wenhui, the prefect of Taiyuan, are all former subordinates of the King of Qin and the King of Jin.

As the King of Wei, he only had three hundred guards and a few aides.

The treatment, prestige, power, and control over the troops below are far inferior.

The sixteen-year-old Li Xiaozheng was tall and strong, had good riding and archery skills, and was also quite brave and resourceful. That was why Li Yuan felt that Liu Lang was very similar to Er Lang when he was young, and entrusted him with important tasks.

If we only talk about riding and archery skills, he might be able to compete with his second brother, but in terms of character and intelligence, there is a huge gap between them.

When his aide, Han Birang, the chief secretary of King Wei, heard that the emperor was going to send someone to investigate, he immediately gave Li Xiaozheng a lot of advice.

This included intercepting the envoys from Chang'an on the road in advance, treating them well, spending some time to beautify them, and preparing some valuable gifts, such as gold, silver, horses, etc., and giving them a large sum of money.

As soon as Han Birang's idea was proposed, Li Xiaozheng thought it was very reliable and prepared to start immediately.

After Yin Ashu and several eunuchs arrived in Jinyang, Han Birang settled them down and made detailed arrangements for everything including fine wine, delicious food, music bands, beauties, singing and dancing.

Yin Ashu had come here with a determined mind, so he naturally accepted it with a smile.

It was not until the last few days that he took the eunuchs and pretended to go to a few people to ask a few questions, such as the reputation of the King of Wei.

Han Birang was also a very scheming man. He did not let anyone say anything false like the King of Wei loved his people like his own sons. Instead, he said that the King of Wei often hunted, but would ask someone to give him some compensation every time he trampled on a field.

There were also some trivial things like the King of Wei liked to show off when traveling.

He never allowed his subordinates to plunder or rape women.

When Yin Ashu saw that these people were evading the important issues, he knew that they had some plans, so he recorded them truthfully.

Before leaving Jinyang, Han Birang personally sent five fine horses, ten beauties, and a lot of gold and silver utensils.

Yin Ashu was delighted to see this, and secretly thought that the King of Wei was a very good man.
My heart began to feel a little proud, thinking that my grandson is also a prince, and the King of Wei is so polite to me. Is my status so noble?

The King of Wei can get so much benefits just by controlling Jinyang. What if he is the King of Qi?

Hehe, when will Your Majesty allow me to pay a secret visit to the King of Qi? Luoyang is a good place, and the King of Qi must have given more than the King of Wei.
Yin Ashu left with great satisfaction. The eunuchs and guards who came with him also had their fill, so the group returned with a full load.

When he returned to Chang'an, it was already July. Yin Ashu immediately went to the palace to meet Li Yuan and report his mission.

Li Yuan was like, huh? Is Liu Wenhui making a big fuss?
Hunting often, doesn't this mean that Liu Lang is always ready to go to war? This is a good thing, as for trampling some farmland and giving compensation, is this still a problem?
As for the grand display, it is understandable that young people like to show off. What's the problem? So, Li Yuan thought that the King of Qin must have planned all this.

First, let Liu Wenhui make a secret report based on hearsay, and then let the censor impeach him. These should be done to prevent the King of Wei from staying in Jinyang, right?
Does the King of Qin want to place his own people in Jinyang?
Shortly after letting Yin Ashu step down, Li Yuan made a decision.

First, an imperial edict was issued to reprimand Prince of Wei, Li Xiaozheng, which was considered a verbal warning. After all, there was an impeachment and some minor mistakes, so a proper reminder would not be a problem.

Afterwards, Liu Wenhui, the prefect of Taiyuan, was directly demoted from the prefect of Taiyuan to the magistrate of Jinyang.

Because Liu Wenhui was Li Yuan's confidant, he felt that he was one of his own, so he still used him even after the defeat in Yecheng.

But Liu Wenhui actually colluded with the King of Qin secretly?

Can he bear this?

The reason was that the King of Wei could not be persuaded, which led to his misbehaving.

Although this matter involved the emperor and the King of Qin, it did not cause much disturbance in the court because many things were not made public.

Although Li Er was dissatisfied with Li Yuan's handling of the matter, he could do nothing about it. After all, he could not pursue the matter too hard, because the King of Wei was still a brother after all. Even if his affection was not as good as that of the third and fourth brothers, they were still brothers. If he forced him too much, it would seem that he was intolerant.

Liu Wenhui was essentially taking the blame. He didn't even know that Li Yuan had sent people to investigate, yet he submitted a report. Then, the King of Wei was accused of misconduct, and he was directly demoted?
This doesn't make sense.
Later, a secret letter from Li Yuan made Liu Wenhui even more frightened. It only contained one sentence, less than ten words. "Do you want to make the King of Qin the emperor?"

Do you want to help King Qin become emperor?
Although Liu Wenhui has always supported the King of Qin as the crown prince, he has always been Li Yuan's confidant, and this sentence can be regarded as a heart-breaking statement.

The incident seemed to have passed, and the King of Wei in Jinyang restrained himself after being reprimanded, but he was jealous of Liu Wenhui and felt that he would deal with him sooner or later because he had reported him.

As for Chang'an, everything seemed to have returned to peace, but the emperor had a thorn in his heart.

Prince of Jin Li Sanlang, who had been exiled to Chang'an by the emperor for half a year, finally returned. Naturally, he went to the palace to meet the emperor first after returning to Chang'an.

At this time, the emperor in the hall was teasing Li Yuanheng, who was only a few years old. Concubine Yin De was waiting on the side with a smile, and Yin Ashu was standing below.

Upon hearing that Sanlang had returned, Li Yuan hurriedly sent someone to summon him.

As soon as Li Sanlang entered the hall, he frowned. Li Yuan was far away and did not notice his expression. He smiled and said, "We are all family. This is the father-in-law of the emperor, the father of Concubine Yin, the Grand Doctor. You should have met him."

When Li San heard this, his face turned cold, "Father-in-law?"

Li Yuan immediately realized that he had spoken out of turn, because only the Queen's father was qualified to be called the Father-in-Law of the Country. Of course, now that Concubine Yin De is in favor, there are many people who like to gossip and call Yin Ashu the Father-in-Law of the Country. Li Yuan also knew this. He was just joking today, but Li Sanlang took advantage of it.

Seeing that Li Sanlang looked unhappy, Li Yuan hurriedly waved his hand to let everyone go, and then explained that he had just spoken out of turn and asked them not to take it to heart.

Li Sanlang's mood finally turned from gloomy to sunny. After talking to Li Yuan, he took his leave.

After Li Sanlang left, Concubine Yin De came over again and asked, "Your Majesty, did I offend the Prince of Jin just now?"

Li Yuan shook his head: "It has nothing to do with you, don't pay attention to him. He always likes to keep a cold face and doesn't like to talk too much. Tell your father later not to provoke the King of Jin. Sometimes this kid doesn't even take me seriously."

Concubine Yin De said: "Your Majesty, what are you talking about? How dare my father provoke His Royal Highness the Prince of Jin?"

Yin Ashu did not provoke His Royal Highness the Prince of Jin, but he did provoke another one.

(End of this chapter)