roccoschili Chapter 150 1 False Alarm
Chapter 150 1 False Alarm
Just in case, what needs to be done must be done.
After the two generals withdrew, they quickly returned to their respective armies, dispatched men to guard the main roads, and added personnel to the gates of each palace.
As for the people sent to notify the emperor and the prince, they had already set off.
However, what was unexpected was that they all came back less than half an hour after they left.
Also returning with them were the Crown Prince, Prince An, and a dozen guards.
Prince An was in a terrible state, his clothes were torn to tatters, his face and body were covered with wounds, and his hair was dripping with water.
The strangest thing was that he was lying on the horse's back.
No, to be exact, he was tied to the horse.
The group walked along the avenue and soon arrived at the gate of the palace.
General Fan rushed over as soon as possible and was greatly relieved to see that the prince was safe and sound.
"Your Highness, are you okay? That's great! Hahaha! Old Fan, I was just saying that with your ability, who could possibly plot against you?"
Li Ce jumped off his horse and patted Prince An on the face.
"I say, fourth brother, are you convinced now?"
Prince An was so angry that he was shaking all over, but he could not say anything to refute. He could only close his eyes and spoke through gritted teeth after a long while.
"If you want to kill or behead me, please do as you please!"
"Who said I want to kill you?" Li Ce raised his eyebrows high, "You look so stupid, killing you? I don't want to be tired."
After saying this, he turned around and called for the guards to come forward and untie Prince An, and then ordered them to send Prince An back to the bedroom.
At the same time, he also listened to General Fan's report.
When Li Ce heard Jiang Wanyue's words about Princess Ding, a smile appeared on his face.
There was pride in this smile.
"Just do as Jiang Liangdi said, guard the intersection and wait for the emperor to return."
He threw away the whip in his hand, walked through the palace gate and headed towards the palace where he lived.
As soon as he walked into the hall, Jiang Wanyue came out after hearing the noise.
As soon as she saw the person, Jiang Wanyue immediately changed into a surprised expression, trotted over, and threw herself into Li Ce's arms.
"Your Highness!"
Li Ce hugged her tightly.
"Are you worried about it?"
"Is your Highness alright? Are you injured?"
"Don't worry, I can't be tricked by that idiot Li Zhu."
Jiang Wanyue patted her chest and said, "I'm glad that your highness is alright. I discovered the secret code that Princess An sent us, telling us to be careful of Prince An. It's a pity that I was too stupid to discover it until today."
She looked annoyed.
"If it had been discovered earlier, arrangements could have been made earlier, and Your Highness would have been more at ease."
Li Ce touched her face.
"If Wan'er is stupid, then there are no smart women in this world. That's Princess An's fault. Who asked her to come up with such complicated codes?"
The two walked into the inner room and sat down. Jiang Wanyue then asked Li Ce about what had happened.
Li Ce drank his tea, looking calm and relaxed, and recounted what had happened.
He brought his guards all the way to the stream, and without stopping to observe along the way, he soon discovered something unusual.
Those bear traces were obviously placed intentionally by someone to lure him over.
If bears really lived here, how could there be only footprints and feces but no food residue?
Bears eat everything, but it is impossible for them to chew up all the bones and swallow them, nor is it possible for them to leave not a single fur on their prey.
Moreover, the feces were old, but the footprints were new; they were not left at the same time.
So, he exchanged clothes with the guard and asked the guard to pretend to be him and cross the river.
He himself and the others reached the other side first.
Sure enough, they found a dozen people lying in ambush on the other side of the river.
Li Ce acted quickly and immediately went behind the group of people with his guards. He eliminated most of the assassins without anyone noticing, leaving only Li Zhu alive.
Thinking of Li Zhu's shocked expression when he saw him, Li Ce couldn't help but burst out laughing.
Jiang Wanyue praised continuously, but there were still some questions that remained unanswered.
"How did Your Highness find out that there was something wrong with Prince An?"
"Didn't I send that captain surnamed Liu to the Ministry of Justice before? The Ministry of Justice quickly interrogated him and got the result, but the confession was full of loopholes. I was suspicious at the time. Isn't the Minister of Justice the wife's family? But, at the time, I was just suspicious and couldn't be sure it was him."
When Jiang Wanyue heard this, she looked suddenly enlightened.
"So Your Highness deliberately exposed a flaw to him?"
"This is what Wan'er said about alerting the enemy by stirring up trouble." Li Ce laughed. "Old Four is a very arrogant person. He has always thought that he is the smartest and that everyone else is stupid. But in fact, he is the stupidest one. Even Little Six is smarter than him. At least Little Six knows who to offend and who not to offend."
Jiang Wanyue deeply agreed with this.
"I also think that Prince An is ambitious but incompetent. Your Highness is highly skilled in martial arts and has guards by his side. How could his dozen assassins possibly be a match for Your Highness?"
Li Ce touched his chin and looked back.
"It's not that there is no chance. He must have set a trap in the stream, hoping to kill it in one fell swoop. He even deliberately provoked me before, wanting to compete with me to see who can kill more prey, just to lead me to find the bear."
Actually, to be honest, Prince An’s idea was not stupid.
He knew Li Ce's character, so he deliberately provoked him to agree to the competition in front of the emperor.
Then, he should have done some research beforehand and knew that there were no large wild animals in that area of the forest.
Given Li Ce's temper, if he wanted to win, he would naturally not just hunt rabbits and pheasants. He would definitely want to hunt a big one, so Li Zhu had people leave traces of the bear.
It’s a pity that Li Zhu only considered Li Ce’s temperament but did not consider the reality.
He was a weak scholar who had never liked hunting. The guards around him were all pampered. How could they consider those details?
After listening to this, Jiang Wanyue sighed and asked, "How does Your Highness plan to deal with Prince An's mansion? Prince An is fine, but I want to plead for Princess An. Princess An must have discovered Prince An's plan, but she failed to dissuade him and was imprisoned by him instead. She was able to use medicinal herbs to warn him, which shows that she is not a bad person."
Li Ce waved his hand.
"Since Wan'er is begging for mercy, I will let the fourth brother's wife go. As for the fourth brother, he is so stupid that he can kill himself without me having to do anything. Just wait and see! When the emperor comes back and sends someone to interrogate him, he will soon find out that the remnants of Li Jian are in his hands."
He would not attack Li Zhu directly. After all, he was still only the crown prince. If he attacked Li Zhu, it would be fratricide and would bring bad reputation.
Therefore, it could only be handed over to the emperor for disposal.
However, there is nothing wrong with interrogating him before the emperor returns.
Li Ce took a short rest, took Jiang Wanyue to have lunch together, and then slowly walked west.
Li Ce's palace was to the east of the main hall where the emperor lived, and further east of his was the residence of Prince Liang; and to the west of the main hall were the residences of Prince Ding and Prince An respectively.
Jiang Wanyue followed Li Ce out, and when they passed by Prince Ding's residence, she pulled Li Ce in to express her gratitude to Princess Ding.
When I arrived at Prince An's residence and just stepped into the palace, I saw Prince An Li Zhu sitting on the ground with a dejected look on his face.
The ropes tied around his body had not been untied yet, and he was just sitting there in a mess. When he saw Li Ce and Jiang Wanyue come in, he didn't move at all.
"You really can't help it, and you still want to kill me? You are simply a treacherous villain! Father was deceived by your hypocritical appearance!"
Li Ce clicked his tongue twice and walked forward.
Jiang Wanyue gestured to the palace servants and asked them to move a chair behind Li Ce.
Li Ce didn't explain too much, just said.
"You repeatedly sent people to attack me and plot against me, trying to kill me, and now you're accusing me of being treacherous?"
Li Zhu gritted his teeth.
"You knew it a long time ago, right? You knew what I wanted to do, but you did nothing and deliberately watched me make a fool of myself? Isn't this treacherous?"
Jiang Wanyue tugged at Li Ce's sleeve.
"Your Highness, is he crazy?"
Li Ce sneered and raised one leg to put it on the chair.
"He's not crazy, he just refuses to admit his failure and refuses to admit that he's stupid. Fourth Brother, you've been fighting with me since we were young, and you've never been defeated. Now I'm the crown prince. Why do you think you can defeat me with just the few people under you?"
"With just a few words of flattery from those good-for-nothings around you, do you really think you are the reincarnation of Sleeping Dragon? Even my Concubine can see through your schemes."
Li Zhu's face turned pale and blue, and he was almost vomiting blood from anger.
Li Ce changed the subject.
"But even though you are a little bit stupid, you are still my father's son. I will not take your life for the time being."
These words made Li Zhu's eyes light up with hope.
Unexpectedly, Li Ce continued.
"I will suggest that the emperor abolish your title of Prince An, demote you to a commoner, and confine you to the palace, never to come out."
Li Zhu's eyes suddenly widened, and he roared angrily.
"Li Ce! Kill me if you dare!!!"
As soon as he roared, Li Ce suddenly raised his leg and kicked him to the ground.
Then, Li Ce stepped on Li Zhu's chest, leaned down, and spoke in a cold voice.
"You sent people to bribe my guards, blew up the bridge, and silenced me. I will settle these things with you one by one!"
Li Zhu's expression froze.
At this moment, there was obvious confusion in his eyes.
"What are you talking about?! What about blowing up the bridge to silence people?"
"Still pretending?"
Li Ce stepped hard, stomping on Li Zhu and making him scream.
Jiang Wanyue frowned and pulled Li Ce.
"Your Highness, he really doesn't seem to know."
"Who else could he be?"
Li Ce clearly didn't believe it.
But he withdrew his foot.
Just then, hurried footsteps were heard outside.
A guard came running to report.
"Your Highness, the Emperor and the nobles are back."