"His Majesty believes that most of the soldiers were misled. Therefore, you are hereby pardoned. General Chen has rendered meritorious service in capturing the thief, and will be rewarded handsomely afterward."
Chen Yunqiao was already being treated unfairly for being a traitor. They captured a group of rebel generals, preventing heavy casualties, so naturally they had to promise him benefits.
"Thank you, General Xie."
The entire suppression of the rebellion was like child's play. In fact, Li Linfu had already been defeated when Li Longji walked out of the Imperial City Guard alive.
Chen Xuanli, standing to the side, watched as Lu Xuan easily secured the great achievement of suppressing the rebellion. His initial resentment at being suddenly trampled on by Lu Xuan vanished considerably. Only then did he realize that this Western Region barbarian's rise to power was not as simple as he had imagined.
Without lifting a finger, Lu Xuan easily eliminated all threats surrounding Li Linfu's residence. He even managed to turn the rebel army into a force besieging the Lin family mansion.
Li Linfu still had some household servants. However, these people did not resist and even opened the gates directly. It seemed that the Right Chancellor had realized he had lost.
Lu Xuan dismissed the others and entered Li Linfu's study alone.
It's quite interesting. Lu Xuan painstakingly planned for over a year, devoting most of his energy to scheming against this Right Chancellor. But in reality, the two never truly faced each other, nor even exchanged a single word.
Li Linfu was taken aback when he saw Lu Xuan walk in first. He knew he had lost, and he was well aware that whoever entered the study first tonight would be the one who had defeated him. But he never dreamed that the first person to enter would be that barbarian from the Western Regions whom he had never even given a second glance.
He scrutinized Lu Xuan for a few moments, a look of sudden realization crossing his face.
"I had heard rumors before that the various reforms to improve people's livelihoods introduced by the Crown Prince's Palace were actually your doing. I didn't take it seriously at the time. Now it seems that the rumors are probably true."
"I suppose so. I did give the Crown Prince a few small suggestions. Suggestions to make the lives of ordinary people a little better. I didn't expect the Right Chancellor to pay attention to such trivial matters."
"Now it seems I haven't been paying enough attention. Who are you? Which sect's disciple are you?"
Lu Xuan was taken aback for a moment, then realized that Li Linfu seemed to have mistaken him for a disciple of those reclusive schools of thought. He shook his head and said.
"I am not from any family. I am just a swordsman from the Western Regions Great Horse Camp. A nobody."
"An unknown nobody? What grudge do I, Li Linfu, have against you that you've schemed against me so meticulously..." Li Linfu's emotions were slightly agitated. He clearly couldn't accept being defeated by an unknown nobody. However, at this moment, Lu Xuan spoke up in response.
"A grudge? There is indeed a bit. In the first year of Tianbao, I, Lu Xuan, entered Chang'an for the first time. I gained His Majesty's favor and was appointed as the county magistrate of Wannian County. After taking office, I encountered a case. In Pingkang Ward, four children aged five or six disappeared one after another. That case eventually became an unsolved mystery, which has been bothering me ever since. Your Excellency, can you help me solve this mystery?"
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Chapter Ninety-Two: A Favor
A brief silence fell over the room. Then Li Linfu began to roar angrily.
"You plotted for over a year and ruined my life's work just for a few lowly people?"
The ease on Lu Xuan's face vanished, replaced by an unprecedented coldness.
"Losers? Look, that's the difference between us. I'm a nobody, so I always feel more empathy for those nobody. The Right Chancellor comes from the imperial family, he can't see the suffering of the people, and he looks down on the lives of these commoners."
But do you know what? At the heart of everything tonight is actually a group of ordinary people you've never even considered, people who call themselves ants. Unfortunately, there's no way to get Xiao Gui to stand before you and say these words. So, today I've spoken for him. "Li Linfu, an ant, can still shake a tree."
At this point, Lu Xuan's right hand was already on the hilt of his sword.
Li Linfu didn't care whether Lu Xuan made a move or not; he just couldn't believe that he had ended up like this because of a few lowly commoners. At that moment, Lu Xuan suddenly remembered something.
"Alright, I'll give you one more reason. Li Linfu, perhaps you don't even realize it yourself. You will... destroy the Tang Dynasty in the future."
"What..." Lu Xuan didn't intend to answer Li Linfu's last question. He drew his long sword and beheaded him with a single stroke. This once powerful and ruthless warlord was dead.
For over a thousand years, Li Linfu has been regarded as a treacherous minister. However, in later generations, a new theory emerged, suggesting that Li Linfu was actually a capable minister.
In his previous life, Lu Xuan couldn't understand how, overnight, so many treacherous officials had been transformed into capable ministers with only minor flaws. It was as if later generations had wronged them. Li Linfu was among them.
It is said that the Tang Dynasty would have collapsed long ago without him. Although he was cunning, he was a pillar of the Tang Dynasty.
However, Lu Xuan always scoffed at this claim.
Was Li Linfu capable? Of course he was, but could you call him a capable minister? No, you can't. Because he was merely a capable person, not a minister. Everything he did was to maintain his own power and position.
He never reported any bad news. In his memorials, the entire Tang Dynasty was portrayed as perfect. There were no natural disasters or man-made calamities, no false injustices, and everyone lived happily and contentedly. Because he knew that Li Longji (Emperor Xuanzong) preferred this kind of news.
Being able to keenly grasp the mind of one's superiors and win their favor is a sign of competence in any place, any era, including modern times. But is this something a subject should do?
Li Longji asked him to hold more imperial examinations to select talented individuals from among the common people. He quickly wrote down the results, and not a single candidate passed. Then he told Li Longji, "All the talented people are already in your court; there are no more worthy individuals left out among the common people..."
He was adept at understanding the emperor's intentions, excelled in political maneuvering, and was also quite capable in practical matters. However, being born into the imperial family, he was destined not to become the person the Tang Dynasty needed. In fact, his actions created a huge hidden danger for the entire Tang Dynasty.
Some later generations said that he suppressed An Lushan, preventing him from rebelling. But has anyone noticed that An Lushan's ability to wield such immense power was also inseparable from his support?
To consolidate his power and eliminate any possibility of his political rivals becoming prime minister, he suggested appointing non-Han generals as military governors of the frontiers. Subsequently, figures like Gao Xianzhi and Geshu Han rose to prominence. However, at the same time, An Lushan also thoroughly consolidated his control over Hebei, laying the crucial groundwork for the downfall of the Tang Dynasty.
Lu Xuan would never keep such a person around, no matter what.
As Lu Xuan walked out of Li Linfu's study, he waved his hand. All the soldiers swarmed forward, intending to thoroughly search Li Linfu's residence that very night. Naturally, this was not something Lu Xuan, the Grand General in charge of suppressing the rebellion, would personally handle.
Although this position was temporarily bestowed by the emperor, the phrase "commanding all the imperial guards in Chang'an" instantly included high-ranking officials like Chen Xuanli. At least during this suppression of the rebellion, Lu Xuan's power was truly second only to the emperor.
Looking up at the sky, a faint glimmer of dawn was already appearing on the eastern horizon. It would be daylight in about half an hour.
"We still have some time, let's take this opportunity to do something we should have done a long time ago."
Zhang Xiaojing knew what Lu Xuan was talking about. His eyes lit up, and he immediately gathered a group of thugs to follow.
Lu Xuan had long disliked Pingkang Ward. However, Pingkang Ward involved many high-ranking officials in the court. Back when he was a county magistrate, he dared not touch it. But tonight, however, was a perfect opportunity. Dozens of high-ranking officials had been killed by these ants. The remaining ones were all still in shock.
The crucial point is that Right Chancellor Li Linfu is plotting a rebellion tonight. It's still unknown how many people will be implicated. The entire court, and indeed the entire city of Chang'an, is trembling with fear, desperately trying to protect themselves. Let's see who dares to step forward to protect Pingkang Ward, this malignant tumor, at this critical moment.
Old Ge hadn't slept all night either. He had actually received news of the attack on the capital city. Don't doubt it; his intelligence network was far more extensive and far-reaching than Zhang Xiaojing's clandestine arrangements. It wasn't surprising that he knew about the attack on the capital.
From that moment on, he couldn't sleep anymore. Even though the incident had nothing to do with his criminal organization, he still felt a strange unease, a vague sense that impending doom.