Chapter 8: Night Journey (Part I)

"The Imperial Family?" Zhang Qian was struck with sudden terror. The alcohol in his blood instantly turned into cold sweat, pouring out of every pore on his body!

He was no longer the man who had just fallen into the Tang Dynasty months ago, knowing nothing of reality beyond a few simple terms. In fact, over the past few months, he had dedicated a vast amount of energy to understanding the Tang Empire. Since becoming the Vice Minister of the Directorate of Armaments, his position had granted him access to even more information.

The more he learned, the more anxious and unsettled he became.

This Tang Dynasty was not the glorious, peaceful era he had read about in history books. In truth, ever since the dual-reign of Emperor Gaozong and Empress Wu Zetian, the empire had faced upheavals every few years, each one leaving rivers of blood in its wake.

After Gaozong’s death, these upheavals grew more frequent and the slaughter more brutal. To ensure no one could use the descendants of the Li clan as a pretext to threaten her throne, Wu Zetian had executed the direct lineage of Li Shimin with relentless cruelty. In the end, the only two she could not bring herself to kill were her own sons, Li Xian and Li Dan.

The reason she spared them was not merely due to a lingering maternal instinct; it was because both Li Xian and Li Dan were exceptionally submissive and filial.

Li Xian, in particular, had been deposed by his own mother and exiled to Luling under house arrest. Yet, he held no grudge. Even when he barely had enough to eat, he would lead his entire family in bowing toward Chang'an to honor his mother on holidays and her birthdays.

Eventually, his filial devotion moved Wu Zhao. In her later years, she summoned him back and named him Crown Prince. During that time, the treacherous officials Zhang Yizhi and Zhang Changzong, relying on their favor with the Empress, acted with unbridled arrogance and repeatedly humiliated him to his face. For the sake of his "lonely, aging mother," Li Xian chose to endure it time and again.

Seeing Li Xian’s docility, the Zhang brothers grew increasingly lawless. Their crimes finally exhausted the patience of Chancellor Zhang Jianzhi. In the first year of the Shenlong era, Zhang Jianzhi united with Cui Xuanwei, Yuan Suji, Jing Hui, and Huan Yanfan to take advantage of Wu Zetian’s illness. They boldly gathered troops to storm the palace and "rectify the Emperor’s side," executing Zhang Yizhi and Zhang Changzong on the spot. This forced Wu Zetian to return power to the Crown Prince and retire as the Retired Empress.

Even so, Li Xian remained unfailingly filial to his mother. After ascending the throne, he was incredibly accommodating to the Wu clan, a stance that did not waver even after Wu Zetian’s death. This allowed the Wu clan to quickly recover from their setback and regain control over the court.

Meanwhile, the five men who had restored the throne—Zhang Jianzhi, Cui Xuanwei, Yuan Suji, Jing Hui, and Huan Yanfan—began to feel their contributions entitled them to act with growing arrogance. They even joined forces to pressure Li Xian into granting them all royal titles. They went so far as to spread rumors that the Empress was having an affair with Wu Sansi, causing Li Xian extreme embarrassment.

Helpless, Li Xian eventually teamed up with Wu Sansi. After a fierce political struggle, they succeeded in driving the five "treacherous" officials out of the court and later held them accountable, finally restoring the prestige of the Imperial House. Only then did Li Xian finally feel a glimmer of the joy that came with being an Emperor, no longer living in constant fear of his life.

However, good times did not last. Soon, Wu Sansi seized absolute power, becoming a thorn in Li Xian’s side once again. It was only thanks to Crown Prince Li Chongjun, who launched a desperate strike in the late summer and early autumn of that year, leading three hundred "death-defying" soldiers to slay the powerful Wu Sansi in his own home, that yet another usurpation by the Wu clan was avoided.

But after killing Wu Sansi, Li Chongjun’s ambition swelled, and he sought to act like the Prince of Qin, leading his troops straight toward the palace. Once again forced into a corner, Li Xian stood on the palace walls and "reasoned" with the mutinous soldiers. Touched by his benevolence, the soldiers scattered on the spot.

After fleeing Chang'an, the cornered Crown Prince Li Chongjun committed suicide at the foot of the Zhongnan Mountains. Upon hearing the news, Li Xian first wailed in grief, then "had no choice" but to strip the prince of his title, and ordered the officials to grant Wu Sansi a grand funeral.

Immediately after, the authorities investigated the backers of the "Crown Prince’s Rebellion," and the trail led directly to his own brother, Li Dan, the Prince of Xiang.

Faced with a mountain of evidence—whether true or false—Li Xian again showed his benevolence, ordering the officials to cease the investigation. This averted yet another fratricidal tragedy and allowed the line of the Prince of Xiang to escape total annihilation.

The Prince of Xiang, grateful for his brother’s mercy, closed his doors to guests and cut off all contact with the court officials. This left those with ulterior motives completely devoid of opportunities, and for the first time after so much bloodshed, the Tang court finally showed signs of peace.

Of course, these were all things Zhang Qian had heard through the grapevine; the truth was hard to discern, and the intricacies behind it were even more difficult to judge. Yet, from these scattered fragments, Zhang Qian saw one clear fact: Emperor Li Xian was the ultimate winner in every struggle.

When it came to political maneuvering, Zhang Jianzhi and Wu Sansi were mere children compared to Emperor Li Xian. Even the Crown Prince, Li Chongjun—it was hard to imagine him storming the mansion of a Chancellor with only three hundred men without someone behind the scenes providing support or tacit approval.

That night, neither the world-renowned "Bad Men" of the Tang nor the Imperial Guards responsible for the capital's security had reacted at all! And yet, when those same three hundred men charged the palace, they became cowards; a few soft words from Li Xian were enough to make them drop their weapons, kneel, and vanish like smoke.

From an outsider's perspective, even if he recognized Li Xian as a "Grand Master of Intrigue," Zhang Qian could not blame him. In fact, ever since the moment his mother had deposed him, everything Li Xian had done could be described as a desperate struggle to survive. The difficulty of the challenges he faced was a hundred times greater than any survival game from the twenty-first century.

If he hadn't been cunning enough, he would never have lived long enough for Wu Zetian to remember he was her son. If he hadn't been cunning enough, he would have been killed by Zhang Jianzhi and his cohorts, never having the chance to use the Wu clan for his own ends. If he hadn't been cunning enough, he would have died at the hands of Wu Sansi before his own son, whom he didn't particularly favor, could launch that fateful coup.

If he hadn't been cunning enough...

Yet, knowing Li Xian was such a master of shadows, and still going out to swear brotherhood with a member of the Imperial Family—even going so far as to pool resources to fund the Shuofang Army—was their behavior today anything other than a man courting his own death?

If this Li Qi were the son of the Prince of Xiang, it might be one thing. Even if he weren't Li Longji, he would at least be his brother, and the risk might pay off in the future. But Li Qi was a mere fifth-rank official; he certainly wasn't the son of a prince, and according to history, he had no chance of ever becoming Emperor.

By swearing brotherhood with him, they were not only inviting Li Xian’s suspicion but also risking the displeasure of Li Dan and Li Longji in the future. Had Zhang Qian been kicked in the head to do something so incredibly stupid?

The more he thought, the more terrified he became. The more terrified he was, the more depressed and annoyed he felt. The remaining alcohol in his stomach turned into sweat, seeping relentlessly down his forehead, temples, and back.

"But, Brother, there is no need to be overly concerned!" After waiting a long time and hearing no response from Zhang Qian, Guo Nu felt it was strange. He hesitated for a moment before speaking in a low, consoling voice, "Although that Boss Gao has the backing of the Imperial Family, he has always followed the rules. As his master, I assume he is not someone who goes too far. Otherwise, after I agreed to hand over the shares to him, he would not have immediately reciprocated by trading shares of the business in Luoyang!"