OBS Chapter 409 Li Chu's Abnormality
Chapter 409 Li Chu's Abnormality
Inside the magnificent and solemn imperial palace, the morning court session had just concluded, and sunlight streamed through the carved window lattices onto the golden brick floor. The Crown Prince hurriedly walked side by side with Li Chu, and the two of them headed straight for the Shangshufang.
After entering the study, Li Chu first respectfully saluted the emperor and the prince, and then slowly reported to them the details that Feng Shengyi had found out yesterday.
Upon hearing this, the Emperor's face turned blue with rage. He slammed the exquisitely carved dragon table before him and shouted, "What a scoundrel An Lushan is! I've always trusted him immensely, but I never imagined he would harbor such wicked ambitions so early on! He's even found such a prime location, not only amassing wealth but also recruiting talented individuals and raising private soldiers. His actions are truly appalling!"
Seeing the emperor so angry, the crown prince and Li Chu quickly spoke in unison to comfort him, "Father (Grandpa Emperor), please calm down. Take care of your health! Don't let these traitors and traitors make you sick."
Li Chu was secretly thinking that this was a good opportunity to show some favor to Yang Guifei. After all, Yang Guifei had been relying on her status as the emperor's favorite to repeatedly help Cui Caiping, causing the emperor to frequently interfere in his affairs, which really annoyed him.
Thinking of this, Li Chu bowed again and said cautiously, "Grandpa Emperor, this matter is actually not your fault. The only thing to blame is that the Imperial Concubine doted on An Lushan too much, so An Lushan dared to use the Imperial Concubine's name to act recklessly and tyrannically. Over time, his ambitions naturally became more and more inflated."
The emperor felt that this could not be blamed on Yang Guifei. If there was anyone to blame, it was An Lushan who was too good at deceiving people. She was not to blame. The emperor said: "This matter cannot be blamed entirely on the concubine. Even I was deceived by him."
Li Chu felt that, as Liu Jingyue had said, the emperor was completely "love-brained"! Li Chu gave up and did not mention the matter again. When he collected the evidence of the Yang family's crimes in the future and presented it to the emperor, he would see if the emperor could still protect Yang Guifei and the Yang family.
Instead, he asked, "Because we didn't know what was going on inside yesterday and thought it was just a secret room, the number of people we sent was too few to capture An Lushan. So, I'd like to ask the Emperor for advice on whether we should send troops to capture him. We're afraid that if we take too long, they'll have to hide somewhere else."
The emperor nodded upon hearing this and said, "Well, Chu'er is right. Now that we have found it, there is no time to lose. You should discuss with Dugu Xin and Guo Ziyi how to send troops and how many troops to send."
Then he looked at the prince and asked, "By the way, Heng'er, have you found An Lushan's family?"
Li Heng bowed and said, "Your Majesty, no. When I went to search, it looked like the house was already deserted. I'm afraid they had been planning this rebellion for a long time, so they moved their families away early."
At this point, an idea flashed through Li Chu's mind: "By the way, Grandfather Emperor, Father, is there a possibility that An Lushan's family members are also with them in that place where the troops are stored?"
The emperor and the prince thought about it for a moment and felt that it was possible, after all, that place was very secluded.
The Emperor said, "If that's the case, then take more people with you and try to capture them all in one fell swoop. After all, treason is a serious crime punishable by the death of nine generations of the clan!"
Li Chu bowed and said, "Yes, Grandfather Emperor is wise and wise."
The emperor saw that Li Chu seemed to be in a good mood today, with a smile on his face, so he asked, "Is there any good news, Chu'er? I see that you have been smiling all day long."
Li Chu thought: Oh no, I promised A Yao not to tell anyone about her pregnancy until she was stable. But how can I find an excuse to fool Grandpa Emperor and Father?
Li Chu thought for a moment and said, "Nothing much, I just won a battle, so I'm in a good mood."
The emperor asked again, "Are you serious?"
Li Chu smiled and said, "How dare I hide this from Grandpa Emperor and Father? Of course it's like this. This is my grandson's first time on the battlefield! I won a battle, so naturally I'm happy."
The emperor was skeptical, but there was no need for him to dwell on the matter. After all, it was normal for young people to have some secrets of their own, wasn't it?
The emperor smiled and returned to the conversation about government affairs before putting the matter behind him.
Li Chu felt that he had escaped danger. Fortunately, the emperor did not ask any further questions, otherwise he would have broken his promise to Dugu Jingyao.
Therefore, most of the government affairs today were handled by the emperor and the prince, and Li Chu was released from the palace early to arrange the capture of An Lushan with Dugu Xin and Guo Ziyi.
Li Chu first went to see the Crown Princess and said to her, "Mother, I guess A Yao can't come to the palace to pay her respects to you often recently, so I will do it for you."
The Crown Princess was startled at first, then seemed to have thought of something, and asked with a smile, "But is there any news about Jingyao?"
Li Chu didn't expect that the Crown Princess could guess it with just one sentence. He was also shocked. Before he could say anything, the Crown Princess understood from Li Chu's expression. He probably guessed it was right. Calculating the date, it was probably still early in the month, so it was understandable that she was reluctant to say it.
So she said, "Don't worry, take good care of Jingyao. Do you need me to send Aunt Xu to your house to help?"
Li Chu said, "Not yet, Mother. I mentioned this to A Yao this morning, but she felt that suddenly inviting Madam Xu to the mansion might arouse suspicions. So, let's postpone it for now and wait until we're seated. What do you think?"
The Crown Princess was even more satisfied with her daughter-in-law Dugu Jingyao. She was beautiful, had a good family background, was considerate and sensible, and now she was also thoughtful. It was really hard to find such a good daughter-in-law even with a lantern!
She smiled and said, "Well, Jingyao's concerns are reasonable. Let's talk about it after we're seated! Okay, go and deal with the matter. Once you're done, you can go back and accompany Jingyao."
Li Chu smiled and bowed, saying, "Thank you, mother, for your understanding. I will take my leave now."
Li Chu then left the palace and went straight to the Prince of Yunnan's Palace. By the way, he asked Dugu Xin to send someone to Guo's Mansion to invite Guo Ziyi.
Several people gathered together and discussed for less than half an hour before they came up with a conclusion. Dugu Xin and Guo Ziyi were to lead 10,000 elite soldiers to attack Huanglong directly, while Li Chu would look for other exits on the periphery and be responsible for the encirclement and suppression to prevent them from escaping.
Before leaving, Li Chu said hello to Dugu Xin and said, "Father, Ayao and I have discussed bringing Yue'er over to stay with Ayao for a few days in the next couple of days. Is that okay?"
Dugu Xin was a little puzzled: "You guys in Prince Guangping's Mansion are not short of people, right? Could it be that someone is bullying Yao'er? Why did you suddenly think of picking up Yue'er?"
Fortunately, Li Chu had already thought of the words, so he said, "It's like this. No one is bullying A Yao. It's just that after this matter is settled, I'm afraid you really have to go back to Yunnan. A Yao won't see her family for a long time, and she will inevitably miss them. So I thought while you are in Chang'an, I should spend more time with Sister Yue'er. It's mainly because it's not very convenient for A Yao to leave the house every day, so the best way is to take Sister Yue'er over."
After listening to Li Chu's detailed explanation, Dugu Xin's originally frowned brows gradually relaxed. He nodded slightly, indicating that he had understood the reason, and stopped asking questions.
He thought for a moment and then said, "In that case, then fine! Before we officially set off, it would be better to send Yue'er there first. This way, she won't be left alone in the Yunnan Palace with nothing to do. She will definitely feel bored."
When Li Chu heard Dugu Xin's words, a smile immediately appeared on his face. He replied very respectfully, "Father, you are absolutely right. Everything is up to you, old man."
Dugu Xin was very pleased with Li Chu's obedient attitude. He smiled lovingly at his son-in-law, who made him feel very happy. He said with a smile, "Well, not bad! Then everyone should quickly make the necessary preparations. We will set off tonight. I will send someone to send Yue'er to the Prince of Guangping's palace later."
When Li Chu and Guo Ziyi heard this, they looked at each other at the same time, and then responded in unison. Then, they slowly walked out of the mansion gate with Dugu Xin personally seeing them off.