The Crown Prince and the King of Shu in the Prison!
In the prison of the Ministry of Justice in Chang 'an, the capital of the Tang Empire.
A peal of laughter filled with endless pride and mockery suddenly rang out in the depths of the prison. The jailers turned a deaf ear to it, as if they did not hear the laughter. In fact, under the warden's instructions, they all left the place to avoid unnecessary trouble.
All of them knew that what happened in the depths of the prison was the cruelest and bloodiest thing in the world. It was something that they were not qualified to understand or come into contact with.
Because, there, the Crown Prince Li Chengqian and the Shu King Li Ke were fighting. That was…the place where the victor humiliated the loser after the battle for the throne ended.
"Li Ke, oh Li Ke, when you returned to Chang 'an from Yizhou in high spirits, you certainly didn't expect this day to come, right?”
Li Chengqian was dressed in luxurious clothes and sat on a stool. He looked at Li Ke, who was locked in prison, with a smug expression.
His face was full of mockery, and his eyebrows were raised. His entire person was like a high and mighty victor looking down on an ant that had fallen under his feet.
Recalling his methods over the past few days, Li Chengqian could not help but want to laugh out loud.
At the beginning of the year, Li Shimin conferred Li Ke the title of King of Shu and concurrently served as the Governor of Yizhou. Zhuo ordered Li Ke to take up the post in Yizhou. At this time, the people of Yizhou were destitute and far from the land of abundance of later generations. Moreover, there were many races there, and the mountains were high and dangerous. Anyone knew that it was not a good place.
Li Chengqian also had the mentality of watching a joke and went to see Li Ke sink there.
However, who would have thought that Li Ke would actually double the grain production in that poor and destitute land? He actually made some achievements and was praised.
After returning to the capital at the end of the year to report on his work, he monopolized the glory and even suppressed his own glory as the Crown Prince. This made Li Chengqian really gnash his teeth in hatred, and he completely had the intention to kill Li Ke.
Because Li Ke's reputation was too good, the virtuous king Li Ke was known throughout the country. Now that his political achievements were so good, some officials seemed to have shifted their attention to Li Ke.
This made Li Chengqian feel a huge crisis. Because he had committed some immoral acts, his prestige had dropped a lot. With this, Li Ke had become Li Chengqian's number one enemy, directly threatening his position as Crown Prince.
Therefore, Li Chengqian and Zhangsun Wuji had set up a monstrous plot to frame Li Ke. In the end, Li Ke was locked up in prison because of the evidence of "rebellion". Li Shimin was extremely furious. He ordered the Supreme Court, the Ministry of Justice, and the Imperial Censorate to conduct a joint trial. Although the results had not yet come out, with the power of Li Chengqian and Zhangsun Wuji, and the vigilance and fear of the founding elders towards Li Ke, who had the blood of the previous dynasty, Li Ke…would definitely die!
Thinking of this, Li Chengqian laughed even faster.
He proudly looked at Li Ke in prison and said,"Li Ke, are you in despair now? Are you disheartened because you know that you were framed? You know that you never thought of rebelling, but…so what?”
"Bengong doesn't want you to live, Imperial Uncle doesn't want you to live, and all the ministers are afraid of you. Even if you are unwilling, what can you do?”
"Oh, there's more!"
Li Chengqian suddenly sneered and said in a strange tone,""Do you really think that Imperial Father knows nothing about you? According to my understanding, my father's subordinates control a very mysterious secret guard organization. As long as something happens in Chang 'an, it will definitely not be hidden from my father.”
"So even if Imperial Father doesn't have evidence, he should know that you were framed, but so what? Did Imperial Father ever say anything for you? No, none of them!"
Li Chengqian looked at Li Ke, who was leaning against the wall and did not say a word from the beginning to the end. He suddenly raised his voice and sneered,"So, this time, even Father wants you dead! Everyone in the imperial court wants you dead. They can't wait for you to die. What right do you have to live in this world? You shouldn't have been born with the blood of the previous dynasty. It's just that my father was soft-hearted at that time. Otherwise, you would have died more than ten years ago. You bastard, you bastard with that damn blood, you should have died a long time ago!”
Li Chengqian laughed heartily. He had been holding back too much these days. He was overshadowed by Li Ke's brilliance, making him nervous and worried. He was afraid that one day, his position as Crown Prince would be gone.
Therefore, after Li Ke was caught, he couldn't wait to come to the prison and tear open Li Ke's wound. He wanted to see Li Ke despair and go crazy with his own eyes.
However, what disappointed Li Chengqian was that even when Li Ke heard these words, he did not show any despair, even if it was an angry expression.
He just sat there quietly with his head lowered. No one knew what he was thinking.
After Li Chengqian's ear-piercing laughter disappeared, Li Ke, who still had an outstanding temperament despite being a prisoner, slowly raised his head.
"Are you done?"
Li Ke's eyes were very deep. His expression was calm, without a trace of nervousness or anger. He only slowly raised his head and said these three words in a calm tone that did not cause any ripples.
"What?"
Li Chengqian saw that Li Ke did not have any emotional changes because of his words, and a bad premonition arose in his heart.
Li Ke shook his head. He looked up and saw the moon outside through the narrow iron window.
"It's almost time."
Li Ke muttered to himself. Then, he slowly stood up and patted the dust off his hands.
Looking at Li Chengqian who was sitting outside the cell with an air of arrogance, a smile finally appeared on his calm face.
"Before you die, I'll let you speak your heart out so that you can freely express your emotions. This way…you can rest in peace, right?”
This book comes from：m.funovel.com。