Ganlu Hall.
The hall was still brightly lit.
Li Er held his hands behind his back and paced back and forth in front of the dragon table. His brows were already furrowed into a knot. Today's sudden assassination attempt on Li Zexuan caused a strong sense of vigilance to rise in his heart.
With a different position, one's perspective on a problem would naturally be different. Li Er, who had taken the throne through a coup, could see from this sudden assassination that there were still many unstable factors in the Great Tang that he governed. To dare assassinate a county official in broad daylight, the person behind this was definitely not a small figure!
The most important question now was whether or not Li Zexuan had been killed.
Li Er naturally regarded this rising star of the empire with great importance. He even had the faint intention of preparing talents for Li Chengqian. Li Zexuan had never disappointed him. He had repeatedly performed miraculous deeds and solved many of Li Er's urgent needs. Moreover, his intention of "establishing an academy, promoting education, and enlightening the people" happened to coincide with Li Er's original plan!
The aristocratic families had developed for nearly a thousand years. Wise rulers could all sense the threat that the aristocratic families posed to the imperial court. Ever since the founding of the Great Tang, when Li Yuan was on the throne, the imperial court had begun to intentionally exclude and expel the aristocratic families. After Li Er ascended the throne, the imperial court's intention to weaken the aristocratic families became even more obvious.
The reason why the Five Families and Seven Nobles still had such status was not because they had much power in the imperial court. It was entirely because they had always held the right to explain the Confucian classics, the right to learn. At the same time, they were also known for their strict family customs.
At this time, people often said that they hated not marrying the daughters of the Five Families and were not willing to marry a princess because the daughters of the Five Families and Seven Nobles had excellent family upbringing. The daughters of the Five Families and Seven Nobles could all be called model ladies. This saying made Li Er, who had always boasted of being the ruler of the world, very angry and helpless.
Transcendent academic status and high reputation among the people were the greatest advantages that the Five Families and Seven Nobles had!
It was precisely because of this that countless scholars and wanderers of the jianghu were always willing to rely on the aristocratic families, hoping to use the aristocratic families as a platform to rise up in the future!
It was also because of this that Li Er didn't dare to be too aggressive even when dealing with aristocratic families. This was because if the aristocratic families were forced into a corner and used public opinion to go against him, he would also be very passive.
If they wanted to completely destroy the foundation of the aristocratic families, they had to destroy their popularity among the people and their academic authority. The Imperial College could have shouldered this responsibility, but it seemed that the results were not ideal! This was because much of the knowledge imparted by the Imperial College was based on the Confucian classics passed down by the aristocratic families.
At present, Li Zexuan's engineering studies and Yanhuang College had become the most crucial pieces in his plan to keep the great clans in check. Even if engineering studies ultimately failed to surpass Confucianism and the great clans, Li Zexuan's many engineering talents would be enough to raise the Great Tang's military and national strength to a whole new level! It was truly a win-win situation!
Therefore, at this moment, a nameless assassin appeared. Li Er was quite angry in his heart. At the same time, he was wondering in his heart which power had sent the assassin.
Furthermore, Li Chengqian, Li Tai, and Changle had all heard the news and come to him for help. If he didn't save Li Zexuan, he would probably be annoyed to death by his children!
"Reporting to Your Majesty! General Dugu has returned and is asking for an audience outside the hall! "
Just as Li Er was feeling anxious and vexed, an attendant from the Yellow Door ran in and bowed.
"Let him in!"
Li Er's expression brightened. He waved his hand and sat back down on the brocade couch.
A moment later, Dugu Xin strode in. Just as he was about to bow, Li Er said, "No need for formalities! Quickly tell me how Li Zexuan is doing! Did you manage to capture the assassin? "
Dugu Xin looked ashamed. He knelt on one knee and cupped his fists. "I failed in my task and failed to capture the assassin. Please punish me, Your Majesty!"
When Dugu Xin said "I failed in my task," Li Er's heart couldn't help but skip a beat. He thought that Li Zexuan had been killed. He was stunned and wanted to confirm it again. "How is Li Zexuan?"
"Your Majesty, Li Xiannan is fine and has returned home! General Qin, General Niu, and General Cheng also participated in this rescue mission! "
"Phew!"
Li Er heaved a huge sigh of relief. He paused and asked, "Is that assassin really that powerful? How could he escape from 500 Imperial Guards? "
When he was young, he had also been a wanderer for a period of time. He knew that there were some martial arts masters who could fight against ten or even a hundred ordinary people. But now, they were facing five hundred elite Northern Government Guards. He really did not believe that there was anyone in the world who could defeat them with their own bravery. Although it was possible that there was a Great Grandmaster, it would not be easy to deal with such an elite force.
"Your Majesty, the place where Li Xiannan was killed was far from the official road. In order to rescue him as soon as possible, I had to abandon the main team and ride with Brother Yu. When we arrived, we found that the assassin was actually a martial arts master above the middle stage of Grand Master. The two of us were no match for him at all. If it weren't for Li Xiannan's superb martial arts talent, he wouldn't have been able to hold on until we came to rescue him. Even so, we could only fight and delay, let alone win."
"Fortunately, Li Xiannan broke through to the Zongshi realm, and the situation was reversed. In addition, Great General Qin and Great General Niu arrived in time, and the assassin in black was defeated and fled. Li Xiannan and I wanted to chase him, but the assassin's skills were strange and evil, and he had many ways to escape, so he escaped! Before I entered the city, I had sent people to trace the assassin's whereabouts along the road, but there is no news so far! "
Li Er was shocked. Only then did he know how thrilling today's assassination was. He raised his eyebrows and said in surprise,
"A master at the middle stage of Grand Master? No wonder! This matter can't be blamed on you. If I had known that the assassin's kung fu was so high, I would have sent a royal consecrator to follow him! But Li Zexuan, this brat, is really lucky. He even managed to make a breakthrough during a battle! "
After pondering for a while, Li Er said to Dugu Xin, "Okay, you've worked hard. You can leave now! You still have to investigate the assassin's matter with all your strength. Don't slack off! "
"This general obeys Your Majesty!"
Dugu Xin cupped his hands and withdrew. Li Er sat alone in the Sweet Nectar Hall, deep in thought. After a while, he stood up and sighed with a complicated expression, "A martial arts master who isn't even fifteen years old! This is indeed a blessing for my Great Tang! But where should We arrange for you to be in the future? "
At this moment, Li Er was at a loss!
Outside the hall, several palace maids ran off in three different directions. Not long after, Li Chengqian, Li Tai, and Princess Changle all received news of Li Zexuan's safe return. The three of them all breathed a sigh of relief and calmed down.
.....
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