Chapter 204: Yang Qing’s Alliance

News of the Beiting Army’s recovery of Suiye finally reached Chang’an, causing the city to erupt in celebration. Overjoyed, Emperor Li Longji issued an order to keep the city gates open for three nights. People beat drums and gongs, staying awake all night—their homeland, lost for thirty years, had finally returned to the embrace of the Tang Dynasty.

Three days later, the long-awaited rewards were announced. Li Longji generously promoted Li Qing’an to the rank of Duke of Tingguo, General-in-Chief, Grand Protector of Beiting, and Imperial Censor concurrently serving as a guest to the crown prince. He was also awarded 10,000 taels of silver and 5,000 bolts of silk. The Beiting Army received 500,000 strings of coins and 200,000 bolts of silk. All the military achievements Li Qing’an had reported were recognized, leading to his promotion.

Although many had guessed that Li Qing’an would receive generous rewards, the scale of Li Longji’s generosity still surprised many. Gradually, some understood Li Longji’s intentions—he had originally ordered Suiye to be abandoned, and now its recovery allowed him to justify his decision to the late emperor.

Yet Li Qing’an’s promotion left many disappointed, including Yang Guozhong. Li Qing’an’s success completely overshadowed his own achievements in Nanzhao. Though he was promoted to Minister of War, he did not receive the title of duke nor the rank of General-in-Chief. Filled with disappointment and jealousy, he could not sleep well for days.

Similarly, Li Qing’an’s victory greatly enhanced the prestige of Crown Prince Li Heng. Li Longji even summoned the crown prince to praise him for recommending Li Qing’an. This left Prince Qing, Li Cong, extremely disappointed and angry; he spent his days locking himself in his residence, mistreating his servants.

Crown Prince Li Heng, on the other hand, was so excited he stayed up all night. He had also received good news from Li Qing’an. Early in the morning, he spread out a piece of paper, ready to write back to Li Qing’an.

“I am overjoyed upon hearing of the great victory at Suiye. You, leading your troops, have brought glory to the Western Regions—you are indeed the pillar of our empire. I hereby authorize you to use the momentum from Suiye to march swiftly westward, spreading the fame and virtue of the Heavenly Khan throughout the vast Western Regions…”

After writing it, he read it once and found it somewhat inappropriate. He tore it up, crumpled it, and threw it away. Then he took another piece of paper and wrote: “I am overjoyed upon hearing of the great victory at Suiye. You, leading your troops, have brought glory to the Western Regions—you are indeed the pillar of our empire. I shall request the emperor’s approval to allow you to use the momentum from Suiye to march swiftly westward, spreading the fame and virtue of the Heavenly Khan throughout the vast Western Regions…”

The two letters differed by just five words—“I shall request the emperor’s approval”—but their meanings were completely different. One showed Li Heng acting on his own to send Li Qing’an westward, while the other indicated that Li Heng was seeking the emperor’s permission. After finishing the letter, he sealed it with wax and ordered it to be sent to Li Qing’an in Suiye.

He stayed awake all night in excitement. After finishing the letter, he felt somewhat tired, so he simply tidied up his desk and went back to his palace to rest. Li Heng went to rest, and the court historians left as well. The few eunuchs in the study busily cleaned it, a routine that had become customary. These eunuchs had served Li Heng for many years and were trustworthy. Among them, the one in charge of tidying the desk was named Wang Anliang, who had served Li Heng for five years without ever making a mistake. He was usually quick and always finished first, but today he was unusually slow—only half done while others had already finished. It was cold, and the other eunuchs left after finishing their tasks. Now, only Wang Anliang and another eunuch who was cleaning the charcoal basin remained in Li Heng’s study. Wang Anliang was responsible for burning the discarded documents in the charcoal basin. The eunuch waiting for him grew impatient seeing his slowness and said, “Eunuch Wang, hurry up! I really need to pee—I can’t hold it any longer.” Holding in urine was a constant struggle for eunuchs, especially those on duty, as they couldn’t leave easily when serving the crown prince. When the urge came, they often couldn’t hold it, which was why eunuchs generally didn’t drink water in the morning. Wang Anliang turned around and smiled, “Then go pee first! I’ll be done by the time you return.” The eunuch, unable to hold it any longer, shouted, “I’m going then!” and ran off in a flash. Only Wang Anliang was left in the study. He acted extremely quickly, picking up the letter that Li Heng had torn up and crushed into a ball. He then took out a pig bladder from somewhere on his body, wrapped the letter tightly inside it, and stuffed it back. Since they were searched thoroughly by guards whenever entering or leaving the study, hiding it inside the body was the only way to avoid detection. For this purpose, Wang Anliang had practiced for two months to master the skill. Just as he finished tidying his clothes, the eunuch ran back. Seeing Wang Anliang still burning the letter, he frowned and said, “Still burning the letter? Hurry up!” “Done! Done!” Wang Anliang threw the letter into the charcoal basin, and it soon caught fire fiercely. The eunuch went to refill the basin, but even that required inspection. The letter had to be burned to ashes, and a stick was used to stir the ashes to ensure nothing was buried underneath.

Wang Anliang stepped out of the side chamber of the study, and several guards immediately approached—it was time for the routine inspection. He raised his hands high, though his heart was pounding with nervousness. The search was thorough; different people had to search him—his clothes, shoes, socks, even his hair, and his mouth had to be inspected as well. This was the palace rule: elsewhere it was to prevent eunuchs from stealing, while in the study it was to prevent the leakage of secrets. The same applied to maids, who were also searched by experienced maids and had to jump in place as well.

Since Wang Anliang and the others were old eunuchs who had served the crown prince and had never caused any problems, some of the more inconvenient procedures were skipped. And it was this security loophole that Wang Anliang took advantage of.

“Alright, that’s enough!”

The guard chief gave an order, and Wang Anliang let out a long sigh of relief, his worries dissolving. He put on his shoes and hurriedly left the side chamber.

In the afternoon, since Wang Anliang wasn’t on duty, he made an excuse and asked for leave to leave the Eastern Palace. After wandering around Chang’an for a while, Wang Anliang finally arrived at the back door of Prince Qing’s mansion. He announced his presence to the gatekeeper, and soon he was led into Prince Qing’s study.

In the study, Li Qiu carefully glued together the torn pieces of the letter on a large sheet of white paper. Soon, a complete letter appeared before father and son.

Li Cong read it twice. He quickly identified the key points of the letter, but he was somewhat disappointed—the letter wasn’t very damaging. Although Li Heng had said something inappropriate, he had also realized his mistake and torn up the letter, indicating that he had already acknowledged his error and was correcting it immediately. In that case, as long as he explained things to his father, the problem would be resolved.

He had always hoped to get a letter from Li Heng ordering Li Qingan to send troops to Guanzhong—something that could help him overthrow Li Heng. But now… Disappointment appeared on Li Cong’s face.

Wang Anliang, standing nearby, was uneasy. Half a year ago, Li Cong had approached him, offering him a generous reward if he could obtain secret letters from the crown prince. He was illiterate and didn’t know which letters were important or not, but he was clever. Seeing the crown prince write a letter and then tear it up, he guessed that this discarded letter might be useful, so he took the risk of stealing it. Yet Prince Qing didn’t seem very pleased.

At that moment, Li Qiu said with a smile, “Father, this letter is very useful. We should reward Eunuch Wang generously.”

Li Cong was stunned. What was there to reward for stealing such a letter? But seeing his son’s serious expression, he nodded and said, “Wang, you decide the reward!”

Li Qiu smiled at Wang Anliang and said, “Eunuch Wang, tell us what reward you desire!”

Wang Anliang swallowed hard and timidly voiced his desire: “I wish for five hundred taels of gold and five hundred mu of arable land.”
“Good! I’ll grant it to you.”
Li Qiu turned around and ordered, “Someone, bring the rewards.”
A moment later, two guards entered, carrying two large plates, each with ten ingots of golden yellow metal—official gold, twenty-five taels per ingot. There was also a land deed for five hundred mu of arable land in Gaoyang County.
“Eunuch Wang, this is yours now.”
Wang Anliang, overjoyed, knelt down and kowtowed repeatedly, “I thank Your Highness for this generous reward!”
Li Qiu waved his hand and smiled, “Work hard for us, and Your Highness will reward you even more. You won’t be treated unfairly.”
“I understand. I’m willing to serve Your Highness wholeheartedly!”
……
After Wang Anliang was sent away, Li Cong, who had remained silent, said unhappily, “My son, this letter isn’t worth such a large reward. Why give it so much?”
Li Qiu quickly bowed and explained, “Father must know the story of spending a thousand pieces of gold for a horse’s bones!”
“You mean to win this man over so he’ll work for us?”
“Yes! He works in the crown prince’s study—a position of great importance. I think we should use patience to catch a big fish.”
“Hmm!” Li Cong agreed with his son’s idea. He pointed at the letter and asked, “What about this letter?”
“Father, burn it. It’s useless. If it gets leaked, it might alert our opponents.”
With that, Li Qiu picked up the letter and burned it in the charcoal brazier until it turned to ashes. Then he clapped his hands and smiled, “Father, there’s one more thing, extremely important. I hope you’ll handle it promptly.”
“What is it?”
“Have you forgotten? We need to ally with Yang Guozhong to form an alliance against the crown prince.”
“Oh! I’ve already discussed this with him, and we’ve reached an agreement.”
“Father, such matters need constant discussion. As we talk, solutions will emerge.”
Unaware of it, Li Cong was led by his son’s plan. He nodded gladly, “Alright! I’ll go talk to him right away.”
……
That evening, Yang Guozhong’s residence was quite lively. It was Yang Guozhong’s wife, Pei Rou’s birthday. Yang Guozhong kept a low profile, inviting only his family to celebrate his wife’s birthday—a sign of his wisdom. The Yang family’s arrogance and domineering behavior had already stirred public resentment in the capital. To stand out, he deliberately held a simple birthday banquet for his wife.
Of course, this simple banquet would be heavily publicized later, especially to let the emperor know, otherwise, it would lose its purpose of earning praise.

The birthday banquet was held in the main hall, with 23 guests in total, all from the Yang family. Yang Guozhong and his wife Pei Rou sat at the head table, flanked by the three Yang sisters. His four sons took turns to raise their cups to toast their mother on her birthday. The hall was filled with laughter and chatter. Yang Huahua had drunk a bit too much, her face red. In a slightly drunken state, she asked Yang Guozhong, “Third brother, how does it feel to be the prime minister?” Yang Guozhong shook his head. “It’s good to be admired by everyone, but it’s also very exhausting.” Pei Rou interjected with a smile, “Your third brother always says that the title of prime minister doesn’t live up to reality. There’s only one real prime minister—namely, the right prime minister.” Yang Huahua downed what was left in her cup and laughed, “Then, third brother, do you need my help to oust Li Linfu and let you become the right prime minister?” Yang Guozhong was startled and quickly said, “Third sister, you’re drunk.” Yang Huahua waved her hand. “I’m not drunk at all. Don’t you believe me?” Lady Yang Yupai, who was sitting nearby, hurriedly advised, “Third sister, power struggles are things for men. We women don’t understand them. It’s best not to get involved.” “Tch!” Yang Huahua snorted disdainfully. “That’s you. If you don’t understand, don’t assume others don’t either. I’m just too lazy to get involved. If I were to engage in power struggles, I’d leave those men stunned.” Just then, a servant shouted, “Your Majesty the Emperor and the Imperial Concubine have sent their gifts!” A hundred strong eunuchs entered, carrying dozens of large chests. Eunuch Yu Chaoen, holding a list of gifts, smiled and said, “Prime Minister Yang, Madam Yang, and all distinguished guests, I am here on orders from Your Majesty and the Imperial Concubine to deliver some birthday gifts as a celebration for Madam Yang’s birthday.” “It’s a great honor to receive gifts from the Emperor and the Imperial Concubine.” Yang Guozhong quickly went to accept the gifts, while the Yang family’s sons flocked over to see them. Only Yang Huahua remained seated, sneering. These fools, so excited over just a few broken chests. Suddenly, she saw a servant run in and whisper something in Yang Guozhong’s ear. Yang Guozhong froze for a moment, said something to his wife, then hurriedly followed the servant away. Curious about what could have caused three people to leave after receiving the emperor’s gifts, Yang Huahua also stood up and quietly followed Yang Guozhong. …

In Yang Guozhong’s private study, Prince Qing Li Cong was pacing back and forth with his hands behind his back. He hadn’t expected today to be Yang Guozhong’s wife’s birthday, so he hadn’t prepared any gifts. Yet his mind wasn’t on that. He had just thought of a question while in the carriage: Last time, the emperor had mentioned expanding the cabinet, causing quite a stir. All those who met the criteria became extremely anxious. But in less than a month, the matter disappeared without a trace. What exactly was going on?

As he was thinking, footsteps came from behind him. Soon, Yang Guozhong’s laughter was heard at the door. “I’m sorry for making you wait, Your Highness! Please forgive me!”

Li Cong bowed and said, “It’s me who should apologize. I didn’t realize it was your wife’s birthday and still came to disturb Minister Yang. Please allow me to send a birthday gift later.”

“Your Highness is too kind. I’ll accept your goodwill.”

Yang Guozhong waved his hand and said with a smile, “Please, sit down, Your Highness!”

The two sat down. A maid brought tea and then left after closing the door. Only then did Li Cong ask, “Minister Yang, why has there been no news about expanding the cabinet again?”

Li Longji had discussed this matter with Yang Guozhong before. After thinking for a while, Yang Guozhong replied, “Your Highness, the emperor originally intended to appoint An Lushan as a minister. But suddenly, there were troubles in the Khitan region. There’s also Cui Qiao, who happened to be accused by censors of keeping a concubine in secret. With these two issues combined, the emperor temporarily put aside the idea of expanding the cabinet.”

“I see!”

Li Cong smiled and said, “Cui Qiao really lost too much over a trivial matter. Giving up a chance to become a minister for a woman is truly not worth it.”

“Probably he didn’t realize he had a chance. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been so foolish. It’s strange that Chen Xilie, who recommended him, didn’t consult him first.”

Li Cong spoke disdainfully, “That’s Li Linfu’s tactic. Chen Xilie is under his control. He never wanted Cui Qiao to become a minister. After all, isn’t the Censorate in his hands? It’s possible even the accusations were instigated by Li Linfu.”

Yang Guozhong nodded in agreement. “That’s very likely.”

After exchanging a few pleasantries, the conversation gradually turned to the main topic. Li Cong pointed eastward and asked tentatively, “I wonder if there’s any news from that direction?”

Yang Guozhong understood what he meant. He sighed and said, “I’ve been keeping an eye on him too. The Northern Court has achieved great victories these past few days, and he’s very complacent now. It will be difficult to cause him trouble!”

“Hmph! The most complacent times are also when problems are most likely to arise.”

Thinking of the burned letter, Li Cong felt some regret. He thought he should have kept it and let Yang Guozhong expose it.

The two of them couldn’t think of a good solution and remained silent. Just then, a laugh suddenly came from the door: “Two high-ranking men can’t even handle such a trivial matter. If I step in, I’ll have him removed from power within half a month.” The sudden voice scared Li Cong so much that his fat body trembled violently, and Yang Guozhong was also shocked. But he quickly recognized it as Yang Huahua’s voice and hurriedly asked, “Third sister, is that you?” Yang Huahua calmly pushed the door open, glared fiercely at the guards trying to stop her, and said with a smile, “Prince Qing, Minister Yang, welcome this humble woman to join you?” Only then did Prince Qing realize what Yang Huahua had said earlier. He quickly got up, bowed, and asked, “Does the Third Lady know whom we’re talking about?” Yang Huahua closed the door behind her, sat down, raised an eyebrow, and said with a smile, “Aren’t you trying to drive the crown prince out of the Eastern Palace?” Yang Guozhong had never seen Yang Huahua interested in power struggles and was surprised, asking, “Didn’t your third sister never get involved in such things?” “I wasn’t interested before, but I’ve been bored lately, so I want to give it a try. What, you don’t want me to participate?” Prince Qing was stunned and hesitantly asked, “Third Lady, do you really have a way?” Yang Huahua smiled and said, “Of course I do. But if I succeed, how will Prince Qing thank me?” Li Cong suddenly bowed deeply and said, “If the Third Lady succeeds, as long as I have it, whatever you want, I’ll give it to you.” “What about your third brother?” Yang Huahua’s charming eyes turned toward Yang Guozhong. Still somewhat skeptical, Yang Guozhong said with a smile, “I’m the same as Prince Qing—whatever I have, I’ll give it to you, third sister!” “I want your official seal as Minister of War. Will you give it to me?” “Well…” Yang Guozhong sighed bitterly, “Third sister, please don’t joke.” “Very well! Then I won’t joke with you anymore.” By now, Yang Huahua’s smile had disappeared, replaced by a vicious look only found in snakes and vipers. It was time to retaliate for the crown prince Li Hen’s insults. Whoever dared offend her would be sent to hell. She said coldly, “I know you both have some connections. I need you to provide some money and manpower.” Li Cong and Yang Guozhong exchanged a glance, sensing that Yang Huahua wasn’t joking. They said in unison, “Please give your orders!” Yang Huahua thought for a moment, then said to Li Cong, “If this succeeds, I’ll suffer losses while benefiting no one, but Prince Qing will be the biggest winner. So I can’t cover the costs for you. You must spend some money first.” “Madam, just tell us what you need!”

Yang Huahua raised a finger shaped like an onion and said, “Prince Qing must first give me 10,000 mu of land and 10,000 strings of coins.”