Chapter 289 The Father-in-Law Pleads for Mercy and Gives Him a Break

After Liu Ziyu left Beijing, his adoptive father, Prince Zhao Liu Xinwu, also followed his previous promise to Liu Ziyu and met with Emperor Zhaowu Chen Huaian in private one day after retiring from court, under the pretext of visiting his daughter Liu Shujun.

The father-in-law and son-in-law met again in private, but still treated each other with the courtesy of monarch and minister.

Liu Xinwu naturally did not dare to call Chen Huaian by his name, and Chen Huaian certainly could not call him "Dad".

According to secular etiquette, the emperor can call the empress's biological father "father-in-law" or call him according to his title.

Therefore, after ascending the throne, Chen Huaian called his father-in-law Liu Xinwu Prince Zhao, and Liu Xinwu called Chen Huaian the emperor whether in court or in private.

After the family of three had a meal in Kunning Palace, Chen Huaian, who had already seen that his father-in-law was a man who would not visit the palace for no reason, took the initiative to invite Liu Xinwu to the Imperial Garden for a walk to digest his food.

Liu Xinwu naturally agreed to this.

In the imperial garden, after a casual chat, the father-in-law and son-in-law finally brought the topic to Liu Ziyu.

Liu Xinwu still valued this adopted son who he had high hopes for, otherwise he would not have trained him as his own son and successor all these years.

Not only because Liu Ziyu blocked the fatal arrow of the enemy commander on the battlefield for Liu Xinwu, but also because Liu Xinwu wanted to pave the way for his daughter Liu Shujun, the empress of the Tang Dynasty, and even the future grandson of the crown prince before he died.

Although there are many cases of foreign relatives interfering in politics in history;

However, Liu Xinwu still wants to do his best to push his adopted son Liu Ziyu, who was born as a military general, to the front.

After all, in the harem of the Tang Dynasty, there is also a royal concubine Yue Qiluo who represents the interests of the thirty-six countries in the Western Regions.

Regardless of whether there will be a "succession dispute" in the future, it is not a bad thing to prepare for a rainy day.

Let's get back to the story.

Emperor Zhaowu Chen Huaian, who was walking in the imperial garden, took the initiative to mention Hu Dalin and others who were executed.

Chen Huaian said: "King Zhao, I have issued an order that the main culprits in the first case of the Tang Dynasty, Hu Dalin and others, will not be held accountable for their families;"

"Anyway, these people have made great contributions to the Tang Dynasty, and their families are innocent!"

"Your Majesty is kind-hearted and governs the world with benevolence. I thank you on behalf of the families of Hu Dalin and others!"

As he said this, Liu Xinwu clasped his hands and bowed to Emperor Zhaowu Chen Huaian.

Then, he said, "Your Majesty, speaking of the heinous crimes committed by Hu Dalin and his men, I also bear an unshirkable responsibility. It was because I did not control my subordinates strictly that such a disaster occurred!"

"Prince Zhao, this is wrong!"

Chen Huaian waved his hand and said, "Prince Zhao has not been involved in military and political affairs for many years. How can he control these young arrogant soldiers in the army?"

As he said, Chen Huaian smiled bitterly and continued, "After all, it was the founding ceremony of the Tang Dynasty that caused the trouble!"

After a pause, he said, "Prince Zhao came here today, I am afraid it is not just to have dinner with me and Queen Shujun. Let me guess, Prince Zhao came for the ceremony of the conferment?"

Yes!

Liu Xinwu did not hide anything, but nodded directly and said: "To be honest with the emperor, after Hu Dalin and his men committed the crime, I immediately found Wuyi Earl Liu Ziyu;"

"These men are all generals under Liu Ziyu, and Liu Ziyu is my adopted son;"

"In dealing with this matter, although the emperor did not take advantage of the situation and deal with a group of arrogant soldiers and generals from the Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun, led by Liu Ziyu;"

"But, I cannot pretend to be ignorant of this matter!"

Liu Xinwu continued: "According to Liu Ziyu and my account, Hu Dalin and his men broke into the palace gate drunk at night, which was indeed related to the conferment ceremony of the founding of the Tang Dynasty."

"Wait--"

Chen Huaian waved his hand, interrupting Liu Xinwu's words, and said: "King Zhao, don't you understand why I only conferred Liu Ziyu the title of Earl in the end, and he was the last one among the thirty-six Earls of the founding of the Tang Dynasty?"

"I dare not!"

Liu Xinwu retorted hypocritically.

Haha!

Chen Huaian laughed heartily and said, "King Zhao, in fact, if you didn't come to talk to me about this today, I would also find a chance to talk to you alone about Liu Ziyu's problem."

Then, Chen Huaian turned to Xiao Po, the loyal marquis who was accompanying the emperor more than a hundred steps away and shouted, "Xiao Po, bring the things up!"

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

Soon, Xiao Po hurried over with a stack of letters, and handed all the letters to King Zhao Liu Xinwu at Chen Huaian's instruction.

Chen Huaian said, "King Zhao, take a look at these letters first, and I will continue to talk to you!"

"Minister, obey your order!"

After Liu Xinwu took the letter, he quickly flipped through it and browsed it.

The more he read, the more shocked he was, and the more solemn his expression became.

These "evidences" of Wuyi Bo Liu Ziyu compiled by the Dragon City Internal Guards record in detail what Liu Ziyu did in the army in recent years;

Things like colluding with the Turks to smuggle for profit in the previous dynasty are trivial matters that are not worth mentioning;

The point is that after Liu Ziyu declared his loyalty to Chen Huaian, who was then the King of Jin, he still retained the evil habits of guarding Wuzhou in the previous dynasty, eating empty salaries and letting soldiers massacre the city no less than five times;

After following Chen Huaian across the Yangtze River and breaking through the city of Jinling, he still did not restrain himself;

Even after Chen Huaian proclaimed himself emperor, he still did so.

What shocked Liu Xinwu even more was that in this pile of "evidence" of Liu Ziyu's crimes, there were also memorials impeaching him from two deputy marshals of the army, Chen Qingzhi and Chang Yuchun, and two generals in the army, Pang Xianchu and Zuo Liangcai;

Moreover, this incident happened before the ceremony of conferring the title.

Until this moment, Liu Xinwu finally understood why Emperor Zhaowu Chen Huaian only conferred the title of earl on Liu Ziyu!

In Liu Xinwu's view, this was considered to be a leniency for Liu Ziyu.

If he were the emperor, I'm afraid he wouldn't even give the title of earl to Liu Ziyu, a scum!

Of course, the premise of all this is that he, Liu Xinwu, would be the emperor, and he would deal with it this way.

The reality is that he still has a little fantasy about Liu Ziyu, hoping that the latter can take over his position after he passes away, and carry the group of civil officials and military generals in the Sixteen States of Youyun, and provide assistance to his daughter Liu Shujun in the possible "succession struggle" in the future.

Therefore, even though Liu Xinwu knew that his adopted son Liu Ziyu had done so many absurd things behind his back, he had no choice but to bite the bullet and find a way to exonerate Liu Ziyu.

"Your Majesty, this——"

After reading the "evidence", Liu Xinwu was about to speak when he was interrupted by Chen Huaian.

Chen Huaian said: "King Zhao, listen to me first-"

"In fact, the night before the final list of the ceremony was finalized, I still put Liu Ziyu at the top of the 18 marquises of the founding of the Tang Dynasty;"

"Not only because he, Liu Ziyu, was the first general in the previous dynasty to raise the banner of the King of Jin and declare his loyalty to me, but also because he is the adopted son of King Zhao and the adopted brother of Queen Shujun;"

"I also know that when the second tyrant Zhao Gan of the previous dynasty issued an order to marry Shujun to the Huihe people, Liu Ziyu did make a lot of efforts and plans to save Shujun;"

Chen Huaian continued slowly: "I am not a heartless person, nor am I a donkey who kills the donkey after it has done its work. If it weren't for the sudden death of Duke Ying Fan Wuji on the battlefield, he would have occupied a place of Duke of the Tang Dynasty after being posthumously conferred;"

"I, I even thought about listing Liu Ziyu as one of the six dukes of the Tang Dynasty;"

"But--"

"Your Majesty, there is no need to say more!"

At this time, Liu Xinwu took the initiative to take over the conversation and said: "Your Majesty's feelings for me, Shujun, and my rebellious son Liu Ziyu, I have understood!"

"It is my rebellious son Liu Ziyu who has brought this upon himself and failed the emperor's good intentions;"

"If a son is not taught, it is the fault of the father--"

As he said this, Liu Xinwu pretended to kowtow to Chen Huaian and apologized, saying: "Today, I will apologize to the emperor on behalf of the rebellious son;"

"Please, Your Majesty, for the sake of me and Shujun, give the rebellious son Liu Ziyu a chance to make up for his mistakes and let him guard the border for the emperor and the Tang Dynasty to repay the emperor's grace!"

After saying this, Liu Xinwu knelt down without hesitation.

Seeing this, Chen Huaian naturally couldn't let his father-in-law kneel down for his adopted son Liu Ziyu, so he helped Liu Xinwu up before he knelt down.

The father-in-law had said so much, what else could Chen Huaian say?

"King Zhao, there's no need to do this, stand up and talk!"